damn you, internet

As you may have gathered from reading my blog in the past, I'm not exactly the busiest person. This leads to a lot of internet surfing, and a lot of messageboard browsing.

That shouldn't be a problem, except the more messageboard browsing I do, the more money I spend on things I never would have known about had I just found something better to do with my time.

For example, yesterday on bikeforums.net, I came across this thread , where I learned that Lance Armstrong and Team Discovery website The Paceline were having a sale on cycling gear. Normally, I'm not the type of person who rides in a professional cycling team kit; It's sort of laughable, like putting on a full Indiana Pacers team uniform to play pickup basketball. There are advantages to wearing what the pros wear in cycling equipment; you're sure that the clothing will be comfortable and breathable, because these guys put more miles in than anyone.

In any case, suddenly I decided that I needed a full Team Discovery kit. And the reasoning is this: 1) the bibshorts, which go for $200 at Trek's online store, were selling for $45. The jersey was $40, normally $99. 2) If you're going to root for a professional cycling team, you might as well root for the America based cycling team, right? 3) I was in need of new shorts anyway. And I might as well have the jersey to match. 4) It's Christmas time, and I deserve to spend a ton of money on myself. I guess.

The other thing I realized was that to the average person driving in their car while I'm biking by, I look like a dork anyway, regardless of what sort of cycling gear I'm wearing. One of the main reasons to wear the ridiculous clothing is to get noticed (and not run over), and my new kit should do a hell of a job there. I'm a rolling billboard for a television channel, AMD processors, some flooring company, Nike, Subaru... in fact, my ass will read "Discovery Channel".

I think that might be some sort of pun.

Of course all this could have been avoided if the internet wasn't my own "discovery channel" - discovering ways to throw money out the window.