January winding down

And it feels like I've had a grand total of zero rest/recovery days since being in the PacNW. The weekends are packed full of stuff to do, needs to be done and what not. Constantly going. I'm getting burned out in a way. Feeling the real need for a down day. I was hoping a snow day would happen tomorrow and I would get an excuse to stay home and just shovel and relax. But no, looks like I've got to be in three places at once here. Not a bad thing mind you. It is always good to be busy. That's the other part of it. Jan is usually a pretty quiet month. It hasn't been this year. Taking delivery of a new system certainly has added complexity, trying to get the car was a big undertaking (for me because i over think everything and cause myself to load up with needless stress). I am tempted to reach for a cup of coffee but I feel almost now at the point where I'm not sure I would like the taste anymore. In high school i cut out all milk in my diet because it was suspected that it contributed to my acne (not a minor case, I've got some good scar tissue to show for my puberty years, and yeah it probably contributed to the isolation i felt in the years of social development leaving me somewhat paralyzed in situations where i can't talk about cars or bikes or microscopes - and no the acne coupled with a fragile self-esteem and being the tallest and skinniest kid was too much). Anyway, after cutting the milk out for 6 months to a year I would get nauseas tasting it. It has me wondering if I actually would like the bitter taste anymore. My sister stayed with us this weekend and made a few pots of coffee. It smelled good. But hey who doesn't like the smell of coffee. I probably would still like it. My guess is the chemical taste recognition is so well imprinted that I will never not like coffee. Sort of like beer. I went 5-6 months without any and the first one back was pretty good.

In place of the coffee I've been drinking something that I picked up from my mother. Hot water with fresh ginger root and lemon. She adds a fresh mint leaf and maple syrup, but I've gone with just the ginger and lemon. Each morning a couple steaming cups of that just feels good. The spice of ginger and the tartness of the lemon are nice sort of eye openers. They've certainly become a habit now after a month. Finding good organic Ginger, or at the least domestic ginger (not from china or Argentina) is actually sort of tough out here. But I'll take the challenge vs the 10-20% higher costs in the stores in the Seattle region. I thought stuff was expensive here in New England, stuff out there in Gig Harbor and Seattle is wicked expensive relative to what I'm used to. I notice little stuff like that, prices and costs/unit. I notice stuff like the car that pulled out behind me as I pass it again as it is waiting in a line of stopped cars a mile or two down the road. I notice which parked cars have stud-less snow tires and find that mostly they are European cars.

The commute bypassing the bike path is longer. Only by about 2 miles or so, but the added hill (reasonably long) certainly contributes to more time on the bike everyday. In the cold sub 25°F weather that seems to be taking a bit out of me as well. I'm needing more and more fuel (food). But on the good side I seem to be finally kicking the cough and the rest of the respiratory junk. I think it isn't tough enough to handle the cold air.

Some of my introspection time has been chewed up by time spent reading up on the new/old car. That's certainly not a small factor in my seemingly more than normal absence around here, ie lack of words. But then maybe it has been the time spent clicking on the gallery's that have been popping up over at DC (big jonny's place not the capital). Who knows what it has been. call it a storm of everything. This recent and latest bikereg action i did certain has pushed me back towards the bike centric writing/thinking. Pondering how the heck I will attempt it this year. Or maybe not bother to do anything at all and just show up. The course change certainly will play a significant factor in motivating me to get my ass in gear rather than rely on memories of pain to get me through each section.

pretty spaced out here - tangents and weird subjects...

time to go ride in the cold... tomorrow might be a snow bike day or a vehicle day... we'll see what the morning brings...

heddwch
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