"I need someone over twenty one to sign for this."
And then he gives one of those looks like "this is naughty stuff" at whatever aghast customer is at the counter.
I have to then say, "It's wine. For gifts."
And the customer and FedEx guy exchange knowing glances.
"Right. Wine. For gifts."
Of course, the two drivers have different styles. The UPS guy walks right in, says hi, how many boxes he dropped off, I sign, he's gone.
The FedEx guy is more like a ninja.
I'll be talking or eating or on the phone and look up and suddenly it's the FedEx guy, standing there, smiling, electronic pad in hand.
Then, after I finish choking on my food or trying to explain to the customer on the phone why I suddenly cried out in surprise, I'll grab the fake pen and sign the real pad.
He's really quite stealthy, and he has no problem roaming the store, looking for a signator (is that the right word?). In fact I half expect him to pop up in the bathroom, smiling, electronic pad extended my way.
Anyway, the other day the UPS guy came in, I signed, he left.
Usually he drops off boring things, small engine parts, maybe a gift for the daughter getting married tomorrow.
But I knew, I just knew, that this was my delivery.
I ran after him into the warehouse area, looking for a new box amongst the thousands of pounds of grain and feed and concrete and pellets and salt and sand and whatever else we have back there.
Voila! It was there, shining like a beacon in a dark storm.
Or like a small cardboard box that didn't fit in. It was too small, placed on top of a pile of grain, and it just didn't belong.
I grabbed the very small box, looked closely at the fine print (I'm getting old I think, but I tell people it's the dim light in the warehouse), read the label.
Addressed to me.
From World Cycling Videos.
Oh yeah!
I got out my trusty knife, carefully cut open the box, and shazam, I had a bunch of DVDs.
Of course I couldn't keep this to myself, everyone asked what I got, and lo and behold, I am sharing.
My latest additions to the stable are as follows:
2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 Giros
2007 Paris Roubaix
2003 Tour of Romandie (includes Tour de Suisse)
2005 Ghent Wevelgem and Het Volk
2004 Paris Nice
2007 Tour
I thought I ordered a few Ghents but apparently not. I also forgot about Romandie, Nice, and the 08 Giro. I'll take that trade, I think I came out ahead. I had my reasons to buy each one, and ultimately I hope to review them individually, by era. My short list of "Why" follows:
2003 Giro - Simoni wins his last Giro.
2004 Giro - Cunego wins what seems like his first and last Grand Tour
2005 Giro - Salvodelli, an insanely good descender, wins the Giro, I think partly due to a descent.
2008 Giro - Contador's grand entrance, and Levi is there. Also the team wasn't very good at the beginning and overcame adversity (cracked bone for Contador I think).
2007 Paris Roubaix - O'Grady wins.
2003 Tour of Romandie - Tyler wins, and it matches his 2003 LBL which I find inspiring. I don't care about Vino's Tour de Suisse.
2005 Ghent and Het - because I don't know who won each one, and I like these races the best.
2004 Paris Nice - CSC did incredible teamwork. I remember reading about it and thinking, I can't believe they pulled it off.
2007 Tour - I never saw footage of it, and I'd like to see the whole Rasmussen thing, Levi's 10 seconds (or whatever), and Contador. Plus I got the 12 hour version so it's good for 6 regular rides or 3 or 4 long ones. It may be my late Feb "training camp" DVD (i.e. my basement training camp).
So some pictures of my current DVD collection. "Current" means it's in the box under the DVD player in front of my trainer. This doesn't include a bunch of VHS tapes (which I backed up onto DVD so I can watch them in the dungeon). That'll be a different post.
Only the top right is new. The bottom left was signed by Lemond himself. I like the 2006 race, ditto the Lemond set.
New to me. No idea what happens in these races except Jorg Jaske (of Puerto fame) wins the one on the right. If I hide one I may not remember I got it.
I watch the 2003 LBL regularly. The finale is quite motivating. I hope the 2003 Tour of Romandie inspires half as much.
The 92-93 PRs are awesome. 2003 is a bit long. 2007 is new to me.
I really like the chaos of the Giro - small roads, weird courses, narrow finishes. And guys just leaving it all out on the road. I think if I hide one of these I won't miss it. I forgot I got the 2008 one even though I just had it in my hand while I was taking pictures. Had to shift all the DVDs over to make room for it.
Because I forgot that I took pictures of a couple of them above, they're in here. But "Blood, Sweat, and Gears" is relatively new, so is Race Day. The Quest 2 is about a year old. I tend to watch the "documentary" clips once or twice and then leave them be. The racing I can watch over and over. I seem to have left out the Telekom one, it's somewhere else now.
Because everyone laughs when I say I like this movie...
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6 comments:
nice. the '05 Giro was the go-to DVD for the long rollers sessions that a friend and i had last february. salvodelli's descending was unreal.
what you said about the giro - last year was my first year watching it the way i've watched the tour for the past few years (you know: wake up, watch a bit over breakfast, go to work, put an earphone in, watch the exciting final, um, two hours of the stage...). and it seems like so much more of a free-for-all than the tour, and that is very, very exciting.
You hit it on the head re: the Giro - it's a free for all. It's much more uncertain, but when the hammer falls, it usually blows the race apart.
A long time ago the standard rule was: "It's easy to lose time but it's very, very hard to make up time." This related to Lemond when he did the Giro. Lose a few seconds here, a few seconds there, and your Giro was over. But to win it, you could never be sure because the next day *you* may be losing that few seconds.
Very grippy.
due to horrible short term memory i forgot the title of the post as i was reading it and started to think you received the new frame! regardless, i need to start building my dvd collection for trainer sessions as i only have a couple. and i love boondock saints
Boondock Saints is a peculiar movie, I have to admit. But it strikes a chord with some. I learned of it through the Counterstrike "clan" I played with so it came with some (good) baggage.
Anyway, the frame isn't here. It seems more people asked about that than anything else on the group ride today. Soon though. I foresee a late night next week.
I think I heard a rumor that they're coming out with a sequel to the Boondock Saints...
I think part of the free-for-all aspect of the Giro is that, okay, yeah, it's big time, but it's still a step below the Really Big Time; there's a sense that the big teams aren't quite fielding their A squad, and that some struggling pro (or whole team) might get some major recognition for winning a stage that could lead to Bigger and Better things. It's a big stage to perform on that also promises to be a stepping stone. So everyone wants to take advantage of it.
nol - actually, the movie came out and totally bombed. I expect to see it in the netflix queue soon :)
Agreed on the Giro. I have a few to watch now. Heh.
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