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June 28, 2007
the constant is change
Well, I've been keeping busy.
My sweetie is back taking care of his dad again, and I miss him something fierce. My mood has plummeted since he's been gone. I just don't seem to do very well.
Here is a picture of the object of my affections since sweetie is gone. I've been spending a lot of time with her. She wants to take it slow. Sometimes I'm fine with that, sometimes I'm not.
I've been interviewing like crazy. I'm moving on to the second interview for the job I really want, and have just been culled on the one which would have a one hour commute. Yay!!
Changes are happening at work. It's exciting and also sad.
Every day, I ride my bike. It's the one constant, and it makes me happy.
June 15, 2007
keeping busy
Well, I'm succeeding in keeping myself busy, that's for sure.
Last night, I had an appointment downtown, so I rode my (new!!!!) bicycle over to that office, and parked it in the underground parking garage across the street.
It was a very small parking garage, and there was only one other bicycle parked there. So as I was locking it up with my 6 locks (the AXA lock, and AXA chain come with the bike; the other 4 I brought with me because I'm just that way), the attendant starts asking me all about the bike.
It turns out that he lived in Amsterdam for a couple of years and is pining for an excuse to go back, and he keeps speaking dutch to me as if, if he keeps doing it, I'll give in and speak it too.
I didn't mention to him that I did take dutch classes in Germany (hey, way to screw up my german, yeah!), and that I do know a couple words: yes, no, beautiful, and the very important, we are in the garden. Realistically, it's about as useful as knowing the Russian for what is that? It's a church.
But let's face facts: I wasn't much into studying when I was in Germany, and I had a hard time with dutch.
I went to my appointment and once I got back, there were more compliments, and questions, and one-sided conversations in dutch. It was really nice.
I rode home as fast as I could, and swapped bikes, so I could take a Townie to the Master Plan meeting. The idea there was that I would be significantly less heartbroken if the Townie was stolen than if the Oma was stolen. And then I hopped on the bike again, and made it to the meeting.
The meeting actually was very pleasant. We sat at smallish tables and marked on a map where we lived, where we worked, where we bought groceries and ran errands, and where our friends lived, and what types of transportation we used for each type of trip. We chatted about what we liked and didn't like about bike lanes and multi-use paths.
This morning, I managed to leave the house early enough that I could have a sit down to cool off before running up the office. This is a big improvement from recent mornings.
It was chilly and drizzly, and I rode the Townie again (I have a couple postwork appointments), and I have to say, it was a lovely ride. I love this sort of weather!
As I was coming down onto the Eastbank Esplanade, I remembered that today was Breakfast on the Bridges, and I was actually early enough to stop. So I took the Esplanade rather than crossing the pedestrian bridge. I prefer to cross the bridge because there are less hills to climb—sad, but true. I wish these things didn't hold me back, but they do.
So, I get to Breakfast on the Bridge, park my bike, and I'm happy to recognize a couple people. However, the people there were all in a clump, facing inward, surrounding the coffee and pastries, and no one even looked up and smiled, nonetheless, greeted me. I thought about trying to say hi to one of the people I recognized, but then I wasn't certain that they would remember me, and it just didn't seem worth it. So I grabbed my bike and left.
But I did get a paper once I got to work, and I sat outside and read part of it while I waited to stop sweating. By the time I got upstairs, I no longer felt like I was red in the face.
June 14, 2007
masa fina
What can I tell you? I'm loving my bike. And I got my first unsolicited compliment on it this morning.
Yee ha!
I feel like I'm moving slowly, but since I don't have a computer on this bike (and don't intend to get one), I really have no idea whether I'm slow or not. I just feel so good riding it. It is such a pleasure.
I've been trying to keep myself busy since Sweetie is away. I've been housecleaning, and last night I went out to a restaurant to meet one group of folks, and a tavern to meet another. It was very nice to have some social time, though I got home really late, for me: 10:30! I slept hard last night, though I woke up and felt like I needed some more.
I had hoped there would be lots of bike riding, and there may still be. I haven't been in a pedalpalooza event since last Thursday when I did the Kickass kickoff parade, which really was fun. But, tonight, I go to the PLATINUM BIKE MASTER PLAN PUBLIC FORUM for NORTH/NE Portland. I have no idea what to expect, I just hope it's interesting and that I recognize some people there.
June 11, 2007
Oma
So, I bought a bike, and I think it's the most beautiful bike in the world. It might also be the heaviest. I love it. I'm getting nowhere fast, but I'm doing it in style.
My euphoria of getting the new bike was shot down soon enough—my sweetie's father has had a series of small strokes over the last week, and he's lost some motion and control on the left side of his body. Sweetie flies down to see him tomorrow, while I'll stay here. I am so absolutely distracted by this, because of course, my father had a series of small strokes a few months before he died. I'm reminding myself that even though my father died a few months later, this doesn't mean Sweetie's dad will.
I have been thinking so much of my dad in the last couple days.
I rode into work this morning wearing a long skirt. With the skirt guard and the enclosed chain and the internal hub, I didn't have to worry about the bike biting my clothing or making it dirty. I love that. I feel so dignified on the Oma, so adult in an odd but very satisfying way. I love it.
June 7, 2007
about the Rose Festival
Misty pointed out that there's some 'xplaining to do.
Okay, right now it's Rose Festival, a two-week long extended party in Portland. There are two parades, there's a fun center (read amusement rides and carny food), and the military come into town on their giant ships.
So, it's a time when people who live in the city limits try their damnedest to not come downtown (because the traffic is even worse than usual, and the bridges are frequently up) ... and folks in the suburbs with kids, or single women hoping to get lucky, swarm the city.
The fun center is in Waterfront Park, whose paths are usually used by human-powered commuters to get to their downtown jobs.
Anyhow, the outlined green areas are the route that I, and thousands of other bicyclists and pedestrians use to get to and from work.
~ + ~ +
There's a great photo essay in Time Magazine online right now, called What the World Eats. If you haven't been already, you'll probably want to check it out.
I found it tremendously frightening. Look at all that soda and all those processed foods! Look at how little fruits and veg! As a friend pointed out, in the first world, processed food costs less than whole food.
swans, omas, and the old Dutch
So, I did it. I bought a dutch city bike.
I got myself over to Clever Cycles to meet up with Martina as soon as I could. She had three city bikes ready and waiting for me to try: an 8-speed Swan, an 8-speed Oma (both made by Azor) and a Batavus 3-speed Old Dutch.
Oh, and I was wearing a dress.
The Swan is gorgeous. The lines on it are so elegant. After some initial butterflies, I climbed on and took it for a ride. The shifting is super smooth, and it's a newer Shimano shifter that is totally forgiving if you downshift while you're standing still. How cool is that?
Anyways, it rode beautifully, and I felt great riding it.
The Oma is also very elegant in an understated way. It also has the Shimano shifter, and it also rode like a dream.
The Batavus is flashy and gorgeous in a pin-up girl way. It rode fine. But it's a three speed with coaster brakes, and I already have a three speed with coaster brakes.
So, I really liked the Oma and the Swan. The Swan had the edge, because it was so pretty... but the Swan couldn't get a front rack, and I gotta say, the front rack is the coolest thing since sliced bread. It'll hold 50#! It's dorky and just so wonderful.
So, I bought the Oma. I pick it up on Friday!
~ * ~ *
So I rode my bike into work today. I rode Pinky the three speed, as I'm going to be part of the Pedalpalooza Kickass Kickoff Parade tonight, so I was completely festooned with pink and silver accessories to decorate the bike with.
As I was coming down the bike ramp to the waterfront, I saw the battleships docked. I saw the coast guard boats with automatic weapons. Oh, good.
So, of course, all human traffic is being directed away from the Waterfront Park. There's 12ft tall wire fencing around it, and there are military personnel, carrying automatic weapons, ready to shoot. So nice. I love this.
The city, however, did close off one lane of Naito Parkway so bicyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders, and people in golf carts can get from point A to point B. Of course, you're protected from the cars by orange cones, so it's hard to get excited about this.
June 6, 2007
mercy!
I have a cup of (decaf) coffee. I have a smoothie (a really good one with lots of strawberries). I have a container of cut-up fruit. I should want for nothing, nothing, I tell you.
It's full-on rose festival now, so I haven't bothered riding my bike. My entire downtown commute would need to be rerouted onto streets that have no bike lanes. And that would be fine, except everything is crazy now: suburbanites come into the city and obviously don't know what to do with bicyclists.
For example, last week, I had someone apparently try to back over me (when I had traffic behind me and couldn't go backwards), because she wanted a parking spot. Hey, she was obviously bigger, in her giant SUV, but she can't claim she didn't see a fat woman on a pink bicycle. Grrr.
That, and it's raining. Which is good, because it's been a really dry spring, but...
Work stuff is bringing me down. Nuff said on that.
Tonight, I go look at dutch bikes. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I've been wanting a dutch bike for well over a year, and now that I'm on the verge of trying one, I am so nervous. Nervous mostly that it won't live up to all the excitement and expectations I've had about it.
