Tuesday

This is a day I’d be just as happy to forget, actually.  Neither one of us got outside because it’s cold and rainy, Rachael’s still getting over her cold, and I have a dentist appointment - a significant one.

The trip to the dentist is a continuation of a story that began last summer back in Conwy, Wales, when I broke a tooth while flossing.  This required a significant disruption of our plans because the nearest place I could find a dentist who would see me was in Shropshire.  The short story there was that I was well cared for, receiving a temporary filling and the recommendation that I see my regular dentist when we returned home.

Which I did, back in December as soon as we returned from France.  The diagnosis was that I had three cracked teeth, all of which needed crowns. Today’s the day, and I received my three temporary crowns and an appointment to come back in two weeks to swap in the permanents.  Not bad thanks to modern anaesthetics, as long as you don’t mind lying on your back for four and a half hours with your mouth propped open and full of excavation equipment.

Wednesday

To be honest, today wasn’t all that great either.  The weather is worse, with the threat of snow by later in the day - not that snow ever actually happens in Portland.  The norm is a forecast of snow that fizzles out just above freezing.

Heart

2

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Rachael’s cold continues to improve, perhaps because she generously handed it off to me.  So I’m not going anywhere either.

More or less housebound then, this seems like the right day to start suitcasing the Bike Fridays and to work on the income tax filing.  I start with the bikes.  I don’t get far before minced oaths are heard with regularity.  First off, I have a terrible time removing the pedals on my bike.  This is one of my gripes about bike shops - they always seem to tighten the pedals on so hard that it’s all I can do to remove them.  It must be a macho thing.

Heart

1

Comment

5

Link

Susan CarpenterI too have problems removing my pedals. And even if I'm the one that put them on, they often seem to have tightened up during my tour. I bought a lightweight plastic hammer at REI that I use it to pound on the immovable wrench/spanner. I store it in the bike bag and it's come in quite handy for not only loosening the pedal and but also venting my frustrations.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Rich FrasierTo Susan CarpenterThis. I also end up hammering away on the wrench to loosen overzealously tightened pedals. But to be honest, I often screw up the direction and spend some precious minutes and watts tightening the pedal by accident. Which of course just makes my job harder. The plastic hammer is a great idea.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Jacquie GaudetMy pedals go on and off with a hex wrench. I have a method that uses my body weight and has the benefit of making it easy to remember which way to loosen the pedals. The only bike that's given me a lot of trouble is my road bike, likely because the pedals hadn't been removed in probably 8 years.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Scott AndersonTo Jacquie GaudetEight years! I’ll bet at this point you never get them off again. They’re probably permanently fused to the cranks.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Jacquie GaudetTo Scott AndersonI wouldn't have noticed except that I needed the bike on my dumb trainer as part of recovering from my torn hamstring last year. My road shoes were still buried in our storage locker but Al swapped in my SPD pedals. There was a bit of effort and a big pedal wrench required, even though these pedals are usually removed with a hex wrench.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Log in to comment or reply

Moving on from that challenge, I complete disassembly and pull out one of the two kits of packing materials we bought from Bike Friday last week.  I grow increasingly irritated as I find one deficiency after another though:

They apparently failed to pack the plastic plugs that serve as crush protectors for the down tube.  These are important, in my opinion.  I omitted using them when packing for our first tour of Sicily and then found ourselves with a crushed down-tube when we arrived in Palermo.  Grrr.

Then, the felt bag that protects the fork is unusable because the fork won’t fit into the bag unless I remove the disk brake.  Grrr.

And finally, the long PVC tube that protects the suitcase from being crushed won’t fit in the suitcase.  It looks like it’s been cut for the depth of the suitcases they currently us, naturally enough, which looks like it’s maybe an inch deeper than ours.  Reasonable, but still it’s an annoyance - with no home, workshop or tools to speak of, I’ll need some help to get it shortened and its end retapered.  Grrr.

Optimist that I am, I sent an email to Bike Friday when I found the first deficiency in the packing kit.  And then sent an update after the second was discovered, and finally once again after the third.  In their response they acknowledged all three situations.  The suitcases are deeper now.  The down tube plugs were dropped when they decided the material was too flimsy to be effective, and replaced with nothing.  They acknowledged that the fork bags are a very tight fit, a problem they’re aware of and have thoughts about doing something about some day.

Grrr, grrr, grrr.

Heart

1

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

So that takes most of the morning and my patience.  I don’t have the energy to take on Rachael’s bike yet, so I tackle the income taxes next.  In a pleasant surprise that all goes well and I wrap up and submit our filings a few hours later.

While I’m working on the taxes Rachael interrupts from time to time with an update on the weather situation outside.  In a surprise, there’s real snow coming down.

Heart

2

Comment

1

Link

Suzanne GibsonCan I "like" a picture like that? It makes for a nice abstract, though.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Log in to comment or reply

Heart

2

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

By the time I’ve finished with taxes it’s 4:30, I’m hungry, and I feel like I’ve earned a treat.  I decide to drive the five blocks down to the McCormick and Schmick’s waterfront for their happy hour, which proves to be one of the terribler ideas I’ve come up with lately.  I’m not half a block from our apartment when traffic is totally blocked in the lanes going my way.  I sit in this lane through four cycles of the traffic light and advance exactly zero car lengths when I decide I’m not going that way after all.  And I’m not going back home right now either, because it’s in the same direction.  I work my way to the far left lane, a turn lane, and decide for now I’ll go where movement is possible.

Heart

3

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Nearly an hour later, I find myself two miles away - at Lucky Lab.  Happily, they’re still open - although a sign on the door warns that they’re closing at 6 so their staff can get home.  I’m just in time to scarf/quaff down a slice of veggie pizza, a Caesar salad, and a super dog.

Heart

1

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

The snow hasn’t let up when I step back outside and see the Raven blanketed in snow.  The ride home, as you might imagine, is very slow, challenging, and a little unnerving.  There’s less traffic now but there are hazards everywhere - stuck cars, falling pedestrians, cattywampus busses blocking two lanes.  I’m not sure I’ll make it home without parking the car somewhere and walking, but 45 minutes later I’m driving up the last hill before our garage gate hoping the car won’t stall out before I crest the top.

Lucky this time.  I know better.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Heart

2

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Heart

3

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply