SpokEasy

September 2021

Back Home Again

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Here I am, back home again. I don\’t own a beautiful house like this one; but at least I\’ve got a roof over my head. I\’m so glad I didn\’t have to go through DFW this time. I had a lay-over in Salt Lake City. After takeoff, I saw a large, blue body of water to port; and I guess that was the Great Salt Lake. We visited that lake when I was a kid; and of course we went splashing in the water How it burned my eyes! Before I left Spokane, I bought large plastic garbage bags and gallon-size food storage bags. I figured I might need them; and I couldn\’t be sure how well-stocked the local stores were yet. We all know how frustrating it is to need something, and be unable to get it at any price. When I got home, I unhooked the garbage can and recycling bin from the fence. While I was away, someone did yard work; and put the debris in my trash can. That can is so heavy that I can\’t even tip it onto its wheels, so that I can roll it out for tomorrow\’s pick-up. Maybe it got water in it somehow. I pumped up my bicycles\’ tires. I\’m relieved that they weren\’t totally out of air. Now that I\’m back home again, I can go for a ride tomorrow! Powerless? Then I tackled the fridge and freezer. Now that I\’m back home again, I think I\’ll have to shut both off for a while. The stuff in the freezer thawed; and the juice from frozen veggies leaked out of their bags, and then re-froze. Now I\’ve got stuff frozen to the floor of the freezer! That\’s what happens when you abode goes powerless for more than a few hours. I heard the electricity was out for four days here. In fact, I seem to have a wrecked circuit. The lights in the front room and the back room won\’t turn on; and I know I turned them off when I left before Ida. At least the window units are operating, and the socket for the standing fan is working; so won\’t have to swelter all night long. It\’s still 80 degrees (at 9:25 pm!); and the humidity is 85%! I had planned to head for Winn Dixie early tomorrow; but I better get that fridge/freezer cleaned up before I buy any more food. Ideally I should shut off that machine right now; and clean it tomorrow morning. But I\’ll want ice for my Diet Coke fix!

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Homeward Bound

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Tomorrow I\’m homeward bound. It\’s a beautiful morning here in Spokane: in the low 50s; and bright and clear. Back home in New Orleans, it\’s already 85 degrees; and the humidity is 72%! I\’m surprised that the humidity here in Spokane is currently just as high; but it doesn\’t feel as cold as N.O. does at a comparable temperature. Weather is weird. This morning I\’m doing my laundry, so I won\’t be hauling home a load of unwashed clothes. I don\’t want to have to do laundry my first day back home; and I need to go to the supermarket, anyway. I have quite a long shopping list, because I\’m sure there won\’t be much food from the fridge and freezer that I can keep. Pickles and olives; and soy sauce and vinegar, are probably OK. It will be good to get on a real bicycle again, even if it\’s only to ride to the store. My panniers will be well loaded; but I\’ve done that before. After I\’m back from grocery shopping, I can go for a spin on the road bike; and then I must start cooking stuff to freeze. But I\’m getting ahead of myself. I have to pack my suitcase; and I may need to ship some of my stuff home, such as the extra pair of sneakers I bought here. I hope I can check that bag; when I made my reservation online, I somehow missed that part; and I haven\’t figured out how to pre-check a bag. I\’m glad I don\’t go home through DFW; that place is humongous! On my way here, I barely had time to make my connection. Homeward bound, I\’ll have over an hour; so maybe I won\’t have to rush so much.

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Visiting the Past

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Visiting the past can be interesting. If nothing else, I\’m always amazed by how much I\’ve forgotten! A current project of mine is editing old blog posts. For a long time, I didn\’t know about SEO Focus Keyphrases; and consequently didn\’t do that part of my bogs. Finally I learned how to do it; but I had over 400 blog posts without any focus keyphrases! I began work to edit those old blogs, a few at a time; and of course I had to keep the new blogs coming. I\’ve been away from home for two weeks because of Ida; and that gave me plenty of time to work on the editing project. This morning I re-worked a blog from October, 2018. I had completely forgotten about that \”UFO\”! Other blogs from the same time period voice my frustrations with editing my web site; and trying to get Buttons and Slides to work properly. There were also blogs that give notes from Sunday long rides; and some that simply give my thoughts. After all this time I don\’t remember many of them; and it\’s interesting to see what I was mulling over at the time. Incidentally, when the Pevensie children visit Narnia, are they visiting the past; or propelled into the future? I saw the film based on one of the books; and it certainly looks like they\’ve landed in the world of King Arthur.

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Decadent

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We\’re really getting decadent here! We haven\’t been eating Sachertorte; but there are many other decadent things to eat. Yesterday we went to an ice cream shop that had some unusual flavors. I never heard of basil ice cream before; and that\’s what I chose. It\’s actually good! My sister-in-law sent a dozen sugar-free cookies. They\’re a kind of shortbread, I think; and have chocolate icing. Each cookie has an edible pic on top. Two were bicycle pics; two were cats; and some showed hurricane damage, of all things. So I\’ve been leading a rather luxurious life here in Washington State; and I know I\’ve been eating far too much all week long! Pedaling the exercise bike isn\’t nearly enough to burn off all those excess calories; and I really need to get back on a bicycle for some real riding. I also need to get back to a proper diet. By the time I actually get home it will be too late to go for a ride; but I\’ll have other things to do. The first order of business will be to clean out the fridge and freezer! I don\’t know how long the power was out; but from what I hear, it was off for at least a few days. Ergo almost everything will have to go. I hope the supermarkets are stocked up again. Hurricane Ida was rather disruptive, to put it very mildly. I\’ll need fresh produce; and cheese and yogurt. I want frozen blueberries, too; but I hope I can keep myself from going decadent and buying ice cream.

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GU-Gel Tri-Berry

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Gu-Gel Tri-Berry was my introduction to \”goo\”. Each gel has 100 calories; and maltodextrin and fructose to provide an energy boost. Provides electrolytes, too. Easy to carry in a pocket; or tuck a few into your under-saddle pack. Box of 24 gels.

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Peak

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A cyclist must train so as to peak just as the most important races come up; and speaking of peak, here we are at the height of hurricane season. The remnants of Nicholas still haven\’t dissipated; and there are several areas of unsettled weather that warrant close watching. The orange one, I suspect, is the one that we have to keep an eye on; but I hope it comes to naught. If it does develop into a tropical storm, I hope it stays away from us! We need the break; and so, for that matter, do many people in many places. I had hoped to build up to a century ride before the end of this month, but now it\’s highly unlikely to happen. Ida has put paid to any such ideas. Pedaling an exercise bike isn\’t much preparation for a major ride; and every day it gets harder to climb aboard that contraption. Or maybe I\’m just tired. Yesterday I worked at pedaling fast with the tension turned up a notch; and that\’s a bit like doing my force intervals on the road bike. The day after a force workout I typically make it a short and easy ride; so this morning I \”rode\” for only a half-hour. In a few more days I\’ll be back home; and I\’ll see how I do then. I\’ll be glad when I can really ride again; and maybe I can work towards doing that century in October. Now, how do I manage so that I\’ll peak at the right time?

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Feeling the Chill

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We\’re feeling the chill here. At 7:00 am, it was barely 40 degrees. Down there in New Orleans, it was about 81 degrees! What a big difference! And too soon I\’ll be back in that steamy sauna. It\’s going to be very humid in New Orleans. It typically is; but after Ida and Nicholas, the humidity is higher than usual. I don\’t expect that we\’ll get a real cold front for at least a few more weeks; so it\’s going to be hot. When I get home, I intend to tackle the fridge first thing; and I know that I\’ll have to throw out a lot of stuff. It\’s a shame; but I won\’t dare to eat it. I\’m glad I\’ll be on vacation time, because I need that time to cook up a lot of new stuff! I\’m looking forward to being able to go for a real bicycle ride; and I hope my bicycles\’ tires will be OK without any attention from the bike shop. After a few weeks of idleness, I know they\’re quite flat. Today I called the bike shop, and asked them whether it\’s OK to simply pump up the tires. They said it probably is; but that I can bring the bikes into the shop if I\’m concerned. Another thing I have to consider is the condition of the bike path. I guess it\’s been cleared by now; but of course I can\’t be sure. But before I tackle the bike path, I need to visit the supermarket. In fact, I better be making my list now. I\’ll let the salvage store wait for the end of the week. There should be less traffic on a Saturday morning; but I don\’t expect I\’ll be feeling the chill.

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Point of Reference

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I think our point of reference has changed. For years, \”the hurricane\” meant Katrina; but now, it means Ida. Ida didn\’t exact anywhere near the death toll that Katrina did; and for Ida the levees held. But all the same, Ida did plenty of damage. I am now planning my trip back home; and I\’m glad that TS Nicholas veered away from SE Louisiana. Even so, New Orleans is under flash flood watch for several days; and I think I better wait a few days to travel. For a while now, another point of reference has changed. My turnaround spot for my weekly long ride must be closer to home until I\’m back into proper condition. Riding an exercise bike is keeping my leg muscles halfway toned; but as I can\’t say too often, it\’s nothing like riding a real bicycle! I\’m sure it would be unwise to try to do a 50-mile ride the day after I get back home! I\’ll have plenty to do besides riding and blogging in order to settle back in. I must clean out the fridge; and my garbage can will be in a terrible state. It wasn\’t empty when I left ahead of Ida; and by now it certainly reeks to high heaven. A trip to the supermarket is a must. I left behind celery; part of a head of cabbage; carrots; and more. The stuff that I had cooked and frozen will have to go; as will any kind of salad dressing. Maybe vinegars and soy sauce are OK to keep. I bought garbage bags and rubber gloves to bring back with me; and maybe, just maybe, I\’ll buy some huckleberry candy!

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More Astronomy

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Sunday night I got some more astronomy. It began quite innocently, when I saw the moon (almost half-full) from my sister\’s kitchen window. It was quite low in the sky; and after I had returned to look at it several times, I commented on its movement. The moon seemed to be marching almost parallel to the horizon; and I thought it was odd. Soon my brother-on-law was hauling out two sets of binoculars; and he, my sister, and I marched outdoors for some moon-viewing. It was great to look at the moon through those \”noculars\”. I could see craters that are invisible to the naked eye; and the border of the Earth shadow was fuzzy. It looks much sharper without magnification. The moon\’s color was orange-y; and after we had looked at it for a while, my brother-in-law hauled out his six-inch telescope. By this time the moon was getting hard to see, thanks to trees; but we got a good look at Jupiter. We could even see several of the planet\’s moons. If only it had been clear the evening the power got knocked out, we would have gotten more astronomy; but luck wasn\’t on our side that time. Maybe before I go back home we can get in some star-gazing. When I\’m at home, star-gazing is almost impossible. The houses are too crowded; there are far too many electric lights; and I\’m busy indoors evenings. When I\’m riding before dawn, I have to watch where I\’m going; so I can\’t do much star-gazing then. Next Monday is full-moon time again; and I hope I get to see it. I might be back home by then; and as long as the sky is clear, I can see the moon over the river!

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Learn Something New

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You learn something new every day, or so the old saying goes; and post-Hurricane Ida, I leaned a new thing or two. I was able to get a ride out of town ahead of the storm; and was with a friend for the duration. Her power lines were knocked down by a falling tree; and she had no when she might have electricity again. She had a small generator; and we used it so that at least we could have the fridge. It was my first experience with such equipment; and we both quickly learned that those generators gulp gasoline in a hurry! The thing kept running down from fuel exhaustion. A kind neighbor had a larger generator that he let us use after he got electricity back at his home; and he even brought us the gasoline for that generator! Thank goodness we had a couple of battery-powered fans to use in the bedrooms at night! I must get one after I\’m back home. The day we started the burn pile, I discovered that I can move a log without either rolling it or carrying it! This log was too big and heavy for me to lift; and one end of it had \”stumps\” of branches sticking out; so that rolling it would have been difficult. I got the idea to point one end of the log towards the fire; and to lift the end near me. That stood the log on one end; and I pushed it down. Then I lifted the near end of the log again; and pushed it over again. I repeated this until I got the log onto the fire. You learn something new every day! If I might say so, a little ingenuity goes a long way.

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