Tag Archives: saint louis

T minus two months

The countdown started on Sunday — we now have less than two months until our lease is up.  The good news is that in less than two months, we’ll be living somewhere new, somewhere with a bit more breathing room than we have in our current set-up.  The bad news?

We have less than two months to find somewhere to live.  Which doesn’t sound like a big deal, except that we’ve been looking for eighteen months without finding the right place.  To make for a more relaxed move, I would ideally like to sign a new lease that overlaps with our current lease by at least two weeks, which means we really only have SIX weeks or so to find something.

Two weeks ago we looked at a great 2-bedroom flat: second floor, garage (for our bikes + baby trailer), smoke-free building, good layout, walkable/bikeable location, three blocks from an awesome park, wood floors, nice sun porch, amazingkitchen, and . . . lead paint on the windows (which landlord was unwilling to address).

Unfortunately, lead paint on windows + baby = No Deal.

Yep, I’m still mourning that one (oh, that kitchen) and dispairing that we’ll ever find anything.

It’s not like we’ll be homeless in two months or anything, I’m just worried that we’ll have to compromise on a lot of what we want in an apartment.

We’ve actually started glancing at For Sales, but I think that is a bit belated, and it’s pretty unlikely that we’ll find something that meets our requirements for both a big lot AND a central, walkable/bikeable location.

And so the search continues  . . . .

Other apartment-search posts:

Cycling Savvy Instructor!

Despite the heat and my “delicate condition” 😉 , I made it through the Cycling Savvy Instructor training this past weekend!  In fact, I didn’t just make it, I had a great time.

Home stretch

Like the Cycling Savvy training itself, the instructor training was accessible for people of various fitness levels.  We covered over 14 miles on Sunday, but we did so over a 6-hour period consisting of easy-pace group riding, lots of breaks (in the shade) for instruction and “chalk talk,” plus a few individual exercises.  You don’t have to be fast to be a confident, courteous, savvy cyclist!

While portions of this route seem intimidating upon first glance, even for the seasoned road cyclist, Cycling Savvy provides the skills, information, and confidence necessary to navigate the features, breaking them down into manageable chunks for cyclists of every level.

Matthew doing "chalk talk" with my belly in the background

While it will be at least a few months before I am doing any instructing, there are Cycling Savvy classes available NOW in St. Louis.  Visit the Cycling Savvy St. Louis page to find out more about the classes THIS Thursday and Saturday, which still have room for a few more students.  The class provides the real world skills (and first hand experience) to help you drive your bicycle on the road, while interacting effectively, confidently, and safely with other road users.

Cycling Savvy Instructor graduates, plus our trainers, Keri and Mighk

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Photos in this post courtesy of Keri Caffrey and Karen Karabell

 

Behind Door #1 . . .

I biked to my old stomping grounds (U-City Loop area) today for a conference at the RAC and the Moonrise Hotel.  The day ended with networking at the Moonrise’s rooftop bar — very cool space, other than the ashtrays.

Anyhow, I headed to the restroom to morph into biker girl for the ride home, and that’s when things got weird.

I walked into the restroom.  “What a strange restroom,” I thought to myself.  “What are those . . . ?  Hmm, they appear to be urinals.  Wait a minute — urinals?!?!”

I did an abrupt about-face and slunk out the door, hoping no one noticed.

Next time I’ll try the door that says “Women” on it first 😉

Two wins

Green scored two wins this week, one national and one local.

On the local front, the City of St. Louis passed a Complete Streets policy with a unanimous vote in the Board of Alder[people] — good first step for continuing to create opportunities of active and green transportation in my city!

On the national front, the U.S. Senate voted against the resolution that would have gutted the Clean Air Act, which prompted the following remarks in the Repower America announcement email:

Yesterday, thanks to your hard work, the U.S. Senate did the right thing — voting with the climate science and against a resolution that would have stripped the Clean Air Act’s protections against climate pollution.

The Senate is to be commended for defeating Senator Lisa Murkowski’s disastrously misguided proposal. But the truth is, in the face of the worst environmental disaster in our nation’s history, Senator Murkowski’s resolution never should have even reached the Senate floor.

The fact that we had to work to defeat this legislation is a testament to the continued strength of the fossil fuel lobby. But the fact that we did defeat it gives us fresh momentum for the months ahead, as our nation confronts the costs of our dependence on fossil fuels more directly than ever.