I don't wanna grade. I have to grade. I don't wanna grade. Hmph.
Yesterday I avoided grading by going on a hike/walk with one of the postdocs. Supposedly there was a hike guided by a park ranger at a trail not too far from Postdoc State. We were supposed to carpool but I was running late, and when I called the postdoc to say, hey wait I am still coming! zie had already driven off so's to meet the group and park ranger on time. But, while zie was on the phone with me zie made a turn and came to a small road completely covered with snow and ice. I pulled into the Postdoc parking lot at about this time and expressed my discomfort with driving on a road like that, which zie agreed. And if the roads were icy, then my shoes were not going to hack it on an icy snowy trail. Alas, we agreed. And I made the postdoc come back to the parking lot and we decided on an alternate plan.
Which was to walk around the historic downtown, which I have seen on a previous trip but the postdoc had not. So off we trundled, and looked at little art shops and walked on their sidewalks, and while we were not communing with nature or raising our cardio, at least we were out of the house.
And then I was walking incredibly carefully across this patch of ice and one of my feet slipped out from under me and I went boom! down hard right on my ass. I felt like it had been spanked. But I seemed able to move and got back up and then just had to avoid any other ice patches as the grips on my running shoes are clearly not good enough for all that. And today my butt is still a bit sore. I'm hoping I didn't break or fracture anything.
So I'm not sure about this. There are precious few places with sidewalks or places to walk around here, and it looks like I just won't be able to do the hiking trails until winter is over. And I missed going to a lot of the local historical sites of interest, which are all closed for winter, according to my guidebook. So my little "bucket list" of things to do in Postdoc City is currently un-doable. Bleah!
Another one of the postdocs has just been in a fury since coming back. "Pissed? Why am I pissed? It's snowing!" zie shouted the other night where we were all having a beer. Zie is from A Hot Place, and even less used to snow than I am. And zie used to bike everywhere in hir old city, which wasn't feasible even before we started getting snow here. So getting around, going outside, going places --- it all seems kinda put on hold until spring, which is just sucky. I want to go do things and look at things and go be with people when I am tired of being stuck inside, and while I did go there to buy my coats, the Mall is just not an option for my and the postdocs' entertainment. We'll have to figure out something. Right now, though, I just have to figure out whether I'm going to grade and drink coffee here or drive to the starbucks in the next town over.
3 comments:
Bleh, I hope you feel better! Having taken several spill on my feet and from my bike on ice, I know how much it hurts. As for activities, I found the following two essential when I was stuck in a snowy location, perhaps you can find/arrange them as well?
1) Cross-country ski rentals (to permit outdoor activity), a lot of the parks where I used to live would rent them by the hour.
2) Wine night (bonus if it's mulled wine) that rotated between our apartments--comfier and warmer than the bar, even if we ended up sitting on the floor.
Have you ever seen Yaktracks? They're these little soft rubber and wire contraptions that fit over the soles of your shoes and seem to help a good deal with slipping.
I hope your tuckus feels better quickly!
I'm totally not above going to the mall when I feel the need to be out and about, walking, but it's too cold and/or snowy to be outside. I've even been known to bring grading with me, find a coffee place to grade for a bit, distract myself looking at shoes or whatever when I can't take any more grading, and then find some other coffee place and repeat the process. Admittedly, wine night sounds like a much better plan :)
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