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pure physical sweat Ten thirty in the morning and I feel good. I'm winding down from a well needed bike ride. Yes, after neglecting the bike for most of the year, I finally took it out the garage this morning and despite how I might feel tomorrow, I think that I should have done it sooner. It felt good to just do something physical and be outside at the same time. My mind could get lost in the rhythm of the bike or at least I could try to reach that state. Wheels on gravel and a slight wind here and there to keep me alert. Every so often I'd come across someone heading in the other direction. There was a solo woman jogger, a couple walking and two women with their dogs. The rest of the time the trail was mine with the occasional chipmunk scurrying off to the side. For me this is perfect riding weather. There may be a slight chill in the air when I start, but by the time that I am done I no longer notice it. The plan is to do this every other day until the snow starts to fall. This schedule isn't that unrealistic since I did something similar to it four years ago. The ride was the first successful thing that I've managed to do all week. ... Nikki Grosse, I'll climb the mountains of Uganda with you. Just drop me an email. If you have a new destination in my mind that's fine with me. I don't see any need to repeat yourself. Maybe Danielle Baker can join us. ... Temptation by New Order plays in the background and I need to sleep. ... The reason for the sudden bike ride was to expend some unwanted anger triggered by work this morning before I left for home. The human resources department discovered a flaw in my request for reimbursement and decided to shut down my school funding. The simple and direct answer is that my studies are not related to my job therefore they don't want and or need to pay for it. I can understand that reasoning and part of me was expecting it to happen, but at the same time they shouldn't have paid for the last semester and gotten my hopes up. Now with their sudden attention to the true wording of the program everything has changed. Of course they begrudgingly agreed to pay for the summer semester, but that is the end of it for them. What this means is that Barcelona, New Mexico and possibly even New Zealand next year are in jeopardy. I was going to continue to roll the same money from the fall semester into the spring. Now that money no longer exists and I am on my own once again. Tapping into my travel fund is not something that I want to do, but my options are shrinking and my salary isn't increasing. I am not happy about this arrangement. |