Hey, better late than never, right?

Way back in college I got an earring. As is the case with these kinds of things all too often, one earring turned into three in the course of a few years. What the hell, right? Back then it was cool. If you can call a sorta preppy looking cycling nerd with earrings cool.

Then around 15-20 years ago I started wearing rings. Again, at first it was just one and then over the course of a few years the number grew to five on one hand and three on the other.

Sheesh.

You know how when change occurs over time you are less aware of it? That was me. Oh sure, every once in a while I would find myself in a situation where I felt awkward like buying gas in some one horse town out in the boonies with shaved legs, wearing fruity (read: surf) shorts and sporting earrings in both ears and rings on almost every finger. But the effect would wear off pretty darn fast and soon I'd return to my little fashion island that is Capitol Hill and where I was the 'normal' guy and all was well.

But then you get older. And your values - or at least your sense of style - changes a little. And you start to look around.

Hmm... not too many guys who I think look really classy are sporting the triple hoops in their ears and the dueling brass (or silver and titanium in my case) knuckles. More and more I think it's about who you are and what you do and NOT what you wear that makes the person. I think I used to associate something significant with this jewelry and when I try to find that now it just isn't there.

Besides, when I got married it seemed sorta silly to have more than one ring on my left hand. I totally love my wedding ring, what it signifies and having it be the only ring I'm wearing helps it stand out that much better.

ASIDE - long ago after my divorce I was all about doing whatever Martin wanted. I came first and all that... Part of that was wearing all these rings that I liked again, which meant that both of my ring fingers were adorned. And I could never figure out why some women hesitated when I made an advance. Duh... Men can be such idiots.

So a few weeks ago I ditched all the extra rings. And last night on my 45th birthday I took out all the earrings.

OMG.

I know, I know, heavy stuff.

What's really funny is how different I feel. What is different? Pretty much nothing except for how complete strangers might perceive me. You know, stuff that really matters. Not. Part of me thinks I'm finally growing up. :) Did I mention I just cut my hair short again?

Wow, I might have to start singing a different tune here.

Lance is just not my favorite guy. He seems totally narcissistic, self-centered and appears to have absolutely bailed on his wife and kids and then went and had another child with a girl he had dated for what, six months? Nice. Plus,prior to his recent comeback he just never warmed up to the media.

Anyway, today on cyclingnews.com I read a quote that made me do a double take.

"Sometimes I get frustrated with people who criticize his return, and then what, they're going to sign up and cheer when David Millar returns? It's the same thing. You've served your suspension, let's get back on the bike and race," he said, using the EPO-confession of the British star as evidence of the fans' hypocrisy.

"There's no point in criticizing Basso, criticizing Landis, or criticizing anyone… if you've paid your penalty, this is normally how society works. Let's forgive and forget and get on down the road.

"Obviously Floyd's a friend of mine, he's a former teammate and he has a lot of fans. In that sense, you've got to remember that Floyd might have been found guilty but at the end of the trial if you polled the people, 50 percent thought he was innocent – in regard to that it's good that he's back."

I agree 100 percent.

So why am I still buggin'? Because in my humble opinion Lance cheated and never served any suspension. Just the opposite in fact. Because of his connections, celebrity status and wealth he got access to cancer drugs and treatments that mere mortals could not. Everything was totally fast tracked with no waiting period and when he survived he was the media darling. Oh sure, he might be clean now but to me it's like justice never got served.

Whatever.

Good to hear that he's in favor of these guys racing and of forgiving past indiscretions.

My phone is broken, it happened last night. Amazing how much I miss it already.

No more email, text messages, no more Facebook on the go, no more Twitter updates; how did I ever manage without one way back when? I suppose once I manage to work my way through the five stages of grief I might feel liberated but right now I'm just bummed and lonely.

Oh yeah, and I can't make any calls or check voicemail either. Did I mention that my home phone is forwarded to my mobile? Good grief. The replacement better arrive soon. Kinda makes one feel like an addict, eh? Yep, sure does.

So, what did Martin get? Well, I really liked what I had so I got it again, the T-Mobile Dash:

Why you ask? Well, my carrier is T-Mobile so the iPhone was not an option and I use Microsoft Exchange for email so Windows Mobile is good and we just switched to a my Favs plan and I think it's great so the phone had to be compatible with that technology. Besides, except for the small display I really like this phone a lot.

I did seriously consider the G1 but it's actually really limited if you want to connect to anything but a Google service. No ActiveSync, no support for Hotmail/Windows Live; just IMAP, POP3 and Google. But damn, it sure has a nice feel, keyboard and display size...

Oh well, now I will have an extra battery and charger. :)