Positively chuffed!

Occasionally, my day job resembles a giant black hole from which nothing can escape....light, time and sanity all fall prey to the impressive suction it commands.  Such has been the case recently which has resulted in a great dearth of writing (much to the happiness of many, I'm sure).  The frustration of the continuous ebbing and flowing 'time-suck' of my job is a constant frustration.  But how many of us can claim that we actually wake up in the morning utterly thrilled to be going to work?  Maybe "Pippo" Pozzato, who by the way, had an excellent showing at Milan San Remo this past weekend.  He didn't win, but attacked like a bulldog with a tenacity previously unseen by him.  Maybe it was the morning cupcakes.

Seriously...Maybe I would enjoy my job a lot more if someone would feed me cupcakes upon arriving at work first thing in the morning like this.  Especially if they were these I noticed on MSN this morning.

(yes - that's bacon and chocolate)

It's during times of work or life-related frustration that I, like many, turn to cycling as a distraction...something to look forward to...as an outlet to consume the otherwise mind-numbing portion of my day.  Occasionally, however, distraction turns to obsession and that gets a little creepy.  Like the way some obsess over the construction and intricate details of what was always meant to be a mode of transportation to the point where the outcome is something they'd rather not even ride,  but rather shine repeatedly while whispering sweet nothings into its single, fixed gear.

I found this picture on fixed gear gallery, and what is impressive is that the builder felt the need to add some photshopped-rendered angellic wings prior to posting the photo as if to further emphasize the higher existential plane this bike has achieved.  The owner further comments:

"I don't imagine I'll use this too often as it's a bit too shiny to lock up anywhere....it's been a 5 month project mainly because I waited so long for the frame.  Really chuffed with it...."

Part of the beauty of blogging is the impact it has on my vocabulary, which is really just a nice way of saying that I am repeatedly reminded of just why it was that I scored so low on the grammar portion of my SATs.  More specifically, prior to reading the aforementioned quote, I was unfamiliar with the term "chuffed" which I've since learned can have one of two definitions:

1. chuffed (intr.v. - past tense) To produce or move with noisy puffing or explosive sounds.

2. chuffed (adj) Brit slang: pleased or delighted.

It appears as though "chuffed" is quite versatile and thus can be used in more than one way in a single sentence, as in,  "Having eaten too much chili and feeling ill, Randall was still chuffed and rather impressed with how he chuffed through the night."  Or combining this with other recently learned words, one might say "I am non-chuffed with the recent niggle I've developed in my left knee since raising my saddle."

I happened upon another useless, and yet somehow aesthetically pleasing item the other day as well.

Any guesses as to what these are?  Yes - they are made by Chris King, and no they are not phallic fertility symbols to ward off the flaccid evils of riding nosed saddles.  If you guessed "specially crafted Chris King $75 espresso tampers," however, you would be correct.

And to think, all this time I've been using an old converted Cane Creek headset to press my beans. My palette will likely never be the same.  It takes a special kind of person that requires the feel of a Chris King headset in their hand while they are tamping their espresso. I'm guessing this kind of person may also be positively chuffed about owning a pair of miniature leather saddle bags to drape over their quill stem to carry credit cards and lipstick as was recently spotted at the North American Handmade Bike Show.

To each their own...and should people wish to lavish their bikes (or espresso bars) with frivolous accessories, who am I to judge?  Why, some of the most famous professional cyclists in today's peloton have enjoyed adorning their lives with frivolous accessories....