Public Bikes Contest

This is my photo for a contest to win a Public brand bicycle. You can see my entry HERE (clicky) and like or +1 to vote for me. First prize bicycle goes to the most creative, and the second prize goes to the entry with the most shares, so please help out! If you could point your friends to it also, I would appreciate it muchly. Thanks!

Snow!

Hi everyone, it's been a little while. After building our new room inside the house, computers were moved, and then everything from the camper was also transferred inside. My computer desk was buried for a little while. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it!

Lots of things are new or have happened lately, the biggest being that I've cut my hair! It went from this:

 To THIS:

 It's half gone, and I love it.

Then, Halloween was here and my husband surprised me with a pumpkin, so of course I had to carve it.

Tig says the picture doesn't do it justice- that is the happiest freakin pumpkin she has ever seen.

She dressed up to match her daughter. Marty was an adorable little dragon, and her mom was a sorceress with a nifty shiny silver sash and fancy hair jewelry.

I thought staying at home was boring, so at the last minute when we decide to go with Marty out, I helped Jamie become a ninja. He makes a very scary ninja. I wouldn't want to mess with him.

Little dragon Marty didn't care much for her hat (can you guess why from her picture?), so even I got to join in on the costume fun!

Rawr!

And last but not least in my photo documentations- it's snowing!! TWC showed me the weather warning over the weekend calling for snow Wednesday or Thursday, and it finally got here. So I squeal in happiness and run out with my camera while Jamie is still getting dressed, and here are some pictures.

Camaro from this...

To this!

Zoomie is getting snowed on. I promptly went back inside and came out with a shopping bag to cover my seat with, and brought my helmet inside.

Snow in my hair!

I'm about to get pegged with Jamie's first snowball...

Happy for snow!

Welcome November!

A Long Busy Weekend

This weekend started early, but I'm really glad to go back to work today.

Thursday and Friday were no-school days due to conferences. Thursday was spent sleeping a lot. I didn't wake up for anything until almost 1pm. I think its funny how my dogs are every bit as lazy as I feel like being. In bed all morning long? No problem, we'll support you in that endeavor, hehe.

Friday I was confused, thinking it should be Saturday. We got notification that even though we'd checked, we missed a statute somewhere. Even though the housing people don't mind there being a camper in the second driveway with people sleeping in it, the county does. It counts as camping, which can only be done in designated camping areas. I really wanted a tent to pop up next door so I could throw that back in their faces. No camping out kids, county says no! The neighbors really must have called everyone they could think of to make a nuisance of themselves. I hope they are religious and believe in that do-unto-your-neighbor junk. And that they then end up in a situation where they depend on friends for assistance. And then I want some jerk neighbors of those to do everything in their power to F it all up. I believe this would be a much better alternative than some that entered my mind.

Why do people have to be so nosy, and then offended when what they find is not to their liking? I don't go around telling everyone to paint everything green because that happens to be MY favorite color. I appreciate that other people have their own favorite colors. (The world would be very boring in all green anyway, I think.)

We tried to go to Home Depot that night to get supplies. Jamie priced things out and realized we had enough to do the project right then, which is a good thing. We were notified of the possible $750 fine, but only given a as-soon-as-possible deadline to fix the situation. That's sort of an ambiguous uncomfortable feeling of $750 doom, you know? The store was closed, however. The website lied about their hours, and at 8:30pm the employees all turn into pumpkins. I saw them all outside.

So Saturday morning we were up at 6am purchasing wood and insulation. We got home and Jamie made us girls french toast for breakfast. Tig left the house with yummy breakfast, and I had a happy full tummy to tackle the project with.

I don't have photos, but the wall-building actually went fairly trouble-free. We had trouble getting the door in just the perfect spot to clear both the outside light (this room used to be a car port) and concrete step. But finally we got it. The insulation was a little fun. It didn't look to me like enough, but it was squished really well. We had about 10 feet extra. It was 6 inch insulation and we were using 2x4s, so the last piece, which had time to expand, was trying to escape as the plywood was being screwed in over it. Kind of funny. The door is an extra one our friends had. They replaced the door to little Marty's room with an exterior one, so they could cut out the decorative panels on top and screen them, making it nice and open for sound to travel through, but still keep cats out if need be. We get the original door for the new wall.

Eventually I think the camper will be removed, but both Tig and I want it to stay as the eyesore that irritates the neighbor in the first place. We can comply with county rules and not really change anything in that regard. I'm evil, I guess. If the trailer gets moved I may park my bike out in front of our new exit door. There is a tiny space between the room and the fence- just right for a bike and not much else.

There was trouble with this particular room leaking. I think we fixed that, because yesterday I spent 2 hours up on the roof throwing junk off it. Jamie helped clean out the gutter with a hose and I had latex gloves on while I jammed my fingers in the alleys of the corrugated metal to scoop out the black and earthy-smelling stuff that I bet would make excellent potting soil by now. Today the backs of my hands are slightly bruised from doing the scooping, but at the time nothing was uncomfortable in the slightest. I fed the hose in from various spots and little by little I washed the stuff that I couldn't scoop out carefully down to the gutter exit. After we got the gutter completely clear I spent the second hour clearing the higher side so it didn't get washed down and undo all that clearing work. The gutter has only one downspout so it wouldn't take much to block things up again. We're pretty certain that the leaks should be fixed, now.

I also got to wear my new helmet today! On Friday I was given a field trip to take a football team from one school to the other local school. Easy. Turns out, it was an accidental double trip due to a time change. The players were already loaded on the bus that had been sitting there for hours, so I got to drive right back down the road to the bus shop and park. I took advantage of the great timing of a text message  to go the rest of the way to Walmart and get the helmet set they had just notified me was available for pickup.

I got the Kryptonics 4-in-1 ladies set which includes a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist pads, an extra thicker front pad to help get a better fit on the helmet, and a flower sticker. They all come in a pretty light blue color, although if there was pink, I'd have gotten pink.

The color is actually lighter than in this picture from the Kryptonics website, and my buckles and such are a matching gray instead of black, with the exception of the little rubber ring which keeps extra strap length from flapping around. This is the helmet though, and I like it a lot. It's really just a plastic shell with styrofoam inside. but its awesome for its simplicity. I figured with less vents, this helmet would be more appropriate for winter, but it actually has very good airflow inside. My forehead was always hot in my Airius helmet, and this one has air going straight there instead. Even though it was 36F outside this morning (didn't feel nearly as cold as I thought it was) the air was refreshing. When it gets too cold to enjoy the breeze, though, I can fit a winter hat under here. The first time I put the new helmet on, though, I pinched a blood blister into my neck, so I'll have to be more careful. Also, there is a gap in the inner pads they call a ponytail channel so hair won't get caught on anything, but there really isn't any room for a ponytail. I'd have to scoop out some of the styrofoam, which I'm not about to do. I really don't mind this part, because with my other helmet, hair had to be either down, or in a braided ponytail anyway. Not having to thread hair through the cinching back plastic strap is fine with me.

I fail at keeping these short.

Car Attack!

No, not an accident on my bicycle!

This weekend was mostly good, with a teeny bad part of this morning.

We decided to give the car its first Oregon bath before packing things up to go play D&D. Before now, the car would sometimes decide not to start. Usually, we were in a hurry to get home or in otherwise bad moods or something, and would get home and fail to look for a cause as to why the poor car had misbehaved.

Well, the heroic Caprice needed a jump from the Camaro that morning.

Then, it got some further tender loving care as we used our brand new sponges bought just for car-loving worked up some suds all on it. It got a nice scrub-down. Tire cleaner too!

Then we realized that the gauge was reading a low charge. Jamie found not only the wire connecting to the battery loose this time, but also the connection to the alternator itself. Now the car is all the way happy, yay!

I am not particularly thrilled with the way the globe is shaping up. The two sections are taped together now, and it is decisively not sphere-shaped. Jamie assures me it will turn out just fine, but for now I skipped it to work on a more fun project. Suffice to say that one is complete in one evening. I have pictures, but it's a surprise! Soon, you shall see my handiwork, until then, sit in suspenseful suspense.

I created an Etsy account. I have nothing to sell yet, but Jamie thinks I should list my crafty things for sale on there. All hail FrogBeads, soon to be Etsy millionaire.

We tried Alton Brown's method of making beef jerky, where he uses furnace filters and a box fan instead of a  store-bought dehydrator. That way there is no heat to partially cook the jerky as its drying out. We ran into some trouble with this method. We had 4 filters, so three with meat and a fourth to cover the top layer. I personally think the meats were laid out too thick, contributing to lower airflow. There were some larger pieces instead of Alton's thin strips. Also, our jerky STUCK to the filters. Badly. I spent at least half an hour de-fuzzing the jerky. Because of the lower air flow than we expected, the jerky furthest out wasn't completely dried, and was sort of springy. Closer to the fan there was almost great jerky. Now we know for next time. I want to try again, Jamie is all for buying another dehydrator- it does seem to do the job faster, and Jamie loves jerky a lot.

And lastly, this morning's ickiness. I named this post car attack not only for the black car insisting on some attention, but I'm pretty sure a car is the ultimate reason to blame for my second flat bicycle tire. I swear, I checked the inside and outside of the tire thoroughly when I got the first one, however, I did not use the cotton ball trick mentioned on bikeforums.net. This is where you would use a cotton ball, notorious for getting caught on even the tiniest snags to make sure that the offending sharp was indeed gone from the tire. This way you wouldn't put a new tube in only to have it also punctured.

Well.... I put a new tube in only to have it also punctured. This time when I was searching, there was a plainly stabby teensy tiny wire sticking out. I had to get my tweezers to pull it out. It's 2/16 of an inch, if you're interested to know how small something has to be to put me in a bad mood for a Monday morning. (I also learned yet ANOTHER discrepancy between states- Oregon wants you to throw on your warning lights and open your door to mirror any bus you meet going the other way. In Florida this was a very bad no-no. I personally don't like having to open my door and getting cold, not to mention it feels unsafe to do it. I was not happy to learn that this morning.) Anyway, I think the wire came from a blown up car tire. Now the original tube is back on the bike and the replacement tube is patched and waiting in the wings.

OH! And my bus (ok so its not a car) hates me too. This morning I'm driving along, waiting for the heaters to wake up and do their job, when I get to around the 4th bus stop, and my gauge suddenly switches to the Voltmeter at just above 9. Not only did I get a heart attack because that was supposed to be reading fuel, but  I'm quickly loosing power. I call it in and the bus shop asks me to see if I can make the school. So I turn everything except outside lights off. Apparently the transmission is very much electric, because in a minute or so it shows a big fat filled-in digital zero instead of a happy 5, and lights up the ecomonic red button and big red Check Trans indicator. I am then driving along with even slower acceleration. I'm closing the door practically on student's heels to shut off the flashing lights and only pulling the parking brake- there is no shifting to neutral, because I'm afraid it wouldn't come out again even if it went in. We do make it to school, but it was a quieter ride than usual, with only a couple calls to "turn on the heat!" I also putter into the bus shop and find out that the transmission will do nothing but putter forward, so instead of parking I pull around front again and a mechanic takes over.

However, the day is not lost forever to the deepest depths of Monday hatred! Sunday was Boss' Day. One of our office ladies brought donuts. I had 3 chocolate frosted chocolate cake ones with Halloween sprinkles.

Then I felt better.

Of Ladybugs and Tires...

Monday was rainy and dreary ( I drove), but Tuesday morning was a great morning.

This was actually Oct 3, but yesterday was just like this picture.

It was cool but not cold, with a gorgeous sky and neat orange light. I got to wake up an hour later than usual due to a scheduled late start for schools. In addition to all that, I had company on my commute!

This little guy on my streamers made me think of my twin, of course. I was hoping the whole time that he wouldn't fall off and be lost miles from home. I was very happy when I got to work and there he was, still hanging on for dear life.

I drove my route, then came back to find him still there, probably scared stiff. He made it all the way back home too, where I lifted him off and onto a leaf. Now he has a crazy adventure story to tell all his ladybug pals.

Today was cold at 31 degrees. I overdressed, but I was pretty comfortable anyway. I wore my thin girl's jeans, with those new soft flowered pajama pants underneath. I wore my ribbed green turtleneck shirt over my Danskin tank top. I love the way the fabric of the tank top hugs my middle and seems to keep it warm or cool. I wore my green striped knee socks and boots. I also had my windbreaker and the white hat under my helmet. The hat was really just to keep my ears warm, and I think if my head was more uncovered, I'd have been perfect. As it was, I unzipped my windbreaker right after starting, and tugged my turtleneck down looser. I started off with just my striped gloves, then due to chill I added the pink over them. My fingers felt colder somehow that way, so I rolled those back off. It was weird.

After driving the bus (twice- I got to hang around for quite a while wasting time and then take one really cute 3-year-old home), I got back to the shop to find my front tire flat! Actually, the mechanic saw it as I was rolling the bike out and having trouble with my kickstand again. It had come loose and was trying to dump my bike sideways when I was trying to shut the door behind me.

Instead, we rolled the bike back inside, and my bus-turned-bike mechanic fiddled with that annoying bolt. It took a minute to find the correct size allen wrench (8mm) because there is a tiny burr inside the hex. A hammer fixed that promptly. Kickstand tight, he then proceeded to add air to my tires after I checked and did not find anything sharp. I rode home in a great mood even though I was hungry.

The bus aide and I discussed restaurants on our drive, and he recommended a Wubba's brownie after I said that Casey's has awesome pie. So then of course I was not only hungry but craving brownies. Jamie completely indulged my request for lunch and we went to Wubba's with the puppies. Grunt and Jack waited patiently in the cool car while we ate. The waiter brought me this HUGE brownie that I would share with two other people. Instead, I had a take-home box with puppy treats (half a cheeseburger patty plus corn fritter and fries) and one for a brownie.

My front tire was flat when we got back home, so I drove to work. After my route, I drove to Walmart and got a $5 tube. Yay for cheap fixes! I did my first actual flat tire fix, which was easy being the front wheel with a quick release skewer. I was fumble-fingered, so it took longer than needed, plus I was in no particular rush. I needed a sensitive cheek to actually locate the air leaking out from an invisible hole. I still couldn't actually find it, even knowing where it was, so I dunked the tube section in the doggie pool. Bubbles!

I didn't find the cause, but there is a puncture hole on the tire tread opposite the tube stem. It doesn't show on the inside at all. Maybe it was one of those goathead thorns I was warned about at the bike shop? Could also have been a tiny glass piece, there are enough places that I called the county to ask for street sweepers. They haven't come yet.

In any case, new tube in, old tube patched with rubber cement stuck on my fingers, and voila! Good as new. Bike servicing is much easier than for a car! And cheaper. Next time I won't even have to buy a new tube, hopefully, if I did the patch right.

I received a call from a school today too. I go in for an interview 8am Friday (haha, no school that day for grades). I had asked about a paraprofessional position that I might be able to do in between morning and afternoon routes. Its actually at the same school I service, which is nice, and right down the road from the bus shop. If I get the job it will mean a larger steady check, rather than the uncertainty of substituting on random routes with the odd trip thrown in. Trips pay much better, but with them coming in sporadic bursts, I feel its more beneficial to me and Jamie to have a predictable income. My regular route is very short, which is not acceptable by itself as a career to pay bills with. I still feel slightly guilty that if I accept the job, I won't be able to help out at a moment's notice. Oh well.

What a great week so far.