Well, maybe it won't thrill you. But like I said, I find the medical world to be fascinating. And so, in search of answers to the Case of the Mysterious Lump, I return to McFarland Medical Clinic. No, not the same one as last post. This one is much closer. And though I didn't really think of it when I went through the doors, I had been there before. It's funny how memory can sometimes cling to places that seem so inconspicuous. But I shall explain that in a moment.
I made my first gaffe as I was chaining up my bike. Somehow, I scraped my finger in the process and even a good rub against my pants didn't make it go away, though it got ride of a bit of the dirt. So by the time I was checking in, I had to grab a tissue. I figure hospitals and clinics frown on uncontrolled bleeding.
Then they told me I had checked in and it was like I was dismissed... but I was still in the lobby. "So...?" "Oh, go down that hallway to Radiology." I suppose it did say radiology on my appointment card, but it's not like a frequent the place. I don't know procedure. Then I had to check in again once I got to radiology and then I popped out my book. Hmm, on thinking back to it, I probably should have read some magazines. There's been an issue of National Geographic I've been wanting to peruse, but checkout time at Wal-Mart doesn't take long enough.
So finally someone called my name and led me back into the bowels of radiology. Or something more attractive than bowels. What do you call the twisting depths of a department that has some natural lighting, wood paneling, and soft yellow recessed lights?
Now for the memory. We passed a hallway that didn't look out of place in any way, just two doors to small rooms containing large equipment and some seating along the side. I surprised myself by remembering that was the hallway where I had sat for what seemed like forever waiting for David to come out of one of those rooms, watching as a nurse hurried out to later hurry back in. Why the hurry? He's just getting his neck x-rayed or something of that nature. It started to get so long that I was worried they had kidnapped him and were trying to sanitize the crime scene or something.
But all that was just a flash as we passed the hallway. The nurse/radiologist/whatever... you know, I'm going to call her Judy. She reminds me of a Judy. Judy led me to some familiar cubbies and found another shapeless hospital garment and then to some familiar dressing rooms with wood curtain doors. She called the garment in question a cape and I considered informing her I needed a large, but didn't. Which was good because it apparently was a cape. Or poncho. It just draped around my upper body and tied in the front. And I got to leave my pants on this time.
Judy came back for me and put me in a darkened exam room with an ultrasound machine and then proceeded to ultrasound my boob. Did you know they warmed up the gel? It was quite nice.
We also had a detailed talk on breasts. She apparently had a soapbox about women who complained about mammograms, as that was an important factor in the detection of cancer. "Isn't a limited amount of pain worth the greater benefit?" she asked. "I tell them they should just women up and do it."
"I suppose it would have to be worth it," I reply, "otherwise nobody would voluntarily conceive biological children." This was probably prompted by a discussion I'd had earlier that day about childbirth. Then I went on to talk to her about Angelina Jolie and preventive mastectomies and how even though I couldn't fault her for it, I didn't really hail her as the hero of all women when she came out about it, and with that, Judy and I agreed.
Then she went to find a doctor because that's how it goes. She takes the pictures, and then a doctor looks at them and tells us what we are seeing, and he came in and talked to me. Apparently, I have no reason to worry. Nothing about the lump seems anything but benign. And normally they'd tell me to watch it and come back in eighteen months, but since I kinda have been putting off this appointment for a long while... well, I don't have to come back. It might have grown slightly, but we can't really know that because you can get slightly different measurements with different people doing the ultrasound, the difference being only 2mm.
At some point during this conversation, another gaffe. I discovered that I may or may not have been jutting from my cape somewhere... and in front of a male doctor! I can only hope that with the low lighting, he did not see anything, nor my following blush. Although, if he is qualified to look at pictures of lumps in boobs, I can only assume he's seen far more than my meager endowment.
And with that, I dressed, wound out of the radiology warren, complimented the groundskeeper on his grounds, and was once again free.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
The Mysterious World of Medical Things
I find medical things fascinating. I liked watching ER, Scrubs, House, all those shows because of the setting. I loved house because it was a character-driven mystery, Scrubs I found amusing because, well, it's a comedy, and ER was a bit of a drama. House is my favorite. Yes, I know House is a jerk. That's what makes it interesting. Sherlock Holmes wasn't much of a people person either. Granted, watching House too much will start making you freak out about all the random problems that seemingly surface out of nowhere to people living their normal lives.
But I always thought it'd be fun to work for a doctor's office, like a receptionist or something. Basically, I'm fascinated with the medical world right up to the point where it'd have to be me on the table. I don't want that. And I mean for anything. I could live very happily avoiding doctors offices all together and using Google to find natural ways to do things. Like lower pulse. Fish oil, regular cardio exercise, meditation, cold showers, etc. Aromatherapy for headaches. Whatever. I was raised on a religious exemption from vaccinations and all illnesses were treated by you spending the day on the couch. And not eating if it was a stomach problem. My only trips to the doctor's office was when I managed to slice my knee open and checkups whenever we came back to the states. Once, we went into the doctor's with clogged noses and were all proscribed antibiotics. Which Mom promptly took away from us when we got home. "If you use them for little things like colds, you will grow resistant and they won't be effective for worse sicknesses!" she said. Made sense to me. She got strep throat a few times and nobody would want them to not work for that. Did you know George Washington died because of complications related to strep throat?
So for all of my interest in the medical field... no. Its interesting to go see people who are getting surgery for whatever, but please please don't put me on that bed. And no, I will never be a nurse. I'm not real into touching other people or stabbing them with needles or changing their bedpans or whatever. Yes, nurses provide a valuable service. Props to them.
Why am I thinking about medical things? Well, to go on birth control you need a prescription. To get a prescription, you need a yearly checkup and the occasional pap smear. And because of that lump that I've been ignoring since they told me it was a "fibrous mass" and things like that... yeah, I guess I should go in. So I had the appointment today. When they told me to strip, I didn't take off my jewelry cause I figured I didn't need to. If I'm going to have my legs sticking in the air and my assets bare for the world to see, at least my ankle will look nice. I HATE that part. I'm a very private person. So having no pants and my feet in stirrups and blaaaaah. Also, my gown was too small. Thank goodness I didn't have to leave the room, but I know to ask for a large if I ever get stuck in a hospital for whatever reason.
And then I've got to get an ultrasound again on that persistent lump. So maybe I was supposed to have done this a year ago... but I had to pay out of pocket for the ultrasound I did get and the lump hadn't changed as far as I can tell and I wasn't in any pain or anything... so yeah. Disobeying the doctor's orders! Yeah, I know I know. The doctor today was saying that ultrasounds couldn't really tell you everything you might want to know about intrusive lumps, so maybe a biopsy... It's in a good spot for a needle biopsy, she said. Doesn't that give you the chills? Make your fingers tingle? Let's hope I don't need no creepy large needles poking in sensitive places.
No. Not for me. I'll just be healthy all the time. And maybe rent House.
But I always thought it'd be fun to work for a doctor's office, like a receptionist or something. Basically, I'm fascinated with the medical world right up to the point where it'd have to be me on the table. I don't want that. And I mean for anything. I could live very happily avoiding doctors offices all together and using Google to find natural ways to do things. Like lower pulse. Fish oil, regular cardio exercise, meditation, cold showers, etc. Aromatherapy for headaches. Whatever. I was raised on a religious exemption from vaccinations and all illnesses were treated by you spending the day on the couch. And not eating if it was a stomach problem. My only trips to the doctor's office was when I managed to slice my knee open and checkups whenever we came back to the states. Once, we went into the doctor's with clogged noses and were all proscribed antibiotics. Which Mom promptly took away from us when we got home. "If you use them for little things like colds, you will grow resistant and they won't be effective for worse sicknesses!" she said. Made sense to me. She got strep throat a few times and nobody would want them to not work for that. Did you know George Washington died because of complications related to strep throat?
So for all of my interest in the medical field... no. Its interesting to go see people who are getting surgery for whatever, but please please don't put me on that bed. And no, I will never be a nurse. I'm not real into touching other people or stabbing them with needles or changing their bedpans or whatever. Yes, nurses provide a valuable service. Props to them.
Why am I thinking about medical things? Well, to go on birth control you need a prescription. To get a prescription, you need a yearly checkup and the occasional pap smear. And because of that lump that I've been ignoring since they told me it was a "fibrous mass" and things like that... yeah, I guess I should go in. So I had the appointment today. When they told me to strip, I didn't take off my jewelry cause I figured I didn't need to. If I'm going to have my legs sticking in the air and my assets bare for the world to see, at least my ankle will look nice. I HATE that part. I'm a very private person. So having no pants and my feet in stirrups and blaaaaah. Also, my gown was too small. Thank goodness I didn't have to leave the room, but I know to ask for a large if I ever get stuck in a hospital for whatever reason.
And then I've got to get an ultrasound again on that persistent lump. So maybe I was supposed to have done this a year ago... but I had to pay out of pocket for the ultrasound I did get and the lump hadn't changed as far as I can tell and I wasn't in any pain or anything... so yeah. Disobeying the doctor's orders! Yeah, I know I know. The doctor today was saying that ultrasounds couldn't really tell you everything you might want to know about intrusive lumps, so maybe a biopsy... It's in a good spot for a needle biopsy, she said. Doesn't that give you the chills? Make your fingers tingle? Let's hope I don't need no creepy large needles poking in sensitive places.
No. Not for me. I'll just be healthy all the time. And maybe rent House.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Shoes and Charity...shoes.
In my recent mental inventory process of my current shoes, I have discovered I potentially have a gap in desired shoe coverage and provided shoe coverage... no, my shoes don't have holes in them.
During the winter (December to May, apparently), I wear jeans. And with jeans, I wear my favorite shoe ever, Skechers Tredds-Interactive (whatever that's supposed to mean). They are big clunky leather shoes and I have a pair in brown and a pair in black and that's pretty much all I wear. Even in the winter cause my Bearpaw boots leak in anything less solid than ice and don't keep my toes warm either. But, in the summer this gets tricky. While they are the perfect shoes with jeans, they don't look any good at all with skirts, capris, shorts, and, you know, non-jeans. Non-pants. So usually I wear flip flops for more casual and skirts and a pair of worn out Merrils for more sporty needs. But I feel there is a gap between those two. What if I wanted better looking than my Merrils but not as... flip-floppy... as flip flops? Oh, you know what I mean! Flip flops are work! And not really the best shoe choice for biking anyway.
Now, I had heard of Toms previously. Overpriced name brand, I thought. Hipster stuff. And then I saw Bobs (apparently Skechers wanted in on the whole Toms thing) and I was slightly more inclined toward them because... I like Skechers. I still wasn't sold on the canvas-stapled-to-leather look, but I heard Toms were comfortable and Mom thought they were really cute.
And then I updated Sims 3 to University and all of a sudden these shoes appear in Sims that look just like Toms. So my rebel hippie Sims are running around wearing Toms and I'm starting to like the look a little better.
So when I wanted new shoes, something light that I could bike in but still not have to wear socks, I thought of Bobs. And then made a trip out to Shoe Carnival. And discovered Bobs were around $35 on sale, more like $50 when not. For canvas stapled to leather?
I walked through the mall stopping in at Journeys and other shoe places to stare at the equally high priced Toms. "Why so expensive for canvas stapled to leather?" I ask an employee who has come to help me, in the way shoe salesmen are wont to do. "Well, it is actually really well made, and the sole is leather, and mine lasted me a long time..." you know, all the stuff I expected to hear. They cost so much because they are popular hipster shoes.
"And every time someone buys a pair of shoes, Toms donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. And they even go back and resize them and keep giving them new shoes as they grow up, so it's like a pair of shoes for life."
Really? That's kind of cool. If you know me, you know I am a libertarian. No government handouts, no government charity. But being a libertarian is only a political position, not a personal position. I believe strongly in charity, just not from the government. Charity in things like giving money to a special offering at church, volunteering your time, or maybe buying shoes that seem overpriced because really you are buying two pairs of shoes, and one might be getting taken by donkey to a kid who needs it.
I still can't afford them. And with a large selection of colors, I would need Mom to go shoe shopping with me. My ability to color select ends right after black and brown. Maybe I'll just go with a plain canvas. I want something that will work with pretty much every conceivable outfit I can come up with this summer. Because if I could afford a pair, it'd only be one.
Bobs donates shoes as well. Even Airwalk donated when they sold some of their cheap knockoffs ($15) when the whole thing was popular (I apparently missed it). I still get the vague feeling that Bobs is doing it get on the wagon. I went to both websites, and from the pictures it looks like Toms is donating... Toms, pretty much. And Bobs looks like their donating Crocs. I still have not seen any decent looking Crocs shoes. So, for the style of the world's sake, I think I might go Toms.
During the winter (December to May, apparently), I wear jeans. And with jeans, I wear my favorite shoe ever, Skechers Tredds-Interactive (whatever that's supposed to mean). They are big clunky leather shoes and I have a pair in brown and a pair in black and that's pretty much all I wear. Even in the winter cause my Bearpaw boots leak in anything less solid than ice and don't keep my toes warm either. But, in the summer this gets tricky. While they are the perfect shoes with jeans, they don't look any good at all with skirts, capris, shorts, and, you know, non-jeans. Non-pants. So usually I wear flip flops for more casual and skirts and a pair of worn out Merrils for more sporty needs. But I feel there is a gap between those two. What if I wanted better looking than my Merrils but not as... flip-floppy... as flip flops? Oh, you know what I mean! Flip flops are work! And not really the best shoe choice for biking anyway.
Now, I had heard of Toms previously. Overpriced name brand, I thought. Hipster stuff. And then I saw Bobs (apparently Skechers wanted in on the whole Toms thing) and I was slightly more inclined toward them because... I like Skechers. I still wasn't sold on the canvas-stapled-to-leather look, but I heard Toms were comfortable and Mom thought they were really cute.
And then I updated Sims 3 to University and all of a sudden these shoes appear in Sims that look just like Toms. So my rebel hippie Sims are running around wearing Toms and I'm starting to like the look a little better.
So when I wanted new shoes, something light that I could bike in but still not have to wear socks, I thought of Bobs. And then made a trip out to Shoe Carnival. And discovered Bobs were around $35 on sale, more like $50 when not. For canvas stapled to leather?
I walked through the mall stopping in at Journeys and other shoe places to stare at the equally high priced Toms. "Why so expensive for canvas stapled to leather?" I ask an employee who has come to help me, in the way shoe salesmen are wont to do. "Well, it is actually really well made, and the sole is leather, and mine lasted me a long time..." you know, all the stuff I expected to hear. They cost so much because they are popular hipster shoes.
"And every time someone buys a pair of shoes, Toms donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. And they even go back and resize them and keep giving them new shoes as they grow up, so it's like a pair of shoes for life."
Really? That's kind of cool. If you know me, you know I am a libertarian. No government handouts, no government charity. But being a libertarian is only a political position, not a personal position. I believe strongly in charity, just not from the government. Charity in things like giving money to a special offering at church, volunteering your time, or maybe buying shoes that seem overpriced because really you are buying two pairs of shoes, and one might be getting taken by donkey to a kid who needs it.
I still can't afford them. And with a large selection of colors, I would need Mom to go shoe shopping with me. My ability to color select ends right after black and brown. Maybe I'll just go with a plain canvas. I want something that will work with pretty much every conceivable outfit I can come up with this summer. Because if I could afford a pair, it'd only be one.
Bobs donates shoes as well. Even Airwalk donated when they sold some of their cheap knockoffs ($15) when the whole thing was popular (I apparently missed it). I still get the vague feeling that Bobs is doing it get on the wagon. I went to both websites, and from the pictures it looks like Toms is donating... Toms, pretty much. And Bobs looks like their donating Crocs. I still have not seen any decent looking Crocs shoes. So, for the style of the world's sake, I think I might go Toms.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Biking in Ames (pt 3)
When I last left off (again. I appear to be very verbose), I was giving up the safety of the known path, which admittedly led up a hill I had no desire to go up, for the unknown of a residential area. Which turned out not to be laced with bike trails. Maybe that was some other area on the map. I can only remember so many directions at once.
So, now I'm in the middle of nowhere. The trees are all like ten feet or so, meaning it's a fairly new development, and all the duplexes look exactly the same. There is more variety in the mailboxes. Which makes me wonder. Why are the mailboxes not all the same? Did they really make all these houses without mailboxes? Or when you moved in, did you get to choose between a standard, a square, and one decorated with bunnies and pansies? Seriously, there were too many bunny/pansy prints for it to be a coincidence Unless the residents of this strange place all go shopping at the same time.
I did have to go up a hill, but it seemed considerably less doom than the other one I was avoiding. And I managed to find my way out without going up to anyone and asking, "Which way to civilization?" It wasn't all bad. It was actually really quiet, and some people were out gardening. And some of the duplexes were built up against an area that had trees of a decent age, making them not look quite as abandoned. There were also little paths that said "Walking Path Only." I'm sure they must have been lovely, but at the time I was miffed about the discrimination. What, path, too good for bikes? Just a "no motorized vehicles" sign wasn't good enough for you? I passed a few more of these hater paths on the way out. The place was called Stonebrook.
And I came out and still didn't know where I was. Bloomington road? To quote Gandalf, "I have no memory of this place." For whatever reason, I decided to go right, as in west. Oh yeah, I thought I might come to the entrance of Brookside park at some point if I could get south a bit more. But the road kept going and going and I didn't see any major ways south. They all looked like those residential house traps that turn into loops that don't go anywhere. I saw a water tower that looked really familiar though. I'm not normally in the parts of Ames that have water towers. This one said, "Welcome to Ames."
I start to see a Casey's and a Fareway I never knew existed. Finally, I see Stange Road. I recognize that vaguely. It's the one that goes into campus, right? So I should be north of campus now. And I want to go south. I know Stange connects with 13th at some point.
But now, I'm getting really weirded out. I pass a bunch of houses that could have come out of Edward Scissorhands suburb, except they're not pastel. Doesn't look like Ames to me anymore. If I hadn't passed that water tower, I might have started questioning if I got stuck in some small Iowa town I never knew about before. And then I start passing what looks like a Main Street area that somehow got torn up from wherever it originally grew and planted out here in the semi-middle-of-nowhere. Why is there this main street area out here? And then I start passing apartments that look like they were modeled off of ones in cities except there is no city, and then a strip mall that I don't know if I've ever seen before. I start to wonder if I'm in some sort of Twilight Zone when I finally hit 24th.
The sign on the way out says Somerset. Aha! Wait, I still don't know what that means. The only time I ever go above 24th is when I go to the mall. But I know I've heard of it and I've seen that sign before.
But now that I'm on 24th, I know where I'm going and therefore quit thinking so much about the trip. It all gets kind of off in my own world after that. Except for the mental conversation on what order I will go to the library, Wheatsfield, and Fareway. I want to go to the library for books on herb gardens, Wheatsfield for $3.99 wine, and Fareway for a few things for supper. I had been planning on going to Wheatsfield first, but I'm pretty sure that someone somewhere will be unhappy about me bringing wine into Fareway that I didn't get there. I'm not real sure of alcohol licensing, but I think that was one of the things people get uptight about. So I end up deciding to skip the library for today and go to Fareway first. And they had $3.99 wine. Score!
And that is why biking in Ames is dangerous, kids.
So, now I'm in the middle of nowhere. The trees are all like ten feet or so, meaning it's a fairly new development, and all the duplexes look exactly the same. There is more variety in the mailboxes. Which makes me wonder. Why are the mailboxes not all the same? Did they really make all these houses without mailboxes? Or when you moved in, did you get to choose between a standard, a square, and one decorated with bunnies and pansies? Seriously, there were too many bunny/pansy prints for it to be a coincidence Unless the residents of this strange place all go shopping at the same time.
I did have to go up a hill, but it seemed considerably less doom than the other one I was avoiding. And I managed to find my way out without going up to anyone and asking, "Which way to civilization?" It wasn't all bad. It was actually really quiet, and some people were out gardening. And some of the duplexes were built up against an area that had trees of a decent age, making them not look quite as abandoned. There were also little paths that said "Walking Path Only." I'm sure they must have been lovely, but at the time I was miffed about the discrimination. What, path, too good for bikes? Just a "no motorized vehicles" sign wasn't good enough for you? I passed a few more of these hater paths on the way out. The place was called Stonebrook.
And I came out and still didn't know where I was. Bloomington road? To quote Gandalf, "I have no memory of this place." For whatever reason, I decided to go right, as in west. Oh yeah, I thought I might come to the entrance of Brookside park at some point if I could get south a bit more. But the road kept going and going and I didn't see any major ways south. They all looked like those residential house traps that turn into loops that don't go anywhere. I saw a water tower that looked really familiar though. I'm not normally in the parts of Ames that have water towers. This one said, "Welcome to Ames."
I start to see a Casey's and a Fareway I never knew existed. Finally, I see Stange Road. I recognize that vaguely. It's the one that goes into campus, right? So I should be north of campus now. And I want to go south. I know Stange connects with 13th at some point.
But now, I'm getting really weirded out. I pass a bunch of houses that could have come out of Edward Scissorhands suburb, except they're not pastel. Doesn't look like Ames to me anymore. If I hadn't passed that water tower, I might have started questioning if I got stuck in some small Iowa town I never knew about before. And then I start passing what looks like a Main Street area that somehow got torn up from wherever it originally grew and planted out here in the semi-middle-of-nowhere. Why is there this main street area out here? And then I start passing apartments that look like they were modeled off of ones in cities except there is no city, and then a strip mall that I don't know if I've ever seen before. I start to wonder if I'm in some sort of Twilight Zone when I finally hit 24th.
The sign on the way out says Somerset. Aha! Wait, I still don't know what that means. The only time I ever go above 24th is when I go to the mall. But I know I've heard of it and I've seen that sign before.
But now that I'm on 24th, I know where I'm going and therefore quit thinking so much about the trip. It all gets kind of off in my own world after that. Except for the mental conversation on what order I will go to the library, Wheatsfield, and Fareway. I want to go to the library for books on herb gardens, Wheatsfield for $3.99 wine, and Fareway for a few things for supper. I had been planning on going to Wheatsfield first, but I'm pretty sure that someone somewhere will be unhappy about me bringing wine into Fareway that I didn't get there. I'm not real sure of alcohol licensing, but I think that was one of the things people get uptight about. So I end up deciding to skip the library for today and go to Fareway first. And they had $3.99 wine. Score!
And that is why biking in Ames is dangerous, kids.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Biking in Ames (pt 2)
When I last left off, I had just disentangled myself from the clutches of a ravine with crude rustic stairs. And gotten a good workout hauling my bike up said stairs. Note to self: Don't go that way again.
I somehow through good luck end up on 24th street and so head out to Grand, and then north. Cause Ada Hayden was north.
I have a pet peeve. It's people who pull through stop signs and stop lights. I forgive them if they reverse for me, but I CLEARLY have a crossing light, and yet I have to put on my brakes and maneuver around your car, all while giving you a look that says, "Really?" I pondered this as I continued north. Eventually, I leave Grand and end up in a residential area. I believe the sign I saw said "Top O' Hollow Rd." Somehow the grammatical license used with the naming of said road made me look upon it with suspicion. Who's heard of a Top O Hollow road? Where am I? I can see trees on the other side of Grand and I wonder if that's the park I am supposed to be at. But, with the same good faith that made me climb stairs with a bike, I continue north. I'm not even on Top O Wherever road, I'm on Dawes Rd. Not like that helps, as I still don't know where that is, but it sounds more normal.
And then I go down a hill. Normally, I don't comment on going down hills, but about the time my speedometer hit 18 mph, I started putting on my brakes. Now, a biker will know, the thing with going down hills is that if you return, you have to go up them. Honestly takes some of the fun out of it.
But, at the end of the Hill of Impending Doom, I see a lake. I'll worry about the hill later. Or walk the bike up it. And I come out and there's the lake/pond thing and I see a park sign. Except it says Calhoun Park. What on earth is a Calhoun, I wonder, until I remember I don't know what an Ada Hayden is either, and dismiss it. Probably names. I'd name my parks helpful things, like "Brookside." Unless that's actually named after a person too.
There is a little gap in the fence around the like, and a path on the other side. I hesitate, because the entrance through this gap isn't even paved, but there is a sign that says trails are not maintained for winter, enter at your own risk, so it has to be a valid entry point of some sort. I enter at my own risk.
Eventually, I do see a stone-like sign that says Ada Hayden on it. Victory! It's probably a lot prettier in the summer. It's just kind of sad and brown right now.
But there were people out. For a brief moment, I doubted the sanity of said people and that was before I reached the assisted living tour group. I saw a person, the most notable trait being a large lavender-clad posterior, simply get down and lie face-down on a bridge. I start slowing down and I'm sure my eyebrow was arched. Don't people know not to do crazy things in public places? Maybe not in a college town. I keep going, slowly, hoping something will start to make sense. It seemed intentional. Will it be necessary for me to stop and be like "citizen, are you in need of assistance?"
And then the posterior rises like a moon and someone else gets up too. The crazies are in a group I guess. I skirt them and the only thing I note is that the pants are actually pink-and-white checkered instead of light purple. Which improves the posterior not one bit.
I see where the path starts back around the lake, but I remember certain Hill of Impending Doom and opt to head toward a residential-looking area. I recall seeing a couple on Google Maps and they were laced with bike trails.
I somehow through good luck end up on 24th street and so head out to Grand, and then north. Cause Ada Hayden was north.
I have a pet peeve. It's people who pull through stop signs and stop lights. I forgive them if they reverse for me, but I CLEARLY have a crossing light, and yet I have to put on my brakes and maneuver around your car, all while giving you a look that says, "Really?" I pondered this as I continued north. Eventually, I leave Grand and end up in a residential area. I believe the sign I saw said "Top O' Hollow Rd." Somehow the grammatical license used with the naming of said road made me look upon it with suspicion. Who's heard of a Top O Hollow road? Where am I? I can see trees on the other side of Grand and I wonder if that's the park I am supposed to be at. But, with the same good faith that made me climb stairs with a bike, I continue north. I'm not even on Top O Wherever road, I'm on Dawes Rd. Not like that helps, as I still don't know where that is, but it sounds more normal.
And then I go down a hill. Normally, I don't comment on going down hills, but about the time my speedometer hit 18 mph, I started putting on my brakes. Now, a biker will know, the thing with going down hills is that if you return, you have to go up them. Honestly takes some of the fun out of it.
But, at the end of the Hill of Impending Doom, I see a lake. I'll worry about the hill later. Or walk the bike up it. And I come out and there's the lake/pond thing and I see a park sign. Except it says Calhoun Park. What on earth is a Calhoun, I wonder, until I remember I don't know what an Ada Hayden is either, and dismiss it. Probably names. I'd name my parks helpful things, like "Brookside." Unless that's actually named after a person too.
There is a little gap in the fence around the like, and a path on the other side. I hesitate, because the entrance through this gap isn't even paved, but there is a sign that says trails are not maintained for winter, enter at your own risk, so it has to be a valid entry point of some sort. I enter at my own risk.
Eventually, I do see a stone-like sign that says Ada Hayden on it. Victory! It's probably a lot prettier in the summer. It's just kind of sad and brown right now.
But there were people out. For a brief moment, I doubted the sanity of said people and that was before I reached the assisted living tour group. I saw a person, the most notable trait being a large lavender-clad posterior, simply get down and lie face-down on a bridge. I start slowing down and I'm sure my eyebrow was arched. Don't people know not to do crazy things in public places? Maybe not in a college town. I keep going, slowly, hoping something will start to make sense. It seemed intentional. Will it be necessary for me to stop and be like "citizen, are you in need of assistance?"
And then the posterior rises like a moon and someone else gets up too. The crazies are in a group I guess. I skirt them and the only thing I note is that the pants are actually pink-and-white checkered instead of light purple. Which improves the posterior not one bit.
I see where the path starts back around the lake, but I remember certain Hill of Impending Doom and opt to head toward a residential-looking area. I recall seeing a couple on Google Maps and they were laced with bike trails.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Biking in Ames (pt 1)
I biked a decent amount in West Des Moines. It's pretty amazing around there because almost anywhere you want to go can be got to one a bike path at least part of the way. Some of the paths were really pretty.
Ames is not quite as bike friendly. There are only a few paths through the middle that aren't like glorified sidewalks or along the side of a road. But you can still get around, maybe on some sidewalks and some roads.
So, recently I have had zero motivation to work out. But biking isn't really like working out for me, and plus, it's outside. Any temperature over 45 is doable at this point, I am so sick of being inside. I looked up the Google Maps version of the bike paths in Ames and notices there were paths around the lake/pond thing that is in Ada Hayden and it didn't look too far away, so I decided to go. But there was no good straight route, so I started planning a rather convoluted one. I saw a little park with a bike path off to the east of Duff. The green line of the path didn't go all the way through, but I've seen that before and as often as not it becomes something that isn't officially a bike path, like a sidewalk, and is still traverse-able. I can see the white line leading on from it. I honestly didn't think too much about it. So I started off to Carr Park.
All goes as planned and I am soon biking on a path surrounded by trees, still sadly leafless, next to a little stream and enjoying myself. I ring my bell to alert two elderly gentlemen that I am passing and when they let me through, I kind of get the vibe they are surprised to see me. Maybe this path isn't often frequented? It's hard to believe there wouldn't be bikers, as it is a nice path.
Until I get to the end. And then I see why the bike path didn't go all the way through. The paved portion leads straight to a long, winding, board-shoved-in-the-dirt stairway. It doesn't look very bike friendly. Continuing from the path is an unpaved, rutted flattened thing that could be called a path if it wasn't being compared to the paved one on which I had been travelling. Well, maybe that will come out somewhere. With hope, I start biking on the unpaved... trail. My bike is a hybrid, not a mountain bike, but I get along. I see other ruts that look like bike tracks. Maybe there was more than one that came this way. Maybe one came, gave up, and turned around and went back. I try not to think about that.
Somewhere along the way, I see people up along the edges of the tall hill dirt thing that has been on my left this whole time. The thing they built the stairs into. I can't tell what the people are doing as the sun is shining down over the top of the hill, so I keep biking on. Maybe they were outlaws and I was going to be kidnapped or shot for discovering their gold hiding place. Maybe I was channeling Tom Sawyer. Or was it Huck Finn?
And then I come to a crossroads. Or cross trails. One goes along the left side of the brook, one crosses over a pipe thing and goes along the right side of the brook, and one continues from the crossing to continue back along the brook on the other side. Eventually, I want to end up coming out of this ravine, preferably on the west side of this stream, so I take the left path. I actually have to get off my bike because it is so narrow. The path leads me to some stairs. By now, I've had enough of being in a ravine, so I carry my bike up the stairs, being thankful it isn't something heavier, although I can't think of what. What else would I have on a path? A skateboard? Lighter. Roller blades? Removable and lighter. Oh well, at least I can lift the bike!
At the top, I can see a way out, back toward the way I came. There is also a group of people sitting together. They yell something along the lines of "you go!" at me. In the friendly, "you go, girl!" not the English-challenged "you go now!" sort of way.
And soon I'm biking along a golf course and wondering where I am going.
But apparently, this is a long story, so I'll space it a bit.
Ames is not quite as bike friendly. There are only a few paths through the middle that aren't like glorified sidewalks or along the side of a road. But you can still get around, maybe on some sidewalks and some roads.
So, recently I have had zero motivation to work out. But biking isn't really like working out for me, and plus, it's outside. Any temperature over 45 is doable at this point, I am so sick of being inside. I looked up the Google Maps version of the bike paths in Ames and notices there were paths around the lake/pond thing that is in Ada Hayden and it didn't look too far away, so I decided to go. But there was no good straight route, so I started planning a rather convoluted one. I saw a little park with a bike path off to the east of Duff. The green line of the path didn't go all the way through, but I've seen that before and as often as not it becomes something that isn't officially a bike path, like a sidewalk, and is still traverse-able. I can see the white line leading on from it. I honestly didn't think too much about it. So I started off to Carr Park.
All goes as planned and I am soon biking on a path surrounded by trees, still sadly leafless, next to a little stream and enjoying myself. I ring my bell to alert two elderly gentlemen that I am passing and when they let me through, I kind of get the vibe they are surprised to see me. Maybe this path isn't often frequented? It's hard to believe there wouldn't be bikers, as it is a nice path.
Until I get to the end. And then I see why the bike path didn't go all the way through. The paved portion leads straight to a long, winding, board-shoved-in-the-dirt stairway. It doesn't look very bike friendly. Continuing from the path is an unpaved, rutted flattened thing that could be called a path if it wasn't being compared to the paved one on which I had been travelling. Well, maybe that will come out somewhere. With hope, I start biking on the unpaved... trail. My bike is a hybrid, not a mountain bike, but I get along. I see other ruts that look like bike tracks. Maybe there was more than one that came this way. Maybe one came, gave up, and turned around and went back. I try not to think about that.
Somewhere along the way, I see people up along the edges of the tall hill dirt thing that has been on my left this whole time. The thing they built the stairs into. I can't tell what the people are doing as the sun is shining down over the top of the hill, so I keep biking on. Maybe they were outlaws and I was going to be kidnapped or shot for discovering their gold hiding place. Maybe I was channeling Tom Sawyer. Or was it Huck Finn?
And then I come to a crossroads. Or cross trails. One goes along the left side of the brook, one crosses over a pipe thing and goes along the right side of the brook, and one continues from the crossing to continue back along the brook on the other side. Eventually, I want to end up coming out of this ravine, preferably on the west side of this stream, so I take the left path. I actually have to get off my bike because it is so narrow. The path leads me to some stairs. By now, I've had enough of being in a ravine, so I carry my bike up the stairs, being thankful it isn't something heavier, although I can't think of what. What else would I have on a path? A skateboard? Lighter. Roller blades? Removable and lighter. Oh well, at least I can lift the bike!
At the top, I can see a way out, back toward the way I came. There is also a group of people sitting together. They yell something along the lines of "you go!" at me. In the friendly, "you go, girl!" not the English-challenged "you go now!" sort of way.
And soon I'm biking along a golf course and wondering where I am going.
But apparently, this is a long story, so I'll space it a bit.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Not Again
I have a blog post I've been ruminating on. More of a rant, but what's new? But today, I'm feeling rather sobered. Check the date, it's the day after the Boston marathon bombing. Tragic. Horrifying. And one of those things you would used to hear about and think, "I can't believe this is happening." Except now we think, "oh no, not again." Like the shootings in public places and 9/11 attacks, the world America seems to be going quickly downhill. I say that because there has been violence all over the world, but the only events that stay with us happen in our own country.
Now, I know everyone is coming up with their own theory of who's done it and why, but there are a few things that I can't stop thinking about. One, I doubt it was North Korea, although some have decided to try and sling it that way. They have nukes, why would they bother with trashcan bombs? Two, for a race that had 27,000 people at it, we had markedly few causalities. I can't begin to figure out what that means, but it's something I keep thinking about. And three... it wasn't people with guns. So what civil liberties are we going to lose as the government pushes back violently in the opposite direction? The people will demand retribution, demand something be done. Back in the day, they would just go after the ones who did it, and I'm sure they will now. But these days, we're trying to pad every wall so that nothing bad can ever happen again.
Does it often seem like a reasonable response? Usually in the time of crisis. But what can we outlaw in this case? Bombs? Those can be made easily. Trashcans? Something else will be used to hide it next time. Marathons? Any other large gathering can be a target. Bad people? They are already outlawed.
I hope that when the smoke clears, people can still continue to live. Life has never been without risks, and we can never entirely eliminate them.
That being said, I am mad/upset that it happened. I hope they catch the guy and make the bastard pay, because that is the job of the government.
Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Rom 12:19b) But I cannot help but wish sometimes God had made me the instrument of His wrath, a super hero of sorts upholding justice, especially when the courts and law do not or can not.
Now, I know everyone is coming up with their own theory of who's done it and why, but there are a few things that I can't stop thinking about. One, I doubt it was North Korea, although some have decided to try and sling it that way. They have nukes, why would they bother with trashcan bombs? Two, for a race that had 27,000 people at it, we had markedly few causalities. I can't begin to figure out what that means, but it's something I keep thinking about. And three... it wasn't people with guns. So what civil liberties are we going to lose as the government pushes back violently in the opposite direction? The people will demand retribution, demand something be done. Back in the day, they would just go after the ones who did it, and I'm sure they will now. But these days, we're trying to pad every wall so that nothing bad can ever happen again.
Does it often seem like a reasonable response? Usually in the time of crisis. But what can we outlaw in this case? Bombs? Those can be made easily. Trashcans? Something else will be used to hide it next time. Marathons? Any other large gathering can be a target. Bad people? They are already outlawed.
I hope that when the smoke clears, people can still continue to live. Life has never been without risks, and we can never entirely eliminate them.
That being said, I am mad/upset that it happened. I hope they catch the guy and make the bastard pay, because that is the job of the government.
Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (Rom 12:19b) But I cannot help but wish sometimes God had made me the instrument of His wrath, a super hero of sorts upholding justice, especially when the courts and law do not or can not.
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