Weekend

Overall, I had a great weekend, with only a couple short workouts.

Friday night, I tried to install the bike rack on my new car and discovered that the rack doesn't fit the bars. Considering that the rack and the bars are both Subaru parts, I'd think they'd fit just fine. I'm going to the dealer today to see what's up.

Saturday morning, my wife and I got up early and did five miles with a friend. On our way to the run, we dropped our dogs off at the kennel for an overnight stay. By the end of a hilly 5, my hamstring was complaining some, so I stopped, but my wife ran a couple extra miles to our local farmers market. I drove to the local coffee shop to get us some coffee while she finished running. Then, we did our weekly produce shopping and headed home.

By early afternoon, we were on the road to Albany to see Green Day in concert. I've been going to concerts on a regular basis for about 30 years now and this might have been the best show I've ever seen. Previously, I would have ranked a 1983 show in Philadelphia by Talking Heads at the top, but I think this show exceeded that show in many ways.

Billy Joe, the lead singer and true leader of Green Day was just full of energy for about 2.5 hours. He expected the audience to participate in many, many ways. Some people were brought onstage to sing, others to play guitar, one small boy was used as a "prop" in the intro to a song, and another small boy was brought onstage to shoot a water cannon at fans.

They played about half of their new album, half of their previous release and then most of their hits from earlierreleases. They also goofed around, bringing in small snippets of Sweet Home Alabama, Crazy Train, Ironman, Freebird, Swanee, I'll Be There and Earth Angel.

The audience was "required" to sing a lot of the lyrics, and for a punk/power-pop band like Green Day, not ever lyric is easily understood. The show wasn't even sold out, but that didn't seem to deter the band at all. They were simply full of energy and enthusiasm for the entire show. This show came at the mid-point of their current tour, so I'm guessing that they've got any kinks worked out and they aren't yet burned out in any way. How Billy Joe can throw out that much energy night after night is amazing.

We got home late after the show and then slept in on Sunday. When I finally got out of bed, I started getting ready for a bike ride and then it started to rain. So, we went for groceries instead (mostly proteins to eat with Saturday's veggie haul). The weather turned out OK, despite a nasty forecast, and I could have ridden, but it wasn't a big deal. Instead, after shopping, my son and I played racquetball for an hour. Then, I let him practice driving for a while. I offered to let him drive the entire way home, but he doesn't feel ready for real traffic yet, so I'm not pushing him.

Then, a nice dinner of fresh veggies and chicken on the grill, and the weekend was over.

Tonight, I'll lift after work.