72 degrees this morning. After getting two new "armadillo" tires for my bike, my pedals locked up this morning. Really strange, they just locked up for no apparent reason. Can see anything wrong with the chain etc., probably a bearing or something frozen up. Hope it wasn't terminal for the bike, I just spent $120 on tires etc! Strangely, it happened at the exact same location where I had a flat tire last week. Maybe I should stay away from that area, at least on my bike. I did hear seem "grunts and groans", but I attributed it to just about anything but the pedals freezing up. Unfortunately, any major expense is terminal for an 8 year old bike. My last bike lasted about seven years, and I put $200 into it and then within two months had another major repair and I donated it to a local non-profit that fixes bikes for children, so I doubt if I will put a lot of month into this one. That one was an entry level bike, I really expected better from this bike. Could be I don't maintain it well enough. I am going to buy a second bike when my life settles down a little.
You develop a relationship with your bike, just like your car (well, I do anyway) and I feel a little betrayed! Maybe I should become a bike mechanic. Sitting out on the patio, wonderful day. I bought some music out (of course, Vivaldi's "Spring", but I'm not sure if I want to listen to music, I think I prefer the music of a Spring morning, the birds singing, the wind through the woods, the deer messing around in the woods (they are very nosily is music I can't listen to all the time
It is kind of strange, one of the things I missed when I got back from China was the Chinese spoken language, it is so musical. That is, if I don't understand it. I'm sure once I understand it I wouldn't hear the music but I would only hear the spoken meaning of the words. When I joined the Air Force, there were a bunch of men from, I believe, Georgia. At night, I would lay and hear the soft tones and, since I didn't really hear the words, it was also like music. I'm not sure where they were from, I don't hear that specific southern accent often, in fact I don't recall ever hearing it again.
Today is a "tea morning". I am drinking tea while I write this and handle other early morning routines instead of my beloved coffee. I will drink coffee when we have breakfast at Steak n Shake. Steak n Shake (when the coffee is fresh) ranks up there with Starbucks. Coffee is a key judgement with me. I figure if a restaurant cares to provide decent coffee, they probably care about the customer. I have no problems with sending coffee back anymore if it is cold or old. I always ask (after 10 a.m.) if the coffee is fresh. The correct answer is "yes", or "I'll make some", not "It was made an hour ago, so it must be fresh!". Probably just means the server isn't a coffee drinker, but for what they charge for coffee now it should be fresh. I enjoy tea, but I"m not ready to start a day without coffee! (On Saturday, we go to Starbucks, so I am a 7 day a week coffee drinker.)
Listening to Vivaldi's "four seasons", I never get tired of it. I even have all four seasons on my phone as various ring tones, although my main ring tone right now is the opening of Styx "Fooling Yourself". I love the opening. Long ago, I used to go the OKC Blazers minor league hockey games and that was the song they used when the players came out on the ice, for some reason it struck a chord with me, so to speak. The version of Four Seasons I am listening to now if probably my favorite, a particularly spirited violin version by Vanessa-Mae. I never get tired of the violin or fiddle.
Sunday papers are sitting facing me. I normally finish my newspapers while riding the stationary bike, but never on Sunday, I don't even come close. A lot to do today, I am preparing for an interview next week, which I take seriously, although my chances are very good, since I expect the Interim will get the permanent job. He is good and I don't have any problems with that, but I'm not sure if I shouldn't be using my time elsewhere. However, I can't go without really assuming I have a chance, so I will work on it (researching it etc).
I'm not sure where the time goes. Technically, I should have plenty of free time to read, catch up etc., but I don't. And that doesn't even include the time it will take to pack to move etc.
June 1, 2014. It is amazing it is already June. It seems like forever since November of 2014. Maybe I will publish what I wrote on May 26, the six month anniversary of my "Manager in Transition" status, maybe not.
Wonderful morning, although there are still some clouds. We are not approaching he nadir of Summer, and then the cycle starts back to Winter.
That's it for today, Sunday, June 1, 2014.
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