What a difference a day makes.

So let me paint you a picture.

I'm running late since I can't find my security badge to get into work.  I'm also running late because I got interested in learning about the best burger in Tucson (Yea Road Pickle crew I'm blaming you!).  Jumping on Kimmie and speeding off I got stuck behind a box truck doing about 65 miles per hour, which was actually a blessing because someone did not put full in her and the fuel gauge light was glaring at me with one yellow angry eye.

I hate to draft off of a truck.  It's dangerous and stupid and goes against every safety protocol I can think of.  Yet here I am, drafting behind him at 65 mph watching my revs drop into the 5K range, keeping the engine from doing that much work and extending my fuel economy some.  When I finally do pull into the petrol station I'm on fumes again.

Lately I've been using the highest octane I can, hoping that it might solve; at least in part, my starting issues but instead my fuel economy - which is normally around 53 miles per gallon - drop drastically.  Currently I'm only in the mid to high 40 range, which I can contribute some of that drop to the stop and go traffic of city living.

 Somehow I still managed to make it to my job with about 5 minutes to spare...and the day, although long, was a good one.

I got out before the rush hour started in earnest.  I considered taking the highway home but didn't like the idea of dealing with traffic, my normal way home would involve a lot of traffic lights...again not my first choice.

So I took the long way home, which lead onto easy twists and turns and past various farms, shrub lands and across the river  It took me close to 90 minutes to get home, but I was in no hurry.  Daylight savings time put the sun at my back and it was a warm day, so warm that I actually felt a chill entering into a slight valley shaded by trees.

Again I think that I need to just say "fudge it" and keep a small digital camera on me at all times.  Who would believe that I entered a tunnel of trees that actually bent over the roadway?  Or that some poor soul hit a cow which was now laying dead on the side of the road?  It's an odd thought to want to pull over and take a picture of it.  I felt bad for the cow and worse for what ever hit it.

I'm an introvert, living inside my head normally.  So it's nice to drop work off at the door, to let my financial future take care of itself and just get out for a bit.  I needed today and it's hard to turn the bike into the driveway after a ride like that.

Last year and this year have been rough, but things do get better.