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Feb 1999
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February 1999
Sunday the 21stI pushed myself a little today. I took my bike on the bus to Tanque Verde and Sabino Canyon where I got the start card for the volkswalk at Saguaro National Park East. You don't know what a volkswalk is? Check out the AVA site for more info. I was going to take my bike on the bus to Camino Seco and Broadway and ride out to Saguaro from there, but I felt so good and the weather was great I decided to ride the volksbike route which also goes out to Saguaro even though I don't have a bike book as there is only one YRE (Year Round Event) volksbike in Tucson.It was a 19 kilometer, round trip, for the bike ride and then 12 kilometer for the walk. I was pooped, tired and sore, but it was a good feeling to have done it. The return on the bike ride is mainly downhill, which is great, but I always forget how much up and down there is on the second half of the walk. The first part goes on a dirt trail through cactus and saguaro and the second half follows the paved road back to the ranger station. It was such a relief to take off my walking shoes and put on some tevas after the walk. The temperature got to 84 degrees today which duplicated the record high for this day set back in the 1980's. The normal temperature for today is in the 60s. I knew it was hotter than it should be. We aren't having much of a flower display this year as the rains didn't come last fall when the flower cycle starts. Spring rains are great but they don't bring out the truly great flower displays. Last year's display was superb so we'll just have to live with the lack of color. The sky was a dark blue against the brown and green Rincon Mountains and the trail had plenty of traffic but I never felt crowded.
Monday the 22ndIt wasn't an eventful day today. I woke up rested, sleeping well after all that exercise yesterday. I expect I'll be sore tomorrow. I lost a filling in my tooth last week and called today to see about getting it filled. They said that it would be considered an emergency and would cost me additional according to the insurance. I said it wasn't an emergency, as it doesn't hurt, and it wasn't my fault. After putting me on hold for several minutes the receptionist said they'll put me on the waiting list and it could April or May before they work me in. Excuse me! For this I'm paying insurance.I did laundry, talked to my cat, listened to a TV program about the Kennedy's and another one about tornados. They were more just something to listen to as I worked on formating the pages for my journal. I'm finding I have less and less tolerance for sitcoms, but I like having something on the television. I also listen to HGTV quite a bit though I am totally uncrafty and have no intention of remodeling or redecorating. I just find it amazing what people can and will do.
Tuesday the 23rdI was at the University Medical Center before 6:00 AM today to have some blood drawn for tests. Just regular tests as my doctor looked at my file on my last annual check up and noticed that I hadn't had any blood work done, so she scheduled it. It is truly spooky in the bowels of the Medical Center at that time of the morning. It's the kind of setting where thrillers get started. "She was walking through the echoing halls of the hospital, early in the morning before many people were around. . . " I get turned around there during the day and when I'm still half asleep and haven't eaten or had any coffee yet it's even worse. I wanted to get there early so I could eat. I've usually eaten and had a cup of coffee by 5:30 AM and do not like having to wait on breakfast.I also went to some Y2K training today. The university is getting some software to check out all the PCs on campus. I found it very interesting and not all that scary. I think it's the old cobal programs that will cause the trouble or chips in equipment that we forget are there or don't think matter.
Wednesday the 24thIt's still dark when I ride my bike to work between 6:00 and 7:00 AM. You can see the eastern horizon starting to lighten so soon there'll be more light. I love it when the sky is a eggshell blue before the sun actually shows itself.In the evening, after 5:00 PM, it's still light, whereas just a little while ago (it seems) it was dark then too. The weeks when it's dark in the morning and at night are the most depressing. I enjoy the dark but I like dark after I've had plenty of light that day. The barely dawn times are the best times of the day but you just need that bit of delicate beauty and clear perfection. A whole day of it would be too much. After watching the sunrise in a clear cloudless sky, through dry air, like we get in the desert, you know that there is still something worth getting up for even in the worst of times.
Thursday the 25thI love wearing sweatpants. Yep, good old baggy sweatpants. I am lucky in that I can get away with it at work as long as I wear a decent top and no stains on the sweatpants. I never cared for anything tight around my waist, and now that my waist has expanded with age and stopping smoking, I have even more waist to not have anything tight around.I realize that sweatpants are not fashionable (except for sequined ones bought in new age stores) nor will they ever be the thing to cruise the bars in, but they are comfortable. They are forgiving. They come in a variety of colors, and they are soft and comfy. Now I just need something to wear in the summer.
Friday the 26thFridays are always nice as I only work four hours. Monday through Thursday I work nine hour days, which is a long day, but Friday makes it worthwhile.It was a beautiful day and I rode my bike to the bookstore where I picked up a couple books on sale, one of which is a cookbook, and I made this great, easy pasta dish.
Stirfry Pasta SaladCook 6 oz linguine (I used spaghetti since I didn't have linguine) which makes about 2 cups of cooked pasta. While the pasta is cooking, stirfry one green pepper cut in 1/4" strips and 1/2 of a red onion sliced very thin in 1-2 Tbs of olive oil till soft, about 4-6 minutes. Drain the pasta and add to the pepper and onions along with 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar and 1 medium tomato cut in thin wedges. Cook for a minute or two and eat. The original recipe also asked for 2 tsp poppy seed added with the onion and pepper and stirfried also. This is supposedly four servings, but I ate it all. Of course, this was my whole supper. A serving is only 1/2 cup anyway. Does anyone really eat only 1/2 cup of anything but beets or spinach? With 1/2 cup servings you would need 4-5 different dishes to get a decent meal.
Saturday the 27thIt was a beautiful day today, high 70s, but I'm wondering what our summer will be like if it's this warm now. I rode my bike around enjoying the weather and then, tired out, put it on a bus and went to Reid Park, to the annual Peace Fair. It's not a big fair and usually only has moderate turnout, but it's always fun. It has everything from Feminists for Animal Welfare to the Sierra Club to the Communist Party to the Libertarian Party (now there are strange bedfellows) to the Hare Krishna (they had this cool, hand decorated, very bright bus) to the group working for rights for Oaxacans and people calling for the lifting of sanctions in Iraq. The local vegetarian group was there along with Watch the Cops group and the humanists.Lots of tiedye and long hair, a fair amount of bead jewelry and some Grateful Dead tshirts. Sixtyish music and people lounging on the grass. Oh, yes it brought back memories. It doesn't seem to change much from year to year and I often wonder how much good it does. Too often they just seem to be talking to each other. Many of the people have gray hair now and while there are just as many young people, most of them are in college and will be gone in a couple of years to be replaced with new young people who think they will make a difference. I guess there is a difference but it seems to be taking a long time. You'd think we'd have figured out how to have peace long before this. Sunday the 28thI went to Farmer's Market at one of the upscale shopping centers this morning. It was so cute and small gardeners and bakers brought in their upscale organic produce and expensive herb bread. Everything was very good but definitely more than you pay in a supermarket, even for organic.I expect fresher produce at lower prices when I go to a farmer's market. The upscale version is very nice but they need a qualification on it like, oh "Not for those trying to save money". We do have one farmer's market in the warehouse district and it's a little grungy. Quite a bit of the produce is brought in from outside the area and, for some reason, most of the non produce items seem to be oriental. The first is a nice place to spend a Sunday Morning but the second is the place to get inexpensive food.
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