Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Very Long Day

Saturday is my one day where I have the house to myself, well a few hours anyway. I waited all week for the chance to get to the basement and put the new brakes on Sophia but made a promise to myself to clean up paperwork that has been piling up for too long and get in a ride on the trainer.

Twelve bingo reports (I hate bingo reports so they go to the bottom of that pile, repeatedly) and a variety of other small jobs out of the way I decided to tweak the bike attached to the trainer before riding. I added a few links to the chain so that I could use bigger gearing making the effort required to pedal harder. Into the basement with the bike, links added and back to the second story bedroom, hook it all back up and fight skipping gears for 4 km. Back to the basement to adjust the derailleur, up to the second floor to reassemble and then finish another 6km. I think climbing the stairs with the bike was more tiring than riding it.

I had some lunch and then went back to the garage and bolted on a couple of Ultegra dual pivot calipers to Sophia. They will provide much better braking than the originals that were scary going downhill Farzam gave me a great deal for these as he took them from a new bike that went another way. Cash from the sale of my old phone covered it all. I tinkered with a few other things on Lisbeth and Andi and then headed for the Gardens for a Leafs practice.

Carting my hockey gear and camera to take team pictures through the slush, I wonder why does the temperature have to go fake March? On arrival I find the two subject teams are short players so the camera is just another unnecessary weight and worry. Can't leave the Nikon in the unlocked dressing room. Brandyn has decided he is needed as goalie after being told clearly three days earlier he is not to bring his pads. Curtis races home for his other gear and long story short Brandyn never gets on the ice, grrrrr. Ten minutes after the start of practice and the Leafs have no coach even on the ice. Our head coach has no plan so I grab the four youngest players while he takes the older bunch. I keep them moving through every small area ice drill I can remember as we have only the area between one blue line and the red line. In the end I'm sweating and so are the kids, mission accomplished. Two of them learned a two foot stop so that will make a big difference in their games.

Curtis finishes babysitting the Nikon and drops me at home. Sal is waiting and there's no sign of supper so I'm guessing we are heading out. Off to her mom's to change the batteries in the smoke detector and then for a quick supper at Mama Alfa's where a beer never tasted so good. We get home by 8:30 and I'm dozing by 10. I quit fighting sleep on the couch and am in bed at 10:30. I didn't get up until 9, at least three hours past my normal.



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