Like most people (hopefully), I’m constantly trying to shed bad habits and look at life changes as for opportunities for rebirth, etc. It is so hard to break so many habits, but leaving a city for a fresh opportunity is a decent amount of momentum to steer in that direction.

I had pretty good luck when I moved to Madison in dropping a great deal of my takeout food habits. Chicago is such a great town to eat in and having lived in the same neighborhood for 29 years, it was so easy to grab a burrito, some sliders, a pile of sesame chicken, or a Big Baby from Jacky’s on my walk home from the Pulaski Orange Line or my more often pedal southwest down Archer Ave. Living there so many years made it an easy afterthought to just grab a bag of grease. Moving to Madison was a chance to not make friends with any grease pits and be forced to cook at home all the more often. If I don’t know where to stop on the way home from work, then I just have to eat at home (though I did succumb to a Teddy Wedger a handful of times – “Hey, it’s summer and I’m riding a lot, I can handle one.”).

One can always do better when it comes to eating properly, so I’m trying to get even better habits here in Alaska. There is no $1 menu at McDonalds here to buzz through, but rather a $1.50 menu to pick through. I’m a cheap bastard when it comes to many things, so this is good motivation to cruise on by and just head for home. I try and look at takeout and other greasy food and their prices and visualize what the cost could equate to. If I eat at home for a while I could easily afford a new wheelset, another wool cap from Lyle, bar tape, more Vampire Counts, or some metal vinyl.

I figure it’s part of an endless march away from bad habits towards better conversations, more a better books read, more and better movies viewed, more miles pedaled, more weight lifted, more models painted well, fewer hours wasted in front of mediocre television, better food, etc, etc, etc. Stay on the path and live long and strong.