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I give it a 9.8

I'm sitting here watching the Olympics coverage on Sunday night. The women gymnasts have just made some major mistakes in otherwise good-looking routines. It really makes you cringe, doesn't it, to see a good routine marred by a flubbed dismount? I don't know a damn thing about gymnastics, but I do know that I will forget the rest of the routine if the dismount is a total failure.

My near-perfect weekend has ended with a memorable failure. It's nothing really, just an annoyance.

Yesterday was fantastic. The weather in the city was typical summer morning -- cold, gray, wet. I met a friend for a bike ride, and as soon as we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito, the day turned to brilliant sunshine, summer warmth, clean air. We climbed Mt. Tam from the north side, which I think is nine or ten miles of total climbing. I have ridden most of the way to the top many times, but had never done the final three miles, which have some very steep sections. When we got to the top, the view of the Bay was stunning and crystal-clear. The blanket of fog that greeted me in the morning was still hanging over the ocean way below us like a layer of fluffy cotton quilt batting. Gorgeous.

We followed our ride with a 30-minute run, since that's what we do. And then I went home and had lasagna left over from Friday night... yum.

This morning I ran 12 miles. The weather was even nicer than yesterday, with actual sunshine in the city and just a little fog out at the beach -- perfect for the middle of a long run. During my run I saw four people I knew. One of them, a neighbor and former member of my triathlon club, caught up with me fifteen minutes from the end of my run and kept me company until the end. Excellent.

When I got home and tried to heat up more lasagna, though, Dave informed me that the microwave was making a loud vibrating noise. It was disconcerting. Scary, really. So I browsed new microwaves online while the leftovers heated up in the toaster oven.

We eventually tore ourselves away from the Olympics coverage and went back out into the glorious sunshine to buy a new microwave. When we got home, emboldened by the sunshine, we headed into our backyard for drinks and chips and Dave's famous guacamole. We never go in the back yard. Not only because it's usually a little too chilly or because it has become overrun with weeds since our landlord fired the gardener, but also because you have to go through three doors to get there. Down the back stairs into the garage, out into the service hallway, then out the exterior door. It's a schlep.

We stayed outside reading until it got too cold. And my story would have a happy ending except for one thing. The new microwave stopped working after we used it two or three times. It just went totally dark. Bummer! Now we have to pack it back into its styrofoam bits and drag it back to Best Buy.

But I can do that tomorrow, so it doesn't have to mar my near-perfect weekend. Right?

August 10, 2008 11:33 PM