But today I was not even as far as 22 when my calf started feeling a bit twingy. Or maybe it was twangy. In any case I had no need to be a hero and turned around to head home. It ended up being 28 K in 1:08, just riding along enjoying the day. Mainly I was trying to spin smoothly. I'm not that much slower than before, but there's just no endurance in my legs. That will come.
I'm getting a kick out of the graph. This is a pretty flat route, but the graph makes look like I'm climbing a mountain. That's a bit further west.
Stretched a bit after, but we ended up heading down to Black Diamond to check out a sale at Vale's greenhouse. What the river did there is just amazing. We did buy stuff, but not flowers. Do rain chains mean anything to you? Photos when installed.
Quiet afternoon puttering around the house. Even though the windows have been shut while the installation is happening, there is still lots of dust around. The furnace filter will certainly need to be changed. It was due in the spring and this will have pushed it over for sure.
It was a quiet peaceful morning working on my book. Here's a snippet from it. Not today's work, I'm noodling my way through a scene, trying to figure out how it works. All the writing today has been done to Pink Martini. I'm just in love with their music.
The snippet starts with a training course put on by a really boring instructor from the lead contractor. They have just found out they are being taken out for lunch.
She perked up when he mentioned being treated to lunch at the Shamrock, a pub not far away. She’d never been there, but often drove past it. The city had pretty strict policies about expenses, and she’d never been taken for lunch while with the City. Dwen got a ride with some of the operators on the other shift.
Blair introduced himself. ‘We haven’t met yet. I follow you on days, so I wouldn’t see you much anyways, and I’ve been taking lots of time off lately.’
They shook hands. ‘Pleased to meet you. I think you’re the only operator I haven’t actually met yet.’
Ben was driving. ‘Um, Dwen, you do know there’s strippers at this place, right? I’m pretty sure they work at lunch time.’
‘Sure. I drive past it getting to the plant. It’s hardly going to be a novelty to see a naked woman. If they bring up a male stripper things would be different. They usually put on a much better show.’
‘That’s true. I was surprised. My girlfriend took me to the Cove once. The trainer dude made it clear he thought it was all guys working here. It’s going to be interesting to see his face as you sit down with us. Remember, he came in part way through, so he wasn’t introduced to each of us.’
‘It’s going to be more interesting seeing Stu’s face. He’s a bit straight-laced, and I get the feeling he thinks I’m a bit of a delicate flower to be protected.’
Ben laughed. ‘Yeah. Word’s gone around, Dwen. If anything, we need protecting from you. How you dealt with Mac that one time told us you were our kind of girl. This is a bit of a rough bar at night, though it should be fine now. If anyone gives you any hassle you can’t handle, we’ve got your back.’
’Thanks, that’s nice to know.’
They pulled in to the lot, and joined the other people walking in to find tables.
Stu came over. ‘I’m making some phone calls Dwen, to see if we can find another place.’
A nearly topless waitress carrying an empty tray was walking past. Dwen caught her eye. ‘Two jugs of draft to that table there please. We’re part of the City group that’s here for the buffet.’
‘Sure hon, be just a minute.’
‘Now, what were you saying Stu? What’s wrong with this place?’ The other operators standing nearby were laughing.
‘I didn’t know they had strippers here! Black and Mack didn’t tell me they were going to buy lunch for us. This isn’t appropriate.’ He pointed to the woman on stage who was toying with her bra.
Dwen shrugged. ’They’re just boobs, Stu. I should know, I’ve got a pair much like them. Relax, it’s OK.’ She walked over to the table that Kurt and Mac were not sitting at. ‘Sheesh guys, it’s not like I’ve never been in a strip bar before.’ She was careful to sit so her back was not to the stage, nor was she facing it directly.
‘Try not to laugh too hard Ben, you’ll do yourself an injury. Any of you eat here before? What’s not good?’
Mitch was wiping tears from his eyes. ‘Christ Dwen, that was funny. Stu didn’t know whether to shit or go blind when he saw the girl on the stage.’
Erik was pouring the beer that just arrived. ‘The food here is actually pretty good, guys. I like the lasagna.’
They all went off and filled their plates, talking about the course, and how they didn’t expect to stay awake if the training as as boring after lunch. Dwen got in on the informal pool about how long it would take for Marcel to hit on the dancer after she got off stage. None of them doubted he would, the question was if he would finish his plate of food first.
Their table had a pretty good time, talking about getting a pickup hockey game started in the fall, and the best places to go hiking and skiing in the mountains. Within 5 minutes of leaving the stage, the dancer joined Marcel at their table. The other table was pretty quiet.
Mitch and Ben walked with Dwen out to the cars. Marcel was still sealing the deal with the dancer. ‘So here’s another pool for you guys, and I’ll have to trust you on it.’
‘What’s that?’ Ben said.
‘I could feel Kurt and Mac glaring at me the whole time. How long do you think before they start mouthing off about my being here?’
Ben looked at his watch. ‘Too late. The guys with them are probably getting an earful. I know it will piss off Bill, and the other guys probably don’t want to hear it.’
As predicted, the rest of the afternoon was a snooze-fest. Dwen didn’t fall asleep, but was eager to go for a run when she got home after work.
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