Riding Bikes Again

Lisa and I have ridden our bikes 45 miles this week, 15 miles at a time, up on the Orting Trail. This is the first time I tried again since having the DVT and PE’s last year, so I was a little hesitant, wondering if I’d be able to do it. Not a problem!

 

We both made it up the hill from Orting to South Prairie (7.5 miles) without getting too winded and having to rest or turn around. In fact, the climb (750 feet in 7.5 miles) is just the right workout for us.

 

A view of Mount Rainier similar to what we see while driving into Orting

(only in Orting, it’s a LOT closer!)

 

The reward for the ride up is the trip back down; it’s almost 100% down hill–which means, of course, that it’s almost 100% up hill on the way up!! It’s the perfect challenge for two people who are usually desk-bound: I’m a writer and Lisa is a web designer.  I’ll get some pictures on one of our future rides and post them here.

 

Before I got the DVT and PE’s I rode more than 1000 miles up at Orting during the summer months for two years. I hope to get back to that level of activity. It really helps my mood and attitude, and it’s great for losing a little weight. My metabolism is shot so I don’t lose much weight, but any amount is a plus; even ten pounds makes a huge difference in the way I look and feel.  I lost 15 over the first summer I rode and kept it off during the two years I rode regularly.

 

In Other News…

 

Thursday I’m going to the dentist for a deep cleaning of a quadrant (quarter) of my mouth. It has been a couple decades since I’ve had deep-cleaning done, so it’s definitely time. (I get regular cleanings every four to six months.)

 

Because I’m well below poverty-level (sadly!) income-wise, my deep cleaning costs are deeply discounted (thanks to Medicaid) but I have no dental insurance at all so the whole bill will fall to me: $115 per quadrant. But they’ll let me pay in small increments (no less than $10/month, more if I can afford more), so I’m going to go ahead and have it done so my teeth don’t fall out of my head. I also need a couple fillings and crowns. So it’s going to be quite some time before I get it all paid off. But dental health is important to overall physical health, so it has to be done…

 

The other good news is that my only credit card is just a few hundred dollars from being paid off. I had to put vehicle repairs ($1200)  and septic cleaning ($1400) on it last year and this year–so that was $2600, which is why the credit card got used to the degree it did. I’m very happy that it’s about to have a zero balance. I hope to keep it that way, or be able to pay off the balance every month… I need a credit card because Upchuck (Upwork) and other freelance portals I use to find work demands one from me to use their services, even though I get paid by them instead of paying in to them.

 

I used to get their paid services, which cost as little as $10 a month, but I look for work there so seldom anymore (because there are so few worthwhile projects and very few clients on that platform are willing to pay for what the work is actually worth) that I decided to downsize to their free option. I can’t afford to be paying for a service that cannot guarantee at least a return of the money I pay in to it… That’s nuts!

 

Guess that’s all the news that’s fit to print right now. All is well here. Wish I were more financially endowed, but I chose the career to keep my spirits alive and well, so I live with the consequences. Being a creative is a feast-or-famine existence. If enough people aren’t buying my books or paying for my writing expertise, I have to get by on Social Security and the small pension I get from working in the entertainment industry (mostly Warner Bros.) for thirteen years… It ain’t much, but it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye, for sure!

 

Thank God for my time in the entertainment industry, or I would be really struggling right now, not just semi-struggling…

Save