gender is a construct

Women vs men is irrelevant. Now I would divide humans into "has carried a baby in their body" and "has not." Does this make me a TERF? TERF stands for “trans exclusionary radical feminist.” I think J.K.Rowling was turned down a lot with young children in tow, she was also the victim of sexual and domestic abuse, which has led to her becoming an aggressive biological essentialist.

My friend who is a stepparent said that if you truly accept your parental role, stepkids can pierce your heart as deeply as babies you have carried in your body. I can't speak from personal experience on this topic, but I trust her. The Netflix documentary "Babies" has an episode on changes to the parent's brain. If there is a heterosexual couple, generally the mom's brain is the one that changes. If there is a homosexual couple, one partner's brain will change. I can say that I know my son has irreversibly changed me.

http://www.thecourieronline.co.uk/a-thorough-analysis-of-jk-rowlings-bigotry/

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pkeynz/jk-rowlings-transphobia-wasnt-hard-to-find-she-wrote-a-book-about-it

https://www.vogue.com/article/jk-rowling-transphobic-tweets-harry-potter-franchise

Becoming Nicole

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/jk-rowling-trans-tweets-nicole-maines-supergirl-harry-potter-1234632167/ 

Professor Ruth Feldman

https://ruthfeldmanlab.com/people/

Baby blankets

Sometimes you get gifts, especially if you are a first-time parent, and you don't know what they are or what purpose they might serve. Sometimes if a product is new, the packaging will give you ideas about how to use the item. But if it is a used or hand-me-down item it may not be in its original packaging. It can make you feel like you don't know what you're doing, like you aren't ready for your baby. I didn't know the difference between receiving, muslin and swaddle blankets. 

I did a little research about swaddling before my baby was born and ended up making two swaddle blankets out of an old flat bed sheet that measure 48 x 48 in. Typical dimensions for a swaddle blanket are 47 x 47 in. My baby didn't like being swaddled, so I didn't get a lot of use out of these. A swaddle blanket can be stretchy. I have one that I like made of muslin cotton that is thin and breathable, as well as stretchy.

A recieving blanket measures 30 x 30 in. It is smaller because it is used to swaddle a newborn baby. I definitely ended up with one of these from the hospital because I didn't have the proper baby clothes to bring baby home from the hospital. I had just a onesie with no pants or socks and it was cold and windy. Oops!

People gave us a bunch of rectangular blankets of thicker flanel recieving blankets. Dimensions of 28 x 34 in.

Uses:

Covering the changing table

Layer between your body and baby while babywearing

We got a bunch of thick polyester fleece blankets, square in size. Some had an animal attached. At 4 months my baby actually likes these, one in particular with an elephant head. He cuddles it (with his mouth) while he's in his swing. At first I was resentful at these gifts because babies are not supposed to have toys or blankets in their sleeping area until they are 2 or 3 years old. But when awake, the younger baby can still appreciate such warm and fuzzy blankets.

Song archive

List

Itsy bitsy spider

Old McDonald

The farmer in the dell

One two, buckle my shoe

Working on the railroad

The ants go marching

Over the rainbow

5 little ducks

5 green and speckled frogs

Monkeys jumping on the bed

Ten in the bed

Song that never ends

BINGO

The muffin man

The wheels on the bus

The riddle song

Baa baa black sheep

Mary had a little lamb

Head shoulders knees toes

Frère Jacques

Hush little baby

🇪🇦 Dans mon pays d’Espagne olé 🎼🎵🎶

🌞 Soleil

🏔 Montagne

🌊 La Mer

🐮 Un Taureau

🤠 Un Chanteur

🎸 Une Guitare

💃 Des Danseuse

🕺🐃 Des Corridas

🦐 Des Paellas 

🕺💃 Du Flamenco 

🐚 Des Conchitas

https://t.co/eUh9hM1T3L 

#French #Spain #babymusic #kidsmusic #childrensmusic

 

Fertility Part 9

I have been following The IVF Diet for 15 days now, today is day 16. I feel my mood is pretty mellow but I am still tired of all the work it takes to make these meals. At least I will be able to look back and say, "I did everything in my power to prepare my body for pregnancy."

April 21-27, 2019, is National Infertility Awareness Week. Infertility is defined as the inability of couples to achieve pregnancy after over one year of trying. As I'm sitting here kind of forcing myself to eat oatmeal with coconut milk, I am thinking of all the other couples out there who have been where I am now.

Infertility sucks. I know cuz I’ve struggled with it for almost a decade. This week is National Infertility Awareness Week, and we need to talk openly about this issue. If you’re going through it, you’re not alone. ❤️ An article I wrote in @cenmag in 2016: https://t.co/klItZt0p7S

— Linda Wang_C&EN (@l_wang_cen) April 23, 2019

Here are some blogs and stories that I found really helpful for myself.

THE DIET
http://www.bubblesandbumps.com/my-30-day-ivf-diet/
RISKS, SIDE-EFFECTS, DELAYS
http://www.whitneyanderick.com/a-real-life-guide-to-mild-and-moderate-ovarian-hyperstimulation-syndrome-ohss/
TO DO GENETIC TESTING (OR NOT)
http://iamrefusingtosink.weebly.com/why-you-must-test-your-embryos-my-story-of-regret.html
https://meetthehopefuls.com/2015/08/20/ivf-2-cycle-update-and-pgs-results/
THE TWO WEEK WAIT
http://withgreatexpectation.com/ivf/sample-meal-plan-two-week-wait/
THE JOURNEY
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/my-ivf-life

We've broken many of these pieces of advice, but I did find many of "The Egg Whisperer" videos to be calming and reassuring. Thank you Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh for keeping it real, I love your videos.

Candace Farris is a bright shining light and I am so grateful for her videos. She found very few resources within the minority community, so she decided to start putting herself out there.

We survived Easter (the stress of seeing family, meeting expectations) and every time someone else ate a piece of carrot cake, I ate a roasted chicken breast. Happy Ishtar!

Fertility Part 8

We have been on The IVF Diet for 10 days now, today is day 11. It has been a physical and emotional challenge to keep up with the rigor of meal preparation. I am literally exhausted. I work, rest, cook, eat and repeat.

coconut porridge with raspberry compote and bee pollen sprinkle

Some meals appear twice or three times in the two week cleanse program, others do not. The porridge above is scheduled for Week 1: Day 2 as well as Week 1: Day 6. The first time, I didn't serve it with the raspberries or bee pollen. The compote takes time to make, and for Day 2 we ate in our office at work, so it was too labor intensive to do. The bee pollen I consider an "exotic" ingredient that I didn't find until the end of week 1. We rounded out the ingredients by visiting The Vitamin Shoppe, where we found: bee pollen, spirulina powder, omega 3 oil, and inositol powder.

lentil salad with lemon tahini dressing

roasted root vegetables: sweet potato, parsnip, carrot, beetroot

It was good to make the roasted root vegetables on the weekend (Week 1: Day 6), since they took some time to prepare. Then, those vegetables were used in a frittata the following morning (Week 1: Day 7). If I remember correctly, we finished them for lunch a few days later (Week 2: Day 2). We had some superb heirloom cherry tomatoes, which were used in a variety of dishes.

salmon niçoise salad

I didn't realize it was easy to steam salmon fillets until we made this niçoise salad (Week 1: Day 7). We've gone through so many lemons, making the dressing for all the salads. We had one package of green beans that were in a "steam-in-the-bag" packaging, which made it possible to prepare this salad at work (Week 2: Day 2) where we only have a microwave. On that day we substituted tuna for salmon, which tasted OK but I realized later that salmon is preferred because tuna tends to bioaccumulate mercury.

supergreen flapjack seed bars (8)

After finding the spirulina powder, I made a tray of these date-based bars. They taste actually quite sweet. They have lots of nuts (pumpkin seeds, walnuts, peanut butter) as well as oatmeal and dried cranberries. Added protein powder gives them 3g protein per serving and 20g carbs. I plan to do some calculations based on our grocery bills to determine whether all this effort is saving us money or not. I also made some chocolate protein bars which have 7.5g protein and 19g carbs.

brown rice with red onion and spinach

baked "sea bass" with salsa verde

On some dishes, we are still making compromises. Above was supposed to be a "red rice" with pomegranate (Week 1: Day 7). Unfortunately, pomegranates are a fall/winter crop and are not available in this time of year. It was supposed to have feta cheese, but I forgot to buy it at the store. The toasted pistachios were good though. I saw sea bass at the farmer's market for $34 / lb, and I didn't buy it. The dish above (Week 2: Day 3) used cod instead. Also, I substituted celery leaves for the parsley in the salsa verde.

roast chicken with steamed asparagus 

miso glazed cod with sesame seeds and steamed broccoli

I think you can see that most of these dishes are very colorful. I guess I was too tired to take a photo of one dish that we really enjoyed: fish tagine. The roast chicken (Week 1: Day 6) was pretty easy and tasted really good. We ended up eating the leftover chicken (Week 2: Day 1) for lunch the following week. We couldn't find miso paste, so I bought miso broth and reduced it to make the glazed cod (Week 2: Day 1). We weren't able to make the baked eggs in avocado (Week 2: Day 3) again because of the constraints of being at work.

Today we're having jerk veggie burgers with celeriac slaw and salad for lunch (Week 2: Day 4). As I said, I'm exhausted. Last night I did the meal prep for today's lunch as well as last night's dinner and tomorrow's snack (dreamy salt and vinegar kale crisps). I started writing this post, partly to keep up with what we've been doing, and partly to vent about my feelings. I feel like this diet is something important to do to get my body ready for pregnancy.

During this past month, I've weighed myself nearly every day. This greater than 25% protein, less than 40% carb diet seems to be working to help me shed some pounds. I read that for extremely obese people like myself, it can be beneficial to lose even just 15 pounds before embryo transfer, so that's what I'm aiming for. Dear husband is concerned that this diet isn't sustainable. I kind of agree. It depends on what's motivating a person, and how dedicated they are to that motivating factor. 

It has been great to have dear husband helping out in the kitchen and grocery store to make this two week cleanse come into reality. He has stated that he is giving up on Week 2: Day 6 since we plan to go out to Riverside for Easter weekend to be with family. I'm sad, and I don't know in what capacity we will continue applying the principles of the IVF diet going forward. I'm trying to remain in gratitude for what we've learned thus far. I'm trying to avoid going into fear-mode for what we will face next.

The clue app is predicting maximum PMS for tomorrow, so maybe that's why I'm feeling sensitive today. We'll see how it goes, but it seems for now that my next cycle will start April 26th and the one after that will start May 23rd (which is after I will have grades turned in). The end-of-may cycle is likely when we will start the next phase of our treatment (stimulating the uterine lining with estrogen and progesterone). That's only 5 weeks away, so wish me luck on my goal of losing that 15 lbs.

Fertility Part 3

I would like to rewind and press play again on some other aspects of this fertility journey. I want to share with you what I ended up eating, because my appetite changed dramatically. I read some good advice, after my egg retrieval, that it is a good idea to stock up on items you will need BEFORE the procedure. Also get the laundry done and have lots of clean comfy clothes and clean sheets for your bed rest. I did some of this, but now we're out of clean clothes and I'm still not supposed to be lifting anything over 10 pounds for another week or so while my ovaries calm down.

We were told to "eat healthy" and "no exercise" which is why on Wednesday and Thursday (March 6-7) I enjoyed my last CSUN CTBF workout followed by an egg McMuffin and regular cheeseburger for dinner. I have been using MyFitnessPal diet tracking app, which recommends 50% of your diet in the form of carbohydrates, 30% fat and 20% protein. I had been struggling to get enough protein and I was almost always getting too much fat. So let's remember that my DAY 1 = Thursday, March 7th.

Dear husband and I both agreed that this process became primary focus in our daily lives. Thank goodness I have been on Spring Break since DAY 10. I'm at work today, trying to ease back into it. I haven't had any coffee yet and I will try to stay off of it since we don't know when we'll go for implantation. There were so many things to remember to do each day, not listed in my meal plan below are the vitamins. My LabCorp results indicated that I was Vitamin D insufficient so I started taking 2000 IU at two separate meals, in addition to the 400 IU included in my prenatal vitamin. I also take DHA/EPA softgels.

Vitamin D-3

During the first week of March, I decreased my carbs and fat to 46% and 32% respectively, and increased my protein to 22%. During the second week of March, I decreased my carbs and fat to 35% and 39% respectively, and increased my protein to 26%. The third week of March, my carbs and fat were 37% and 38% respectively, and increased my protein to 25%. I am targeting these numbers based on a study finding that when women's daily protein intake was 25% or more (of all food eaten) and whose carbohydrate intake was 40% or less, they achieved four times the pregnancy rates of patients who ate less protein and more carbs daily before and during IVF cycle.

It started off innocently, and unintentionally. I didn't even read about that study until March 17th. It started off with a craving for Think Thin bars (20g protein, 0g sugar). At first I made fun of them but after getting used to it, I really started to enjoy those for breakfast (March 5, 6 and 7). On March 6th I went by myself to Rite Aid and bought Vitamin D 1000 IU pills, four cans of B4Y coconut water, and six GNC Total Lean shakes (25g protein, 2g sugar). I settled on that brand of shake because it had some whey protein, and it said on the label gluten free, lactose free and low-carb friendly. Turns out it was made with lactase enzyme in it so although it did contain milk, it was digestible for me. So then I felt ready.

Other protein sources that I utilized included Pure Protein bar (20g protein, 2g sugar) and Rx bar (12g protein, 0g sugar). I had already had Garden of Life (28g protein). My sister let me know that Whey protein has leucine and Garden of Life does not.

leucine

We went to Von's grocery store on March 12th, Whole Foods grocery store on March 13th, the Matador Mercado on March 14th. We went to the Encino Farmer's Market on March 17th to pick up avocados, apples, salad, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. We finally got around to Trader Joe's on March 17th to pick up the Whey protein, some coconut water, salt-free raw nuts, frozen fish, almond milk and vegetable juice to help me during my recovery days.

We had some Pedialyte in the fridge leftover from some time when we were sick, so I started drinking that around day 8. The Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) prevention instructions from the doctor recommended low sugar and to include coconut water and vegetable juice specifically. I tried drinking Gatorade one day and it just had too much sugar. The Trader Joe's low sodium Garden Patch juice is actually really good.

Importantly, I was instructed to take in 3 Liters of water per day. I found it handy to have two 500 mL bottles and I knew that if I drank them three times then I was getting my fluids. It is annoying to have to get up and pee every 45 minutes, but I would rather be flushing everything out of my system than sitting in a puddle of toxins. The instructions also noted that I should be weighing myself every day and call the doctor right away if my weight fluctuates 5-10 pounds (gained) over 1-2 days.

DAY 1
breakfast Think Thin Bar, Coffee with Creamer (2 cups)
lunch Flatbread, Turkey, Colby Jack Cheese
dinner Egg McMuffin, classic cheeseburger

DAY 2
breakfast raw almonds, oatmeal, raisins, Coffee with Creamer (2 cups)
lunch reduced fat Triscuit, Turkey, string cheese
dinner grilled chicken salad (IHOP) + 2 scrambled eggs

DAY 3
breakfast yogurt, banana, English muffin, peanut butter, 2 egg whites, Coffee with Creamer (2 cups)
lunch grilled chicken, vegetables, 2 oatmeal cookies, cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberry, grapes
dinner spaghetti with meatballs and fresh steamed broccoli with mizithra cheese

DAY 4
breakfast yogurt, cantaloupe, honeydew, biscuits, gravy, Coffee with Creamer (2 cups)
lunch oat bread, peanut butter, strawberry jam, 2 oatmeal cookies
dinner lentils and sausage

DAY 5
breakfast burrito with potatoes, egg and cheese
lunch Coffee with Creamer (2 cups)
dinner roasted cauliflower, roasted sweet potato cubes, boiled chicken breast

DAY 6
breakfast Pure Protein Bar, Coffee with Creamer (1 cup), Triscuit, Lemon Zest Luna Bar
lunch pupusa with pork and black beans and cheese, cole slaw with salsa
dinner chicken tortilla soup (chicken breast, black beans, corn) with avocado

DAY 7
breakfast Pure Protein Bar, Coffee with Creamer (1 cup)
lunch egg salad, green salad with peas, beef meatloaf
dinner chicken tortilla soup, avocado, roasted carrots, braised red cabbage

DAY 8
breakfast Rx bar, Coffee with Creamer (1 cup)
lunch firm tofu, steamed broccoli, chicken breast, candied pecans, arugula salad, quinoa, cucumber, tangerines, raw almonds
dinner coconut water, Pedialyte, Total Lean shake, braised red cabbage, white fish, 1 egg

DAY 9
breakfast Think Thin Bar, Total Lean shake, Coffee with Creamer (1 cup)
lunch apple with peanut butter, 2 hard boiled eggs
dinner Total Lean shake, kale salad, avocado, coconut water

DAY 10
breakfast Total Lean shake, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 stuffed grape leaf, quinoa, barley, mixed vegetables steamed, Pedialyte, beef meatloaf. This is the first day I tried drinking herbal tea instead of coffee.
lunch southwest chicken salad (half), soy milk, Garden of Life protein powder
dinner southwest chicken salad (half), edamame, cherry tomatoes

TRIGGER DAY
breakfast 2 hard boiled eggs, walnuts, Total Lean shake
lunch chicken southwest salad, coconut water, blueberries
dinner beef and black beans with turkey sausage

DAY 12
breakfast Total Lean shake, 2 hard boiled eggs
lunch lamb gyro meat, green salad, grilled zucchini, white fish, babaganoush, 4 stuffed grape leaves
dinner Pedialyte, Whey protein, almond milk

RETRIEVAL DAY
breakfast Whey protein, almond milk, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 small avocado
lunch beef and black beans with turkey sausage
dinner chicken, cole slaw, mixed greens, garden patch juice, apple, coconut water

DAY 14
breakfast coconut water, Whey protein, almond milk, 2 hard boiled eggs, apple, walnuts
lunch chicken, cole slaw, mixed greens, Gatorade, garden patch juice
dinner Whey protein, almond milk, 2 hard boiled eggs, blueberries, 1 small avocado

DAY 15
breakfast Whey protein, almond milk, 2 hard boiled eggs, apple, walnuts
lunch beef and black beans with turkey sausage, garden patch juice, coconut water
dinner Whey protein, almond milk, egg salad, roasted Brussels sprouts

DAY 16
breakfast Whey protein, almond milk, blueberries, oatmeal, yogurt
lunch egg salad, mixed greens, chickpeas, almonds, coconut water
dinner salmon and steamed broccoli

One of the side-effects of the hormones reported was constipation, but I didn't experience that. I tend to include a good amount of fiber in my diet, so maybe that's why it wasn't an issue for me. Some people said "don't eat cold food" or "don't eat raw vegetables" but I think the most important piece of advice is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY and when I did, I ended up eating exactly the right stuff.

That's all I can share with you because Day 16 is actually today! I mentioned in a previous post that I was feeling so good when I was on Follistim and Menopur. It was like walking on a cloud. Also my appetite was like, normal. I wanted to eat only healthy food. It was easy to eat a bit and then stop eating. Now, I'm back to myself. Hungry as a hippo. Short-tempered. Anxious. I wonder how I will be feeling on the pregnancy hormones...

Blended Learning

In the last two years, I've had some ideas about "microlearning" and "personalized learning" as well as aligning all content to "global objectives" and I'm using the technology at hand to move in the direction of implementation. But the road is rough and fraught with danger!

Based on my experience of attempting a flipped classroom last semester, this semester I'm going back towards an interactive lecture model with some new features. I had been using Poll Everywhere to assess student knowledge and then deliver minilessons according to whether it was needed or not. As I understand it, this is referred to as "Just in time teaching" or JITT. 

To deliver the content (assigned reading, interactive tools) to the palm of student's hands, I have set up the "Remind" app. The day's content and related materials are deposited into "Wakelet" and then the link to that wake is pushed out via text message and email using Remind. There are some flashcards on "Quizlet" and I hope to stream & record lectures on "Zoom."

I had the great fortune of attending the seminar of Dr. Fiorella Terenzi, FIU professor of physics and astronomy, who converted her GE science course into a performance called "Let's Get Astrophysical!" She converted light from stars into sound. Then she programmed a keyboard with all the space sounds. Her students spend the semester doing the costumes, set design and choreography for this show. That's how she gets her students active. She's on sabbatical this semester here in California and teaching the course at CSU Channel Islands. They're doing a performance the first weekend of May and you can bet I will be there.

Speaking of performances, I was reading the Drag Race board on Reddit and someone posted a link to this video. I found it particularly refreshing. Dr. Terenzi spoke about how she blended music, art and fashion with biology, chemistry, geology and astrophysics. She described how during her graduate work she took great pains to look as plain as possible. Now, late in her career, she can finally let her hair down and have the confidence to be herself. She acknowledged that she serves as a  powerful role model for the women in her physics class. She said, "they look at me - I set them free." Now she doesn't have to stress to "fit in."

Brave warriors!

Intelligent, intuitive, nurturing

Tenacious, persisting

Creative, juggling schedules

Honest, ready to elevate self and others through collaboration and reflection.

Of the most interesting nuggets of wisdom Dr. Terenzi shared with us were that she got to where she is now by consistent, slow progress over the course of 18 years. She has worked her way up to an administrator at the college level, so that helps her make changes. Also she is motivated by the fact that "If you don't engage [students] they'll leave, sleep or drop the class."

I asked her if she had anything to share about installations in museums. She advised for kindergarten age, keep it simple and beautiful. Her work was a piano like in the movie "Big" where if a kid jumped on a square it would make the sound and display an image of a pulsar for example.

For high school age, she emphasized that it is essential to help people find a "home" in science. The performance art she creates is intersectional so that a science major with artistic aspirations can feel a sense of belonging. They engage in merchandising, marketing, styling. It's instagrammable artistic expression of science. She is "promoting a collaborative mind." The stars have their own unique voice and language, so it is an activity that promotes inclusion. She tells her students, "Your Ideas Matter. Every Idea is Important. If we don't have ideas - as a society - where do we go?"

Victory for Safe Streets

I could do with a longer holiday break. If I had to go back to work next week, I could. But I don't want to. Luckily, there are still two more weeks.

The problem is that there were a litany of action items that I wanted to work on over the break. Maybe it would be helpful to write out an exhaustive list below:

clean the closets
clean the garage
create some paintings
do some sewing
tie-dye some fabric
go for walks/bike rides
go swimming
lift weights @ home
lift weights @ gym
do some sit-ups
dance @ the disco
rollerskate
hang out with friends
hang out with family
shop for a new laptop
plan for classes
write reflective reports
write a scientific paper
write poster for a meeting

Some of this we did. Some of this will not get done. With only two weeks left, I have to be strategic.

Yesterday, we went to a meeting of Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils where a few people had tried to pass a motion with the following text

Meeting of 12/01/18 WHEREAS, after two and a half years it is clear that traffic calming modifications to highways, roads, and streets within the City of Los Angeles, as being imposed under the city’s Vision Zero initiative, are public safety hazards, WHEREAS, such traffic calming measures include, but are not limited to, “road diets,” which involve narrowing roadways, replacing traffic lanes with bicycle lanes, and installing physical barriers, WHEREAS, these traffic calming measures pose a litany of safety, health, and environmental hazards, including but not limited to: Violations of state, county, and municipal fire codes as well as California case law, including but not limited to: Sections 503.4 & 503.4.1 of the California Fire Code; Section 21101 of the California Vehicle Code; Sections 503.4 & 503.4.1 of the Los Angeles County Health and Safety Code; Sections 57.503 of the Los Angeles Code of Ordinances; and City of Hawaiian Gardens v. City of Long Beach (2d Dist. 1998) 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 134. Increased emergency response times as a result of impeded fire apparatus access roads; Dangerously narrowed emergency evacuation routes; Increased emissions due to cars idling and stopping-and-starting; Increased pedestrian fatalities and overall accidents, according to the city’s own statistics and available California Highway Patrol data; and Violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the LANCC demands that the city enforce the laws and within 30 days of our demand to start the process to remove all traffic calming measures, including but, not limited to road diets, from: Current and former state highways; Designated emergency evacuation routes; Thoroughfares that qualify as “regionally significant streets or highways”; All thoroughfares that have seen an increase in accidents since July 2015; and All thoroughfares with two or more lanes of travel in both directions. with a presentation by Chris LeGras, Keep LA Moving

Thanks to the efforts which I suspect went on behind the scenes the language that was officially adopted is the following:

Meeting of 01/05/19 The Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition (LANCC) (XXXXXX Neighborhood Council) takes the position that there shall be no blanket prohibition of road diets or other road calming measures. Communities that will be impacted with a potential road diet or other road calming measure, including neighborhood councils, shall be consulted extensively about public safety and other important issues both before the road diet is proposed and after it is implemented. where a presentation by Aneesa Andrabi and Wajenda Chambeshi, Great Streets did not happen

I'm not saying that it was any action on my part that precipitated this shift, but I'm super happy about it. A few observations from the meeting are that there was:

lack of engagement (only 15 votes from 96 councils) 

lack of representation (few women and people of color in the room)

lack of information (people struggled to define the terms "equity" “road diet" and "traffic calming")
That's like saying the opinion of 3 people represents the opinion of 20 people. I think it's particularly pathetic that a group of old white men thought that they could remove and prevent future safety infrastructure. The majority of traffic deaths are happening in neighborhoods of color.

3. Here they are overlaid on one another: the overwhelming majority of pedestrian deaths are taking place in formerly redlined neighborhoods. pic.twitter.com/4merNp8DII

— LA Bike Dad (@LA_Bike_Dad) January 4, 2019

This is definitely something to consider.

7. Are our actions going to show that we value those lives more than we did in past? @bikinginla @lacbc @LosAngelesWalks @laura_nelson @StreetsblogLA @LADOTofficial @VisionZeroLA @gilcedillocd1 @KeepRowenaSafe

— LA Bike Dad (@LA_Bike_Dad) January 4, 2019

Beat the Blues week 2018

This week at CSUN is all about mental health awareness, anxiety and depression. Our students reported factors affecting their academic performance include:

1. Stress 
2. Anxiety 
3. Sleep difficulties 
4. Work 
5. Depression 

The American College Health Association National College Health Assessment II (click here to read the entire ACHA-NCHA II Report) supports the delivery of health care and prevention and wellness services for the nation's 20 million college students. The data is collected every 8 years, starting in the year 2000 (Y2K).

One of the cool events we heard (the barking) was a bunch of therapy dogs on campus. I feel so grateful that I have a personal therapy dog waiting at home for me at the end of every day.

A couple of healthy strategies for me that have been working are:

1. gratitude
2. asking for help

I've written about the struggle for work/life balance in this blog from 2009 when I was about midway through my PhD to 2012 when I was a newly-defended PhD. I documented tales from the "teaching postdoc" at the Claremont Colleges in 2013 and my transition to CSUN in 2015.

2018 has been a great year. I have so much to be thankful for. I was just tracking what we've accomplished with our nonprofit, Bikecar101 this year. It's interesting how we incorporated in 2014 and we are still pushing the active transportation conversation in Los Angeles.

I love my Faculty Development colleagues. I have grown so much as a teacher in the past several years. This blog has allowed me to look back at my thoughts and feelings about a teaching philosophy and finding my place in academia as a part-time lecturer, and I've come a long way.

Commit to be fit family #CSUN60 pic.twitter.com/R9JcJFS2vk

— Dr. Kayla A. Kaiser (@hamerk02) October 13, 2018

We've spent some time in the gym, working on our fitness. I used MyFitnessPal to track the foods I was eating to find some balance in the nutrition department. I certainly am not an avid runner as I once was, but through our Commit To Be Fit (CTBF) family, we are starting to run again.

I have found some time for rollerskating at Skateland and Moonlight Rollerway. What the skating does for my body is lets me release all the tension in my neck and shoulders. I love the music and the good vibes that I get from the other skaters. I'm not a great skater, but I enjoy it.

Right now, I'm writing about mental health because it's been a month of ups and downs. At the beginning of November I was so overwhelmed that I made a TO DO list with 26 action items. Then I obsessed for a while about how I could ever possibly get all those things done.

Reviewing that list gives me some sense of peace because even though I added more tasks, totaling 35 action items, I've crossed off all but 9 of them. The reason I made the list is that I was just doing one task after another and NOT doing the most urgent items first.

With all the tasks listed in no particular order, it allowed me to prioritize and start getting stuff done. So in conclusion, that's how I Beat the Blues. Being as this is my Thanksgiving blog, I am grateful for all the people (and pets) in my life that support me physically, professionally and psychologically.

September to Remember

I am running a bit tired today and I thought... what could cheer me up? So I came to write a quick blog post about September and thought of this song~~~~


I really need to go rollerskating. I miss my rollerdiscoboogielife.

Since school has started, I've been reading "Becoming Nicole" and I was really looking forward to attending the "New Student Convocation" because Nicole Maines was the keynote speaker.

The event was slightly ruined by a group protesting EO1100. There are reasons why the CSU is having difficulty graduating 100% of incoming students. Some people believe that our students are taking unnecessary courses. Some of those courses include remedial math and remedial writing classes. Some of those courses include Africana studies, American Indian studies, Asian-American studies, Central American studies and gender and women’s studies. The instructors who teach those courses would see their enrollment drop (and job cuts) if students are no longer required to take those courses.

I'm sad that people don't graduate. I'm sad that Nicole's keynote was overshadowed by a group of angry people. I'm sad that students are coming to a university that is not able to eliminate opportunity and achievement gaps. I'm sad that people are going to be losing their part-time teaching jobs. It's a complicated issue.

EO1110 retires the placement tests in math and English, instead focusing on offering non-remedial courses only. Our department is filling our classes to the fire code limit to balance the budget because our department gets a certain amount of money per enrolled student, but... How does a packed and uncomfortable classroom support student retention and success? Sometimes I feel like the CSU-level initiatives and what our department does are in direct conflict.

Someone mentioned that their son is studying GIS. I got jealous. I have to get ready for class now. I'm trying lots of new ways to use technology in the classroom. I can't say if any of it is working yet.

Bold and Sassy

Dear Students,

Stop trying to be nice.  "Nice" doesn't ensure you understand the material.  "Polite" means that you don't interrupt the professor when you need more help to understand what we're talking about.  "Gentle" means that you shy away from contributing to the group in discussion.  "Kind" means letting everyone else speak first, and then feeling relieved when the class time is up and you haven't had to say anything.  Being a "good listener" isn't the same as synthesizing your own concept and communicating it to others; one is passive and the other is active.

When I'm tough on you, I expect you to be tough on me right back.  By pushing each other to be better than we were before, we can both improve ourselves.  If we both sit back (at rest) and shrink away from opportunities for personal growth (goal-setting and taking on new challenges) then we run the risk of slipping further into ignorance and decay.

An expert in the field of research on shyness, Bernardo J. Carducci, writes about stereotypes of masculine and feminine traits in his college-level textbook The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications.  I see both men and women in my courses being too shy to "bother" me with questions.  I felt that way many times, too.  When I was a student, I didn't go to the professor's office hours because I knew that professors are "busy" people and I didn't think they had time to help me with my learning.

I have noticed that shyness tends to be more pronounced in women, but it is also associated with cultural norms that are independent of gender.  Carducci explains Social-Cognitive Theory: that identity occurs through the process of a child observing what others are doing, receiving instructions from others regarding what is appropriate behavior, receiving reinforcement when such behavior is performed, and learning to self-regulate the expression of appropriate behavior in order to receive such reinforcement (p. 507).

I say -- TO HELL WITH THAT!  You gotta break the mold.  Rise to the occasion of being evaluated. Stop being "modest" and get focused on ACHIEVEMENT.  Think positively.  Aim high.  Know your worth.  Know that you are capable of achieving anything you seriously and wholeheartedly put your mind to.  Even if nobody you know has done it.  There's a first time for everything.  

Research shows that cultural factors account for gender differences in career advancement, leading to what is called the "paradox of achievement." Although women score higher in verbal ability, most critically acclaimed writers are men.  Those women writers who become well-known are unmarried, childless, and well-to-do... meaning that they focus all their attention on becoming better writers rather than falling prey to societal expectations of motherhood and caregiving. 

As for mathematical ability, males are treated differently in school.  Teachers encourage men's abilities and interest in mathematics.  The same could be said for racial and ethnic groups. Prevailing viewpoints (stereotypes) held by teachers that one group has more or less potential than another is going to hurt the group that is thought of as having less innate ability.  This is unfair.  THERE ARE NO GENDER (OR ETHNIC) DIFFERENCES ON MEASURES OF GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. We all have equal potential.  AND I would add that it's not too late to start changing YOUR behavior right now.  Your future success will be the positive reinforcement you need to continue personal growth in a new direction.

Consider selecting a few traits from the "Masculine" column of Table 12.2 (above).  

• Aggressive
• Competitive
• Decisive
• Independent
• Never gives up
• Nonconforming
• Stands up to pressure
• Tough/Coarse

Try it on for a week.  "ACT AS IF THAT IS YOU" until you master the behavior so that it becomes second nature.  Forget trying to be "nice" and GET CRITICAL. (Braxton, John M. Influences on College Student Learning: Special Issue of Peabody Journal of Education, 2003) You're not going to get happy faces drawn on all your papers, nor should you.  If everything were perfect and you already knew the material, you wouldn't be in a university.  You need to shatter your world-view in order to transform yourself. It's a metamorphosis. The meek and mild earth-bound caterpillar must give way to a fierce and beautiful soaring butterfly.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kaiser

in-service

The last few weeks have been busy! I'm feeling like I've reached the slide into finals week. Or maybe I'm still in push towards finals week. Either way April has been blossoming with activity. I'll be participating in a summer eLearning institute to address achievement gaps in CHEM 100, so I've been gearing up for that. On a related note, this upcoming week, I'm having training on TopHat.

Love being a part of #VARJAM Demonstration Showcase at #CSUN @CSUNVAR https://t.co/LekDO9ZwHA @csunportfolium I ❤ all the student work!

— Kayla A. Kaiser (@hamerk02) April 7, 2017

https://t.co/J4FK1QKXRV

— Kayla A. Kaiser (@hamerk02) April 7, 2017

#CSUN students generate 400 Watts with a 🚲 @csunas Earth Fair 2017 #science #earthday #energy #conservation #awareness #work #stem #maker pic.twitter.com/YibD3BDEGf

— bikecar101 (@bikecar101) April 14, 2017

Preserving apples, measuring starch in foods, layering liquids by density, making seed bombs @ACSUndergrad #EarthDay https://t.co/DFnpsiZlPa pic.twitter.com/xiS5LUPGcV

— CSUN ChemClub (@CSUNchemclub) April 21, 2017

#sciencemarch #resist #EarthDay #mydayinla

A post shared by Kayla Kaiser (@hamerk02) on Apr 22, 2017 at 12:56pm PDT

Going Greyhound

Going Greyhound to the ACS meeting was a risk, I was warned.  Everything people suggested was true.  The bus depot in downtown LA was surrounded by crack dealers.  The electrical outlets and the toilet on the bus (on the way up) were out of order.  When the electrical outlets and toilet were working (on the way back) we were delayed 2 hours (in the middle of the night) so that we arrived to LA right when morning rush hour was in full effect.

Arriving in downtown San Francisco at 5:30am was kind of strange, but a brisk walk along the Embarcadero was just what I needed after the bus ride up.  I had a fantastic breakfast at Mel's Drive-In on Mission St.

Listening to talks all morning in Marriott Marquis level B2 (the lower basement) with no wifi was awesome, but when I came up to level B1 to send a few tweets, I ran into these Matadors!

The Sunday evening poster session was great!  I got to meet some new people and exchange ideas.  It was a lot of traveling for that one moment, but I'm really happy I got the opportunity to go.  Formalizing your ideas in writing (by a poster or slide presentation) is so good.

I enjoyed wearing the Alpaca scarf my husband gave me at the last minute.  I didn't enjoy wearing the Cole Haan saddle shoes that seemed sensible but always give me a blister.  I walked 16,000 steps that day.  The Greyhound cost around $81 but since it was late, I had to take a $40 Uber to get to campus on time to teach my Monday classes.  Still cheaper than Amtrak!

Another Chemistry Lesson

Many times, I've done a "Smell-a-Vision" lesson with my students based on GC-MS data on terpenes from citrus fruits, herbs, and flowers collected from around campus.  This year, I plan to use Mr. Sketch markers as a source of the aromas.  Students will be given either percent composition or combustion analysis data, together with the molecular weight, and asked to determine empirical and molecular formulas.

The implementation could have been smoother, it was really difficult to hand out 36 markers of different aroma and the corresponding papers.  If I had to do this activity again, I would have spent more time preparing the markers and papers (already matched up) and had a corresponding seating chart (plan to distribute).  With a class of ~80 students, there were pairs and groups of 3.  I ended up taking about 15 minutes to distribute the activity which only left 5 minutes for students to work on the problems.  I made it a take-home extra-credit assignment, so there's no telling how students will get the problem solved.

Rink Rat

Skating is my new addiction.  It came to me this summer that I wanted a reward, and what better way to feel good than to go zooming around on 8 wheels?  I live 0.6 miles from Moonlight Rollerway, so it's crazy I didn't start frequenting it sooner.

Remembering the days of my childhood, I knew what I had to do: Find a "play it again sports" and get a pair of used skates.  I went to the location in Sherman Oaks first.  Although they had a bunch of great fitness equipment, I didn't see or try on any skates that got me excited.  Then I tried the location in Pasadena.  I found the skates pictured above in perfect condition.  They're a size 10 and I generally wear a size 9 in shoes, but hey I could wear thicker socks.  Or just tighten the laces.

Skate rental at Moonlight is $5 and I got the skates for $50 so I only needed to use them 10 times for the purchase to make up for itself.  I'm proud to say I've skated 11 times already.

The boots of my skates are Riedell, which has been making figure, speed, in-line and roller skates since the 1940s. The wheels are Powell, a Stanford-educated engineer who started making his own wheels in the 1970s.  He's associated with skateboarding more than rollerskating.  But I think it's cool that the skates I eventually settled on are so infused with skating history.  Also, I might put a pom-pom on there (that's what the chain is there for).

From Bloglovin' The nostalgic building that houses Moonlight Rollerway was built in the 1940’s and before Harry’s Roller Rink opened there in 1956, it was used to make airplane parts for the great war. The skating floor is the original Harry’s maple flooring, “with no nails all tongue and groove”– it’s basically a living artifact of 20th century American leisure.

I'm getting my skating muscles back, practicing starts and stops by doing "Red Light, Green Light" and practicing turns by doing the "Hokey Pokey" and practicing skating backwards during the "Beginner and Intermediate Backwards Skate."  I might eventually try this type of skate dancing.  There's so much talent at Moonlight.

Monday - adult night - [not yet]

Tuesday - adult class + live organ music - 9/13, 9/20, 9/27

Wednesday - skate dancing class + rainbow night - 8/17, 10/19

Thursday - roller derby practice + throwback music - 8/25

Friday - all ages afternoon - 9/9, 10/21

Saturday - all ages afternoon + evening session - 9/24

Sunday - all ages afternoon + family night - 7/31, 10/2

Clearly, live organ music is my favorite night~!  It's not crowded.  The video above shows the ambiance of that night.  Really good skaters come out, too.  Someday I want to go skating in Northridge.  Rainbow Night is so indescribably amazing, you have to experience it for yourself.  It's like an aerobics class, where everyone's REALLY INTO IT.  At some point, the fog machines start blowing and the lights dim and people really let go of their inhibitions.

I don't remember too much about Thursday, except to say that the derby girls scare me.  They train hard, skate low to the ground, and circle for hours.  Maybe it scares me because I'm interested in it, but maybe it scares me because I hear that they get pretty severe life-changing injuries.  Friday (all ages) skate is mostly kids.  But as long as you don't run them over, it's fun.  The kiddos had a meltdown when the Jacob Sartorius - Sweatshirt song came on.  It was like the Beatles!

Our neighbor offered to sew me something one time, and the pattern I picked out was for a skating dress.  She said "I don't need a pattern to make you a circle skirt."  Well, she never sewed the skirt, but now that I have my sewing machine out, I can make it for myself!  I can see why people like skating in dresses or short skirts, skating really gets your muscles working.  I've noticed my booty has lifted in the past several months.  I attribute it to skating.

I was walking home from the rink last night and snapped the shadow picture above.  The sun was setting and it struck me that I could see a cool shadow of me and my skates.  A few blocks later, a Jeep slowed down next to me and yelled something out the window.  I pretended not to hear it, but the driver was so persistent.  He didn't pull forward to the stop sign, instead yelling again: "It's hot that you skate."

I don't particularly love being yelled at by passing cars, it makes me feel unsafe, but I think the truth is that active transportation is hot.  It's awesome to walk around, take the bus, skate through CicLAvia, bike LA, it's all hot.  I will definitely get my skates on for Glendale meets Atwater Village (Spring 2017).  I'll make a follow-up post about CicLAvia-Heart of LA in October.  But what I want to say is that getting active is attractive.  Moving gets you feeling good, and that's hot!

smog > smug

This summer, I've been driving to work.  I hate it.  I realized that when I bike to work, I feel smug about it because I feel like I am personally improving the air quality.

With the current wildfires in Santa Clarita, there is a considerable amount of particulate matter in the air.  Several biking events (626 Golden Streets, the Tour de Laemmle) have been postponed due to poor air quality.  It's one thing to blame the air quality on wildfires, but the truth is that there are many things we all do on a day-to-day basis that generate particulate matter.

Particulate matter affects human health, leading to asthma and chronic bronchitis.  Sources of particulate matter that we can eliminate include: agricultural (leafblowers) or construction activities which liberate mineral dust, combustion of fossil fuels and biofuels, electricity generation (via coal and natural gas).

Smog is visible air pollution made up of NOx, SOx, ozone, smoke or particulates.  The air quality in Los Angeles County is pretty bad year-round but we really notice it when we can see how bad it is. Lately, all you need to do is look up in the sky.  Angelinos have been asking each other, "are those clouds or just smoke?"

Surprisingly, two sources of indoor particulates are hair dryers and curling irons.  Our vanity might be making us sick.  I had heard that clothing dryers were a major source of particulates in the home, but it turns out that hair dryers and curling irons are 17 times worse than a clothes dryer.  The other major source of indoor particulates is cooking.  Spending time in a restaurant is almost 7 times worse than sitting in traffic on the freeway.

Yesterday we had the great opportunity to attend LA Rooted Youth Organizer Led Art Exhibit: Movement for the Earth.  It really got me thinking about how to: Masticate, rely on Ancestral wisdom, be Intentional, and aim for Zero-waste (MAIZ).  We had a great time biking to the event and the themes presented by the youth really resonated with me.

When possible, I will get back to biking to work.  And I'll try to be less smug about it.

Tiny House Realness

I was thinking about my tiny house today.  I was thinking about hiring some help for some spring cleaning.  Even though it's small, I really hate cleaning house.  The good thing is that there's hardly any carpet to vacuum.  The bad thing is that there's hardly any way to "put things away" in order to clean since there's hardly any space to hide things.

I found this website http://planner.roomsketcher.com/ that I used to make a mock-up of our house. The first house I drew looked lovely with all our furniture in it.  Then I calculated the area of my drawing and found it was 680 sq ft.

680 sq ft = too big

So then I started moving things around and trying to reduce the size of the floor plan.  I got it down to 500 sq ft.  I also added a few other key pieces of furniture that were missing in the first drawing.

500 sq ft = still too big

But our house is actually listed at 372 sq ft so I had to keep moving everything closer together to more accurately reflect the actual size of the home.

380 sq ft = closer to the true size

Now this is more of a true picture of what I'm living in with my husband and dog, Edna Jo.  When I watch the "tiny house" reality TV shows, I laugh at the people who are trying to consolidate their lives from 4000 sq ft into a tiny house.  They really have no idea what's coming.

I was considering taking you on an actual tour of our house, but as I said in the first paragraph, it's really messy right now.  Looking at the renderings from the roomsketcher is encouraging though because it shows me how it COULD look if it were really clean.

view of bedroom from bathroom

 One key piece of furniture that I loved when I first got it is the vanity (desk) pictured in the foreground above.  It was funny because it looked small in the box but when we tried to fit it in our tiny (Smart ForTwo) car, it was too wide.  There's a bench seat (with storage) that doubles as a stepstool.  The vanity itself has two drawers for my hair doodads and cosmetics.  It has a big three-fold mirror that I use to get ready for work.

view of bathroom looking inward

Removed from the drawing so that you can see inside is a really large shelving unit that we hang our bathrobes and stock linens and towels.  Under the sink is where I store the chemicals like Simple Green, Bleach, Drano, and PineSol.  We also keep laundry detergent, a travel-sized iron and small ironing board on that shelf.  There are dirty laundry baskets on the floor under that shelf, too.

view of bedroom from doorway

 The green shelves in this picture are pull-out canvas drawers (baskets) that we store our socks, t-shirts, shorts, underwear, and things that we wear every day.  We have a washer and dryer outside (through the French doors) on our back patio.  There's a clothesline out there, a bbq grill, and a bikestand.  There also a small table and chairs, which we hardly ever use, but they're there.  And a doghouse.

view of bedroom from vanity

Our actual closet is pretty tiny.  We have some bins in there for workout clothes and non-wrinkling dress clothes that don't fit on the hangers.  Mostly we hang our dress shirts that we wear to work and our cycling kits so that when we want to go for a bike ride, everything's grab-and-go.  I also have a bin for sweaters and another bin for pants.  Our nightstands are filing cabinets, which I put my scarves and swimsuits in.

galley kitchen

The kitchen counters have a knife-block, a coffee maker, and a microwave.  Above the oven, there's a spice rack.  On top of the fridge are two baskets for cereal and cereal bars.  In the cabinets below the countertop are pots & pans, and other special dishes we don't use often.  In the cabinets above the countertop are the everyday dishes.  The drawers below the countertop have all the utensils and ziploc bags.  We have our toaster oven just outside the kitchen on top of an old wine rack that you can see behind the blue chair pictured below.

reading area

 This is where we spend most of our time when we're home.  It's a great spot to put our feet up and read something.  The filing cabinet between the chairs is where we keep office supplies and reading material.  We also put our drinks there when we're sitting down.  We eat our meals in these chairs since the table (shown below) is always crowded with stuff.

table and desk from reading area

This is the other area I spend my time at home.  Not at the table unless I really need the space for some project.  I mean where I am now: at the computer.  We have a great printer and scanner, and a very large monitor that we use for a TV.  We can see it when we're in the big blue chairs.  We have a filing cabinet for storing papers and documents.  Under the table is where we have all of our tools and bike stuff.

looking inward from front door

If this was really our house, every surface and every wall would be covered with items: bicycles, tennis raquets, shoes, clothes, towels, backpacks, etc.  But I'm definitely inspired to reconfigure some of our existing shelves to accommodate books.  I'm not totally sure we could eliminate items, or "put them away" but perhaps reassigning some areas from one priority to another would reduce the clutter.

I promise if I ever get the house as clean as the renderings above, I will do a vlog about it.  We've lived in this house since June of 2011.

curb appeal

 One thing I loved instantly about the house was its stoop.  It's covered with plants now, but the cuteness of the whole facade really drew me in.

view of bathroom looking inward

 The bathroom from the rendering looks pretty much like this photo I took on the day we signed our lease agreement.

view of bedroom from bathroom

The view of our bedroom from bathroom looks similar to the rendering also.  I took these curtains down and replaced them with some noise-and-heat canceling curtains I bought when we lived in La Jolla.  They're darker (not as light and airy) but they do help keep the bedroom cool in the summer and quiet year round.

view of bedroom from vanity

The actual closet is smaller than the rendering (as you can see above) so that's why we have such issues with storing all our clothes in there at one time.  Our solution was to rent a 5' by 10' storage unit at Public Storage, right down the road.  We have lots of books in there, but also we moved all the non-essential clothing to that space, and we have a clothes rack on wheels that is a secondary closet. When winter is over, all heavy coats and clothing move down there.  When summer is over, all shorts and tank tops go there.

bicycle alley

The other charming thing about this house is that we can store our bicycles along the side of the house.  They're ready to go out a gate that leads to the front so we can just roll them out as needed.

BBQing veggie-style

We used to grill outside often, but not so much lately.  It's good because we have a propane refilling station nearby.  This was shortly after we moved in and before we got the storage unit.  All the stuff that didn't fit in our house was outside under a big tarp, which was hooked to the roof.

Using the bikes to dry my clothes

We also got some trainers for our bikes.  When we first moved to this area, I didn't know where to go bicycling and I thought the traffic was too scary to bike on the streets.  But I'm over it now and hardly ever (read: Never) use the trainers.

washer and dryer from craigslist (used)

 I do, however, use the washer and dryer all the time.  In fact, I should be doing laundry now instead of writing about doing it.  The w/d combo have gotten a bit more rusty than you see in this picture, and we had the switch on the washing machine replaced, but other than that, it's been great not having to haul everything to a laundromat.

bicycle-repair stand

We definitely do use the bike stand for simple repairs like adjusting brakes and derailleurs.  I also use it to take wheels on and off to repair flat tires.  Also, for cleaning the bikes.

now that's home

I'll close with this: I never thought I'd be living in this tiny house for 5 years.  Max, I thought, 2 years until we find a bigger, better place to live.  But the rent is relatively inexpensive for our area and the utilities are included.  We would definitely have less money to spend on fun things (or to put into savings) if we rented a larger house (or a condo or an apartment).  I KNOW for sure that we do more outdoor activities living in this house.  If it's a choice between staying in this cramped house and going out to ride bikes, I will definitely choose bike riding (or hiking, walking, camping, etc.).

If you know the joys of living in a tiny house, or you're considering it, drop a comment and let me know if this blog was helpful or at least entertaining.  And if you're bored, and you want to help me clean this place up, come on over.