Holey cow, man, was it ever a windy beast out there today!
I grew up in northwestern Nebraska, where they consider 25mph winds a “breeze” so you would think I could handle a little wind. Well, to be honest, since I have been living in Kansas City for so long, I guess I have gotten a little soft. According to weather.com, the wind gusts were “up to 24 mph,” but it sure felt like something worse when I was riding home. Felt like riding into a force-field, and a very cold one at that.
The ride back was even worse, because the wind was a northwest wind, so on the way out it was at my side and back, but on the way home, it was on my side and in my face. On the way out, though I almost got knocked off my bike by the wind. I was riding south on Oak from 7th toward 12th, and as I passed 11th St. the placement of the buildings on that intersection creates a wind-tunnel that I’d kind of forgotten about. Normally I brace myself, but I wasn’t prepared today, and almost wiped out. I’m actually kind of proud of myself for “keeping the rubber side down” there.
I rode over to my old house to do some cleaning and some general spruce-up work for selling the place. I got started down in the basement, knocking down cobwebs, sweeping up dust and lint, and spraying suspicious, probably moldy patches on the walls with bleach. I left my old Shop Vac over there, and will be returning tomorrow to vaccuum the heck out of the old place and start scrubbing down the kitchen. The paint in there is still in pretty darn good shape; I think I will be able to get away with some touch-ups and that will be fine. I’m taking the trailer tomorrow to pick up some stuff that’s still over there, including my favorite bathrobe. I could have put that in my panniers, I realize, but I kind of forgot I had that option. Whoops.
The big job will be skim-coating and re-painting the living room, which is still scarred from my wallpaper removal attempts. I also need to finish de-papering my old sewing room and dealing with the utter trainwreck that is the bathroom paint (the previous owner painted latex over oil, and it got weird and crackly over time). Those are the bigger jobs, plus the kitchen counter needs to be replaced. Hopefully, since I’m at loose ends, I can use my time to get the old place into salable shape and get it on the market!
Sure, selling a house right now is about as hard as finding a job right now, and as you can see I’m still sans permanent employ, but I figure all I can do is make good use of my time, which right now means fixing up the old house, applying for every job that I’m qualified for, and doing a little temping when anything comes up.
You didn’t read the part of the wind advisory saying high profile vehicles should be careful outside today?
So you’re suggesting that I should have ridden my road bike instead of the hybrid?