Tuesday, January 21, 2014

A Leisurely Bike Ride


I went for a bike ride today. Strolling around the neighborhood took one hour. According to my computer: 59 minutes, 254 calories, 3.9 fat, 7.2 miles, 14.7 max speed, 7.3 avg speed. I wonder if that computation is based on flat road, or hilly?

I think I need a new saddle. The one currently on the bike is hard as a board and the path is rather uneven. I used the bike path on the road today, detouring when such path is filled with ice. Considering it's a small road, it's fine.

I really don't see me doing more than 15 mph at this time. Maybe if I can find a better bike path, I can do faster than that. In the meantime, I'll continue to look elsewhere. Too bad there's not a good bike path from home that I can see. Ideally, it'll be uphill going out, and downhill going home. That way, if I pushed it too hard, it'll be a simple coast to home.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Speed Bumps are Facts of Life


So, I haven't been too active in the last 2 weeks. There have been some progress, but not much. I bought a bicycle. For some reason, I got hooked with electric bikes, but the one I bought was not an electric model. It's a cheap Schwinn Frontier I got from a thrift store for $50. Another $65 for tune-up, and it's as good as new. I'm pulling out my old helmet and gloves. A good backpack, and it'll be good to go.

For some reason, there is a path between here and Confluence Park. It'll be about 25 miles. I'll have to check that out. It's possible that I'll have to cross some streets. There is bike path from here to Community College of Aurora, at least.

I was having fun, then the bad news hit. First, my car broke down on New Year. It took me a week to fix. Then I found out my tooth has hole on it. I went to a dentist, and have him x-ray and examine my teeth. Cost: $200. Verdict: Cavities, 3 minors and 2 majors. Will need deep cleaning as well since I've gone more than 5 years without it. I was quoted another $1000 for 4 quadrant, which I found out later was average. Apparently, inflation is alive and well. I think if it's major operation, I may want 3-5 days rest period in between. That's about 20 days. Well, there goes my vacation plan. I'll have to adjust it later, but January vacation plan is definitely off the book.

May as well. I guess I'll be entering Game Jam later this January 26 weekend. I'll be doing it PTC style. We'll see how well I do, and see what good will come out of it. I'm not even sure if I'll be doing vacation in February. It may be just 2 weeks, instead of a month as planned.

Well, bad things happen. That's a given. What matters is how do I handle things. At this point in time, I don't know. The dentist didn't want to commit on the price. So, it's still in exploratory phase. I don't blame him. I did make it clear that I will be financing everything myself.

So, there is this advertising on CraigList:
Dental Patients needed (University of Colorado Dental School). Call 970-480-7177. One would think that people's teeth are healthy and that they don't need patient to practice on, but I guess not. Oh, well. I did have that x-ray and pictures, and that should help them decide whether or not they can work on my dental.

As a plus, I find that real professionals will guarantee the standard of treatment if they know their work will be checked by another professional, especially of the educational institution!