every year there is this week long october holiday here because of the chinese national day. usually we have a teacher's conference during this holiday, but this year the conference we are going to is over thanksgiving instead. so, hello to a whole week off of school. what have i been doing with all this time, you might ask? nearly nothing. it is great. i just finished reading a really good book (The Sparrow). so good that i don't even know how long it will be before i feel like reading another book. i could keep thinking about this one for awhile. it's about a faith journey, and faith is something i've been thinking about a lot. it's also about a priest and space travel and culture and community and celibacy and it has really good character development. if you are interested in the book, i recommend not really reading much about the book before reading it. just read it. because if you start reading a bunch of stuff about it, you will wonder if it's actually going to be good or not. don't worry, it will be. but it's really intense, lots of things to think about. i'm just warning you about that part, so otherwise, don't read it.
i will tell you about 3 things i have done this vacation.
1. make biscuits and gravy. that was successful. and biscuits are really easy to make. i don't know why i didn't know this before.
2. make chocolate pudding. also successful.
3. put a new bell on my bike. success #3.
i will not comment on the success of anything else at this time.
but i will elaborate on the third one.
one day, the bell on my bike that i've had for more than 3 years suddenly looked like this:
it doesn't ring if the top falls off.... and pieces inside started falling out one by one. so, i learned what the inside of a bike bell can look like. the thing with the two round metal parts on each end spins around and hits the metal on the inside of the bell to make it ring. i think it's kind of cool.
so this is what one looks like when it actually works:
there is a spring that makes it spin and when the spring is compressed again, it stops ringing.
so my bike looks like this now:
i did not buy this bell because i really desired to have a red bell that says "i heart my bike." it was the only bike bell in the store i went to. well, there was one other one, but it was the kind that has a something like a little hammer inside that hits the inside of the bell. so this kind of bell sounds like: "ding. ding. ding." this is not acceptable to me. so i bought the spinny kind because it sounds like "riiiiiiiiiiiiiing riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnng" and i find it more satisfying. and hopefully more likely to get those people sauntering down the middle of the bike lane to actually move when i need to ride past them. while i have had no bell, what happens is that i ride behind them at 0.1 miles per hour, trying to make my brakes squeak so they will move out of the way so i can pass by them. it's really dangerous-ish to ride without a bike bell here. i've literally ran into (a little) 3 people since not having a working bike bell because people pay no attention to where they are walking. it is the vehicle's responsibility to not hit people. however, if you have a bell (or a horn), then if a pedestrian hears the bell, it is their responsibility to move out of the way, otherwise it is their fault if they get hit, because they heard the bell and didn't pay attention. something like that. anyway, people actually move, a little bit, if i have a bell, so i'm not in danger of running into someone who suddenly steps to the side right when i'm about to pass them, because if i have a bell, they will know i am coming and not step to the side. bike bells prevent accidents. don't be without one. it should be a slogan or something.
one other thing though. this bell is apparently a left-handed bell. i don't have pictures of this part, so you'll have to imagine it. i tried to put the bell on the right handlebar of the bike. this requires me to pull the lever towards me to make the bell ring instead of pushing it away. not acceptable. so i tried taking the bell off and turning it around and putting it back on the right handlebar. this makes the lever to make the bell ring not even near my hand. (duuuuuuhhhhh) clearly not ok. so it is apparently a left-handed bell. i guess i am ok with that.
i will tell you about 3 things i have done this vacation.
1. make biscuits and gravy. that was successful. and biscuits are really easy to make. i don't know why i didn't know this before.
2. make chocolate pudding. also successful.
3. put a new bell on my bike. success #3.
i will not comment on the success of anything else at this time.
but i will elaborate on the third one.
one day, the bell on my bike that i've had for more than 3 years suddenly looked like this:
it doesn't ring if the top falls off.... and pieces inside started falling out one by one. so, i learned what the inside of a bike bell can look like. the thing with the two round metal parts on each end spins around and hits the metal on the inside of the bell to make it ring. i think it's kind of cool.
so this is what one looks like when it actually works:
there is a spring that makes it spin and when the spring is compressed again, it stops ringing.
so my bike looks like this now:
i did not buy this bell because i really desired to have a red bell that says "i heart my bike." it was the only bike bell in the store i went to. well, there was one other one, but it was the kind that has a something like a little hammer inside that hits the inside of the bell. so this kind of bell sounds like: "ding. ding. ding." this is not acceptable to me. so i bought the spinny kind because it sounds like "riiiiiiiiiiiiiing riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnng" and i find it more satisfying. and hopefully more likely to get those people sauntering down the middle of the bike lane to actually move when i need to ride past them. while i have had no bell, what happens is that i ride behind them at 0.1 miles per hour, trying to make my brakes squeak so they will move out of the way so i can pass by them. it's really dangerous-ish to ride without a bike bell here. i've literally ran into (a little) 3 people since not having a working bike bell because people pay no attention to where they are walking. it is the vehicle's responsibility to not hit people. however, if you have a bell (or a horn), then if a pedestrian hears the bell, it is their responsibility to move out of the way, otherwise it is their fault if they get hit, because they heard the bell and didn't pay attention. something like that. anyway, people actually move, a little bit, if i have a bell, so i'm not in danger of running into someone who suddenly steps to the side right when i'm about to pass them, because if i have a bell, they will know i am coming and not step to the side. bike bells prevent accidents. don't be without one. it should be a slogan or something.
one other thing though. this bell is apparently a left-handed bell. i don't have pictures of this part, so you'll have to imagine it. i tried to put the bell on the right handlebar of the bike. this requires me to pull the lever towards me to make the bell ring instead of pushing it away. not acceptable. so i tried taking the bell off and turning it around and putting it back on the right handlebar. this makes the lever to make the bell ring not even near my hand. (duuuuuuhhhhh) clearly not ok. so it is apparently a left-handed bell. i guess i am ok with that.
I have a bike bell in the garage. Brought it back from Japan. Just no bike to put it on now! If you ever miss the sound of the riiiiiiiiiiinnng when you are here, I'll get it out and let you ring it!
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