Geek Habitat

Note: This entry was actually started on MONDAY, July 28 –

It’s clear from my infrequent blog posts that I’ve been fighting “the crud” (sinus infection and, for awhile, lower respiratory infection) for months, really. About the time I’d get so fed up with it that I’d entertain going to the doctor, it would seem to abate, but only long enough to sneak up on me by the following weekend. When you have bad allergies (forget “seasonal”–these are omnipresent) you sometimes forget when you’ve crossed the line from “Geez, this is a horrible allergy season and I can’t remember the last time I felt really GOOD,” to “Geez, I feel really, utterly awful…the worst I have in a long time. And I don’t seem to ever being getting WELL.”

I’ve found that as my time gets stretched in more directions, it’s far easier to post short (maximum 140 characters) “tweets” on Twitter.com and avoid blogging altogether. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but it is what it is. I’m making some great contacts, not just professionally but other moms and fellow geek gals or outdoors enthusiasts, folks trying to lose weight, etc. Twitter was even fun on our camping trip, even when Sara and Justin had to leave I had folks tweeting to me that they had enjoyed the camping pics thus far, or that we looked like we were having a terrific time (we were, up until 3 AM!)

{Insert Insightful Commentary Here}

Been busy, but not with anything blog-worthy (though some of it was shared as “tweets” via my Twitter.com account.)

Sara’s doing well, though she did bite her lip during a fall today. I think this makes she and I  finally even on bloody lips–she tends to head-butt me and has caused me several bloody lips. After a short round of whole body, heaving crying, in the process spreading blood on us both, she was back to her chipper self for the most part. She’s definitely discovering her self and attempting to exercise her newfound autonomy, which quite frankly demonstrates as her having mini-tantrums now (very, very short-lived ones, but probably an omen for her Terrible Twos?)

After a week of short posts and URL sharing in lieu of entries, I thought it might be time to actually write an entry for a change.

My bicycle trainer has not arrived yet, but the climbing block (goes under the bike’s front tire) arrived on Thursday. I’ll be buying a Garmin cadence sensor soon to couple with my existing Garmin Forerunner 305 w/heart rate strap (which I’ve had for quite some time, and use for hiking and walking, as well as cycling.) The cadence sensor is so I will have speed and distance data, as well as pedaling cadence, for my indoor bike trainer rides, since obviously the GPS can’t provide such data indoors, on a stationary object. The good news is I initially thought I needed a Garmin Footpod (retails about $100,) but upon further examination, I simply need the cadence sensor ($40) for my indoor training. The bonus is that the cadence sensor will also prove useful on my actual road cycling rides with Justin.

I won’t include the company’s name (yet), as I am still holding out a thin hope that they’ll finally come through. Suffice it to say, this is a company that I’ve dealt with on a professional level for years. I send them customers and web traffic, thereby making them money, and I receive a small commission on any *new* customers I send them. I don’t make a lot of money from them, but the service they provide is a value-add to my members, and a time-saver. (No, it’s not Amazon… or Google… they’ve earned their lumps a long time ago, whereas this company seems to succeed by sole virtue of receiving government and U.S. state contracts.)

I now know the real meaning of that (title) phrase.  I always thought I was a patient sort… having a little one finally puts that to the test.

Thankfully, they’re also the most wonderfully joyous beings in the world. I remarked to my brother this evening, while we were both over at our folks’ visiting for dinner, that I wish I could be as blissfully happy about every little thing, like Sara is. “Ooooh, butter-fly!” “Oooooh, pretty red light!” “Yeeeeeee… blue sky and trees blowing in the wind!” Heheh…