Off Topic With Ashley

I had been having trouble sleeping because my afternoon caffeine caffeine consumption brought on an intense desire to do things. Thoughts of the past and the future ran through my mind at a ridiculous rate until finally I had to get up and write myself a to-do list for the next day.

Instead of doing the to-do, I hit the snooze alarm and slept through to an hour I’m embarrassed to admit.

I wasn’t too fussed about Australia Day, although when the Internet lit up with people having fun and cooking sausages I was a wee tiny bit jealous I didn’t have any plans. Perhaps next year I should organise or muscle in on someone else’s nationalist pride celebrations.

Instead I read the news and pottered around the house until I snapped into a constructive mindset and decided to go for a bike ride. I planned to head to Redcliffe and pick up some data for the OpenStreetMap, but when I hit the road I rapidly changed my mind.

It was a bit of a mistake merging on to Sandgate Road. I’ve done it twice now and both times I’ve vowed never to do it again because it’s really bloody scary. You merge from Toombul Road onto Sandgate Road from the right hand side, so you have to cross two lanes of traffic going into a 70 km/hour zone to get to the cycle lane.

Even though it was a public holiday there was still enough traffic on the road to freak me out, and even though I got across safely without slowing down, I had to pull off to the side and catch my breath because the change in direction meant I was now riding into the wind and freaking out and pushing myself extra hard and oh my headspin!

Being that I’d only done a few kilometres and I was already completely ruined, I changed my plan and took a route through Boondall, the Entertainment Centre, the wetlands, and back home again narrowly missing a nest of spiders hanging from a low clearance road sign.

I didn’t end up listening to the Hottest 100, and I outlined the reasons for that earlier. I did watch everyone get excited and piss all over the results, which has become almost as much of an Australian pastime as commenting on how it’s becoming a pastime to piss on the result-pissers. Oh dear, I’m getting myself into circular references again, I should just stop.