In Constant Flux

I really am.  Ask anyone who really knows me, especially Aim or my mother.  I grab hobbies like Dean Martin grabs women.  The real problem with my hobbies, however, seems to be expense.

Here are a couple of examples:

I have always loved camping of all sorts.  I love car camping for things like canyoneering or just a weekend out with the family.  I love backpacking to get back into places you can't get to otherwise.  As a kid, we had a pop-up trailer that I also greatly enjoyed because it allows you to be outdoors with a little slice of home comfort.

When I got home from Mexico and moved out on my own and got married, etc., I realized that I had very little camping gear of my own.  So, I bought some.  Not all at once, but slowly.  I thought I was smart.  If I buy things slowly, Aimee won't really realize how much money I am actually spending.  Well, it turns out that Aimee is smarter than I am.  Plus, she works with small children who try to pull the once over on her on a daily basis.  So, it turns out that camping is expensive.  (But, that hasn't stopped me from doing it and convincing Aimee to take me here.)

When we got married, the in-laws lived up in Idaho.  We would make fairly frequent trips to visit, all while enjoying lovely books on tape.  (On a side note, ask Aimee how much she loves the guy who reads the book.)  One thing I did not know about Aimee's dad when we got married is his love for cycling.  I can't think of a time before Idaho that I had ever even seen a bike at their house, and believe me, I spent a lot of time at their house.  Anyways, we visited the Idahome once and good ol' Father-In-Law had just bought a fancy new road bike.  And, much to Aimee's chagrin, he suggested I take it for a spin up the road.  Now Aimee, who has some foresight, knew exactly what was coming.

When I got back to the house, I needed a road bike.  So, I bought one.  It was fancy.  And expensive.  Even though I got $1000 off.  So far, I still love it.  (The Father-In-Law and I will be riding across Iowa this summer.)

Or take the bus.  Why?  Because it will save us all.  Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, I also appreciate cars.  I own (or am in the several-year process of owning) two of them.  They are great for a lot of different things.  For example, it would have been quite difficult and I would likely have looked a bit silly transporting a large piece of furniture that we just acquired on my bicycle.  I also understand that it is not a lot of fun to ride a bike in bad weather.

However, my opinion is that most of us are just plain lazy.  Sorry.  It hurts me just as much as I am sure it hurts you to hear it.  I am lazy.  You are lazy.  And if you truly believe you aren't, please let me know, with accompanying evidence, and I will issue a personal apology to you via this blog.

I say this because not being lazy generally hurts in one form or another and I am a firm believer that no one actually enjoys pain.  (I won't get into any of that freaky stuff.  Just accept my statement as a general assumption.)  However, I am sure that most people like the results that pain often brings after the fact.

But, can't things like riding your bike also be fun?  I submit that they can.  I love riding my bike.  There is a true sense of control and freedom that I get when I ride.  And, if you push hard through the pain to get to the top of the hill, you get to go back down.  Down=fun.  So why don't we make our commute fun by actually being involved in the process?

I found this video on another great blog, and I just love it.  You probably won't, but watch it anyway.  And after you do, find a way to enjoy your commute.




And I will have you know that this video proved last night that I have in fact had some effect on Aimee in the last three years.  When asked if she recognized the sound from this video, she immediately identified it as Phil Liggett, the TDF announcer.  I fell in love all over again.

At least that is what my newest watch tells me.