I’m not sure how long I’ll journal like this, but will try just doing a simple recap of the week, published each Monday. I do the daily entries by hand in a paper journal, as printing is still weaker than typing and a daily habit of even simple journaling is a good habit to keep.
6-9-25
Since my early retirement was accepted by my employer, it was a very good weekend. I did my longest non-e.bike ride since the crash, of 60k, and we celebrated with friends and sushi on Saturday. The weather has been very good, in the high 20s and sunny without too much wind (a near-constant in James Bay). Today was pretty quiet, with a strength training session and my almost daily evening yoga session. I also met up with an old Vancouver running friend, Dave Papineau, for the afternoon dog walk around the inner harbour.
6-10-25
A very sluggish day by my standards, with no runs, rides, or strength training, and only the morning dog walk for exercise. I’ll have to ensure there aren’t too many crap fitness days like this one; I always feel worse when I don’t exercise. We also let one of our mortgage guys know we might want to make an offer on a property sometime soon. I’ll likely have more thoughts on this eventually, but transitioning to pension income and trying to buy a place, even with a sizeable downpayment, is a bit more complicated than doing it when you’re employed. It may well be 2-3 more months until we can more easily make offers, with some statements of retirement income history.
6-11-25
We did a drive-by of a place today, but a 30 pound pet weight restriction is both stupid, and a dealbreaker, for us. Based on the location of a place we drove by last week and the pet restriction of today, there’s nothing imminent on the home buying front. I did a nice 45k e.bike ride today, but will have to get it in for servicing, as random creaks and persistent crank rotation grinding noises suggest something’s amiss. Beyond that, short core and yoga sessions rounded out the day. I’m also trying to read and write in my journal every day in retirement, while still experimenting with frequency and volume of exercise going forward.
6-12-25
No bike ride today, but I did a 13k run, an hour of full body strength training, a yoga session, reading and journal writing. We saw another listing with some potential, but aren’t too active on the offer front so far. Still having some trouble fitting daily music into the mix. While I used nearly daily drumming as recovery hand therapy, I’ve been a little reticent switching over to piano, but I know it’s just a matter of applying myself more. It’s really the final habit I want to become really regular.
6-13-25
A quiet day again (like most of them will undoubtedly be). Aside from reading and a quick journal entry in the morning, I really didn’t do a lot else. We did drive up to Sidney in the afternoon, though, as we’ve been waffling as to whether to consider it for settling into retirement. I think today decided for us that it’s not a good option. Surprisingly little good green space for dog walking and in the half hour or so we were outside, at least four loud planes flew overhead. We already dealt with that years ago living in Richmond and don’t want it again. I had physio just before lunch and we also had a morning chat with one of our mortgage guys.
6-14-25
The day began with me driving Connie to play in Flowerbowl at UVic. I have been done with ultimate for a few years due primarily to repeated groin strains, but she is still playing at 62. I hung with the dog most of the day after having coffee and breakfast out. I did a little adjustment on my road bike and managed to squeeze a good resistance session in, but did little else in the way of fitness, aside from morning and afternoon dog walks. After picking up Connie at 5:30 we swung by Taco Fino on the way home and, never again. As they clearly prioritize mobile and online orders over people who actually go to the trouble of coming to their restaurant, it took us well over half an hour to get our food. As always, reading and journal writing was in the mix.
6-15-25
It was a good Father’s Day. With a bit of a late start, after a snack and coffee, I headed out for what turned out to be my longest run since the crash, at 16.5k. Took the long route around James Bay and along Dallas Road, to Gonzales Observatory, then a comparatively more direct route home. Between last weekend and this one, I’ve done my longest road ride and run since the crash.
After a shower, we went to Garrick’s Head for lunch and a pint, did a walkabout downtown with a quick stop at the Mabuhay Festival and then rounded out the day with takeout from Coriander on Menzies, which was very good. It is easily the best Indian I’ve had in Victoria.
