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There was a bit of faff with actually getting my new bike, because I nearly accidentally bought the wrong one which was almost the same build but with only three gears. Fortunately I noticed in time to exchange it, but they they had to order the right one in, so I didn't actually pick it up until yesterday.
Having done so I am feeling much much better about the previous one being stolen. It is very shiny and goes whoooooooosh! Based on, admittedly, only a couple of days of data, I seem to be going about 20-25% faster than I was before, which is quite exciting :) Admittedly some of that is due to a virtuous circle where it feels more responsive, so I'm more inclined to pedal harder - and over time I suspect that that will also mean that my legs get stronger quicker, so I'll go even faster. Whoooooosh :D
Yesterday I went to Mass at St Thomas Finsbury Park, the church that St John's is joining parishes with, and gave a short homily. Mthr Alice commented positively on the difference that preaching regularly has made, particularly to my delivery. In some ways I was a bit surprised, because although I'm generally feeling a lot more confident now in the quality of my actual words, I started out quite confident about the delivery. That said, I have been being a bit more deliberative about leaving pauses and generally going a bit slower, so perhaps that was the key difference.
This evening, as was my custom on the Wednesday of Holy Week in the Before Times, I went to Mass followed by Tenebrae at All Saints Margaret Street. What I hadn't realised until Mthr Alice pointed it out yesterday was that ++Rowan was their Holy Week preacher this year. I wasn't sure whether he would actually be there, since the Church Times reported that he was in Kyiv yesterday, but it appears to have been a flying visit. It certainly brought home how much room for improvement I still have, but hey, it's good to have something to aspire to.
Having done so I am feeling much much better about the previous one being stolen. It is very shiny and goes whoooooooosh! Based on, admittedly, only a couple of days of data, I seem to be going about 20-25% faster than I was before, which is quite exciting :) Admittedly some of that is due to a virtuous circle where it feels more responsive, so I'm more inclined to pedal harder - and over time I suspect that that will also mean that my legs get stronger quicker, so I'll go even faster. Whoooooosh :D
Yesterday I went to Mass at St Thomas Finsbury Park, the church that St John's is joining parishes with, and gave a short homily. Mthr Alice commented positively on the difference that preaching regularly has made, particularly to my delivery. In some ways I was a bit surprised, because although I'm generally feeling a lot more confident now in the quality of my actual words, I started out quite confident about the delivery. That said, I have been being a bit more deliberative about leaving pauses and generally going a bit slower, so perhaps that was the key difference.
This evening, as was my custom on the Wednesday of Holy Week in the Before Times, I went to Mass followed by Tenebrae at All Saints Margaret Street. What I hadn't realised until Mthr Alice pointed it out yesterday was that ++Rowan was their Holy Week preacher this year. I wasn't sure whether he would actually be there, since the Church Times reported that he was in Kyiv yesterday, but it appears to have been a flying visit. It certainly brought home how much room for improvement I still have, but hey, it's good to have something to aspire to.
