Monday, March 7, 2016
"Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties."
– Doug Larson --
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This has been a weird winter. The kid cleared my driveway only once. I put boots on only once. I wore socks only maybe three days, and that was when I had a head cold. I never even bothered to locate my gloves, and never took the really warm coats out of the closet. The upstairs thermostat has needed new batteries since fall, but I haven't replaced them yet, which means I have no heat upstairs beyond what floats up the stairwell, but I never missed it. Not even in the bath or shower.
I wonder what summer is going to be like.
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I've been looking at the "old lady" 3-wheeled cycles online. They're not at all expensive. Of course, they don't have gears, either. I don't know why not. But then it's not like I'll be hill-climbing or racing, either. They come with a nice big basket, too.
I'd love to get one, but I really don't have anywhere to conveniently store it here, and I know I won't use it unless it's easy to get out. I guess I need a storage shed in the back yard first.
I have a (very! expensive!) bicycle with electric assist at the country house, but I'm not going to bring it down here. I loved it. There was a long hill from the main road up to the house, and the driveway was ridiculous, so although I could use it to go almost anywhere, I wouldn't be able to get back home without the assist. The electric assist kicks in only on hills, to add power to pedaling, and it had a dashboard that would tell me when to shift. BUT, even on the rural back roads up there, I was never comfortable, always a little bit afraid of falling into a ditch, or getting hit by a car. And because of the fancy battery stuff attached to the gears, there was no way to add a big basket or trailer to the back, so it wasn't convenient for a run into the village. So I used it a bit one summer just to tool around, and then it got parked in the garage. I suspect the battery won't ever take a charge again, and it's probably too old now to get a new battery. It weighed 70 lbs, but you never felt the weight while riding. It was nice.
I won't have that fear of falling with a tricycle, and there aren't any real hills around here.
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The Nugget has a bicycle, with training wheels, but I don't think she rides it much. Maybe her mommy is afraid to let her on the streets. I don't know. I don't know if she's even learning.
I didn't learn to ride a bike by the usual means - where a parent runs behind holding the kid up. That wasn't going to happen with my family. I learned to ride a bicycle on a tricycle.
When I was in second grade, all the other kids were getting bicycles. All I had was a big old tricycle (back when they had the high seats and metal frames). I was able to keep up with the other kids on my trike --- until the day one of the rear wheels fell off. (I even remember, it was the right rear.)
I didn't let that stop me. I didn't want to be left out completely. I tilted the tricycle over sideways, and rode it on two wheels!
It wasn't that difficult, and when I finally got a real bicycle, two real wheels, straight up, were easy.
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Ok. Trump. People are either worshiping him or making fun of him. There's nothing in between. But I've been wondering howcom nobody's making fun of the things that tickle me?
Like, they comment on the Cheetos-tanned skin, but howcom nobody mentions the heavy white concealer around his eyes? That's not from wearing those eyecups in the tanning bed, those cups are tiny and cover just the upper and lower lids. That's white concealer. No, it doesn't make you look younger. It makes you look like you're trying to look younger.
They comment on the outrageous things he says (and then denies saying), but howcom nobody noticed that he says everything with duck lips? I can't watch him talk. His mouth makes me cringe.
Jay and his father never went to a barber or hairdresser. Jay's mother cut everyone's hair, then when Jay went to college he simply didn't cut it between trips home, and then Jay's ex cut his hair, and then I took over. When Jay's mother died, his father cut his own hair himself, by combing it all to the back of his neck and cutting with scissors straight across the back (sometimes a bit too high). One cut. Done.
People make fun of the front of Trump's hair. Howcom nobody mentions the back and sides? Trump's hair looks just like Jay's father's hair did, like he combs it all to the back and cuts straight across (and a bit too low). He has millions; surely he can afford a stylist? He has a fashionable wife; she has no input?
He, or his business ventures, have declared bankruptcy several times. When asked about that, he insists it's no failure, bankruptcy is a legitimate business tactic, a tool he has used. Everybody says, oh, yeah, um. Howcom nobody has pointed out that there's something unethical about screwing people out of money you owe them just because you can, just because of bookkeeping technicalities, when you are personally capable of paying what is owed? Even if it IS legal to screw them?
Sigh. This is what it has come to. I'm nasty. Tsk.
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