back, and badder than ever...

...or is that worse than ever. I can never get it straight.

It's been a nice 4 days. Nothing special...just nice. The weather, on the other hand, has been spectacular. Friday I got up when I wanted to...not when the alarm went off..and went for a bike ride. It was payday at work, and yes, I could look online and see what I got paid, but I figured I wanted to ride somewhere, so why not to work to pick up my pay stub. It's a little over 20 miles each way, so it was a good workout. I'd wear the jersey we wore for the MS ride, so if anyone in any of the offices saw me, it might stir some talk about the ride, and yeah, I'd get the pay stub.

Not that great of an idea....

The ride was nice enough and the weather was beautiful. It is fairly long and involves two trips over a pretty large bridge over the intracoastal waterway. I did get my pay stub, so that objective was met. I doubt anyone considering the ride noticed me. The people who did notice me though...my co-workers...let's just say I may not hear the end of it for a while.

"Nice hat."

"Did you have to come in in your underwear."

"Oh God, I could have gotten through the day without seeing that."

"Now, he's just showin' off."

I heard one sort-of ego boost whispered from one woman to another..."Notice how the guys are all giving him shit but the women are going...hmmmmm." Still, the reality of a 50 (almost 51) year old guy in bike clothes ain't quite the same as 22 year old guy in bike clothes. I realize that.

I pretty much underestimated the effect of walking into a bullpen sort of setting (where our keeper of the check stubs sits) in bike clothes, but hey. Live and learn.