GeMoot

September 11th, 2008

Saving Gas

I have been planning to start riding my bike to work in order to:
1. Save on gas
2. Save wear on my old beater
3. Avoid the annoying traffic and parking issues associated with working on a university campus
4. Get more exercise
5. Set a good example for my kids (re most of the above)
6. Discourage myself from sneaking off campus for deep fried food and burgers

So all last winter I prepared by working on the stationary bike at the rec center for 30 minutes a day during my lunch break. After a few weeks, I found I could easily do five miles in 30 minutes (my house is five miles from my office). I also discovered my waist. Unfortunately, as spring approached the proverbial shit and fan collided and every spare moment was then taken up with doctors appointments, meetings with social workers, principals, teachers and guidance councillers, etc. so my lunch hour workouts went away and since I needed my car for errands, riding my bike to work was not really an option.

Well. Things have calmed down. I haven’t reinstituted my lunchtime workouts though. Instead I nip out to McDs for a Filet of Fish sandwich and some of their fabulous french fries, or down to the Indian place for some delicious lamb- yes, I have become a closet carnivore!

So, yesterday I decided that today would be the day. I would ride my bike to work! I packed my lunch and put it in a backpack along with some work clothes, my purse, keys, phone, and bike lock. I neglected to add a bottle of water and a pair of shoes to match my work clothes, but I didn’t realize that omission until it was too late. I laid out a helmet, sweats and sneakers, ready for me to put on first thing in the morning and I took a shower last night because that would give me some extra time in the morning. I didn’t see the logic of taking a shower only to get sweaty again, besides, the idea of putting a helmet on wet hair disturbed me.

This morning I awoke with the best of intentions. I was going to ride my bike to work. Unfortunately, the ride-my-bike-to-work experiment was precluded by the get-your-ass-to-school project and the I-haven’t-been-on-a-bike-in-months reality.

When I emerged from my cave, resplendant in sweats and a T-shirt proudly proclaiming my affiliation with the University that pays my bills, I discovered that my darling children were still sound asleep. I bellowed and griped about the proper use of alarm clocks. My son promptly declared himself ill, nearly derailing the ride-my-bike-to-work experiment completely, but he insisted he did not want to go to the doctor. I declared that bedtime was now 9:00 for everybody, I don’t care if they’re too old and all their friends are still out at that time, if they can’t get themselves up they can’t decide when they go to bed, blah blah. My daughter apologized profusely and went back to sleep.

Exasperated and now about 15 minutes behind schedule, I stomped out the back door to retrieve my bike from the shed. I found that my husband had done some rearranging in there. It was now extremely convenient to get the lawnmower in and out, but not so for the bikes. After digging through some boxes (they are being saved for sheet mulching) moving a tarp (he couldn’t fold it?) and a couple of outdoor carpets (these couldn’t have been rolled up?) I lifted my bike up over my head and carried it over both lawn mowers (he only uses one of them) and a wheelbarrow to finally emerge triumphantly (and another 10 minutes behind schedule) with my precious schwinn. Then I discovered that my helmet didn’t fit very well. Not being an expert on the fitting of bike helmets, I fiddled with it for about five minutes and then fastened it, determined that even if the helmet fell off later, at least the kids would see me in it now and setting a good example was more important than being safe anyway.

To make sure they saw me in my helmet, I stuck my head in and hollered at them one more time to get their butts to school, assured them that I would not be calling them in and that this would not be an excused absence and that I was going to turn off the circuit breakers to all the video gaming systems and computers and that we would not be going to the cheap theatre to see Indiana Jones tonight like we planned unless they got their butts to school. I’m not sure if they noticed the helmet, or even heard me, but whatever.

Finally, I was on my way. I now had 35 minutes to make it to work. I knew I could do five miles in 30 minutes on a stationary bike, but the stationary bike doesn’t have hills. I resolved that I would just have to go fast on the flat parts and take as much advantage of the down slopes and possible. I realized also that I probably wasn’t as good at the whole five miles in 30 minutes thing now as I was last time I did it- several months ago- but figured that the fact that I haven’t had a cigarette in 2 months would probably make up for it.

About 20 minutes later I biked back into my driveway. I had made it to the edge of my neighborhood. I’d probably biked about a half mile and made it up my first small hill before I decided that there was no way I was going to make it on time to work, and even if I accepted that I was going to be late and did it anyway, I would probably die. Since I was too pissed at my children to cheerfully give them the sort of money I am insured for, I decided to turn back. I walked my bike up the driveway (I discovered the tires were kind of flat. I also discovered that the rear brake isn’t working very well. I think I need to talk to somebody who knows something about bikes…) and tried to get it back in the shed. No luck, so I stashed it behind the shed and resolved to call my husband and make him put it away later. Then I went back into the house and looked at the clock- 10 minutes to get to work- had a swallow of water, hollered at my daughter (who had finally gotten out of bed and was now in the bathroom) and got in my car, drove to work, miraculously found a parking spot and arrived on time. In my sweats. With only sneakers and tube socks to wear on my feet so I can’t change into the nice skirt I bought to wear today. Oh well. If anyone asks me why I’m wearing sweats and a University T-shirt, I will point out to them that it’s welcome week and say I’m showing my school spirit.

I am still resolved that I will ride my bike to work. Just not today. I need to start working out at lunchtime again and I need to do practice runs to work on the weekends. And maybe shoot the kids with tranquilizer darts at a decent hour in the evening… And bring water next time. And shoes.

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August 4th, 2008

Book Review

Roses Love Garlic

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I bought this book because I was looking for resources on companion planting to help me decide what plants to use to create guilds. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed. While this book does contain information about companion planting, it’s only a very small section in a much larger text that is organized into sections of related gardening terms followed by alphabetical listings encyclopedia style. Each heading only has a very small blurb and doesn’t go into much detail. While it’s a nice reference to have on hand, it is not at all what I was looking for or need and I felt the title was somewhat misleading. Instead of being called Roses Love Garlic: Companion Planting and Other Secrets of Flowers , it should have been called A Laundry List of Gardening Tips with Brief Mention of Companion Planting. In fact, since it didn’t have much more mention of companion planting than most other gardening books, I don’t see why it was mentioned in the title at all.

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August 4th, 2008

Book Review

GeMoot

Saving Gas

Roses Love Garlic

Gaia’s Garden