Day 21

Another funny day, which did not start too well - awoke at 0600 & then found out I had fallen asleep again, until 0740!
Still windy outside, so somehow convinced myself not to ride.
Had coffee with the lads (& Heather/Maxine).
Got home to find that internet had disappeared. Tried turning modem off, tried pushing the restart button & then finally rang iiNet. Who had a message saying 'We are aware of the problem & are attending to it. Please excuse the lack of service' ... Most inconvenient, as I had things to attend to!
Went to visit Liz, for a chat. Tried to discuss progress & outcomes, but she does not listen very well.
Then went to library, to get Sandman book, stopped to pick up some ham & then called in to offer Eric some branch trimmings, but he was dismissive.
Grateful for: being eloquent enough to explain my situation

One thing from the session with Liz - she wants me to relate things as emotions, how I am affected & what it all means. But no typing - it is all to be done handwritten ...
So this will be the last posting in this series, anyway ...

Day 20

Day started slow - awoke at 0400, then promptly fell asleep for 70 minutes. Then repeated another three (3) times! Was also still quite windy, so not keen on riding. But knew I had to …

Just then, somebody knocked on the door & asked if I wanted any branch trimmings? Turned out there was about 3m in the back of the truck, so had it dumped on the driveway. Spent several hours moving it around the garden, but plenty more to go! Was a good afternoon’s exercise.

Also watched His girl Friday & was quite impressed at how good it was - turns out it was a Howard Hawks film!

Grateful for: universe sharing its wealth

Day 19

Went to markets & bought fruit & Vegetables, eggs & cheeses. Then came home & cooked up a cheese & capsicum omelette. As usual, cooked too much! But it was very yummy.

It was quite windy outside, so just pottered about the house.

Grateful for: cooking healthy, nutritious & yummy food

Day 18

Got up early & pottered about. Decided to leave early - that way I could help Felix get ready, so got there at 0745. Knocked, no answer. Knocked again every five (5) minutes. Still no response, so left. He then texts me at 0840 & says where are you? Then calls me at 0900 to berate me for not being there, etc.

Rode out to Avalon Beach, into a northerly wind, so the trip back had a lot of wind-assist. But got home & not quite done enough, so later - when the wind was even stronger - went out & did a bit more. All up did 81 km. Day was quite hot too - as you would expect for the 1st day of Summer!

Tried to catch up with Felix at Elephant & Castle for celebratory beer. But that ended in disaster - with him getting quite aggressive that I refused to go to Alleycats with him!

Grateful for: having ridden - achieved another badge

Day 17

Up early to go into town & do banking.

Made up a rich Bolognese sauce. 

Met up with Felix later for drinks at Elephant & Castle. Where he decided it was time to go after one drink - apparently he had left his phone at home on the charger. He pestered me to come riding in the morning & agreed to leave at 0800. So walked home & watched television for a few minutes.

Grateful for: getting out to ride - awoke feeling migrainal

Day 16

Rode down to Breamlea & then back in along Lake Road. Wind was a great assistance on way back :)

Later rode into town & called in to visit Felix, who then hijacked the afternoon/evening Still, he did assist by loaning me money to do big shop at Aldi & Safeway. Also had dinner at Elephant & Castle, which was a bit plain.

Grateful for: feeling the wind in my hair

Day 15

Watched the images of the storm in Sydney & contrasted them with the images of the fires in Queensland - who said climate change was not a thing?

Downloaded a yoga nidra session & tried that to relax. The focus on sections was encouraging.

Grateful for: enjoying the variety in the weather

Day 14

Because of lack of sleep, it was hard to get moving! So had made coffee as a means to get going & Felix rings - he is high & wants to come over, to get a rose for his father’s funeral corsage. Straight away.

So by the time he left, there was not enough time to ride before coffee with the crew.

So ‘forced’ myself out the door after lunch & went to do laps at the criterium track. Confluence of factors meant that it was not an extensive session, but complemented it by riding home the long way home. Best bit was flying along Townsend Road, in the bike lane & overtaking a lot of afternoon traffic.

Investigated some meditation & yoga nidra apps. Will sleep on choices & download tomorrow.

Made sure to get an early night.

Grateful for: impetus to keep moving

Day 13

Very slow start to day - woke at 0530, pottered around until 0630 & then fell asleep! Then woke up again at 0730 & promptly fell asleep again for one (1) hour. Repeated again …

Watched the final episode of Hard sun & was amazed at its ending - seemed a bit ambiguous, as there has not been confirmation that there will be a 2nd season yet …

Just rode around the block, to do some shopping, but it was really just an attempt to keep the legs moving - active recovery.

Tried to get some cleaning of the house done - yet there is always more to be done! Might need to start creating lists to keep me focussed?

Watched the Dr Who episode & then Whovians. Had a few laughs.

Took a long time to fall asleep - ended up getting out of bed & watching some television, to see if that would help. It didn’t. There was an Australian movie Innuendo on, which would have been better to have watched all of - especially as I am unlikely to ever see it again.

Grateful for: keeping moving

Day 12

A club ride, albeit not with the ride leader I was expecting. However, it was a very good reason to get up & ride. Apart from unclear instructions re route for leaving - which I freely admit may be due to me not hearing the instructions - once we got underway, it was a lot of fun. Spent quite a bit of time at the front, keeping the bunch together. They went for coffee & I turned right, to keep riding & take the long way home.

Which hurt.

A lot.

Consequently, too tired:

• To go for a beer;
• So had a snooze;
• Did little else for the afternoon; and,
• Watched the rest of Hard sun.

Will be interesting to see how I feel on Monday.

Also made an omelette - but fear I have not had enough carbohydrates?

Grateful for: pushing through the pain

Day 11

Up early & felt empowered. So cleaned up in kitchen before venturing out to ride with friends.

In some ways, the weather was worse - lots of drizzle & strong winds. But at least this time I did not almost get blown off the bike when popping out from behind Bunnings! Less distance & (much) slower, but was a much more social ride.

Spent the afternoon tidying up databases for research & chatted online.

As a reward for the effort, treated myself to hippies & bottle of beer to enjoy whilst watching Newshour.

Also caught up with friends for coffee.

Grateful for: having friends to encourage me to keep going

Day 10

Rode bike - here is the ride report:

I know many of you are looking out the window & thinking how lovely it would be to go for a ride ...My advice: don't!As you can see, I was out earlier.A gentle 12 kph Westerly breeze, but 7c. So, I put appropriate clothes on.Got about 100m down the road & it started to rain - but more a drizzle.However, came over Leopold & the rain began to chase me - I would slow down on the hills & it would catch me!So, of course, when I got to Drysdale & turned for home ...Good ride along railtrail, albeit quite wet.But when I got back to Leopold, the wind had picked up & changed direction - with the result that my dished wheels skipped!Home safe now :-)

Got home & unwound, by playing with television - worked out how to stream shows through the television, so watched an episode of Hard sun.

Made a red curry with chicken & had Felix over so that he could commiserate about his father.

Grateful for: got out & rode - had a laugh about the inequities!

Day nine (9)

After the debacle yesterday, which was recognised as a warning sign, today was about being more gentle.

Still did not ride & it was another beautiful day for riding, but did not stress out about it.

Read another book.

Also did some research on the interaction between Aborigines & opium use. Fascinating stuff! This was like a sparking of interest.

Grateful for: giving myself permission & not worrying fruitlessly

Day eight (8)

Not a good day.

So bad, in fact, that I started the day & seem to have forgotten to have had a coffee. What’s going on?

Beautiful weather for riding outside, but after trying seven (7) times to go & ride, just gave up …

Went back to bed & read two (2) books.

Also washed up, fed magpies & ate lots of food.

Grateful for: getting through the day, not spending any money and not drinking any coffee or alcohol

Day seven (7)

Sisto was buried today. Pity about that.

Morning started quite warm - got caught in a rain storm & played around in it; six (6) hours later it was so cold that I seriously contemplated putting the fire on!

Spent morning pottering around & joined the others for coffee. But after watching Newshour, the afternoon got cold, so snuggled into bed & read a book.

Grateful for: being able to write about Sisto & remember

Day six (6)

Pimple still in place, so no riding. Bit frustrating! Thought it would have dried up & cleared away by now - not as young as I used to be, so powers of recovery lag behind.

Sat down & read Das kapital. Will mention again that it is quite dense!

Was hot today - 30c but then cooler tomorrow.

Watched an episode of Dr Who & then Whovians. Always exciting.

Grateful for: being able to enjoy a secure home & food situation

Day five (5)

Day for the big ride! Had been looking forward to this - although had not prepared as well as expected. Unfortunately, discovered a pimple had appeared in a delicate position … was like a teenager - unable to go into public because of a pimple!

Instead, went to the markets, just to be seen. Also bought some eggs, cheese/bread & fruit. Everyone seemed happy.

Made a mushroom & mince in tomato sauce, but then discovered I had run out of pasta, so had it with cous-cous instead.

Rubbed cream on pimple to dry it out & rubbed oil on other bits, before laying down to let it absorb.

Grateful for: finding alternatives to entertain myself

Day four (4)

Had intended to go for a ride. But didn’t.

Later took the plunge & spent some $$$ on Xmas presents.

Found that it was not an easy process to get internet radio streams. But, instead, can just stream podcasts off iTunes - very wide variety.

Also played with television station streaming - started to watch the missing episodes of Blindspot, on 7play. Discovered that I can do it :) but there are ads :(

Made a rather nice frittata, using grated vegetables, to eat whilst watching PBS - no Mark this week. Some good points & David seemed to be more relaxed.

Also found out the Felix’s dad died, so went & commiserated for a few hours.

Grateful for: being pleased with culinary capacity

Day three (3)

Read a few more pages of Das Kapital - it sure is hard work!

TGIF - time to go pick up a few little ‘luxuries’.

So, went into town to pick up some $$$ & ran into a girl I used to work with. But, could not for the life of me remember which workplace :( I think that I must face a cognitive disassociation going on - recognise the face, but can’t remember where from …

Stopped at organic larder for a coffee. Bland & watery, but it was an experience.

Grateful for: having $$$ to do things, after paying for roof & food

Day two (2)

The effect of not sleeping well/much is that the only time I got out the door was to feed the magpies. Hmm …

However, turned out that Stir crazy was on SBS 31 :) Amazed that it was directed by Sidney Poitier - thought it was done by Mel Brooks!

Also downloaded Scratch & started to play with it - this is going to be an interesting journey. To say the least.

Spent more time playing with the computers, trying to enhance their performance, but with limited success.

Grateful for: reading a few pages of Das kapital & understanding it

Day one (1)

Day started cold & wet.

Not sure if we are in Spring, really?

Seemed a good day to potter about the house, so decided to concentrate on more settings & usages for the internet connection. So, spent a bit of time setting up the television - can get it to recognise the network connection wirelessly, yet when I try to use the television, it says no network connection. Frustrating!

Later looked at some of the websites for cycling & set up bookmarks. Also downloaded Beneath a steel sky. Then discovered it needed the ScummVM UI to operate it. So downloaded it too.

Finished the book An excess male. Again forgot to finish off Desire. Must get on & do that.

Took a deep breath & went into town to see Girl in the spider web. Give it a satisfaction rating of a three (3) - which is more than expected. Great soundtrack, but destroyed the characters. This was an American film, for an American audience, with American sensibilities & based (loosely) upon the 1st book after the Millennium trilogy.

Walked home & called into Elephant & Castle for a beer on way home - trivia night was on.

Got home, cooked the steak & watched some television, whilst digesting it.

Grateful for: Got out of the house & achieved a goal - to see Girl in the spider web

08/01/18 - or should that be 8/1/18?

This past week has not been easy, for some reason or another …

NY day was a lazy day at home & TB went home on Tuesday. Started the morning with breakfast at Sprout cafe ($50), then went to catch up with the coffee crew at Deakin Uni cafe. Except it was closed. So ended up at the place opposite Eastern Gardens/Geelong High. Where granddaughter & son of Xmas had to sort out some family drama stuff. Which was also, coincidentally, time for us to leave … went up to Melbourne & wandered around their Botanic Gardens, where I was told that we should have got a picnic to do this in Geelong, then patted on the back & told that I just did not understand, when I disagreed with an argument … actually, it was more that I did not understand it quite, and TB could not explain it any further … Also picked up a few books from BD.

Saturday was outrageously hot - touched 43c after lunch! Rode out to Drysdale along the rail trail, with Simon & Coop, met up with all the others, then rode back. Sat at home, drank two VBs & stubby of Coopers Stout, then went to Pivot to watch ’The teacher’ - interestingly, the place was tepid, rather than cool & there were a lot of senior citizens there …

Been reading ‘Chasing the scream’ and ’The globalization of addiction’ … kind of brings up an urge to contribute …

Looking at the amount of money that I am apt to be getting, I reckon I could save $50, spend $50 on books & still have enough to live on … could be something to strive for. The other option could be to increase the tax taken out - makes for a good refund for 18ITR, but would also mean that I could not access it until then …

Apart from Saturday, there was one time when I toddled down to Breamlea, dragged a bloke up to HSB, then turned right to come home. Actually, that was a strange day - caught up with two blokes at Armstrong Creek, and one bike was so shiny that it reflected the light rather disorientatingly …

The last couple of days have been a bit ill … especially with a disturbing headache, maybe sinus? In which case, maybe I should be eating some wasabi … stomach has also been playing up, which seriously detracts from urge to ride - after all, don’t want to have an accident on the ride … on Sunday, took the left over ham bone, from Xmas, and cooked it up with pearl barley and vegetables. In particular, this was an attempt to move towards a more macrobiotic-based diet … on this basis, have tried to cut out alcohol - but a bit early to decide on that one!

14/10/17 - B2GC ride

The run down on the B2GC was rather hard …

So much rain, having started at 6 the night before, with BoM report was expecting up to 90mm, along with 45kph SSE, i.e. headwind … Anyway, thought that if I did not go, I would never live it down. So set the alarm for 0400, had some porridge & muesli, packed three (3) cookies and got Mother to drop me off at Vulture Street. Joined a bunch of other cyclists to turn down Grey Street, then ran into the start line, where I had to get a replacement number, my original still being on GC, for some reason. One of the CQ volunteers (Kylie) was there. Start line was absolutely chaotic, with people meandering across the road and/or pushing their way forward around the outside! So, tried to take a more conservative approach, and eventually got away - along with (apparently) about 5 000 other riders …

To this point, there had been an intermittent patch of drizzle, which had been dampening, but nothing too bad. This continued, apart from little squalls, until the climb up towards Mt Gravatt, where it really let go for heavy shower #1 … at the turn off on the BusWay, there were two (2) cars, with flashing lights, and four (4) big burly security guards - no doubt to stop any of us from discreetly withdrawing from the ride?

Starting later meant that there were more riders, but it seemed that most of the better riders had already left, so there was not too much competition on the hill climbs :) sorted through the chaff … by the time I got to Logan, I resembled a drowned rat & with soggy sox! It was pretty much a straight through run - got a banana & (two) mueseli bars - then kept going again, eating as I rode ...

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Is it fair to say that the tolerance is wearing thin? The abrasive nature of these two is disheartening - it is almost that they are codependent? In another sense, it is like the Somali proverb - ‘Me against my brother; us against the family; the family against the tribe; the tribe against the world’ … all a bit too much for my delicate sensibilities, I am afraid … So now to move on to the Mother Spider, in her lair … Families: you got to love them, but you don’t have to like them ...

In other news, have been walking a bit around the area, as well as doing some hacking :p the town seems a little tarnished at the moment, with shops closed and people wandering around, down at the heel. Must say that I am getting a fresh appreciation of disdain for all these people that wear thongs and/or open ended shoes (e.g. Crocs or sandals). But then, I have always been an advocate for the Dunlop Volleys :)

On the final morning, the wind has dropped & the sun is shining - in my absence, they have been enjoying 30c days, and light winds; here it has been exceptionally not like that … when I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, I wanted to be here …

it really is too much at times - and not just because of the lassitude :p probably I will need to just lie down for awhile and get the kinks out …