shovelhd

gmt and rbart, may they RIP. I lost my father in 1981. He never saw me race. Neither has my mother, but she was ecstatic when I told her that I was racing again. I lost my father in law right about this time last year.

jwible

Condolences rbart. My father passed away Thanksgiving 2003. My wife was 5 months pregnant with our first. It was a very bitter pill for me to swallow. On the one side is the relief that the suffering is over. On the other is the buckets of regret that keep getting thrown in your face.

shovelhd

Nobody deserves that. Be strong.

rkwaki

Interesting when reading all of these posts and the emotion that is behind the words. My journey with my father has been an interesting one and it wasn't until October this year that my dad and I hopped in my convertible on a beautiful fall day and went for a 3 hour drive through the backwoods that I finally expressed to him things I have thought for years. It culminated with us both in tears on the side of the road and him apologizing for many things (as did I due to the fact that I can be an ass). Much of my drive comes from wanting to please my father who can be very unemotional and cold.
I learned that life is too short and can be taken away at any moment (we are all reading about it today) and that guilt (not expressing one's love for another) can be overwhelming.

I was going through a tough time this year and had a friend call me (also a cyclist), we had a nice conversation about life away from the bike and he ended the conversation with a simple "I love you my friend" - I was speechless and in tears.

Don't wait til tomorrow what you can express today.

As I have not told anyone new today (as is my daily goal), I love you my friends and I hope you have a great day.

echappist

Sorry to heard that, condolences to your and your family.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. The thing is that the last (and maybe the only) time i had any substantiate conversation spoke to the third guy was almost two years ago at my 2nd-year defense. It's the lack of what to talk about that's making me anxious more than anything else.

The second guy, well, has been through quite a bit and I've known him for a long time. I think i may end up going the gift certificate route, wrapped in some fancy little box. We just got a nice coffee place on campus, and everyone could always use a bit of treat or coffee.

MDcatV

rbart, condolences

rkwaki

This is me being me and don't take it the wrong way but don't be a pu$$y - having uncomfortable conversations (especially with the person you are discussing on your thesis committee) are very important in the development of life skills, kind of like having to make a really tough phone call. The fact that you are approaching him and making the attempt far outweighs the content of the conversation. Just do it.

If you have nothing to talk about you can talk about the most interesting thing on this board....
rkwaki

Yet again bwahahahaha

big john

Not sappy at all. It's you wanting them to see your passion, something that is a part of who you are. I wish I could have told my father many things about me.

kensuf

This one's for shovel..

Tom Brady, after living a full life, died. When he got to heaven, God was showing him around. They came to a modest little house with a faded Patriots flag in the window. "This house is yours for eternity Tom, said God. "This is very special; not everyone gets a house up here." Tom felt special, indeed, and walked up to his house. On his way up the porch, he no......ticed another house just around the ...corner. It was a huge 3-story mansion with Orange and Blue sidewalks and drive ways, a 50 foot tall flagpole with an enormous Broncos logo flag waving, a swimming pool in shape of a horse, a Broncos logo in every window, and a Tim Tebow jersey on the front door. Tom looked at God and said "God, I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but I have a question. I was an all-pro QB, I won 3 Super Bowls, and I even went to the Hall of Fame." God said "So what's your point Tom?" "Well, why does Tim Tebow get a better house than me?"

God chuckled, and said "Tom, that's not Tim's house, it's mine."

Nate552

condolences rbart.

ridethecliche

Condolences.

shovelhd

kensuf

MDcatV

old joke, but inaccurately told kensuf. Everyone knows that God is a Steelers fan.

carpediemracing 

A fervent cyclist, a die hard fan, dies and goes to Heaven. St Peter is there, greets him. Shows him a beautiful velodrome, tells the cyclist that it's Heaven, he can have anything and everything, the best. So the cyclist gets an unobtanium featherweight bike that is laterally stiff and vertically compliant. It's so slim it disappeared when viewed head on. It has aero wheels that wind up instantly, silky smooth bearings, a barely there chain. It fits perfectly, jumps like a scalded cat, it's a great bike. He kits himself up with angel fabric, lighter than air, beautiful and aero, light, the perfect mix of breathability and protection (no helmet because, you know, this is Heaven). His shoes are like slippers, so light, but rigid, transferring all his power to the spindly thin but strong pedals with just enough float but enough rigidity.

He gets out on the track and starts rolling around effortlessly. He goes faster and faster, the wind rushing by his ears, tears starting to stream from his eyes. He goes even faster, pedaling a gazillion rpms, spinning like mad, the tires smoking as they scrabble for traction. He's leaning so hard he's almost laying down on the track, and yet he's still struggling to keep the bike down toward the apron.

Then, unbelievably, another rider rockets past him like he's standing still.

And again.

And again.

Demoralized, our fervent cyclist slows and drops down into the infield. St Peter is there to hold him up as he stops.

"Wow, that guy was so fast! That must have been Eddy Merckx!"

"No, that was God. He was just pretending to be Eddy."

mollusk

Not so! Students give us a lot of grief.

jwible

Nobody is throwing it. Just the waves of "I wish, I shoulda, we could have..."

shovelhd

That's good. My experience was exactly the opposite.

echappist

i actually fully agree with you, and this case, i am being a pu$$y.

i'm usually fine with having uncomfortable conversations, whether it's discussing things with my boss or calling people to set up a date as opposed to text. This guy, though, does strike fear. I'm hoping to know him a bit better through the next year after my next defense (last one before thesis defense), and i guess this is my way of prying open the door. It really does feel as if grad school emasculates me at times...

waterrockets 

A priest woke up on the first great weather of the spring, but it was Sunday morning. He decided not to waste this perfect day, and go play a round of golf. He called in sick and let another priest run his mass schedule for him, and headed out to play golf.

Up in heaven, Jesus and St. Peter were watching. St. Peter says to Jesus, "Wow, that's pretty bad. What do you think we should do to him?"

Jesus replied, "You know that first par 3?"

"Yeah..."

"Well I'm going to give him a hole in one."

"What!?" exclaimed St. Peter. "Why would you do that?"

"Who's he gonna tell?"

hammy56

lol...I use to play a lot of golf, and was pretty good. The only time I ever went alone to play a round, I got my only hole-in-one.

fortunately I was paired up with a few guys, so it wasnt completely un-noticed.

tombailey

One day Jesus was out playing golf and as usual St Peter was caddying. Jesus was having a great day out on the links and was one under par until the 7th hole. The 7th hole was a 165 yard par three with a big lake just in front of the green.

Jesus said "Ah! I remember this hole, Seve Ballesteros hit a seven iron to two feet and made an easy birdie here a couple of years ago! Give me the seven iron please."

St Peter replied "With all due respect, you're not Seve. You need a six iron here."

"No way! Now give me the seven iron."
"OK then, suit yourself."

Jesus lines up his shot and hits a beautiful high draw that covers the pin all the way.... until it goes "splash" two yards shy of the green. "Give me a new ball" Jesus says. St Peter obliges and another ball goes "splash." This procedure is repeated until Jesus runs out of balls.

At this point Jesus is slightly annoyed to say the least and he decides to go fetch his balls from the water in a way only he can. He starts walking across the water and when he's about 20 yards out another golfer notices what's going on.

"Hey! What's he doing, does he think he is Jesus or something?" shouts the other golfer that doesn't recognize Jesus in his plus-fours.

"No, he IS Jesus. He thinks he's Seve Ballesteros!" is St Peter's reply.

jwible

The day before my wedding we had the traditional round of golf with the guys. My father in law hits on in the water on a Par 3. Frustrated, he pulls out another ball tees it up and holes it out from the tee box. His brother in law looks at him and just says "nice par" and starts walking to the green.

Racer Ex 

rbart, thoughts are with you.

Racer Ex 

Kim Jong Il dying on the heels of Havel is yet another example of the universe trying to maintain equilibrium. I hesitate to speculate what this may cause:

shovelhd

For the road bike?