SpokEasy

October 2020

Not So BOOtiful

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Things were not so \”bootiful\” this morning. In fact, I was quite disappointed. All month I looked forward to seeing the Hallowe\’en full moon. While Zeta was out there, I was worried that it might arrive for the weekend, and spoil the view. Zeta blasted through in the middle of the week, so it wasn\’t a moon-viewing hindrance. Yesterday I checked the forecast, and it said \”mostly clear\”. This morning it wasn\’t any \”mostly clear\”. The sky was almost completely overcast! When the moon finally peeked out from behind the clouds, it was rather dim; not so bootiful, you could say. I\’m trying to console myself with the fact that I did see the Hallowe\’en blue moon. Enough about the moon now. I had planned to ride to the salvage store this morning, but decided to hit Whole Foods instead. I wanted to get tofu; and I\’ve seldom or never seen it at the salvage store. As it turned out, Whole Foods didn\’t have any firm tofu today; but at least I did get some tofu. It\’s good until December, so I bought two containers of it. I got Caramel Toffee protein powder to try; and now that we\’re on the threshold of November, my thoughts are turning to birthday-present-to-myself. Lately I\’ve been wishing I could get a new pepper mill full of green peppercorns, but I haven\’t seen any such thing in any store. Today I got pink salt to try, instead. Again, I\’ve left laundry for Saturday. If I want the space I\’ll need for it, I have to go clean up the kitchen!

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One L or Two?

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One L or Two?   Think again. Llamas have been used as pack animals for many centuries. But apparently they’re poorly suited as riding animals, except perhaps for very small children; and I, for one, am not a very small child. So it’s back to the old touring bicycle. Or, how about riding a mountain bike; and having a llama accompany you, carrying your stuff? As long as you’re not hurtling downhill at 60 mph, a llama should be able to keep up. Do you love a really challenging bike trip? Try Peru’s Great Divide. This six-day route includes over 29,000 feet of climbing; and is mostly unpaved. On a difficulty scale of 1-10, it’s rated 8. If you don’t live at high altitude already, I guess a hypoxic mask is a must while preparing for this adventure; and don’t forget the warm clothing! Naturally the Great Divide isn’t the only two-wheeled adventure to be found in Peru. Many of the routes involve a lot of climbing; but happily for non-climbers, there are some more or less flat routes. Aside from llamas and the Andes, Peru makes me think of Callao; the harbor from which the Kon-Tiki expedition set sail. I think it would be interesting to see that. Back to cycling adventures in the Land of the Llama. Get some cold-weather gear for those high altitudes; insect repellent for lower elevations; and maybe inquire about hiring a lama … llama … one L, or two? This blog/page may contain affiliate links. “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”

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Hurricane Guest

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\”Hurricane Guest\” was the title of a book I found in my school\’s library when I was about eleven years old. It told of a boy whose British pen-pal arrived for a visit just as a hurricane was moving in. We\’ve had a hurricane guest, too. Zeta came through last night; and few guests have ever been less welcome! I lost power yesterday at about 4:50 pm. Without electricity I couldn\’t access the Internet; my landline was dead; and of course there were the concerns about all the food in my fridge and freezer. I couldn\’t even read much because the light wasn\’t good enough. Around 11 am I went for a short bicycle ride. I used the hybrid, in case the path had a lot of storm debris (twigs, etc.) on it; but the surface was clear. The snag came about 3 miles from home in the shape of yellow Caution tape across the path; and some downed power lines. Just before I got back home, I saw a big tree on the ground in the next street to mine. I guess that explains the local power outage! The power stayed off until around 7:10 this evening. Once it was back on, I lost no time googling how long food stays good during a power outage. What I found says, up to 4 hours in the fridge, and 48 hours in the freezer. So the freezer stuff is OK, but much of the fridge stuff had to go.😞

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Montana

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Montana Montana, aka the Big Sky State, is home to Adventure Cycling! I think it would be fun to stop by their headquarters; pick up some of their route maps; and take off for some, you know, adventures. So many paths to choose from! They’re sprawled all over the map of the USA, with one even extending into Canada. As far as I can remember, I’ve never spoken with anybody who has ridden any of these routes. I certainly have a lot of questions: Why did you choose any one particular route? For “scenic value”? Because you have friends or relatives in a location along the way, and you wanted to visit them? Were there some great national parks to see? Was your preferred route fairly flat; or did you want a trip with a lot of challenging climbs? How much time did you need to allow for your trip? What kind of pace did you use? Casual; or pushing it? Did you need to take along camping equipment? Did you cook your meals every day? Were you able to find fresh foods easily? How about doing laundry along the way? I suspect that certain routes are better tackled at certain times of year. For example, I don’t want to think of taking a cycling tour across an arid region during the hot season! If you want to stay in Montana, there’s Glacier National Park. You can bike on your own; or take a guided tour. Explore other parts of the state; either as a roadie or on a MTB. Whatever you choose to do, may you have smooth roads and plenty of Big Sky overhead.  

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Distraction

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Distraction is the name of the game this morning. I don\’t mean that I have boisterous kids horsing around while I\’m trying to work. Hurricane Zeta is approaching! As I get this blog post started, before 9 am, things are quiet. I just peeked out the window, and it looked like it was windstill. The sky is overcast, which is a good thing. It will keep things from getting too hot before storm conditions actually set in. I know, I ought not to work on blogs when I\’m on the job. But I don\’t want to have the power go out before I can do any blogging! I don\’t want my trash can and recycling bin to go flying when those hurricane-force winds arrive. I got out my bicycle cable lock and attached the bins\’ handles to the fence. Of course there\’s the chance that the wind will line up precisely with the narrow space between my building and the house next door, and tear the handles off of the bins. But even if that does come about, at least I tried. Car owners who have to park on the street — the majority of car owners in this \’hood, I\’d say — will have their special worries. Flying debris can easily smash windows, and if the wind is strong enough it can even shove vehicles around. I\’ve been finishing this post during morning break. That\’s one less distraction! I\’m very glad that I\’m not frantically trying to buy canned goods and bottled water at this, the eleventh hour. All those excursions to the salvage store really pay off at times like this. Now I have to get back to the job again.

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Not in a Teapot

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Not in a teapot, the current tempest out there! It\’s much bigger than that. We\’re now under hurricane warning. Tropical storm conditions, and possibly hurricane conditions, are expected tomorrow; with T-storms all day long. No outdoor riding tomorrow, I guess. Not if the lightning will be cracking all around! Even without lightning, heavy rain wreaks havoc on visibility; and by early afternoon, the wind will be quite strong. Power outage, anyone? My employer says, work remotely tomorrow. Since I don\’t anticipate being able to get my usual morning ride, I can sleep a little later! My \”commute\” will be a few steps, instead of 2.75 miles. Before I go to bed, I can set up my not in a teapot green tea: one green tea bag per pint of water; steeped in the fridge overnight. I\’m trying, admittedly not very successfully, to drink more of that tea and less Diet Coke. The latter isn\’t good for my teeth, for one thing. Being at home all day will make it easier for me to get my diet back on track. Yesterday I broke loose with candy; this evening I got Chinese takeout for supper. For several days I\’ve felt tired and light-headed no matter what I ate, and decided that it might help if I stuffed myself for once. If I\’m to fix proper meals I\’d better get in there and clean up the kitchen. It\’s no fun trying to cook when the kitchen is a mess.

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Uh-Oh!

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Uh-oh. We\’ve got to keep an eye on the tropics yet again. Will this hurricane season never end? Zeta is out there in the Caribbean, and expected to get into the Gulf. It\’s now at hurricane strength, and at present is heading NW. It looks like it will curve more towards the NE as it crosses the Gulf. Locally, tropical storm and even hurricane conditions are possible by day after tomorrow. Indeed, we\’re already under hurricane watch. With Hallowe\’en only days away, you can call it an atmospheric witches\’ cauldron, I guess; not that it\’s anything to joke about. Today I rode to work so I could get in some pedaling. Riding on Wednesday is probably off the table; and even tomorrow isn\’t looking propitious. Looks like I\’ll have to ride in the trainer for at least one day. I don\’t know what\’s wrong with me today. I\’ve been unaccountably tired; and I don\’t feel quite on my legs; and it\’s been very hard to focus my mind on anything. Maybe part of it is my concern over what Zeta might do. Having a stuffy head isn\’t any help; and my hands are constantly fumbling. Have I got bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome? Today my eating patterns went into a major derailment. Maybe I was hungrier than I realized? At any rate, I chowed down the candy big-time; and uh-oh! I\’m also hankering after ice cream! Now I must rein myself in again. I have to keep pre-diabetes in mind!

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A New Mix

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I tried a new mix today. The road bike is about due for a new chain, and yesterday I took it to the shop. They couldn\’t take care of it immediately, which meant I had to leave the bike there. This is why I kept the hybrid when I bought the road bike! As a rule, I devote Sundays to the weekly long ride. I would rather not have to run errands before that ride, especially not when it\’s broiling hot by 9 am. When I get back from the long ride, I\’m tired. Besides, there\’s a lot more traffic by that time of day. With the road bike temporarily out of commission, I decided to do a shorter ride with the hybrid today; and work in some errands as well. This new mix was rather a pain in the neck, but now I don\’t have to worry about those errands come Saturday. I headed for Winn Dixie first. I\’ll be running short of carrots by the weekend; and by then who knows what the weather conditions will be! We don\’t know yet what Zeta will do; but we are within the so-called \”cone of uncertainty\”. I got a few things at Winn Dixie besides the carrots; and after I got that stuff home, I got ready to head for Walmart. I needed to replace some ancient food-storage containers. After I left Walmart, I headed straight back to the levee bike path to put in some miles. It really wasn\’t very pleasant this morning; chilly, windy, and gray. The sun didn\’t start to come out until I got home just before noon. But now all those shopping trips are out of the way, and off my mind. I must say, that\’s a relief.

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Hunting I Will Go

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A-hunting I will go, chasing down bargains in the salvage store. This is where the hybrid, rigged with a rack, comes to the forefront. I hang the panniers on the sides; put the trunk on top; and off I go! The salvage store opens at 8:30 am on Saturday, and I like to be there for opening time. I beat the crowds; the pickings are likely to be better early in the day; and, in hot weather, I can be back home before the worst of the day\’s heat sets in. Heat wasn\’t a problem today, although it did look like it might rain. I\’m glad it didn\’t! I\’m also glad we don\’t need to worry about that system in the Caribbean just yet. When I get home from a trip to the salvage store, I like to go online and see how much the things I bought there would cost if I purchased them from other sources. As usual, the ride to the salvage store paid off. I found 8 oz bags of roasted, salted pistachios for $2.24 per bag. One online store (I don\’t want to name names) sells them for $4.46 per bag. I found grain-free granola, less than a dollar for an 8 oz bag. There was hummus, a 10 oz box for 99¢! Naturally I hit the grab-bag bins, and made up a small bag. I looked for things that might be good ride food, but of course got a few candy bars. Butterfinger® Peanut Butter Cups were too much for my curiosity about new sweets! Hunting I will go next Saturday? I keep saying I\’ve got to use up the stuff I already have before I get more; then I go out and get more! That reminds me, I\’d better check to be sure my bargain-hunting license hasn\’t expired!

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On a Diet?

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  On a Diet? On a diet? NOT! That’s not what I’m calling it, at any rate. Last February, my weight had climbed to the high 120s. I knew that was too much, and I wasn’t easy about it. For one thing, I could barely get into my cycling shorts. I was at the point where my cycling jacket could hardly fit over my hips. Then came the pre-diabetes diagnosis; and I can’t say that I was surprised. For a year or more I had been going hammer and tongs at the products in my web site’s shop. I had realized that said shop was the equivalent of a show window crammed with merchandise, with no way for prospective customers to get in. So I was determined to fix it as quickly as I could; and I went at it so hard that I wasn’t taking time to prepare proper meals. That meant grabbing whatever was quick and easy; and that, alas, meant a lot of junk. No wonder the pounds piled on! And on and on. After the pre-diabetes diagnosis, I immediately cut way back on the candy bars and other snacks. Five or six pounds fell right off. I’ve continued to lose weight, and I don’t even feel like I’m trying very hard. But I don’t call it being “on a diet”. I’ve merely changed the way I eat. I remember when dieting implied restricted caloric intake; enduring hunger much of the time; and agonizing efforts to avoid anything “fattening”. I’m thankful that I don’t have to do that. In fact, I actually feel a tinge of guilt over the fact that, when I set my mind to it, I find losing weight rather easy!  

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