Pretty Pink Booties

The weather has been warming up (at least temporarily) and the last couple of days have been in the 50's. Now the snow is finally melting, which is good, but it's flooding the streets in its departure. Yesterday was the first day of the year where I thought, "The days are getting longer, it's sunny, it's not too cold, and if I hurry home straight from work, I can sneak in an hour of outside riding before dark." That's always my favorite day of the year, although full-time outdoor riding on weekdays is still not guaranteed for another four weeks. At least it's a nice reminder that spring is (relatively) right around the corner.

Yesterday, I rode in knickers, long-sleeved wool base layer, long-sleeved jersey, mid-weight gloves, and wool socks. I was okay for the 50 minutes I was outside, but the temperature was dropping rapidly as it was nearing sunset. I've mentioned my cold hands and feet before, and it's been a little weird for me in the upper 40's, low 50's range, because while wool socks alone don't really cut it, I feel stupid wearing my heavy "Napoleon Dynamite" neoprene shoe covers when it's over 40. So today I purchased a pair of Defeet Slipstream booties to wear in the in-between temperatures.

They are pretty much like socks that you wear over your shoes, but the material keeps wind and rain out pretty well. They did the trick today, since the temperature was about the same as yesterday and my feet were perfect the whole time. The only bad thing is that the women's model adheres to the "pink it and shrink it" guideline perfectly, so guess what color was available in my size? As many of you may have noticed, I generally have no issue with pink cycling accessories, but for this particular product, the choice seemed a little impractical. The type of weather for which these booties were intended tends to come with a lot of muddy spray coming up off of the road, at least in the late winter and spring. So while they were very pretty when I started my ride, they were not so pretty when I was done. It's hard to tell how dirty they really were from the picture. I washed them afterward and they got clean-ish, but they were definitely not restored to mint condition.

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The first week at my new job went well. The work is interesting, the pay is good, and I more or less have my own office and a semi-private bathroom. I guess the building is old dorm suites, because there is a full bathroom with a shower and everything between each pair of offices. It's nice having it so close, but there is a door on each side that must be locked before proceeding and unlocked when leaving, so I feel like my restroom habits are on display for the co-worker on the other side of the suite. The reason that I more-or-less have my own office is because there is a work-station set up for another team member who works at the Indianapolis campus most of the time, so we only share on the days she works in Bloomington. For the time being, that is only once a month. Having a whole room with four walls and a door all to myself most of the time is an extreme luxury after 2.5 years in cubicle land.