Ordinary Day

It is very gratifying, after I went to the trouble of getting a fancy e-bike, to be able to do something to take proper care of it.

Last several rides I’ve been out, the pedaling in some gears was being weird. Not quite grinding, but going in that direction. Enough for me to notice, certainly. So I stopped at Seattle Electric Bike in Bothell to ask them what to do about this, since I was there anyway to pop super-fast into the BECU and do a deposit in the ATM.

Noted with interest that Seattle Electric Bike was open, but they had put up a little table to block the entrance, with a small terminal there and a sign that asked customers to wait at the door and they’d come outside to us. So I did that, and one of the guys inside the store came quickly out to chat with me. (We were both wearing masks, so A++ handling of customer and staff store safety there, Seattle Electric Bike!)

I explained my problem, and the staffer told me I should go to Bothell Ski & Bike to buy some lubricant for the chain. Seattle Electric Bike doesn’t carry parts or maintenance items, for the most part; they’re focused on selling the e-bikes, as well as doing regular maintenance for the people who’ve bought bikes from them. But if you want parts or other essentials to do maintenance yourself, Bothell Ski & Bike is better for that.

So I thanked him and went on my way. Since Bothell Ski & Bike was on my way back from Bothell anyway, I popped off the trail long enough to divert over to them once I reached that part of Kenmore.

Bothell Ski & Bike also gets high marks for handling their store and customer safety. They’re a bigger store than Seattle Electric Bike, with a larger entrance, and they’ve got signs up asking customers to wait outside until a staffer can come out to talk to them and let them into the store. Once I explained what I needed, their staffer was immediately able to help me and sold me a bottle of their most recommended chain lubricant.

Today, I tried that out and it worked like a charm. I had to hoist the bike up onto the support pole we have in our garage, just so that I’d be able to spin the back wheel freely and get to all parts of the chain. Laid down a towel underneath the bike, streamed the lubricant all along the chain, and then wandered off for ten minutes as per instructions. When I came back, I then wiped the chain down three times.

Took the chance to wash the bike a bit as well. It had a lot of cruft on it in various places, which both of the bike staffers suspected was contributing to the hinky behavior of the chain.

Finally took the bike on a little round of the block and the ride was much smoother. Mission accomplished, go me!

Crossposted from annathepiper.org. Original post: http://www.annathepiper.org/2020/07/11/acts-of-bike-maintenance/

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

I'm working tomorrow. I just got asked by the QA director guy if I can come in, and for how long. I told him I can stay as long as I'm needed, pretty much, since the busses on which I commute do run on the weekends.

But I'm going to try to bike down here tomorrow morning anyway. I figure if I leave the house around seven, I should damn well be able to get downtown by ten. That's about how long it took me to bike from Kenmore to Microsoft the couple of times I tried it, and on this route, there won't be any hills that'll really kill me.

And besides, I've been waking up early lately anyway, since we're heading into PHOTON CANNON season and the sunlight's been snapping me awake around 6am or so. I figure if I'm awake that early regardless, I can just suck it up and get on the bike. The tricky part will be figuring out when to leave so I won't be biking in the dark in the way home, since I don't have any lights on my bike. Sunset is after 8, so that should be doable. Though I suppose if I really need to, I can just take my bike to my usual bus stop and catch the 522 home. We'll see what happens.

And if I'm here tomorrow for a full day, that's a hefty chunk of overtime as well! And my lead was telling me that he'd be willing to let me have a paid day off next week to make up for this kind of a workload, which wouldn't suck.

ETA: And of course only after I decide to try biking tomorrow do I find out that there's a 40% chance of showers. Foo.

Let's start off this posting with some links! First up: word in from greatbigsea is that the Somerville show this Saturday will be colliding with ZOMBIES! Those of you who have followed my journal know that I have remarked before on the odd juxtaposition of my B'ys and the shambling undead. All I have to say is, nobody better be diving for the brain of The Doyle. ;) (Also? I love the entire idea of a Zombie March.)

Second up, arcaedia has some words of wisdom about submissions etiquette when you're querying agents. Recommended reading for the aspiring writers on my Friends list.

Third, several of you out there have probably heard already, but for those of you who haven't, it seems that the Skiffy Channel is planning a Battlestar Galactica spinoff, to take place on Caprica, and to show the events leading into the original Human/Cylon war. Here's hoping it'll be fun!

And in other news--reading through Julie Czerneda's Migration now, and am quite enjoying it, as I completely expected to do. This book so far isn't as astonishing in terms of plot revelations as the first, since it's the second part of an ongoing story and the reader has a better idea of what's going on now. But Czerneda's still throwing me a couple of amusing side curveballs in terms of interactions between certain characters, and she's not stinting on the amusing alien species, either.

I have learned to my chagrin that according to the list of mile counts on the Eowyn Challenge page, I was tracking miles to Lothlórien wrong all this time. I'd been thinking it was 464 miles when it was actually 462! So I got there earlier than I thought I did, it turns out, and I get to modify the numbers a bit now. Clearly I was distracted by Aragorn. Or Legolas. Or both. (Mmm. Aragorn.) But the mile count to Rauros Falls is a scant 389, so I should hopefully be able to tear through that pretty well over the summer and get well on the way to Isengard after. I'll be following the route taken by Aragorn, of course. (Because again I say, mmm, Aragorn.)

One possible way I might be able to knock off some miles: apparently in these parts, May is Bike to Work month. Very tempting, if I can figure out a decent route from Kenmore down to Real.

I got asked yesterday afternoon what my feelings were about working this weekend, again. I offered Saturday but said that I can't work on Sunday, because of a prior commitment--which is, of course, MurkJam! If you are coming to Jam, please drop a comment here or email me, and let me know! I need to know how much pie I should get.

And last up, birthday wishes go out to kirkcudbright and framlingem for today, and gerimaple for tomorrow! Especially Geri, since her post today that she really wants me hurry up and finish Lament of the Dove so I can write the sequel to Faerie Blood brought a big smile to my face. *^_^* Happily, I plunked out over 700 words on Lament last night, so I'm getting closer and closer to the end of it!

Thursday evening miles: 2.4
Friday morning miles: 2.1
Miles out of Hobbiton: 925.8
Miles out of Rivendell: 467.8
Miles out of Lothlórien: 5.8
Miles to Rauros Falls: 383.2

No matter how much of a Monday it might feel.

+0: But first off, greetings to acestatic, who I see has wandered by my journal. Hiya!

-1: It turned out that I had a couple of negative repercussions from the bike ride--late last night after I'd gone to bed, my arms started really hurting. I figure this must have been because I was hanging onto the handlebars of the bike too tightly, or something. This in turn is a holdover from my 2003 bike accident, I think, being generally paranoid about making damn sure both hands are on the handlebars at all times and that I am in fact braking with both hands rather than one.

Anyway, I wound up having to take a couple of ibuprofen and to break out the Tiger Balm just to get to sleep. That helped. My arms seem to be okay this morning, so I guess it was just temporary strain of the muscles of my forearms or something. I am nevertheless still feeling the exertion all over, and am quite logey. It's going to be a long day!

-2: In other news, Dara and I had been considering going up to Vancouver yesterday to take care of a couple of errands we want to do in B.C. and maybe to say hi to Vancouver friends. It didn't work out for assorted reasons. And it turns out that this is a good thing, since a) it'll give me more time to get in my passport renewal paperwork (I have a certified copy of my birth certificate now, but I'll feel comfier crossing the border with a passport), and b) there was a fatal accident on I-5 yesterday afternoon. :(

+/-3: What else... I've heard from my brother and from my sister wildshadowstar that our grandmother is in the hospital again. Apparently this time it's for removal of part of her colon. I'm told she's doing fairly well, though I fret some nevertheless. Grandma's been having to get a lot of medical attention lately; I just hope that this all winds up being good and helps fix a lot of stuff that old age and inattention to her own health has wrought, rather than being too little too late.

+4: I am deeply, deeply amused that Russell Crowe and Alan Doyle not only have made an album together, they've seemed to have become best buds. Alan's been showing up at things Russell's been doing and showing up in pics from these events, like the premiere of Cinderella Man in L.A.--and Russell showing up at the Indy 500. spazzkat has informed me that they are TOTALLY a couple, which makes me laugh and laugh and laugh. Perhaps they will be picking out the china patterns soon. ;)

solarbird and I just got back from an expedition down to MurkSouth to fetch my bike, run a couple of small purchasing errands, and hang out with the fabulous mamishka!

( Bus to Lake City Way, then down to MurkSouth... )

( On the Ave: snackies, bath goodies, and books bought... )

( Back to MurkSouth, and onto the Burke-Gilman trail back to MurkNorth... )

What with today's expedition and yesterday's walking, I have practically doubled my last recorded Miles to Rivendell distance. And if I don't sleep well tonight, especially after having some of the Melatonex, I shall be quite, quite vexed.

Miles yesterday: 2.0 (walk to Lake Forest Park Town Centre and back)
Miles today: 9.7 (1 mile walk to Lake Forest Park, 1.5 miles walking between MurkSouth and the Ave, 7.2 on bike back to Kenmore)
Miles on the journey: 25.06
Miles to Rivendell: 432.94