Underneath

My boss wanted to go for a walk and talk this morning so I scraped together enough loose change from my desk for a coffee. Our little coffee man was happy for me to blip the back of his container. He apologised that he hadn't done his cleaning yet today ;-)

Bought coffees are a rarity for me as I have a new house to pay for. We have 4 decent coffee machines at work and I have one at home so there isn't really an excuse for regular spending on caffeine.

I'm tired, I can feel it, and I know I have to look after myself for some time yet to get shifted, sorted, and settled. Now I'm going to have a little rant but I'll end on positive.

After work I had an appointment so I biked through the CBD. It's been a dull and at times wet day and fortunately it was just cold and dull when I took on the city on 2 wheels..

I hate it. I don't like saying that but I hate my own inner city. It's not so much how it is still broken, derelict, or partly built, it's the utter thoughtlessness for cyclists.

I carefully took Tuam St with it's dedicated cycle lane and today it was ok. Then I turned left into Manchester St to take advantage of the painted green cycle lane there. Well all 50m of it before it petered out into a road works barrier.

Where the hell are cyclists supposed to go? Under the wheels of the nearest truck? I survived but it was utterly awful, terrifying, and I understood in an instant why I'm buying outside of the city limits.

Yes, I'll work in Christchurch every day but where home is there is nothing to fall on me, no endless orange cones, no constant barriers and busted roads that suddenly appear in a newly busted way without warning or anywhere for a cyclist to go.

I work on the edge of the CBD and it's location is in a better state than what I encountered today. I understand it has to be repaired I just don't understand the absolute zero thought for cyclists. It was truly terrifying and I remember thinking as I held my nerve in a single lane on Manchester St that I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than be here on a bike again.

Early this evening one of my neighbours helped me remove the little pope's cat flap. I needed to measure the hole in the glass so I buy the correct size basic cat door to replace his microchip one with. Then we put it back together for papal ins and outs.

Sorted :-)

My neighbour offered to help me with some furniture in a week or so, and just before I shift he'll help me take the telly off the wall and swap over the cat door over.

Nice. I'm grateful for his help and I'm grateful I survived the inner city on my bike today.