Probably my favorite poem, so far.

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven by William Butler Yeats

Another of My Unusual Ideas

I was once told by a girl that my hands were soft like a baby. I had only just met her that day and she wasn't trying to insult me, but I wasn't sure how to take it. I think I replied "...Thanks... I guess."

Anyway; I still have soft hands, so when I received the dumb-bells I ordered I found the grips a bit harsh. They're bare metal with an etched cross pattern. People told me to buy lifting gloves if it bothers me to much, which I have ordered. I had another idea, though. I decided handlebar tape might be a good way to go.

My brother's been into high end racing bicycles for years, so I was familiar with the product (he gave me a weird look, when I told him about my idea. He's also one of the people who told me to buy gloves). I found some handlebar tape for a reasonable price on amazon.com. In the box that came was enough tape for a road bicycle's handlebar, so you'll have plenty of tape left over. That's good, because if/when it wears out you won't have to buy more for a while. The handlebar tape came with two pre-cut strips of electrical tape to finish the ends. This may have been enough, but I decided to tape both ends of each grip (on bicycles you generally use tape near what I think are called the stem and headset. The other ends are generally capped at the hollow openings of the handlebars, but we don't have that option here. I used black electrical tape that's 7.5 mil thick and 3/4 inches wide. You may be able to use narrower tape, but I only just put this into practice so you'll have to find out on your own. You can also color coordinate if you want. I chose the blue and black tape, mostly because they were the least expensive, at the time. I've included pictures of the finished product below, to help you all see what I'm writing about.

So far, I'm liking it. Say what you will, but it's much more comfortable. Some people make arguments against lifting gloves and that type of thing. But I can't say I care. I don't want to have calluses on my hands.

Have fun.