A Bunch of Stuff

I’ve got a few things to write about. Somewhere in all of this, I should be able to find a Perfect Moment.

Regarding yesterday’s post, the angle of my bike is definitely different on the trainer. It is higher at the front than the back and that isn’t how it would be on the road. I don’t know if I have it sitting incorrectly in the trainer, or if I set something else up wrong. I will experiment with ways to make it work better. I will also read the manual again and watch some videos. I may even call customer support. Today, I just stuck a piece of plywood under the back and it seems to have made a difference. I don’t seem to have experienced the same shoulder pain, but maybe those muscles are stronger now. The solution is not perfect, but it fills in some pieces of the puzzle.

I am still getting into Zwift, but today I rode around London and even got to ride my bike on a road underneath the city–the London underground. It was kind of gimmicky, but I kind of liked it. I would love the opportunity to ride in unusual places. There is a ride every year in Toronto where you can ride on the North South highway to the east of the city. I really want to do it, but they want it to be a fundraising event and I would rather just pay a fee like other rides. I am not comfortable asking people for money.

I mentioned that I had to get my music going and today I cycled while playing the Tragically Hip’s second album. It isn’t completely the up-tempo that I want for a ride, but until I make a playlist it was pretty good. You can never go wrong with the Hip.

I rewarded myself for continuing with my resolutions by eating a big bowl of chili that I made. I had some meat in the freezer and had the presence of mind to get it thawed out earlier in the day. I was able to find most of the other ingredients in my pantry, so I didn’t need to go out and get anything else.

Questions for the readers

• Do you have any favourite music you like to ride to?
• Do you have a favourite post ride meal?
• Do you have a favourite Zwift ride?

Looking at what I have written, I would have to say that, despite being early days, continuing with my resolutions is Today’s Perfect Moment.

Scenes from the Past Few Days (part one)

So this morning, I painted my ceiling pink.

Did that catch your attention? It probably shouldn’t have. It really isn’t shocking in 2020. Also, I should add that I thought I was painting my ceiling purple–at least that is what it said on the can. More specifically, it said “mauve” but why open up that can of worms.

One of my current projects is sprucing up my guest room. When I moved in many years ago, the previous occupant had been a young child who visited his grandmother on occasion–my neighbour filled me in on all the details. The walls had been adorned with rather crude castles, stars, and several versions of the planet Saturn. This might have been dramatic if the pictures had been done well. Instead they were done with paint that didn’t wash off. It also was hard to cover over despite going to “the good paint store” with the “good name” and buying their primer.

Last week I went to Home Hardware (not Home Depot) and bought some of their primer. It covered it up in one solid coat. Fantastic. Wish I had done it sooner. I was told the “good paint store” was better, but now I don’t think so. When I figure out what colour I want the walls to be, that is where I am going to buy it.

As for the ceiling, they have this paint that goes on pink (despite saying purple on the lable–and since I went to Western, I know what the colour purple is) but quickly turns white after it is applied. Pretty cool. Of course online reviews mentioned this pink purple fiasco because one customer was colour blind to pink but not purple–you can imagine the hostile language used.

While I wouldn’t call painting fun, the idea of getting something done that has hung over me for a while was fantastic. Definitely a Perfect Moment. Once I get the room done, I will turn it back into a guest room and house my stamp collection and stamp desk there. That should free up some real estate in both the master bedroom, the basement and the home office. I am not sure what I will do with the space, but I am sure it will come in handy.

Thanks to the Covid weight gain, a turbo trainer would be ideal if I could find one.

Are there any projects waiting to be done in your space? I would love to hear what they are and what is keeping you from getting them done.

Battling the Machines

I should be writing about how I prepared a decent meal for my girlfriend on the weekend. Too often, I have relied on takeout rather than my culinary skills. While one is certainly easier, it really is a little on the lazy side–especially since she cooks some rather epic meals.

While I should write about that, I am instead favouring something that happened a bit more recently. I have to write a new chapter in the saga of men over machines. If it sounds compelling, please read on.

Yesterday, I changed my internet and TV provider. There are always better deals than what you’ve got, and after looking at the wasteful amount of money I have been spending on TV that I really don’t watch very much of, I decided to trim that expense by taking one of these deals. As far as internet speed is concerned, it is fast enough for my work needs and allows me to watch some TV on my tablet.

The thing about changing internet providers is that it is really all about having to reset your devices and passwords. For me, my printer/scanner has been a saviour since I started teaching from home. The thing works well and based on my experience with other people’s scanners and software, it is relatively easy to use. When I changed my provider, I quickly changed the computer, the tablet, and my smartphone so I could access the internet. What I forgot to do was reprogram my printer.

This morning, I wanted to use the printer but it failed. I tried for quick fixes and nothing worked. I really wanted to scan some documents for class. Even though I had the manual (and was able to put my hands on it quickly) and the appropriate cables (I have lots of inappropriate cables too) I couldn’t get it to work quickly.

When I got home from work, I set about solving the problem. I followed the steps and was rewarded with a non-functioning scanner. Actually, I thought the whole thing didn’t work, but came to discover that the printer worked wirelessly fine, but the scanner was offline. How weird was that.

I wrestled with the problem for quite some time before I had it solved. I checked YouTube, I checked forums, and I even called my new service provider and had the displeasure of speaking to one of their customer service representatives. She was unpleasant, so you can imagine how I responded. Just remember sarcasm and bluntness are considered virtues in my family.

I checked the software version and was told I already had the best and most suitable software version. This obviously wasn’t true as I ended up downloading the latest software to get the thing to work.

While I might think that sarcastically lacing into a customer service representative would constitute a Perfect Moment, I don’t want to celebrate negativity. Instead, I want to share how it felt to finally solve the problem. I felt smart and capable, and I felt like I triumphed over the machine. That is Today’s Perfect Moment.

A Chance to Use my Tools

Always good when you can break out the tools.

There’s is nothing like a home repair done well to make you feel accomplished.  Okay, there are lots of things that make you feel accomplished.  However, since I am not a particularly handy man….or handy handyman…..whenever I get something done well and not half-assed duct tape MacGyver style well done, I feel really good.

Last night my parts from Amazon arrived and I could tackle the screen door.  I really didn’t want to have to resort to Amazon.  I wanted to visit my locally owned hardware store, but the truth of the matter is that they have all been forced to close.  Also, I probably didn’t need to buy the whole set up, but that is what I could find online.  Besides, the other one, while still functioning probably needed some TLC, rust removal and a new paint job.

The job itself was very easy, but I made sure to clean up and sand the area after filling in the old screw holes a few days ago.  I really should have painted, but since the paint store is closed and the temperature is still not optimal, this will have to wait a month or more.  I even read the instructions.

I got to  break out my tools and apply some of my newly found patience.  I feel good, and that’s what makes it Today’s Perfect Moment.

What DIY/home projects are you now tackling–assuming you have the time?

Break Out the Toolbox

When it comes to home repair, I don’t think of myself as a superstar. At key moments, I lose confidence and that is frustrating.  Sometimes, I rush it and don’t do a good enough job.  I want to be able to tackle repair jobs not only because it would save me money, but because I want to be capable.

The other day, my oven stopped working. Based on what happened, I was confident that my diagnosis of the problem was correct.  The ignitor for the oven had worn out.  This happened about ten years ago and the symptoms were the same.  The last time this happened I had a repair person come in.  I watched them do the job and it seemed easy enough.  When I got the bill, I felt quite upset.  For what was probably 20 minutes work and one part, I had to pay over 160 dollars.  I guess that’s what you have to pay for the knowledge of the repair man.

This time, I felt more confident that I could do the job myself. Rather than rely on my memory, I watched a few videos and noted that my part was basically a plug in kind of thing.  The connections were already made and nothing actually electrical would need to be done.  I ordered the part and it was delivered on Wednesday.

So, this morning, I got out my toolbox, my light, my vacuum (because this was an opportunity to clean up the oven space as well) and set about doing the job. While I wasn’t as fast as the stove repair person from ten years ago, I was quick enough.  The job was relatively easy and required only two tools; a Philips screwdriver and a 5/16ths wrench.  Of course I used my light and my magnet bowl so I wouldn’t lose the screws, but those aren’t really tools, but rather things that help the process.

After the job was done, I celebrated by making myself a pizza.  If only I had had a Cherry Coke to go with it.

Do I feel good about saving myself at least a hundred dollars? Hell yeah!  More importantly, I feel more confident and I am proud of the work I did.  That is Today’s Perfect Moment.

Oooops of a Saturday

Whenever I go out on a Friday night, I know that I am decreasing the likelihood that I will make Saturday’s group ride. Either I will get home too late and be too tired to wake up, or I will be dealing with some form of hangover–mild or otherwise.

This Saturday morning, I actually managed to wake up, get ready, get all my kit on, and get out the door to meet the club ride. I was a bit late in leaving, but I still expected to get to the meeting point on time.  I am normally a bit early for the ride, which is something I like.  Glancing at the time as I started Strava, I was a bit worried as to how close I was cutting it.

The roads around my house have been repaved and were smooth. I raced down the street and even made the light–a very rare occurrence as the other direction has a greater priority.  It was then that I noticed something was off.  My left foot wasn’t sticking in the pedal.  Near the end of the ride two weeks ago, I knew that the cleat was a little worn and had told myself to replace it.  I had a set at home, but somehow forgot to do it.

You can see the one on the right is worn much more.

I pressed on, but I wasn’t comfortable. At little bumps my feet came out of the pedal and I didn’t feel confident.  I also knew that I pull up with the pedals on long climbs and wasn’t happy about not being able to do that.

I continued on, but soon came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to make the ride. I chastised myself for giving up.  Was it a real mechanical problem or could I have continued on?  I hit another bump and my foot jumped off the pedals.  I think I made the right decision.

My only problem was that I could so easily go home and not put the new cleat on. Thankfully, Monday is a holiday and the group has a ride planned.  With this motivation, I got the job done and the new cleat is in place.  I thought about changing both of them, but opted just to change one as the other wasn’t nearly as worn.  I guess the one I unclip first gets worn out faster as it has more contact with the asphalt. This way I have another one in case the same thing happens  Also, I am going to leave a little early for the ride and see if I notice a difference.  If I have to, I will have enough time to change the other one.

A Tech Win

I am not a luddite. I have a blog, an Instagram, even Facebook.  At work, I use a smart board and we have interactive textbooks.  I use tech pretty much every day.  The thing is, I am not great at it.  I use it, but I am so far behind people who really utilize tech.

I suppose, I could learn it, but if I had more time I would much rather be out on my bicycle, or failing that learning how to keep my bike it tip top shape.

A small side note: I have looked into taking a bicycle mechanic’s course.  It is very appealing to me.  If I thought I could make the same money as the job I am doing, I would probably do it in a heartbeat.  This could be because dealing with cyclists seems much easier than dealing with students right now–but this is probably a grass is always greener on the other side kind of thing.

Back to the tech problem. These days, they make it easy to solve most tech problems by buying a new one.  No need to fix the problem, just buy a new one.  In my current case, the sd card on the phone kept saying it was full.  This seemed a bit ridiculous to me since I used to have 1000 photos on it, and now I didn’t.  If 1000 photos didn’t fill it up, what could I possibly have on it that could take up so much space?  The sd card was 16GB.  I checked with other phone users, including my students who have hundreds of apps on their phones and thousands of pictures, and they didn’t seem to have the problems that I had.  I then looked at what was in the memory and it didn’t add up to so many GBs.

Of course, the card is actually a micro sd and wouldn’t fit the card reader in the computer. After a search of the drawer of lost tech (Don’t tell me you don’t have one.  We all have one.  It might be a drawer, it might be a box, it might even be a plastic bag in the closet–we all have the place where we put all the tech stuff that we don’t use.) I found the adapter.

Well a quick ten seconds in the computer and a quick reformat and things are back to normal. I now have tons of space on my phone.

I had planned to spend a couple of minutes in the electronics store being talked down to by tech nerds….or geek squads…or whatever the heck they call themselves or are called by the tech friendly, but now I don’t have to.

Saving money + problem solving + feeling proud of myself = Today’s Perfect Moment.

Confidence Building

I am not a total butterfingers, but I have very little belief in my ability to do certain things. This doesn’t stop me from doing them, but it does make me pause before starting them and it usually means things that can be done quickly, seem to take much longer.  I just don’t’ have the confidence.

Today, I managed to buy the wheel and tube for my suspension-less mountain bike. I’ve changed the tube on my road bike several times–under adverse conditions no less, but I haven’t changed this one despite owning it for many more years.

 

Surprisingly (though not surprisingly when I really think about it….because it isn’t that hard) I mounted my new tube and wheel combination in exactly the amount of time it should take. I didn’t think about it and make it a bigger deal than it was.  I didn’t flinch or second guess myself.  I just did it.

Today’s Perfect Moment is believing in oneself.

 

The Best Laid Plans….

My long time friend needs some new shoes

So after writing about my plans and optimism, and doing some grocery shopping, I realized that the day was too good to waste and I decided to go out for a bike ride.

 

I didn’t want to get all kitted up and so I decided to take my mountain bike out of the garage and tool around on it.  I had used it just before I went to Cambodia to test the legs on that cold winter day that hadn’t snowed.

Sadly, I noticed that the front tire was flat.  I started to pump it up, but then realized that the tires were not gripping the inside of the wheels very well.  It seems that the cold winter weather and sudden spring did a number on the tires.  I started to deflate the tube (which I could see bulging out of the wheel area) and it popped with a rather loud bang.  I have never had that happen before.

a creek I came across in my ride that became a walk

 

My idea of a spring discovery ride turned into a walk.  The scenery was nice, but ….I sure would have loved to ride around a bit.  I now have to buy a new tire and tube for the mountain bike if I want to tool around on it.  If I don’t, it will just rot away in the garage and possibly never see the light of day again.  And that wouldn’t be fair.

Getting Physical

Yesterday’s Perfect Moment was a conversation I had with a friend and colleague. Since many of these discussions focus on teaching ESL, or exasperation with students, or work issues, they rarely qualify as Perfect Moments; usually never.

In this case, he approached me to tell me that over the weekend he found a bike someone had put in the trash. It was beat up and it needed some work, but since he had been looking for a bike, this seemed like a good possibility,.  He took his bike to Bike Sauce, a community place where, for a donation, they teach you how to fix your own bike.  Sounds awesome doesn’t it?

Bike Sauce is awesome, but what makes this the Perfect Moment was his enthusiasm for the mechanical. He revealed that he thoroughly enjoyed the time he spent working on his bike.  He got out of the mental headspace that is teaching and worked with grease and tools for the afternoon.  I could tell by the look in his eyes and the sheer joy that he projected how awesome that was.  It was quite infectious.