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Jul. 31st, 2023 03:40 pmSo, the weird headache has turned out to be an ear infection, which is not exactly what I'd guessed it would be, but is pretty damn close. I'm fairly certain the air conditioner is what's caused it, because when we moved the front room around, we put the sofa directly in line with the air conditioner so that it blows right at the side of your face when you're sitting down to watch TV. Which is nice when it's hot out, or especially when I'm sitting there using my weird little floor bike thing. But apparently it's not so great when I'm sat there getting stoned and watching old episodes of Never Mind the Buzzcocks all night, and having that blowing in my ear for hours on end.
Actually, I've been watching a lot of Buzzcocks lately, because I can't wear my headphones for a while, which makes going on my morning walks deeply, deeply unpleasant. So instead of doing a five-mile walk around the lake every morning, I've been using my weird little bike thing for the same amount of time it would take me to do the lake circuit. And honestly, I may just keep to that for a while. I don't have to battle traffic, or escaped dogs that want to eat my face, and it's on the whole a much better workout anyway. The last few days I've been watching that, but tomorrow I'll probably go back to the Taskmaster podcast and see if that can keep me engaged for two hours of absolute hell, or even better, make it not quite as hellish. The problem with that being able to hear it properly without headphones, which is why I've been just watching old nonsense.
The other problem is I've kind of broken the bike thing. It wasn't really meant to be used quite to this level of intensity, because it's just a cheap little $30 pedal machine that's meant to live under your desk to keep you busy while you're working or whatever. But I don't honestly know how you'd be able to maintain any kind of rhythm doing anything at your desk while you're pedalling away even at the lowest intensity on something like that, so I use it by plonking it down in front of the sofa and using it like a recumbent bike, which it's absolutely not meant for, at all. It's got this little LCD screen on it that's powered by the pedal action itself, which shows things like how many revolutions you've done, and how long you've gone, and your RPM, and approximate distance, and approximate calories burned, and a few other things. I've always used my watch to track anything truly vital, but the screen is nice to have for like, the distance statistics and stuff like that. The problem is I have quite literally burnt it out. As in, it was never meant to be used as a high-intensity work out machine, and it got so hot that something within the screen itself actually melted and now it no longer even turns on at all. And today I've noticed that the resistance mechanism doesn't keep tension. I can tighten it as much as it'll go, and after a while it's all the way loose again and wobbling about which is not ideal because 1. that actually makes it harder to use and makes me want to quit early, and 2. I worry it'll topple over and break my fucking ankle or something. So now I'm looking at getting a new one, and I think the first place I look will be the Goodwill down the road, and if I can't find one there, I've found a nice one online. But if I don't have to pay full price, I'm not going to. Also, if I can avoid cluttering up my apartment with a full size one, I'd like that as well.
But I've also decided that the present I've got lined up for myself for when I hit a specific goal is not going to wait for that goal, and I'm gonna get it on Friday when there's enough money in my account to afford it. Because when I was hanging up the laundry I noticed that one of the three shirts I've been wearing lately that does fit me is actually the size of all the ones I've got sitting in the shopping cart on this unhinged website I found through a Tumblr blog, so fuck it. I'm going insane not having any clothes that fit, and I need something that will make me feel better about myself even if I'll never find a pair of trousers that'll do that job. So I'm gonna get a load of really dumb shirts instead, with jellyfish and flamingos and all sorts on them. And then I'm going to figure out how to go about having a couple of other shirts I really like taken in, because I don't want to get rid of them, but I can't wear them as they are anymore because they are absurd as they are. Wearing them now is like when you're seven and you go to stay with your grandparents for the weekend, and you're given one of your granddad's shirts to sleep in. Except that's my life every day and I hate it so much.
I've been painting a bit today, but the one I've been working on makes my eyes want to fall out, so it's not going to be a quick one. It's definitely a long haul, and I think I'm going to have to start on something else to pad this one out a bit or something because there's no way I'm getting this one done any time soon. Folks in the discord saw a bit of a preview for it yesterday, and I'll probably post another preview to it to Patreon later this week.
Actually, I've been watching a lot of Buzzcocks lately, because I can't wear my headphones for a while, which makes going on my morning walks deeply, deeply unpleasant. So instead of doing a five-mile walk around the lake every morning, I've been using my weird little bike thing for the same amount of time it would take me to do the lake circuit. And honestly, I may just keep to that for a while. I don't have to battle traffic, or escaped dogs that want to eat my face, and it's on the whole a much better workout anyway. The last few days I've been watching that, but tomorrow I'll probably go back to the Taskmaster podcast and see if that can keep me engaged for two hours of absolute hell, or even better, make it not quite as hellish. The problem with that being able to hear it properly without headphones, which is why I've been just watching old nonsense.
The other problem is I've kind of broken the bike thing. It wasn't really meant to be used quite to this level of intensity, because it's just a cheap little $30 pedal machine that's meant to live under your desk to keep you busy while you're working or whatever. But I don't honestly know how you'd be able to maintain any kind of rhythm doing anything at your desk while you're pedalling away even at the lowest intensity on something like that, so I use it by plonking it down in front of the sofa and using it like a recumbent bike, which it's absolutely not meant for, at all. It's got this little LCD screen on it that's powered by the pedal action itself, which shows things like how many revolutions you've done, and how long you've gone, and your RPM, and approximate distance, and approximate calories burned, and a few other things. I've always used my watch to track anything truly vital, but the screen is nice to have for like, the distance statistics and stuff like that. The problem is I have quite literally burnt it out. As in, it was never meant to be used as a high-intensity work out machine, and it got so hot that something within the screen itself actually melted and now it no longer even turns on at all. And today I've noticed that the resistance mechanism doesn't keep tension. I can tighten it as much as it'll go, and after a while it's all the way loose again and wobbling about which is not ideal because 1. that actually makes it harder to use and makes me want to quit early, and 2. I worry it'll topple over and break my fucking ankle or something. So now I'm looking at getting a new one, and I think the first place I look will be the Goodwill down the road, and if I can't find one there, I've found a nice one online. But if I don't have to pay full price, I'm not going to. Also, if I can avoid cluttering up my apartment with a full size one, I'd like that as well.
But I've also decided that the present I've got lined up for myself for when I hit a specific goal is not going to wait for that goal, and I'm gonna get it on Friday when there's enough money in my account to afford it. Because when I was hanging up the laundry I noticed that one of the three shirts I've been wearing lately that does fit me is actually the size of all the ones I've got sitting in the shopping cart on this unhinged website I found through a Tumblr blog, so fuck it. I'm going insane not having any clothes that fit, and I need something that will make me feel better about myself even if I'll never find a pair of trousers that'll do that job. So I'm gonna get a load of really dumb shirts instead, with jellyfish and flamingos and all sorts on them. And then I'm going to figure out how to go about having a couple of other shirts I really like taken in, because I don't want to get rid of them, but I can't wear them as they are anymore because they are absurd as they are. Wearing them now is like when you're seven and you go to stay with your grandparents for the weekend, and you're given one of your granddad's shirts to sleep in. Except that's my life every day and I hate it so much.
I've been painting a bit today, but the one I've been working on makes my eyes want to fall out, so it's not going to be a quick one. It's definitely a long haul, and I think I'm going to have to start on something else to pad this one out a bit or something because there's no way I'm getting this one done any time soon. Folks in the discord saw a bit of a preview for it yesterday, and I'll probably post another preview to it to Patreon later this week.
