LibertyI've been called to the front lines. Even though I haven't been updating — oh, and BTW, I got my typewriter back! — just thought I would let readers know why I have not been updating my blog. I am fortunate enough to have a job which allows telecommuting from home. However, now that summer is here, soon the heatwaves will transform my crib into a human size oven, and conditions will be hazardous. I've been called back to work three days out of the week. I thought the calendar would never be adjusted to elongate the weekends. I go into the office three times a week, and telecommute two days out of the week. I know I don't have to say that telecommuting is not unlike a free day; I mean, who wouldn't want to work from home for reasons of convenience. My own washroom. my own kitchen, my food. I've been saving so much gas these past few weeks.
'Working in the front lines is exhausting, non-stop, repetitive, detail oriented work. But the good news about all this is that I work within walking distance. So I get my exercise done at the same time I go and come from work. Yay! The treadmill is a real drag.
Today being one of my virtual free days, I managed to get out of the lying position as my back felt like it was slowing slipping a disc after taking a fall from my rollerblades. Dude! when you get old, falling is like dropping a sack of cement from a two story building. I remember when I use to fall and pick myself back up and continue forward. Damn, that's not the case anymore. I weigh like 190 lbs right now. Before, when I fell practically every day, I weighed 145-155 lbs. Big difference. No wonder. I got a nice contusion on my hip about the size of a coconut.
Berkeley & LibertyWhen I started skating, I had visions that I would be skating everywhere. In the street, on the sidewalk. Everywhere. Well, little did I know that balancing oneself upright and moving forward on them is not enough. In theory, if I can find the confidence to Soul Grind I think I could muster any of the 7 techniques for stopping on these youtube video
When I took the time to go to the neighborhood rollerlink, I had not yet researched stopping technique. It took experience on these city street sidewalks, because it'll be a cold day in hell when I start rollerblading on the asphalt itself. But some of the streets where I live are hilly (and I mean that in the nineties sense) in that they slope slightly. I don't mind a slope where I can free roll at a speed of my walking pace, but anything over 5 miles per hour, on the tight sidewalks, is too fast for me to stop. I can't even get myself to the 7-11 across the street on my rollerblades because of the steep slopes.
I just installed a new battery in my car, and it seems that every time I take my car in to my mechanic, this time it was for the windshield wiper fluid, a sticking windshield and a wobbly rearview mirror, I always get my car back with a dead battery. At least this time he had the decency to tell me that the alarm in my car was what was draining my battery. While I recharge my battery and take measures to fix the alarm, all I can do is walk. I mean, I have the bike, but with my back in this condition, riding ol' Etienette might be risky.