I slept in until 9 a.m. this morning, which was lovely. I could get used to not having an alarm. I’ve spent the day puttering around the house, which would get old before too long, I’m sure. But I haven’t gotten anything accomplished today, which will be old by Friday.
I did record a podcast last night. Talked to a former student for a new show I’m rolling out after the first of the year. So that takes care of two days of productivity, I suppose.
OK, the lack of accomplishing thing kicked in just now. So I’ve beaten my tolerance prediction by two days. That, in a way, is an achievement, right?
No wonder I’m a bit tired.
One last thing from my Monday visit to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center. Have you ever heard a lion roar? I had not. They say the sound can be heard up to five miles away. That seems unrealistic, until you hear it. We heard two lions and some lionesses. And now I believe it. You’d absolutely hear this miles away. And if you heard it in the wild it would definitely hold your attention. Anyway, they’re showing off here.
There’s a little clip of a lion, a bit of a lioness, and the third clip is just a silent bit of watching the lion walk around. This was a unique experience. Turn on your audio and press play.
These are all rescued animals. They’ve never been in the wild. And they have a good life here. The only part I don’t like is hearing about how the animals came to them. Some of them have terribly sad backstories. But they are well looked after, and it’s obvious and apparent the passion the staff have for the animals in their charge.
If you didn’t see them, I shared some high quality photos of the tigers and lions on Monday and again yesterday.
I started my winter indoor cycling season on Saturday. It was an easy 20 mile ride, averaging 19 miles per hour, with 535 feet of ascent. Pedestrian numbers, but it felt great considering how long I’ve been off my bike — for no reason whatsoever. The ride was in the Makuri Islands, which is a fictional Zwift locale. The part at the end looks something like this.
I finished in eighth in one of the sprints, which is weird. I am not a sprinter.
On Tuesday we rode in Watopia, one of the classic Zwift routes. It was a quick 16 mile ride and I set two Strava PRs. No one cares, but the route looks like this.
And today we did a few loops around London. Clearly that’s the Thames. I was looping Westminster and Belgravia and maxed out at 37.3 miles per hour.
But, if I say 60 kilometers an hour, it sounds like something serious. All the metrics say I maxed out at 1,276 watts and averaged 20.9 miles per hour. I’m slow.
Oh, here’s a sports thing. It’s Thanksgiving, of course, and the students have the whole week off, but my friend Ta Lao is still producing good stuff.
Ta talks to IU’s goalkeeper about his amazing year and, at 3:20, that save. That sequence was number one on Sportscenter’s Top 10 that evening, and I’m still in awe of it. And you can see it, right there in that video.
Ta is an IUSTV beat reporter for men’s soccer, which is in the national championship tournament yet again. He also published today an interview with the team’s head coach and one of the young players. He also covers soccer in his native Thailand and runs podcasts and a video channel and who knows what else. Oh, and he’s also a student. The guy is tireless.
It helps to be tireless in student media. It’s almost a prerequisite.
After which I re-read the first three paragraphs on this post and laughed.
