Bezabor: (posted from home)
Monday, 6 February-
I rode the Concours to Starbucks in Camp Hill this morning on this partly-sunny, very windy day. The temperature was about 35, which is pretty close to the lower limit of comfortable riding using my “electrics”, i.e., my electrically-heated jacket liner and gloves. I’ve ridden in colder weather (as low as eight degrees on one memorable morning last year) but anything below freezing is a challenge to keep my legs warm. Below freezing I can put on my rain gear to help contain the heat and that works ok but is just that much more gear to deal with. I could buy electrified pants liners but I’d think they would be a pain to deal with when you arrive at your destination. Perhaps I should look for electrified chaps or half-chaps. Or maybe just develop some common sense and quit riding in the cold weather!
I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman at Starbucks. He opened the conversation by asking whether I was using my electrics today for riding. As we chatted he told me about his son buying a scooter and joining a club called the Three Mile Island Scooter Club. (I later looked up the club on the web and here’s the description: “The Three Mile Island Scooter Club was founded to promote scooter riding as the best form of transportation known to modern man, and beer consumption as the best preventative measure against radiation exposure. Scooterists of all shapes, sizes, sexes and twisted political viewpoints are welcome to join us for rides, conversation and anti radiation therapy.”)
It turns out my fellow Starbucks-drinker is also a retiree. When he learned I had recently retired he asked whether I’m enjoying it. I replied “what’s not to like?” but his rejoinder surprised me a little when he said “Yeah, I like it too but sometimes I’d like to have something to do”.
I think I’m starting to understand his viewpoint. After so many years of structured days and planning and pursuing a career, it’s not surprising that one feels a little lost or a little disconnected in retirement. I’ve only been retired five months and am still riding the “ain’t this great!!” wave crest but I’m also seeing it’s important to have goals and that it would be pretty easy to fall into a depression without them. I’ve met several people having some problems in retirement. One was a workmate who absolutely hated work and gleefully retired five years ago and now, at age 65, has recently gone back to work in a clerical job because of boredom and feeling lost. Another was a guy we met in Jackson, Maine last fall. He spoke of his dream of living in a cabin in the north woods but now needing something else. He said “there are only so many times you can enjoy riding your ATV around in the woods”.
I also had my annual physical today—all is well.
Sunday, 5 February-
I cleaned up the house and spent much of the day finishing up preparation for my next backpacking trip, hopefully next weekend if weather cooperates. I’ve got pack weight down to a very reasonable twelve pounds for base pack plus food but that doesn’t include a tent or water. I don’t need a tent this weekend since I’ll be in an AT shelter but need to find a lighter tent. There was an interesting one at the Ruck— one called a Europa 5 by Six Moon Designs-- but it’s too expensive for my taste.
I also rode the Concours down to Rocky Ridge Park for a walk of about two hours, much of it off-trail in the far end of the park, among the big conglomerate rocks of the west ridge. I found a deer skull but there were no other bones nearby so it must have been carried there by a scavenger. That evening I kind-of-watched the Super Bowl while scanning the web. Much ado about little so far as I can tell.
Saturday, 4 February-
I continued with web research on current lightweight backpacking gear and spent this rainy, rainy day inside. I watched “Heavy Weather Sailing”, an instructional video made in 1992 which I found while trolling Netflix for interesting videos. I was surprised to see footage of Mike Plant, who I knew had been lost at sea while taking his boat to England for the start of a single-handed world sailing race but I wasn’t sure when. Web research shows he was lost in the Fall of 1992. Here’s a link which tells Mike’s story- http://www.wayzatasailing.org/mikeplant/About.htm.
Friday, 3 February-
Labashi left to visit her brother today and will let me know whether it makes sense for me to come down. I continued to plan for a weekend backpacking trip but ended up calling it off when the weather report changed from 40 per cent chance of rain showers to 80 per cent chance of rain throughout the day and then a windy evening and night. I also rode the Concours down to Rudy Park and walked there for an hour or so.
Thursday, 2 February-
Labashi got some bad news today. Her brother is back in the hospital with an infection and it sounds serious. She’s planning on going down to visit to help out for a few days. I got a two-hour walk in at Rudy Park and that evening we watched the last two episodes on Alias, Season Four, disk 2.
Wednesday, 1 February-
In the morning I took Labashi’s car in to the dealer to resolve a problem with the windshield and to have it inspected. In the afternoon we continued hanging drywall. That evening we watched “The Constant Gardener” on DVD. We enjoyed the movie and I’m going to look for several of the soundtrack songs on iTunes.
Tuesday, 31 January-
I had an appointment to check on my tooth extraction sutures this morning and then we hung drywall in the basement this afternoon. We watched two of the Alias episodes from season four, disk 2 that evening.
Monday, 30 January-
I had a appointment this morning to give a blood sample in preparation for my upcoming annual physical. In the afternoon we went shopping for supplies for drywalling and I updated my blog and did some web research on some of the thru-hikers we met at the Ruck.
Monday, 6 February-
I rode the Concours to Starbucks in Camp Hill this morning on this partly-sunny, very windy day. The temperature was about 35, which is pretty close to the lower limit of comfortable riding using my “electrics”, i.e., my electrically-heated jacket liner and gloves. I’ve ridden in colder weather (as low as eight degrees on one memorable morning last year) but anything below freezing is a challenge to keep my legs warm. Below freezing I can put on my rain gear to help contain the heat and that works ok but is just that much more gear to deal with. I could buy electrified pants liners but I’d think they would be a pain to deal with when you arrive at your destination. Perhaps I should look for electrified chaps or half-chaps. Or maybe just develop some common sense and quit riding in the cold weather!
I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman at Starbucks. He opened the conversation by asking whether I was using my electrics today for riding. As we chatted he told me about his son buying a scooter and joining a club called the Three Mile Island Scooter Club. (I later looked up the club on the web and here’s the description: “The Three Mile Island Scooter Club was founded to promote scooter riding as the best form of transportation known to modern man, and beer consumption as the best preventative measure against radiation exposure. Scooterists of all shapes, sizes, sexes and twisted political viewpoints are welcome to join us for rides, conversation and anti radiation therapy.”)
It turns out my fellow Starbucks-drinker is also a retiree. When he learned I had recently retired he asked whether I’m enjoying it. I replied “what’s not to like?” but his rejoinder surprised me a little when he said “Yeah, I like it too but sometimes I’d like to have something to do”.
I think I’m starting to understand his viewpoint. After so many years of structured days and planning and pursuing a career, it’s not surprising that one feels a little lost or a little disconnected in retirement. I’ve only been retired five months and am still riding the “ain’t this great!!” wave crest but I’m also seeing it’s important to have goals and that it would be pretty easy to fall into a depression without them. I’ve met several people having some problems in retirement. One was a workmate who absolutely hated work and gleefully retired five years ago and now, at age 65, has recently gone back to work in a clerical job because of boredom and feeling lost. Another was a guy we met in Jackson, Maine last fall. He spoke of his dream of living in a cabin in the north woods but now needing something else. He said “there are only so many times you can enjoy riding your ATV around in the woods”.
I also had my annual physical today—all is well.
Sunday, 5 February-
I cleaned up the house and spent much of the day finishing up preparation for my next backpacking trip, hopefully next weekend if weather cooperates. I’ve got pack weight down to a very reasonable twelve pounds for base pack plus food but that doesn’t include a tent or water. I don’t need a tent this weekend since I’ll be in an AT shelter but need to find a lighter tent. There was an interesting one at the Ruck— one called a Europa 5 by Six Moon Designs-- but it’s too expensive for my taste.
I also rode the Concours down to Rocky Ridge Park for a walk of about two hours, much of it off-trail in the far end of the park, among the big conglomerate rocks of the west ridge. I found a deer skull but there were no other bones nearby so it must have been carried there by a scavenger. That evening I kind-of-watched the Super Bowl while scanning the web. Much ado about little so far as I can tell.
Saturday, 4 February-
I continued with web research on current lightweight backpacking gear and spent this rainy, rainy day inside. I watched “Heavy Weather Sailing”, an instructional video made in 1992 which I found while trolling Netflix for interesting videos. I was surprised to see footage of Mike Plant, who I knew had been lost at sea while taking his boat to England for the start of a single-handed world sailing race but I wasn’t sure when. Web research shows he was lost in the Fall of 1992. Here’s a link which tells Mike’s story- http://www.wayzatasailing.org/mikeplant/About.htm.
Friday, 3 February-
Labashi left to visit her brother today and will let me know whether it makes sense for me to come down. I continued to plan for a weekend backpacking trip but ended up calling it off when the weather report changed from 40 per cent chance of rain showers to 80 per cent chance of rain throughout the day and then a windy evening and night. I also rode the Concours down to Rudy Park and walked there for an hour or so.
Thursday, 2 February-
Labashi got some bad news today. Her brother is back in the hospital with an infection and it sounds serious. She’s planning on going down to visit to help out for a few days. I got a two-hour walk in at Rudy Park and that evening we watched the last two episodes on Alias, Season Four, disk 2.
Wednesday, 1 February-
In the morning I took Labashi’s car in to the dealer to resolve a problem with the windshield and to have it inspected. In the afternoon we continued hanging drywall. That evening we watched “The Constant Gardener” on DVD. We enjoyed the movie and I’m going to look for several of the soundtrack songs on iTunes.
Tuesday, 31 January-
I had an appointment to check on my tooth extraction sutures this morning and then we hung drywall in the basement this afternoon. We watched two of the Alias episodes from season four, disk 2 that evening.
Monday, 30 January-
I had a appointment this morning to give a blood sample in preparation for my upcoming annual physical. In the afternoon we went shopping for supplies for drywalling and I updated my blog and did some web research on some of the thru-hikers we met at the Ruck.
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 12:26
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