Monday, December 16, 2013

Life - Wah Wah For Me

Over the last couple weeks I've started a bunch of posts with good intent but found myself derailed before I could finish them enough to post them. Even the last couple I've posted have been pretty sparse. I know it's all first world problems - I mean, seriously, whining about not being able to blog is a first world problem.

Junior was sick, yes, and then he got better just in time for Thanksgiving at a friend's house. After a week of bliss he started acting a bit quiet again. He's been waking up frequently at night, maybe every hour to two hours sometimes. Since I'm the first responder on most nights I've been up with him but that means little sleep at night. I make up for the missed sleep during the day, which is nice, but then  I can't sleep at night.

Then yesterday he got sick all over himself again.

Wah, wah, right?

This time it's worse because the Missus is sick also. So far I've had just a bad stomach ache, like I did last time.

To try and put that in perspective I've gotten a bad stomach ache after meals where other people at the table have gotten full blown "food poisoning". I'll get these stomach aches after eating some maybe-sketchy food so I tell people I have a cast iron stomach. In other words if I have a bad stomach ache then something is up.

With some cold weather maintenance necessary around the house (window pellet stove is not usable right now, some shoveling etc), some indoors maintenance (moving trainer to the basement, starting to get Bethel stuff ready), some bike maintenance (working on the second try of the rocking indoor trainer), and life in general (kitty litter - it sounds minor but to have 12 bins to clean it's a big deal, especially with my semi-bum back), I've found it hard to set aside time for the blog.

I've been able to ride here and there. One thing that interested me was if I actually heated a room while I rode. I know I get all hot and stuff but I figured it had to be more than just me working. I got an inexpensive "weather gauge" to read both temperature and humidity.

10:30 PM, give or take. 68 deg F, about 51% humidity.
This is before I started on the trainer (unheated basement that has a furnace in it).

12:40 AM, give or take. 72 deg F, about 57% humidity.
Note baby monitor (white thing with a screen) - Junior did wake up once.

Although I can't vouch for the accuracy of the numbers at least the relative change is significant. I can conclude that I do heat up the room a bit, in this case two connected rooms. There are wall vents to circulate air to the other parts of the basement but honestly they don't circulate that much. I'll call it just two small rooms in the basement. I guess if we have about 10 riders on trainers we could get the house up about five degrees and about 5 % humidity.

Of course that doesn't take into account the trainer noises, the sweat, etc.

It's not just the rider though. The fluid resistance unit gets really hot, like you can burn yourself on it hot. Not only will the trainer try to break your ankle as you walk by (if you hit the trainer with your ankle by accident), it'll also try to sear you medium rare when you're done with your workout.

At any rate I've found little time to do less-critical stuff. When Junior is barfing all over himself then suddenly blogging becomes less critical (as does keeping myself clean, doing dishes, etc.). When we need to move cars into the garage in preparation for snow, training takes a back seat as I organize the garage to make room for the cars. And when it's all I can do to stay awake while looking after Junior, it's less important to do anything once the Missus can take over - it becomes nap time for me.

All first world problems, I know, but I do have a number of drafts I want to finish for the blog. At first I  liked having a few unfinished posts in reserve - I could just grab one, polish it up, and post it. Now, with about 180+ unfinished posts, it's hard even to look through them. Many of them have lost their immediate significance; others require some pictures to finish (and I'm not getting many pictures on the bike with the snow on the ground). Some lost their way, meandering to nowhere, and some haven't even gotten out of the blocks.

When I finally do get some of these done I'll post them.

For now though it's chores, taking care of a sick Junior and Missus, and prioritizing from there.

No comments: