Hooray, I made it a whole week!
I miss Flagler schools. They seem so much more organized than these here, with the angled parking, the administrators actively participating in student loading and unloading, the assigned spaces. There is much less radio use here, which doesn't really affect me much except that my radio is crackly. There are three schools in one here, which only serves to create a lot of unnecessary cramping. A summer reorganizing and paving would do wonders. We have assigned spaces, but not to where each bus can independently get to. I was early and therefore had to wait until the buses in front of me arrived to allow them to get to their spots. (Actually I didn't know I had to wait, I thought there was room for them to pull in. I ended up backing up with another driver's assistance, and now I know better.)
The kids here are impolite and don't view me as anything other than a driver, not really worth interacting with. The younger ones are warming up a bit, but the older ones just ignore hellos goodbyes and have-a-good-weekends. It doesn't help that the route with the older ones is also a full house, so they are all smooshed together. The high schoolers also are waiting at the wrong stop. On Monday the principal will talk with them and I believe after that I get to leave their butts on the side of the road looking stupid. They were rude last year to the property belonging to the lady at the corner they currently stand at, which is why the stop was moved the the corner less than 30 yards away.
I pumped up my tires today. Apparently I need to check them a lot more often, maybe daily. I attached the electric pump and the gauge read 30psi. They can be 50-75. I pumped them to 70, figuring some would pst out when I removed the nozzle. What a difference! I gained 1-2 gears, meaning I was going faster with the same effort. I think I shaved off 4-5 minutes going to work this afternoon. I still had to shift down to the lowest gear for that dratted hill, though.
I also solved the skipping chain issue with a simple tiny twist of a barrel adjuster. I don't know whether I tightened or loosened the cable, but it was a really tiny adjustment and now each click moves the chain exactly one gear like it is supposed to and the chain doesn't skip to the lower or higher gear on its own. The noise it was making is also gone. It's like when I first got the bike out of the box! Or rather, when Dad got it put together for me out of the box. Yay.
My bike needs a bath! Apparently it gets dirty just like a car when you drive, or ride, every day. Is it weird to be proud of my bike dirt?
I want to get a green file crate from Walmart to strap to the rack. This is only because one of those is $2.97, versus the $20 that the folding Bell bike basket costs. They go on the sides of the rack like saddlebags and fold to a flat 1 inch wide when you don't want them out there catching air. However, eventually I will have cool baskets and I'll make neat basket liners (read: cloth bags that fit the baskets perfectly) with brown and pink and green on them so the bike looks pretty all together. I find it interesting and very awesome that my green windbreaker is the same shade as my bike trailer, which is also the same shade as the Sterilite crate I want to get. Whoo for awesome color-coordinating! I want to paint my helmet so it isn't that ridiculous clashing blue :P
AND I wore shorts today! The weather check last night said it was 50 (52?) degrees this morning. I knew it would warm up to 87, and I've been wanting shorts in the afternoons. So, I was chilly when I woke up, but I wore my white knee-length shorts and a red top to match my red, turquoise and white earrings. My legs were cold when I started out, and my fingers numb-hurt for a little while, but I warmed up super quick like always and ended up with an all-the-way unzipped windbreaker.
Jamie made a dinner that I need to start a recipe book to be able to do future requests. We got some neat little flat flower-shaped squash that goes by the name of pattypan, apparently. The game store guy had a giant cooler of them last Saturday and when Jamie asked him if he knew he had a tub of vegetables in his store, he told us yes, and they were ours. So we picked some out, including an adorable tiny one. Jamie took spicy sausage and cooked it with carrots and brown sugar and maple syrup and roasted this filling in the squash bowls. It was so delicious, and I was ravenous when I got home. I ate mine, slicing it up like steak, and then ate Jamie's squash too since he just scraped his out. I had leadbelly for HOURS, which was only alleviated at bedtime when I could lay down. Raiding was semi-torture and I couldn't wait for it to be over. But I was singing the praises of dinner all night to anyone I could type to. Or text :P Today he brought home bagels.
I also got Jamie's birthday present home by virtue of the side of my bike rack and some serious muscle applied to the bungee. I had my purse, my jacket, my waterbottle, and the box all secure with that sucker. I had to be careful to not let my heel hit the thing on the way home, but I did it. I had planned to fill a bag with clothes also for $2 from this yard sale. When I tried on the green hoody which would have made the perfect replacement for the fleecy one I abandoned for the broken zipper, I realized that this one had the exact same issue. And I don't feel like installing a new zipper, so no new pale green jacket.
I think we're going to the California fair this weekend, and I'm looking forward to that. I have a whole tube of Dramamine just in case. I also cleaned out my purse, which didn't lighten it up much, but I can find everything again.
I think that's it. Happy Friday, have a great weekend!!
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