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I hope this one sticks
On Fri, 15 Jun 2018 23:11:23 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote: I think I could put a quarter of a cup into an imperial pint without making it too thick to strain. Aha! That's why my switchel concentrate came out too thick. I used an American Customary pint. I pasteurized the remaining switchel concentrate, and put a sealing lid on it while it was still hot. I fear that I won't be needing it any time soon. Today's ride didn't give me any ideas for Aunt Granny columns. I bought stuff at both farmers' markets, bought a couple of essentials at Owen's West, bought the wrong elastic at Lowery's (I picked up two skeins and put the wrong one back. Or the right one back, depending on your point of view.), bought nachos at the Animal Welfare League "barbecue" (all the food was in crock pots), and didn't buy anything at the Ace Hardware retirement sale. I should stock up on brackets that fit my standard shelving standards, because they aren't available anywhere else. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
AG: Still out of topics
Wednesday, 1 August 2018
Weather Underground is still predicting a dry day for Friday. Actually, today would have been a good day to be outdoors, but it was threatening in the morning. I did go out and fluff the mulch in the asparagus bed and push the cultivator around the garden. Should have hauled some dirt, too, but I didn't. I had been planning to use Friday to measure how long it takes me to ride to Fort Wayne Orthopedics, then go out DuPuy's back door to Aldi, and come back by way of the K-Mart crossing. Two extra miles, but worth it to get out of crossing US 30 on Parker Street. Then Wednesday's paper contained an ad for Pierceton Days. It's this coming weekend and I'M NOT READY. Usually I go to the farmers' markets on Saturday, come home, take a nap, and ride to the festival for supper. Makes about a quarter century for the day. But my best this year is the flat Leesburg loop, and that was back in April. I feel as though I spent all of July in waiting rooms. Eventually, I realized that the other Pierceton Day is Friday, the stuff I mean to buy at Aldi isn't urgent, and I can come back from the farmer's markets by way of Aldi -- the Parker Street crossing isn't nearly as stressful going west. I'd rather get out of doing it, but thinking about doesn't trigger traumatic-stress syndrome. So I checked, and there is a good route from Orthopedic Drive to Pierceton. Google doesn't know about it -- it lets you enter from both US 30 and Old 30, but doesn't know that the two parts of the driveway connect, so it won't let you go out that way. So after locating the back doctor's office, I can have lunch in Pierceton. I do hope that Harvest Church sells apple dumplings on Fridays too. Vendors don't open until noon, but I never get off before ten without spending the whole previous day getting ready. (Well, it took the whole day the last time I did it, but the morning was spent altering a jersey I've been intending to alter for weeks.) So there's no way I'll get there before noon. And if I need a spare part, I'm living in the right town. Thursday 2 August 2019 I think I'm ready for tomorrow's ride. Replaced the loose elastic in my riding knickers today. At the last minute, I remembered that when going to Pierceton, I have to carry as much water as if I were going out in the boonies. Only one quart in the pannier, though, as one can buy bottled water at the Lions booth if two bottles and a quart are not enough. I'm planning to take switchel concentrate and three bags of ice -- I did re-fill the ice bin. I should keep an eye out for the hat vendor; I haven't been able to make one that fits me as well as the one I bought at the tomato festival when I forgot to bring a hat. I now have a visor permanently bungeed to my emergency kit. Still haven't found a saddle bag to keep my emergency kit in. It's inconvenient to keep it in a drawstring bag tied to the rack and bungeed down. Looks like it might rain on Monday, but even if I drive, I need to know where the place is. Friday 3 August 2018 The fountain in Pierceton is working -- after a fashion. It was running continuously. I refilled a bottle, and topped it off before I left, but still tapped into the quart in the cooler before I got home. I'd also stopped to beg water halfway to Pierceton. Makes at least four bottles consumed. My shirt was quite wet when I got home. Hit Sprawlmart going and coming. Didn't stop when going because I was timing myself for Monday. Nineteen or twenty miles, and I don't appear to have injured myself. I was worried when my leg got sore about halfway home. Probably helps that I stopped three times in the last few miles: bread at Aunt Millie's, which involves climbing a set of steps that appear to have been installed for my personal convenience (I don't know anybody old enough to know what they used to lead to) and walking across two parking lots; Ritter's for an ice-cream cone, which also involved some walking because I turned onto US 30 instead of going straight and then turning left (the rumble strip and the debris forced me into the grass); and Big R on general principles. I park right by the door there, but it's a *long* big-box store. And I got no nap and it's pushing midnight; better shut down and go to bed. Saturday 4 August 2018 The plan to stop at Aldi came a cropper: I filled up my panniers at the farmers' markets. Tomatoes, an onion, and a watermelon at the first, crack candy and a pecan bar at the second. Also, I didn't feel like skipping my nap two days in a row. I was even wetter than yesterday when I got home; my jersey and do-rag are still in a bucket of soda water; I soaked my gloves in plain water, spun them out, and hung them on my brake cables to dry. Drank only two bottles of water, but I was out for only a couple of hours. I got a really cool idea for next week's column, but didn't write it down. frownyface I saw a wrong-way rider during today's expedition. They have become quite rare. It's de rigueur around here to block all alleys, driveways, wheelchair ramps, etc, with low curbs. But the wheelchair-ramp curbs are *very* low. When entering an alley today, I found a speed bump! They had installed the curb across the alley mouth, then filled in behind it with asphalt patch. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
AG: Riding through broken glass
Calloo, callay, oh frabjous day! A search of the entire folder shows that I've never written on the topic of riding over sharp objects. Or if I did, I didn't use the word "glass". Ideally, when somebody smashes a few bottles in your path, you stop and walk around the mess, and carefully brush your tires before mounting up again. But one rarely sees the glass soon enough to do that. When you see that you are going to ride through a field of glass, you may slow down as much as you can before hitting it, but you must not brake, pedal, or steer while in it. All these actions scrub your tires against the pavement. Most flakes of glass lie flat and you can safely roll over them, but if you rub back and forth, you are likely to find an edge. So brake when you see glass ahead, and at the same time line up for the safest path through. Stop braking before there's a chance that an outlying flake is under your wheel, and roll through the glass without allowing anything but air resistance to change your velocity. Once through, you will be going slow enough that you can stop without scrubbing your tires much. Get off, inspect your tires, and brush them with something disposable or your leather-protected palms. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
AG: If you can't miss it
I'm sure I've said this before, but there might conceivably be a new reader out there. If you can't miss it, hit it square. A bump that you hit at right angles is much less likely to steer the bike out from under you than one struck a glancing blow. Bumps are worse than drop-offs, so line up with the near edge of a bump and the far edge of a hole. Just before you hit a bump or a patch of rough road, set the cranks horizontal and rise out of the saddle with your knees bent. This saves you from a bruised butt, and it saves the bike from being crushed between the bump and the inertia of your weight -- your bent legs serve as shock absorbers. I feel that this position also gives me better control of the bike. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
AG: Yesterday's News
I nearly always read the paper the following day, because the e-edition gives access only to the archives and I need a magnifier to read the paper version. (I have an appointment to do something about that the Friday after next.) So it was reported on Tuesday that on Monday (it's a morning paper, delivered in the afternoon to subscribers.) a moped rider was injured when he ran into the side of a red-light runner. Which reminded me of the oft-repeated mantra: when the right-of-way is yours, don't bet your life that you will get it. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
AG: expired note
Huh? It's Saturday! Didn't feel like it; I spent the whole day grumping inside because of the pouring rain. No, I won't melt, but grumping around the house is more fun than riding in a thunderstorm. Doesn't make as good a story, though, like the time I worried about being able to see through the rain to avoid the big limbs being blown down onto the road, then the dime dropped and I dived for the nearest shelter. What do you know, there *is* a post in the drafts folder. Only an embryo that hasn't been deleted yet, but it's already past bedtime. -------------------------------------------------------------------- While cleaning up my training diary, I found a note dated Tuesday 8 May 2018. It says "McK: asphalt erode", by which I meant that I must continue to be cautious of what might be hidden in the shadow of the overpass, because the same drip that wore away the old pavement has already marked the new pavement. Suspecting shadows of concealing death traps is probably a good policy in general. It also says "bad pave alley", by which I meant to remind myself to write a post saying that bad pavement is another reason to be very careful in alleys, but I've forgotten what I meant to say. "As I say, not as I". Probably meant to remind me to write a post about the importance of braking with both hands, but I think I already did that. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
AG: Face grease
Went to the farmer's markets today; didn't write anything, but this scrap from the unfinished-drafts folder will be in season soon: 20 March 2018 Getting ready to go for groceries this afternoon, I smeared my nose and prominent parts of my face with stick sunscreen to keep out the cold wind, then (because it was sunny) put on a lotion of higher SPF to cover any spots I'd missed. Which reminded me of the primary rule of greasing the face: put the thicker grease on first: jelly can be spread on peanut butter, but Peanut butter doesn't stick to jelly. Back when I could ride on days when I got salty slush thrown into my face, I'd put on lipstick first, then petroleum jelly, and finally olive oil. It's officially spring, the daffodils have buds, and I can see the tips of tulip leaves. Won't be long before I'm looking for sunscreen that doesn't have grease in it. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
AG: Aunt Granny's Advice, or How to become an elderly cyclist:
No time to write this week, so here's a ride report. Weather Underground said there was a reasonable chance that I wouldn't get rained on if I got home by twelve. The weather has suddenly changed from to hot that my jersey gets so wet that I need help getting out of it to just a mite chilly, so I wasn't all that cheerful about getting rained on. but I really, really wanted to go to the markets today, so I decided to gamble. I thought it was crack-candy day, but it was goat's milk day instead. Also some cookies, but I didn't buy any of those despite having breakfasted on a fig bar and a handful of pills in the interest of getting back sooner. In deference to the rain, I skipped the stop at International Foods. We are completely out of New Zealand corned beef, but it took me six months to get around to using that can, and I have nearly half of it left. Not to mention that International Foods should be a leisurely stroll, not a dash-and-grab. Corned-beef-and-eggplant lasagna is surprisingly good; I bought four more little eggplants, but we are almost out of shredded mozzarella seasoned with romano, asiago, and parmesan. And completely out of lasagne; perhaps I could make eggplant parmesan, eking out the "Italian-style" cheese with swiss cheese and cheddar. I've never liked eggplant parmesan, but I've never had it made with *small* eggplants, that were simply sliced and fried in olive oil, rather than huge thick slices elaborately processed, then breaded. I bought four eggplants and three boxes of tiny tomatoes at the fairgrounds market, then went to Carneciaria San Jose for salsa mexicana, but they were still out. I did buy three kinds of refried beans. More-or-less straight to the courthouse market, where I bought a pint of milk. Railroad construction and one-way alleys complicated the path. (The Norfolk-Southern line runs down the middle of Hickory Street, and they recently changed the rails. And some utility has taken advantage of the disruption to lay a new main of some sort. And the Buffalo Street Project complicated the trip back. I stayed rather longer at the Safety Day than I should have, and didn't see as much as I would have liked. I've walked from the Library to Central Park before, but I was confused trying to find my way from Central Park to the library. Took longer than it should have to get out of the park, because I couldn't ride on the walkways when the place was jammed with small children who might kill themselves following my example. I wasn't amused by the book sale when I got there -- partly because I was anxious to get home before the rain. One of the Friends of the Library mentioned that she had a cart of graphic novels in the book-sale room, waiting their turn for the mini-sale. I wanted to have lunch at Chinatown Express; last week I had a bowl of superb vegetable soup there, and I wanted to try one of the others -- not to mention that I'd had only a fig bar for breakfast. But it was threatening to rain and it took me forty-five minutes to eat that vegetable soup on my previous visit. Back across Hickory Street, walking because I was on Main now, which is one way the wrong way. But it's only a half block from Detroit to a street that leads to Fort Wayne, which is one-way my way. The cottonwood leaves on the board walk made me nervous even though there was enough boardwalk showing to make it unlikely that there was a slimy layer underneath -- the doctors (four so far) who are trying to put me back together would be quite cross if I were to slip and fall. At Owen's, a dash-and-grab for a gallon of milk and a pound of butter took me nearly twenty minutes, and it was 12:56 when I came out. It started to rain while I was mounting up, but I was only speckled when I got home at 13:09, so though I didn't win my bet, I didn't lose. Posted without editing. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
oops AG: Aunt Granny's Advice, or How to become an elderly cyclist:
Whoosh! After realizing that I'd said "fig bar" where I meant
"fruit-and-grain bar" -- they are very similar, but the fruit-and-grain bar is equal to two or three fig bars -- I meant to post a follow-up saying "un-edited" means "don't believe a word of it". I've no doubt made much more misleading remarks, but refuse to read the post and find out. But I never thought that I might forget to change the subject line. -- Joy Beeson joy beeson at comcast dot net http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/ --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com |
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