It’s been quite the day.

This evening, Jacob had a new first. He requested I read him an owner’s manual for his bedtime story. Yes, I’m sure years from now, he will still remember how to operate a Motorola W376g cell phone. He had found the manual in its box and had been carrying it around, “reading” it to himself for days already. I can feel him following in my footsteps – I remember pulling the car manual out of the glove box on long trips and reading it. For fun.

So yes, Jacob chose an owner’s manual over nice children’s bedtime books involving caterpillars.

This morning, I set out on what would be a 43-mile bike ride – home to Wichita. It was about 28F when I left. I had been wanting to ride from home to Wichita for some time now, and finally found the right day. The wind was at my back (mostly), the sun was shining (I even got burned a bit), and the ride was fun. It took me about 4.5 hours, including the 1.5 hours I spent for lunch and other breaks. I didn’t take a completely direct route, but that was intentional.

This is my second-farthest ride in a day, behind the time I rode 55 miles in a day for charity. But it is the farthest I’ve gone in winter.

I was taking the bike to the bike shop for its free 6-month tuneup. So I even had the perfect excuse to ride it. I hope to ride it back home if the weather is cooperative.

As for the third milestone, while I was riding to Wichita, Barack Obama and Joe Biden were riding a train to Washington. I recorded it, and have been watching it this evening. Remembering all they said during the campaign, seeing how they act — it really does give me some hope in this country’s government, some hope that some important things will be accomplished in the future. One TV commentator pointed out that the Bush administration carefully avoided using the word “recession” as long as they possibly could, while Obama is trying as hard he can to be straight and direct with people about the situation. I appreciate that. What a milestone the next few days represent for the country.