My new bike has been sitting in my office since Friday, since I was stupid enough to wait too long to order my new helmet. My new tires, rack, fenders, lights, tubes, kickstand and computer are here, too. It smells like rubber when I come in every morning. And it’s so…tempting to just go riding. But, you know, I haven’t had the greatest luck lately. Working on my accessories at lunchtime is fun, but I have a lunch meeting today. Boo.
This morning, there is a gorgeous bike and a coffee maker in my office. Since my helmet is still en route, I didn’t want to jinx the chance of my bike not being here after leaving it locked in my office all weekend by saying anything. Monday morning, here it is. Waiting for me. And my coffee maker, too.
Picked up/bought my bike Friday, with nice accessories and very friendly folks at the new bike shop. I’ll use some lunch hours this week to put on my fenders, lights, rack, computer and change the tires to the slightly wider ones I bought. When my helmet comes in, I’ll ride it home and, once again, start pedaling my ass all over town.
The weather is getting warmer in Baltimore, but it’s still nice in the shade if you sit still. As much as I love my job, I’d love even more to be able to spend this morning sitting in a nice cafe’ reading and relaxing. I’m re-reading In the Skin of a Lion, which is a phenomenal story if you haven’t read it. Combining that book with some coffee might be a slice of Wednesday morning heaven today. But there’s work to be done in Central Baltimore Land.
Holy smokes. There was a cool used/vintage bike I saw online, as recently as last night. I swore I saw the same one locked outside The Rotunda tonight. I did. Came and checked, and it’s sold. SMALTIMORE!
(That tile’s from a public art/community art piece I saw in The Village last week.)
My new apartment has a lot of big windows. Nine. Most I’ve ever had in an apartment. Even with the ACs in, there are lots of windows left for catching a breeze. One in the kitchen and two in the living room face my street, with a nice view of cyclists and traffic. The other two in the living room, the one in the spare bedroom, the one in the bathroom and the two in the bedroom all face the pretty roof of the building next-door and lots of enormous trees. When you look over the roof, you can see the lights of the big apartment buildings further down University Parkway, near JHU. It’s like a quiet little spot in the city.
Yes, they all stick like crazy because the building is old and because they are wooden. But I’m at peace with it. It’s worth it. The rents here are pretty reasonable, and it’s close to everything without needing a car. Indeed, to talk to my neighbors, parking here is, to be sure, a real bitch. I don’t care at all.
Went back to see Mr. Foot Doctor Monday. They took more X-rays, and it looks better. In summa:
One piece of bone in my toe will not re-attach itself. If it still bothers me in a few months, they’ll cut it out and the scar tissue around it (gross). If they do that, I wonder if I can beg for the bone and send it to the lady who caused it? (OMG.)
My joint is 50% as flexible as the non-broken one on my other foot. Won’t improve really. It’s ugly and swollen, and that won’t all go away, either.
If/when arthritis sets in, they’ll fuse my joint. With some kind of metal, I assume.
This is pretty much what the younger doctor who came in before my actual foot doctor last time told me. But hearing it from Mr. Foot Doctor didn’t freak me out. He said that cutting the bone out is undesirable and something to do if I can’t stand the pain in my toe. And that fusing the joint one day wouldn’t change much since my joint’s already ruined. I don’t know. I think I suddenly remembered that, however unjust the cause and however unpleasant the thought, my toe is already broken. I can’t unbreak it. Future surgery/surgeries might happen, and I can’t do anything about it/them. That’s somehow easier to swallow.
I still wanna go find that car and steal the wheel. I think it’s rightfully mine. Somehow.
Article proposing differences between [Obama's] increasing liberalism in government and socialism:
“We aren’t headed for an era of socialism at all, since socialism is not a natural outgrowth of liberalism. Liberalism is a political philosophy that seeks to extend personal autonomy to as many people as possible, if necessary through positive government action; socialism, by contrast, seeks as much equality as possible, even if doing so curtails individual liberty. These are differences of kind, not degree– differences that have historically placed the two philosophies in direct competition. Today, socialism is on the decline, in large part because liberalism has lately been on the rise. And, if Barack Obama’s version of liberalism succeeds, socialism will be even less popular than it already is.” (Read more.)
(Post your anti-liberal and/or anti-socialist and/or completely unrelated comments with the article on TNR or on your own site please, not here. To the SPAM filter they go. People using my freakin website to vent their issues in an unrelated way and not coming back is getting annoying.)
….always remind me of summer 2002, when I lived in Massachusetts. June is lovely there, especially early on. I remember frequently wearing a sweater there in June. It’s a nice, relaxing atmosphere today, before Baltimore’s heat and humidity set in. I’ve been enjoying our window fans at night. I’m helping with a mural today, so I get to be outside, too.
First take-out tonight at new apartment. First shower. Soon, first sleep. We moved nextdoor. But, you know. Moving is tiring, and my limbs are still not fully functional. We’ve only hung curtains in the potty so far. Only put together one thing from Ikea. Got a new couch that is the color of poo. Poo. It’s very heavy, too, and our elevator was out all weekend.
You can move the apartment number literally up one integer in your address book if you have it.
Getting away for a day before the great MOVE-NEXT-DOOR. Wish it were for longer. See you soon.
(That title sounds dirty.) You know that scene in A Christmas Story, when Randy was all bundled up? Someone walked by him and knocked him over after he paused to yell, “Hey, guys, wait up!” He chided, “Hey, kid.”
And then he couldn’t get up. “I can’t keep up! I can’t get up! Ralphie!”
After rolling around and not sleeping again until 3:30 am, I felt like Randy this morning. But I’m taking three vacation days this week. So, essentially, today is Friday for me. Rest of the week:
Wednesday: New York City
Thursday: Ikea
Friday: MOVING
Saturday: Hon Fest Party
It could all be much, much worse.
Dang, I have trouble typing the word “institutional” — also “constitutional” and “Bee Bop”. I’m not a terrible typist, either.
Everyone’s talking about Tiananmen Square as if China is the only nation to repress some of its people. As if it’s the only “super power” to do it.
BEIJING – Chinese police aggressively deterred dissent on Thursday’s 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square, ignoring calls from Hillary Rodham Clinton and even Taiwan’s China-friendly president for Beijing to face up to the 1989 violence…
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said in a statement Wednesday that China, as an emerging global power, ’should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal.’
(Read more).
I can totally read China’s mind: “THE US? REALLY? Didn’t ya’ll destroy an indigenous people and crush your own people with your own military and police every chance you found? Aren’t labor strikes without Americans shooting other Americans kinda new over there?”
We do have a few Tiananmen Squares of our own, to be sure. Read Zinn if you haven’t. Or maybe you were even there.
Still though, damn. I’m glad to be over here today.
Got this cool little guy for Christmas. He holds tape, pens, cards and has a magnet in his butt to pull paperclips out of the potty.
This week is going by slowly! I had a meeting with a lawyer Monday morning to make sure I don’t get screwed over completely by the lady that hit me and her insurance company. No offense to lawyers or to this particular guy (who was extremely nice and teaches at the university where I work), but I really don’t like having to do this. Really. No. But I don’t wanna get stuck paying bills I shouldn’t even have, either.
I also found out that I have to go see Mr. Foot Doctor again because I am supposed to find out exactly what probability of future damage/pain there is and how bad it will be. While I suppose it would be good to know, I really don’t want to expect it. I need my feet. The idea that they might start giving me hell in ten years because of someone’s inability to drive a car properly makes me want to run over someone’s face (guess who) with this funny shoe I still have to wear. I’m kinda kidding. Kinda.
I was told that this will take at least 4-6 months to solve. In a way, that’s good. We’re moving next week, and Mrs. P. is starting a new job, and we’re officially trying to get pregnant next month. So something to back-burner might actually be good. Besides, as long as someone else fights out getting hospital bills paid and all that, I can live with it more peacefully.
I’m going to finish my mocha now.
I can’t believe they’re publishing stories like this when they haven’t even found Flight 447. (Read the article.)
Brighter Planet
Help me win one of these!
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