Rosebud Rides Again

The Nooksack River from Riverwalk Park, December 31, 2012
The lighting came out kind of grim, really it's much prettier.

This morning at eleven when I was getting ready for work it started snowing pretty seriously, so I pumped up the knobby tires on my old K2 hybrid bike and added an extra layer to my clothing. The snow had stopped by the time I headed home from work at eight this evening, and it might have been cold, but I was so bundled up I felt toasty warm all the way home. I only noticed a bit of cold wind on my face.

The ride on my old bike felt so smooth and easy compared to my Surly. Maybe an occasional change of riding position is good for the spine. Or maybe it's because I haven't given the newer bike a thorough cleaning in a few weeks and the chain and shifting mechanisms are kind of gritty. It's amazing how much sand my bike picks up on rainy days, considering that there hasn't yet been enough snow to require putting sand down on the roads. Usually it isn't this bad until after the snow is gone.

New Year's eve and all day I've been hanging on the edge of my own personal financial cliff. Last summer while I was working two jobs I stopped filing unemployment comp. claims, but after my bike shop job ended I found I couldn't cover my rent at the end of the month without some extra income, so I opened a new claim. My new weekly benefit amount turned out to be pitiful, something like $117, but luckily the Employment Security Department said I was required to continue claiming Extended Benefits until they ran out. Extended Benefits paid a higher weekly amount, enough to cover my rent when my earnings don't.

But the Extended Benefits program is due to end December 29, unless Congress passes a budget deal. All day at work I was checking cable TV news reports (only with no sound, just video and captions), and I keep checking online news now that I'm at home. It's getting so I have to check what time zone a news report is coming from to figure out how timely it is, and which way the pendulum is swinging. Probably best to just turn off the media, stop worrying, and see how things look in the morning.

Happy New Year!