You know your office is underheated when...

[juliet]

...it's colder in there than it is in the air-conditioned server room. Brrr.

(I have now switched the portable radiator on. In about 2 hrs it should warm up...)

Yesterday I cycled to Maidstone (41 mi), which was rather fun, & somewhat undulating (the North Downs). Things I have discovered thus:
a) the Cheviot climbs a lot better than the Trek;
b) but I am still rubbish at hills;
c) & also too slow generally.
d) Maidstone East train station is v badly signposted from the A20.
e) that saddle requires cycle shorts with a better pad in them than my nice capris, bah.
f) there is another reason than aerodynamics for using the drops when going down hills, viz, better access to the brakes.

The obvious solution to both b) & c) is to go cycling more. Hurrah.

Also: isn't it a lovely morning? Pretty, anyway, albeit rather chilly.

Man, the Magda album is ace.

Comments

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

with my H&S cap on, i say kick up a fuss as this is NOT RIGHT. you should not have numb fingers inside the office as is said last year as you cannot TYPE.

grr, etc.

[lnr]

18 degrees here when I got in today. Colder than machine room yes, not cold enough to actually complain much. Up to 20 now, wonder if I can turn the radiator up a bit.

[barnacle.livejournal.com]

Bah. We have our home radiators at 17C, as we've had the fear of God put into us by George Monoglot and that keeps us warm from the shakes. I wonder how long we'll hold out.

We managed 18C all last year; and no heating at all the year before, but then we did have underfloor Mediterraneans until they skipped without paying the rent. My thermals have become quite the fixture at work, mind you, certainly since the clocks went back and the whole of the early-morning Cotswolds turned into foggy ice.

At one of K's previous employers they had the air-conditioning on all year round, as part of an unacknowledged policy of employee control. A union rep would wander round with a thermometer and even at one point some sort of wind measuring device, but as most of the employees were shiftless types who wouldn't go to the union meetings unless they could park on the doorstep of the venue then it all came to naught.

[juliet]

When we had a thermostat, we had it at 17deg, which was fine (if you have warm jumpers & a blanket for when sitting on the sofa). These days we have no thermostat, & have district heating anyway (so benefit from the heating habits of our neighbours); the radiators only actually need to be turned on for a few hours a day during about January.

I have an increasingly large quantity of warm-cycling-to-work clothes. Brrr.

[juliet]

'strue; but you see the thing is there *is* no heating in this office. They didn't put any in when they were renovating it. So the portable radiator is all there is. I *could* leave it on 24/7 (which would probably have the required effect) but obv being an big hippy this is not something I can bring myself to do.

I'll see how things go. I *could* try an alternative heating source, I spose.

[mrs-leroy-brown.livejournal.com]

cripes! no heating at all? where are your unions!

(yes, i take yr point - i was offered a portable heater when i kicked up a fuss about seeing my breath in the office (okay not really) and refused that bcos dude, just fix the actual heating already!

[juliet]

It is bloody ridiculous, yes. Grr. Oh well; by this time in the afternoon it's getting tolerable again; also I have tea :-)

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

Have similar situation in the office and in my flat. Decided this weekend to stop being such a big bloody-minded hippie and turn on at least the radiator in my bedroom, which is small, and shut the door, and curl up in the warm. But it didn't get warm! This flat is in Stockholm, which gets down to -20 in January! But the walls are very very thin and the radiators are useless. Bloody glad I won't be here in January.

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

HMV STILL HAVE NOT DISPATCHED MY MAGDA ALBUM

BAD HMV!

(also sorry for snickering about CYBER NORKS last night! But.... CYBER NORKS ahahahahhhaaa etc ;))

[juliet]

You were not snickering loudly! So that is OK :-)

Bad HMV!

Also bad LJ for it appears not to be sending me comment notifications. Boo!

[lnr]

I am probably even more rubbish at hills than you are. Glad the new bike helps though! I'm impressed you're still getting out despite the colder weather.

I'm still stuck with no cycle shorts due to 44inch waist.

[juliet]

I have many warm bike clothes :-)

Also have vague Plans for next year which will require me getting quite a lot of miles in this winter, so will just have to suck it up...

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Any idea which 400 and 600 BRM you plan? They're quite thin on the ground in the calendar, especially if you have a tandem to shuffle about the place...

[juliet]

Poynton Plains 400 (5th/6th May); Brian Chapman 600 (19th/20th May); either the 3 Coasts or the Daylight as backup 600 on the 16th/17th June. (3 Coasts is more sensible, Daylight might be more fun :-) ).

The Plains is a midday start so OK to get to by public transport; I'll have to go up the day before for the BC & for whichever other 600 I go for.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Hm. I suspect we'll have to resort to hiring a car for the 600 - and the question of getting to Paris remains interesting...

[juliet]

I guess it is a bit tougher to manage a tandem on the train! (although I think that some folk I know have done it - might depend on what sort of provision there is & therefore on the train company. I think you could get a tandem in Virgin's bike van but not 100% sure).

[damerell.livejournal.com]

It does, indeed, depend on the TOC - but basically, it's like a regular bike, but much worse. Also, of course, the BRMs you can make have to fit into two people's calendars.

[barnacle.livejournal.com]

The obvious solution to both b) & c) is to go cycling more.

We have an exercise bike in work now. Lady Muck was throwing it out, and we got it out of her skip. I can't say anyone's ever used it, but it's an idea.

[blahflowers.livejournal.com]

You forgot:

g) Maidstone is a vile hole of a place and should be razed to the ground so we may all dance amid the beautiful ruins.

Guess where I grew up. Go on, guess!

[(Anonymous)]

e) will also be solved by riding more. Distances that were arse-limited a few years ago barely register these days. Though I also now benefit from a non-vegan Brooks.

Bristol is further from Oxford than I thought.

[juliet]

It's not so much *arse* per se as, um, Delicate Areas. But yes, obv cycling more is the cure for all ills.

How far is Bristol from Oxford, then? And how long did it take you?

(I think I am prob glad I stuck with getting the train home...)

[(Anonymous)]

Perineum. Yes. I didn't pack the speedo, but Gmaps Pedometer reckoned my route at 78 miles. That doesn't count faffing to and fro around Cricklade looking for the secret passage across the Ermin Way dual carriageway, but does include three miles or so of wandering about in the dark outside Lechlade. Including fairly lengthy exploration of Malmesbury Abbey and a fish supper at Lechlade, 7 hours. Probably rather over five hours rolling, and pretty slow going towards the end.

[shevek.livejournal.com]

A previous office of mine had nice electric heaters which we couldn't use because if we turned them on, the fuse box glowed red. We had to use freestanding gas heaters instead. *sigh*