can i walk around my shadow
Mar. 26th, 2026 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_siobhanAchievement unlock.
Back when it first became confirmed that my vestibular damage was permanent I bought one of those bike stand things that turns your normal bicycle into a stationary bike. I figured even it was no good for transportation at least that way I could still use it, only without the falling off and throwing myself into traffic part.
I still do fall off it sometimes when the gravity is really bad. At least don't have to contend with cars.
Anyway that was 15... maybe 20 years ago now? I dunno, time is toffee. Anyway, the original stand had plastic bits, like foot-pads and adjustment pieces and they had been gradually breaking off over the years. So recently I replaced it with a second stand. And last week I was using it and there was a snapping sound and the bike just... sagged. While I was sitting on it. When I got off and took it apart it turned out that the rear axle - the one that supports all the weight - had sheared right off.
The axle was a part of the assembly kit and it was exactly the same between the two stands so I didn't bother changing it when I swapped. So I spent three days digging through The Stuff to find the second axle that came with the new stand. Which I found. Also the assembly manual. That manual was laughably useless, whoever wrote it wasn't even trying. BUT! There are videos online demonstrating how to assemble the stand, so I watched those to figure out how everything goes together. Assembly did not require tools. Getting pieces of metal that have been living next to each other for possibly more than two decades to now let go of each other, that required tools. (One of those tools being a hammer.)
Bike now functional. Skill upgraded.
***
Something that is very much above my skill grade, the stairs that lead up to my top floor go straight up until they meet exterior of the bathroom wall and turn and continue to go up until they meet the second floor. At the corner of the turn there is a light on the ceiling. It's probably 10-12 feet above the step immediately below it.
The lightbulb in that light has burnt out.
Fucked if I know how I'm going to get up there. There's no landing to put a ladder. I have a ladder that extends, I could maybe brace it against the door on the ground floor and then against the wall at the top, but then I'd have to climb up it while it's bent over and the idea of my permanently dizzy ass trying to stand on ladder rungs that are tilted?
Yeah I don't think so.
I have a nephew that used to have those rock climbing hand holds all over his bedroom as a teenager so he could make it from the door to his bed without touching the floor. I'm going to ask him to do it.
***
Tomatoes I seeded at the start of the month are growing like gangbusters. All but two of the seeds sprouted and multiple seeds have produced twins or triplets.
Not one of the peppers has broken soil.
This has been the story every year. So help me, I am going to figure out what I am doing wrong. I WILL CONQUER THE PEPPER.
***
I have a stack of paper on my desk that I am trying to force myself through. Scribbled notes with instructions and reminders, notices from the city, bills, voting information, appointments I have to make, letters I have to write to politicians, ugh.
I promised myself I would set aside a day and just dig through this pile this weekend. I need to set up a schedule, one day a month I will deal with all the "paper" crap. Otherwise it gets very large and overwhelming.
On the plus side, today I walked to the farmer's market and it was raining but also very warm. And one of the farmers had a sow that rejected her piglets so they were all at the market being carried around like dolls by the staff. (When I was a child I thought pigs got to be the size of a golden retriever. Then I visited my Irish family and one of them had a farm and introduced me to his sow. So I don't think that any more.)
There are worse things in life than being able to pet a sleepy piglet.
Back when it first became confirmed that my vestibular damage was permanent I bought one of those bike stand things that turns your normal bicycle into a stationary bike. I figured even it was no good for transportation at least that way I could still use it, only without the falling off and throwing myself into traffic part.
I still do fall off it sometimes when the gravity is really bad. At least don't have to contend with cars.
Anyway that was 15... maybe 20 years ago now? I dunno, time is toffee. Anyway, the original stand had plastic bits, like foot-pads and adjustment pieces and they had been gradually breaking off over the years. So recently I replaced it with a second stand. And last week I was using it and there was a snapping sound and the bike just... sagged. While I was sitting on it. When I got off and took it apart it turned out that the rear axle - the one that supports all the weight - had sheared right off.
The axle was a part of the assembly kit and it was exactly the same between the two stands so I didn't bother changing it when I swapped. So I spent three days digging through The Stuff to find the second axle that came with the new stand. Which I found. Also the assembly manual. That manual was laughably useless, whoever wrote it wasn't even trying. BUT! There are videos online demonstrating how to assemble the stand, so I watched those to figure out how everything goes together. Assembly did not require tools. Getting pieces of metal that have been living next to each other for possibly more than two decades to now let go of each other, that required tools. (One of those tools being a hammer.)
Bike now functional. Skill upgraded.
***
Something that is very much above my skill grade, the stairs that lead up to my top floor go straight up until they meet exterior of the bathroom wall and turn and continue to go up until they meet the second floor. At the corner of the turn there is a light on the ceiling. It's probably 10-12 feet above the step immediately below it.
The lightbulb in that light has burnt out.
Fucked if I know how I'm going to get up there. There's no landing to put a ladder. I have a ladder that extends, I could maybe brace it against the door on the ground floor and then against the wall at the top, but then I'd have to climb up it while it's bent over and the idea of my permanently dizzy ass trying to stand on ladder rungs that are tilted?
Yeah I don't think so.
I have a nephew that used to have those rock climbing hand holds all over his bedroom as a teenager so he could make it from the door to his bed without touching the floor. I'm going to ask him to do it.
***
Tomatoes I seeded at the start of the month are growing like gangbusters. All but two of the seeds sprouted and multiple seeds have produced twins or triplets.
Not one of the peppers has broken soil.
This has been the story every year. So help me, I am going to figure out what I am doing wrong. I WILL CONQUER THE PEPPER.
***
I have a stack of paper on my desk that I am trying to force myself through. Scribbled notes with instructions and reminders, notices from the city, bills, voting information, appointments I have to make, letters I have to write to politicians, ugh.
I promised myself I would set aside a day and just dig through this pile this weekend. I need to set up a schedule, one day a month I will deal with all the "paper" crap. Otherwise it gets very large and overwhelming.
On the plus side, today I walked to the farmer's market and it was raining but also very warm. And one of the farmers had a sow that rejected her piglets so they were all at the market being carried around like dolls by the staff. (When I was a child I thought pigs got to be the size of a golden retriever. Then I visited my Irish family and one of them had a farm and introduced me to his sow. So I don't think that any more.)
There are worse things in life than being able to pet a sleepy piglet.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 05:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 06:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 11:18 am (UTC)And I can't help but think about smart vs. thoughtless architecture ever since.
SMH. How could the architect that designed your building forget that someone, someday, was going to have to change that light bulb?
Congratulations on fixing your bike!
Good luck with your desk (sweeps the state of my own papers under my mind's carpet for another day).
(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 03:43 pm (UTC)And this house is 100+ years old! They used to be more practical in those days.
I always post those "achievements" when I figure out how to do something new because man, the list of undone tasks can be overwhelming at times. Typing it out is my way of cementing in my brain that I did something difficult (for me, because it's the first time) and learned a thing. It's a technique for keeping the brain weasels at bay.
I'm laughing at your mind carpet. It really is like that.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 04:00 pm (UTC)Also: how they dealt with that 100+ years ago (probably): a household full of servants. So the people who designed the building, and people who paid for it, didn't have to think about it.
We're in the Gilded Age II: Electric Boogaloo, and we're still living in the mess left behind by the last one.
Some pig
Date: 2026-03-27 11:19 am (UTC)Just get a cheap USB timer light for the ground, a sensor if you need. Pennies from Temu or something.
Also, when did that light last get replaced? It can't be before you moved in. Surely?
I have a nephew that used to have those rock climbing hand holds all over his bedroom as a teenager so he could make it from the door to his bed without touching the floor. I'm going to ask him to do it.
It can't be THAT DIFFICULT.
Not one of the peppers has broken soil.
Peppers, as in capsicum?
I've had growth, but never a viable fruit. All I can suggest it a grow room inside, well before the season, and get them out there.
(And IME, netting. The few viables I have had got wormed).
There are worse things in life than being able to pet a sleepy piglet.
How did the piglet feel about it?
Re: Some pig
Date: 2026-03-27 03:37 pm (UTC)There's a lever to get the cover off, I might try poking it with a broom so I can see what kind of bulbs it takes at least. (I think the cover is plastic.)
I have bell peppers and jalapenos. I've had luck with the jalapenos before but the bells always get eaten before I can get them.
Part of this summer's garden project is probably going to involve chicken wire in some capacity. I lost every single tomato last year.
Piglet continued to sleep. He was very contented.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 01:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 03:34 pm (UTC)The window ledge in my office gets full sun and can be very warm. Part of it is reserved for sleeping cat, but if I shuffle the existing plants around maybe I can make room to put the pepper seeds there.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-27 03:51 pm (UTC)This is why I have trouble with architects and their blithe unconcern for the practical. More than one acquaintance was convinced to have cathedral ceilings with light fixtures, and the renovations at my old workplace put potlights in the 20 foot stairwell. I suppose it all makes work for the working man to do, as per Flanders and Swann.