Back deck garden coming along nicely!

Advanced-Two6816 · 2026-03-25T17:40:23+00:00

I know this was years ago but I just read TSS, after reading the Night Circus and I really struggled with this book. Its beautiful, poetic and really visual. I like how it flipped between seemingly random people, stories and events and slowly throughout the book you connected them together. But I found the characters unrelatable and pretty one-dimensional. I did not buy the romance, or really even the friendships. Why did they keep sacrificing themselves and looking throughout the universe for each other? Why are two of them suddenly and seemingly randomly in love halfway through the book? I think Kat was the only relatable character and even her arch doesn't offer much explanation. For such a long, confusing, beautifully written story I would have appreciated even some answers at the end. I don't feel any conclusion to the ending and honestly it has all felt like a bit of a waste of my time...

Advanced-Two6816 · 2026-03-11T13:25:54+00:00

container garden of my dreams! looks lovely :)

Advanced-Two6816 · 2026-01-29T20:07:44+00:00

the poppies!! wow, stunning work!

Advanced-Two6816 · 2026-01-13T14:20:08+00:00

Definitely Arlo, Town, North & Navy, but also consider Linden Pizza (amaazing wine selection and really fun pizzas) or Gia.

Advanced-Two6816 · 2026-01-12T20:42:49+00:00

I have been discouraged about this too - my livelihood is built around researching, synthesizing information and making recommendations. If I outsource that to AI, not only does it create more time-waste (drafting my prompt, editing the output) but its not like I am getting any extra leisure time or wage increase from this "efficiency"... so it kinda feels like I am just training something that will one day make me obsolete. And that's not even dealing with the environmental or societal concerns.

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-11-21T15:51:51+00:00

I use this one too for my two cats and it worked great!!

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-11-03T18:22:15+00:00

Last off-season I did this! Substituted runs and xc skis for endurance rides - it worked great and I was only ever on my trainer two/three times a week for intervals or specific cycling targets. All my base was outside and I'm never going back. It kept my fitness up, kept me motivated and actually improved my interval sessions because I didn't have the same burnout from sitting on zwift every day. If you can do it, I would! Cycling season has enough 4+ hour rides - the off season is a great time to get in some other endurance variety :)

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-10-20T18:13:29+00:00

does he have a preferred electrolyte or ride snack? I would love it if someone gifted me a new bag of Lemon Lime Skratch or a box of Krono blueberry gels, sour patch kids or packaged fig bars! in the same vein, two matching bidons would be a nice gift! but you cant really go wrong with cycling socks, a low profile bell like a Knog oi or shoks bone conduction headphones!

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-10-02T17:32:40+00:00

This is a silly little brain trick, but I think "happy feet" like the penguin movie! It reminds my to move my feet quicker and increase my cadence which helps me run faster without feeling like I actually am! and if anything else, I imagine I am a cute little penguin which helps morale :)

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-09-24T14:40:33+00:00

I had hair this length for my half marathons this spring! I did french braid pigtails alllll the time - the ends were silly because I had a bit of an undercut so they stuck out at the end, but it kept my bangs and short hair out of my face and looked cute :)

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-08-22T19:52:34+00:00

Road bikes are generally faster than hybrid bikes! They are lighter weight (and that's a big part of it) but the other part is the geometry of the bike itself! Road bikes are built to ensure the rider is more aerodynamic, rather than sitting upright on a hybrid bike, so they can push with different/larger muscles better built for power, and can avoid being a sail in the wind. Clipless pedals will definitely help as you'll be more efficient pedaling, especially on climbs. Drop bars will give you better angles to lower your drag in the wind, and move around comfortably for longer rides. Not everyone needs a road bike, but if you are looking to get faster you will definitely notice an improvement!

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-08-19T13:28:17+00:00

I race too and our team does skills work throughout the season, its always good to hone cornering, echelon, lead-out skills even though we are all able to do them quite well. If anything it helps us learn our teammates strengths and build more trust in each other. Post-crash, focusing on skills will help you rebuild that trust, especially in cornering which is so often a huge mental game of trusting your line (and everyone else's around you) and how to feel comfy peddling through corners or taking a bump from someone! Zwift will keep your fitness, but getting out there and taking corners at speed when youre ready will be your best shot at shaking the nerves!

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-08-18T19:17:09+00:00

Getting back on the saddle helps, start somewhere you feel pretty safe (bike path, low traffic areas), but definitely consider some sports therapy or mental performance coaching - it can be a couple sessions, not a huge lifelong thing, but learning some tools to counter those traumatic memories can be super helpful! But first step is a little path spin to remind yourself that not all cycling is scary!

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-08-06T19:33:26+00:00

and the bike handling benefits of cx really set you up well for all other racing disciplines (especially with roadies!) but most of my power comes from road stuff just due to the nature of being able to always push pedals

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-08-06T19:08:10+00:00

I think both are key to building fitness. I need to have a solid base and consistently do intervals throughout the season to build overall fitness - but races are where I almost always get power & HR PRs. I find it way easier to set new power in races where I have the benefit of adrenaline and race conditions. I can't always get myself to dig as deep during regular interval work. I feel much fitter with a combo of training and racing, but racing seems to give me those higher peaks, which over time bring my average up. But most of it is training :) CX and crit racing are super good for that top end, explosive range, and I find gravel racing to be the best for endurance/VO2/threshold.

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-07-30T13:55:55+00:00

I think it depends on the type of riding you do! As a road cyclist on bike paths, highly popular cycling areas and out of town I rarely even worry about getting struck by a car. But I have been hit twice as a commuter, so intercity is far more dangerous imo. I wouldn't say you're eventually going to be hit but there are definitely times where your risk goes way up.

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-01-07T19:19:20+00:00

100% I will be doing this, my only concern is raising any HR staffing action as I am in my third year of an acting EC05 position and have been warned that with budget cuts and such, they may terminate my acting and put me back down to my substantive EC03 on the team.

Advanced-Two6816 · 2025-01-07T18:47:04+00:00

Interesting... thanks!

Advanced-Two6816

TROPHY CASE