Do I Or Don't I?

Last fall Hubby Tony and I had the opportunity to take a test ride on electric bikes. We both enjoyed the easier peddling and being able to go faster. Our test took place on a flat greenway, but I could see that an e-bike's power assist would be really helpful on hills.

A couple of weeks later Tony was talking to a neighbor and found out he knew a man who retrofitted  standard bikes to make hem electric. Tony contacted the man, tried out one of his bikes, and ended up purchasing it. Shortly after that the weather turned cold. Tony took the battery pack off and brought it upstairs, and the rest of the bike spent the winter in the storage unit.

Yesterday the temperatures were more like May than March, and Tony suggested we take our first bike ride of the year. That sounded good to me. He did some research and found a place in South County that we hadn't been to before, Cliff Cave Park, that had a paved greenway along the Mississippi River. I was still on the fence about electric bikes, and was anxious to see how my standard bike would hold up against Tony's motorized one.

After breakfast I dug the bike carrier out of the corner of the storage unit and installed it on the back of my vehicle, then we put the bikes on. The battery pack makes Tony's bike pretty heavy, but he took it off until we reached the trailhead. Once there, it only took a few seconds for him to get ready to ride.

The park had about seven miles paved trails, divided into lower and upper segments. The lower segment was flat, and had a couple of nice views of the river. The upper segment had an option to connect to Telegraph Road, which had a nice bike lane. We went south on Telegraph for 15 minutes, then turned around and came back.

On the flat surfaces I held my own against Tony and his motorized bike, and a couple of times even got quite a bit ahead of him. However, on the inclines and hills he left me in the dust. At the end of the ride I asked Tony how much he used his electric motor assist. He told me he only used the lowest speed, only on the hills, and at the end of the ride the battery indicator showed that he had used less than a third of the charge was gone.

I asked Tony to give me the name and phone number of the bike retrofitter. I will give him a call. I think I could use my current bike, which would be a nice bonus and save me a little bit of money.

Everyone's Irish On St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

An interesting mixing of cultural legends

If you search the Internet there are a lot of Irish prayers and blessings

But if you don't want to bless someone, you can always curse them

Five years ago: Cat Cleaners

More Than Just Pi

Today is March 14th (3/14), which many people celebrate as Pi (π) Day. 

However, in St. Louis 314 also happens to be the original area code for the metropolitan area. Back in 2006 an official 314 Day was created. Each year it has gotten more popular. Starting last weekend, there have been happenings, promotions, and deals to celebrate the day.

Tonight Hubby Tony and I had our own celebratory dinner. We got carry out from Imo's Pizza--St. Louis style pizza (a cracker-like crust, topped with Provel cheese, and cut into squares), toasted ravioli, and a salad with St. Louis style sweet Italian dressing.

 

 

There are other dishes that would pay homage to the area, but we decided to save those for next year's celebration. 

 

Five years ago today: A Pi Memory Helper

Don't Forget!

I will be setting my clock before I got to bed tonight so I don't embarrass myself by showing up to church late tomorrow.

Five years ago today: In The Land Of Grandbabies

Free Day On The Freeway

This weekend is one of the four statewide business meetings for a fellowship I belong to, which will take place in the middle of the state and several hours from my house. The meeting will start Saturday morning, but as an officer I help set up the meeting room on Friday afternoon and attend an officer's meeting later that night after dinner.

This time setup is at 3 pm. It takes about three hours to get to the hotel where the meeting is held. (I usually make a couple of stops, so I add another half hour.) Doing the math, leaving a little after 11 am should get me there in plenty of time. However, Mother Nature decided to have something to say about it. There's a prediction of snow/sleet overnight and a good part of tomorrow. The area I have to drive through has a forecast of three to four inches of snow. Not much, but since I really don't like driving in winter weather I decided that I would go a day early. With an entire day to get there I wouldn't have to be on a time frame. I could stop where and when I wanted, and at the hotel I could even take advantage of the hot tub that I never have time for.

I ended up leaving mid-morning. I drove due west on Interstate 70 across the river into St. Charles county, where I made several prescheduled stops. After those were done I was free to stop when and where I wanted to. At one exit I saw a sign for an antique mall and decided to pull in. I detoured to make a stop in the downtown historic Brick District of Fulton (something that has been on my bucket list since I've been attending these meetings). There, I found GOPO Popcorn Shop, where I could sample all of the flavors before buying. I left with a cup of locally roasted coffee and two small containers of popcorn for later.

After Fulton I made it to Highway 54 and went west, which would ultimately get me to my destination in Camdenton. In Jefferson City I detoured to Central Dairy for a rich, decadent ice cream cone, then continued my trip. I passed through Lake Ozark and stopped for groceries at Dierbergs, a St. Louis-area chain that has stretched their boundaries with a location at the Lake. There I picked up food for dinner and snacks for the weekend. I also found a gas station with prices a little cheaper than others I had seen and filled up my gas tank.

Although it was a day filled with exciting adventures I was glad to arrive at my destination. During the last half of the trip intermittent periods of fat snowflakes fell from the sky, an omen of what was to come. Tomorrow the only snow I have to deal with is what I will see from my hotel window.

Five years ago today: I Thought There Was Nothing To Eat...

Extending Good Will

Hubby Tony and I recently went out to dinner at a new to us restaurant. When the waitress brought the check, she attached a Post-It note with one of my favorite quotes from Saint Teresa of Calcutta (AKA Mother Teresa):

The waitress left off the rest of the quote, which is "Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier", but even the shortened version made an impact. I slid the note into my purse, and for the rest of the night did what I could to spread love. It started with leaving the waitress a generous tip. I held the door for the person leaving the building behind me. I smiled at the people on the street. When I was wearing a mask inside buildings I smiled with my eyes. Later that night I passed the note on by sticking it onto a towel dispenser in a public bathroom. 

I can only hope I inspired someone to spread love the same way I was inspired.

Five years ago today: Only In St Louis

A Little Working...A Little Playing...A Lot Of Fun

Right now, Covid cases are down in the area, restrictions are easing, and I decided I wanted to expand my circle of activities. Most of my volunteer work is for my church and a fellowship I belong to.  When I saw on Facebook that a local cat rescue organization was looking for additional help, I filled out an application. Today I attended a volunteer orientation.

The rescue organization's website has many different activities to choose from, but all of them start with shifts at their adoption center. Before Covid the center used to be open for drop-in visits, and Hubby Tony and I had been there a couple of times. It was a fun place, and I was excited to see some of what went on behind the scenes.

When I walked up to the center's door I was happy to see a large sign mandating masks for everyone. There were three other women being oriented. One of them was about my age. The other two appeared to be in their mid-20s After a tour of the building we started our tasks for the day. They included feeding the cats, filling dry food and water bowls, scooping litter, cleaning, vacuuming, and washing the floor. With so many hands the work went quickly and then we got to hang out with the cats.

There were about a dozen on the main floor (and another set that I didn't get to see downstairs in an isolation area).  Most of the main floor denizens were coexisting amicably in a room with large windows and lots of places to play, climb, and nap. A couple of cats were in cages because they did not get along well with the others. All were waiting to be adopted.

My two hour shift flew by. When I got home I washed my hands so Jackson Cat wouldn't be able to smell all the other kitties I spent time petting. I wouldn't want him to think I was being disloyal.

I'm Turning Into A Cranky Old Woman

Hubby Tony and are long time subscribers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. I think that my breakfast isn't complete until I've looked at the entire issue each day, easing into reality by starting with the comics and advice columns. Next I move to the real new sections, scanning every headline and thoroughly reading any article that catches my eye.

The cost of the subscription keeps going up. A couple of years ago we decided to save a little bit of money by changing to the e-edition during the week. On Saturday morning we get a slim paper which includes the ads and the Sunday comic section. Sunday morning the rest of the paper is waiting for us when we get up.

That system works well. Until it doesn't. Yesterday when I opened up the newspaper website on my iPad and clicked on the e-edition link I got an error message. I tried to get around the problem a couple of different ways but got the same message every time. Although I was annoyed, I figured that stuff happens, cut the company some slack, and used what would have been my reading time perusing other websites.

This morning I was even more annoyed when the problem was still there! Today I was offered the option of a newspaper version with limited functionality, but it did not work on my iPad. Zooming in enough to actually read the text made only a small portion of the page visible, and I was not able to use my finger to scroll up and down. 

I sent an email expressing my disappointment, which only got me an automated response. I spent the rest of my breakfast time visiting other websites until my coffee kicked in and I was ready to face the day. Hours later I checked the website on my desktop computer but the problem was still there. If it's not taken care of by tomorrow morning I will be very cranky!

Five years ago: A Funny For A Friday

I Am. Will You?

Pope Francis is asking people across the world to participate in a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Ukraine today for Ash Wednesday. 

Joe Heller

Semi-Extravagant

You may know that today is Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French) a day of self-indulgence and the last big hoo-hah before Lent begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday. However, for the past few weeks I've made quite a few poor food choices and over the past weekend my digestive system cried uncle. Today I tried to mix my decadence with some common sense.

I started off with a hearty breakfast, then followed that up with a healthy lunch. Mid-afternoon I was on the road and hungry. When I drove by a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant I thought spicy chicken sounded good. However, I found out I couldn't buy just a piece of chicken, and I didn't want a whole meal. I settled for a bowl of red beans and rice. Even though the red beans were pureed and more like refried the dish hit the spot.

For dinner I made some smashed white bean salad and served it with good wheat bread. Earlier in the day when I stopped in the grocery store to get a stalk of celery a bag of New Orleans style potato chips jumped into my bag. I don't know who suggests the serving size for snack foods, but I ate way more with my meal than what the back of the bag told me I should.

In the afternoon Hubby Tony and I walked to a local bakery to get some dessert. They were sold out of king cakes, Mardi Gras cookies, and paczki (Polish donuts), so I chose their variation of a fudgie. Tony got a flat cinnamon apple strudel. After dinner Tony plated both, then cut them in half so we could each sample.

And because one dessert didn't feel like enough, after my sweets were gone I followed them up with a big handful of frozen blueberries. Their frostiness tricked my mind into thinking I was having ice cream, and my stomach thanked me for doing without the extra fat and sugar.

Five years ago today: A Jeans Challenge Met