I think I might have killed the treadmill, again. I realise now I might not have told you about the first time I murdered it, with spider spray. We had to order parts for it, The Other Half did fix it. Since then it has propelled me for hundreds, maybe thousands of KM.
My beloved treadmill had been making a strange smell for a while. I just thought it needed a small service, and the smell might have been the new commercial lubricant that we had used. The last time I used it on a Sunday evening to catch up my missing steps, I noticed that the room seemed to be smoky and the smell was “louder” than usual. Lucky The Other Half was at home, so I called him in. When he took the cover off, we found that the motor was literally smoking. Actual puffs of smoke were appearing.
A quick service was performed, and the assessment was Not Great. Thankfully, Spring has Sprung and the weather has been gorgeous, so out I went, almost every single day, to get my exercise done. The one exception was Tuesday, where I tried the treadmill again and got 10 minutes out of it before it began to smell again, prompting me to use the much hated elliptical. I guess I will have to use it when the weather does not allow out time. And we could really do with some rain, so I would accept having to use the hated elliptical if we could have some rain.
I do have a problem with my mind. It tells me that if I get out to walk, I better make it worthwhile. Why walk/run 5km when you can walk/run 10km, Snoskred? And why would you want to quit when the scenery is this great? I did 3x 10km plus one 8km last week and a 5km on Saturday. I had a rest day on Sunday. I’ve already done 10km and 8km this week.. On the days I do a 10km, I allow myself a small piece of baked cheesecake for dessert. I feel I have earned it. ;)
There has been a bushfire in Booderee National Park. It has been very bad and they believe it may have been deliberately lit. They got it under control early on, but the next day it had flared up in several different places, and then it really took off with some big winds we had.
It was a hot day too, 30 degrees C (around 85F) so that did not especially help. They had to evacuate the camping grounds, HMAS Creswell, and Jervis Bay village.
The fire is mostly out now, though they’ve had a couple of flare ups. I’ve seen some aerial photos on Facebook and the amount of bush that is gone is staggering. Our favourite bushwalk there looks like it is just clear ground and burned trees now. Once they reopen the park, we plan to go in and do that bushwalk and take some photos, and then go back at least once a month to watch it all grow back. It seems like The Other Half’s favourite campgrounds were spared any damage, at least for now.
This has us thinking about our own fire plan, and I will be doing some organising in the next few weeks so we can have a grab bag of things we need to take. We already have a plan for the cats, and the chooks are my big worry because if we had to evacuate at night that is easy, they will all be asleep on the roost, we just grab them and put them in the carriers. Daytime, HA, how hilarious, to try and catch chooks who are not great fans of being caught. Rosie the Grande Dame in particular will be almost impossible to catch, as she is speedy.
So we have a plan of what we are going to do, the plan we currently lack is where we intend to go. That might depend on the situation. In the meantime, I will be out and about, doing a lot of walking in the extremely awesome Jervis Bay. I might download some step aerobics videos for inclement weather days, and alternate that with the elliptical. I need to work on core strength.
It’s hard to distinguish between cloud and smoke. It still looks very beautiful.
Most of the fire days did have scattered cloud, I don’t think I ever got a shot just of smoke. I did spot some smoke on Tuesday this week but it was not much and kind of like a dark grey. I’ll put that pic in a future post if I can make the smoke jump out with the photo editor. :)
It’s a heavenly area. I like that second photo, looking down on to the rocky shore. Sad to have lost so much to the fire though.
That is Shark Net beach at Huskisson, Many days recently where I was standing I was nearly being blown over and yet down on the beach it was completely calm, thanks to the large hill / cliff thingy there.
It is a very popular beach and up a short set of beach stairs and a short walk, you are in the main street of Huskisson with all the great food it offers. :) I am constantly surprised by how few people visit it when it is not school holidays or the weekend. But then we do have a LOT of great beaches here.
I’m seriously considering a treadmill. It’s really hilly where I live and puts me off – as well as feeling unco and self-conscious and having to carry a million things with me.
I am someone who likes to have all the things I am going to need with me wherever I go, so I really struggled when I started walking/running. It has taken me a long time but I’ve managed to whittle it down to a small backpack.
I no longer take my handbag because the last time I replaced my licence I got to keep the old one, and so that lives in my backpack permanently, if the police pull me up they can check the number on the system and see it is still in date.
I do take my phone, my camera which is on a Wii strap and I can lock it to my wrist, a small jacket, a bottle of water, and a packet of travel tissues.
I love my treadmill hugely. I miss being able to put on a tv show and walk/run through it. We are looking at options. The amount of use mine gets, we probably need to spend a little more and get something more commercial quality. I would love one of the Life Fitness ones I see at all the gyms but I suspect they are Up Money! ;)
I also love getting out into the world and using hills and the beach steps to my cardio advantage. But I grew up near Blackwood so I know about the hills of Adelaide. ;)
Awful that so many tragic fires are deliberately set. As for the treadmill, we never used ours enough to burn anything out… unless Jerry using it for clothes hanging counts.
I use it for hanging clothes *and* walking, Mitchell! ;)