Day off!

[annathepiper]

Today I did indeed get that paid day off! (Which, it must be said, fills me with much good will towards my lead, since that was a damned nice gesture to make to a contractor. ^_^)

I rather amused myself, though. Last night I was terribly exhausted, enough that I couldn't do any writing to speak of; I just stared at a bunch of Courier New 12-pt type in Word and knew I had to do things to it, but damned if I could figure out exactly how to get what was in my head onto the screen. So I gave up and went to bed, even earlier than I normally do. Which meant in turn that I woke up not too much later than I usually do this morning.

And the morning in general went to trying to be productive: washing clothes, paying bills. But then solarbird and I went out on bikes, since a friend of ours from Microsoft (who Dara knows primarily through local activism channels these days) wanted to meet up for lunch or tea, and we ultimately decided to meet up with her down at the U-Village shopping center. On the way, Dara and I threw some rent into the bank (and donated bucks to a Lake Forest Park cop who was up on the roof of the bank, amusingly enough, taking pledges for the Special Olympics), mailed the bills, and got passed by about 368 bikers on our way onto the Burke-Gilman trail. Well, okay. Maybe more like twenty bikers. But it was still funny and vaguely sheepish-making to be passed by so many people who actually have a clue what the hell they're doing on bikes. The ride was nice, anyway; the weather's been gorgeous today. Dara got ahead of me on the trail, like she does, but that was okay since I did keep up a steady (if slow) pace, and I got lots of nice glimpses of the lake.

At the U-Village we had a nice chat with Janice, and we had tasty smoothies. And after that we popped into Barnes and Noble--and finally got mizkit's Thunderbird Falls, jimbutcher's Dead Beat, and Charlaine Harris' Dead as a Doornail, all of whom are now jumping into the fray to duke it out for Book I Read Next. So many cool choices--though I think naominovik's Throne of Jade is still yelling loudest. ;)

The ride home was nicer, since the long slow incline upward turned into a long slow incline downward, which meant I was able to keep pace with Dara much better. We had two amusing dog incidents as well. One involved a Dalmatian, trotting along the road that ran past the houses right on the edge of the lake, a bit further down the hill from the trail. He had a fireplace-sized log clenched in his mouth and he was trotting along with his tail a-wag, looking extraordinarily pleased with himself--or at least as near as I could tell coming up from behind him on my bike. The other was an actual doggie encounter, as Dara found this tiny, TINY terrier-type doggie hanging out around a stretch of the trail further along. We both got off our bikes, and the little guy gamboled around us asking for head pets, and was as friendly as friendly can be, not at all nervous and quivery like you'd expect of a pocket-sized little dog.

At Lake Forest Park we stopped at the shops so I could get another round of synthroid, and there I had the one annoying incident of the ride--falling off the stupid bike as I was trying to pedal up the small hill that leads up to the back side of the shops. I was on the sidewalk and a lady was walking past me the other way, and I think it was a combination of trying to avoid her and downshifting that undid me. I fell off the left side of the bike and landed in the dirt--but fortunately on a well-padded portion of myself. A couple of helpful passersby immediately asked me if I was all right and helped me right the bike, and I assured them I was fine, just annoyed--and thanked them for their help.

But I did rip my shorts, it looks like. Foo. They were my best pair of shorts, too. I'm running out of shorts that don't look like I've worn the hell out of them, so I think I'm going to have to go out again this weekend on a shorts-buying quest.

And now I am home, and spazzkat has made tasty dinner and purchased tasty Smirnoff green apple wine coolers, and I'm ready to amble my way through a Friday evening of words.

Thursday evening miles: 2.15
Friday miles: 19.0
Miles out of Hobbiton: 965.45
Miles out of Rivendell: 507.45
Miles out of Lothlórien: 45.45
Miles to Rauros Falls: 343.55

Comments

[seattlesparks.livejournal.com]

I just read the two Temeraire books (in a day), and really enjoyed them. They're not high literature, but I haven't had so much /fun/ reading a book in a long while. (I keep describing them to others as 'Horatio Hornblower with dragons,' and now a bunch of friends want to read them, too.)

So, hey, go read the second one. ;)

[annathepiper]

I've been plugging the first of the series around, and I am delighted to hear that the second one keeps up the fun! No, not high lit-ra-cher, I agree, but hands down the most fun I've had reading anything in some time. :D