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Sep. 4th, 2012 12:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI decided I'd take my bike to Parkside today to buy my last two text books. I didn't order them online because, oddly enough, I couldn't find them much cheaper that way and I decided I was going to possibly rent them instead. I wasn't sure whether I'd end up wanting to keep them or not, but if I rent them, I can elect to keep them at the end of the semester and just pay the difference. So for the first time, I have rented my textbooks.
I wondered, too, about getting the electronic versions, which were rather cheaper. But as well as those also being a rental (you lose access after the term expires), I don't know that I really want to be forced to carry a laptop around when I want to have my book. So I ruled those out.
I bumped into somebody I recognized from anthropology club. He's distinctive; a large, tall guy with long hair and beard. I said hello as I passed him in the hallway. Oddly enough, I was nervous. I'm not usually nervous about interacting with people these days, but in this case I think it was because I felt like maybe I should be more familiar with people in that group in general, and I'm not. I'm going to spend more time being involved with the club this year and try really hard to be able to recognize people. (Which reminds me that I need to email the president and tell her which officer position I'm interested in.)
Anyway, since I had my hair tripled up into a short tail, he asked me if I was growing it out again. I said "It's still out!" and took it down.
"I'm envious" he said, and as I headed out the door I said "It'll get there!"
I kind of wanted to stay and talk more, but I also have a certain skill deficit in deciding when people are interested in talking more in depth and when they just want to exchange a few sentences and keep going on their way. I assume that people don't want to spend more time unless something indicates otherwise. I think it's a defense against doing things that make me feel embarrassed. Of course, this also leads me to feeling a bit embarrassed at the possibility of having left when someone wanted to talk with me. Social interaction is complicated! I'm a hell of a lot better at it than I once was though, and I expect I'll keep improving. It's funny that I have the easiest time with people I know pretty well, and people I don't know at all. When it's people I have a nodding acquaintance with, I get a little flustered.
---
While at the school, I got a call on my cell phone. It was from Total Cyclery to let me know that I'd left my hat there. It was back when I'd gone in to buy an inner tube after getting a flat. Oops! I've been on my bike so much that I hadn't actually noticed my hat was missing. (I can't wear it on my bike 'cause I use a helmet.) Since it was sort of on the way back, I went there next and picked up my hat as well as a spare inner tube. I asked about frame pumps, but the proprietor said that none of them really work that well. I asked about CO2 inflaters and learned that they were cheaper than I expected; about $20 for the inflater and a cartridge, and then $3 for replacement cartridges. I think I'll probably end up going with one of those to make sure I can replace and inflate a flat tube on my way to or from school. It would be huge peace of mind for me, and sooner or later I'll need to use it.
I also asked the proprietor about speed on a bike. I said that I see a lot of people talking about commuting at 14 or 16 miles an hour and I average about 12. I asked whether it was me or the bike. Maybe a little of both is the answer, but perhaps more me. People who commute by bike all the time are, generally, in really good shape. I'm carrying around an extra thirty or forty pounds. But I can feel my legs slowly getting stronger as I do more riding, and that plus having been careful about tracking what I eat has brought me down almost ten pounds. My time to school and back is improving, and if I regularly ride to school for classes, I'll be getting tons of exercise. It's really nice, feeling better and being healthier.
---
Now, I need to get some lunch, and go pick up my dad. He's done teaching at 2 today, and since I'm home, I can take him to a couple places he needs to go.
I wondered, too, about getting the electronic versions, which were rather cheaper. But as well as those also being a rental (you lose access after the term expires), I don't know that I really want to be forced to carry a laptop around when I want to have my book. So I ruled those out.
I bumped into somebody I recognized from anthropology club. He's distinctive; a large, tall guy with long hair and beard. I said hello as I passed him in the hallway. Oddly enough, I was nervous. I'm not usually nervous about interacting with people these days, but in this case I think it was because I felt like maybe I should be more familiar with people in that group in general, and I'm not. I'm going to spend more time being involved with the club this year and try really hard to be able to recognize people. (Which reminds me that I need to email the president and tell her which officer position I'm interested in.)
Anyway, since I had my hair tripled up into a short tail, he asked me if I was growing it out again. I said "It's still out!" and took it down.
"I'm envious" he said, and as I headed out the door I said "It'll get there!"
I kind of wanted to stay and talk more, but I also have a certain skill deficit in deciding when people are interested in talking more in depth and when they just want to exchange a few sentences and keep going on their way. I assume that people don't want to spend more time unless something indicates otherwise. I think it's a defense against doing things that make me feel embarrassed. Of course, this also leads me to feeling a bit embarrassed at the possibility of having left when someone wanted to talk with me. Social interaction is complicated! I'm a hell of a lot better at it than I once was though, and I expect I'll keep improving. It's funny that I have the easiest time with people I know pretty well, and people I don't know at all. When it's people I have a nodding acquaintance with, I get a little flustered.
---
While at the school, I got a call on my cell phone. It was from Total Cyclery to let me know that I'd left my hat there. It was back when I'd gone in to buy an inner tube after getting a flat. Oops! I've been on my bike so much that I hadn't actually noticed my hat was missing. (I can't wear it on my bike 'cause I use a helmet.) Since it was sort of on the way back, I went there next and picked up my hat as well as a spare inner tube. I asked about frame pumps, but the proprietor said that none of them really work that well. I asked about CO2 inflaters and learned that they were cheaper than I expected; about $20 for the inflater and a cartridge, and then $3 for replacement cartridges. I think I'll probably end up going with one of those to make sure I can replace and inflate a flat tube on my way to or from school. It would be huge peace of mind for me, and sooner or later I'll need to use it.
I also asked the proprietor about speed on a bike. I said that I see a lot of people talking about commuting at 14 or 16 miles an hour and I average about 12. I asked whether it was me or the bike. Maybe a little of both is the answer, but perhaps more me. People who commute by bike all the time are, generally, in really good shape. I'm carrying around an extra thirty or forty pounds. But I can feel my legs slowly getting stronger as I do more riding, and that plus having been careful about tracking what I eat has brought me down almost ten pounds. My time to school and back is improving, and if I regularly ride to school for classes, I'll be getting tons of exercise. It's really nice, feeling better and being healthier.
---
Now, I need to get some lunch, and go pick up my dad. He's done teaching at 2 today, and since I'm home, I can take him to a couple places he needs to go.
