MeghanIsMe

Ella is confused by the sounds I make while watching voice training videos and it's pretty adorable. She's sitting in my lap and sometime she looks at my mouth or looks me in the eyes, I think trying to figure out if she should be paying attention or doing something.

A blanket we bought came with a blue satin ribbon as part of the packaging, so I tried to tie it around my neck in a big bow, thinking it would be cute. Then I looked in the mirror and it sort of looked like a necktie. O HAI THERE DYSPHORIA!

I'll just put that ribbon away now. *laughs*

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Yesterday's movie on the treadmill was Kase-san and Morning Glories. (Some spoilers here, in case you're concerned about that.)

The way the two of them communicated was so refreshing! They're not perfect, especially Yamada, but Yamada has never dated anyone before and is trying to figure that out. Kase, on the other hand, seems more experienced, and is caring and thoughtful.

Yamada is too cute for words. She may possibly be too cute and innocent for this world.
There are moments of drama, but they are resolved quickly rather than drawn out into long spans of will-they-won't-they as happens in other media like this I've consumed. One isn't necessarily better than the other, but Kase-san and Morning Glories was almost entirely relaxing, sweet, and positive, and sometimes that's a really great thing.

I was concerned by the choice Yamada makes at the end to go with Kase to Tokyo for university, but that was in part because I didn't quite understand what her original plan was. I don't know if she's ready, in terms of maturity and ability to think about things in the long term, to pack up her life and move somewhere entirely new and far from home to be with a girlfriend - that ended up not working out so well for me - but I also don't think it's as bad a choice as I was first worried it might be. And none of us start out having the experience to make these choices well: sometimes you just have to do them and see what happens, I think.

I would really like to read this manga.

*Adds it to her online wishlist

Wow, I have a lot of yuri in there... And a book about historic industrial architecture of the United States. Niche books on architecture are expensive. 🙁

I got my bike set up on the trainer today and watched two episodes of Bloom into You while pedaling. That worked pretty well, except that, as I realized after finishing, I sweated so much that there were puddles on the floor. I'll have to get a mat or something for this. And a fan for some breeze would be nice! But putting the bike on and off the stand is fairly quick and the stand folds away nicely, so I'm hoping this will keep me active over the winter.

I seem to have solved a few problems today, so I'm feeling accomplished.

My bike trainer arrived just before I left for class. Once I got home, I set it up and found that it really is too loud to use in an upstairs apartment. Or rather, it's the vibration that travels through the floor and walls that's too much, even after I tried layering cardboard and textiles under it. I decided instead to set it up in the small laundry room in the basement. That option wouldn't have been available with a large piece of exercise equipment, but just moving my bike and the trainer down two flights of steps and back up is not onerous.

I pedaled for an hour while I did reading for GEO 602. It worked out really well, and I'm planning to make it a once or twice daily routine, depending on scheduling. It feels really good to have an easy way to get exercise *and* not sacrifice work time. I have to get a bit more dressed than I would in my own place, but I can live with that.

Speaking of, I'm floundering to some degree with the lack of structure here, so I'm imposing some. I set a timer on my phone to work for a span, then take a shorter break, and repeat. It's 66% and 33% at the moment, which seems awfully slackery for lack of a better term, but, to my embarrassment, it's better than I was doing before. It's worked out well so far today, so I'm hoping that continuing that way will help me be more productive.

I'm looking for advice and experience on indoor bicycle trainers and under-desk pedaling machines.

(Feel free to skip on by if you don't want to read a bunch of rambling about bicycle equipment.)

One source of stress for me has been an inability to get on my bike as much as I would like to and am used to. It's actually stressful on several levels. Lack of physical activity is a big adjustment on its own; I think it makes me restless and feel unproductive. I also am eating considerably less food due to reduced caloric expenditure; maybe a little over half of the 2500-3000 calories per day I was eating while commuting 16 miles a day. That creates a little stress in itself, as I often feel hungry even when I've had enough food.

Looking for a way to combine exercising for long periods and getting reading and note-taking done. The campus has a couple of fitness centers, but they have a 20 minute time limit on aerobics equipment. I'd want at least an hour at a time, so that's problematic. People have pointed out that time limits are often enforced only when people are waiting, so it's possible it might work some or even most of the time. But it also involves packing materials up to take with me, getting dressed, loading my bicycle, and all the other minutiae associated with task-driven excursions that have nothing to do with the actual task.

My present tentative plan is to buy an indoor bicycle trainer that I can mount one of my bicycles to on a long-term basis. I could sit and pedal with a book or a tablet for an hour or two a day without having to deal with any logistics beyond crossing the room. I think this would be good for me for a number of reasons.

An alternative to this would be an under-desk pedaling machine. I'm disinclined to go with those. I had a cheap one once and there was not enough space under the desk for my knees to rise and fall, so it wasn't terribly pracical for its purpose. From my cursory research online, they also don't seem to burn nearly as many calories as an actual trainer.

I have a couple of questions I'm combing the internet for answers to. Perhaps most important is 'how rational is it to think that I can sit upright and spin on one while reading and note-taking?'
Secondly, what kind of trainer would be best for me? I don't plan to push it really hard like some people do, standing up in the pedals and going all-out. But I do expect to use it at a moderate level of effort for an hour or two a day, most or all days of the week, so I want it to last under that kind of solid use.

Reviews are not terribly helpful. Most people who want these things are "serious" cyclists who want to practice for races and stuff but don't want to deal with night-rides or bad weather. Me, I don't care about riding at night or in the rain and snow. I've done it for two-years-plus, and don't plan to stop now. I *wish* I could get out in the real world on my bike more. So my ideal trainer is not the same as that of most people who are buying them.

I'm pretty sure I want a fluid resistance trainer, as opposed to a magnetic or wind trainer. It'll be quieter, which is important in a small apartment. I'm worried about vibrations passing into the apartment below me. Hopefully it won't be an issue during the day, especially if I'm not pushing hard. If it is, I'll likely get some acoustic vibration deadening mat and make a platform for it. Someone online suggested layers of mass-loaded vinyl, wood, and foam for isolation.

Anyway, I'm looking at this one; the Ascent Fluid Trainer. At $140, it's cheap for a fluid trainer, which makes me a little nervous. Most are in the $200 to $300 range. But it has good reviews generally, and the cheapness may just reflect a lack of features like easy adjustability.