Super-complain post

Loyal readers will note that I have not posted in quite a while. This is mainly for 2 reasons: 1) I've been pretty busy with various things, and 2) most everything I have to say lately is quite negative. So, today's post is a special extra-negative post, to get all these feelings out.

There are many sources of negativity:


1) My ankle is still messed up. It has been 2 weeks and it still hurts to walk normally! Running, of course, has also been off the menu during this time. It might be getting better - my limp is a little less pronounced, and there are times when I can walk on it and it doesn't hurt too bad. But, then again, there are times when I walk on it and it does hurt. I am getting a little better at accepting my pain, and I have to remember that it could take quite a while.


2) I have been having serious bike problems, right up until this post. Here is the sequence of awful events:

- Saturday: my front gear is not shifting correctly, so I try to adjust the tension. This isn't working, so I think that perhaps the derailleur needs to be lifted up. I try to do this, but fail epically and mess up my bike, and have to take it in to the bike shop.

- Sunday: I take it in to the bike shop, and the guy there fixes it, but not very well, so he has to fix it more, and then finds other issues, and then fixes it more. One of the issues is that he thinks that my back wheel might be the wrong size. He also has me pump up the tires, as he says they are low.

- Monday: at 3:00 am, I am startled awake to the sound of air rushing out of my back tire (I keep my bike in the house). This is a terrifying thing to wake up to at 3:00 am! In the morning, I check it, and see that it has a little hole next to the valve (this happened before, after I took it to that same bike shop...). Anyway, I take off the back tire and begin pumping up a new inner tube. I try to pump it up to the pressure that the guy at the bike shop (and my tire) say I should pump it to. Suddenly the inner tube EXPLODES! Yes, EXPLODES, right next to my ear!! My ear is ringing for about 10 minutes, and I am screaming in pain. The inner tube exploded open a foot long hole. I may have permanent high-frequency loss.

Extremely frustrated, I decide two things: 1) I am never going back to that bike shop, and 2) I want a new bike. This would generally be an exciting thing, but it is stressful spending money. I am also sad to be giving up on my old green Peugot - my special Canadian only bike!

So, I go and buy a new bike (I need a bike soon, since it is my main mode of transportation). It's a nice bike, and a big improvement on my old bike.

- Tuesday: the new bike is considerably bumpier than my old bike. I look into why, and realize that it is because I don't have a suspension seat post (or a comfortable seat). I decide to buy these.

- Wednesday: I get the suspension seat post and new seat installed (and it's a huge improvement). But, later that day, it dawns on me that this bike is too small. I remember back to what the guy said at the store, and I think he mentioned that it's a 19 inch frame. A quick comparison with my old bike shows that it is a 23 inch frame. That's a big difference! The boy at the bike shop really doesn't know what the heck he is talking about.

- Today: I go to the bike shop to switch out my 19" for a 23". They are out of 23"s, and will have to order one. In a small bit of good news, I find out that my bike got cheaper in the meantime by about $150, so I get it for cheaper!

I bike back to work, do some work, and am heading out on my bike to have lunch with Karen. I notice my back tire is flat (staple)! I have inner tubes (just bought them from the bike store), but do not have my bike pump with me - it's at home. It was not attached to my bike because I was planning on returning my bike today. This means I have to take the stupid bus home, which is annoying, cause I don't like buses :(


3) I really miss my wife. If all of this crap were happening to me with Bridget around, it would not be so crappy. That is fo sho.


Well, that's it for now. That felt good! It is good to express your feelings. That is something I probably learned from Polka-Dot Door. Here is a picture of some of those feelings:



In the most exciting news this side of the Virgo Supercluster, tomorrow I am going to visit Bridget in SD, and it is a LONG WEEKEND, so we get to spend MORE TIME TOGETHER! This will be very fun. The excitement alone is getting me to forget all of my woes. No woes!

* = diligent readers know this issue really stems from an earlier incident this past July.