the awesome allure

of items that aren't in commercial production yet, and which I probably could not afford if they were. But cool!

I rode only half my normal distance on Friday, and about two-thirds of it on Saturday. On Friday, at the conclusion of a week in which I worked many hours, and had only one lunch break, I went out back to get a piece of equipment and noticed that my rear tire was flat. Three little letters would express my reaction to that, and I'll leave you to guess which three. I don't carry a frame pump (yeah, I probably should), and fixing it on the spot would have been a pain anyway, so I called for backup. When we arrived home, I left the bike on the bike rack, using it as sort of a pseudo shop stand. I used the bathtub method to find the leak, patched it, and all was well with my biking world again. On Saturday, it just happened that my family passed me on my way home--they were returning from a soccer game. So they stopped to pick me up.

This slayed me.

I'm a big geek.

Yay, Sulu's getting married!

I am not a hockey mom.

And I am going to go ahead and blast Sarah Palin's parenting.

Not because of choices her children have made. I know full well that kids don't always behave in the ways their parents would like, and they deserve our continuing unconditional love and support anyway.

What I find utterly damning about Sarah Palin's parenting is that her position on abortion would potentially cause her own children to endure a pregnancy that was the result of rape or incest. (Citation here.) The lack of compassion present in that position is incomprehensible to me.

Here's a story: my own child was not the result of a neatly planned pregnancy. But I was (and am) married to a good man, in whom I could see the heart of a great dad, and I consciously *chose* to have a baby. And let me state this in unequivocal terms: it was the BEST, most joyous decision I ever made. The fact that it was a decision informs my parenting every day. This is the path I chose, and I have the responsibility to do everything in my power to make it worthwhile for all of us. I make mistakes--we all do. But I choose to do my best to show my kid that he is wanted and cherished, absolutely.

That's my story. Here's another one, abbreviated and incomplete, because it's not mine. In high school, I was friends with a girl. She was being raised by a single mom, and their finances were tight. Still, she found a way to get herself to college. At some point, she was still broke, she needed to get from point A to point B, and for whatever reason, hitchhiking was the option that she chose. She was picked up by a long-haul trucker, and he raped her. She got pregnant, and she had an abortion.

That story haunts me. She was someone I knew, and if I couldn't imagine myself in that position, not exactly, I could imagine her in that position. I could imagine her pain. I shudder at having to make a decision in that situation, and I cringe at the at the idea of a woman who believes she could make it for someone else. For her own daughters.

By the way, I still support Barack Obama

and check out these awesome anti-theft bike stands (via Bike Hugger).

My two main parking locations are at home and at work. At home, I noose a cable to connect the frame and the front wheel, then take the remaining loop in the cable and attach it and the frame to one of the posts on the front porch. Which you could saw through, but if we were home, such shenanigans would wake us up, and if we weren't, the dog would have a full-blown fit. She's a love, but she can sound quite ferocious. At work, it's the same strategy, only I'm locking to some huge metal pipe that comes down the back wall. If I stop at the grocery, the bike gets locked to one of the cart corrals, and all the peripherals go in with me. (Which always confuses the checkers and baggers--yes, I KNOW there is stuff in the bottom of the bag (my pannier). Put the groceries in anyway!)

A friend emailed me this op piece on why Sarah Palin is scary, and not to be trifled with.

Why I support Barack Obama

This is what I wrote when prompted in my profile at the campaign website.

Why I support Barack Obama: I support Barack Obama because I believe we need a President who believes in the American people--one who can inspire us to start believing in ourselves again. We need a national leader who is thoughtful, who can listen to a variety of viewpoints in a deep way, who can bring people together rather than drive them apart. I support Barack Obama because of his opposition to the war. I support him because he believes in diplomacy. I support him because I think the world he wants for his daughters is the world I want for my son--one in which the US is strong, but not arrogant; where we have a healthy economy that is not built on exploitation; where people are treated with dignity and respect without regard to gender, race, class or creed; where the environment is our treasure, not our plunder; where we try, and think, and work, and hope, and work some more.

(That's my main reason, above. Photo taken on the beach at Lincoln Park in October 2000, when he was 17 months old. Deluge followed very soon after the pix were taken.)

90 Days

As of today, it has been three months since I last drove to work. Although I was on vacation for two weeks, so I am requiring myself to bike for an additional two weeks before I think about driving, and truly, I will go for as long as possible after that. I am also confident that I will be able to start biking earlier in the year next year. Although I was biking pretty regularly in April and May.

This morning was very chilly--maybe 40 or so. However, I recently purchased a fleece and cycling jacket combination from REI, and gloves from my local bike shop, and I've been fairly comfortable on those brisk mornings and in the windy afternoons. I also bought a Buff head scarf thing, which works incredibly well as both a helmet liner and a neck gaiter.

Proper clothing makes all the difference.

That

was one hell of a speech.

Yay!

NPR story on electric bikes.

I think it overplays the "it's so easy!" aspect of things, but I was grateful for mine today. First day back at work after a two-week vacation, it was chilly and threatening rain*, also windy, and I carried mail. Flip the assist on, baby!

*I even fished out the rain cover for my pannier, since I was ferrying paperwork and returning books to my coworkers. It covers five sides of the cube, and while I'll have to wait for a wetter day to truly test it, it shows promise.

Also, Ted Kennedy. *sniff*

only exciting if you are me

In a final fit of Accomplishing Something While On Vacation, I cleaned my office.

Removed:

--1 1/2 bags* of recycled paper
--2 banker's boxes of magazines
--1 paper grocery bag of outgrown children's books
--1 banker's box of miscellaneous stuff to go to Goodwill
--1 banker's box of stuff to sell or swap

*These bags are the approximate size of a first grader.

I also revamped my filing system, cleared out the holding bin downstairs where my husband tosses my stuff which he doesn't know what else to do with it (or doesn't want to, which is fine), finished sewing the knitted top on a throw pillow--a project which has been languishing for at least three years, and fixed a sweater I'd made for the kid in order to pass it along to the younger cousins.

So, while I mostly screwed around, played Guitar Hero, and went camping, I did knock a couple of items off the to-do list....

at least I didn't get wakened at 3 am

B- U bsy? Cuz u didnt txt me.

(Aside: when we were camping, the kid had made friends with a pack of kids, and wanted to go over to their campsite. I told him he had to wait until the dad, the supervising adult, was back from the store. He started petitioning me: "Well, if Barack Obama went with me, could I go now? How about Hillary Clinton?" Yes, fine, but I think they're both a little busy right now...)

went campin'

I've been on vacation, and we went camping. Top to bottom: 1) My kid paddling a canoe from the rear position, never having done so before in his life. (He buddied up to a kid who was with a Boy Scout Troop at the same park we were camping at. One of the other scouts commented, when the boat, predictably, started drifting off course, "Mr. Kirby, we have a situation here.") 2) She Who Watches 3) A snail. 4) Touch-Me-Not Jewelweed. 5) Me, my husband, my mom, and my kid in front of the yurt we stayed in at Paradise Point State Park. It rained a lot when we were there--the yurt as awesome. We'd tent camped at our previous site, where it was 115 F one day. The difference a day and a couple hundred miles makes....

Like all such outings, it had its ups and downs, but all in all we had a fun time, and didn't do much. Which was the point.

Onai

With the addition of this guinea pig, the critters in our household now outnumber the humans.

I was initially entirely against the adoption of this little beastie, because rodents, ew. But he is terribly cute, and sweet, and the kid is extremely gentle with him. I call him the wee rattie. He's not, of course.

He is enjoying some green bell pepper in this photo.

zeropergallon.com

 
So far, I haven't been beat up because of my new sticker.

sending you away from my blog

I think everyone who believes in equality and fairness should carry a wallet photo of this picture.

Also, I am a Unitarian Universalist, too.

500!

Due to a bout of daydreaming in the shower about a situation that was bothering me, I was very nearly late for work on Monday, but I still stopped to photograph my bike computer when I hit 500 miles. (It's the last reading on the screen.) Speed is at the top (I was stopped), then ride time and trip distance. I'd forgotten to reset the computer after the previous day's ride, so those weren't accurate just then.

I rode part way home with one of the nurses from the medical clinic, which was kind of fun, even though my natural instinct is to wave a cheery hello and the pedal on by...

lame blogger steals meme. news at 11.

Lifting this meme from Michelle.


firsts

Who was your first prom date? I only went to my senior prom, and I went with my friend John. I wish we lived closer, because he is way fun, and so is his wife, and his kid, and our families totally get along.

Do you still talk to your first love? Oh hell no.

What was your first alcoholic drink? Probably some kind of wine cooler, and not much of it. I had a foolproof routine for ordering gin and tonics with my boss at the Peanut Barrel in East Lansing before I was of age. Foolproof except that I was drinking bad G&Ts--ick.

What was your first job? I taught music theory to 2-3 year olds.

What was your first car? Land yacht. 1976 Ford LTD. 8 whopping miles to the gallon.

Who was the first person to text you today? The coworker I text with is on vacation. I did text her, though.

Who is the first person you thought of this morning? Well, my husband, since the dumb cat woke us both up at the same time trying to walk around *behind* the blinds in our bedroom.

Who was your first grade teacher? Mrs. Donovan. She was kind of crabby, and I got in trouble for talking to my best friend. I was MORTIFIED.

Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane? Probably back to Grand Island, NE from college in East Lansing, MI.

Who was your first best friend and are you still friends? Cindy Grooms. We see each other about once a decade now.

What was your first sport played? Outside of PE class, softball. I played for several years, but ultimately quit because of an episode of appalling sportsmanship on the part of my teammates.

Where was your first sleepover? Probably at Grandma's.

Who was the first person you talked to this morning? My husband, cf the cat issue, above. The first *creature* I talked to was the CAT.

Whose wedding were you first in? I have mostly dodged that bullet, but I was the maid of honor in my sister's wedding when I was nursing my 3 1/2 month old baby. The dress was NOT designed for nursing moms.

What was the first thing you did this morning? FLIPPED ON THE COFFEEMAKER.

What was the first concert you went to? Lionel Richie, baby.

What was your first tattoo or piercing? Ears, age 12. I rarely wear jewelry other than my wedding rings and a ring that my friend Wendy made for me when the kid was born.

What was the first foreign country you went to? Canada, where I went to piano camp for a week, or maybe two.

What was your first run in with the law? Pleading the Fifth. Way too embarrassing.

When was your first detention? I was mortified when I got busted for TALKING in the first grade. Do you really think I ever had detention?

What was the first state you lived in? Nebraska. I still consider myself a native, even though I've been away for 22 years now.

Who was the first person to break your heart? Ugh. I'll say this: it wasn't worth it.

Who was your first roommate? April Tagge. Freshman year of college.

Where did you go in your first limo ride? To the wedding chapel in Las Vegas, the second time my parents got married.

new saddle

I haven't been completely happy with the saddle that came on my bike--it looked pretty good, but it wasn't that comfortable, and I wasn't that impressed by the quality of whatever synthetic the cover was made from.

I considered replacing it with one of many beautiful Brooks saddles, in part because they are what the original saddle was emulating. However, I decided that paying upwards of $100 for a new saddle was not what I needed to be doing right now. Not that they are not worth the price: on the balance, I think that they probably are.

Color was a consideration, because I just don't see a black saddle on my bike, and there aren't that many other options. This saddle is orange, but it's subtle enough to fall into the honey-colored leather spectrum. It's a synthetic with a nice feel, and an embossed flower print. The look of it on my bike isn't perfect, but it's nice enough, and I think I'll get used to it. Test ride says it's quite comfortable, though I'm probably going to be monkeying with the positioning for a while yet.

Also: Wall-E. AMAZING.

Farmer's Pasta Primavera

Sources on the ingredients: spaghetti and angel hair plus lemon all purchased at independent local natural grocery, organic zucchini grown by my father-in-law, peas and onions grown about 10 miles away and purchased at farmer's market, carrots purchased from regional grower at farmer's market, regional supermarket broccoli and garlic.

Can you tell I recently read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?

hey, I'm supposed to be paying bills. time to blog!

(insert annoyance about small, time-consuming aggravations here)

Anyway.

I dragged my family to the farmer's market today. I went by myself last week, but harassed them to come with me today. I bought organic carrots, chioggia beets, and bing cherries, and possibly organic, but very, very local potatoes, peas, onions, and lettuce. Local as in 25 miles away, tops. When we got home, I cleaned what needed cleaning, cut things up, shelled the peas. Weirdly (or not), it's much easier to attend to that sort of thing when you just bought the veggies from the person who grew them. The kid helped me with the peas, even though he refuses to eat them.

Yesterday, I made grissini. Again with the connections sort of thing, the recipe I used came to me via one of the letter carriers in the office, who had brought it in from one of the older ladies on his route. I am not a great baker (cf too-doughy pizza dough, and rock-hard loaves of bread), but I have been wanting to give it a shot for awhile now. And it worked! For what it's worth, I accomplished this on a day when a saner person would NOT have turned on the oven...

Weekly mileage: 49.04, BAT/KAT trips 13

well, hi.

I am just about recovered. From carrying mail in the heat, from freezing to death on the 4th of July (NOT FAIR), from waiting impatiently for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to arrive.

I am still sadly lacking in all enthusiasm, but I think it's because I need a break, which I will get in a few weeks.

And then, sometime, there will be an extra break, because at the FREEZING COLD FOURTH OF JULY EVENT, we somehow won a raffle prize for three days on the ocean. I didn't even know that the boys had purchased a ticket until the kid called me to tell me WE WON.

That's all for now.