BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 23 min.
TIME BACK: n/a
WEATHER: partly cloudy with light rain, 6C, 11 km/hr crosswinds there
WHAT I WORE: warm-up pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell
NOTES:
Yesterday when I checked the Weather Network, it was calling for some snow and rain throughout the day today. With a little more glee than I should admit to here, I decided with the risk of snow I wouldn't bike today. However, when I woke up this morning and looked out the bedroom window, I saw nothing but puddles and rain-soaked streets. No snow. I sighed to myself, lamenting: "I guess I will bike today after all."
At work, I had a very busy day. I even spent most of my lunch hour running around campus getting my funding for next year in order, so that by the time I finished with my last client in the afternoon I was exhausted on many levels. On a whim, I decided to text a friend of mine who has given me rides home in the past to see if she'd be willing to pick me up. Remarkably, she did! Sure, I could have biked home - I wasn't too sick, it wasn't too windy, and the rain had even stopped - but for whatever reason I just couldn't fathom another cold, windy, wet ride home.
Thank God for friends like her!!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Week 39 - Day Three: Debbie Downer
BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 24 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 11C, 20 km/hr headwinds there; a few clouds, 15C, 17 km/hr tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:
"I've dug a hole so deep I'm gonna drown in my mistakes/
Can't even sell my soul 'cause it ain't worth shit today"
I've got this Billy Talent song in my head. Because I read meaning into just about everything, I've concluded that the reason this refrain is stuck on repeat in my head is that I still feel guilty about a mistake I made at work yesterday. It was a very simple and honest mistake that my colleagues have told me anyone could have made. Then again, it has the potential for serious repercussions, and anyone didn't make this mistake - I did. This led me to review the number of issues I've had over the year: the complaints made against me (which were rare, and said more about our service being severely understaffed than about me personally or professionally), and the time I was in danger of being sued. Last night I almost broke into tears as I lay in bed at night, reviewing all the things I wish I'd done differently during my internship year. But, luckily, the feeling passed.
I try to remind myself that my internship year is meant to be a learning experience, and the only way to learn a lesson really well is to make mistakes along the way and deal with their consequences. Still, I'm feeling bummed. I'm feeling a bit insecure about myself as a professional right now. I'm wishing things came easier - that I didn't have to learn the hard way, that I had more support here, that working full-time and trying to get in better shape and single-handedly raising a daughter weren't so damn exhausting. I wish I could eat cupcakes all day and all night and still lose weight. Maybe I should just try to find one of those magical wish-granting Genies to help me out right now. That'd be pretty cool.
Between yesterday's post and today's, I'm realizing that I'm feeling pretty tired, still a little sick, and just generally kind of bad. Of course, people have down days once in a while and I'm prepared to have mine. Still, even knowing that it's normal and that it'll pass doesn't really make it go away. Ahh, well, at least on days like these I can sympathize that much more with what my clients are going through. We all have our crosses to bear.
TIME THERE: 24 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 11C, 20 km/hr headwinds there; a few clouds, 15C, 17 km/hr tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:
"I've dug a hole so deep I'm gonna drown in my mistakes/
Can't even sell my soul 'cause it ain't worth shit today"
I've got this Billy Talent song in my head. Because I read meaning into just about everything, I've concluded that the reason this refrain is stuck on repeat in my head is that I still feel guilty about a mistake I made at work yesterday. It was a very simple and honest mistake that my colleagues have told me anyone could have made. Then again, it has the potential for serious repercussions, and anyone didn't make this mistake - I did. This led me to review the number of issues I've had over the year: the complaints made against me (which were rare, and said more about our service being severely understaffed than about me personally or professionally), and the time I was in danger of being sued. Last night I almost broke into tears as I lay in bed at night, reviewing all the things I wish I'd done differently during my internship year. But, luckily, the feeling passed.
I try to remind myself that my internship year is meant to be a learning experience, and the only way to learn a lesson really well is to make mistakes along the way and deal with their consequences. Still, I'm feeling bummed. I'm feeling a bit insecure about myself as a professional right now. I'm wishing things came easier - that I didn't have to learn the hard way, that I had more support here, that working full-time and trying to get in better shape and single-handedly raising a daughter weren't so damn exhausting. I wish I could eat cupcakes all day and all night and still lose weight. Maybe I should just try to find one of those magical wish-granting Genies to help me out right now. That'd be pretty cool.
Between yesterday's post and today's, I'm realizing that I'm feeling pretty tired, still a little sick, and just generally kind of bad. Of course, people have down days once in a while and I'm prepared to have mine. Still, even knowing that it's normal and that it'll pass doesn't really make it go away. Ahh, well, at least on days like these I can sympathize that much more with what my clients are going through. We all have our crosses to bear.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Week 39 - Day Two: Sick Again
BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 22 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 12C, 6 km/hr headwinds there; partly cloudy, 17C, 6 km/hr cross/tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:
I spent the long weekend visiting family and friends in Regina. Between the long hours of visiting and spending time with nieces and nephews and the traveling with a toddler, I ended up stressed and sleepless and, ultimately, sick. Bleh.
Being sick the last couple of days has made the week kind of intolerable. Today, I turned to my colleague and said, "It's two days in and it's already a looooong week." Sigh! I'm looking forward to trying to catch up on some rest this weekend, and hopefully getting over this stuffed sinus.
Oh, the tiredness! The sinus clogginess! Man, I could use a vacation . . . or is this just the feeling of burning out? Guhhh. I need rest.
TIME THERE: 22 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: clear, 12C, 6 km/hr headwinds there; partly cloudy, 17C, 6 km/hr cross/tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, zip-up hoodie
NOTES:
I spent the long weekend visiting family and friends in Regina. Between the long hours of visiting and spending time with nieces and nephews and the traveling with a toddler, I ended up stressed and sleepless and, ultimately, sick. Bleh.
Being sick the last couple of days has made the week kind of intolerable. Today, I turned to my colleague and said, "It's two days in and it's already a looooong week." Sigh! I'm looking forward to trying to catch up on some rest this weekend, and hopefully getting over this stuffed sinus.
Oh, the tiredness! The sinus clogginess! Man, I could use a vacation . . . or is this just the feeling of burning out? Guhhh. I need rest.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Week 39 - Day One: Decisions, Decisions
BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 22 min. (woot woot!)
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: partly cloudy, 9C, 13 km/hr headwinds there; a few clouds, 16C, 15 km/hr tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt
NOTES:
I've been riding Eastwood for the past couple days because poor Mike the Bike is out of commission with a broken spoke. This has thrown me into a tailspin of bike research: now that I know how much I dislike the high maintenance required of winter biking, I would love to move up to an internal hub bike for my next purchase, and I have my eye set on this little puppy: Desire by Mountain Equipment Co-Op. It's a hybrid, built specifically for women's proportions, and it has an internal hub so it's super low maintenance - could a bike possibly be more suited to me??
There are two problems with this bike, though: (1) the Edmonton MEC doesn't carry bikes, so I'll have to drive out to Calgary to get it, and if I need any servicing/repairs on it that come free with the purchase of the bike, I'd have to return to Calgary every time (or just forego MEC and pay for it myself at another bike shop here); and, (2) with an internal hub around the rear axle, I can't attach my daughter's trailer to it, so I'd either have to use one of my other bikes to haul my daughter around (i.e., repair Mike's spokes and use him, or see if I can attach it to Eastwood) or purchase something else to transport my daughter with on the new bike.
Another problem is that it's a $750 bike. In the world of bikes that's not very expensive, but it's sure a lot more than the $250 I spent on Mike, and WAY more than the $50 I spent on Eastwood. As a single parent and a full-time student, is it really worth it to spend that much money on a bike? Especially since I still have over a year left on my car lease, so I'm simultaneously paying for a car?
Ack! Decisions, decisions! I don't think I'll be in Calgary for a while, so I don't have to make any immediate decisions. Still, it's something to think about. And every day I think about it and put off getting a new bike is another day I'm stuck driving my daughter to daycare because I haven't hooked the trailer up to Eastwood. Ahh, well, there are worse things than doing a little driving every day . . . I guess . . . (hmmph).
TIME THERE: 22 min. (woot woot!)
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: partly cloudy, 9C, 13 km/hr headwinds there; a few clouds, 16C, 15 km/hr tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt
NOTES:
I've been riding Eastwood for the past couple days because poor Mike the Bike is out of commission with a broken spoke. This has thrown me into a tailspin of bike research: now that I know how much I dislike the high maintenance required of winter biking, I would love to move up to an internal hub bike for my next purchase, and I have my eye set on this little puppy: Desire by Mountain Equipment Co-Op. It's a hybrid, built specifically for women's proportions, and it has an internal hub so it's super low maintenance - could a bike possibly be more suited to me??
There are two problems with this bike, though: (1) the Edmonton MEC doesn't carry bikes, so I'll have to drive out to Calgary to get it, and if I need any servicing/repairs on it that come free with the purchase of the bike, I'd have to return to Calgary every time (or just forego MEC and pay for it myself at another bike shop here); and, (2) with an internal hub around the rear axle, I can't attach my daughter's trailer to it, so I'd either have to use one of my other bikes to haul my daughter around (i.e., repair Mike's spokes and use him, or see if I can attach it to Eastwood) or purchase something else to transport my daughter with on the new bike.
Another problem is that it's a $750 bike. In the world of bikes that's not very expensive, but it's sure a lot more than the $250 I spent on Mike, and WAY more than the $50 I spent on Eastwood. As a single parent and a full-time student, is it really worth it to spend that much money on a bike? Especially since I still have over a year left on my car lease, so I'm simultaneously paying for a car?
Ack! Decisions, decisions! I don't think I'll be in Calgary for a while, so I don't have to make any immediate decisions. Still, it's something to think about. And every day I think about it and put off getting a new bike is another day I'm stuck driving my daughter to daycare because I haven't hooked the trailer up to Eastwood. Ahh, well, there are worse things than doing a little driving every day . . . I guess . . . (hmmph).
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