Need more information... do you wear black socks with white tennis shoes? (My good friend told me that if and when I catch him doing that to just shoot him and put him out of his misery!)

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/

Heyl no. Wait. Do black cycling socks with white(ish) running shoes count?

I ride my recumbent wearing black socks, white tennis shoes, and Dockers.

Is this a fashion faux pa?

i feel the same way ... just turned 31 and i feel like a domestic schlep. a decade ago, i was a hip 'alternative' 'extreme' 'gen xer'. now, i'm a married goombah with a harry potter fetish. pitiful, eh?

i try to stay true to my roots with a few tats, a piercing, and a pair of Doc Martens. i wonder what the 15 year old punks wearing misfits t-shirts think of the old guy thumbing thru Maximum Rock n Roll at B-n-N ... except i was into the misfits when glenn was still the frontman and i've actually met Jerry Only!

peace out, my brother. aging gracefully is a bitch.

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*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"

Join the club. At 31 I'm certainly not old, nor do I feel it. But at some point (not sure exactly when) going out until all hours of the night, drinking till you puke and then sleeping to noon just wasn't fun anymore. And I also find myself cleaning the house when my wife goes out of town. Crazy.

can you elaborate on your aging story a bit more? i'll copy it and send it weezer's way. i'm sure they'll be able to turn it into a great chorus.

At least you have a wife. At least you have friends, too.

exactly. love the irony

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*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"

Cycling turned me into a slob. I think it is other influences that turned you into the cleaning fiend.



Could I have what you got?

No worries. You're only 30...........another 15 years or so and you'll be in deep into a full-on mid-life crisis and be regressing at a remarkable rate.

You'll never really be hip again, but by then you'll have lost the ability to realize it. ;)

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Hey there grown up! I am a house baby through and through. Gone are my days of my signature green Docs, $45 import cds, domnation of the mosh pit, 48 hours with out sleep. It's a new and better life you lead. Just go with it and realize you got it good.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

That is strange. I have got post Ironman-too much time on my hands disorder. I actually swept our floors yesterday. Weird.

I know I've got it good - wouldn't trade it for anything. However, there's something that Ministry's A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste cd says to you that can't be said in any other way. My wife doesn't speak that language, but that's ok. I presume we're of the same musical era?

Interesting that all the married guys take the opportunity to clean the house when the wife is gone! What can this mean about modern women?

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

Why didn't you put in an epic training day? Cleaning house? What's up with that?

Let's see, yesterday I went skate skiing, did a ride on the rollers, then went to the indoor climbing gym. This morning I went to yoga and lifted weights. Probably do another roller ride after I eat. However, this is why I haven't done any epic training days this holiday (and there's much more snow on the way):

Shortly after I got married I was listening to Jesus and Mary Chains first cd in the living room. It was blasting. My wife walked in with a sour look on her face and asked if the tereo was broken.

For a second there I was thinking how much I missed the snow...then I looked outside to the sunny, 64F day and realized I was being stupid.

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"your horse is too high" - tigerchik

Funny, I'm 41, Friday night, I went out to a dinner for a friend getting married next week. We ended up a t a dance club near the restaurant wher we met. I suddenly felt very old. I don't like rap very much, and I felt like I was checking up on my daughter (even though I don't have one!).

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"What can this mean about modern women?"

It means we like to share the fun ;)

Huh?

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

"What can this mean about modern women?"

I think it says more of the effectiveness of incessant nagging than anything else. Sticks in your brain like fish hooks. Funny thing is, I always give my wife a ton of shit when she wakes up and starts cleaning.

Give me your address. I'm coming over.

I remember when my gf came over and said "I can't live up to your standards" I thought WHAT? I soon realised when I stopping her from cutting a sandwich in half with a carving knife through the counter top! That would have looked good when selling the place explaining a series of score marks through the counter! What is with that?

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

Sounds like a dream girl to me. 1) She eats sandwiches. 2) She cuts 'em on the countertop, no plate, no cutting board, using a very large knife. 3) She implies that you must lower your standards to be with her. If you're not still with her, you blew it. I'd gladly sacrifice a countertop for a girl that doesn't believe in Chlorox Wipes and Martha Stewart.

Personally, I like being with women that motivate me to be a better person. But that's just me.

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"your horse is too high" - tigerchik

I'm still with her, my property price keeps dropping! Who the hell is Martha Stewart?

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

I agree. However, I'd rather hear "You should ride you bike more so that you become a better racer" than "You should clean the house more so it doesn't look like a shit hole." I'm just kidding, actually, My wife kicks so much ass. It's amazing she tolerates me.

I'm not sure what you soul has to do with the fact that you like to live in a home that isn't a shithole, and the desire to drink until either you vomit or some random girl lowers her standards enough to bone you has diminished.

I used to like going out to clubs to listen to bands, but frankly, I could never do it that often when I had a life. Now I go out to parties and I'm sitting on the couch by 10:30 looking all googly. When people ask if I'm drunk, my wife says, "No, he's just tired. He gets up at 4:00 AM to swim." That usually floors people, especially ones who think drinking until 4:00 AM is normal behavior.

As far as Dockers go, they are nice trousers. Their just hopelessly out of vogue(I retired my Dockers collection in '99. They served me well.) Funny pants comment: Have you noticed how ALL men's dress pants now come with a 1"-2" stretch waistband?

As far as your behavior in your wife's absence goes, I enjoy the occasions when my bride goes away because it gives me the chance to work on projects that I can't do when she's around. Like those whole room demolitions...

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As far as Dockers go, they are nice trousers. Their just hopelessly out of vogue(I retired my Dockers collection in '99. They served me well.) Funny pants comment: Have you noticed how ALL men's dress pants now come with a 1"-2" stretch waistband?


Dockers are not "nice trousers" unless you have at least a 36" waist. Eddie Bauer just doesn't cut it either- all their clothes give you is a bubble for a butt and three extra yards of fabric around the waist of your shirt. If I ever grow up and get a real job I'm going to need my own tailor to make shirts and jackets that fit me. Clothing shopping shows triathletes the sorry state of American fitness.

LIfe's little challenges and ironies...

Too bad about your weather, I did the twentieth annual Run to the Far Side in Golden Gate Park this morning. Sunny, brisk, beautiful... My first RTTFS was the frist ever in 1984, the year I came back to CA from Chicago. I'll never live in snow country again.

Cleaning house is great, if you have the inclination. I look at the mess around me and wish I had the drive. Instead, I surf the net, run, ride, swim, hit the weights or read a book. Fortunately for me, my GF is OK with things not being perfect. Of course we're in CA, where folks spend a lot more time outdoors in the winter. I think if we were confined by snow and freezing temps, I'd want the house to be cleaner and so would she!

Meanwhile, we get older. Next year I age up to old double-nickel and discount breakfasts at Denny's. It's scary, but the great part is that I'm still out there and still doin' what I can. I play stuff like Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Skynyrd, Allman Bros and Cream's Wheels of Fire in my spin class. One day I asked if anyone remembered Cream or knew when the album was recorded. No one knew... I was there, Winderland in SF, 1968. Many of my spinners weren't even born and them that was was still in diapers. Meanwhile, I can outswim, outride and outrun most of them, except for a few of the really young ones who train with me regularly - so life is good.

The point is, be here now. Enjoy what's going on, because it will change. Next year, several of my better athletes will probably beat me. Not long after that, I'll wander of to the tri-coaches graveyard to lay down and die...

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Cousin Elwood - Team Over-the-hill Racing
Brought to you by the good folks at Metamucil and Geritol...

..."be here now"

Ram Dass. Read that my first year of college. Probably ought to dig it out and read it again. Good book.

Well, I agree with you up to a point. In the early '90's, the de rigueur uniform of retail flunkies(like myself) was the Land's End denim jersey with khaki Dockers. Then, when I got a 'real job', the uniform was a white Oxford with Khaki Dockers(computer geeks trying to look like math professors). One thing: I like to have room to move. Any pants I buy have to pass the 'horse stance/crescent kick' test. If I can't get into a low stance and kick over my head, I'm not buying the pants. But that's just me.

I generally buy my pants one pair at a time, because it's hard to find more than one pair of 33's on the rask/shelf at a time, but for low maintenance/utility/longevity, the Dockers are still hard to beat.

As I have said before though, unless you are willing to have all your clothes tailored, or you are lucky enough to find the rare 'fitted' shirts, you are doomed to go through life looking like you are wearing your older brother's hand-me-downs.

I by no means have a perfect body(5'8", 160-170), but as you say, if you have a waist less than 36", shopping for clothes that make you look good is tough. The problem with tailoring is that if your weight wavers by ten pounds throughout the year(as mine does, sadly) tailored clothes won't always fit right.

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By the way, you should check out a band named The White Stripes. Judging from your spin class playlist, I think you might really like them.

You're ahead of your time - at least by my standards. However, I am told OCD peaks in one's mid-twenties.

Sizes are also going up. I wear 31-32, but know I am really a 33-34. A 36 inch waist now is equal to a 38 a few years ago. Same for women who think they are a '6' or an '8.' Almost none of us could fit into clothes from the 50s. Sad but true.

I have some nice Dockers: They are getting pretty diverse. More importantly, they're $20 on sale.

Shouldn't be too hard to find.

Any pants I buy have to pass the 'horse stance/crescent kick' test. If I can't get into a low stance and kick over my head, I'm not buying the pants. But that's just me.
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Right on brother.

Mr Jim 3rd Dan Tae Kwon Do

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Jim

**Note above poster works for a retailer selling bikes and related gear*

I by no means have a perfect body(5'8", 160-170)...

Where did you get your definition of a perfect body? If I could wish upon a star I would be 6'2", 155lbs with long legs and a short torso (I'm 5'11", 150lbs with short legs and a long torso).

Sizes are also going up. I wear 31-32, but know I am really a 33-34. A 36 inch waist now is equal to a 38 a few years ago.

I hope you're kidding. When did 36" become a relative measure? I thought Dostoevsky was jesting when he said, "twice two is four, but five is nice as well".

It's true, I swear: I'm saying 36" jeans in 2004 are bigger than 36" jeans in 1984: This is just an educated guess, as far as menswear goes, from what I have observed. Could be the baggy look, I dunno.

Example: 32-inch Gap khakis I wore in 1988, when I was 18 and 145 are simply tighter than 32-inch Gap khakis I wear today, and I am a larger 155-pounder. No, I don't have them still, I just remember how they fit. And I'm talking about the waist, not the peg legs!

As for anything more 'standardized', though, such as Levis or Carharts I swear I now fit into skinnier sizes than I used to and my body hasn't changed too much.

As far as the women, I read a couple articles a couple years ago about how their sizes are increasing, too. A '6' in 2004 is generally bigger than a '6' was 30 years ago.

Sick! I just went into my closet with a tape measure. I measured from the beginning of the fabric on on the button side to the edge of the hole flap (where the seam is) on the hole side on the waist of my pants.

Results:

Abercrombie & Fitch Vintage 5 Pocket Corduroy, purchased Friday, new with tags - 34 inch waist (stated size: 32x32).

Express/Stucture Chinos, purchased about two years ago - 34 inch waist (stated size: 32x32).

Carhartt 5 pocket pants, purchased a few years ago - 32.5 inch waist (stated size: 32x32).

Probably the same place as everybody else: I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I know that I don't have it.

As indicated by wetsuit/tri/cycling gear sizing, however, I'm either 40 pounds overweight for my height, or 8-10" short for my weight.

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Ahhhh, well I certainly can't wait to get back into the snow! Although, it will kill my biking, but life goes on...and on....and on...and on. I'll touch base with you in a few weeks once we get all moved in.

By the way, how is the inversion so far this year?

The snow was the tolerable part. It was 17 degrees F. this morning when I went to spin class. That's just too cold. The inversion seems to set in faster each year, but so far this year the storms have moved through regularly enough to clear the air out after only a few days. But we're only in November...

Man...I'm certainly not looking forward to leaving the relatively clean (i.e., inversion-free) air of Portland for SLC. The more we think about it, the more appealing Park City is. The only trouble there is the commute.

[reply]Dockers are not "nice trousers" unless you have at least a 36" waist. Eddie Bauer just doesn't cut it either- all their clothes give you is a bubble for a butt and three extra yards of fabric around the waist of your shirt. [/reply]

have to agree with this, Eddie Bauer makes men's clothes for obese men only as far as I can tell. I guess that's their target market.. A 32 waist from them is about a 34, and there's enough room in there for a couple of 5lb bags of mud too.. (Dolly Parton, upon busting out of her dress, "my daddy always told me you couldn't fit 10lbs of mud into a 5lb bag").

I find 501 Levis still fit normal people, though. Land's End has a tall medium size in shirts that works well for me too.

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview