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Swimming
I’m still doing lots of bike rides although the past couple of weeks has been more limited due to the strong winds blowing. I feel a bit too unsteady when it gusts above 35kph so have done other sorts of exercise.
Our city leisure center was closed for a few months for renovations and reopened last month. Along with that they changed the name of the local recreation programs and relaunched with a special deal of 30 days for $30. This includes pool, spa, gym and fitness classes. Our local center only has the pool and spa but there’s another one not far either. Anyway, I signed up in the middle of the month and started going swimming just about every day for a while. After almost a week I developed a sore next and shoulders and had to take a break from it.
I’m pretty sure this was due to the fact that what I call swimming is definitely not proper form and I think I caused myself a bit of injury after overdoing the wrong methods. So I took a bit of a break and decided that now’s the time I need to learn how to swim properly. I signed up for lessons last week and started on Tuesday.
I have had one forty five minute lesson and already feel a lot more capable although I’m going more slowly than before. I learned how to blow bubbles and do the freestyle stroke properly. Most useful is knowing how to breathe properly which makes a huge difference. The lessons actually give unlimited use of the pool for practice between lessons so once my 30 membership runs out, I’ll still be good. I just won’t have access to the spa. Not that I use it for that long as I find it too hot after a while.
My neck and shoulder were still a bit sore after Tuesday so I took a break on Wednesday. But yesterday I went back and practiced for half an hour. My main thing was trying to get a proper rhythm and to manage to last a full lap. I got in twenty laps of swimming and took in a fair bit of water yesterday. Then today I went back and I already found it easier and my stamina had increased so I could manage a full lap most of the time. Well at least for the first half of my practice. I could feel I was doing it right some of the time and it feel really efficient and much easier on the body. Just that trying to swim continuous laps wasn’t a thing yet. After each lap I’d take a break and try to get my breathing under control. I am getting a bit better at breathing in through my mouth and blowing out bubbles through my nose. But it still feels a bit alien for me. I assume this will get better with time.
So I was taking a break after one of my laps and then a young girl in the next lane said “Excuse me” to get my attention. Then she told me I was a very good swimmer which really took me by surprise. I thanked her and told her I was just learning and then she wished me well and I did the same to her as she is learning too. I was quite touched by this and it really helped my confidence a lot. Of course once I was more self-conscious I started making more mistakes. Although I’m pretty sure that also was due to getting tired. I was trying to reach 750 meters of swimming but then the lane was needed for a real lesson and I decided that must be the warning that I needed to stop and take a break. I’d already been finding it hard to make it all the way through a lap and I wasn’t breathing so well as I had been.
I’m hoping to practice at least two more times before my next lesson but I’m already feeling so much more able than I was. I just wished I’d done this sooner.
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New Year
It’s a new year or at least it is in this blog. I’ve been too silent lately but I’m hoping to change that. I still have a post to write about going to Brisbane in November so that might be one of the next posts I write.
We’re just about at the end of summer now with autumn officially starting on March 1st. Of course it’s still pretty warm here. Unlike much of Australia, we didn’t have so many nasty fires around the Perth area. There was a big one in December but nothing of major note since then. We’ve been quite lucky in that respect. We did have some really hot weather in early December but temperatures this summer were mostly mild to moderate compared to years past. That makes three summer where it’s not been all that terrible.
What has been harsher is the humidity. When we first got our air conditioning back in 2002 or 2003, it worked really well here as the heat was mostly dry and only a few days in the summer caused it to work poorly for us. It’s an evaporative system which had been typical here but the number of humid days is getting a lot higher and so we end up having an ineffective cooling system. We have other issues with the current system we have so have ideas of changing it in the next year or two. I think it’s quite possible we may switch to a different type of system next time.
This week has been a stormy one and we’ve had a lot of rain over the few days. It started on Monday although we didn’t get rain where we live. I’d been expecting rain so avoided watering plants but then we didn’t get any. I finally watered plants on Tuesday morning and sure enough we had a big amount of rain dumped on us that afternoon. Well I think it was a big amount since I wasn’t home when it happened. It definitely was a dumping where the Scientist and I were. The storm cell seemed to weaken a bit before it got here so I think it was just a lot of rain and storminess but nothing too close.
Today the sun has come back out and it’s mostly big fluffy clouds although it’s still possible we’ll get more rain. After that it’s supposed to be dry for at least a few days.
Oh and the other thing that we’ve had trouble with here are the hot nights. Every night lately has been above 20C which is pretty unusual. especially when the daytime temperatures haven’t been super high.
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New old theme?
I’ve changed to a theme I’m pretty sure I used before. I’m still unsettled as to how I want the blog to look but this works for me now.
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Good
Today was the beginning of another hot spike in temperatures for us. I think it got to 35 C today where we live. At least that’s what the car thermometer said. I had to take the dogs to the vet for vaccinations and a couple other issues and that started at 4pm. We got in rather late due to some emergencies that took priority. It was okay aside from the nuisance the dogs were making of themselves. We finished up just around 5pm and I came home. As it was warm and I was in the right mood, I went out for a bike ride soon afterwards.
It was still kind of hot, so I took two bottles of water with me and put one in my backpack just in case. I got started easily enough and got out onto the bike paths near us. I found today was an easy ride. My heart rate was on the higher side but it wasn’t making me feel ill so I didn’t take any drastic measures to change it. I kept a steady pace all the way to my destination and didn’t struggle all that much with the hills tonight although it was a definite workout.
Once I arrived I parked my bike and went into the shopping center for a few minutes break. I had a banana I’d taken with me so had a bit of a snack and then made sure to drink all the water in one of the bottles. I hadn’t stopped at all along the way. Then I went to refill the water before setting off again. Unfortunately this took long enough that it was just about sunset by the time I got going again. I wasn’t too fussed as it still felt pleasant outside and the bike path is well lit until I get to my neighborhood (where it’s lit but not as well). It did serve as a reminder that I need to get a light installed.
The ride back was even better than the ride there. It was such easy exercise that I didn’t feel as though I was working all that hard. It’s really interesting how that happens some days and then others just the simplest ride can be so hard to get through. The temperature had dropped a bit once the sun set and I found myself riding through pockets of cooler air. But as I got closer to home there were pockets of warmer air that I was hitting. I did stop briefly to take a photo of the pretty night skies fairly early on in the ride back.
Pretty sky during ride home When I got home I was feeling pretty good. I think this sort of exercise releases those endorphins and I felt like they were really flowing tonight. Even hours later I’m still feeling pretty good.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher with possible high temperatures that we don’t get in November ever. Just another tick in the evidence of climate change, methinks.
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So tired…
of looking at my Facebook feed and seeing some of the obnoxious posts by family members and friends. Curiously I see this mostly from Trump supporters. I so want to post something about this but haven’t worked out how to word something to be effective without being nasty.
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Halloween
I don’t think I’ve ever written about Halloween before since it’s mostly a non-event here. Well it used to be a non-event but now it’s become somewhat more popular around here.
Growing up, I enjoyed Halloween as a child and I remember going trick or treating in our neighborhood every year. I even recall a house that was on a little cul-de-sac off our street that never gave out treats and was dark each year. It’s a rather indistinct memory in that I mostly recall it happening and kind of where it happened but almost no other detail.
My trick or treating days were over by the time we moved from Georgia to North Carolina when I was eleven. I really can’t recall exactly when that was but I’m sure if I went out it was only because my brothers did. I didn’t really do much for Halloween during my teens and college years. I did dress up for at least one party which I think was held in our dorm. Once I was working I often was often at work on the night.
Then we had our two boys and Halloween wasn’t a part of their lives. Except for the one year we were in Halifax, Nova Scotia when they did their one and only trick or treating experience. I found they really got into the whole event there, unlike where we’d live before we left the US. (I think it had changed to mostly parties around our area, even for kids). The Scientist took them out while I stayed home to hand out treats. Of course Lego Lover doesn’t recall that as he was only not-quite three at the time. Not sure if Games Fanatic recalls much of it either but he was old enough to remember something of it, I think.
These days, Halloween has become more popular here and they even sell the type of pumpkins we used to use for jack o’lanterns although it’s pretty expensive to buy. I think that was the part I liked the best of the day but I’d sooner use some other foodstuff which was cheaper. After all the original ones were made out of turnips and beets from what I have read. I’m not sure how well that might work though and it’s a bit more than I can be bothered with in the end. I did today see the first jack o’lanterns I’ve ever seen in Australia. I know they must have been done before since the pumpkins are sold here but just never saw one. The one I recall was at an Anglican church having some sort of Halloween Haven. I have no idea what that entailed but I can guess it might be like the events I recall from when I last lived in North Carolina where kids were taken to a community event to do trick or treating instead of going door to door.
Today wasn’t the ideal evening for going out because it’s been windy and rainy off and on. We didn’t get anybody knocking at our door but then I didn’t prepare for anyone to come aside from getting an emergency pack of little chocolates…one of which has mostly been consumed by family members now. The other is still unopened. I did get other chocolates for the boys to eat and they are mostly gone now aside from part of a Toblerone block.
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More bike riding
I’ve managed a few more bike rides lately and found the cycle pathways are now pretty extensive around here. My rides have been focused on the new section of highway but I decided to check how far the path went in the opposite direction. I didn’t know if it had been extended very far because last time I tried to go that way months ago, there was an abrupt end just past Malaga (neighboring suburb). Well, now the pathway goes on quite a distance. I don’t know exactly how far but once I managed to get almost as far as where my client that I support as a carer lives. I think I can get there but just made a slightly wrong turn along the way and ended up coming back closer to home. I eventually used a map app to find my way back to the highway to get home and it was fine.
This week I went riding for what I intended to be a much shorter ride. I started late due to a delay caused by forgetting something at the store. So my time was limited before it got dark. Anyway, I started out and just past the ramp onto the highway, I noticed a few cars along the side of the road and a few people climbing the hill and doing something. I thought maybe people were getting together to do something on the fly. I don’t know what but it was an odd thing to see. As I rode closer to my turning around point, I saw fire vehicles and then ambulances coming from the direction I was heading. I just knew it was related to what I saw and when I did get back there, a whole bunch of emergency vehicles were there and something was happening up on the hill and a vehicle was blocking the pathway. I still don’t know quite what happened there as no news stories have appeared. I did see some sort of pop up tent sort of thing when I passed by the first time but nothing has appeared to explain it even though it blocked traffic quite a bit at the time.
The next day I went riding back in the same direction and the tent thing was gone and I realised there was a broken fence there now. I don’t recall it being broken before but maybe it was. I wonder if a vehicle went off the road and up the hill…it’s a long way off the road though, so that doesn’t really answer my questions. Hopefully I will find out more in the next few days in the community paper or somewhere similar.
Anyway, that next bike ride turned out to be my longest ever ride. I went into Ellenbrook and stopped at the shopping center to get a drink or two. It was a warm day but I wasn’t overly hot, just a bit dehydrated. I did have my water bottle but wanted to save that for the return trip. I got a couple drinks and took one with me in my backpack/purse and still had most of my water. I went back out and rode a bit further from home before turning around. This was a big mistake because my left knee started hurting and there was considerable uphill riding. My newish bike is good with hills and has more gears than my old one but it was still hard-going and I wish I hadn’t gone any further out. I mainly was hoping to get a good view of the hills out that way but it didn’t quite work in my favor that time. The lighting just wasn’t right. I was relying more on my right leg to pedal but it wasn’t enough to take pressure off the left knee. The ride back too heaps more time than it should have and I ended up getting off the bike and walking up the last hill towards the overpass of the new roads because I just couldn’t pedal any harder. Once to the top there it was a fairly easy ride and I just had to deal with a slightly darker area once off the main pathways. It’s not dark exactly just not as well lit as the pathway was. That only lasted a few minutes as the distance to our house from there is only a kilometer.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to further exploration of the local bike paths and hopefully finding a way into Perth. I think it’s quite possible for me to get into the city within an hour given the right pathway. The way I’d tried before has always been slow going due stoplights and less convenient paths so these new ones might make it a much better journey.
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Good ride
It’s amazing how conditions make such a difference on a bike ride. When I went out a couple weeks ago and tried to ride on a warm day, I found it too hot and I quickly became dehydrated and pretty much limped my way home. It was warm yesterday but nowhere near hot and I waited until later in the day to ride. I did the ride to the end of the current highway and decided to see how far the pathway continued. Unlike the highway, the bike/pedestrian path continues about three kilometers beyond the exit. It was a really good ride although my bottom was pretty sore by the time I got home. It was about twelve kilometers each way and I didn’t even finish my water bottle this time. It got pretty chilly on the way back and I’m glad I had my jacket with me even though I never took enough time to put it on. It was kind of on the edge of being cold so I just went with the flow and it worked out pretty well. I am also happy to note I didn’t get too much numbness in my right hand this time. It all went well and I got close to home just in time for sunset.
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New toy
I think I posted a while back that my plan was to get a new phone this year. In past years, I’ve always gone for the year old models but this year my plan was to buy the latest model. I waited, sometimes patiently, for Apple to announce their new phones. There really weren’t many secrets on it since almost everything had been leaked ahead of time.
My resolve was to get a new phone with these new releases but when the time came I started wavering a bit. Part of me thought maybe I should stick it out another year and wait for the next models. Apple is likely to release 5G phones and a few other changes are expected to fall more in line with other similarly priced phones. I even considered getting the low-end model this time but then there were concerns about the resolution which is actually worse than my old phone.
On Friday, I had to take Lego Lover to an appointment in West Perth so we walked into the city proper and met the Scientist for lunch. After eating we walked across the street to the Apple store. We’d been watching it while eating outside and the lines weren’t a big deal at this point. Lego Lover wouldn’t go into the store so the Scientist waited with him outside while I went into check out the new models. It was crowded but honestly not really much worse than usual. They had several tables with the phones displayed so I checked out the low end model and it fit in my hand nicely. But I knew from early on the screen just wasn’t going to do it. It just looked rather flat. I went on to look at the Pro model and it was lovely but it was kind of small. When I was younger this wouldn’t have been an issue but my eyes like the larger screens now. I tried out the Pro Max and it felt similar to my old phone. It was kind of a no-brainer and I went back outside to the lines to put in my order. That led me back inside to wait for the next available Apple person to assist me. It was all stream-lined and went pretty smoothly. They had older model phones off to the side to try out. I was met by a few store people who were just almost over-the-top gung ho about the new phones. Before I knew it, I was at the front and was being assisted and then I had this fancy black box in my bag and was walking out. It didn’t take too long at all.
We had a few other things to do then we came home by bus and once I was settled in at home, I opened my new box. This just reminded me there are people who unbox new items on Youtube, which I find kind of hilarious. I could have had my new phone set up in store but I am quite okay to do it myself. Once I plugged it in, it was smooth sailing. I will say the process is really easy these days if you have another Apple product. It just gets the information and transfers it over. It then was able to transfer my files from my old phone. The biggest time waiting was for all my apps to download and even that goes quicker now we have the faster NBN access that goes at higher speeds.
I ordered a case online that night and the next day I ended up buying another one to use in the meantime. This is the down side of buying brand new because in the past I was able to get a cheap case easily. I spent more than I normally would have but also got a protective film put on. I spent far less for the case this time than last even though it’s the same company (Spigen) that makes it.
As for the phone to use, it’s been a dream so far. I’m still getting used to the slight differences to the screen but it’s all been pretty good. I finally tried out the fancy camera yesterday and it was brilliant to use. I’m amazed at the quality of the images shown and will definitely be making more use of this camera.
The other cool thing is I can use the Qi charger that the Scientist uses for his Samsung phone.
I will add that the guy that helped me in store also mentioned an update to the WatchOs and I updated it on Saturday. There’s now a noise level sensor you can turn on to see how loud it is where you are. It can remain on all the time but I don’t really see much point of it and turned it off that night. It’s kind of neat but I find it kind of a weird addition to go on about like the Apple store dude did. :D
With the phone camera I took a new photo of the Scientist and now have it as my watch face. It came out really well. :)
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Dwindling family
Both my father’s parents were one of multiple children. I’m talking about over ten in each family. So there’s a lot of family around that I don’t know and probably never will know. I think I’ve run across a few through the DNA testing sites.
My mom’s father was an only child although she had a step-father who was also from a large family. My maternal grandmother was the oldest of nine children. There were five girls and four boys. The youngest two are actually younger than my mom and the third youngest is only slightly older. You could say they grew up more like siblings their true relationship. My mom even lived in the same house for a period of time growing up.
Less than two years ago, the youngest, my aunt E, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Like most of this part of the family she’d smoked all her adult life and I don’t know that she’d quit like some family members or not. Anyway, her prognosis initially wasn’t good but then she saw a different doctor who did surgery. Apparently that made things a lot better and she was doing okay. But then she ended up rushed to the hospital in massive pain and it turns out the cancer had spread throughout her body. The outlook was was poor but there was a plan to start her on chemotherapy. Then she decided she wasn’t going to go down that path. It makes no difference because she died soon afterwards on September 7th, just three days before her 75th birthday.
Out of that family of nine kids, she was one of the ones I was closest to. She lived across the road from my grandma until my grandmother moved into an apartment. I last saw her on my November 2017 trip and we had a good visit one afternoon. I’m grateful I was able to spend that time with her. For my mom’s part, it’s much like losing a sister. In fact she was closer to her aunt than she was her sisters (who were ten and fifteen years younger). I am glad she didn’t suffer a long time but it really is sad that I will never see her again. Instead I will keep my memories of her close.
This brings that part of the family down to two brothers and one sister still living. The sister is also another close relationship and this is made harder by the fact she is suffering from Alzheimer’s and is living in the nursing home where my other aunt spent her last days. It’s weird to think of this family passing out of existence but it won’t be too long until it happens.
Not to mention that my parents are no longer young. With both in the latter 70s it’s possible they could be struck down by any number of ailments. At the moment, though, they are both in relatively decent health, which is a relief to me.
