I've just bought myself a new bike frame - another hardtail, a Felt Q720. Nothing spectacular but a better size and a good price, so I can have it powder coated and made to look pretty. Pure bimbo style.
My current idea is have it done white, with replacement red decals, but I could have it done pink or green or any colour. Suggestions?
I am giddy and terrified in equal part. I have done 'bits' on my current bike, but I have never built one from scratch. Will be a good learning experience if nothing else.
Pictures to follow, I guess.
On the exercise front, I haven't done a lot this last week due to having possibly the worst cold I've ever had. :-( Poor me. We were going to ride yesterday but woke up to snow. BLOODY SNOW!!!
So I finally got out for a ride today with Julian and Graeme. We went along the canal towpath to Temple Newsam near Leeds - a mud fest to almost rival Wharny!
And in other news, in light of the bloody cold weather today I realised that my boobs have their own micro climate. It is the only explanation for my boobs being so cold I thought I might get frost bite. Or should that be frost nip? Ho ho.
I wonder if there is a market for big boob sportsbras with special pockets to slot in those hand warmer pouches you can buy? Who do I contact to find out?
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Starting as I mean to go on?
Oh dear, it's been a while. In my defence though, I did warn - right back at the beginning - that I was crap with diaries.
So, what's been happening? Not a lot.
In my last post I tentatively announced that we almost had heating and hot water. We now have both, but it was a bit hit and miss to start with. The plumbers did a sterling job, got it fitted by early afternoon and temporarily wired it in to test it was working. Seriously, I was so close to tears when I heard it start up and felt the radiators getting warm. I had to go back upstairs and hide my pathetic, over emotional self!
However, the next job was for the electrician to wire it up properly, with the thermostat and the frost sensor. That didn't go quite so smoothly. It seemed like it did but by the time J got home from work, it had stopped working again. I figured out (5 3A fuses later) that it was blowing the main fuse every time it lit up, so the electrician came back the next afternoon and was still there when I got home after 6pm. He wasn't a happy bunny. And then he started having a PROPER blazing argument with his boss on the phone. Not very professional but to his credit he did apologise profusely and say that it wasn't very professional, and he got it sorted so all is forgiven.
One week on, the novelty of having a hot shower hasn't worn off but we still haven't got used to having heating again and haven't figured out a comfortable temperature and schedule for the heating. Still, it'll be summer soon. :-)
Next 'thing' was my car MoT. I live at the top of a hill - my mechanic lives at the bottom of the hill. It's about 2.5 miles from here to there. I had decided that I would take my bike in the car and then ride home after I had dropped the car off. And then I remembered, for all I have a big car, it is shit when it comes to actually getting stuff in it and I have had my bike in the car before - nightmare. So I decided I would run home instead.
STUPID idea! I haven't run for weeks, why did I think it would be a good idea? And it was raining!!
As it happens it WAS horrible but I got home in under 35 minutes which I was really pretty pleased with and it even encouraged me to run back to collect it after work. It took almost 25 minutes to run back. That seems a bit odd to me, given that it was downhill all the way but there you go.
What really seemed wrong though was that it then took 15 minutes to drive back up the hill. This is no reflection on my mad running skills, but an indictment of the shocking state of the traffic in Sheffield.
The car passed the test and I couldn't walk the next day.
And then I got a really bad cold. Crap. I am now at the coughing up chunks of lung stage. It isn't very nice and I am going stir crazy but I know enough not to go on the bike yet. Even though I REEEEEALLY want to.
Despite the lack of exercise since last Thursday, I have lost 2kg and my BMI and fat % are down so clearly shivering and coughing are really good exercise.
I have consoled myself by ordering a new set of forks for my bike. I say for my bike, but depending on how pretty they are, I might order a new bike to put them on. Uh-oh...
Also, I cut J's hair (short, respectable!) the other day and he has been on a proper downer since. I wonder if the two are related? He shouldn't be down - it looks really nice and he looks about 5 or 6 years younger now. Not fair!
Over and out. Sorry it was mundane, but that's just how I am feeling today.
So, what's been happening? Not a lot.
In my last post I tentatively announced that we almost had heating and hot water. We now have both, but it was a bit hit and miss to start with. The plumbers did a sterling job, got it fitted by early afternoon and temporarily wired it in to test it was working. Seriously, I was so close to tears when I heard it start up and felt the radiators getting warm. I had to go back upstairs and hide my pathetic, over emotional self!
However, the next job was for the electrician to wire it up properly, with the thermostat and the frost sensor. That didn't go quite so smoothly. It seemed like it did but by the time J got home from work, it had stopped working again. I figured out (5 3A fuses later) that it was blowing the main fuse every time it lit up, so the electrician came back the next afternoon and was still there when I got home after 6pm. He wasn't a happy bunny. And then he started having a PROPER blazing argument with his boss on the phone. Not very professional but to his credit he did apologise profusely and say that it wasn't very professional, and he got it sorted so all is forgiven.
One week on, the novelty of having a hot shower hasn't worn off but we still haven't got used to having heating again and haven't figured out a comfortable temperature and schedule for the heating. Still, it'll be summer soon. :-)
Next 'thing' was my car MoT. I live at the top of a hill - my mechanic lives at the bottom of the hill. It's about 2.5 miles from here to there. I had decided that I would take my bike in the car and then ride home after I had dropped the car off. And then I remembered, for all I have a big car, it is shit when it comes to actually getting stuff in it and I have had my bike in the car before - nightmare. So I decided I would run home instead.
STUPID idea! I haven't run for weeks, why did I think it would be a good idea? And it was raining!!
As it happens it WAS horrible but I got home in under 35 minutes which I was really pretty pleased with and it even encouraged me to run back to collect it after work. It took almost 25 minutes to run back. That seems a bit odd to me, given that it was downhill all the way but there you go.
What really seemed wrong though was that it then took 15 minutes to drive back up the hill. This is no reflection on my mad running skills, but an indictment of the shocking state of the traffic in Sheffield.
The car passed the test and I couldn't walk the next day.
And then I got a really bad cold. Crap. I am now at the coughing up chunks of lung stage. It isn't very nice and I am going stir crazy but I know enough not to go on the bike yet. Even though I REEEEEALLY want to.
Despite the lack of exercise since last Thursday, I have lost 2kg and my BMI and fat % are down so clearly shivering and coughing are really good exercise.
I have consoled myself by ordering a new set of forks for my bike. I say for my bike, but depending on how pretty they are, I might order a new bike to put them on. Uh-oh...
Also, I cut J's hair (short, respectable!) the other day and he has been on a proper downer since. I wonder if the two are related? He shouldn't be down - it looks really nice and he looks about 5 or 6 years younger now. Not fair!
Over and out. Sorry it was mundane, but that's just how I am feeling today.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Can it be true?
After me giving them a hard time for not turning up last Wednesday and then them offering to come again next week, the plumbers have arrived and are downstairs making lots of noise. I am assuming they are fitting the new boiler and not just trashing the kitchen...
More later. :-)
More later. :-)
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Definitely a country mouse
Phew, home. <sigh> Glad to be back.
Don't get me wrong, I have had a wonderful trip to London, but I am really not a city mouse.
I have done little formal exercise this week but I can't begin to calculate how far I walked in the last two days. All I know is my legs are really aching now.
Early start on Thursday - I think we were both pretty giddy to have a couple of days off work and to be going somewhere and as such we were both awake WELL before our 6am alarm. We were parked up and waiting for the Natural History Museum to open at 9.50am - gave me time to marvel at what a truly beautiful building it is. Once we got in we headed straight up to the mineral display. It was truly amazing to have the entire, vast room to ourselves when we could hear the mayhem in the main gallery.
After that we went to the Science Museum. That was quieter but everything is rather more interactive than it used to be - I am not sure how I feel about that.
After that we needed some food so we headed to Kensington High Street and found the coolest hippy veggie shop in the entire universe. I can't believe I got so giddy about a food/cheese/'stuff' shop but it really was ace. http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/kensington/
Then we headed off to see Mark and Meg in Tonbridge. We've met Mark before, but never Meg. They are lovely people and have the most chilled out dog I have ever met. He's called Sumo and he's fab. Mark's the guy who rode the John O'Groats to Lands End ride last year with his sister Laura and friend Jay. Jay and Becky joined us that evening and we had a real laugh. Considering we had met only two of the people for about an hour they made us feel so comfortable and welcome.
Mark took us into the basement and showed us his porn. Yes, I know that sounds sordid. It wasn't traditional porn though, it was bike porn. I am not sure J appreciated or understood much of it, but I had to wipe a little bit of drool from the side of my mouth more than once. It's not that he has FLASH bikes, just a fantastic variety and a very clever storage system. Yes, I AM that sad!!
Mark left very early the next morning to go to the Royal Marsden Hospital to receive treatment for his angiosarcoma and then on to the school he teaches PE at. He is a perfect example of someone pissed on by cancer and just getting on with it. People like him and Julian - and every other individual who has had to deal with this bastard disease - just show why the human body is so amazing.
We had breakfast with Meg then she went off to work and we headed to London Docklands to dump the car, check into our proper bargain hotel (a £300 room (which I think is disgusting!!) for a far more palatable £74). I have never stayed in such a posh hotel - valet parking for our shabby blue Japanese car (there was an abundance of shiny black Bentleys, BMWs and BIG Audis), the most lovely concierge and a room with a bathroom larger and lovelier than the one at home. As tempting as it was to run a bath immediately, we headed to the nearby DLR station and headed into London for day two.
J was very amused to have walked me along New Bond Street (I think) to point out the very flash jewellery shops and I was more interested in the bikes chained to the lamp posts. I think he was also pretty relieved to know his wife has such cheap and simple tastes. :-)
And next, the most highly anticipated of all the museums - the Royal Institution.
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=1871
I cannot describe how emotional I felt to be able to go in there and see all the apparatus used by Faraday and other ground breaking scientists.
I was also quite emotional watching J leaping around to this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8dtquYDXEU and matching the elements on the Periodic Table. It was an entirely different emotion, however. ;-)
Don't get me wrong, I have had a wonderful trip to London, but I am really not a city mouse.
I have done little formal exercise this week but I can't begin to calculate how far I walked in the last two days. All I know is my legs are really aching now.
Early start on Thursday - I think we were both pretty giddy to have a couple of days off work and to be going somewhere and as such we were both awake WELL before our 6am alarm. We were parked up and waiting for the Natural History Museum to open at 9.50am - gave me time to marvel at what a truly beautiful building it is. Once we got in we headed straight up to the mineral display. It was truly amazing to have the entire, vast room to ourselves when we could hear the mayhem in the main gallery.
Julian, engrossed.
After that we needed some food so we headed to Kensington High Street and found the coolest hippy veggie shop in the entire universe. I can't believe I got so giddy about a food/cheese/'stuff' shop but it really was ace. http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/kensington/
Then we headed off to see Mark and Meg in Tonbridge. We've met Mark before, but never Meg. They are lovely people and have the most chilled out dog I have ever met. He's called Sumo and he's fab. Mark's the guy who rode the John O'Groats to Lands End ride last year with his sister Laura and friend Jay. Jay and Becky joined us that evening and we had a real laugh. Considering we had met only two of the people for about an hour they made us feel so comfortable and welcome.
Mark took us into the basement and showed us his porn. Yes, I know that sounds sordid. It wasn't traditional porn though, it was bike porn. I am not sure J appreciated or understood much of it, but I had to wipe a little bit of drool from the side of my mouth more than once. It's not that he has FLASH bikes, just a fantastic variety and a very clever storage system. Yes, I AM that sad!!
Mark left very early the next morning to go to the Royal Marsden Hospital to receive treatment for his angiosarcoma and then on to the school he teaches PE at. He is a perfect example of someone pissed on by cancer and just getting on with it. People like him and Julian - and every other individual who has had to deal with this bastard disease - just show why the human body is so amazing.
We had breakfast with Meg then she went off to work and we headed to London Docklands to dump the car, check into our proper bargain hotel (a £300 room (which I think is disgusting!!) for a far more palatable £74). I have never stayed in such a posh hotel - valet parking for our shabby blue Japanese car (there was an abundance of shiny black Bentleys, BMWs and BIG Audis), the most lovely concierge and a room with a bathroom larger and lovelier than the one at home. As tempting as it was to run a bath immediately, we headed to the nearby DLR station and headed into London for day two.
J was very amused to have walked me along New Bond Street (I think) to point out the very flash jewellery shops and I was more interested in the bikes chained to the lamp posts. I think he was also pretty relieved to know his wife has such cheap and simple tastes. :-)
And next, the most highly anticipated of all the museums - the Royal Institution.
http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=1871
I cannot describe how emotional I felt to be able to go in there and see all the apparatus used by Faraday and other ground breaking scientists.
I was also quite emotional watching J leaping around to this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8dtquYDXEU and matching the elements on the Periodic Table. It was an entirely different emotion, however. ;-)
You had to identify the 10 elements discovered at the RI as they were mentioned in the song.
And then, to top it all, we got to go into the Faraday Theatre. I was in complete geek heaven.
Julian in a very familiar looking auditorium
We then headed off to the Forbidden Planet for a bit more geekiness and then back to the hotel for that long anticipated bath. Oh. My. God. I will NEVER ever take having a bath for granted again.
Food at Jamie's Italian - it was nice, but there was a lot of sage involved - and then back to the room for another bath and a shower. No, not really, but we WERE tempted. :-)
This morning we headed back to Kensington for a shopping spree at the hippy shop, then a wet and mentally exhausting drive back up the M1.
I am going for a bike ride tomorrow, whatever the weather - my bike is totally shite, but my god I have missed it.
But the best bit? We managed to guilt the plumbers into coming on Monday this week instead of next week. Assuming they turn up. Bastards.
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