Spring Thaw

It's way too early to say that winter is over, and we could well get another cold snap and perhaps even some sleet or snow.  (Please no more!)

But it was really nice out Sunday as well as Monday.  I was able to go out biking with no problems (I mean aside from the fact that the chain was still pretty rusty even after applying chain oil) and the derailleur is acting up a bit.  The roads were clear and even the bike paths with only a few exceptions were fine.  On Sunday, I actually biked to Jimmy Simpson.  I got there at 1:50, and the pool closed at 2:30, but I powered through 21 laps, which I thought was pretty good overall.  

I then biked to work.  In general, King was fine in terms of potholes in the outer lane (where bicycles are relegated) except for right at the BikeShare station at Church and King, where the pavement is in terrible shape.  I didn't have a lot of time, but I dropped off some food and did a bit of work, then I biked up to Carlton to see The Bride!, which I enjoyed, aside from the ghost of Mary Shelley.  It really is a total mash-up of Bride of Frankenstein and Bonnie and Clyde.

I got home and tried to power through Winterson's One Aladdin Two Lamps, which was overdue and I couldn't renew it.  I did finish it on Monday.  In fact, I could have biked to work but decided that 1) I wanted a tune-up before cycling in weekday traffic and 2) I could use the time on the TTC to finish the book.  I am already thinking ahead to how I really want to avoid taking the TTC as much as possible, but this will cut deeply into my reading time.  I generally sided with the NY Times reviewer who didn't care much for the book, as it mixes very short summaries of various tales from 1001 Nights with all kinds of philosophical observations loosely tied to the tales.  It really wasn't well organized, ostensibly by design.

Anyway, the bike is in the shop, and I should be able to pick it up on Thurs. in the late morning and probably ride in to work (and then stop off at Canadian Stage on the way home to see Little Willy).

So I have two more days (at least) on the TTC, but as I said, the weather has been really nice, so waiting outside on the bus isn't nearly as painful as it was in Jan. and Feb.