Friday Night: the Bike, Kvetch, Sunset edition

Do you know what day it is?

On the other hand, once again, it is 60 and raining outside, and it's hard to believe that tomorrow will be at least somewhat sunny and in the 80s. This July has been one odd weather month.

I haven't ridden the bike yet tonight--the laundry is still ongoing--but I plan to. I did last night, and it was actually harder to ride the bike for five minutes on Wednesday night than it was to ride it for ten minutes last night. Isn't that weird? Not that it was easy last night, but it was ... tolerable, I would call it. I can't say I understand how these things work, but anyway. Biking. Yes. Exercise, damn it. See if we can lose some weight, or at least lower the blood pressure.

I must admit that, after being told over the years that my losing weight would do everything but bring peace to the Middle East, I almost hope I lose some weight and still have problems. Not that I want the problems! But honestly, thin people have health problems, too. Losing weight is not a cure-all.​ I'm just stubborn enough (I get it from both sides) that I wouldn't be entirely sorry if I could say to the doctor, "But I lost weight! Like you told me to! Why do I still have this problem?" and then bat my eyes at him, all innocent, and see what he says.

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Do you ever find that describing a situation well is so satisfying, it almost doesn't matter that it doesn't solve the problem? I was trying to find the perfect word to describe someone once, and the feeling I got when I captured Just the Right Word (it was truculent) was palpable.

Today I was feeling kind of crabby (you=shocked, I know), and the noise My Least Favorite Coworker (MLFC) made typing, of all things, seemed crazy-excessive. But then I came up with this:

She types with a ferocity that implies the hounds of hell are on her heels and will only be discouraged by the sheer volume she produces.

And suddenly, I felt better about it.

Not about her, mind you, just about that. She's still super annoying. She coughs and sniffs and clears her throat constantly, all day long. And then there's the bracelet.​ I tried to imagine what her face would look like if I told her that I had put my headphones in to help me resist the temptation to pull the bracelet off her wrist--the one that goes clunk-clunk-clunk against her desk with her Every Move--and throw it through the window.​

I don't know if she wears it every day, but some days I don't notice any noise, and other days I notice it but it doesn't bother me (when my work-neighbor sent an e-mail earlier this week with the subject line WHAT IS THAT NOISE, I had to ask what she meant, and once she told me, I heard it but it didn't really bug me). Today, though, I was grinding my teeth and holding onto my last wisp of control, because no, you can't rip her arm off and beat her to death with it. Really, no.

Some day when it isn't driving me so crazy, I will see if I can bring it up in a casual, Doesn't that bother you? sort of way, since I personally don't like to wear anything bracelet-like if I'm writing or using the computer. We'll see what she says. (Probably just, "Oh ... no.") I don't imagine she will get the hint, but I can try.

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Tonight I am celebrating that the small mistake I found in my checking account balance spreadsheet was in my favor. I don't like to make mistakes, but when it means I have a little more money than I thought I did? That's the good kind of mistake!

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On Monday night, I cleared the headache just enough to notice that there was an interesting sunset. Not classically beautiful, but interesting, wouldn't you say?

Have a nice weekend!