-
·
Observations – cycling edition
Lately I have gotten back into bicycling in a big way. I had fallen out of the habit a few years ago, and had several aborted attempts to rekindle the cycling mojo. But the recent diet and exercise plan, and the fact that I can ride without it causing my plantar fasciitis to flare up…
-
·
How you know you are from Phoenix
When it is 103F outside, and it feels cool. When your pool is a tepid 92F When people you know from around the world feel the need to joke about the “dry heat” But mostly, I just don’t mind the heat.
-
·
Grocery Store Observations
This afternoon I did a little shopping for the holiday feast tomorrow, and I got to observe some prime high quality behavior. First, how hard is it to put your damn shopping cart in one of the little corrals that they provide? Seriously, there are at least three per row of cars, but alas, it…
-
·
The downside of out of doors exercise
Not really a secret, I prefer to do my exercise out of doors. Whether it is hiking, or cycling, or even jogging, I vastly prefer to get out and pound the pavement (or trail). But it can be challenging when summer happens here in Arizona. When the thermometer goes past 100F by 10:00AM, and at…
-
·
How sad is that: 100F is “comfortable”
I am fully acclimatized to the Phoenix (and Arizona in general) weather. Yesterday, I thought nothing about pulling on shorts and going for a 4 mile run at lunch time (95F when I left). Additionally, yesterday, it was 100F at the high. The lowest temperature this June (from my memory), and it felt very comfortable.…
-
·
Neighbors who aren’t neighborly
(Warning: I am going to use some harsh language below) We live in a nice subdivision in Chandler, in SE Phoenix. It is a clean, well kept, and in general a very friendly neighborhood. But there always seems to be someone who has to stand out as a twat-waffle. Our neighbors to the north are…
-
·
Living in Suburbia
Warning: I am going to write about extremely boring shit for a few posts. When we moved to Arizona in 2003, we were moving to Tucson. A great place, lots of charm, but truly a no plan sort of place for how they let growth happen. Consequently, you had lots of little communities scattered all…
-
·
The search for good Mexican food
When we moved from Tucson to Chandler last year, the last thing I thought I would have trouble with would be finding a decent, authentic Mexican restaurant. I mean, it wasn’t like we were moving to Seattle, we were still in the southwest, and there are plenty of authentic people of Mexican heritage here. But…
-
·
Crap, the frost we had wasn’t hard enough.
The house behind us has a large “shade” tree. It has an enormous quantity of fern like foliage that does a good job cutting the sun that beats down on our back yard. All good right? Except that when it loses its foliage, it dumps an incredible amount into our pool. How much? I have…
-
·
HOA Fun
There is nothing like getting a nastygram (or two) from your HOA. In general, I don’t mind being in a community with an HOA. Lots of people whinge about the CC&R’s, and having to comply (no, you can’t have a 40′ “murican flag in your font yard, thankyouverymuch). I have found that they have been…