myCryption

Tax Day

2011-04-18T11:07:00.013-05:00

This year I had to pay taxes. By disclosing that, I am not saying that I usually don't have to pay, but this year I owed money at the end of the year so that instead of receiving a second-quarter bonus, I had to give up some 2011 money to pay for 2010. It wasn't horrible, only inconvenient.

Some people would say that I'm doing it wrong by either not having enough withdrawn from my paychecks (which may be true) or by paying taxes at all (instead of finding loopholes in the tax code). I can't really say that I agree. While I do believe that there is a lot of unfairness in the tax code, I do feel a degree of responsibility to paying my share of the tax burden. So I try not to complain about the amount taken out of my paycheck or having to pay a chunk at the end of the year.

What I do have a problem with, however, is how my tax money is spent. I guess that is what all of the uproar is about in Washington (D.C.) lately with spending bill talks and budget crises and such. A useful tool provided by the white house for seeing an overview of where your tax money goes can be found here. At the top of the list (for income tax, anyway) is military spending. That is just above health care. So essentially the largest chunk of my income tax dollars are going to fight wars in other countries. Those tax dollars are killing innocent people and making the oil men richer and re-enforcing an ever more imperialistic US government. I'm not a fan.

Another thing I am not really understanding is that I pay a medicare tax and I pay healthcare in my income tax. Why are these separate? I don't have a problem paying to help the overall health costs of the nation, but this seems like a political thing, keeping them separate. (It's not lost on me that together, my combined "healthcare tax" is a good bit higher than the military tax, but I prefer a tax that helps people more than one that kills people.) I wonder how many schools could see considerable improvement for each scud missile fired into "non-war" no-fly zones.

A topic that isn't all that unrelated to this is one of objectivism. I have not been shy about two seemingly incongruent points of view I hold onto. I tend to be both liberal in my views while also holding a strong appreciation of many of the precepts put forth by objectivism (as represented most recognizably by Ayn Rand in her writings such as Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead). What it comes down to for me is that while objectivism really works for my logical and autonomous side (and models some of the ideals I try to live for), I don't believe it could ever work nor is it good for real human society. I believe that compassion is a worthwhile virtue and that while the system could use an overhaul in practice, welfare is not something that should be left by the wayside. The term "entitlements", in negative reference to welfare, originates from a point of view that celebrates elitism and pays no regard for the common man, who is really all of us. I appreciate the opportunities I have and have had, and I appreciate living in a system that allows me to excel and live comfortably if I choose to work for it, but I also believe that every working person deserves a living wage, and in our free market system, many of the services that we enjoy do not pay this living wage. And that's where welfare and "entitlements" come in.

So how can objectivism play into a liberal society? By way of constraints that keep the system going. I don't have a problem with wall street bankers making billion dollar bonuses, but I do think they need to be taxed very heavily to even things out. With their wins, someone else has lost (and in most cases, it was many someone elses). When banks (or others) lose, they should be allowed to lose (like the rest of us). Afterall, the individuals involved do have the same safety net of welfare that we all have. My point is that there is value in some regulation and that people have an obligation to pay into keeping the system going. (It is obvious from the last years' bailouts and the playing to the financial industry that free markets don't really exist anyway. I think it's time to call a spade a spade.) I think the reason that most conservative republicans vote and argue the way they do (to protect the rich and the rich lifestyle) is because they really do think that eventually they will achieve that wealth, and so they don't want to ruin it for themselves. Delusional.

All of this is to say that I do think that many of the intentions of the US government are where they should be. How they are exercised are not. We are spread way too thin in trying to be everything to everyone in the world. I am not advocating an isolationist policy, but that's not even an argument in this day of global markets and open communication. What I am advocating is that we bring our troops home, shrink the military and the military spending in a huge way. We should spend the money we have in improving our internal systems and government efficiencies. We should do a better job of implementing our welfare systems so that we help more of our people that really need it. If once we have trimmed down and improved the government systems we find that we need more taxpayer money to fund the government, then we concentrate first on making sure everyone is paying their share in the grand scheme of things.

This all sounds good (to me) but getting there would be a monumental task. We currently have a democratic president who I sometimes think is actually a conservative republican in disguise. (The biggest winners in the healthcare law that was passed, for instance, appear to be the existing healthcare companies, who are already cleaning us out - remember the health care expenditures mentioned above?) We have republicans who are fighting welfare entitlements but take home major payouts in their own version of entitlements. In all of the discussions to make a budget, there has been no serious consideration of shrinking the military and in fact we have a new front to protect in Libya. The primary goal of the parties is to fight each other, not improve the lives of the people. And we are paying for that bickering. If we wanted things to stay the same, we could do away with most of our elected officials, but as it is, we want improvements. None of the party lines make sense, either. Conservatives want to take away a woman's right to an abortion, but they also want small government (supposedly) that leaves people alone to do what they want (except have abortions). Democrats want extensive social services but are also advocating tax cuts (I think this could actually work if they did away with much of the military - but no mention of that). It's all about posturing and getting someone into office so that they can do it all over again for another 4 years.

In this day I think that taxes and a big government are necessary. In a perfect world, this wouldn't be so, but we will never have a perfect world. The tax money needs to stay here and the government needs to do the job that our tax dollars are paying for.

Belgium

2010-11-24T10:44:00.002-06:00

Today I leave for Belgium with my lady. We are visiting good friends who moved back to Brussels after a few years here in Nashville.

I am ready for eight days of hanging out with our friends, but in a new (to us) place. Eight days of exploring cities older than any in the US. Eight days on not having to drive in a country traditionally known to have the best beer in the world. Eight days that are completely different from my normal days.

There may be updates posted here. We'll see. My intentions are good, but Belgium is supposedly great. Belgium and the experiences may just win out.

Cheers.

50k accomplished.

2010-10-06T10:02:00.002-05:00

My last post stated my entry into a 50k trail run near Chattanooga, and now I report that I did in fact finish that run. Following is an account of how the training and the race itself went down.

I signed up to run this race for two main reasons. One, I have always been intrigued by the concept of ultra-marathons and ultra-endurance events in general. The intrigue is in understanding how my body reacts under the conditions and just how much i would be willing to push myself. The other reason I signed up was simply to motivate myself to get back into shape.

Immediately after signing up for the race, I started a (less than vigorous) training regimen. I started running every other day. I started by running around 35-40 minutes per day on that schedule. Over the course of a few weeks, I worked up to running about an hour per day and would occasionally run two days in a row. Getting started running again took some time and discomfort, but eventually I got to a point where running was comfortable again. The training was good and mostly consistent for a couple months, and I tested myself in late September by running a 9-mile race here in Nashville at Percy Warner Park. The course was hilly, which was good for the test, but it was also mostly on the street, which was bad for my joints. Considering how much my joints hurt after that, I started to fear the 50k some. After recovering from that race, I had 3-4 weeks of training remaining before the big race, and really only 1-2 weeks where it was worthwhile to do anything. I had lofty goals to work in some long runs and such, but all I mustered were a bunch of hour-long runs and even managed to take 4-5 days off from running a couple of different times. And then it was time to taper. From what, you ask, well... I didn't taper so much as just feel justified in not getting out there and running more.

In a nutshell, I didn't train so much as just make sure that I could run a moderate distance without it hurting too badly. The longest run I had done prior to the race, ever, was about 1 hour, 40 minutes. Though I had dreamed of doing well in the 50k and running strong, my approach had switched to the time-honored approach I have had with most athletic endeavors in the last few years, I went in just hoping to survive but not worrying too much about how it would end up. I didn't feel like i had anything to prove. So my preparations on the last night also mimicked most of my other endurance event-eves, I was at the Terminal Brewhouse in Chattanooga enjoying some pre-event libations. (And boy, their libations are pretty phenomenal).

Race morning wasn't too early for me. I got up and ate my chorizo and egg burrito and downed some more gatorade to combat the beer from the previous night. Then we were off to the race. I didn't even pretend to warmup; with 50k to run, there was plenty of time to get the body warmed up for the long haul. I waited with almost 850 other runners (500 50k runners, 350 11 mile runners) in the morning coolness for them to start the race. They made some announcements, which I couldn't hear, and then the people in front of me started moving forward. So I followed.

The first half mile was on the road. Everyone around me (and I think all but the front elite) were very chilled and just moseying along in a huge group. When we hit the trail there was a bit of a bottleneck as people fell into line on a trail almost wide enough for two people. The first couple of miles was a slow jog in a line without much placement movement and with a lot of chatter. One thing I noticed and was surprised about, though, was that many people were walking all of the hills.. already. I was figuring out pretty early that an ultra-marathon is a different type of race than any I had run before.

After 2-3 miles, things started spreading out pretty well and I found myself running mostly alone at my own pace. At about mile 4, we started down a narrow singletrack trail and things started to get more interesting. The first stretch of trail was wide, well traveled, and had supplemental gravel on it. The next 23 miles or so would be singletrack, rarely level, and rocky. It was beautiful trail and terrain, and early on in the race, I appreciated it.

The next 7-8 miles were fun. I ran with a few different people, and I ran alone for a lot of it. There were a couple rest stops, and some interesting terrain. Then the pain started. Somewhere around the 11 or 12 mile point, I started to feel pain in my knees and my feet. It was pain from the impact of running beyond what my joints and connective tissues were used to. Soon after the pain started, I took a couple of advil and put my headphones on. Within 20 minutes, I was feeling pretty good again and kept running. (I should note that after a few miles, I had adopted the strategy that so many others used and had started walking up many of the hills. Essentially, I would run until I started to feel like i was having to expend additional energy to keep going, and then I would walk, usually briskly, up the hill until it was comfortable to run again. I also would walk whenever I would eat or drink along the trail.) The good feelings lasted another 4-5 miles, after which I started to hurt again, but not as badly as before.

Somewhere around mile 18 or so, I came to the rock garden. This is a stretch of "trail" that is maybe a half mile and consists of almost entirely jumping from rock to rock. There was no running, there was only trying to stay on the path and not hurt myself while trying to negotiate the different rock surfaces in my tired state. It was fun, but would have been more fun had I not just run 18 miles. It was around this point, and a little before the rock garden, actually, that I started to consider bailing on the race at the 19 mile point. Melanie would be there and it was the logical point where most people who quit ended up calling it a day. My rationale was that I was tired of hurting, I didn't have anything to prove and at the pace I was going, I was on about an 8 hour pace to finish, which was longer than I cared to be out there. But then I got to the mile 19 rest stop, sat down, refilled my food stores, and decided that I felt great! So I kept going.

It was maybe a half mile later that the real pain started. Somewhere close to mile 20, I started getting a shooting pain in my right foot that went from my heel up into my ankle. This made it really painful to walk, much less try to run on that foot. I had thoughts of turning around since it was less than a mile back to the last stop and it was about 5 miles to the next stop... but I just kept moving forward. I tried to run when I could, but I ended up shuffling and walking almost all the way to the next stop. Again I considered stopping, and if Melanie had been there, I probably would have quit then, but she wasn't, so I didn't. I took more advil, fueled up again, and continued on what they said was 10k to the finish.

I continued to shuffle and walk over a couple big hills to come to the last stop, which would also be where we got back on the smoother doubletrack trail, and had only 3-4 miles left. With that little distance left and the shooting pains dulling a little, I managed to do a little running on the remaining trail segments. Then a half mile on the road and I shuffled into the finish. 8 hours and 44 minutes is a long time to be out there running/walking and eating energy foods. It messed up my digestive system and my feet and legs were sore for days. But I got through it and now have the experience and know-how behind me. I never hit the "wall" that others talk about for marathon runners. My eating and hydration and fitness were fine, but my legs suffered.

One of the big motivators for me to keep going through the pain and such was that if I finished, I wouldn't ever have to feel like I needed to come back to do it again. But already only 4 days out, I can't say I feel the same about it. If I ever run something like that again, it will certainly only be if I am better prepared, but it is certainly an experience I appreciate and will possibly choose to do again. But not for a good long while.

50k

2010-07-07T18:36:00.002-05:00

I haven't run a foot race for a few years. My last one was a July 4th 5k I jumped into maybe 5 years ago, and before that it had probably been at least 10 years. This afternoon I took steps to change that by signing up for a 50k trail run down Chattanooga. I'm not really in shape for any kind of race, so I have a lot of work to do in the next couple of months. At least having already signed up, I have a reason to get back into shape. Don't expect any obsessiveness as that's not really in my nature, but if at any point i say "I have to run", it may be appropriate to take my statement literally.

This wasn't a spur of the moment decision, but one I have been mulling over for several weeks now. If you would like to mull and potentially run, you can check out the race here.

The 10% rule

2010-06-03T16:57:00.002-05:00

I am ready to coin a new rule, and I like to call it the 10% rule. This rule says that for any problem you solve, you should spend an additional 10% of the time you spent finding the solution to improve your solution. This can be applied to most things that come about from thinking, including something you write, proving a math theorem, or designing a house (since we all do all of those things). I decided on the rule based on my work in developing software. In software development, there are usually numerous ways to solve a problem, and it stands to reason that the first solution you come up with probably won't be the best. However, once you do know a solution, you have a better perspective on the problem than when you started. So while it probably isn't worth it to go back and overhaul your solution, it probably will benefit you to find areas where you could make small improvements and performance tweaks.

I came up with this after recognizing my own methods of developing. I don't spend a ton of time going back over my work once it works, but it is worthwhile to spend about 10% of my time trying to improve it. It is like in anything else, including brewing beer, packing a car, or mowing a lawn... once you know what you are doing, you can stand to do it better and you know how to do that quickly. (If the changes aren't quick, your returns start to diminish, hence stopping at 10%.)

That's all.

Water

2010-05-05T22:47:00.002-05:00

Water has been a big part of life in Nashville for the past few days. First, an overwhelming amount of it fell from the skies this past weekend; an "overwhelming amount" being more than a quarter of our annual rainfall (and Nashville typically doesn't slouch in this category). Second, the water that fell from the sky ended up on the ground and wanted to travel as quickly as possibly to sea level, causing flooding and high water in minor creeks, runoffs, and backyards. Third, most of the water ended up in the Cumberland River, which swelled beyond what anyone imagined it could from some spring rain storms.

That is where we find ourselves now, inundated with water in the the most inconvenient places. The lower part of downtown is swamped, the local beer distributors' warehouses are out of reach, the piranhas from Opry Mills are loose in the Cumberland, and the Grand Ole Opry was displaced. (Not to mention many lives lost, thousands of homes flooded, vehicles destroyed, businesses wounded.) Where we don't have water, supposedly, is in the city's reserve tanks. One of the biggest stories locally is the water shortage. One of the water treatment plants is down, so it is understandable that the city, which wants to clean itself up from a nasty flood, is close to running short on water.

The messages from the city are to conserve water by not taking showers unless absolutely necessary, to leave those stacks of dishes in the sink or dishwasher until we get the go-ahead that there's enough water to spare to clean them, to get through our closets or buy new underwear instead of running a clothes washer. Only essential water use. The good citizen posts pictures to twitter showing his dirty dishes. People go to work in their jeans and t-shirt, proud of their civic efforts. (They should be proud.) It is a tough time, and everyone should do their part to help out the community and conserve for where the water is really needed.

But you know where it isn't needed? At that fancy restaurant which uses enough water washing dishes in a night to shower a hundred people. Or the sidewalk in front of the Schermerhorn where firemen were seen earlier today washing mud off of the sidewalks. Or in the local breweries which use close to ten times the amount of actual beer produced in water during the brewing process. What is essential about any of these businesses or their water use? I would argue that my morning shower is more essential than my afternoon beer and having clean dishes to cook with are more important than my trip to a restaurant.

I am doing my part. I am following the prescribed measures to conserve water, and everyone I know in Nashville is doing the same. If the reserves aren't building fast enough, I don't think it is a problem at homes. I think it is a problem with the biggest users of that water.

We are Nashville. Let's see if the businesses are.

Shaping life to live

2010-02-11T12:25:00.003-06:00

I think everyone has patterns by which they live, and those patterns tend to show up in about every aspect of their lives. For instance, find someone whose home is in a constant state of disarray and you will likely find their life to also be a mess. A lot of it is perspective, I suppose, but it can be displayed in how that person interacts with their 'mess'. My desk at work is considered by some to be cluttered (relatively), but it is useable to me. I don't lose things in my "clutter", and I know where to find things. When my desk gets too cluttered for me to find things or to be useable, then I clean it off. When my life starts to feel overwhelmed with too much going on, I will quickly pull back and center on the things most important for a while.

At work right now, we are in the process of creating a new web application that will encompass some of our existing utilities as well as adding to them. When creating software there are many different development methodologies and patterns to choose from, but I have been thinking more about the fundamental approach to it. In software there are different platforms and languages in which software can be produced, and often these will each cater to a specific use, hence, in many cases, the reason for their creation. Many companies decide on a platform for developing all of their software and stick to it. They base the architecture of their system on the tools that their chosen platform provide. This is just one approach. Another approach to architecting software, the preferred one in my opinion, is to design the system you need and then figure out how to get your chosen platform to conform to your design.

This system architecting has gotten me thinking again about life. It has given me another metaphor on how I think life should be lived. I think too often we (as humans) see patterns for life laid out before us and try to figure out how to fit our own lives and desires into those patterns. Like in software, this produces a lifetime of constant hacking and re-configuring to maintain a fit as life and culture evolve. Granted this makes for a smoother collective civilization, but it also makes for a bunch of only semi-satisfied people.

The alternative is to figure out what you want in life, and then try to shape the available variables of life to fit your own definition of this life goodness. Like in software, sometimes it is necessary to scrap the system altogether and find another system that fits better. (An example of this is religious/moral systems.) Sometimes if it just necessary to limit the amount of outside system that effects you. (An example may be working for yourself in some sort of free-lance capacity.) Settling for the generally accepted pattern will often lead to a (seemingly) easier or less-complicated life, but how full is that life? What are you sacrificing for that life? Without exploring other patterns, how can you know that the grass isn't truly greener?

In software, you have to eventually make concessions and just build your system and sell it, but that doesn't mean there isn't potential for eventual improvement to grow the the software, the business, etc. In most business, and especially in software, to become stagnant is to start to lose ground and to eventually become obsolete. In life, concessions have to be made, too, but stagnation also happens far too often. It leads to the loss of dreams and the loss of that desire for things to improve. It leads to modifying one's life to fit a mold and staying in that mold. It means living for a system and a pattern instead of living for yourself and for your life. (If your "system" says living for yourself and your life is wrong, you need to challenge that system about that belief - sounds like a conflict of interest to me.)

Shaping life to live is pursuing life for its own sake and not because of a system around you. Sometimes drastic steps must be taken to even be able to see the captive patterns, but if you can see them then you can start to break free and allow your mind and life to live outside of its confines. Living one's own life is truly the only way to find real satisfaction. It won't always look and feel like how society or your relatives or your friends define satisfaction (and they will likely never completely be aligned), but you will be closer to real peace and contentment in life than any other shape could ever offer.

A Life Lost

2009-10-28T12:40:00.003-05:00

I was just looking at my igoogle page, at the Reuters news headlines section. In a short glance, I read two different headlines (out of three) that reported on people dying somewhere due to terrorist attacks. One car bomb and one attack on foreign diplomats. I read the headlines and moved on...

Then I caught myself. People had been killed. And I glanced past it as if it was any other news that has no direct effect on my life. The sad part is that it seems more of the articles are about killings and murders than anything else. Most are removed from my life experience, but maybe that is coincidental, too, and could change at some point.

The point is to be intentional about considering murder for what it is and to try to not be so hardened against it. Instead of this just being a "story" that is out there in the ether, to remember that someone's life got taken from him. Not to be dramatic, but if my life means anything to me, then news of someone else losing theirs should have some impact on me, as well. (And my life does have a great deal of meaning to me.)

3 thoughts.

2009-09-01T22:13:00.003-05:00

1.) This is not the way to get more business. American airlines announced earlier in the year that they were eliminating 1200 flight attendant jobs by end of year? So that means the attendants were constantly worried for their jobs. Distracted, probably pissed. Maybe some in-fighting. Those flight attendants are the primary contact points with the customers the company serves. No wonder the company needs to cut costs so much. They lose customers because they don't protect those customers' experiences. American did the opposite of inspiring its troops to help the bottom line.

2.) The span of Hillsboro Road between 440 and Green Hills was recently widened The wider road now has a center turn lane so that cars don't get backed up as much. The road is also even more dangerous for bicycles and pedestrians. Whereas before there was a 2-3 foot shoulder, there is now none. So it essentially removes the accessibility to pedestrians. I am not saying that bike lanes should have been put in, but I do think that sidewalks should have been a priority. Why are there sidewalks on both sides of the road for the entire length of Old Hickory between Brentwood and Nolensville, an area of town much less central than the 440/Green Hills corridor, but no sidewalks on Hillsboro? Maybe they should deal with the congestion problem by making other forms of transport to/from Green Hills available. Maybe if there are sidewalks, then more people will walk it. (I know, doubtful for that part of town, but then at least they have a choice.)

3.) Tonight I was driving in a part of town that I now rarely go to (can you guess where?, based on number 2) but where I used to live. It brought back memories of an old job I had around there. I was a software developer in a company in which there were maybe 20-30 developers. It was severely inefficient. I received high marks for productivity, but I never felt like I was doing much work. I have known of many such companies (and worked for more than just that one). Essentially, like in everything else, 80% of the work is performed by 20% of the people. I think that any software project that requires more than 4-6 good developers should be broken into smaller projects.. of 4-6 developers. More people than that is just fluff and a waste of money. Any developer who can't function and pick up his own slack in a group of that size needs to find another line of work. Along the same token, any project that requires (based on pre-development estimates) more than 6 months, also needs to be broken up. More than 6 months and the probability of success takes a nose-dive. The sad part is that I suspect that 80% of software is developed in an inefficient and over-inflated manner. The software of which I speak is the "Enterprise" software for government and big business.... ok, so I am rambling now... I think my main point, though, is that if software companies would/could identify the good developers and just hire them and pay them well, then they (the companies) would probably have higher success rates and lower costs overall.

(If this post is incoherent, it is mainly because my highly-irritated allergies aren't allowing enough oxygen to reach my head.)

Jack

2009-08-17T23:46:00.000-05:00

I don't really understand charity "events". It is a funny concept to me. I sign up to participate in an event I am interested in participating in (a bike ride, run, etc.). In order to participate, I am required to ask my friends to give money to a cause. If they do so, I get to participate in an event that is worth more than the (possibly) smallish fee that I paid to register. So, essentially, I am supposed to ask my friends and family to pay money so I can go have a good time. They, in turn, may feel guilty enough to give to the cause so as to not feel like a selfish person.

So when it comes down to it, I am asking my friends and family to pay for my good time doing one of my hobbies. Sounds like a scam to me. Especially when one considers just how much of the money that my friends are giving goes towards actually helping the people or cause that the "event" is sponsoring. I have less issue with events where I pay an entry fee that supposedly supports a cause. At least there I am paying money and I am getting the benefit of the event organization. But why should I ask my friends to pay for me to enjoy such an activity?

Jack and Back sounds like a fun bike trip. But I have no interest in asking my friends to donate money so I can ride my bike to Jack Daniel's and drink whiskey to my hearts content. I also have no interest in paying $350 myself to be able to do that ride. I think MS might be a worthy cause (I have no info on the cause and its organization), but there are many other worthy causes. I think I would prefer to pick one that hits closer to home. And I think that I would prefer my friends and family do the same.

Ajax

2009-06-02T13:14:00.002-05:00

Currently in my "career", I could be best labeled as a "software developer"; though some people have other ideas. Like most other things in my life, I try not to let my occupation define me. I don't really consider myself a "techie" or a "computer geek" or any of the other terms that society assign (or people assume) for people who work with computers. (For that matter, I don't really like being labeled "cyclist", "homebrewer", or "jerk". "dad" is ok. as is "friend".) I am not the type of person who is constantly messing with linux or servers or "open source" stuff. Actually, the stuff I prefer to mess with is the graphical side of things and the usability and "ahh" factors of the web. I am almost constantly messing with different sites that offer new or different ways for people (or me) to express themselves online. (My newest is tumblr.) I am also on facebook, goodReads, ... (the list goes on). I don't really frequently use any of them, but I find most of them interesting for their approach to people, information, and expression.

In spite of my professed non-geekiness and lack of "hacking" interest, I still often have small projects that I am messing with on the side of work. Some are work related and some not-so-much. Usually I only get as far as seeing how things should or would work, and then I often will walk away without even fully implementing the project. It is the understanding the logic or the algorithm behind it that interests me. I also tend to redesign my website at www.mycryption.com almost monthly (right now I am simply redirecting to my custom tumblr site).

When Sudoku was growing in popularity a few years ago, I got into the puzzles because the logic and numbers tend to soothe my mind. Then I ruined it for myself by writing an algorithm that would solve about any sudoku puzzle I came across. By defining how to do it, I lost interest in the puzzles completely. Now I only solve them if I am really bored on a long flight. It is understanding the logic and finding a clever solution that do it for me.

But anyway... one project I have recently been messing with is working with Ajax. Ajax is essentially a "design pattern" or mechanism for web development that enables specific elements on a web page to refresh without refreshing the whole page. Gmail is one of the most obvious web sites that use ajax. It isn't a language, but more of a way of moving data. It also isn't new at all. I have used/implemented in past (and present) professional situations, but I have never really messed with it much on a personal level because I never wanted to mess with the grunt work involved in moving the data. I tend to wait a while to mess with new stuff because eventually someone will release some slick, easy-to-use libraries that handle all the grunt work. That is where jQuery has come in. JQuery is a javascript library that makes many things easier on the client (browser) side of web development, including ajax.

Now that the grunt work associated with passing data back and forth with the server is handled, I can concentrate purely on the web-site-specific side of things. But this isn't enough. There is still grunt-work in handling the data on both sides of the fence (client and server sides), and I don't like grunt work. So my latest push is to essentially write a simple framework (library) that will utilize the jquery tools to make ajax transactions dead simple to the web developer (me). Once I figure it out sufficiently, I may actually complete its implementation... or I may try to convince my employers to grant me the time to complete it at the workplace. (They read this blog - so you could call this entry a passive form of intra-office communication.) So my goal here is more than personal logic interest, but potentially having a slicker, easier way of creating useable web pages.

So you could question my earlier claims to a geek-free existence, but I do need something to keep my mind engaged. And I never did figure out how to work those logic puzzles in the newspaper.. and who gets a newspaper these days anyway.

testing

2009-05-16T09:03:00.001-05:00

This is a test. I am messing with a new service.. Cheers.

Intentional Living

2009-04-30T18:14:00.002-05:00

Ever since I developed a self-consciousness and started thinking for myself, I always valued the idea of intentional living. At least it always sounded good. To me, intentional living was always choosing my own path through life, not leaving things up to chance, having a reason for making the choices I make. My resolve hasn't always been the best, but it hasn't been bad, either. My choices have certainly been questionable, but I have tried to learn and apply the lessons to my life.

Sometime a few years ago, around the time I turned 30, I was struck by a realization that, to me, is closely related to this concept of intentional living. My realization was that life is no longer in the future, but is in the present. This may seem trivial, obvious, or even unimportant, but to me, it was a watershed moment. We spend so much of our lives preparing for the future that it is difficult to change gears or even know when to make that change. We go to school in order to prepare for a career; we spend a career preparing for retirement. We buy a starter home so that we can eventually buy a larger home that will serve the needs of the family in our future. We spend our late twenties and thirties acquiring things to add to that home and life that will one day meet our goals of what home and life are supposed to be. Now don't get me wrong, I am a proponent of being smart and being prepared and working for goals, but at some point one has to decide that the now is just as important as the future. This was huge for me because it freed me from worrying about all of these goals and expectations that had for so long been before me (most of which were not even my own but were, instead, inherited from my family, peers, media, etc.). This also freed me to define, more specifically and more relevantly, the intentions for which I should live.

This intentional living stuff is still a process, though. And lately it has been confusing and jumbled. Part of this was because I have still held onto many ideals that do not really jive with my intentions. Many of these ideals, much like the goals and expectations mentioned above, have been inherited, but many have also defaulted due to lack of consideration on my part. I would try to make decisions, but then other arguments would come to mind and the correct answer would not always be apparent. In case this is confusing, I am talking about anything from how to budget a paycheck to what books or movies I consume. Very practical life actions. With fighting ideals and philosophies, coming to a conclusion can be quite a difficult task.

(An aside.. most people consider me a pretty laid back person and may be confused about me stressing about this stuff.. truth be told, I don't stress about these things, I merely try to consider actions and alternatives instead of just going with the flow... if it gets stressful, I typically default to the flow, but I am trying to intentionally modify my defaults.)

So that leads me to where I am now. I am on a personal "mission" to define, for myself, the philosophies by which I want to live my life and make practical decisions. Then, once I have figured where I stand about a particular area of my life, I can intentionally change my life (if necessary) to be better aligned with my own personal philosophy. I will probably also record these actions in similar fashion. The "mission" aspect of this is simply the record-keeping. By writing down my thoughts, I am better able to understand how to move forward and stick to my decisions.

By "define", I will be writing (typing) down the conclusions I come to. This document, in its raw form, will not be available for public consumption, but I do plan to publish some of my thoughts and actions on this here forum. For those of you who fine this all boring and nonsense, I will still post with my normal drivel, but by recording philosophies and decisions here I serve a couple of purposes. One, I can be challenged by others with concepts or angles I hadn't considered on my own. Two, by recording thoughts and resolutions on such a public forum, I will guarantee myself a higher level of accountability to myself; for me, writing such things is not taken lightly. Note that I neither expect anyone else to hold me accountable (and pray grace if I do not follow through) nor am I in any way evangelizing any of my philosophies or actions.

Don't be surprised if you don't see anything related to this for quite a while, but putting this post out there is, for me, the first step in raising my life to a higher level of intention.

Please bear with me..... I'm figuring it out...

A Hole in the HSR Plan

2009-04-16T12:46:00.003-05:00

This morning, President Obama gave a press conference about his plan for a national high-speed rail system, and his plan has a big glaring hole in the middle of it. That hole is Tennessee and Kentucky. My fellow Nashvillians (not pronounced nash-villins) and I are smack-dab in the middle of that hole. If that hole were a Donut, Nashville wouldn't even get any of the icing drippings.

This makes me wonder who is to blame for being overlooked, and the blame seems to fall most appropriately on our local representatives for not pushing for more rail attention here in middle Tennessee. Or is the fault ours, the constituents? Most people in this area seem to regard rail travel as a nice idea, but not worth giving priority when it comes to time in legislature or other infrastructure needs.

So what does this mean for Nashville? Well, if Obama is successful in assigning a national HSR system to his presidential legacy, then rail travel will once again become a major form of transportation in this country. US residents will consider train travel as a legitimate option when it comes to travel (especially as people are moving back into cities) and foreign visitors will increasingly use rail transportation when visiting the US, choosing to exclusively visit cities accessible by train (much like we do in other countries). So I ask again, what does this mean for Nashville? It means being left behind. It means Nashville loses stature in the realm of world-class cities. It means that maybe Nashville isn't as important as we think it is.

Anyone need to go to Lebanon (TN)? We can take a train there....

Portland is sounding better and better all the time... (Portland Oregon, not Portland TN)

Another Election

2009-03-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

Last week there was a special election for my metro district here in Nashville (or I guess it would be better identified as the district that I live in). Evidently, there are about 12000 registered voters in this district. Considering the demographic, I would guess that is a high percentage of the eligible voters. For this election, however, only about 10% of the voters actually voiced their opinion. (A little annoying, really, but so it goes...)

With such small elections, there is more opportunity for candidates to focus on campaigning for each available vote. I received no fewer than 8 calls in the week leading up to the election, the bulk of which were received in the 24 hours before the voting location closed. I had voted early, so it was little more than an annoyance to me, but again, so it goes. The little bit that wasn't annoyed was glad to have a voice that mattered.

So the total number of voters for that district election was 1229. Here is where this process really turns into an exercise of futility: no single voter received enough votes to actually win. Somewhere on the rule books, it states that the winner has to have received at least 50% of the votes. So now, a runoff special election has been scheduled for the end of April. I will be curious to see how many people turn out for that one. Since the person I voted for is now out of the running, I can't say I have much of an opinion about either of the remaining two candidates. I do, however, plan to vote anyway. I guess I will just have to dig deeper to find redeeming values in one or other of the candidates.

It's mainly just another month without council representation.

The Non-Partisan Choice

2009-03-08T11:40:00.002-05:00

So we seem to be in a pickle. The pickle isn't so much that we have a ton of bad debts out there. The pickle isn't so much that banks aren't lending nor that people/businesses aren't spending enough money. The pickle isn't so much the skyrocketing unemployment. The pickle is, in my estimation, the future.

The democrats/liberals/whatever want to pour money into the ailing economy, buy bad debts, save the economy via the government. The republicans/conservatives (though they have been mostly silent about solutions - because they don't have one and don't have to have one.... others get to clean up the mess they made) want to save our economy by pouring money into and saving our corporations, which saves jobs, keeps businesses and people buying things... essentially keeps the status quo.

Both want to do this by borrowing money from our future in the hopes/expectation that things will improve and we will be able to catch up. That is called speculation and that's probably the biggest reason we are currently in this mess. If we can just weather this storm, then we can get back to living that American dream.

The American dream, however, that we have been enjoying/chasing is flawed and not what it originally was. The American dream is not that everyone can be a millionaire and live the life of luxury. The American dream is not that we can all be kings. The American dream is the pursuit of happiness; but somewhere along the way happiness became synonymous with wealth and all of a sudden everyone decided he could get rich and everyone decided he was the chosen one.

Ours has become a society of almost-elites and our laws/policies/social conventions have reflected as much. Everything is driven by its profit-making potential. This was especially true during the Bush administration. Many formerly public institutions were sold to private industry to be managed by people whose goal is to make a profit. But what do most astute business-people do when faced with a losing proposition? They cut their losses and find another venture that promises more hope. This is the story of our failing infrastructure, lackluster to non-existent "public" transportation systems throughout most of the country, and struggling school systems. I have heard it said that public transportation, for instance, is a money-losing system and is begrudged because of this. My question is why money is the only judge of success of a program. Is not just getting citizens from one place to another the point of public transportation? The same question can be asked about a multitude of other public service projects and programs.

Fundamentally, I believe we are approaching our problems in the wrong way and I don't think we will ultimately solve anything. Maybe we will pull out of this recession for a while. Maybe we will go back to all feeling like kings that are almost to that billionaire status. But then we will just cycle back to here again. What we need is a fundamental change in the way we think about our economy and our society.

Obama's goal of sending money to fix our infrastructure is good, but this should be normal practice... not a stimulus package. We should let these companies fail and then we can pick up the pieces. I am not convinced we need more regulation, but when the unregulated efforts of risk-takers fail, we shouldn't be bailing them out so they can just do it again. If GM goes under because they made lackluster cars that were not in demand, then maybe the next American car company will learn to be more agile and produce a better product.

We need to recognize that our daily lives and society are what will, in the end, persist, and we need to maintain and enrich these things. We need to preserve and build up a better infrastructure for our kids, not pass on to them an ailing one that needs fixing. We need to pursue joy in our lives, not just that next buck. We need to believe in our own humanity and in our own real desire to progress and not base it all on a stock ticker. We need to stop living for a "someday" and start living for this day. We need to remember, daily, what our true innate priorities are.

Let us put our humanity back where it should be. This is a choice.

Stimulation

2009-02-17T20:54:00.003-06:00

So apparently we have a stimulus law now. Nothing overly exciting and no immediate changes, but if you care to see how it is that we Americans spend $787 billion we didn't have yesterday, check this out.. I found it mildly interesting and convenient.

One interesting part of the law is the more than $9 billion for rail travel infrastructure, with the bulk of that going to high-speed rail projects. With further exploration, I found this interesting site about transportation.

Now before you get your hopes up, this is merely one person's (or group's?) point of view of a viable rail network. The thing that got me is the inclusion of Nashville as a stop on one of the high-speed lines. Not really confident this would happen in the timeframe that I am likely to be in the Nashville area, but pretty cool nonetheless. I explored that site more and found some interesting statistics and ideas.

Did you know that Frank Lloyd Wright's given name was Frank Lincoln Wright? Also, he never finished high school nor college. Seems like a lot of people that would become geniuses in their fields have this similar story (about school, not changing names). Makes me wonder if I screwed myself by finishing both... (in a non-sensical sort of logic).

Cheers.

Emma rides a bike

2009-02-11T08:01:00.003-06:00

This weekend we had beautiful weather in Nashville, so Emma and I spent the majority of our daylight hours outside. We played soccer, passed a frisbee, flew a kite, and rode our bikes.

Emma decided that she was ready to try riding without training wheels. We have tried this in the past but with no success. I am now convinced it was my teaching method that was to blame. When trying it before, I would just remove her training wheels and hold her bike up and push her along, waiting for her to gain her balance. This didn't work at all. So this time I tried a different technique.

From the beginning of Emma jumping on her bike without the 3rd and 4th wheels, I realized that if she was going to learn to ride her bike, she would have to mostly do it by herself; with only some gentle instruction and suggestions from me. So we went to a slightly inclined paved section of a Greenway here in Nashville and used the downhill. By doing this, Emma would have to worry less about gaining momentum and more about finding her balance. I also told her to not worry about the pedals at first. The first priority was learning to keep her balance, so she just rolled down the hill countless times, bobbing back and forth on her feet until she could roll a long distance without needing to touch the ground. When she was getting good at this, I told her to put her feet on the pedals and start pedaling when she was comfortable doing so. Before long, Emma was able to ride about 10-20 feet at a time. So it became more a thing of practicing than learning.

That first day (Saturday), she never rode more than about 20-30 feet at a time. So on Sunday, when she wanted to go back to practice again (over going to the zoo), I assumed she would be in the same place, so I didn't bring my own bike this time. Big mistake. As soon as we got there, she jumped on her bike and just started to ride off. Before long, she was zipping along with no worries.. and I was running along behind her just trying to keep up. I think I ran more than 5 miles that day, just trying to stay with her.

I made a video to commemorate this momentous occasion. Enjoy...

Emma Learns to Ride a Bike from Troy on Vimeo.

South Korea, A Recap

2009-02-05T00:06:00.003-06:00

So, here is it.

The itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Inchon (the international airport). Shuttle into Seoul. Taxi to Hostel. Ambien to sleep.
Day 2: Seoul. Palace. Markets. Soju.
Day 3: Bullet-type train (KTX) to Busan. Checked into a "Love Motel" (complete with a hairbrush (that already contained hair) and bugspray). Went to the fish market. Elevator up a tower to get a high view of the city. Soju. Krispy Kreme.
Day 4: Bus to cliffs. "Hike" with trailside vendors. Exposed cliffs and lighthouse. Express Bus to Gyeonju. Korean-style guestroom. Soju. Rice Paddies. Anapji gardens and pond. Observatory. Very cold. Warm floor.
Day 5: Gyeonju. Jimjibang (sauna). Buddhist temple. Maekju. Sweet Rolls. Soju. Tomb mounds.
Day 6: Train to Andong. Hotel California. Kimbap. Bus to Hahoe. Thatched rooves with cable tv. Korean Beef. Soju.
Day 7: Dunkin Donuts. Soju Museum. Andong Soju (at 10am?). Toast sandwiches. 3hr train through mountains to Donghae. Waltz through Russian district. Bus to Samcheok. Korean Beer and greasy Hof food.
Day 8: Bus to Hwanseon cave. Climb mountain. Walk through cave. Meet swiss couple. Bus to Chuncheon. Meet University students for Soju, cricket (darts), and french fries/tots.
Day 9: Emart. Bus to Wancheon. Meet Tori's host family. To Hwacheon to apartment. Tennis. Bipimbap for dinner. Korean coffee.
Day 10: Snowing. Ice Festival. ATV on ice. Ice Fishing. Dinner at host home. Sushimi trout. Soju. Yute (a Korean game with 4 sticks).
Day 11: Day of rest. Reading. Made spaghetti for host family. Soju. They drink my beer.
Day 12: Sled competition. Video interview by Korean Tourism board. Stationary store. Bought Soju for trip home. Read. Pork for dinner at host home. Korean beer Hite. Chocolate Cake.
Day 13: Beef lunch at tv celebrity's restaurant, courtesy of tennis coach (who's sled I helped "pilot" in sled competition. Explored Sports arena. Golf aquatic center. Korean Chinese food for dinner. Ice sculpture exhibits.
Day 14: Tennis. Fried kimchi rice. Pack. Sushimi dinner. Yute. Inauguration on TV.
Day 15: Up early. Ride with host family to Chuncheon. Bus to Inchon airport. Duty-free. Flights home.

So that was my trip. Check out pictures (with descriptions) here. (Make sure descriptions show up, because each shot has one.)

And now. The long awaited ice fishing video. Enjoy.

back in the uSA

2009-02-02T21:31:00.002-06:00

So I got back last week from Korea, about a day and a half (or so) after my last post was posted. Adjusting back to Nashville time was not easy for me. When my sis and I got to Korea, we each popped an Ambien that first couple of nights and quickly and rather easily adjusted to Korean time. Before long even my bowels were moving in some predictable manner (sorry... TMI?). Coming back home was altogether different. No Ambien; no freewheeling days of doing what I pleased. It was about a week before I could sleep through the night without waking up for 3-4 hours of tossing and turning while wide awake and just waiting to get back to sleep. But... now I am sleeping... just waiting for other functions to return to normal... almost there.... anyway....

There will be a more thorough examination of my trip coming (hopefully), but for now, I would prefer to discuss something else.

Beer.

Two things. There is another New Belgium beer that hit the stores today. Mighty Arrow Pale Ale is New Belgium's interpretation of a pale ale. It doesn't really come across as an American pale ale, but seemed more like an English pale ale.. or shall we say "(new) belgian pale ale"? Anyway, it was decent. It didn't knock my socks off, but it was enjoyable and easy drinking in a quality session beer sort of way. Note that today also marks the delivery of Fat Tire cans to middle Tennessee. (Though I only saw 12-packs (I was tempted to buy a sixer if I saw it) and if I was buying cans for the purpose of backpacking or other non-glass application, I would probably step it up and get some dale's, but always nice to have the option).

The other beer message of interest, to Nashville folks anyway, is the proposition of losing the ability to buy singles. Linus up at yazoo explains it better.

I sent my letter to my council-person, but then found out that I don't currently have a council-person (the seat is currently vacant). So I sent my plea to an at-large council person. I also looked into the possibility of filling that council position myself, but it appears that there are quite a few more eligible potential candidates (who seem to already know what a council person does). I also wonder if not actually owning property in my district would hurt my chances.

So, while I have your ear with all of this interesting stuff, I will go a new direction with this here public forum. I will delve into the topic of music. Now, I have enjoyed music for a long time. It played a huge part of my days of discovery in high school and into college. These days, living in "music city", it is not an infrequent occasion that I am asked question "so... what do you play?" My typical answer is "the radio". A more accurate response would be that I play my ipod, but I typically say the radio to not sound pretentious. (I do believe, however, that the ipod is pretty ubiquitous, at least among the people who would ask me such a question.) So anyway, all that is to lead into a band recommendation. I listen to a lot of music, but the band that I have listened to more than any other for the past couple of years is "the national". I recommend you get out and get some of their music. ( I get no royalties. I don't know them and have never even seen them play. But I am trying to increase the pleasure in your own life.) I have other recommendations, as well, but will save those for another day.

Cheers.

Yee Haw

2009-01-20T12:09:00.003-06:00

I start my journey home in just a few short hours. And I am returning to a better America than the one I left.

(And as annoying as CNN can be to watch, I am thankful for their global broadcast presence. Sitting in a living room in Korea never felt so much like home.)

Downtime in Hwacheon

2009-01-19T08:03:00.002-06:00

Staying put this week in Hwacheon has given me a little more of a vacation. I really like to finish a holiday tired from a lot of activity and experiences, and I'm sure I will be pretty warn out by the time I get home, especially with jet lag from the long trip home and time re-adjustment, but it has been nice to lay around some and read and not do much for hours at a time. I was able to finish the book I brought with me, Ed Abbey's The Fool's Progress, I have also had some time to write about my experience some (in a traditional and personal handwritten format).

Another diversion has been the coming changing of the US presidency that will take place in just over 24 hours. There has been a lot said about it and about the potential changes we may see in even the first 24-36 hours that Obama is in office and about his "solemn" approach to the position and the first black president thing and the (sort of) rags to riches thing and all of that. And it is all interesting, but what I find even more fascinating is the logistics of it all. Stuff like what is revealed in this article. It is that behind the scenes stuff of life that I find very interesting. It is the stuff that is assumed and taken for granted.

That is also one of my approaches when traveling, whether here to South Korea, or to a small town in Kansas to attend a friend's wedding. Even across town or across the street. Anywhere and any life that is different to my existence is fascinating to me. Sometimes only for maybe 30 seconds until I (in a stereotyping manner) decide I have seen that life pattern before or maybe for 2 straight weeks in which almost everything I do or everywhere I go presents new challenges, ideas, and adventures.

Here in Korea, I find it interesting that tennis balls come in packs of two instead of three. Leopards raise their tails when they are full and not needing to find food and lower it when they are on the prowl (and deer and other wildlife know this and are not threatened when the tail is raised). Homes in Korea are heated in the floors, hence the tradition of short tables and sitting and sleeping on the floor. In Korea, soup is apparently served more often at the end of a meal than in the beginning. The standard loaf of bread in Korea is many times better than the standard loaf of store bought bread in the states. Likewise with meats. Bread is still sold from bakeries in Korea and meat from butchers. (When I bought ground beef to make a spaghetti meat sauce for my sister's host family, the butcher sliced off the amount of meat I required and then took it back to grind it for me... and it really did taste better.) In Korea, the roads are marked with stripes and signs like in the US, but no one really follows the rules. It is mostly a free for all. And the local police do not really enforce any rules. But it all seems to work.

The Koreans have a pretty well-defined and traditional system of respect and hierarchy among all people, and that respect is reflected into all aspects of their lives. It would be easy to say that the USA needs to have something like that because people are just so damn inconsiderate and disrespectful of one another (which I agree with), but just saying that wouldn't solve anything and there really isn't an easy solution. The Korean race is one that has really stood the test of time and has persevered. Their traditions and culture is millennia old. I do not believe the US will ever get there, and many speculate that Korea is losing some of it, but I still see an exceptionally high level of respect by children to their parents, by younger adults to older adults, and even by peers to peers. If there is one thing that the rest of the world should learn from Korea, it is how one person should treat another person.

It is the little things about life that make it rich and worth pursuing. Different peoples in different cultures have figured out, each in their own ways, how to make their lives rich. By exploring the little things of different peoples lives, maybe I can add that little bit more of richness to my own. By learning how one president moves out and a new one moves into the White House, maybe I can get idea for making my next move smoother (or maybe it just satisfies that part of my mind that likes to find order and method in every little (or big) thing). In Korea, I learn a little bit about accupunture, I learn how to combine foods to make a more satisfying snack for a bus ride, I am introduced to soju, and cold noodles, and instant coffee with the sugar already added, I learn what happens when my feet really do lose feeling from cold numbness, I eat meals with people I can't communicate with by talking, I see huge 2-3 story high ice sculptures, I eat sushimi within hours of the fish being caught, I play tennis on a dirt tennis court, bowing to my opponents before each of my serves, I help a new friend with his English while he explains the virtues of "Globish" (and how everyone worldwide who has any English can understand it... except for native English speakers), I spend a train ride speaking to a Korean Philles fan (who can't speak English) with the help of a Buddhist Monk (who can), I drink "flower essence" that has been fermented for over two years, I ride on a decorative sled through a decorative sled contest (which ended up being somewhat of a disaster - but was fun nonetheless) and am interviewed by the official Korean Tourism department (the interview will no doubt appear online... I may supply a link if I can find it) as if I created the sled myself, and I experience a true winter... even if only for a week or so.

And I still have a full day left before I get up early for my extra-long day of traveling home....

It's the little things.

Ice Fishing

2009-01-17T18:25:00.004-06:00

So on that snowy morning, Tori and I were picked up by her host family from the apartment and we drove the approximately 1km to the Hwacheon ice festival. There was much to do, including ice slides, an ice cave, driving ATV's on an ice track (which we did - we are, afterall, Americans, and can't bear to miss an opportunity to play with an internal-combustion-engine-powered machine in less than favorable conditions), sledding across the ice, tall "bobsledding" from a tower off the side of the river, and ice soccer in small rinks on the ice with hockey puck-like objects. There was food to eat, military formations to watch, hot chocolate and coffee and soju to drink, huge ice sculpture installations to ponder.

There was also ice fishing, and among the things I did, that was the most memorable. They would cut small holes in the ice and drop a line to wait for the Sancheno (trout - big, healthy trout) to bite then pull it out and take it home for dinner; but that wasn't the kind of ice fishing I did. They also had a large fishing pool. They tried to talk me out of it, but I decided to sign up... and then was followed by Tori's host dad, and then her host sisters (ages 10 and 12), and then Tori herself. At the appointed time, we returned to the temporary building erected by the fishing pool where they provided each person a t-shirt and pair of shorts to put on. So into the locker room where we strip down and don our fishing outfits. Upon exiting the locker rooms, we find some available sandals, but these would only be for temporary use; upon taking to the ice around the pool, we had to be barefoot. So after standing around outside in the cold for a few minutes on the wooden deck while the MC played to the crowd, we circled around the outside of the pool, barefoot on ice and ice-cold rocks, until everyone was around the edge... Then after a bit more teasing, they instructed everyone into the pool to start catching fish. The idea is to catch fish with our bare hands and drop them into our tucked-in shirts. The limit was 2 per person, but a third could be had by holding it in one's mouth.

I was already having trouble with the cold before jumping in. Not the coldness in the air, but the coldness on the bottom of my feet from walking on ice. I have very sensitive feet. So when we jumped into the water, the first couple minutes were just trying to deal with the intense pain of being in extremely cold water. Let's just say that it was cold enough that they had to keep water pumping into the pool to keep it moving to prevent freezing. So after a couple of minutes, my legs, from just above my knees down, were numb and I could finally get to work. I couldn't feel anything around or under my feet, but no matter, I needed to catch some fish. By this time, however, half the people had left the pool. Some had left as soon as entering the water, others had caught their quota already, and others had been overcome by the cold after a minute or two. This may seem ideal since there would less demand for the remaining fish, but the problem was that with all the extra room in the pool, there was room for the fish to gather in the areas where there were no people instead of just swimming around frantically among everyone. So essentially, I was not able to catch a fish. I had neither the resistance to the cold nor the correct technique for catching live trout, in a pool, in freezing weather. Next time I will know better how to approach the challenge. My only claim to fame was that I as the last person out of the pool that day and therefore endured the cold water the longest.

Upon exiting the pool, I still couldn't feel anything at all on or around my feet. I had to be very careful to watch what i stepped on and to make sure no one in the crowd stepped on my feet, because I could have cut my foot on something sharp or otherwise hurt my feet and not even known it. I hurried inside when called out of the water and had to wait to change because of a packed locker room. I eventually changed, but it took about 45 minutes to regain all feeling in my feet. I still sometimes feel something weird in some of the nerves on the bottom of my toes.

So among our group (of 5) who fished for Sancheno, Tori's host dad was the only one who caught fish. He caught three, so carried one of them out of the pool in his mouth. That night, we ate fresh Sancheno sushimi as well as baked trout prepared by Tori's host mom. It was pretty incredibly good tasting sushimi, and the freshest I have ever eaten. With some soju, some rice, some Kimchi, and some other good tasting foods I had never eaten before, I was definitely recovered and satisfied after dinner.

Today, we head back to the festival, where I have been asked to ride on a sled for a sled parade. Essentially, they are making a spectacle out of the bearded American in this small town of Hwacheon, but I am certainly willing to play along. It is the least I can do after the grace and generosity I have been shown the last few days. The sled I will be riding on belongs to the local Tennis coach, so I think he is also buttering me up for a match so he can stake his dominance over American tennis players. Hopefully at least this time I can stay up on my feet.

Cheers...

Snowing in Hwacheon

2009-01-15T18:06:00.003-06:00

I woke up this morning to a snowy landscape and more snow falling. I am in Hwacheon, South Korea, the small town near where my sister lives/works. We are staying in a nice apartment here in town and will be here for the duration of my trip.

Yesterday, we got to Tori's village and to her homestay home to meet her family. After some tea (made with some homegrown herbs and some "medicinal" mushrooms from the mountain) we headed into Hwacheon for some tennis with some other guys, including the principal of the local elementary school and a Pastor. I played two sets, each with Tori's host dad and each against a different opposing team. Glad to say I represented the USA well because we won both sets. I have now been called out for some table tennis on Sunday. We will see how that works out.

Today we visit the ice festival here in Hwacheon. We will be doing some ice fishing, some ice soccer, and generally playing in the winter outdoors. I hurt my wrist when I tripped during tennis yesterday, but hopefully that won't bother me in my outdoor pursuits today.

Right now, the challenge I am having is finding cash. Establishments take plastic here, but I prefer to use cash when in foreign countries like this. I found an ATM in Seoul early on that worked for me, but no luck since and my cash supply is dwindling... I will need to figure that one out....

Andong

2009-01-12T17:36:00.002-06:00

We are in Andong this morning; last night we stayed in the "Hotel California". It is the most western of the places we have stayed so far. I like that most places have wood floors; but all rooms also have an entry way and removing shoes is required. The floors are heated, though. Quite nice. This room includes a computer, which I am currently using.

Yesterday we took a bus out to a rustic folk village where they still have thatched roofs but now also have paved cement streets. One of the cleanest places we have been. We walked around the market area last night some and got a couple little things, including a fancy package of tissues. Today, the plan is to head out to the Soju museum (the closest we have found to a brewery tour so far) to check out the Soju production process and probably buy some high octane Soju. Then it's a train and bus to Samcheok as we keep moving. The next two places are on the east coast, but I don't see myself doing any swimming... It is getting colder, the more we head north.

Cheers.

2009-01-11T17:31:00.003-06:00

So now... a few days in...

Korea is a cool place to visit. This morning, I am in a town called Gyeongju. This is the third city we have visited. This morning, I woke up early, after falling asleep early, and went down the road to a public bath house. (Well, I had to pay to get in, but it is still public). We have a shower room at this guesthouse, but it is cold, and we don't have towels, so the place down the street seemed a reasonable alternative. Today we travel to Andong, a town that makes its own Soju and is known for some good beef, too. I imagine we will eat and drink well tonight.

Seoul was a huge city, but a very nice city and easy to get around. We visited an old palace there and walked around exploring most of the day. We stayed at a guesthouse there that was reasonably comfortable.

Next we visited Busan, which is a coastal city and the main Port of S. Korea. We visited the fish market, went to some cliffs, and went up a tower.

Here in Gyeongju, we went to a jimjibang where I baked in a sauna, we visited tombs, an active temple, a lake/gardens area, some rice paddies, and walked around the markets. This is one of the world's 10 most important historical towns, according to some group that ranks important historic towns. It was cool to see a lot of it.

Now, I know this is a very sparse account, but the really cool parts of the trip have been the everyday life stuff that makes Korea and Korean life different from my life. Like sleeping on heated floors, and concession stands on "nature" hikes, and horrible smelling larva that people love to eat, and cell phone charms, and .......

Anyway... more another time. Cheers.

2009-01-07T07:44:00.002-06:00

I'm in Korea. It was a really long trip, and now I hope to sleep a really long time. I am going on about 26 hours. Tomorrow should be a good time exploring Seoul.

More later. Cheers.

2009-01-05T16:32:00.002-06:00

Wow! It's been over a month!

Ok, ok. I know that neither I nor either of you are surprised by this. But it's a new year. Time to turn a new leaf... or just update again. So a quick rundown...

On the political front, Nashville is currently in early voting for a special referendum vote... or something like that. I am about to go to Korea and get back the day before the "special" election, so I went ahead and voted On Friday, the first day of early voting, so I wouldn't have to worry about it. In a nutshell, I knew how I felt about the first issue, of making all metro business English only (which I voted against). I prefer accessibility for people and a more global world view over tumbling back into the Southern way of trying to maintain dominance over people that do not look or talk like I do. It is pretty amazing to me that this law is even up for a vote. It seems like such a step backwards.

The other item to vote for was some garbage about easing the requirements for putting special votes like this before people and some other stuff. Now, as I mentioned before, I am all about making stuff more accessible to people, so there are aspects of this proposal I am in favor of, but there was more that I wasn't in total agreement with. In the end I voted for this amendment, but after further thought, I decided that I had voted the wrong way. I guess voting requires a learning curve. Essentially, I am thinking that I shouldn't have voted for that amendment because of the things I didn't like. And I disliked the bad things more than I liked the ok things. So, in a nutshell, I learned to not vote "for" something unless I am "for" all of it. One crappy thing is that I looked all over, and I couldn't find anything saying that was being voted for along with the "english-only" amendment. So I had to make a decision while at the vote location. I tend to like to ponder things more and felt a bit rushed. Hopefully other voters will spend more time than me contemplating that issue and vote in a way that saves my butt (so I can feel ok about my mistake).

I guess the other relevant bit of info is that tomorrow I leave with my sister to go to Korea for a couple of weeks. If I am able to post updates from my trip it will be here. I know you will be on the edge of your seat clicking refresh every few minutes waiting for some interesting bits, but please, try to breathe. It may not happen.. but I will try.

According to reports...

2008-12-02T20:15:00.003-06:00

parking in bike lanes is now illegal in Nashville. So it stands to reason that Biking in the Car Lane will also soon be illegal. This is a legal and perception war that I am confident the biking population will not win until automobiles are extinct, prohibitively overpriced to operate, or hell freezes over. We(?) may have won this battle, but.... actually, I am not sure I won this battle. I do like to ride my bike in bike lanes, but I have no issue with going around a parked car nor detouring onto a less traveled road.... And I do tend to drive my car at times (often) and find myself needing park at times (often).

One thing I do see happening with this new law is more consideration given to whether parking should be now eliminated in favor of striping a new bike lane. Bike lanes may not be so liberally appropriated. Additionally, it is at the whim of police officers (and concerned citizens indirectly) to write tickets and enforce this new law. If they choose to not enforce consistently, then I dare say we(?) are in worse shape than before.

Don't get me wrong, I do understand the motivation and the spirit of this effort, but I also believe that the last thing we need is another law to govern how we get around and exist in this town. This all started because of a small stretch of bike lane along Eastland Avenue in East Nashville that was often blocked by parked cars due to inadequate parking for the local eating establishments. Personally, I think a better solution would have been to widen that road enough to provide space for both parking and bike lanes (such as on music row). Whether that was possible, I don't know; but get the establishments who stand to benefit from the additional parking to pitch in or find other parking options for their patrons.

I like bike lanes. I have used them a lot for transportation myself. I prefer roads with bike lanes to roads without for riding my bike, but I think there is a bigger need in Nashville than for more and clearer bike lanes. I believe there are too many roads with no sidewalks whatsoever in Nashville. Bikes are viable modes of transportation on the roads, but walking on roads is just hazardous. I think that sidewalks should be a higher priority than striping roads. It may be a bigger expense, but I think it does more to make Nashville a more livable city.

That's my soapbox. If you care to comment back in opposition, have yourself a beer first. You can bet I had one before writing this spiel.

Cheers.

An Aside

2008-11-25T11:37:00.002-06:00

I would also like to briefly point out, in an attempt to not appear completely partisan, that I am not happy, either, with the continued bailouts going to the financial industry. The way I see it (with my uneducated eye) we either hurt a little bit now when big corps fail or we weaken our economy for the long-term. Our current lawmakers are choosing to hurt for the long haul. Obama will continue that trend when he gets in office... so that is just a part of current government policy (it seems) that we will not be getting away from.

One kind of cool thing to consider, though, is that if we will be spending the money anyway, I think there could be some cool things happening in the future, based on Obama's plans. I would much rather see all of these trillions of dollars spent to provide jobs and improve the infrastructure of the US than to try to make up for trillions of dollars that just evaporated due to bad loans, speculation, etc. The infrastructure projects aren't exciting but they are necessary. It is like spending a tax return to get new tires on a car or something similar. A new tv would be cool, but the tires are the more prudent use of the money. Paying off a gambling debt with the money just sucks, though.

The frustrating thing for use right now, though, is that it's not one way or the other... we are sending money in both directions... money we don't have to begin with.

Republican Confusion

2008-11-25T11:18:00.003-06:00

The confusion is mine; though I imagine some of the Republicans are confused, too.

Just read this about Sarah Palin traveling to Georgia to campaign for a Senate Race. What is it about her? From my perspective, the only thing even slightly appealing (if you can call it that) is that Palin is one of the few women in the Republican party with any national recognition; a voice of change? The voice may be higher, but it isn't saying anything different. It's a gender thing. What else does she offer? Do people like the fact that she has supported (and even committed) corruption in Alaska? Do people like the fact that she seems to have no ideas of her own but tends to descend into into negativity and latch onto what other people are saying? Do people like that she is probably the least well-spoken candidate to have been on a major ticket (somehow even W. comes across with more intellect than Ms. Palin)?

It scares me a little bit that she is remaining in the spotlight... or trying to stay there. It worries me that I have been brought to the point of mentioning her name on this here web blog again. I was really hoping she would just go away and stop wasting people's time. The opportunity to campaign has put delusions of grandeur into her head, and so it appears she will do what it takes to stay in the public conscience enough to make another go at a National Office in another 4 or 8 years. While I wouldn't mind more Tina Fey appearances, the potential of Sarah Palin heading up this nation is a freaky thought. (I purposefully didn't say "leading this nation" because she doesn't come across as a "leader", but more of a space filler.)

I guess it could be worse. There could be an old school conservative Republican out there that does have some credibility eyeing that oval office in the future.

Maybe I should quit reading the news.

A response to Hodge

2008-11-19T19:05:00.003-06:00

(I originally was writing a comment on the blog of a friend down in GA, but decided to make a post out of it for posterity (if it lasts that long) and to get my opinion out there a little more....)

I am right there with you on the whole screwed up situation with these bailouts and how the money (that probably shouldn't have been paid) is being used by the pimps receiving it.

(I am referring to reports of bonuses, dividends, and acquisitions being made with bailout money instead of loans (to consumers, etc.)

Everyone talks about how letting all these companies fail will kill the economy and put us into recession.. (the autos, of course, being the big ones in question right now)... while I know it isn't this simple, I have several opinions on it...

1. Things were over-inflated.. we need recession (or call it correction) to some degree...
2. We are already in recession... (the doom is no longer impending)

and most importantly (in my opinion)

3. We, the people, are not going to let the economy totally go to shit. We need to eat. We need to ride bikes, drive cars, use the internet to get information, etc... When it comes down to it, we still have to live; so even if the economy is not so huge and not to ruled by corporations and such, we as a race will do what we have to do to survive and build an economy that serves our needs. People who are willing and able to work and be responsible for themselves and their lives will do what it takes to make sure that life goes on....

Recession may be scary for people with more at stake financially than me, and I never lived through the Great Depression, but I think most can agree that a lot of people need waking up, and that does include the people who happen to be in control of this sinking ship..... And keep in mind that many of the smaller pieces of that sinking ship can and will float on their own... but the ship needs to fall apart for that to happen.

Election

2008-11-05T10:40:00.002-06:00

It will come as no surprise to either of my readers that I am pleased with the results of yesterday's election. I am a little disappointed with the results posted by this state I live in (Tennessee), but that was not unexpected... and at least Nashville represented.

I am a person who tends to like change because it opens up my life to new things and new experiences. That is one reason I voted for Obama. Another reason is that I was never convinced that 4 years of McCain would be much different than the last 4 years. And Palin.... that's a whole other bag of worms....

President Obama will certainly have a mess on his hands when he steps up, and I am not expecting any quick or miraculous changes, but I do feel some hope for some positive changes and stability in the future. The biggest hope that this gives me, though, is for an improved quality of leader in the future. Hopefully this is a sign that the old guard... a good-ol-boy Washington insider dominated political system... is at least weakening. I am not naive enough to think this is revolution or a complete change of direction for America, but I believe it is a great start.

It is nice to, for the first time in a while, be proud to be a US citizen. Kudos to all the others responsible for this great occasion.

Bailout

2008-11-03T16:47:00.002-06:00

So the (attempted) financial bailout is old news by now... but now some of the add-ons are finally being revealed... one of those is a new tax credit/subsidy for riding a bike to work... this article summarizes it. I am still looking for more details.... but found it interesting. I am not a fan of the bailout. And I am definitely not a fan of all the add-ons that bog down the lawmaking system, but at least there was a good guy taking advantage of the system this time instead of someone like Palin securing money for a bridge.. that goes no where... that never gets built... thus dispersing the money to her friends...

Underwater

2008-10-31T15:22:00.002-05:00

Having read this article about "homeowners" whose houses are worth less than they owe on them, I wonder if they can really call them homeowners... since they technically only own the rights to live in and continue paying for "their" homes. They, in fact, only own what is inside, and not the home itself... at all...

Not to be morbid or anything... I think I am making out pretty well. I rent, so I know that I don't own the structure I live in, and I am not paying a premium to be there. That may all change soon, though. I need a larger place, and with all of these "homeowners" losing or walking away from their "underwater" houses, there is no abundance of affordable rentals out there.... in fact, finding a desirable place to live for an affordable price is quite difficult these days...

Happy Halloween!!!

On that note, I wonder if Sarah Palin will be dressing up as Tina Fey tonight? She could pull it off and Tina Fey seems pretty smart... and people like her.

Vote

2008-10-23T15:47:00.002-05:00

I suggest you get out there and make your choice heard. Otherwise this could happen to you...

Some people are voting economy, or environment, or democratic, or republican... I am voting intelligence (for a minimum level of, that is).

Debate

2008-10-07T21:13:00.002-05:00

We as a country appear to be doomed. I do not believe that the doom will come with with a big bang, but due to inaction and incompetence, we will slowly fade out.....

Man, what a disappointing night of debate here in Nashville.

2008-09-30T12:18:00.002-05:00

"If money isn't loosened up," said President Bush of the U.S. economy, "this sucker could go down."

Wow. You've got to love his candor. The reality of the president's opinion of our markets is finally revealed. Very interesting times we have.

Pictures.

2008-09-22T18:31:00.007-05:00

First, a shot of the new digs at work. Our office expanded today into some new office space, so that means I am in my own office... very nice.

And a shot of what I see from my chair.

And finally... in case you needed it... proof that there are, indeed, 12oz bottles of New Belgium beers in the city of Nashville. (This may just make up for the lack of gasoline in the city.)

myBrewing

2008-09-21T18:46:00.002-05:00

After a few requests, I have posted a "key" to my homebrewed beers on this here internet that can be reached by following the mybrewing link to the right. There will be more on the site, but for now, it is merely a way to know what kind of beer you have based on the number scratched on the cap.

Cheers.

Popular Vote

2008-09-19T12:11:00.002-05:00

I just read an interesting argument about the popular vote and how it is meaningless. The article was essentially about the futility and nonsense of people who complain about the popular vote not being properly represented in the electoral voting and how winning the popular vote does not mean winning the election. I have to say I side with the "complainers" and not with the article. The writer talks about how the candidates campaign specifically with the electoral college in mind and create their strategy accordingly. I think this is obvious, but it still doesn't change the fact that the popular vote portrays the pulse of the voting population and regardless of how the candidates and their supporters choose to spend their time and influence, the votes still represent what the people want.

I think that the popular vote *not* winning an election is the best example possible of a failed electoral process.

If I could put my 2 cents into election reform, then it would include:

Instead of public money being available to any specific party or candidate, I would like to see the money being used by the government to try to educate voters of a clear picture of what the candidates stand for. As a registered voter, I would like the federal election committee to send me a packet of information that contains information about (as well as by) the candidates so that I can make a side-by-side comparison and choose my favorite. There should be unbiased information as well as maybe statements by the candidates themselves. How does one get into this packet, you ask? Using the same technique used to get candidates on the ballots would be a good starting point.
Drop the electoral college. Let's use the popular vote. Let's do it electronically, too. If the pentagon can handle hundreds of attacks every day, then they should be able to handle an election. People talk about the security risks, but I don't see them being any higher than now. Provide public secure machines for voting at the voter venues if necessary. Let me vote from work. Hire an outside auditor to ensure there is one vote per registered voter... hire 10 and compare notes if necessary.

These are just a couple of ideas that I could see improving our system some. McCain is using $84 million in public campaign financing this year. Obama is turning his down. $170 million would be a great start in getting some of the reform items under way.

I am also tired of the fact that this election seems to be more about getting a woman or minority in office than about how to make this country better. The media is playing on it as well as voters. There are reports all the time of people turning to the McCain camp because Palin gives them "hope". Hope in what? Hope that having a woman in office will mean more equality? This could happen, but at what expense? What about when McCain passes on before his term is up and we all of a sudden have Palin in office. I do not believe that a few years as a small-town Alaskan mayor followed with a couple years as governor (in a role she exploited to serve her own personal interests) qualify as necessary and adequate experience for becoming president of the strongest power in the (somewhat) free world.

I will step down now, but I am annoyed with what is happening these days in this country.

Gonzo

2008-07-28T22:54:00.002-05:00

I watched a fantastic documentary at our local "worth a damn" theater this weekend about the late Hunter S. Thompson. I found it to be a great portrayal of a man who had a knack for telling it (mostly) like it was and living life on his own terms.

I had known that there was a connection between Flying Dog beer and Hunter S. Thompson, but the movie revealed that Flying Dog's owner/founder George Stranahan and Thompson were great friends for much of their lives. This is the same Stranahan that makes fine Colorado whiskey and sends it out to mtn bike races. So next time you find yourself sipping on some Stranahan's whiskey, consider the heritage of your beverage and pour yourself another.

2008-07-20T22:18:00.002-05:00

Walking.

This weekend I took it upon myself to get out and spend some time outside. It was a hot weekend here in Nashville, so I wasn't really excited about getting on my bike and suffering in the heat. I also have a background in running. I think this tendency influences me to feel like I have to keep a decent pace when out on the trail or jogging around town. Well, this weekend I had some alone time to kill and it dawned on me that getting out on a trail didn't mean I had to run... or jog.. or put special clothes on... or worry about overheating... or my running shoes being old... or not feeling like running... so I walked.

Twice this weekend I made my way over to Percy Warner Park and walked the 2.5 mile "white" trail. My speed varied, but I always went a comfortable pace for the heat and my mood and energy level. It was good exercise.. not exactly "training", but when have I ever "trained"... the best part was the serenity it gave me and the time away from different aspects of my life to gain some perspective and peace. I got to see an owl and a beautiful sunset, too.

I think this is something I need to do more often.

2008-07-15T11:14:00.002-05:00

Proud to be an American....

"President George W. Bush met with other world
leaders at the G8 summit to discuss climate
change. "Goodbye," he said as he left, grinning and
punching the air, "from the world's biggest polluter."

That from the guy who just re-opened some protected areas to offshore drilling. Really shows the priorities of our U.S. leaders. (Disclaimer: I drive my car most of the time and I often use plastic bags, and I just bought a HUGE propane burner to use for beer brewing... so I am not exactly innocent (as if there were guilt involved) nor an extremist. It just frustrates me that we are led by such irreverent people.)

2008-07-13T23:14:00.002-05:00

Interesting.... Budweiser is no longer (or shortly won't be) an American beer. Honestly, I don't see this changing much at all, except I suspect that Budweiser may lose some quality. It isn't a great beer now (though I would call it "halfway decent" (it's my choice when it comes to hot chicken and 40's)), InBev evidently has a reputation for cheapening the product even more. The news has been out for a while that talks were occurring, but this seems to indicate that enough money has been offered and the right people are getting even richer.

Internet at home

2008-07-08T23:35:00.002-05:00

So I have been connected at home for almost a month now. My rate of posting on this here personal public record has not really increased much, but I have been able to do more online and feel more "connected". It has also helped my workday (which was one of my motivations) because I no longer need to fit my daily web time in at the office. Additionally, I regularly log in and check email and such before heading in to work, which puts me ahead of the game. My mind typically takes off running as soon as I wake up, so it isn't uncommon for me to get up and put in some time and get some work done before I even shower or such for work. Additionally, I have been able to work on a couple personal projects. While I could do about any of it disconnected, it is much easier to have the interwebs at my disposal for reference while working. I will reveal more about at least one of my projects as it becomes ready and available for public consumption.

Another useful thing about internet at home is that it makes communication with my sis much easier. She is 14 hours ahead of us here at the buckle of the ol' bible belt; so it is the middle of the afternoon for her right now. Funny thing, though, is that she is probably asleep. She likes to nap.

So I am in a little bit of a pickle as far as the brewing goes. I have this new (to me) fancy brewing equipment, but I am not currently able to use it. I ordered a propane cooker, but it has been brought to my attention that its use on my porch is not really in line with the law. I may give it a shot anyway, but it isn't something I can make a habit of. I am coming to the realization that I need to find a new place to live. I need a second bedroom, and I need somewhere that will be cooperative with my outdoor brewing needs. So I am on the lookout for a new home. Inexpensive and in town would be a great combination. As it is, I think I may need to brew a couple batches using my old extract process to keep my beer supply where it needs to be.

Also, have I mentioned I am a sucker for magazines? One low price for a YEAR of reading. Just too good a deal to pass up. And so many magazines promise insider info on relevant and diverse topics. The latest I have fallen prey to is Mother Jones. I hope it's good. Wilson Quarterly is one that I subscribed to in the past year but that I will not be renewing. It just didn't do it for me..., but you can't win 'em all.

2008-07-06T16:14:00.003-05:00

I was the recipient of some new brewing equipment this weekend. It looked like this. Of course, there are a few more things I need to be able to use this equipment. But I am close to full mash brewing, and not far off from a brewing capacity of 10 gallons per batch. Now that's some beer.

A pretty chilled weekend around home. I was hoping to do a little mountain biking on Saturday, but I woke up to a very wet Nashville. Probably better off, though, because my neck has been really sore lately and doesn't feel better yet. Need to figure that one out.

2008-06-22T23:13:00.003-05:00

Some new stuff.

(I know what you are thinking... "Troy sure is a posting machine.")

I am in the great northeast this weekend. Landenberg to be exact. This is home to me. Though I never slept in a room full of dolls when I was growing up. (Really, I didn't.)

So I came up here to visit my sister who is heading to S. Korea in a couple of weeks to spend a year teaching English to Korean kids. I wanted to spend some time with her. So I flew in late Friday night, and true to form, we visited two breweries and a brewpub on my first day in town.

The first place we stopped was a small farmhouse brewery in Greenville DE called Twin Lakes Brewery. I had never heard of it until that morning while doing a google search. So we decided to stop by and see what the place was about. We pulled in to see a large house and then a barn. The signs for the brewery pointed to the barn. It is no longer a dirty barn with farm animals or implements, but instead has been finished into a brewery and taproom complete with cold storage and big fermentation tanks. We wandered in and found some good beer and food themed conversation with other patrons, we found a guy who had gone to the same high school as us (which is more rare than you might think.. i graduated with 38 other people), and several pretty good samples. I chatted with the owner/brewmaster for a little bit about homebrewing and he gave me a couple tips to handle specific situations I have had some trouble with. It is cool to go to breweries and meet people because they are almost always cool and good to talk to and just as excited (geeky) about beer as me.

The next place Tori and I made our way to was the Dogfish Head main production brewery in Milton, DE. Milton is down in southern DE, near the beaches. Getting there turned out to be a fiasco. First, we got stuck in crawling traffic on the interstate. This was just to get to the highway that would take us all the way south. We never did see the cause of the 25 minutes of stop and go traffic on a Saturday afternoon. So we were running a little behind by this time, but not too badly. So things picked up and we made good time, until we got confused and headed into Milford DE (instead of Milton) to find the brewery. We drove around the town of Milford, which has more churches than any other type of building and more empty storefronts than open, for about 45 minutes utterly confused that the street names didn't match up until we finally gave up. At that point, I googled the brewery and discovered it was, in fact, in Milton..... not Milford. So we made our way to Milton and finally found the brewery. We arrived about an hour after the tour was to start, and when we walked in, the tour was over and the tour partakers were enjoying their free beer samples and buying merchendise. So we found our way over to the free sample counter and got some beer and then I purchased a couple of things. When I told the girl at the checkout what had happened, she offered to show us around if we could wait a few minutes. So she found someone to take her post and then proceeded to give Tori and me a private tour of the brewing facilities. Very cool.

One of the coolest things to see at Dogfish Head were the specially made wooden fermentation towers. Two of them were oak and one was a new one made out of a specialty wood, Paraguayan Palo Santo wood. These huge tanks were amazing to see. If you have come (read) this far, you should go further and read more about these tanks on their site. They also have an amazing farm of stainless fermentation tanks at the facility. This was a very cool tour and Dogfish Head is a very cool brewery. The beers are top-notch, too.

After eating dinner with an old friend down in Ocean City, MD and spending about 5 minutes on the beach and sticking our feet in the water, my sis and I headed into the Dogfish Head brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE. This is a pretty small brewpub, but we were lucky enough to get seats at the bar. At this location, Dogfish head brews small batches of experimental beers as well as operating a distillery on location where they distill rum, jin (gin), and vodka. We actually were the recipients of a flight of 4 of their distilled spirits,which were all very smooth, but our main reason d'etre (the dogfish fans will "get" that pun) was to try beer we can't get everywhere or hadn't had before. Since another goal of mine was to drive the 90 minute drive back home safely, it was not to be a marathon night of tasting different beers. Tori started with a flight of 5 tasters of their beer. I am not a huge fan of tasters usually because I feel like getting a good feel of a beer requires drinking the entire pint. I had also already had a few of the beers on the flight, anyway. So I opted to get an Indian Brown. I am pretty sure it is available elsewhere, but I had never tried it and decided the source was a great place to jump in. It was a great beer. Hoppier than most brown ales, it wasn't too sweet and was very enjoyable all the way through. After that beer, knowing the next would need to be my final of the night, I decided to go with one of the specialty beers. I went with the Palo Santo Marron (fermented in the big wooden fermenters I mentioned), which was another brown ale, but at 12% abv, it was quite different than my first brew. Also because of the higher alc content, I asked that the beer, which was served in a snifter, be split between Tori and myself. The bar tender played along, but instead of splitting it in half, he essentially gave us each a full glass minus maybe 3-4 sips-worth. So I milked that beer for almost an hour, and the beer got better as I drank it (funny how that works); it went from amazing to super-amazing. So with the new wood fermenter, this beer is to become a normal production beer. I look forward to seeing it in Nashville. Very good beers and, again, good conversations with other patrons. Breweries don't really ever disappoint.

Today was a quieter day on the beer front, but not altogether silent. I met a good friend and her husband in Kennett Square, PA for a couple of beers. The place we intended to go was not open, so we walked a little ways down the strip to another place where we could sit outside and enjoy a beverage. I had a single beer, but it was a great one. Victory brewery is a craft brewery in Exton PA, not far from here, that I hadn't heard of until the beer conversations I had this weekend. And the beer I had was one that had come highly reccomended. It was called Hop Devil IPA and if tasted and drank like an Imperial IPA, a little stronger than most. It was a very enjoyable beer with a lot of hops, but by no means overpowering. Keep an eye out for Victory Brewing. I have only had one beer, but it was good enough to be willing to try anything from that brewery.

Cheers.

2008-06-22T22:56:00.003-05:00

Quick Note.

Emma was over last week and was out on the porch with the sidewalk chalk. She called me out there to show me what she had drawn...

"Daddy" she said, "It's you and me."

Can you guess which one is which of us? (Clue: I don't have long hair and she doesn't have a beard.)

2008-06-22T08:48:00.005-05:00

The backlog:

It has been quite a while, so here is the quick rundown...

I went to San Francisco, as mentioned earlier, for the Google conference and to drink some beer. Here are a couple pics from the Anchor Steam brewery. Very cool place...

The google developers conference was decent. They threw a good party on the night between the two days of conferencing; complete with arcade games, air hockey, some good catered food, free beer and drinks, some wii stations, and a performance by the Flight of the Conchords.

The next night, after the conference, I found my way to Haight Street to a bar called the Toronado. I had heard of this bar through a few different beer publications; it is known for it's amazing draft beer selection, particularly Belgian Beers. When I got there, the selection wasn't disappointing. I started with a Deschutes IPA, then had a Russian River IPA, then a Moonlight Brewery Working For Tips, then something else, and then topped the night off with a Dupont Saison. The "something else" was also a beer I can't get in TN, but I don't recall what it was. Maybe it will come back to me.

When I left San Francisco, I flew to Kansas City to meet up with a few guys to continue on to the Flint Hills of Kansas for the Dirty Kansa bike race. Mostly uneventful for me. I was not in any sort of shape to attempt a 200 mile bike race, but I had a good time. I rode half of it and decided I had had enough and rode my bike back to the hotel. I felt good about my 100 miles on course and coming into the 100-mile checkpoint within the required timeframe, but continuing wouldn't have been a wise decision. (Some would say attempting a race like that is never a wise decision... it's all relative.) It was cool to see Thad, Scott, and Mike finish the race, though. And they got extra miles for their money. This is what I saw for a lot of my ride. It was beautiful.

2008-05-28T20:39:00.002-05:00

I am in San Francisco for a couple of days this week for a Google Developer's Conference. It is a good time, but I won't bore this "audience" with any technology details. I will say to keep your eyes out for the phones that are supposedly coming out this summer with the Google-sponsored Android operating system. Very nice. For those looking for the 3g iphone, you may want to wait and give this thing a gander.

I got into town yesterday about an hour late. So I had one hour to find my way into town for a tour at the Anchor Brewing company. I found and took the Bart (the San Fran subway system) to the appropriate station. I exited the subway and immediately started walking the correct way to the brewery. I knew it was a ways, but started walking anyway. After about 5 minutes, I decided I was disoriented and turned around to walk the other way. Another 5 minutes later, I decided I had no idea which way and I jumped in a cab. The driver started heading the way I was originally walking. He dropped me at the brewery about 5 minutes late, but the tour had just started and I was able to jump right in without missing much at all.

The tour was pretty quick. It is a relatively small brewery. Not Yazoo small, but small considering the wide distribution (50 states and over 100 countries, i think). Two unique things about their brewery is that their brewing takes place in old copper kettles. They are beautiful as far as brew kettles go. The other seemingly unique thing is that their initial fermentation takes place in these huge shallow pools instead of in an enclosed fermenter. The best part of the tour, though, was getting a 5oz. sampler of every beer(6) they are currently serving, plus any more that we would like to have. They are very generous in their taproom. It should be noted that the taproom is only open to employees and people who take the tour.

From the brewery, I had a nice walk to the hotel. As I was leaving the brewery, I could see the hotel among the downtown high-rises... so I decided to walk the probably 2 miles to get there. I stopped along the way for a hot dog and another beer. I got to the hotel and experienced the easiest and quickest check-in process of my life and headed up to chill out in my room for a while.

For dinner, I started walking towards a brewpub I had looked into before. The 21st Amendment Pub was a cool, downhome brewpub with good beers on tap. Last night they were $3/pint and the other people I met at the bar were raving at that good price. Apparently, beers in San Fran are typically $6-7 apiece. Crazy. Anyway, I had a few beers and dinner and had some good conversation. Twe two main people I talked to were 2 software developers, one local and one in town for business (not the conference). One is a principal Engineer with Sun. Kinda funny, but I guess the concentration of highly skilled people around here is pretty high. So anyway, I had a red ale (which I had read is one of their best - and I would agree it was very good), a watermelon wheat beer (complete with a wedge of watermelon on the rim of the glass) and a Wit beer. All were very good. I went home and went to bed.

Today has been about the conference. Very cool stuff. Pretty exciting.. but the coolest part is that the stuff I am seeing is accessible. This is a developers conference, so it is all about how to use the tools that Google is providing. Tonight I am at the conference "after hours". Free drinks, food and a bunch of video games, wii stations, pool tables, music, couches for relaxing (which is where I am presently) and more good times coming up(Flight of the Concords are performing in an hour or so). Google does know how to throw a party.

Maybe more tomorrow.

Cheers.

2008-05-08T11:35:00.004-05:00

I have been brewing in overtime for the past week or so. 3 batches in 7 days. First, a bitter. Second, an American Pale Ale. Third, an ESB. They have all been fermented using the same ever-growing colony of yeast. Usually it takes 12 hours or so for the fermentation to really get going, but last night, with such ripe yeast, the activity started almost immediately. This picture shows what was happening about 30 minutes after adding the wort to the yeast...

In the bucket is sanitizer and water, bubbling up from the CO2 already being generated by the fermentation. The carboys in the background contain my other two batches.

Today I leave town with Emma to head to the Northeast (God's Country) to visit family for the weekend and attend my sister's college graduation. I am leaving my beers to look after themselves. I will come home to some beer that is almost ready for bottling and some yeast ready for the next round of wort. The next two batches will be BIG beers.

Cheers.

2008-04-27T14:41:00.002-05:00

72. That is the total number of miles I rode. Only 45 or so of them were on the TransIowa route. Others were me riding back to the hotel in Decorah. The remaining were extra I added on the periphery. Several of the miles were part of the original course that had been re-routed due to dangerously high water in one of the crossings. I decided to go see the high water crossing first hand before turning around and back-tracking. That was one of a few detours that I and about everyone else took. Just one of the many challenges of a TransIowa experience.

The wind was another one. The wind was coming out of the West and most of the first 40 miles or so were heading mostly West. Brutal. 30 mph winds with gusts. And the wind was cold, too. The temperature was an agreeable 31 degrees without the wind, but the wind was always there and had a way of getting inside of clothing and chilling down to the bone. (I heard wind-chill values down in the single digits.) Have I mentioned the sleet? or the snow? How about all the hills?

I was under-dressed, under-strengthed and under-motivated.

So I started out with everyone else (how it usually works) but then ended up spending most of my ride on my own. I was with Thad and Dan and a few others at the very start up the hills, but that didn't last more than about 3 minutes. They were riding a clip I knew I couldn't sustain so I dropped off to settle into a pace I could handle. In the wind, that wasn't a very fast speed. By the time I was getting closer to the first town, I finally found a guy (named stephen I think, on a geared cross-check w/ a moustache handlebar) that was riding about my speed and was also interested in not riding alone anymore (I stumbled upon this guy wandering through a random cemetary... he was trying to get feeling back into his feet.) We just rode side-by-side instead of really working together (more on that later). We finally made it to a convenience store in the first town on the route, 38 miles in. It took us 4.5 hours to get there. Stephen and a guy named Michael (from chicago area) (who I had also ridden some with and had been yo-yo-ing with for a while) arrived and were decided to drop out. There was a girl there named Julia who was also there who wanted to go on and try to make the checkpoint if possible. I was on the fence. I said that while not probably, it may be possible because much of the remaining miles to that point may be with a strong tailwind. (I would later find out that this was mostly not the case and that the crosswinds were just as brutal as what had already been encountered - there was no way we could have made it- but that is neither here nor there.) So after taking care of some business and getting a sausage, egg, and cheese croissant, I decided to just go with it and try to make it to the checkpoint. I was planning to head out with Julia, but as I came out of the store, she was heading down the road. I ate my sandwich and such and decided to head down the road that she had taken as well as the guys heading back. I thought since she was going that way I could see how I was feeling and either turn to follow Julia or head back. I had 5 hours to make it about 60 miles with the wind behind me (or so I thought). (It was actually 70 miles). When I got going, I felt pretty good and so grabbed my cue sheets to figure out where to turn. Then I realized I was heading the wrong way completely. I had to turn around and face the wind back up the road to find my correct turn. Once going the correct way again I experienced delays due to some inaccuracies on the cue sheet and then I missed a detour and had to backtrack (described above). By the time I got to about mile 45, I found myself to have covered about 5 miles in an hour. I had 4 hours to cover 65 miles, and I had yet to experience that tailwind. It was then I decided to head back to the hotel. Decorah was about 15 miles away and the ride back was almost all was with that tailwind I had been wanting. I knew I couldn't make the checkpoint, but there was a bit of satisfaction in finishing my ride by home on my own power.

So about the drafting or working together... Maybe I am too independent, stubborn, or just stupid, but the spirit of a ride like this to me is individual effort. The rules say that drafting is allowed, but doing so seems to remove some of the personal achievement associated with finishing any or all of this or similar races. That said, I can't say that if I was in a group I wouldn't participate for a while just to get a break. Also, this probably just reflects what I personally get out of the race. So this is not a complaint or an indictment, but more of a realization of the differences of people's reasons for doing a ride like this. With people to ride with and work with, I no doubt could have made it further and faster, but not sure if, even then, I would get as much out of this ride. So maybe with my approach I will never win; and in conditions like this weekend, I may not even make it that far, but it is still fun and worth making the effort.

Great people and a great event. I only regret that with the way so many people pulled out early (including the "finishers" whose race was cut short due to dangerous conditions) most people headed out of town and there was not much post-ride discussion or camaraderie at all. (Maybe we missed the party by leaving early Sunday morning - but I doubt it). I had a great time at TI4 and I do hope to ride again in TI5.

2008-04-24T00:04:00.003-05:00

I leave tomorrow for Iowa for another shot at TransIowa. This year I am even less prepared than last year. Should be a good time. Confidence isn't so high this year, mainly due to the adverse conditions expected. The weather is supposed to be decent for most of the ride, no rain and sunny skies. Highs about mid-50s. That will make for cold night riding, for sure. It is supposed to rain on Sunday, but the rain is supposed to be "light rain", so I am not too worried about that. There are two primary x-factors I am concerned about: swampy roads and wind. It is supposed to rain for the 2-3 days leading up to the race which can make the roads difficult to pass.. especially the b-roads which are neither officially maintained nor frequently traveled. And if the wind decides to blow, then there is nothing out there to stop it. So it goes. I guess that's what we get when we sign up for a race 800 miles away in Iowa.

So while I say that confidence isn't high, that would probably be true even if I had ridden more than 150 miles in the last couple of months and if they were calling for perfect weather for the race and leading up to it. So I am going into this with an open mind and with excitement for an adventure and will see what happens. A steady pace and attentive, regular calorie consumption will be the name of the game. And a flask of Hot Damn for the obligatory mid-ride celebrations and pain management.

Maybe I'll tell about my adventure when I get back.

Cheers.

2008-04-17T17:45:00.004-05:00

Most people who know me know me to be pretty moderate in about everything I do. I tend to thrive on variety in my life, and when I do get engrossed in something, it is usually pretty short-loved. Certain things in my life cater to that pretty well.

My occupation as a software developer fits because most of my work is maintenance and enhancement work; smallish projects that last short spans of time. Even when I have larger projects, the nature of software is that I can break it down into several smaller projects. There is usually frequent occasion to "accomplish" something and make a recognizable difference. This keeps me satisfied that my work has some purpose and keeps me from losing too much interest.

Cycling, at least the way that I tend to approach it and the way that my body-type allows me to approach it, is similar. It isn't often that I ride 2 days in a row. Even still, I tend to burn out pretty quickly. Then again, cycling has been a major part of my life for a good 13 years and I have been mtn biking since I was 15 (that's over half my life). It is rarely at the top of my priority and interest list, but it is never too far away from it. My biking, like everything else, tends to come in moderation.

I am a little perplexed right now, though. I have lately found myself wanting to work some 15+ hour work days. That's not exactly like me. Usually that desire to put in the long hours starts on Tuesdays and centers around the middle of the week. By the time Thursday afternoon comes around, though, I am pretty worked and ready to start tapering towards the weekend (sometimes I am just done and ready for the weekend - forget the tapering). So I am putting in the hours I need to and getting my work done, but it feels a little excessive and I feel like I am somewhat ignoring other parts of my life during those times. So the confusing part to me is whether I should impose my otherwise moderate life onto my work life or just roll with it. I think that in a way I am strictly compartmentalizing my life when maybe I shouldn't be. Am I alienating people or other interests? Am I adding more stress to my own life than I need? Am I crazy to even be worrying about it?

Maybe I should be worrying about other things. Or maybe worrying isn't what it's cracked up to be.

Some cool news I got recently is that my sister won a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in South Korea for a year starting this July. Pretty exciting stuff. So my plan is to try to make it out there to visit her sometime in the next year. I have never been to Asia, so it should be an interesting experience, to say the least. I have never had beer from Korea, but I assume they make it there. I will have to continue my personal travel tradition by finding a brewery to visit. Part of me wonders if they celebrate beer like we do in the US and I wonder if there will be anywhere to offer tours. Then I remember that it is beer I am talking about; of course they celebrate it.

2008-04-11T14:40:00.002-05:00

Reason to ride your bike in the city # 71

Looks like Nashville and some other cities are guilty of gouging their consumers (drivers). Just another argument that while the government may be "of" the people, it certainly is not "for" the people.

Two weeks until TransIowa. It is almost time to assume a bad mood in preparation. Maybe I will spare the people around me the trouble and wait until we hit Galesburg to hang out and drink with Thad's parents.

The last couple of days I underwent 2 broncoscopies at the Vanderbilt Research Center. This time I signed up for sedation to ease the discomfort and relax for the procedure. Those drugs felt pretty good. Considering I haven't had the saddle time I have needed to prepare for TransIowa, I sure could use some of those drugs in a couple weeks to ease the stress my butt will go through by potentially spending 30+ hours on the saddle.

2008-04-08T12:14:00.003-05:00

More about New Belgium....

I sent an email directly to the brewery to see what they have to say... Here is their response...

HI Troy,

No, this is not an elaborate April Fool’s! Be assured: we may enjoy our whimsy but we are not tricksters. We are on our way to your home turf!

We are planning to be there by early July, hopefully in time for your favorite NBB brew with fireworks. We will begin with 22 oz bombers and then move to six packs etc. later down the road. Keep your eye out, stay in touch and we will look forward to the day when you can find delight in a cold one from us!

Cheers!

When I went to Minneapolis in November, there was a similar situation. I saw that New Belgium beers were available, but I only ever found the 220z "bombers". Can't complain about that, really; they did tend to have a decent variety in that size. I saw the Fat Tire, 1554 Black Ale, I think the Abbey, possibly the Sunshine Wheat, and definitely the Mothership Whit (possibly others, too).

A local purveyor of beers indicates on their site that New Belgium is coming. I also emailed them (before receiving a reply from New Belgium) asking when it would be available, but haven't heard anything yet. I tend to believe what the brewery is saying, though.

2008-04-07T17:01:00.002-05:00

Important Newsflash...

I was just perusing the (apparently) recently updated website for New Belgium Brewery and read the following...

Q. Where can I find your beers?
A. Good question. Crucial, really. We are a regional craft brewer distributing throughout the western United States. You can find most or all of our line in Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and (soon to be) Tennesse.

Now, unless there is some place named Tennesse that promises to be a good place for selling beer, I am going to assume that this is a typo and New Belgium beers will be available in the Tennessee before too long. I have been googling for more information, but can't yet find any. I will keep looking and post what I find as I find it. The beer gods continue to smile down on us.

2008-03-31T16:33:00.003-05:00

Beer #2 was not what I would call a smashing success. I think it could use a little more "conditioning" time. I tried it yesterday and was not impressed. Additionally, it seems to be over-carbonated. Lesson learned on that one. I tend to prefer less carbonated beers, so I will be adding less in the way of priming sugars in the future... So anyway, I am not ready to call it a total failure, but more likely a tolerable learning experience.

I was hoping to start a new series of batches this weekend, but with a string of busy weekends coming, I think that I may wait for 5-6 weeks until my schedule clears up some.

In some cool news, I am heading to San Francisco for the Google I/O developers conference at the end of May. It should be a good time and a good opportunity to learn some things. I have never been to a "developers" conference; so I am expecting to run into a bunch of programmer techie types but I hope to also find a bunch of people that see things more like I do. I think the technology is cool, but only to the degree that it makes my life easier, more efficient, or more financially sound. Technology for the sake of technology doesn't do much for me. Technology that has life benefits is valuable. I have seen Google offerings go both ways.

San Francisco will be cool to visit. I have only been there once before, and that was for maybe 24 hours. So this should be a little longer, but I expect the conference to take up most of my time. This is fine as long as it lives up to my expectations. I should have a couple free evenings to explore. And in my typical fashion, my first stop once in San Fran is here. I already have reservations for the tour.

In other news, a few people will appreciate knowing that my trusty white Kona is once again a rideable member of my household. I spent time yesterday tearing down the polo/pumptrack bike to build up my trusty old friend. Unfortunately, Nepolean also suffered some loss in this build and is currently out of commission. The current plan, though, is to rebuild that one geared so that I have some trailriding flexbility and don't have to hurt so badly on the long haul and mountainous offroad rides. At this point, I am missing a couple of parts to fully get Nepolean going again, but hopefully he will be operational by early summer.

Cheers.

2008-03-24T14:27:00.002-05:00

TransIowa strategy #29

If I can make it through the first full day without dying, then theoretically the wind should die down for some pleasant nighttime riding. That full night of riding should knock out a bunch of miles so that when the sun comes up I can feel like I am on the home stretch.

(This is all assuming no overnight thunderstorms, blizzards, rabid coyotes, or the like. Also assuming that I have enough supplies to stay hydrated and sustained through the night - and don't get too lonely, scared, lost, bored, or otherwise psychologically beat down.)

2008-03-05T13:54:00.002-06:00

So there are two "public persuasion" efforts that I see circulating in my email these days. One is very worthy of mine and every other Nashville mountain biker's attention, the other not so much.

First, the important one... Apparently there is some new land owned by the Nashville parks over in western Nashville near Percy Warner and Edwin Warner parks. And evidently mountain biking was not given a first or second thought when the use of the land was being discussed. This is a shame since mountain bikers are the primary off road user group that is not currently accommodated in that part of the city in those existing parks. So, now an effort is being made to make our voices heard. I sent my email yesterday to the parks planning commission. I hope you will send yours soon, too. Make sure that you mention that you are a resident of Davidson County (if you are) and that mountain bike trails would greatly increase the enjoyment and satisfaction that you personally, as a tax-paying citizen, would gain from mountain bikers being welcomed into the new park land.

You can go to http://www.nashville.gov/parks/index.htm and click on "We want your feedback. To give us your input, email us." Or you can email jackie.jones@nashville.gov with the subject "mccabe and master plan".

The other issue circulating around the internet is a petition urging Google to add a "bike there" feature to their google maps. While I do believe this is definitely a worthy feature and I personally would probably find it useful, I think people need to remember that Google is a for-profit public company. Unlike the above effort, where it could be argued that I am a part owner of the Nashville parks, Google is about making money, and a few thousand signatures on a petition will not drive the decision-making for a feature. If in that petition you can demonstrate how this feature will help Google reach its sales goals or raise the market value of the Google stock, then they will probably hire you to implement the feature and expect to see your profitable prediction come to pass. As it is, what leg do we as cyclists, a relatively small segment of the Google user population, have to stand on? I, for one, do not intend to abandon my gmail account if they decide not to implement this "bike route" feature. When if gets down to it, I wouldn't be surprised if this feature is already implemented and all they have to do is flip a switch and turn it on. And I won't be surprised when they do, in fact, turn it on for public consumption. I would be slightly surprised if the petition receives mention in the announcement of the availability of the feature, and I would be greatly surprised if it came out that this petition does make any difference to Google at all.

People seem to think that Google is this great company that offers free services and is the god of all things internet. They have some cool products and do plenty of things to make my life easier, but it is still all in the name of making money. And much of it is at the expense of a lot of other companies' advertising budgets. A number of years ago, there was this other new software company that was making waves and was popular among computer users as the company that was opening up the technology so that users weren't bound to one way of doing things. Microsoft made it so that their software could be run on pc's from many different manufacturers, but look at Microsoft now. In some people's eyes (including the European Union) they are pure evil. (The ironic thing being that the document that EU wrote up to condemn Microsoft was probably typed and formatted using a Microsoft product.) So anyway.... Google is not synonymous with open source. Google is not a philanthropic organization. Google is not yours and mine and everyone else's. (The exception being if you have $448 dollars (per share) to throw down to gain some ownership - or maybe the 70+ Billion dollars required to acquire a controlling stake - assuming that much could be acquired.)

So anyway.... I like Google stuff, but I don't expect them to do me, personally, any favors.

That's today's soapbox. Cheers.

2008-02-25T09:25:00.002-06:00

So today I find myself feeling like crap for the second day in a row. I guess it is a flu; i feel achy all over with an uncomfortable headache and a fluctuating body temperature. I missed a ride yesterday morning and now I am home from work, laying in bed, typing on this here computer.

So I have made the decision to skip this week's final snake creek meeting. After being sick and weak and having marginal fitness anyway, I think it better to not stress myself with such an arduous ride this weekend. One of the biggest dangers of me riding this weekend is riding to the point where I burn out completely and don't want to touch a bike for a couple months. With Iowa looming and now also the Dirty Kansa 200 in May, I can't afford to quit riding right now. Especially since I have just started my "training".

So anyway.... I am going to try to go back to sleep....

2008-02-20T16:40:00.002-06:00

I am in condensed training mode for TransIowa. That means I pack riding into short increments of time and then allow my body to recover and then do it again. I rode last night with Greg and we did a cold 30 mile loop with some hills and such and mostly stayed pretty steady. I found a comfortable pace with my gearing to be about 16mph with 18 being doable and 12 being like a crawl. That's a good place to be for Iowa because if I can't push at least that gear, then I have no business trying since I wouldn't make the time cut. So now I just have to ensure I am strong enough to push that for the long haul. I rode to work this morning (about 20 miles) to round out this concentrated effort. Now I will take 2-3 days off before doing it again.

My theory on this form of training is that this will teach my body to recover for another effort as well as to push myself in a somewhat fatigued state. The longish rest time between is good for recovery so both my body and mind get stronger (mainly by refraining from burning out my interest). We'll see how this goes.

My beer is trucking along with its fermentation. I will probably end up moving the stout to a secondary fermenter on Friday or Saturday, at which time I will start my second batch, an effort at an ESB. I kind of merged several different recipes to make up my own. Kind of a shot in the dark, but it should produce good beer, even if it isn't exactly within the realm of an ESB. We'll see. I will allow the stout to ferment in the secondary fermenter for probably 7-10 days before bottling. Then is will be 2-3 weeks before it is ready to drink. So in roughly 4 weeks, I will have some of my own beer to drink. Pretty exciting.

In the meantime, I received my bi-monthly shipment of microbrew beers that my employers ordered for me for Christmas. So 3 each of 4 different beers that I can't get around here will do nicely to fill in that 4 week gap (along with the Portland brews I still have from my trip out west). Please don't feel sorry for me, I will survive.

2008-02-18T13:19:00.002-06:00

This was what I saw this morning before coming in to work. Fermentation has begun. Before long there will be beer. I am looking at 5-7 days in this fermenter and then about a week or two in the secondary fermenter. Then a couple weeks of bottle conditioning and I will be drinking some of my own Irish Stout.

2008-02-17T23:02:00.005-06:00

I brewed beer today. What a beautiful thing. (Now let's hope I didn't kill the yeast before it could get to fermenting.)

Cheers.

2008-02-11T16:56:00.000-06:00

The rest of the Portland weekend was good. On Sunday, we went to a donut shop called Voodoo donut that had some pretty spectacular donuts and some interesting designs. Then after a downtown stroll to explore some, we headed back across the river to the show again. There were a lot fewer people attending on Sunday and the atmosphere was more chilled. It was easier to catch a glimpse at bike details and talk to more people. I perused that show for a little while but then decided it was time to find a good purveyor of beers that I could bring home with me.

At the Widmer tour, Dan and I sat at a table with a retired couple who mentioned a few places worth checking out. One was a beer store called Belmont Station. I decided to find it so I started walking towards the street it was on. I didn’t, however, remember how far it was. I was essentially on 7th or so street and the shop was right off of 45th. I walked a long ways. When I finally arrived at the location, there were signs saying it had moved. At least the new location was only a few blocks away. I walked to the new location and was relived to find a smallish but very well stoked beer store and pub. I looked around a bit and then sat down for a couple of beers and some corn chowder. Good soup and some good beer. (The beers were a Laughing Dog IPA and a Dechutes ESB). I then picked up a few bottles of beer that aren’t available in Nashville and headed out. I was pretty warn from my previous 1-2 hour walk so I decided to take a bus back to the convention center. When I got to a street that had a bus with Sunday service, I started waiting in the bus stop, but after about 5-10 minutes with no bus, I decided I didn’t want to wait any longer. Additionally, I remembered that I had walked much further west than South. So I wasn’t to far from the light rail. I headed North and found the train within about 10 minutes. That took me all the way to the hotel. I was glad to not have to tote those beers another few miles on foot.

Once I got back and met back up with Dan at the hotel, the show was pretty-much over, so we headed into town to check out a couple more breweries. We first went to the Rogue public house. It was a cool place, though more expensive (for beer and food) than most other places. It was definitely a touristy place, but with the visit. I had a cask conditioned “YSB” there as well as a Brutal Bitter. From there we headed to the Bridgeport brewery. That place was very nice. And the beer was some of the most reasonably priced. $3.25 for a 20oz pint of brew. And that was their regular price. I happen to order a barleywine that was only half a pint (due to the high alc content) but still only $3. Nice. We had a snack there as well before heading out again. As we wandered, we stumbled upon this hole in the wall pizza joint that sold huge pizza slices and microbrew beers. I had a local IPA I had never heard of but that was very good. While there we also played a couple of rounds each of Lord of the Rings pinball. Our last stop of the night was a pub call Captain Anky’s where I had a pint of Moose Drool and watched some carton network while listening to some music Dan swore was by the Chevelles “before they were signed”. It wasn’t.

Good times. Each day we exceeded our beer quotas, I was able to come home with some quality bottles of beer. I took some pictures of some cool bikes. Met some cool people. Got some stickers, some glassware, a couple of t-shirts, and plenty of literature (about both beer and bikes).

As far as the NAHBS, it was cool to go and see, but I doubt I will do so again unless it is close enough to drive. There was a lot there to see, but I could have easily been satisfied with spending only 2-3 hours there. I like a lot of the stuff I saw, but much of it was impractical and much of it was very overpriced compared to what is available otherwise. I am not saying it isn’t good to support the craft builders, but much of what I saw could be considered bike Jewelry, nice to have for bike enthusiasts, but not necessary at all in order to enjoy cycling. There were, however, some real innovations on display there. And some of them were certainly worth paying a premium for. It was worth going, for sure, and many people certainly couldn’t get enough. As for me, I like to see the stuff, but then I just want to get out and ride a bike, and I don’t want to have to worry or think about it too much…. Here are some additional snippet thoughts:

• Jones had some of the most expensive bikes, but they were also probably the most innovative and brilliantly designed – I was really impressed.
• In case you didn’t notice above in a picture, a customer profile from Dan Werle, of the Yazoo racing crew and Nashville cyclocross fame, was on display at the Vanilla booth.
• Ira Ryan had some cool bikes on display. He also said he does not planning on racing Iowa this year. I guess he is just giving someone else a chance. His clothing sponsor Rapha was also there with some incredibly nice riding apparel (with some incredibly hefty pricetags).
• Wolfhound bikes were a pleasure to look at.
• The Naked booth had one bike that was extremely attractive. A lot of polished chrome and some cool details including an eccentric rear dropout. After speaking to him about it and how it works, some phil wood hubs with axle bolts are the only hubs that work conveniently with it. That’s not that bad because Phil’s hubs are so nice, but I still prefer more flexibility in wheel selection.
• The Villin dude (Alexis?) was a really cool guy to talk to and had some cool bikes. He had these hand-textured and polished lugs that had a nice classic look, but I bet they would start to oxidize very quickly in a humid environment. I wonder how it would look with a clear coat….
• Ahearne had some cool bikes with his signature split chainstays. He also had titanium sporks for sale.
• There were quite a few builders I hadn’t heard of that made some really nice bikes. Nice, Goodtimes, Huffnagle (sp?), Courage, Engin (out of Philly – Wissahickon Cyclery), Bilenky, Black Cat.
• The ANT bikes were cool and the builder had a cool handlebar moustache. Ask Hennessey about Ant and he will tell you all you want to know.
• I received a copy of the quarterly mag MountainFlyer. It is a rocky mountain based bike magazine. Very nice.
• I like the bikes and vibe of the Proletariat bikes. Nice well-made traditional frames at reasonable prices.
• Cococino was there with a sweet curved top tube mtn bike sporting a signature tapered Waltworks fork. Very nice.
• A builder called Frances had a nice cargo bike with a custom cable actuated power steering setup. Very cool.

There was more, but that’s enough, I would say. Dan called it a star trek convention for bike riders and builders. I would agree with the assessment as this brings out more purists and bike geeks than more mainstream shows/events. There was a large representation, however, of the hipster trendy fixie crowd. Makes sense, I suppose, since they tend to appreciate the simplicity of the designs and bikes on display. It seems like almost every builder had a spiffed up track bike. It is a nice way to display a custom bike because there aren’t many parts to distract, but it will be interesting to see what the most built/displayed bikes are when the fixie trend starts to wane some. Maybe mountain bikes again? First it will probably be a stronger offering of touring rigs. There was certainly a strong showing of touring bikes this time.

So it was a good trip. Visiting Portland made more of an impact on me than the show. I hope it’s not long until I am able to visit again.

2008-02-09T19:18:00.000-06:00

The handbuilt show today was pretty impressive. It was a little overwhelming because of the volume of builders and bikes and such. I won't comment much right now except to say that there are definitely some builders who have my interests in mind.

So a lot of my pictures came out blurry due to the less than high quality of my camera, but I will put a few of the better ones up for your viewing pleasure.....

2008-02-09T11:24:00.000-06:00

I'm in Portland.

Dan and I arrived about noon yesterday. First stop was the cheap hotel that we are staying in. It is conveniently located across the street from the convention center where the handmade bicycle show is. That is the reason we came out here.

We also came to drink some beers. Yesterday afternoon after getting settled in and getting a burger, we headed to the Widmer brewery for some beers and a brewery tour. They provide an interesting tour where I was able to sample more of their beers and then eat a hops pellet. Talk about eating a pellet of bitterness... From there we headed to a McMenamins brewery pub, the White Eagle. They had some fantastic beers and some great food. I also picked up a few bottles for the road. Overall the first day was a smashing success. One of the goals for the weekend is to try 4 new beers we have never tried each day. Yesterday we met this goal and more.

So back to the bike show stuff.... we haven't been yet but saw a few pictures from a couple guys that got into industry day. One cool thing is that bike enthusiasts are everywhere. And not really so much trendy extreme bikers as much as bike geek types. On the flight from chicago to Portland, Dan and I sat in front of two older guys that love bikes and riding old steel bikes. One was a retired metallurgist that is considering starting to build bikes as a business (instead of just the current hobby). He has also ridden across all 48 of the continental US states... most of them on an old loaded bridgestone bike. Guys like that are everywhere as well as are the typical younger industry types who are designing products for some of the big boys. Good times. We are about to head to the show itself this morning. Maybe more later.... maybe not. I will try to take some pictures, though.

Cheers.

2008-02-06T10:24:00.000-06:00

It’s been a while… so I’ll just jump in.

I haven’t been on a bike in the last couple of weeks and barely at all in the last month or two. My TransIowa training is right on schedule. Last year, I trained (sort of) up until about 2 months before the ride and then, burnt out, tapered in a big bad way for the event barely riding for the 2 months leading up to Iowa. This year, I am attempting to reverse that training regiment. I have been taking it easy but it is about time to get on the bike again.

Speaking of bikes, tonight I finished re-building the gunnar as a single-speed. This was necessary since I am signed up for the single-speed class at Iowa. Big thanks for the build go to Thad, from whom I got an ENO eccentric road hub for the rear and a couple of brake-only road levers. He had the parts around not being used, and I had a need but no parts. So I owe him pretty big. Thanks also to Hennessey for some spacers to get my chainring to mount adequately without it’s bigger brother.

Today was a big Tuesday. It was both Super and Fat. For the former, I got up early this morning to cast my democratic ballot for my preferred candidate. Voting is a funny thing. Regardless of how well prepared I think I am, I always get to the (electronic, damn it) voting machine and see a larger list of candidates than I anticipated and wonder if one of the other candidates I don’t know so well better fits my beliefs and political preferences. I keep on my plan, but always going away wondering if I made the correct decision. I wonder if there has ever been that perfect candidate or a time when the correct answers were all obvious.

So lately my beer consumption has been notably improved in quality over my usual intake. This is partly due to the micro-brew of the (every other) month club my employers signed me up for and partly due to the fact that recently the local selection of beers from other regions has greatly improved (or at least distribution has). Typically, a large percentage of what I drink is admittedly swill due to the low cost and high availability. But while my consumption standards have improved, my tolerance of the swill has lowered. I wonder if this is a good path to be going down. I also wonder if my budget can handle it.

In other beer news, tonight after work, my British motor-pool buddy and I went to Bosco’s (“the Restaurant for beer lovers”) for a couple of pints (American pints, mind you). Everyday, Bosco’s taps a fresh cask of some small batch beer. Today it was Bombay IPA and it was pretty fantastic. If you have a Bosco’s in your neighborhood, I highly recommend making it a regular stop.

Furthermore, about beer, and bikes, this weekend is the Handbuilt Bicycle Show in Portland and Hennessey and I are heading that way extremely early on Friday morning. Friday afternoon we have a brewery tour planned, and we have passes into the show for Saturday and Sunday. The plan is to check out as many cool custom bikes as possible and try as many new beers as possible in the almost 3 days we will be there.

One last thing, I gave myself a haircut...

Cheers.

2008-01-14T16:38:00.000-06:00

It has been a week. So here is some more...

With a little research, I found out that Widmer brewery is much larger than I thought. One thing I read was that Widmer is the 11th largest brewery in the US. I am not sure the metrics being used for that one. Another thing I learned is that Widmer is in the process of or has already merged with Red Hook Brewery. I know Red Hook products better than Widmer, and they are good for the most part. I like ESB beers alot and Red Hook has a decent ESB as possibly their flagship brew, so I can't argue with that. They also have a pretty decent porter. Anyway, together they will make up a pretty large beer company. Evidently, they have been sharing marketing and distribution channels for a while now. Both brands still will remain independent regarding beers produced and such, but I would bet that the Eastern Red Hook brewing facilities will start producing some Widmer beers in the near future if they aren't already.

In the midst of my learning all of this good stuff, I managed to secure a reservation for Hennessey and myself on a Friday afternoon tour of the Widmer brewery on our trip to Portland to check out the Handmade bicycle show. Sounds like an appropriate first day in the city of Portland.

In other beer news, I was the grateful recipient of a New Belgium 2 Below winter ale that was a gift from Papa Ted by way of Thad this weekend. I enjoyed it on Saturday night with some pizza at the homestead and it wasn't a disappointment. I am a big fan of the New Belgium beers and this was my first experience with this one. I intend for it to not be my last. Papa Ted also sent some Point Lager my way. Point is an old brewery in Wisconsin and their lager is a nice crisp American Lager beer. Similar to PBR in style, but I dare say smoother and cleaner tasting. Would be a great session beer that i could drink all night if it was available in these parts.

In bike news, I was heading out on a ride with Thad and Grant and Mike and a couple of Ladies (Hilary and Jen) on Saturday and the bolt to tighten my seat collar broke just before the ride as I was attempting to raise my seat a smidge. Luckily the collar from Thad's Surly was the correct size so I could still ride, but it is still a pain. I will be trying to find a new bolt this week, and maybe even a new collar as the threads on my old one may be worked. I was the last one to arrive on Saturday. I arrived at 10:30 and the planned time to meet was the 10-10:30 range. I found out that everyone was waiting for me. C'mon guys... aren't we still mountain bikers? Since when do we start rides on roadie time? The ride was good, though. About 55 miles with a bunch of climbing. And I don't mean we headed to do a couple of big climbs that were out there, but more like long stretches that had short steep rise after rise. I tended to stay off the back as I was on a LHT ride and was opting to stay in my one gear. I let the other guys fight amongst themselves for the always changing finish-line mailbox. I was training for TransIowa, though, so I didn't have time for those shenanigans.

Note that my seat collar breakage was not an indication of bad mechanical luck for me with my bikes these days. Towards the end of my ride, I got a nail stuck in my tire. It went through the sidewall and out the main tread and took me a few minutes to work it back out of the tire. The good part, though, was that my tube didn't go flat....

That's all for now. Cheers.

2008-01-07T17:21:00.000-06:00

I only have a minute.. so a quick update.

I finished all 34 miles of Snake Creek this weekend. my time was slower than last year, but I felt good for at least part of it. So a good place to start from. I hope it doesn't hurt so badly next month.
My employment status at work changed today from 3-month temporary employee to permanent regular employee. That's good news since I can not have to worry about finding other work in the next month and can settle in more here.
The tradition of rain when Thad and I camp kicked back into gear with a trip to the Chilhowee this weekend. Not sure what else we expected (or why we expected it).

Not much else to report right now. I could go into more detail on the weekend, but I don't have time and I don't find it publicly overly interesting myself. It was a good, relaxing weekend away from work and all of that. I take from it a desire to improve on my performance at Snake and a need to start working towards TransIowa in earnest. But then again..... that sounds so much like work.....

2008-01-02T14:08:00.000-06:00

Back at work and it is 2008. No new resolutions from me.

New Years eve was good for seeing friends. I hung out in smoky bars a little too long and my eyes suffered, but walking to the car afterwards in the cool air was good for easing the irritation. I haven't been in smoky bars much lately, so I am just not conditioned for it. It was a very laid back night which did not include much beer intake. At least a cab wasn't necessary to get home safely.

Monday, I made it out to the trails at Hamilton Creek for a loop, but didn't quite make it. I tried but it was just too muddy. It was only in the lower areas and the dips in the trail, but some of the trail is so new and rolling that there are numerous sections like that. So there tended to be mud everywhere. I tried rode about halfway around a full loop before I was convinced that it was, in fact, too wet throughout the whole area to be on the trail without causing trail harm. I especially don't like riding trails that have been recently built. Often those areas will be fixed to provide adequate run-off and just haven't been gotten to yet. Who knows. So, with muddy tires, I left the trail and headed down the closed park road on the advanced trail side of things. I proceeded to do a rolling bunny hop with the intention of knocking the mud off of my tires as much as possible. When I landed back on my wheels, there was a nice (or not so nice) clank. I had gotten a flat as I was leaving a new section of trail. I considered walking back to the car, but decided since it was plenty light and I had time that had been slated for more riding, I stopped and changed my flat. I ended up just patching my tube. Hoping it holds, but my tire felt soft yesterday when I checked it. So may have to change another flat before the weekend. Hope it's not the tires or it could be a long day on Saturday for me at Snake Creek.

Last night I saw the movie "Margot at the Wedding" at the Belcourt theatre. It was a bit random and thought it was supposed to be funny, but it was a pretty random movie. A little disturbing, really. In the movie, Nicole Kidman plays a character that appears to be bi-polar schizophrenic or something. It was bizarre. She was pretty horrible to everyone she was close to. One of those movies that was well done and I am glad I saw but definitely not a feel-good movie and not one I care to see again.

Before the movie, went to get a beer at Boscos (the place for beer lovers). I have only been there a couple of times before. They have this deal where between 4 and 5:30 you get a ticket with every beer you order. The tickets are good for a drawing that day at 5:30. The person who wins the drawing gets to tap that day's cask conditioned ale and receives the first pint from that keg along with getting to keep the glass. Additionally, the winner is entered into an annual drawing for a free trip to the great american beer festival in Colorado, which would be sweet. So I may just have to pay a few more visits to Boscos in the coming weeks, months, etc....

Cheers....

2007-12-28T19:57:00.000-06:00

I find myself in Houston at my brother's house for a few days for the holidays. And I find myself with some free time tonight since Emma is at the Nutcracker with her cousin, 2 of her Aunts, and her Grandma.... so an update.

Last weekend, I managed to get one half-way decent ride in on Saturday. I say half-way decent because our ride down in Franklin State Forest was cut short by a hunter who thought shooting his rifle in our direction would be an effective way to scare us out of the woods so that we wouldn't scare the deer out. Unfortunately, he was right. At least we made it out alive and uninjured. A bullet hole was not the holiday accessory I was wanting for the holidays. And most Tennessee rednecks do not seem capable of reasoning beyond that which involves loading, aiming, and shooting a gun of some sort. So we cut out off of the trail halfway through our planned 20-mile loop. This means I am even less prepared for a 34-mile climbfest next week in North Georgia. Maybe the first one will kick my butt enough to make me decide that more 'training' is needed before the February installment or before the Iowa deathmarch.

So I am thinking I was a good boy this year. This Christmas I find Emma moving back to Nashville as well as a new helmet for my head. I have been mountain biking for about 16 years, and this is prettymuch my 3rd helmet. (I also have a 'road riding' helmet I sometimes use for mountain biking - but i'm not counting that since I have had it less than my now-previous primary mtn biking helmet. For the first 6-7 yeas of mountain biking I used an old trek styrofoam helmet from the 80's. It was the kind that had a lycra and netting over that went over the plain white styrofoam. The last 5 years it went without the over and I used to collect the larger thorns and suh that would cause me flats by pressing them into the helmet. My next helmet, which I was using until now (and may continue to use for polo and such) was a Giro switchblade that had a removable face guard. (I should say attachable because I never used it - and i'm not sure what ever happened to it.) I actually bought that helmet used and it has had a crack in it for the last 6 or so years. So now I have a new helmet. My mom got me a nice new black Giro Xen for christmas this year. I am pretty excited to have a helmet that is light, nicely shaped (for a bike helmet), not cracked, and fits well. I hope this doesn't mean I have a bad crash coming up in the near future. (Disclaimer: this may not be completely true. I remember ordering one helmet online that I didn't like and so never used it. I also may have had one more in the line-up, but I don't remember one. I know I have used my old Giro Switchblade for at least 6-7 years, and I got a crack in the front of it when I first got it. I ran into a tree.)

So my trip to Houston ends on Sunday when I fly back to Nashville. Tomorrow, on my last full day here, I am hoping to make it to check out a brewery, in Troy traveling tradition. The Saint Arnold's Brewery is not far from my brother's house, so I am hoping to make it there for the tour at 1. Wondering who I can get to go with me (or drive me there). Otherwise most of the rest of my time here will probably consist of games of "Go Fish" as well as playing in the sandbox and escorting a couple of 4 yr old girls as they ride bikes around the block.

Not sure yet what New Years holds, but should be a good time.

Cheers.

2007-12-20T09:28:00.000-06:00

I've been laying low. Riding a little. Resting a little. Drinking a little beer. Eating some holiday candy (or as Thad would say, some "day off" candy). Working some. Playing some.

Here is a short list of happenings and thoughts and such in my life lately...

I was feeling stressed on Tuesday, so I split from work early and went on a ride. Nothing too long, but it was good to get out and spin the pedals and get rid of some aggression. I was riding alone, so no real (measurable) tests of strength, but I am content with where my fitness is right now. I may (will probably) feel differently after the pain that will be the snake creek time trial in a couple of weeks.
Last night, I went to see the Ben Folds show at the Exit/In here in Nashville. Word is that there were only 450 tickets sold. I would say that there were about 400 people squeezed into this smallish Nashville venue. We got there 15 minutes after the doors opened and still had to wait in line about 30 minutes to get inside. It was some craziness. But it was well worth it. Ben Folds and his two cronies up on stage put on a great show and played a solit 90 minutes or so. Probably a little longer. He started out with 5-6 new songs that they are working on in the studio right now. They were excellent and there were no complaints from the audience about not recognizing what was being played. Then, he went into a long set of older songs. The rest of the show was actually older songs. Very good. Very entertaining. Ben Folds is a pretty amazing piano player and a great performer... especially for Nashville and "our generation".
For those of you that don't know, Ben Folds lives here in the city. It's not unusual to see him out and about seeing shows or whatever... living his life. He even showed up for one of the Team Yazoo Alley Cat Race/Parties. He was there (at the old Radio Cafe) to see the bands Justin had lined up.. not to race. So this show was most likely an occasion where some powers that be (whether he or a promoter) decided it would be cool to have a smallish local show. Relatively intimate. Very chilled. Glad I was able to go.
TransIowa training is right on target. That means there is beer in the fridge, I ride my bike occasionally, and I am still looking forward to it. What more could you ask for to prepare for a super-long gravel-grinding ride through the countryside of Iowa.
So I have been working for Rustici Software for a month and a half or so. I enjoy my job. I enjoy the really chilled out work culture, the ping pong, the schedule flexibility, and the work isn't bad either. Yesterday, Thad and I were playing ping-pong on the company conference table when a package came in addressed to me. I opened it to find twelve beers in a nice protective packaging. Then I was told it is my x-mas gift from the company (or from Mike and Tim who own the company). And it is a gift that keeps on giving. It is a one-year subscription to a Micro-brew beer of the month club. Sweet.
And the best news of all...... Emma will be back living in town after the holidays. Her stuff is moved back to Nashville already. No more monthly trips to TX and alot more of Emma on a regular basis.

Have a good holiday. Cheers.

2007-12-07T10:11:00.000-06:00

I haven't been doing much biking lately. I get at least one ride in each weekend, but that's about it. So my TransIowa 'training' is right on schedule. The commuting thing hasn't worked out so far. It is such a long commute that I have a hard time focusing on work by the time I get there. My solution, therefore, for high gas prices is that I am car-pooling with Kevin, another employee here at the office. That is working out well. Kevin lives about a mile from me, just on the other side of the interstate, so we alternate days driving in on days when neither of us have other obligations. That eliminates 2 days per week that I have to drive so far. That does help.

Last Saturday, I managed to get out to Hamilton Creek for a loop before it got dark. There are even more new trails cut with some new technical climbs and some new drops. All a good time. I rode that alone, which is pretty standard for me. I think that in my years of riding, I have still ridden more miles alone than with other people. I like riding with others, but I tend to ride my own pace regardless of being with others or not. So when I am with groups, I often find myself alone, typically off the back, but it depends on who I am with and the overall pace of the ride. Tomorrow is a group ride down at Franklin State Forest. I have a feeling it will be one of those off the back rides for me. It is a (sort of) going away ride for Justin, who is moving to Ashville. I have never known a ride with Justin to not be some sort of hammerfest. Especially when he calls it out as a single-speed ride. That usually means he intends to kill it.

This week has been pretty chilled. Tuesday night there was no Polo this week. Wednesday night was Hot Fish and Bikes night this week. Thursday night involved a short visit to the taproom and then a quiet night at the house. Good to relax because of the onslaught of Christmas parties and other similar festivities this weekend. Needed the rest to prepare for an active weekend.

My mom emailed this morning that they have snow back home (in PA). I am a bit jealous as the cold here in middle Tennessee has been less than consistent.

Enjoy your holiday preparations (or avoidances). Cheers.

2007-11-28T15:31:00.000-06:00

So my caffeine consumption lately has been somewhat excessive. I tend to start my days with 2-3 cups of coffee (we have some starbucks blackness at the office) and then round out my afternoon with 2-3 or more cups of English Breakfast tea. My lunchtime meal often includes a Coke, too. I am not so worried about the caffeine, really, as much as that I tend to have a packet of sugar with each cup of hot caffeinated love. So I am going to try to curb my sugar consumption. I enjoy my coffee and tea, I just need to work my taste into a place of not needing the sugar packet. I imagine that my coffee will still include the processed killer that is refined sugar since the starbucks is not really fit for consumption otherwise, but my tea will go without.

So discussions regarding TransIowa gear, bike choice, training, etc has already begun here. I have my opinions, and some of them are expressed on that forum, but I may expound on them further here. I'm not making promises. So anyway... today it is about bike choice and my current plan.

One of the key things to keep in mind when planning for the TransIowa is that depending on weather conditions, the race and terrain could vary widely. Last year was about perfect as far as weather and the conditions leading up to the ride. I rode my Gunnar cyclo-cross bike with standard speedmax cx tires of 700x32 or 35 or something. I never had any problems and my bike rolled well. If conditions appear to be similar this year, then I will follow the same plan. The only thing I may do differently is to try to find and ride some tires that clear my frame/fork but provide a little more volume for riding comfort.

As much as we can hope for good conditions again this year, the possibility of adverse conditions are very high. Iw ill be watching the weather up there closely leading up to go time. Since there will probably not be enough space to take two bikes with me, I will need to commit to which bike I take a couple days before heading to Iowa. In the case of wet conditions, the plan is to take Nepolean, my Indy Fab steel deluxe. I have a marathon race fork on that bike that can lock out for efficient gravel grinding, and it can handle much more stable, volumous, and wider 26" mountain bike tires which would be better for dealing with horribly muddy b roads (I would think). I would hopefully be able to ride much more of it with those tires. On the other hand, if I am carrying a bike, the 26" tires can hold more mud (weight) to be carried r pushed. I still need to test this theory for which is best in wet conditions. Two years ago, there were no finishers of TI due to such horrible conditions. I wasn't there. I am under the impression, though, that if those conditions are repeated, there will, once again, be no finishers. So maybe it's a moot point. I still want to run tests, however, to gain confidence that I will be on the best configuration possible.

There is always much discussion about which bikes are best for this event. The 29er riders are convinced they have it correct. We cyclo-cross riders feel pretty good about our choice. I do believe it still comes down to personal preference, comfort, and strenghts. For me, this is also a moot point because I am in no position to acquire a new bike even if I wanted or felt the need to. So for me the discussion is not what the best bike is but more how I can best set up the bikes that I have, and preferably with parts from my own parts bin.

One thing I am convinced of, however, is the single speed/geared decision. This is also a personal choice, but I have pretty strong feelings about single-speed being the way to go about this event. Note that this opinion is not necessarily for people looking to win but more for people like me looking to just finish. One of the biggest reasons I believe SS is the way to go is that in the long run, i believe it to be more efficient and energy conserving. Riding SS forces you to rest when you can instead of using a downhill to maximize speed. On the other hand, less time is spent climbing the hills that you do encounter. With so much of Iowa being flat, this race is even more suited than others for this style of riding. The trick is finding the appropriate gear for your ability. Too tough a gear will tire you out, too easy and you will spin out more and likely not make the required time checks. Last year, I rode a geared bike, but after the first mile or so, I didn't shift. I found a gear that was comfortable to me and that matched Thad's pretty well and then just left it there and had no problems at all. This year I plan to ride in the same way, but I will just choose my gear prior to starting. I also intend to have my bike switched over to a SS configuration by April. I am signed up in the single-speed class this year, so it's pretty necessary. Nepolean is already set up that way if weather dictates the bike change.

So anyway, that's my spiel on bike choice and format. Take it or leave it. More to come... (but don't expect much on my training regimen... that's top secret)

2007-11-26T13:56:00.000-06:00

The Thanksgiving holiday was a quiet one for me. Emma was supposed to come into town, but just a couple days before the holiday, she was diagnosed with her annual inner-ear infection. So no traveling for Emma.

I had a cracker barrel thanksgiving dinner that included the usual suspects and then headed over to Walk-Bike Shannon's for a vegetarian/vegan thanksgiving dinner. That was a good time and there was good food. Pretty quiet day.

Friday was some Pueblo Real with some friends followed by some cards and scrabble. Thad can tell you more about that. Besides losing to Thad and Hilary, I am also getting ripped to shreds by my sister in Scabulous on Facebook. Not a good weekend of scrabble playing for me.

Saturday I went on a solo ride to Percy Warner in the cold drizzle and a little sleet. It was a good ride somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30 miles. It was good to get out in the cold and good to stretch the legs some. The Percy Warner road loop is pretty hilly, so it's a good workout riding it in a single gear configuration. That was my only ride of the holiday weekend. I need pick it up some before the Snake Creek series begins again in January, but I've got time.

Overall it was a good weekend. I missed seeing Emma and the rest of my family, but it was great to spend time with friends relaxing and taking a break on a long weekend.

2007-11-19T16:19:00.000-06:00

Mostly relaxing weekend for me. I went to Hamilton Creek to get an offroad ride in on Sunday, but it ended up being too wet. I guess it rained on Saturday night. It was not so sloppy that the trail was getting too wrecked, but enough to cause some concern. Add to that the need to ride somewhat slowly and cautiously in order to not slip too much on roots or rocks, and it just didn't add up to being a good day to ride out there. I rode half a beginner loop and took the connector trail back to the parking lot. As I loaded up, I created the lofty plan of climbing on my road bike when I got home to try to get a decent ride in. When I got home, a nap sounded better than riding by myself on the road with traffic. So I called it a day. I took that nap and didn't worry about riding.

Also yesterday, I visited a school that is of interest for sending Emma to next year for Kindergarten. Appears to be a great school. Non-religious, progressive, but also not overly accelerated. I am more interested in her receiving a solid and well-rounded education than being at the 12th grade level in everything by 3rd grade. I want her eyes to be opened up and her imagination and potential to not be limited. I think she would do well at the school if she could get in. There are about 30 spots available for a pool of probably 150 applicants. Thinking about entering her into the pool. We'll see.

Last night, I went to see Man Man play again at the Mercy Lounge. If you are unfamiliar, they are worth checking out. They put on a great high-energy show. Only downer is that last night's show was probably just under an hour. They pack a lot into that hour, so I don't feel cheated for my cover, but more that I just wish they would play more.

2007-11-16T11:08:00.000-06:00

Note to self: A 20 mile commute is different from a 3.5 mile commute. Eat something first.

Today was my first day of commuting to work at my job down in Cool Springs. It's about a 20-mile commute. It wasn't bad. I took my time and (sort of ) leisurely long haul truckered it down to work. Took me about 90 minutes. It was chilly at first but my body adjusts pretty quickly. The tough thing about riding in the cold during the day is that temps can be a bit inconsistent. Long stretches in the sun where the wind is behind me tend to get a little warm and swampy, but then in the shade against the wind it can be extra chilly. Nighttime riding is much more consistent.

So I am used to commuting to my old job which was in downtown Nashville, about 3.5 miles or so from home. That took about 15-20 minutes on an average day. I would typically ride to work without having eaten anything and would feel no ill effects at all. Now for the last couple of years, one of the major things I have been working on in my riding is what and when to eat to stay fueled; and I have gotten pretty good about it. It is not often that I don't have the energy I need because of lack of sustenance. So I am not sure why my mind differentiated this morning's commute from normal (non-commute) rides. I got up and fixed my cleat (which had lost a bolt last night) and got dressed and headed out on my bike. About 30 minutes later, my kegs were burning from lack of energy to burn. At the last minute, I had grabbed an "emergency" energy gel and stuck it in my pocket just in case, and I am glad I did. I ate that and made it without issue, but I did feel the lack of sustenance. So I think my future commutes will find a couple eggs in my belly before starting out. I will probably enjoy the ride much more that way, too.

As I have mentioned, my goal is to save two driving round-trips to work each week by riding. This, my first full week, contained only one. A decent start. This time I did so by riding home after work yesterday and then back to work this morning. Next week I think I will try the same day round-trip at least one day for comparison purposes.

Last night, I actually didn't ride from work, but I also didn't just ride home. I loaded my bike up in Thad's (Hilary's) truck and rode with him out to the farm so he could get his bike. While there, I fixed his brake cable/lever (which HE broke at Polo when HE ran into me). We got on our bikes and rode from the farm into town to the Yazoo taproom to meet up with the crew. The ride was a good one. I enjoy the winter-time night rides with Thad, especially because they often have a good purpose at the end, such as drinking beer. Last night was my first cold(sort of) weather ride for the season and it felt great. I purposefully dressed a little lighter than maybe I should have, opting to get a little chilled (which is good for the soul and for quickly acclimating for the winter season). I was actually dressed about perfectly. Things were a little drafty since I wasn't wearing bike shorts but instead just shorts with boxers, but so it goes. My face was a little chilly at first but quickly got used to the cold wind and then I was very comfortable. I do look forward to the beard filling in, though.

So Thad and I rolled into Nashville and found the guys had claimed a table in the taproom where it was warm and the beer flowed. We had a great turnout and it was a great time of conversation and just hanging out, and the ESB made the body feel good. From there, we headed to Rotiers for burgers and such before climbing back on the bike to ride home.

After being gone the last two weekends, I am ready to stay on the ground this weekend and relax and get a ride in and take a couple days away from my stressful job. Cheers.

2007-11-14T11:08:00.000-06:00

Last night was bike polo. Fun times. We had 7 people and ended up stacking the teams appropriately to play 4 on 3. It worked out decently, but things were still out of balance. The last game ended early when Thad and I had a (mostly) minor collision that caused a piece on his brake lever to break. His night was over and the rest of us called it. That last game seemed kind of extraneous anyway. I may be able to speak for everyone that it was just good to get out and hang out with the guys and ride our bikes some and drink some beers. I had more personal crashes than usual, mostly in in the later part of the night. I think my slight inebriation was causing me to take more chances than earlier in the evening. Quitting when we did was probably a good thing. I am a little achy and soar today.

Tonight is hot chicken and 40s night. We are planning to return to Bolton's, our favorite spot so far. After a couple of less than satisfying hot chicken nights, we need to revitalize on the good stuff. Last time was all about chemical burns and unedible chicken. You can follow along here.

Hoping to ride to work or home or something tomorrow. It's been a couple weeks since i have gotten a real ride in. Not that commuting to work about 20 miles is very real, but at least it is somewhat sustained. I need to get back on it with TransIowa on the horizon. Speaking of which, my entry finally got there and I am in. Now I just have to train. (That comment was thrown in there for Thad's amusement.)

2007-11-10T16:03:00.000-06:00

I am in Texas this weekend visiting Emma... so just a few minutes to quickly update.

I started at Rustici this week. Kind of a slow start, but I think I have a game plan for when I get back to work on Monday. Honestly feeling a little bit of pressure to perform, but that will most likely just push me to be more productive and produce better work. I am liking the job pretty well, though. Only downer is the long commute; especially with the sharply rising gas prices... Plan to start riding it this week.

When I knew I would be starting at Rustici, and knowing that Rustici is a facial-hair friendly work environment, I joined in the celebration of the beard over at whiskerino. The curator, Michael (or Mackle on the site) was gracious enough to allow me a late entry, though I had to shave clean again. Even if i hadn't joined, it is still wintertime, which calls for a beard for facial warmth for the cold months of winter riding. You can see my whiskerino profile here.

Enjoy your weekends. Cheers.

2007-11-06T11:24:00.001-06:00

Ok... So here's the rundown on the job situation... may be the longwinded version, we'll see how it goes....

I have been looking for a new job for quite a while. I am pretty picky, so I wait for something good to come along. At my most recent employer, things were getting to the point where I needed to get out so I started putting my resume out more indiscriminately. The reason I had been searching anyway was because of the lack of stability in my job. The company I was with had never made any money but was operating off of investment money, and that was drying up, too. I needed something more long-term and stable. A couple weeks ago, on Oct 25 I "officially resigned" or was unofficially let go, laid off, canned. I had sort of seen it coming, so it didn't come as much of a surprise.

By the time I was suddenly unemployed, I was actually pretty prepared for it as far as job prospects go. I had a promising interview scheduled for 8am the next morning. I also had plans to fly to Minneapolis to interview in person with QBP the following week. Having these two opportunities really set my mind at ease so I never really stressed too much. A good friend is also unemployed, so we saw it as an opportunity to hang out and such on our "time off". My 8am interview went very well which added to the confidence I was feeling that my unemployment would be temporary. For the next week I had some fun, went biking, celebrated holloween, etc.

During this time I did alot of thinking about what I wanted and about the local area and all of that stuff so that when I went to Minneapolis, I was less than excited about the prospect of moving there. My interview with QBP went decently well, and I found Minneapolis to be a very cool town. I had considered checking out apartments and such, but ended up opting to sample the local flavors of beer, coffee, and pizza. I flew home pretty much decided on staying in Nashville.

Another interesting development that occurred while in Minn was getting a call from the guy that Thad works for offering me a job on the spot. It was unexpected but very interesting. I started thinking about it and Monday afternoon visited the office to make sure we were all on the same page. This morning I accepted the offer and I start work tomorrow. It will be awesome to work with Thad again and I think I will enjoy the work and the job culture. The downer is the longish commute, but I can deal. I need to set goals for frequency of commuting on my bike. It won't be everyday, but hopefully a couple times per week.

So that is the rundown. I am really hoping the posting about work stuff will be minimized in the near future. Hopefully that would mean a decent level of contentment and a minimal level of drama. Man.... I should write a book.... "The startup that couldn't start."

2007-11-05T12:32:00.000-06:00

The Surly Brewery was cool. It was also very crowded. Unlike the Yazoo taproom, the Surly brewery is not open every weekend, but they happened to be open while I was in town. Now imagine that every Yazoo customer that shows in the 12 hours per week that the taproom is open all showed up in one 3-hour period on a Saturday afternoon. I waited in line about 10 minutes just to get inside. The growler refill line was a bit out of control, too. I went on the tour, but it essentially consisted of allowing everyone to go back to the brewing/canning area and then they explained the brewing process. I am somewhat familiar with how to brew beer, and I was stuck in the back of the crowd, so I explored on my own some and then headed back out to get my samples and some goods. The Surly brewery does not sell pints but they give away samples. So upon entering the facility, they check your ID and then give you a wristband if you are of age. Each wristband contains 6 tear-off tabs, each of which is good for a 5 ounce sample. Do the math. Even if they kept track of people's samples and made sure that you gave them a tab for each beer, 30 ounces is not too shabby. I sampled each of their 3 brews and then decided that my drive across a town I don't know would be better executed by cutting myself off there. One of the beers was a coffee blender beer that had a strong coffee taste. It wasn't exactly a stout, but was very good.

My air travel lately seems to be plagued with bad luck. Not the kind where we crash into a mountain or anything like that, but the kind where my flight gets delayed. There was a party back at Matt's house (sort of in my honor) that I was trying to get back to, but my flight was delayed a couple of hours for mechanical issues. So I finally made it back to town and got to Matt's a little after 10. Hung out for a couple hours and then headed home to crash. Sunday was a chilled out day of relaxing, watching a movie, etc.

So, the job thing is still up in the air. I will update about that once things are more certain. As it is, I want to play my cards a little closer than this here internet affords.

2007-11-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

So I am in Minneapolis today until about 4. I've been here since Thursday night. Yesterday I interviewed with QBP. Seems a cool place to work, good culture, bikes everywhere, a trailhead from the company parking lot, huge employee discounts, very laid back atmosphere, .... (I could go on). It's a shame that they aren't located in Nashville. That is the sticky area for me. I have very good reasons to stay in the Nashville area. I think the interviews went well, but I'll have to see what they have to say.

When I got to the office, one thing that stuck out to me was that the main entrance was around back, the furthest distance from the road. I thought that was weird until I saw that employees would ride their bikes to the office and just lean it against a bike rack or something and go inside. Nice bikes. No locks. I went into the lobby and the dude at the fron desk looked like a dude you would see inthe shop at your neighborhood shop, in dress and attitude. It was a good thing, this place reeks of bike culture. In the reception area there are a bunch of high-end parts, some salsa frames, and other such things on display. The office work spaces are mostly open-type cubicles, but with tons of colors and with a feel not much like traditional cubicles. Bikes were everywhere, both those owned by employees and those used for marketing. People have tons of posters, pictures, etc. around, and there were a couple of dogs hanging out. The warehouse was big and looked like a modern warehouse., except that there were bike-related posters and stickers here and there, and bikes hanging up and all of that. Many of the people working looked like they would if you ran into them in a bar before an urban ride. The Surly office was pointed out to me as being off of one of the warehouse floors. There is a scratch 'n dent are where employees can get deeply discounted parts (cheaper than the already generous employee discount, which is off of wholesale, btw). There were quite a few surly and other frames hanging up as well as box after box of parts. There was also a "free" table. QBP really is what you would expect it to be. In interviewing, I was struck with how protective they are of their culture. They are much more concerned that a person is a good fit than how well they can do the job they are signing up for (though that is also important). Overall, the visit was a good experience.

So after all of that, I managed to find the celebrated Cars R Coffins coffee/bike shop and chatted with the owner up there for a short while. I then tracked down down some Fat Tire Beer and pizza for dinner. Minneapolis is a cool town, and the uptown area seems like the place to be. There were bikes everywhere, and most people seem to make do with the older bikes than worrying getting the fanciest new thing. That was a good sign (for the quality of the people and culture). So even if I don't make the move up here, I would like to visit again for a few days.

Today I am planning to visit the small Surly brewery for a tour before I head out. May also stop to eat and try some beer at a local brewpub. Good times.

Btw, I never made it known.. as of last week, I am officially unemployed. I "officially resigned" or was laid off or whatever. Don't really care at this point. It is just nice to have some time off and be away from that stress that was the uncertainty associated with working at Zoi. I am now just hoping that I'm not out of work too long. I actually should be working in one more week. I currently have one opportunity to do so, but I want to hold out a little bit longer to see what else pops.

In other news, TI4 pre-registration (for past participants) is open, and i have already sent in my entry postcard. Pretty excited about that one. Cheers.

2007-10-29T11:14:00.000-05:00

I have it on good authority that there is a new post on "Biking in the car lane". Horray for Nashville weblogging. Check it out....

So there is some good stuff to be reported on here, but some of it is still cooking. So this is a quick rundown of the weekend...

Friday night was a holiday party at Dan and Hollie's place. Halloween is Hollie's christmas, so there was a bit of a bit of a throwdown. Party was a great time with great food and alot of stuff to drink. We watched 1-2 creepy flics and generally had a good time. A few of us headed to Red Door for our own little post-party. Good times, and that place was pretty appropriate for a halloween post-party. After closing that place down, it was home to sleep. For the next night was to be even bigger and later (though little did we know this).

Saturday, Matt and I got some killer breakfast at the bongo java (best breakfast deal in town) and then headed to his place so I could do some laundry and such while watching some Dexter. I headed home after while, had a beer, and then headed across the river on my bike to Ron's house for a small halloween party. Good time playing Corn Hole, eating some great food, and getting back in the flow with the beers. Dan and the Jeffrey were there but otherwise it was a mostly different crowd. Nice change for a little while, but then the three of us headed a few miles away to Jut's house. And then it was on. A few more people joined us there before we all headed up the hill to 3crow bar for a couple bands. Great crowd and great music, it was a fun time and we essentially closed that place down before heading to Ihop for some late-night breakfast. Home about 5am. Good times. Sunday was all about recovery as I chilled out pretty much all day. Dinner with a few friends for Hollie's birthday, and then we went to a local haunted house called Devil's Dungeon. It was decent but went by pretty quickly. The highlights were the unlit maze at the end and this room where you walk through a spinning tube with lights resembling stars that made you completely disoriented and off-balance. Went to bed early and finally got a good night's sleep. After a weekend without any real biking hoping to get a couple good rides in this week.

On QBP front, I am flying there this Thursday to interview with them and see the place. I will be in Minneapolis for a couple of days, culminating in what will either be an offer or a "no thanks".

Cheers.

2007-10-22T20:41:00.000-05:00

So now for another (weekly) post...

I guess I will spill the beans since some of you know already.... I am trying to get a job at QBP as a software developer. So any of you that have contact with people from up there, put in a good word for me if you have a good opportunity to do so. Something about doing the work I signed up to do for the bicycle industry just seems right. It could mean that my work could have some meaning beyond just taking checks to the bank. It's not a done deal by any means; I am in the process, though.

So taking that job will mean moving to Minneapolis. This is a bittersweet proposition. It seems to happen that every time I really feel like I have settled down in a place, I fiond myself moving somewhere else. Maybe if I find work that I like, I won't feel this in the future. So anyway, I am not so excited to leave Nashville, a town I have enjoyed living in. I am not excited to leave all of the friends I have made here. At least I would still see them from time to time at bike events and such. I am, however, excited about the prospect of moving up where it gets cold and stays that way. Where snow can tend to stick around and people live with it. The Twin cities metro area is much larger than Nashville, and it appears to be more of a real city than Nashville is. There are good bike paths and trails in the city, and QBP is amazing in its efforts to support its employees in their efforts to commute and drive less. They also have one of the most environmentally friendly facilities in the US; on top of the warehouse is the largest solar panel array in the mid-west. And their facility backs up to a nature preserve with bike trails, hiking trails, and xc ski trails.

So in my position with QBP, I would be involved with about 20 other people to help maintain, support, and enhance the current systems for marketing, selling product, and managing the business. Not only would I be working for a cool company in the bike industry, but I would have the opportunity to learn new technologies and work in different areas.

I am crossing my fingers; hopefully you are too. The next step in the process would be a trip up to visit their facilities and meet with a bunch of people I would be working with. I think they also would be drilling me for technical knowledge. That part is never fun, but I should be able to hold it together.

In other news, I worked on my gunnar this weekend to get some of the mud from cyclo-cross cleaned off as well as putting my brooks saddle back on and putting my street tires back on. I also worked on re-truing the front wheel after my freak crash before the cyclo-cross race last week. Considering how much wobble it had after the crash, I am rather pleased with how straight the wheel pulled in, though the tension on the spokes is pretty jacked at this point. Sad to see my trusty Rolf Sestrieres in such a state.

I also worked on the little kona (aka, polo bike). Last week, my chain broke during polo so I removed the broken link and just pulled the chain tighter. Luckily there was enough chain to still work, but the singulator-chain interface was making alot of noise all week. So on Saturday I was looking at it and found that the bolt that holds the pulley in place on the singulator was loose. A quick tighten and things are running smooth again. I guess I also improved the alignment of the singulator. This is one of those original surly singulators from back in the early days. Now that it is tightened and aligned, it is still working like a champ.

So I think I have decided on a costume for the Halloween bash at Hennessey's place on Friday. You'll have to show up to see it....

2007-10-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Nashville Cyclo-cross Weekend I

This weekend was the first of two weekend chock full of cyclo-cross racing and activity for the town of Nashville. Dan (the man) organizes, promotes, executes the series and does a great job. It was a fun weekend and now I am a little sore and tired. Tired from the racing, sore from the wrecking....

Friday night started out cruising home from work to find Thad's parents waiting for me with their new convertible Pony car. My home is in an easy-to-find central location, so Thad planned on meeting them (and myself) there. They got to sit in my cluttered house for a little bit until Thad showed up and the four of us headed to the taproom for some brews. We ran into a bunch of people up there at the Yazoo brewery and much of the conversation revolved around the upcoming cross races. A good meal at Blackstone Brewery followed (along with an intense argument with the waitress about the best cheesesteak joint in the East Falls part of Philly - Chubby's by a landslide). Then it was home to sleep some before the next morning's race.

I arrived to the race venue (Two Rivers Park this time around) a little after 9 and started scanning the course. It had much of the same path as last year, but enough differences to make it a much better course than last year. On Saturday the course flowed pretty well. I raced in the 45 min. cat-3 race that went off at noon. Justin, Thad, Hennessey, and Neumeyer raced in the single-speed class that rade with the cat-4s at 11am for 30 minutes. So when they started, I was riding my bike around taking some pictures (which I will try to share in the near future). As I was riding around the course holding my camera in one hand, steering the bike with the other, and looking for where the riders were, I managed to hit a HUGE hole in the ground that sent me over my handlebars crashing on top of my bike and onto the ground. I couldn't even catch myself because my hands were tied up. When I got up, I could my handlebars knocked off center and felt some pretty good bruises on my legs. There was also a little blood from scrapes on my shins, but it wasn't a big deal. So I was riding my bike over to my car to fix it as well as change and get ready for my race when I noticed that my wheel was rubbing my brakes pretty badly. At first I thought it was just knocked out of its seating in the fork, but quickly realize that it was slightly taco'd. Crap. My race was in about 45 minutes. So, while the other guys were racing, I was carefully and strategically slamming my wheel into the pavement to straighten it out and then loosening my brakes to eliminate the rubbing from the still slightly wobbly wheel. It can together in a satisfactory manner, so I finished preparing to race. Meanwhile, Thad had won the first race SS division (and also overall), with Hennessey coming in 2nd, Neumeyer 3rd, and Jut 4th. Good showing for the Team Remax Yazoo crew.

As soon as Thad finished his race, I started warming up for mine. Two laps on the course followed by a 10 or so minute breather was about right. I started pretty warm but not used up at all. Thad was racing again and lined up right in front of me. I had decided before I started to try to hang in there with the pack from the beginning because I often defer positioning to other people doubting my ability to keep in the running. I decided that such a plan takes me out of the running from the beginning, so I needed to make others earn their position. I went out pushing pretty hard and felt pretty strong for pretty much the entire ride. Thad had a tough ride, but after winning the previous race, it wasn't too surprising. I ended up coming in at the back of my class, but I wasn't too far away from the rest of the pack, so I considered it a good race. As it is, I probably should be racing cat-4, but I choose to race cat-3 in order to get a longer ride. 45 minutes hurts, but it's alot of fun and I'm not even close to getting lapped, so I don't feel out of place. I imagine that the guys that beat me appreciate me being there to round out the category.

Sunday's race was a bit tougher for me. I was noticeably warn from the day before and within 2 laps I could tell I had burnt my energy on Saturday. My class was also much smaller on Sunday, so I ended up 4th out of 4. Again, not close to being lapped, but not really in contention. It was fun, though. My front wheel is still bent and is probably toast. I can probably use it for daily commuting and will try to make it last through the rest of cross season, but that will probably be it for that one. Such a shame. On Sunday morning I took pictures by running from place to place instead of riding.

Sunday after the race, I helped clean up the course, picking up tape and stakes. The tear down process went very quickly, and then we re-convened at the Hennessey home for some veggie chili that Hollie had made and graciously offered to share with the rest of us. The rest of us was Thad, Eli, and Todd and Krista Parks. Todd and Krista had driven their home into town for a few days to take part in the cyclo-cross fun times. They are primarily from the southwest (NM) which has a way of producing some top-notch, cool people. Very cool to hang out with them this weekend, and thanks dan and Hollie for hosting us last night....

2007-10-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

Last night was Thursday night. Usually that means hitting the taproom and/or other establishments where brews are served and also finding some dinner out with the guys. Yesterday I decided to just chill at home in order to get to bed early and save some money and just generally relax before the weekend kicks in. Besides, there has been an outing to the taproom planned for quite some time to coincide with the visit of Thad's parents. So anyway, I headed home after work.

Eating dinner and drinking my gin 'n tonic, I was thinking about the weekend of cross racing and realized that I was completely unprepared (note I am referring to practical preparedness, not training/conditioning preparedness - that is a lost cause). And with the planned activities for Friday night, last night was my only chance to get ready. So I jumped to action.... well, not really.... There was no jumping involved. The first thing I did was put a load of laundry on so that I would have clean bike shorts and wings for the weekend. Next thing I did was to watch the DVD "Pure Sweet Hell". Nothing like a cyclo-cross video (and especially that one) for inspiring a cx racer to get ready and psyched up for the races. I may watch it again tonight. After the movie, I made the necessary bike modifications to the gunnar to prepare him for the weekend. Removed the bottle cages, replaced the brooks saddle with a lighter (and more abuse-resistant) fizik saddle, and replaced the smooth tires with my cyclo-cross rubber.

MMMMMMMMM, cross season.....

2007-10-11T17:29:00.000-05:00

Allright... so it's been a while. Sorry, Fred. Seems every other post or so I am saying something to that effect. But keep in mind that you aren't paying for this.

So.. quickly (cause I don't feel like spending much time with this....)

Yuengling has landed. (I haven't bought any yet myself, but today is payday, so I think there may be some goodness in my future.)
I rode Nepolean on the ol' trails down in Abilene, TX early Saturday morning while I was out there for the weekend visiting Emma. The trail was somewhat overgrown, but alot of fun. I ran into an old friend at the shop in town there and he joined me for the ride and showed me the currently favored loop. Andrew happened to be in town for a couple of weeks, in-between jobs. He is currently riding a Maverick. Sweet bike.
The 4-day weekend was good but not exactly restful seeing as 30+ hours of driving were involved. A cool part of the drive, however, was driving through the middle of a massive windfarm just North of Abilene. Abilene, and west TX in general, is one of those mostly flat places that constantly has a pretty strong wind blowing. It's great for flying kites, dust storms, and massive American flags. It's not so great for road riding because inevitably you will be riding dead into the wind, struggling to maintain 10 mph. Anyway, I have always thought "they" needed to harness that wind and generate power. So "they" are finally doing that. I never really let my thoughts be known on the matter, though, so I couldn't claim credit for that one even if I wanted to try. I think it was the old oil guys seeing a way to keep their energy production income flowing. However it came about, I was glad to see it.
My Honda Element needs the regular maintenance (It's the big one.. timing belt... 100,000 miles or so). Anyone know any good, honest, independent Honda mechanics in town (Nashville)??
While in Abilene, I took Emma to the Abilene Zoo. It is a pretty small zoo, but they have lions and bears and giraffes and an elephant and monkeys. We both had a great time and walked around the whole place 3-4 times in the course of a couple of hours. In that time, I absorbed enough dust and hay particles and such to make my allergies out of control. I have been combating that all week. I have had energy and such, but also a light cough and a runny nose. Last night, after hanging out with a few guys and partaking in hot chicken and 40s, I got home and my voice was gone. Not such a big deal except that I had a job interview this morning. It seemed to go fine anyway, but it was a nuisance to have to struggle so hard to be heard by the 6 people I met with during the "team interview".
So about the hot chicken and 40s.... It is a local variant of Cajun fried chicken. And it is pretty hot. To get this chicken, we drove up to Dickerson road. We ordered our chicken (as the only white guys in the place) and stood around waiting about a half hour for our food. Pretty typical. While we waited, a couple of the guys went to the corner gas station to get the 40s (the 'ol King of Beers was my choice). Once we got our chicken we headed back to a safer part of town to eat our chicken and drink our beers. Chicken was terrific. I got the medium this time instead of mild, and I think I am ready to step up and get hot next time. I think next time will be a different joint, though. We are on a mission of trying all of the hot chicken (and fish) places in town and deciding which ones are best (from the perspective of some white boys who grew up deprived of such joys as these). Of course, the next morning is never so joyous (if you know what i mean). One of the funniest anecdotes from last night is that one of the guys who went to buy the 40s used his credit card at a gas station to make the purchase. This morning, his cc company called him to make sure it wasn't a fraudulent purchase. Keep in mind that the purchase was for less than $10. That's a testament to the part of town we had to venture to in order to get our hot chicken. But hot damn, it was worth it.
The temperature had dropped nicely here in Nashville. But you all probably know that.

2007-10-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

I have been coding again at work this week. Sort of coding, I guess. I have been building a data layer, but in .Net that doesn't include coding much at all. That just includes using tools to set it all up. On the other hand, I did spend some time coding unit tests to make sure the standard access functions for the database do work. Actually writing those tests took more time than setting up the data layer itself. It was nice to be back in development again. Hoping to stay here for a while, and I think that I will be focusing my search for my next opportunity on development positions. I realize that only 25% of my readership cares about this (that would be one person).

So anyway.... Went mountain biking this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was down in Sewanee where Thad, Dave, Chris (Wilkins) and I rode just under 20 miles. We did about all of the perimeter trail that bikes are allowed on. It was a good ride. Sunday was an afternoon ride out at Hamilton Creek. The trails there are in the midst of re-routes and the new trails are great to ride on. It is impressive how clean and warn-in the trails are already. I see the markers where more trail will be cut, so I will have to venture out there again soon.

Towards the end of the expert loop out at HC, I pinch-flatted on a rock that I let the rear wheel hit too hard on a descent. No big deal; I just put my spare tube in and used some co2 to inflate, but it wouldn't inflate. Ends up my spare has a hole from being carried around too long in a bag and rubbing up against its own valve (I assume). So Thad offers me his tube, but the same problem exists. Eli offered his spare tube, but it is a schraeder valve tube. (who uses those?)
So I was left to hoof it back. I eventually cut out to the road and took the most direct way back to the cars where Thad, Hilary, and Eli were waiting for me, but they hadn't been back long. The Heuvos con Chorizo I had at the Mexican joint afterwards made it all better.

This weekend I am planning to make the long drive to Abilene, TX to see Emma. I think I will have one or two passengers along for part of the trip. It sure would be nice to have a working A/C, but hopefully it won't be too hot in TX and OK. Kind of a crapshoot.

Polo last night. No major person injuries. Jackson taco'd a wheel (again) but Hennessey beat it back into some form of roundness. Hennessey bent a crank in a collision with me at the end of the night. Greg made the beer run. Ivan showed up on the ol' Schwinn road tank. Sharp's front brakes quit working. Jeanie showed up with her k-9 kids to see what Neumeyer was up to on his newly-built urban/polo - specific redline monocog. Matt kept most of his clothes on most of the night. Justin had stories to tell from Vegas, based on what he can remember. He did bring back a street hockey ball to play with, which was much smaller than the original ball we had been using. It made for some some variation in the gameplay. Thad and I didn't end up with grudges against each other.

Other News (which you probably already know):

Radiohead has a new album available for download from their site on Oct 10. Name your own price.
Nashville Cyclo-cross 1 and 2 are next weekend.
The Yazoo taproom has the ESB back on the board.
Yeungling signs and announcements are starting to pop up around town. It should be in stores by the weekend according to several sources. (Hallelujah)
There are efforts to move the annual Interbike trade show from Vegas to Boulder for next year. I think we need to lobby for Nashville.

2007-09-24T09:43:00.000-05:00

Another year as a non-winner. I entered the Dirt Rag Literature contest again this year. My story was a satire about NORBA. It was about their tendency to try to sanction any mountain bike formats that seem to be picking up steam. The current example being the endurance race series. My story was relevant to current stuff going on and expressed an opinion. Those are both attributes that have always been valued by Dirt Rag. Part of me thinks that maybe they (the judges) just didn't get it. There is also a high possibility that my story just wasn't well executed. I am not a published writer and do it primarily for my own enjoyment. I do like to know, however, where my writing stands. Last year, the then-editor Michael published the winners and semifinalists online well before the stories were published. Last year I was 4th place. This year I have been waiting and checking online all the time to see when Karen (Brooks, the new editor) published the results, but nothing. Then this weekend, I got my new issue of Dirt Rag and on the cover is announced that the literature contest winning story is enclosed. Somewhat anti-climatic for me.

Maybe I will ask her to publish that information, or maybe she will do it on her own. My interest is in seeing how aligned my judgment is to theirs. I thought my story this year was pretty stellar, but evidently not. If I didn't even get into the semi-finalist list, then maybe i need to retire from my efforts... or maybe find a different venue.

2007-09-20T17:06:00.000-05:00

So last night I was able to successfully disassemble and then reassemble the powerbook my sister gave me, installing a new optical drive. And i didn't even have any extra screws left over. This site was a huge help. Once I started going by a guide on that site, I was able to go straight through the steps. The bonus was that after I was finished, I popped in a DVD and then a music cd, and they both correctly played on the machine. I haven't yet tested the burning capabilities, but that isn't even the highest priority. And at this point, if the thing won't burn a disc, I'm not messing with it again, anyway.

Another activity from last night was taking part in a Nashville tradition of hot chicken and 40s. For some people this is a daily thing, but not really for me. I went with a couple of former co-workers to a northern sketchy part of town (Dickerson Rd. for those familiar). There are two main things people go up there for. Hookers and hot chicken. We went for the latter. Try the former and you will take away a lot more than you bargained for.

So we went to Prince's Hot Chicken, a nashville institution. Walking in, there are 5 or 6 big movable wooden booths with plastic tablecloths on the tables. In the back there is a long counter in front of a hole in the wall with a skinny guy hanging out taking orders. It is as if it was an outside walk-up food purveyor, except behind a counter which makes it a pain to navigate past the line and back around the counter once your order is placed. It also takes about a half hour for your skillet fried hot chicken to be prepared. (Check out this article to see a picture.) So at the end of the counter (the opposite end of where the line is - I realize you aren't following me - but bear with me) there was this huge older dude just sitting there about two feet from an old black and white TV. He is watching tv and isn't paying attention to anything else. If the description of black and white does not paint a clear enough picture, imagine an old tv with dials and both straight and round antennas off the back. Mrs. Prince, who runs the joint, was behind the wall watching a color tv, but it was, from the looks of it, about the same circa as the b&w one.

These days, Nashville can be quite pleasant. Meaning, by the time we got there at about 6:45 or so, the outside air temp was pretty comfortable and so the heat in Prince's wasn't bad at all. Especially with the fans they had going. Evidently, they have an A/C system, but someone can't seem to get it right. You see that Diesel?

So anyway, after a while waiting, we got our chicken and headed back to Hillsboro Village, picking up our 40s on the way, to enjoy our meal in the comforts of boring, stale, bleached demographics and geographics. We left the hookers on Dickerson Road. The chicken was pleasantly hot, the potato salad was pleasantly creamy, and the 40s were slightly but pleasantly intoxicating. The way my stomach felt from the hot chicken this morning when I woke up was another story.

2007-09-19T15:38:00.000-05:00

I am working today. (interpret that however you please.)

So I found a funny site and on that site I saw this image that I imagine all can identify with. I apologize for making both of you link from here to view the image, but I am trying to keep this site a somewhat family-friendly environment.

Last night I started at about 11:30 or so breaking into the new (to me) powerbook that I got from my sister. The optical drive is broken, so I am attempting to replace it. Thad mentioned how most Apple's are built in a straightforward manner and that replacing the drive shouldn't be a big deal. In this case, that couldn't be further from the truth. The instructions that were sent with the drive I got do not apply to my machine, so I figured I would try to wing it. It hasn't gone so well. At about 2am or so, I decided to take a break from it and go to bed. When I got into work this morning, I did a quick search online to find instructions for the operation I am attempting to perform. It didn't take long to find a great resource, which I wish I had looked into before even ordering a new drive. Evidently, I am required to essentially take apart the entire innards of the thing in order to get to the drive to remove it. So guess what I will be doing tonight... I am just hoping it will go back together.

So I got more skinny on the whole Yeungling thing. Rumor has been going around, first announced locally by a beer store the 'Boro down in Murfreesboro, that Yuengling is coming to Tennessee. With some reasearch, I found that they were coming into Tennessee as a test to see how well it is received and how well production picks up and such. I have heard a "fall" arrival, Sept 20, and October 1. Still waiting, I am still asking around. It isn't all just word-of-mouth hearsay since I did find an article online talking about it. Last night I heard another rumor, though, that the Florida production facility, which would be supplying the Tennessee beer, has had water problems recently and their production has been down. This could be the reason for the postponement until October, or it could also postpone it further. Or it could just be a rumor and the Oldest Brewery in America could be supplying some suds to us Tennessee buyers in the next couple of weeks. This article seems to indicate it is another month out.....

Those are the things we worry about here in Nashville.

2007-09-17T10:56:00.001-05:00

The Tale of a Weekend

The pre-weekend consisted of me doing some vehicle maintenance and legalization during the day on Friday. The element was the vehicle of choice for 4 of our crew (myself included) so an overdue oil change and registration renewal was in order. Conveniently, the county clerk's office was about a mile away from the honda dealer, so I dropped my car off for service, pulled my bike out of the back, and spun down the road to pay the annual $80 that keeps the cops from pulling me over.

I Met Thad, Hennessey, and Neumeyer at my place at about 6. We were in no big hurry to get going. Afterall, one can leave from Nashville at 6 or at 6:30 on a Friday and probably get to Murfreesboro at about the same time. Mike and Dan put the rack on the roof and Mike put the 4th seat in the element, and then we packed to go. Three bikes on top and one on a rack off the back and we were rolling.

First stop was the customary Cracker Barrel stop in Manchester. Justin caught up to us at that point and after stuffing ourselves with some downhome food, we were on our way to the Jeffrey's apartment in Chattanooga. The Jeffrey lives in downtown in a cool old apartment building. As soon as we arrived and loaded our stuff upstairs, we headed out to find some beer and some greasy late-night food. Hodge had beat us up there and joined in the festivities. It just wouldn't be right to not preface a long hard ride the following day with a night of drinking and little sleep.

So.. the ride....

When we pulled up, there were already a bunch of people there. Not a big deal, we were following the main ride organizer up there. We had plenty of time to change and prepare for the long ride ahead of us. After a while, everyone was ready and we gathered to begin. They didn't hand out maps. They explained a couple of route changes that meant nothing to me. My only hope was to hang onto the group or be around people that knew where we were or were going. We all sang happy birthday to Barry (the firewater 50, afterall, is an annual birthday ride for Barry) and then were off.

In my mind, this ride was like the offroad Mitchell ride; a long race around the back of the pack of which I would hang out and eventually grunt out a finish. My teammates, as usual, were off the front. Hodge was back with me as were Ivory and a couple other guys flying the wings. From the gate it was uphill. Not just a little uphill, but a few miles uphill. No warm-up, no easing into this one. Those with gears were starting out in their granny gears to get a feel for the climb and get the muscles warm. Those of us on single-speeds (the Yazoo guys and Dougie from N. Georgia) couldn't do anything but hurt with a start like that (though I am not convinced that Dougie was hurting at all - just the rest of us). I could tell it was going to be a long day, and the geared riders around me confirmed that to me.

After a long climb and then some rollers, we started the climb up Tibbs. It is over a mile of steep uphill that is covered with rocks of all sizes. I walked about 98% of that climb. I saw Ivory at the very beginning of the climb. He was on his Nomad spinning up and eventually cleared the entire climb without dabbing (quite an accomplishment). I didn't see anyone else for the rest of that climb. I got to the top and guessed on which direction I was supposed to take. It was a gravel road, but I managed to see a few bike tire tracks, so I went right. I hadn't seen anyone in quite a while and was convinced that I was off the back. I also had no idea where I was or where I was going. In my mind I started to make plans on how I would get back or try to contact everyone else when I ended up lost in the middle of no where. After a few minutes of these self-deprecating thoughts, I decided I could probably better spend my energy trying to catch up to Ivory, so I kicked it in a little. After another mile or so, I finally saw Ivory up ahead of me and felt some relief. (I think that he was sort of waiting for me since he knew I had no idea where I was.) Ivory and I caught back up to some other people, and it felt good to no longer be the last one on this epic ride. After a little more climbing, I came out to a clearing to find the rest of the Yazoo guys hanging out, eating some food and resting some. That is when it really became fun to me. That is when it hit me that this was a "fun" group ride and not a race. We all waited for all from our group to get back together before we started out again. We started again in shifts, but we were all in the same general vicinity.

The we split ways again. Some of us got off on the wrong trail, and others took the correct one. Again, not knowing the area really hurt our navigation because had we known where we were going, then we would have known that both ways came out at the same place. Hodge, JR, Brandon and I went around on the gravel road because the trail didn't look like 40 people had traversed it. We made our way around and were about to jump back on the Pinhoti 2 trail when the rest of the crew rolled down from Pinhoti 1. We chatted for a bit before a couple of the guys started up the road instead of onto the singletrack. One by one, people from our group were heading that way until it was clear that everyone who had an idea of where to go and how to get back were heading back along the gravel road. So we headed that way, too. It took a good couple of hours to get back. This included what seemed like a 10-mile climb on a gravel road... again, very much a grunt on the singlespeeds, then some rollers, and then a long descent on a really loose and rough motorcycle trail back to the parking lot. We were out there about 6-7 hours, and we were all pretty worked.

Upon arrival back at the parking lot, we were greeted with beer, food, and conversation. We hung out for a couple hours before heading back to Nashville. On the way back, we stopped on top of the mountain near Sewanee for some mexican food. Really good stuff. Walking back from the restaurant to the car I got my first real chill of the changing season. It was certainly welcome. Once we made it back home, I crashed out and slept about 12 hours.

Sunday was a mostly uneventful day of sleeping, eating, a little running (at percy warner park), some cleaning, some laundry, and some beer drinking. It was a good day to get organized and get my mind right for another week.

So that was the story of the weekend.... Here are a few reflections in list form...

Scott Hodge is a tough guy in 2 respects. One, he pushed through the Firewater 50 on a fixed 29er bike with cyclo-cross tires. The other toughness has to do with how much abuse he puts up with from the guys but still comes out smiling. It's all in fun, but c'mon fellas....
There were 2 ladies riding out there on Saturday. I think we need to get the word out a little more. I know they need to keep it smallish to avoid having to get an event permit, but there is certainly some room for some more ladies.
I think I missed out on some of the fun aspects of the ride by riding a singlespeed bike. For one, it wore me out so much early on during the first big climb that I entered into tired mode pretty early on in the ride. Also, the Tibbs climb looks challenging and fun if done with a granny gear. I walked about all of it, but would have been technically challenged had I been able to spin up the thing.
I think I am figuring out the food and eating thing for myself because I never felt tired from a lack of sustenance, I was just tired from the course being so tough.
I am still pleased with the Element as a vehicle that fits my interests and recreational needs. Kinda crummy that the A/C is broken, but that wasn't an issue at all this weekend.
I am glad that summer is over and the riding, camping, and good times can kick back in again.

2007-09-14T00:19:00.001-05:00

So a few tidbits...

Check out this page. It is one I recently started to make fun of my friend who has this page. I realize that is a lot of pages to check out. Just remember, though, that this page is the most important.
This weekend is the Firewater 50 in northern Georgia. Here is a bulleted list of things about the weekend that I know or think...

I am driving 4 of us down there in the Element, which has a broken A/C. Hopefully the air temp will stay comfortable for the weekend.
We are staying with the Jeffrey in downtown Chattanooga on Friday night.
The Firewater 50 is a free grassroots 50 mile offroad "group" ride. It is not a race.
There is no support for this ride unless you mean the cookout and beer and other adult beverages that will follow the grueling ride.
Chris Ivory, an avid and very able single speed rider, who has ridden the Firewater 50 in the past, says that anyone attempting it on a singlespeed has to either be crazy or stupid. (My money is on Ivory showing up on a single-speed bike.)
The Element and its passengers will be returning sometime Saturday night.
I am unprepared for this ride.
The Firewater 50 is actually one fella's birthday ride. It has been happening every year for 12-13 years. The firewater is a bottle of mad dog that gets passed around among the finishers.
There are supposedly some pretty heinous climbs on this ride.
I am unprepared for this ride.
There is a bike shop owner from somewhere in Georgia who intends to ride the Firewater 50 on a fixed gear bike. It is the same person who started the GDR this year. I am convinced that he is delusional.
The Firewater 50 is unmarked and the maps given to participants are minimal. The course is different this year from years past. Getting lost is highly probable.
I am unprepared for this ride.

So now for things I am not so sure of...

Where the hell does the Firewater 50 start and end?
Really..... how hard is it?
Is there a good pizza joint around the halfway point?

Things are still alittle topsy-turvy at work. I can't say much more. I still have a job. A big door opened for our company today, but a different big door also swung back closer to closed. I realize that doesn't mean much to anyone but me. Sorry.
I got a new computer from my little sister this week. It is an Apple Powerbook. She also gave me a 20gig ipod. I have a great sister. But I feel a little bit like a loser for taking hand-me-downs from my sister who is 10 years younger than me and in college. I can deal.

2007-09-11T00:29:00.000-05:00

Finally Home..... after an extra night in Abilene and a long day today that started at the Abilene airport at 6:30am (central), I finally find myself in my own home, arriving at about 12:15am (still central). It was the weather. And it made for an interesting but tiring day of travel.

I could have driven and gotten home faster.

2007-09-09T19:46:00.000-05:00

I lived here in Abilene, Texas for about 9 years off and on. More on than off. I really didn't mind it too much. It was very different from home and I liked the wide open apces and that this was the first place where I really was on my own to do what I wanted. I am not a big fan of being here anymore.

Tonight I was trying to leave this overtly Jesus-obsessed but seeminglyGod-forsaken town. I was scheduled for the last flight out of town, and after a somber farewell to Emma, I took the boarding passes I had printed off before going to the airport up to security to go through to my gate, and the security guy told me i needed to check in at the ticket counter. I told him I had done so before coming to the airport and he said that a flight had been canceled due to weather. I figured it would be a nuisance that would turn into a longer than expected night of traveling. Turns out they canceled my flight, and it was the last one of the night. The only one canceled today, too, and it wasn't canceled until about 45 minutes before go time. Who is the genius to make that decision? I can understand canceling an ealier flight if they have to because there would be other flights to send the passengers on; but the last flight out of town for the day? And for weather? Couldn't they just postpone things for 30 minutes until the quick-moving Texas weather had passed by the DFW airport and then gotten things back on schedule? In fact, when I was waiting for my ride to pick me back up (after getting re-scheduled for tomorrow morning), I heard the car rental people saying the they had just re-opened things in Dallas and that two empty planes had flown back to Dallas in order to have planes where they were needed for the next day. That instant, I looked at the time and saw it was 2 minutes before the scheduled departure time for my flight.

That is the laziness that is the town of Abilene. "Let's just call it off. No one can really need to fly tonight that badly, and this way we can take a longer break." I was and still am a little pissed. I have things do do in the morning, and it's not like I get much more time with Emma tonight. She had other plans tonight, anyway (hence me being on this computer). I used to like Abilene pretty well, but ever since I found a new place to call home, I can't say I miss it at all.

2007-09-05T23:47:00.000-05:00

A couple pics for your viewing pleasure. Just trying to break up the monotony of a white page with black writing.

This first one is a front view of my gunnar inside my house. That tape job is now about 6 years old. I think the longevity is partly due to the deftness of the skill used to wrap two different colors on one bike.

This is a picture of me. You can't really tell, but I shaved some last week (my face). This is a self-portrait utilizing the extended arm technique. The picture was taken on my front porch.

2007-09-05T23:12:00.000-05:00

I was once speaking to a former female co-worker about waiting to hear the results of a job interview I had been to. I talked about being impatient. I talked about hating that lack of control that is inherently part of the job finding process for the job seeker.

Her response was "Now you know how women feel when waiting for a guy to call."

(At this point in the conversation, I went into my whole women's lib spiel about how women should feel at liberty to call up men and ask men on dates and all that stuff. Then she went into her thing about how things are different in the south. And then after a few more comments back and forth, she and I eventually decided to disagree and we finally digressed back to our original conversation.)

The whole job search thing is somewhat powerless. I guess that is one of the advantages to working for oneself. But is it really? In that situation it seems one would be trying to sell himself all the freakin' time. So for those of us who resign ourselves to work for "the man" (or "the person" to keep on the women's liberation theme), we just have to keep plucking away until we figure something out. This can really be tough if the job seeker isn't currently employed (for obvious reasons).

Then there's that whole thing of settling. If the job search is taking a long time, eventually a person will wear down, lower his (or her) standards, and apply for lower level and/or lower paying jobs. Eventually one of those will bite. Then it's a choice between settling for a while and accepting a less than ideal position in order to pay some bills and have some form of employment, or does one just wait for that ideal job to come along.

This whole "earning a living" thing can be a challenge.

Tonight I watched an Afghan (or Indian or something - it was in Farsi with subtitles) movie called "The Cyclist". (The following contains spoilers.) It was filmed in 1989 and told the story of this Afghan dude whose wife was really sick. In order to pay the hospital bills so she could get basic care he needed to come up with some quick cash. This was a poor refugee from Afghanistan, and he wasn't going to make enough money digging wells or doing any other of the cheap labor jobs given to the Afghans. So this con-artist came up with this scheme where dude would pedal his bike for 7 days straight. When getting the movie, I thought, cool... a movie about a guy that does a 7 day marathon ride. Ends up that wasn't it. Anyway, dude agrees. So he starts pedaling an old junker bike in circles within this small city courtyard. Crazy. The guy can barely even straighten the handlebars. So the con guy makes all these bets and they have a referee to ensure that dude doesn't cheat and the have two sets of doctors out there, one giving sustenance spiked with uppers for energy and the other giving him tea and such spiked with downers to try to put him to sleep. So anyway... the dude pretty much makes it (accept one night where he fell over asleep but no one noticed and they did a switch for a few hours so dude could sleep). At the end, dude didn't even want to stop riding. And the con people made a crap-load of money; probably enough to buy the hospital. And then the movie ended. So it was about the suffering of this one dude for his cause and the willingness of the people around him (even his son I would dare say) to profit from his suffering. (I'm not that good at movie analysis. I kinda got it, but the wording on the back of the DVD case helped with the my words.) I got the movie from the Nashville Public Library. Worth watching I would say.

Wonder if I could get someone to pay me to ride my bike in circles for a few days? Wonder if I could handle it when I don't even care to do 12-hour lap races due to lack of new scenery.

2007-09-04T22:15:00.000-05:00

So it's been quite a while, and Fred has complained about that on more than one occasion. So, Fred, here you are. Another post.

The last couple of weeks there has been a considerable amount of uncertainty in my life. At those times, I tend to not say much. Most of the uncertainty is surrounding work, but I cannot divulge much here. I am still gainfully employed, but confidence in the continuation of this is not all that high. In an effort to maintain workplace marketability, I have been spending much of my time reading and experimenting with stuff at home. The experimenting has been with PHP, CSS, and the like in the web development realm. My reading has been around software design patterns. Interesting stuff, really.

In other news, this past weekend was a holiday weekend. Labor Day (for those of you living under a rock). The last three weekends I have managed to meet Thad and others for one mountain bike ride per weekend. Only one per because who wants to get up early on both days in a weekend? They were a good time. The Montgomery Bell trail system has really grown on me lately. After riding it a couple times before, I was not impressed and would avoid going out there. I have lately gained an appreciation for it. I think this has much to do with (pumptrack) Jim working on the trails out there and setting up the race course. There is a Norba race there in 2 weeks, but there is also the grassroots Firewater 50 the same weekend. I am drawn more to the firewater. It is free, it is 50 miles, and it has an adventure element that a lap race just doesn't possess.

This holiday weekend, besides trekking out to Monkey Bell to ride, I also joined Fred, Ivan, Elliot, and a few others for a (Harpeth Bike) Hank country ride. I am thinking long-haul trucker ride, so I get there on my steel gunnar with my wide 27 or 28 tires, my wide heavy brooks saddle, and the cantilever brakes of a cyclo-cross bike. Of course all of the others show on their high dollar ti, carbon/ti, carbon/carbon, 10 speed ultra-lightweight bikes. I probably had 5 more pounds in my ride than anyone else. Well, in all seriousness, if I had known what others were riding, it wouldn't have changed anything cause I don't have anything else any faster. Ends up I was probably best suited for the terrain because the ride was complete with gravel roads, creek crossings, and some long climbs. It ended up being a great ride. The gunnar killed it up the hills and on the gravel roads and maintained nicely on the roads. With my gunnar I was also the only one to make it across all of the creek crossings on my bike. By the end, Fred, Ivan, Elliot and I were cruising back into Fairview at about 30mph. Definitely couldn't have kept that up for long, but knowing the end is near always provides for a good kick.

Saturday night was a knock-down drag-out night of Bike polo. Literally. Tempers flared and by the end I don't think anyone was particularly satisfied with the night of competition. From early on it was looking like a game of chicken all over the court, and the other team wasn't giving an inch. After a couple of quickly lost games, my team figured out that was going to be the only way to play them. It definitely wasn't the plan to try to collide with the other team, but it was generally decided that the only way we had a chance was to play their game and not back down (cue tom petty). So that's the way it went, and by the end of the night, people were pissed, warn out, hurt, and generally needing a break from the tension and the competition.

The break didn't last long, as there was a short night of bike polo at the mannonranch mannonlaborday blowout cookout. Playing on the slower grass in the dark was the perfect challenge and diversion to cool tensions and get the polo back on friendlier footing. The throwdown was just that as we managed to float a 5 gallon warhead of Yazoo pale, polish of a few pounds of shrimp cocktail, blaze through about 3 pounds of potato casserole, and kill quite a few bratwurst. A few games of mafia, a visit from a darlin from m'boro, and some jamming in the music room rounded out a great way to celebrate labor day.

If you have never done so, scroll to the bottom and you can see that I am MONETIZING. I signed up for google adsense mainly to see how it works and see what kind of ads get pulled for my blog. If you feel like it, click on an ad and I get paid!!! Sweet!!! But not much. Like I said, it is mainly an experiment for me. Just investigating. As it is now, the only ads to show may be public service ads, but this should change after the next time Google does their internet scan and my page gets re-indexed.