Early Sunsets

I might finally be getting a moped sometime in the next few days. Took a look at an old Honda Express today. It ran really well, but the turn signals didn't work (we think it's just wired wrong), so the seller's gonna take a look at it. I'll buy it if they manage to fix it. I was kind of hoping I'd be able to ride it to work today, but oh well. Guess I'll stick with the old bicycle until then.

Fingers crossed 

So when getting ready for work today I noticed my phone deleted all of my music for no apparent reason. I have it all backed up so it's not a big deal, but it's still kind of weird.

Hey, I actually remembered to do something for once. Here's the old Schwinn I mentioned in my last status update.

As you can see, the wheels are super fucked, especially the rear one. And it's missing some brake pads and the kick stand because I put them on my current bike.

And yes, our garage is a horrid mess. We never go in that section of the garage (it's mostly really old storage that my parents haven't touched since they moved here), so it's not that big of a deal.

Well today was hectic and kind of weird. I woke up at like 2:15 pm and had to leave for work at 3:30, which left no time to relax or practice my guitar. I basically ate lunch (breakfast?), got ready for work, and left.

Except my bicycle didn't work. None of them did. The one I've been using for the past few weeks broke right as I was leaving, so I got mad and really broke it (I have a short fuse when I'm stressed, especially when I'm short on time. I remember smashing my printer in college because it wouldn't print an essay as I was leaving for class). Tried taking my old bike, but that one fucked up too, and the coaster brake on my sister's bike seized up.

Tried calling my dad for a ride, but he was mowing a lawn and couldn't hear his phone, so I got an Uber (during corona, yes. Both the driver and I were wearing masks) and got to work ten minutes late. Somebody shouted at us on the road, not really sure why.

Work was super busy since it's a Monday (Monday and Tuesday are usually our heaviest days), but overall wasn't bad. Got a ride home from my parents and spent three hours cobbling parts together from the three bikes (also yoinked a couple brake pads from my mom's old bike. I'd love to ride that one, but the wheel rims are fucked and 26" x 1" wheels are hard to find nowadays. It's a really cool 10 speed Schwinn with thumb shifters and drop bars from the 90's or thereabouts. I'll try to remember to post a picture tomorrow). Finally got my old bike working, other than the gear shifters. Never could get those to function properly. My gear options are: second gear or fifth gear. Jumps the ones in the middle, won't go into first, and can't go into the high gears.

Now I'm in my room eating grilled cheese, vegetable juice (because I forgot to buy tomato soup again. They're similar enough), and popcorn while window shopping for mopeds on Facebook Marketplace. It's gonna be another month before I can afford one. Oh well. I'll cope.

Recently I discovered chickpea spaghetti. Sounds weird, I know, but it actually tastes kind of similar to regular pasta, and slathered in sauce and parmesan cheese you'd never know it wasn't regular spaghetti. Main difference is what you get out of it.

Chickpea spaghetti has much less carbs than regular pasta so you can actually eat a full bowl of it without feeling sick, but more importantly, it's got a shit load of protein (about 35g in a 5.3oz serving). I'm still trying desperately to gain muscle mass (I've been hovering around 135 pounds for the past three to four months - still ten pounds below healthy weight), so hopefully that will help. I stopped gaining weight the instant I stopped drinking protein shakes, so a lack of protein might be the issue there.

Oh, I forgot to mention the aftertaste. Whatever you do, don't eat uncooked chickpea spaghetti (I think it's just some sort of coating they use to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other while cooking. Once it's cooked and thoroughly rinsed there's no aftertaste).