Trials and tribulations

[luzula]

1) Today I participated in the annual Bird Race in my town. You compete in teams, and the goal is to see as many bird species as possible between 8:30 am and 3 pm. There are two categories: by bike and by car. My team biked, and we saw 26 species, as compared with the winning bike team at 31 and the winning car team at 35 (the explanation for why the car team didn't see much more is that there's no open sea water by the coast this year, so no sea birds for the car team).

I'm afraid I didn't actually contribute much--I'm more of a botanist than an ornithologist. But it was fun. I am really not used to biking so much, though, and my hands suffered. I need a bike where you have an upright posture in order to bike at all (so as to have as little weight on my hands as possible) but even so, my hands are really hurting right now. Ow, ow. And my legs are tired, obviously, but that's to be expected. I had more trouble, though, which brings us to:

2) I think there's a curse on my bike. I got a flat tire some time ago (on the back wheel, naturally, where it's hardest to change) and changed the inflatable thing inside the tire. Not sure what you call it in English, but let us call it the tube for now. Since I changed it, the air has slowly leaked out, and I had to pump it up every time I want to use the bike. I tried changing the, hmm, thing that prevents air from leaking out of the tube, but no go. So yesterday I changed the tube again, being careful to use no sharp tools, check the inside of the tire to make sure no sharp things had gotten lodged there, and ditto for the outside of the wheel. But about an hour into the bird race, the same thing started to happen again, and I had to pump up the tire every five minutes, which got old quickly. And a few hundred meters before we got into goal, the tube decided to plop out of the tire and flop around, like some sort of grand finish. /o\ /o\ /o\

While walking home I listened to Nansen's story of sledging on the pack ice (yes, pack ice!) of the arctic sea and having to kill off his dogs one by one, which I suppose gave some perspective to my feelings of woe.

3) Did ficfinishing in January to write the sequel of that magical powers AU (the one where Fraser and Kowalski accidentally end up in a psychic bond). I've gotten a fair way (about 6000 words) but I'll probably fail to finish a first draft. I got stuck on a scene and am feeling all avoidant about it now. But hopefully it'll work out after a while if I give it a rest.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

I was a bike mechanic in a much earlier life, and there are some wheels which are just haunted. When you checked for sharp edges, did you check under the tape that covers the spoke nipples?

Sorry about your hands.

[brigantine]

I'm not fond of cycling while hunched over, either. Gives me a crick in my neck. I'm glad you got to see so many different kinds of birds! Except for your cursed rear tire, it sounds like a lovely ride. :)

But hopefully it'll work out after a while if I give it a rest.

That sounds like a good idea! Maybe something completely not related to writing at all? *offers your bunnies a carrot bribe*

[glitteryv]

I have to say that item 2 in your post had me going "Oh, Luz!" and massage your hands until that angsty slap about:

While walking home I listened to Nansen's story of sledging on the pack ice (yes, pack ice!) of the arctic sea and having to kill off his dogs one by one, which I suppose gave some perspective to my feelings of woe.

which had me all :(

[luzula]

Will probably turn it in to a mechanic now--I don't have the energy to try again. No, I didn't check under the tape--I just ran my hand along it and made sure it covered the nipples (they're called nipples? really?)

Rest + liniment will make my hands better. The hard thing about this is staying away from the computer.

[luzula]

Yes, I feel that crick in my neck right now. Although it's probably more from craning my neck to look up at treetops than from the bike.

And yeah, I'm trying to stay away from the computer today (well, okay, I'm not succeeding right now *g*). Both the fic and my hands will probably benefit from some rest. *passes carrots on to bunnies*

[luzula]

Mmmm, massage.

And it's a really interesting book (the Nansen one, that is). He's pretty matter-of-fact about it, but you can tell that the dog-killing thing really pains him. : (

[jesse_the_k]

Nipples! Lots of mechanical things have physiological references in English — the computer end of the power cord is female; the wall end is male, for example. The middle of long cylinders are called "waists". Staying away from the computer is ... very difficult!

[luzula]

Oh, this reminds me! I once went to a workshop called "Hardware Crash Course for Girls" organized by an organization called the Genderchangers. We got to take apart a computer and put it together again, and I learned so much! It was awesome. And to remember the workshop by, they gave us an actual genderchanger that one puts at the end of a cord to change it from male to female. \o/

[china_shop]

the inflatable thing inside the tire. Not sure what you call it in English, but let us call it the tube for now.

It's an inner tube, and the valve stops the air from being released.

Also, that sounds very annoying! *sympathy and tea*

*cheers on your writing*

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

It sounds as if you may have bent the rim of the wheel itself, which needs a professional to fix.

I had a pretty good day bird-wise myself; I determined that the swan that's been hanging out at Capitol Lake is a Trumpeter and not one of the feral Mute Swans that were there last year. I didn't get a photo worth sharing but I got all the fieldmarks for a solid ID.

Julia, off to make dinner.

[luzula]

It's an inner tube, and the valve stops the air from being released.

Thanks!

And yes, I will spend the day resting and drinking tea. : )

[luzula]

Yes, I'll turn it in to a professional now--I don't have the energy to try again.

Congratulations on the Trumpeter Swan!