Ahhhh.. yet another trip for George. Away he goes to North Carolina to install another ALI system into the Univeristy Hospital there. Hope he's warmer than we are here. Brrr. Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. Wind.
This means I have the place to myself and nothing but time on my hands... Yeah.. RIGHT! What this actually means is that I can do all the things that make messes all over the place for a few days and not disturb George with my messes... and I can make him something without him seeing it, too! Now to decide just what to make him. The stained glass is coming along... I realize how shitty I am at it -- hopefully the receivers won't laugh at my gifts. ;-)
Going to IKEA today.. and I'm going to be GOOD. All I need are tealights... nothing else. Really. Nothing. Then on to Costco. I have a list... I will follow it. Really. I will.
Praying for willpower....
Thursday, November 29, 2001
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
First of all, a clean, well-lubed (heheh... thought you'd like that Dee ;-) bicycle chain... (sorry honey) makes all the difference in the world. My chain was grimy. It was grungy. It was caked on grease and road dirt. After running it through a handy-dandy chain cleaning device with some MEC Biodegradable chain degreaser it is now clean and bright. Apply sparingly some synthetic lubricant and I now have a chain that purrs like a kitten.. actually, it's quieter than a kitten. ;-)
Secondly came the brakes. I realize now why cantilever brakes are not even MADE any more. Firstly - there is better stopping technology out there (v-brakes and disk brakes). Secondly - they are bigger than the biggest bitch in the world to adjust. You have like five hundred billion adjustments on them.. they are INFINITELY adjustable.. the problem is, you have to adjust all five billion things at the same time, so it takes forever to get it just right. Thank goodness for George who came to help me with the final touches after I had fought with them for going on an hour and a half. They worked great this morning and didn't squeal a bit!! Whee!
I want to get a better bike next year... but I also don't want to have it stolen - so perhaps the better bike will have to wait until we move to a house and I can lock it down in the garage or something. I don't want a road-dirty bike in my apartment, and I don't want my new baby to be stolen from the bike room downstairs - which is a common occurrance for nice bikes. Thankfully mine is good quality old technology that looks like crap!
The apartment is decorated for Christmas, my laundry is done and the dishes are clean and put away... what's gotten into us?! I'm trying to get more organized in my life so I can get down to improving my knowledge for work and pleasure. I want to know more about how NT and Win2k work so I can be more effective at problem solving. To that end I'm going to study my buns off on the Win2k MCSE materials and even take the tests. I don't just want to pass the tests, though, I really want to understand it - so that's my goal.
On another note, I've developed a really strong desire to go on a very long bicycle ride this summer. I'd like to start bike touring/camping as a regular gig - it's just my speed and it's affordable, too. I've discovered that I'm just not a competitive person at heart. I like beauty, spirit and seeing the joy in life... I don't like pain, pressure and stress. I'm not afraid of hard work, but I want to be able to stop when I like and breathe in the clean air, smell the flowers and oogle at the beauty that surrounds us on this planet. I would dearly love to ride accross Canada one day and that is going to be my goal. Perhaps I can use that ride to raise money for something worthwhile. I'll have to think about what cause I really want to support, but two come to mind right away - heart disease in women and research on spinal cord injuries. Cycling helps fix one of the problems -- and the other is just so worthwhile... hopefully no one I love will ever need that research.
Anyway... back to work for me! 6AM shifts rock.. except for the getting up at 4:30 part. ;-)
Secondly came the brakes. I realize now why cantilever brakes are not even MADE any more. Firstly - there is better stopping technology out there (v-brakes and disk brakes). Secondly - they are bigger than the biggest bitch in the world to adjust. You have like five hundred billion adjustments on them.. they are INFINITELY adjustable.. the problem is, you have to adjust all five billion things at the same time, so it takes forever to get it just right. Thank goodness for George who came to help me with the final touches after I had fought with them for going on an hour and a half. They worked great this morning and didn't squeal a bit!! Whee!
I want to get a better bike next year... but I also don't want to have it stolen - so perhaps the better bike will have to wait until we move to a house and I can lock it down in the garage or something. I don't want a road-dirty bike in my apartment, and I don't want my new baby to be stolen from the bike room downstairs - which is a common occurrance for nice bikes. Thankfully mine is good quality old technology that looks like crap!
The apartment is decorated for Christmas, my laundry is done and the dishes are clean and put away... what's gotten into us?! I'm trying to get more organized in my life so I can get down to improving my knowledge for work and pleasure. I want to know more about how NT and Win2k work so I can be more effective at problem solving. To that end I'm going to study my buns off on the Win2k MCSE materials and even take the tests. I don't just want to pass the tests, though, I really want to understand it - so that's my goal.
On another note, I've developed a really strong desire to go on a very long bicycle ride this summer. I'd like to start bike touring/camping as a regular gig - it's just my speed and it's affordable, too. I've discovered that I'm just not a competitive person at heart. I like beauty, spirit and seeing the joy in life... I don't like pain, pressure and stress. I'm not afraid of hard work, but I want to be able to stop when I like and breathe in the clean air, smell the flowers and oogle at the beauty that surrounds us on this planet. I would dearly love to ride accross Canada one day and that is going to be my goal. Perhaps I can use that ride to raise money for something worthwhile. I'll have to think about what cause I really want to support, but two come to mind right away - heart disease in women and research on spinal cord injuries. Cycling helps fix one of the problems -- and the other is just so worthwhile... hopefully no one I love will ever need that research.
Anyway... back to work for me! 6AM shifts rock.. except for the getting up at 4:30 part. ;-)
Sunday, November 25, 2001
*struggle to keep eyes open*
What a long and kind of productive day. I say kind of because I don't really know what I actually got done. Rainy got a haircut -- I have pictures - I'll show you someday. I like the new lady. She was reccommended to me by my Aunt who has two toy poodles. They're cute and they guard her house by standing on the back of the couch and having a barking fit at anything that moves outside. Keeps them entertained for hours - thank goodness my poodle is large and mostly silent. She looks lovely, and we're going to grow out her tail a bit -- just think, both Rainy and I are at having those horrid "in-between hair" days. Heh.
Drove out to Cloverdale and Langley for the haircut and then for dinner at mom and dad's with my brother and his girlfriend Lisa and her daughter Amanda. Amanda is great. Strong willed but a good kid and super confident and outgoing. She loves my brother, which is great - he's good with her, too. Makes me think about the whole 'having kids' thing... hmmm... we'll see.
George is a wonder. He puts up with so much crap from me sometimes that I just don't know how he does it. I get grumpy when I'm hungry. I get grumpy when I'm sleepy and I get grumpy when I'm in pain. I was all three today. Poor George. He's incredible. I thank the Powers That Be for him... and then I think... he oughta thank the Powers That Be for me, too. We each have our quirks and foibles -- it's just a matter of how much we're willing and able to put up with each others' quirks and foibles.
Love. It's a beautiful thing.
Did some laundry... have more to do... got the Christmas stuff out of the cellar at my parents' house and dragged it home and up the elevator. Tonight is "Christmas Decorating Eve". Tomorrow is Christmas Decorating Day. At least in my apartment. I also have to replace the brake pads on my bike... and I do mean HAVE to... or I'll be putting grooves in my rims by mid week, latest. Ah the joy of it all.
I have a yearning to do a bicycle touring trip. I'm thinking to Calgary to visit me a DeeAy and RakE. I'll do some reading and see how long it'll take me and how much time off I've accumulated by the time the snow melts. I'll have to get me a good tent, a stove and some bear spray. Cool.
I also want to go to someplace warm... so maybe a ride down to California stopping off to visit an Ali and a Doug along the way. Call me crazy, but I think it'd be fun. We'll see..
Bedtime, now... to dream of things bicycle.
What a long and kind of productive day. I say kind of because I don't really know what I actually got done. Rainy got a haircut -- I have pictures - I'll show you someday. I like the new lady. She was reccommended to me by my Aunt who has two toy poodles. They're cute and they guard her house by standing on the back of the couch and having a barking fit at anything that moves outside. Keeps them entertained for hours - thank goodness my poodle is large and mostly silent. She looks lovely, and we're going to grow out her tail a bit -- just think, both Rainy and I are at having those horrid "in-between hair" days. Heh.
Drove out to Cloverdale and Langley for the haircut and then for dinner at mom and dad's with my brother and his girlfriend Lisa and her daughter Amanda. Amanda is great. Strong willed but a good kid and super confident and outgoing. She loves my brother, which is great - he's good with her, too. Makes me think about the whole 'having kids' thing... hmmm... we'll see.
George is a wonder. He puts up with so much crap from me sometimes that I just don't know how he does it. I get grumpy when I'm hungry. I get grumpy when I'm sleepy and I get grumpy when I'm in pain. I was all three today. Poor George. He's incredible. I thank the Powers That Be for him... and then I think... he oughta thank the Powers That Be for me, too. We each have our quirks and foibles -- it's just a matter of how much we're willing and able to put up with each others' quirks and foibles.
Love. It's a beautiful thing.
Did some laundry... have more to do... got the Christmas stuff out of the cellar at my parents' house and dragged it home and up the elevator. Tonight is "Christmas Decorating Eve". Tomorrow is Christmas Decorating Day. At least in my apartment. I also have to replace the brake pads on my bike... and I do mean HAVE to... or I'll be putting grooves in my rims by mid week, latest. Ah the joy of it all.
I have a yearning to do a bicycle touring trip. I'm thinking to Calgary to visit me a DeeAy and RakE. I'll do some reading and see how long it'll take me and how much time off I've accumulated by the time the snow melts. I'll have to get me a good tent, a stove and some bear spray. Cool.
I also want to go to someplace warm... so maybe a ride down to California stopping off to visit an Ali and a Doug along the way. Call me crazy, but I think it'd be fun. We'll see..
Bedtime, now... to dream of things bicycle.
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