Irene was nastier than I thought. And also "Team Leopard-Shack"?

Well...Irene didn't appear to be that nasty of a hurricane, but the flooding associated with it was a real shocker to much of the northeast. My friends and family in Virginia emerged unscathed, and my sister in law up in NY/Manhattan says it was pretty much a non-event overall for her. But tell that to the people in Vermont, or Connecticut, or any of the myriad of people in the New England area who lost houses, or roads. Or the people on Hatteras Island in NC who AGAIN lost the roads to their island. I admit I was shocked in the days after by the extent of the flooding. The video of the raging floodwater's in Vermont are just unbelievable! I don't even know how many of the scenic covered bridges the area is famous for are now gone. But it still could have OH so much worse had it been a greater wind category storm. And the season has just begun. Batten down the hatches over there. Susie, I hope things are good...haven't heard from you since last week. I hear there are still MILLIONS of people back east with no power...hopefully you aren't one of them, and your house is unscathed.

And now...on to the cycling rumors. Rae already saw it (thanks for your comment on the last post)...and it prompted me to quickly whip over to VN...and sure enough, it's a full fledged rumor that RS and LT will combine next year. I have to say that is a VERY BAD idea. I LIKE RS being a full blown American team! I have nothing whatsoever against LT...in fact, I think it's an awesome team and is chock full of amazing riders! They have NO NEED to merge with another team (IMO). Gosh...is RS looking to get out of cycling? Is this another team going down the drain (albeit slower than HTC)? If this rumor is true, American cycling is getting crushed. Sponsors must really be moving elsewhere with their advertising dollars. That HTC is breaking up just breaks my heart...but for RS to follow by having to join with another team would be crushing. At least it appears BMC is not only hanging in there, but spending money like it grows on trees! Both Thor AND Gilbert? On a team dedicated to WINNING the TDF next year?

I just don't know what to think of this news, though admittedly it's not news yet...only speculation. Tomorrow we should be hearing where ALL the HTC guys are going next year...and I guess Sept 1st is open-door on who goes to where for all the teams. Should be an interesting day....though quite honestly I think that day when everybody can announce their future plans should wait until AFTER the Vuelta.

OK....not a lot going on here at the home front...other than I got word yesterday that I will most likely be heading up to Sunnyvale for a few weeks, leaving on Tuesday (day after Labor Day). Haven't been up there for work in quite a while now....sure can use the overtime though...as we also have news that PG (one of the furry-kids) needs surgery AGAIN. This time for lumps....we had them checked (they suck some cells out of them and see what they are)...one appears to be a lipoma (a fat blob)....but it's about the size of half an orange just under her belly skin hanging there. The other one is smaller and under her front leg armpit...and it is a pre-cancer thing which they highly recommend we get removed. Somehow she knew I had a trip coming up...seems if there's an extra dollar to be found, either the babies or one of our cars suck it right up...and that's IF we have anything left after the Fed/State governments get thru with us. Sheesh...

OK. That's it from the Central Coast. Oh wait...I forgot...had this from last week but the race in Colo pre-empted me from posting it...thought it was rather humorous (I see I wasn't the ONLY one who thought the media was making a pretty big deal out of the VA Earthquake):

OK, OK...I know that there was actual damage sustained all over the east coast....but I STILL thought this was quite funny!

And finally, there is this....a joke I got on the internet from a friend and made me laugh out loud :

Vatican Humor

After getting all of Pope Benedict's luggage loaded into the  limo (and he doesn't travel light), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb.  'Excuse me, Your Holiness,' says the driver, 'Would you please take your seat so we can leave?'  'Well, to tell you the truth, ' says the Pope, ' they  never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal,  and I'd really like to drive today. '  'I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something should happen?' protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning. 'Who's going to tell?' says the Pope with a smile.  Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision when, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating  the limo to 205 kph. (Remember, the Pope is German)  'Please slow down, Your Holiness!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens. 'Oh, dear God, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!' moans the driver.  The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.  'I need to talk to the Chief,'  he says to the dispatcher. The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 205 kph. 'So bust him,' says the Chief. 'I don't think we want to do that, he's really important,' said the cop. The Chief exclaimed, 'All the more reason!' 'No, I mean really important,' said the cop with a bit of persistence. The Chief then asked, 'Who do you have there, the mayor?' Cop: 'Bigger.' Chief: 'A senator?'  Cop: 'Bigger.' Chief: 'The Prime Minister?' Cop: 'Bigger.' 'Well,' said the Chief, 'who is it?' Cop: 'I think it's God!' The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, 'What makes you think it's God?' Cop: 'His chauffeur is the Pope!'

And with that, I say Game ON!