812.3.
Beautiful morning. Stopped to get a picture of the peach sky over Skillman, where the road ahead had a strip of tule fog across it...
Only six carloads and one truckload moved over the weekend, but they were large loads. It rained on Saturday after two runs (one of them taking musical equipment to John's for safekeeping. We also set up and filled bookshelves at the new place, providing a set of boxes to bring back and refill. Doesn't seem like much, but the whole point of not having to move in one weekend is that you don't have to knock yourself out on it. And the new house is *just* starting to look less empty than the old one. I will be attempting to run a load up every day this week after work.
Too, those first few days of packing, you spend a lot of time sifting through the stuff.
Realtors who sold the old place sent us 'estoppel' forms to fill out - why should we accomodate their needs in ANY way shape or form? Threw them out, then retrieved and stored them, thinking they might involve some kind of attempt at absolution for the realtors/buyers, in which case we'll just keep 'em, unfilled. By the way, correction to brevious blog: the credit check was only $10 (vs. $40 at the Century 21/Bundesen realtor).
More Born Today work over the weekend; added the 9400th quote to the database AND passed the 10,000 mark on home page hits (since May 2000 - more than that since the page began over on sbt.com). Over 60 billion (bytes) served!
The people at Fox are high if they think I'd rather watch a Schwarzenegger movie (whose name doesn't begin with "TERM") than their standard, brilliant, Sunday night fare of Futurama, King of the Hill, Simpsons, and Malcolm in the Middle (I don't watch X-Files). I actually avoid renting one-night movies on Sundays because I know I'll get sucked into that channel 2 stuff. What a nasty trick to inflict Arnold on the discerning viewers expecting funny, relevant television! Gawd help us if he runs for (or, gasp, BECOMES) Governor of California, but I wouldn't put ANYthing beneath the voters of this state, after Reagan. Maybe Gary Coleman should run.
Eyes of Tammy Faye: The slipcover hype says it will change my mind about Tammy Faye Bakker. Truth be told, I don't want to change my mind about her (in fact, haven't much 'mind about her' to change, spending as I do very little time thinking about Tammy Faye), but it did do that. She's a more admirable person than she's generally credited for. Though I dozed off because I was dead tired, and while in that semi-dreaming state, can only remember the shrill voice of Tammy defending herself and Jim and the PTL, with images of her scruffy dog somehow merging with hers in my mind, such that it was not unlike the yapping of a hyperactive mutt over some trivial occurrence that I couln't quite grasp. Let's talk about degrees of greed, and the Bakkers vs. Jerry Falwell. Really, I've got other things to think about.
Have been waking at like 4am lately. It would really be helpful to change my work hours to like 9-6 or something, but I'm really pretty beat by 2pm, let alone 5 or 6. Nobody gets here until 9 or 10. Maybe after the move I'll try to change my schedule, but it's hard -- I've always been an earlybird, except for one summer in Michigan when I was routinely sleeping till 11...
Monday, March 26, 2001
Friday, March 23, 2001
Will post this here, just to record it....
Not that it matters, but for what it's worth, Bundesen really really sucked, at least for us.
We applied thru them for a place we really liked a couple of months ago, and it took more than three weeks to find out that we didn't get it. This might be attributable to the actual landlords, but... Of course for our $40 credit-check fee (we paid $20 for the same credit check at another realtor), they could resubmit our application to other places we liked.
I called them last Friday morning about one of their listings (half a mile from our current home), leaving a voice mail to ask that they put in an application (since they already had the previous one) and to call me ASAP, giving work and home numbers and the approximate time I leave work. We took it upon ourselves to check the place out Saturday, at least the outside, and stopped in at Bundesen (which is hello? closed on weekends!) and left a note for the agent, again requesting that they put in our application for the place and please call us. I called again Monday morning, again leaving a voice mail. She FINALLY called Monday evening at 6:30 -- at work -- to tell me there were (now) three applicants for the place and the landlord would be deciding this Friday (tomorrow), and would we like to come in and fill out an application? Grrr.
This whole thing (and really the whole time since the current landlord died) has been a HUGE exercise in patience, and most of the real-estate types with whom we've interacted have provided negative experiences (the Century 21 lady selling our place actually left like three or four cigarette butts in the ashtray by my computer - what the *(&#$)(& was she doing sitting at MY desk for the length of time it takes to smoke four cigs?!?!? - and further (we heard second-hand), had to express her opinions to prospective buyers about "don't all those guitars make a lot of noise?" We never saw her (just as well), but you just KNOW she's some skanky ol' pasty fat-bottomed red-nosed ho' with like fifty Big Mac wrappers in the back-seat of the Buick (and an overflowing ashtray...), acting like she owns the county... Of course we probably could've nailed her ass on the smoking, but of course we're trying to make the most favorable impression possible on the buyers, hoping against hope that we can stay on at $900-1000 in a market where $1200 is pretty much rock-bottom.
Then, too, we're dealing with that market, and with landlords who specify "No pets," "No smoking," "No fun," and "Nobody need apply"...
- and others who *literally* remodeled with a staple-gun in order to call a place "2BR" and ask $1450/mo for it, and we KNOW we have to decide fast and for sure that we don't want it because SOMEone will rent it -- and quickly...
- and yet others who have dragged a single-wide house trailer into their front yard so we can pay $1500, $1600 a month towards their kids' college and the kids are spending the money on drugs and guns at the high school.
- and others still who use words like "cute" to mean "tiny," and "rustic" to mean "falling apart," and "country-style living" to mean "outdoor bathrooms," and "sweeping views" to mean you see the landlord with a broom on his front porch from your permanently-fused-open bathroom window...
and they generally waste our time when we make an appointment, spend 30 valuable minutes driving out there, and then have to peel out when we see the friggin guy from Deliverance standing in front of the place the Beverly Hillbillies vacated after striking oil...
And gas & electric & water prices going up up up and dot-coms losing money and going down down down.
And oh yeah, a wedding coming up Apr 29, where we've made six people travel to death valley and stay in the "cheapest" motel for 2 days, and a reception coming up May 19 where we're committing 80 people to spend an afternoon with us, many flying in from distant parts, and for all we know, we'll be living in a car by then!
So, you can take my opinion of Bundesen with a grain or two of salt -- or all of Utah. :-)
It's been a long time since I've felt so powerless (gee, was it December? The Supreme Court & presidential election? Maybe it HASN'T been that long!), and I hope it'll be a long time before it happens again.
But we're really happy about the new place, and the time we have for getting all our stuff over there, and the room in which to put it, and the lack of staple-guns in evidence.
Not that it matters, but for what it's worth, Bundesen really really sucked, at least for us.
We applied thru them for a place we really liked a couple of months ago, and it took more than three weeks to find out that we didn't get it. This might be attributable to the actual landlords, but... Of course for our $40 credit-check fee (we paid $20 for the same credit check at another realtor), they could resubmit our application to other places we liked.
I called them last Friday morning about one of their listings (half a mile from our current home), leaving a voice mail to ask that they put in an application (since they already had the previous one) and to call me ASAP, giving work and home numbers and the approximate time I leave work. We took it upon ourselves to check the place out Saturday, at least the outside, and stopped in at Bundesen (which is hello? closed on weekends!) and left a note for the agent, again requesting that they put in our application for the place and please call us. I called again Monday morning, again leaving a voice mail. She FINALLY called Monday evening at 6:30 -- at work -- to tell me there were (now) three applicants for the place and the landlord would be deciding this Friday (tomorrow), and would we like to come in and fill out an application? Grrr.
This whole thing (and really the whole time since the current landlord died) has been a HUGE exercise in patience, and most of the real-estate types with whom we've interacted have provided negative experiences (the Century 21 lady selling our place actually left like three or four cigarette butts in the ashtray by my computer - what the *(&#$)(& was she doing sitting at MY desk for the length of time it takes to smoke four cigs?!?!? - and further (we heard second-hand), had to express her opinions to prospective buyers about "don't all those guitars make a lot of noise?" We never saw her (just as well), but you just KNOW she's some skanky ol' pasty fat-bottomed red-nosed ho' with like fifty Big Mac wrappers in the back-seat of the Buick (and an overflowing ashtray...), acting like she owns the county... Of course we probably could've nailed her ass on the smoking, but of course we're trying to make the most favorable impression possible on the buyers, hoping against hope that we can stay on at $900-1000 in a market where $1200 is pretty much rock-bottom.
Then, too, we're dealing with that market, and with landlords who specify "No pets," "No smoking," "No fun," and "Nobody need apply"...
- and others who *literally* remodeled with a staple-gun in order to call a place "2BR" and ask $1450/mo for it, and we KNOW we have to decide fast and for sure that we don't want it because SOMEone will rent it -- and quickly...
- and yet others who have dragged a single-wide house trailer into their front yard so we can pay $1500, $1600 a month towards their kids' college and the kids are spending the money on drugs and guns at the high school.
- and others still who use words like "cute" to mean "tiny," and "rustic" to mean "falling apart," and "country-style living" to mean "outdoor bathrooms," and "sweeping views" to mean you see the landlord with a broom on his front porch from your permanently-fused-open bathroom window...
and they generally waste our time when we make an appointment, spend 30 valuable minutes driving out there, and then have to peel out when we see the friggin guy from Deliverance standing in front of the place the Beverly Hillbillies vacated after striking oil...
And gas & electric & water prices going up up up and dot-coms losing money and going down down down.
And oh yeah, a wedding coming up Apr 29, where we've made six people travel to death valley and stay in the "cheapest" motel for 2 days, and a reception coming up May 19 where we're committing 80 people to spend an afternoon with us, many flying in from distant parts, and for all we know, we'll be living in a car by then!
So, you can take my opinion of Bundesen with a grain or two of salt -- or all of Utah. :-)
It's been a long time since I've felt so powerless (gee, was it December? The Supreme Court & presidential election? Maybe it HASN'T been that long!), and I hope it'll be a long time before it happens again.
But we're really happy about the new place, and the time we have for getting all our stuff over there, and the room in which to put it, and the lack of staple-guns in evidence.
808, roughly...
No bike today, bringing boxes home from work, etc.
Movies:
Remember the Titans: Actually, probably the best of a recent spate of football movies, including as it does an actual story that contains actual relevance to something other than football. Denzel Washington, determined to have a meaningful acting career, does a good job. Loved Ryan Hurst in this movie - as it happens, I've seen almost every previous movie he's been in, but didn't remember him from those. Hmm, 7 stars (out of 10).
Lost Souls: Winona Ryder, with long hair, has made a career of looking frightened, and has probably kept Maybelline alive with eyeliner sales. She's now inching towards my list of unwatchable movie stars. I slept well, so give it 3 stars.
No bike today, bringing boxes home from work, etc.
Movies:
Remember the Titans: Actually, probably the best of a recent spate of football movies, including as it does an actual story that contains actual relevance to something other than football. Denzel Washington, determined to have a meaningful acting career, does a good job. Loved Ryan Hurst in this movie - as it happens, I've seen almost every previous movie he's been in, but didn't remember him from those. Hmm, 7 stars (out of 10).
Lost Souls: Winona Ryder, with long hair, has made a career of looking frightened, and has probably kept Maybelline alive with eyeliner sales. She's now inching towards my list of unwatchable movie stars. I slept well, so give it 3 stars.
Thursday, March 22, 2001
804.8.
And we pass 800 miles, 15 bike-days after passing 700! (I think I'm averaging a little higher lately; have ridden almost every day, but for a couple of errand-days...)
Weird cloud of something blowing across the road on Skillman this a.m. Gnats? Dirt particles? Dunno. Red-Tail on the wires near Bailey. Stayed in at least 2-5 through the whole ride, except where stopping for traffic.
Analyzed possible routes from Sebastopol yesterday. It'll be about 20 miles, but may not be too bad hill- and traffic-wise, cutting through some backroads and neighborhoods. Will definitely give it a try.
Work: got a document outlining changes to the templates from one of the writers in that other town. He clearly hasn't read any of the earlier correspondence, thus went to great pains to create, for example, cross-references to elements we decided not to use. In cases like this, I try to take some time before responding along the lines of: "you ignorant slut!"
Home: We've locked in the Sebastopol house with yesterday's deposit! It's like a 60% increase in rent, but we were in a weird little low-rent pocket here for several years, and I basically think of it like we were paying $1200, because that's the absolute minimum rent we'd have been able to find for a comparable place today. By this (admittedly somewhat twisted) logic, the increase is less than 25%. And it's very close to 100% more space, counting the attic. Once we pay the first month's rent (tomorrow), we will have keys and can probably start moving stuff -- we also get THAT break, two weekends for moving, a real blessing.
And we pass 800 miles, 15 bike-days after passing 700! (I think I'm averaging a little higher lately; have ridden almost every day, but for a couple of errand-days...)
Weird cloud of something blowing across the road on Skillman this a.m. Gnats? Dirt particles? Dunno. Red-Tail on the wires near Bailey. Stayed in at least 2-5 through the whole ride, except where stopping for traffic.
Analyzed possible routes from Sebastopol yesterday. It'll be about 20 miles, but may not be too bad hill- and traffic-wise, cutting through some backroads and neighborhoods. Will definitely give it a try.
Work: got a document outlining changes to the templates from one of the writers in that other town. He clearly hasn't read any of the earlier correspondence, thus went to great pains to create, for example, cross-references to elements we decided not to use. In cases like this, I try to take some time before responding along the lines of: "you ignorant slut!"
Home: We've locked in the Sebastopol house with yesterday's deposit! It's like a 60% increase in rent, but we were in a weird little low-rent pocket here for several years, and I basically think of it like we were paying $1200, because that's the absolute minimum rent we'd have been able to find for a comparable place today. By this (admittedly somewhat twisted) logic, the increase is less than 25%. And it's very close to 100% more space, counting the attic. Once we pay the first month's rent (tomorrow), we will have keys and can probably start moving stuff -- we also get THAT break, two weekends for moving, a real blessing.
Wednesday, March 21, 2001
797.3.
Not much to write, and blogger is crawling this morning.
Today, we hope to lock in the new place by making the deposit.
Talked to my neighbor last night - they're moving to the empty house behind, for $100 more. That means we're paying only $150 more for a virtually 3BR, 1.5BA, +living, dining, big kitchen, office, 2 car garage, etc etc, over a 2BR (where you have to pass through one br to get to the other) 1BA, living and tiny kitchen, 1-car garage place RIGHT NEXT TO THE LANDLORD. So we have the better deal by far.
I will find a way to ride my bike to work. Maybe not as often, but racking up more mileage when I do.
Not much to write, and blogger is crawling this morning.
Today, we hope to lock in the new place by making the deposit.
Talked to my neighbor last night - they're moving to the empty house behind, for $100 more. That means we're paying only $150 more for a virtually 3BR, 1.5BA, +living, dining, big kitchen, office, 2 car garage, etc etc, over a 2BR (where you have to pass through one br to get to the other) 1BA, living and tiny kitchen, 1-car garage place RIGHT NEXT TO THE LANDLORD. So we have the better deal by far.
I will find a way to ride my bike to work. Maybe not as often, but racking up more mileage when I do.
Tuesday, March 20, 2001
793.0.
Two hawks on the way home last night, both sitting still enough for me to stop and get a long look. One was a Cooper's or Sharp-Shinned, I think.
Oh man. The realtor (Martha Cooper from Bundesen property management in Petaluma) finally called me back last night around 6:30. Though I'd told her in my message FRIDAY MORNING that I'm usually home by 5:00.
The place we TRIED TO APPLY FOR ON FRIDAY has three applicants now, and the owner will decide on Friday. If we'd like to come in and fill out an application... WE HAVE ALREADY FILLED OUT AN APPLICATION WITH THEM - I told her this once in Friday morning's voicemail and again in a written message Saturday!
ALL she needed to do on Friday morning when she got my call (or at least yesterday, when she had my call AND my note AND my Monday morning call!) was get the previous applcation and xerox it, and add it to the pile for the landlord to consider. This was evidently beyond her abilities.
Meanwhile, we looked inside the place in Sebastopol with the owners, and they've accepted us. This place is $75 more than the Petaluma one, but is MUCH nicer. Clean, all fixed up (electrical, plumbing, paint...) and a LOT of space. We'll probably go for it.
The current landlord had the grace to apologize for evicting us, and had no problem with us moving out two weeks early.
They were supposedly adding chlorine or something to the water last night, and we had no water this morning. No big deal for me, as long as there's enough for coffee - I shower at work anyway.
Left the car at the Ford dealer for the tranny recall, and with full documentation on the head gasket problem. Hopefully they won't try to lube me up for a hearty screwing on THAT.
Customer service everywhere has gone completely down the tubes. I have no confidence that Henry Curtis Ford will honor what is clearly a known problem with the car, which is still within stated limits in which the refund supposedly applies. I believe they will try everything they can to weasel out of it, including offering money off on a new Ford or Mercury (basically a cheap trade-in on the Mustang [which they'll then resell for more]). If they honor this without wriggling, I will note it here, and I will definitely keep it in mind when I do buy a new car, 6 months to a year hence. If not, no Fords in my future.
I'm fuming still about the realtor, but happy with thoughts of the Sebastopol place. Please let nothing happen to blow THAT!
Two hawks on the way home last night, both sitting still enough for me to stop and get a long look. One was a Cooper's or Sharp-Shinned, I think.
Oh man. The realtor (Martha Cooper from Bundesen property management in Petaluma) finally called me back last night around 6:30. Though I'd told her in my message FRIDAY MORNING that I'm usually home by 5:00.
The place we TRIED TO APPLY FOR ON FRIDAY has three applicants now, and the owner will decide on Friday. If we'd like to come in and fill out an application... WE HAVE ALREADY FILLED OUT AN APPLICATION WITH THEM - I told her this once in Friday morning's voicemail and again in a written message Saturday!
ALL she needed to do on Friday morning when she got my call (or at least yesterday, when she had my call AND my note AND my Monday morning call!) was get the previous applcation and xerox it, and add it to the pile for the landlord to consider. This was evidently beyond her abilities.
Meanwhile, we looked inside the place in Sebastopol with the owners, and they've accepted us. This place is $75 more than the Petaluma one, but is MUCH nicer. Clean, all fixed up (electrical, plumbing, paint...) and a LOT of space. We'll probably go for it.
The current landlord had the grace to apologize for evicting us, and had no problem with us moving out two weeks early.
They were supposedly adding chlorine or something to the water last night, and we had no water this morning. No big deal for me, as long as there's enough for coffee - I shower at work anyway.
Left the car at the Ford dealer for the tranny recall, and with full documentation on the head gasket problem. Hopefully they won't try to lube me up for a hearty screwing on THAT.
Customer service everywhere has gone completely down the tubes. I have no confidence that Henry Curtis Ford will honor what is clearly a known problem with the car, which is still within stated limits in which the refund supposedly applies. I believe they will try everything they can to weasel out of it, including offering money off on a new Ford or Mercury (basically a cheap trade-in on the Mustang [which they'll then resell for more]). If they honor this without wriggling, I will note it here, and I will definitely keep it in mind when I do buy a new car, 6 months to a year hence. If not, no Fords in my future.
I'm fuming still about the realtor, but happy with thoughts of the Sebastopol place. Please let nothing happen to blow THAT!
Monday, March 19, 2001
787.7.
Almost t-shirt weather this morning. It will be nice to get to that point, and to be able to wear shorts agani, and to not have to carry the additional stuff: sweatshirt, full gloves, earmuffs, neck-warmer, rain gear...
Before anyone else says "That's illegal!" it is completely legal for a landlord (in California) to give a tenant 30 days notice without giving a reason. In this case, it's rude, but it's not illegal.
We're pretty comfortable now with the idea that we need to move, and have more or less organized our lives around that necessity, hoping to lock something in quickly so we can move on with our other plans. Hoping we can start making that happen today.
Scrambled all weekend, cleaning up the current place, looking for houses to look at, and looking at said houses. Unlike most realtors who are SELLING houses, the agencies who deal with RENTALS are mostly closed on weekends. So there's enormous frustration in knowing we have to move and not being able to take serious action towards accomplishing it before desperation sets in.
But we saw a few likeable places. Hopefully something will pan out this week and we can relax a little. The place that was $1375 is a trailer (actually, quite a few of the places are trailers - cheap income property on someone's land), but it's back from the road and fenced in, and has a washer and dryer and two-car garage, so not bad, and we've been trying to apply for it since Friday.
Lots of work (in the early morning hours) on the Born Today/Died Today pages, updated the timeline and alphabetical list pages, and figured out the keyword search feature, all of which makes me very happy. Total quotes on the pages slowly approaching 5000; total quotes in the database slowly approaching 10000. Next, I suppose, I'll try to find a useful way to post more of the unused quotes...
Almost t-shirt weather this morning. It will be nice to get to that point, and to be able to wear shorts agani, and to not have to carry the additional stuff: sweatshirt, full gloves, earmuffs, neck-warmer, rain gear...
Before anyone else says "That's illegal!" it is completely legal for a landlord (in California) to give a tenant 30 days notice without giving a reason. In this case, it's rude, but it's not illegal.
We're pretty comfortable now with the idea that we need to move, and have more or less organized our lives around that necessity, hoping to lock something in quickly so we can move on with our other plans. Hoping we can start making that happen today.
Scrambled all weekend, cleaning up the current place, looking for houses to look at, and looking at said houses. Unlike most realtors who are SELLING houses, the agencies who deal with RENTALS are mostly closed on weekends. So there's enormous frustration in knowing we have to move and not being able to take serious action towards accomplishing it before desperation sets in.
But we saw a few likeable places. Hopefully something will pan out this week and we can relax a little. The place that was $1375 is a trailer (actually, quite a few of the places are trailers - cheap income property on someone's land), but it's back from the road and fenced in, and has a washer and dryer and two-car garage, so not bad, and we've been trying to apply for it since Friday.
Lots of work (in the early morning hours) on the Born Today/Died Today pages, updated the timeline and alphabetical list pages, and figured out the keyword search feature, all of which makes me very happy. Total quotes on the pages slowly approaching 5000; total quotes in the database slowly approaching 10000. Next, I suppose, I'll try to find a useful way to post more of the unused quotes...
Friday, March 16, 2001
784.0.
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
784.0.
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
Hawks on the wires, Stony Point and Rainsville, the Rainsville one (Red-shouldered, I think) watching me nervously but not flying away as I rode by about 12 ft away. The land drops a ways below the road on the right there, so the hawk on the wire was almost level with me on the bike.
Looked at a house - depressing. $1350 - excuse me - $1395 for a two "bedroom," where one of the bedrooms was actually the former garage. You can see the dollar signs in the landlord's eyes with crap like that. It was and basically still is a one-bedroom house, but that wasn't bringing in the desired income. It would probably cost US a mint to heat that room, which would not otherwise really be inhabitable in winter, and you can't NOT heat it because they took out the door between that and the rest of the house. Tiny little kitchen, tiny living room, medium-sized bedroom.
SO depressing. One good possibility is someone Terrie knows who's about to move out of their place....
Other than that, nice bike ride, with the hawks and all. Lots of geese around too, and I flushed a duck from the creek on Rainsville. Still windy on Rainsville, but didn't seem as bad, and I did the dirt and gravel shoulder-ride without too much sweat. Better than usual climb up the King hill, like I've been riding regularly or something...
777.5.
Vulture on the crossbar of a telephone post on Skillman; I had to stop and look at it for a sec. Unlike most birds that fly away as soon as they see you're interested, he just sat there and stared back.
Warm and sunny, but I'm a bit late today.
Yesterday afternoon, very windy -- enough so to make the ride difficult. When I got home, there was a paper taped to the front door - 30-day notice.
Initially, anger, because the current landlord has acted all caring and cooperative with us up to now, and this is REALLY short notice after six years, and we note that she signed the thing *10* days ago. Further there was a phone message from her about the future owners coming by today, with no mention of this at all. Man is my rectum sore!
Quick on the heels of anger, despair. We've looked at rentals in this area, found ones we liked, and been turned down after waiting -- not so bad when you have a secure place to apply from; VERY bad if you have to be out of the current place by April 15. Also, we were paying $900 here, and anything comparable will be $1200 or more. This in the middle of planning and paying for wedding and reception stuff, by the way.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but crying was definitely the front-runner.
Then, attempted action. Browsed the online newspaper classifieds, and called about two places. Debated whether to email Terrie or let her remain blissfully unaware for at least the drive home, and then she got home anyway.
Looked at a 2BR house going for $1350 - maybe slightly bigger than the current place, but in the middle of town, across the street from an apartment complex (higher possibility of burglary, not to mention late-night traffic, gunshots, who knows what else.
We went to the chinese place for dinner (and now THEY are annoying me too, serving EVERYTHING within like ten minutes [and didn't they forget to bring rice?]...) to talk over the options, such as they are. Discussed cancelling the Death Valley part, but really, that wouldn't save us a lot. And the problem seems to me more about the futility of finding a decent place in 30 days than about the money we'll have to blow on first-and-last etc. And the MASSIVE inconvenience of having to move two weeks before a still-in-the-planning-stages idyllic desert honeymoon vacation.
We determined to lower our standards a bit, without being able to determine much else, as we are at the mercy of prospective landlords and a fairytale real-estate market. We will even go for a one-bedroom place, if we can cram all our stuff in, and we accept that this may be the end of Road Rash Diaries as we know it.
I do figure I can handle a 10 or 15-mile commute regularly (depending on hills and safe shoulders) and could even do 20, 25 on a semi-regular basis, and there's also the bike-bus-bike option, but distance from work isn't going to be a determining factor in where we "choose" to live.
This may turn out to the good, but I can't see it at the moment. Though, y'know, the prospect of a new, different, place is kind of exciting no matter what the place is -- it's a fresh start.
The fondest hope is that we can squeak into someplace around $1200, drop some of the luxuries like cable TV and possibly the cable internet, hunker down and get serious about saving money for a home where this cannot happen to us again.
Note that this happened to me once before, many years ago, and I ended moving first to a hellish situation in Bolinas, later to the girlfriend's Mom's house, through one or two "satisfactory" apartments, before landing in the great Fairfax duplex where I lived for 11, 12 years. And it was tough, but also a load-off, to move out of THAT place too.
Vulture on the crossbar of a telephone post on Skillman; I had to stop and look at it for a sec. Unlike most birds that fly away as soon as they see you're interested, he just sat there and stared back.
Warm and sunny, but I'm a bit late today.
Yesterday afternoon, very windy -- enough so to make the ride difficult. When I got home, there was a paper taped to the front door - 30-day notice.
Initially, anger, because the current landlord has acted all caring and cooperative with us up to now, and this is REALLY short notice after six years, and we note that she signed the thing *10* days ago. Further there was a phone message from her about the future owners coming by today, with no mention of this at all. Man is my rectum sore!
Quick on the heels of anger, despair. We've looked at rentals in this area, found ones we liked, and been turned down after waiting -- not so bad when you have a secure place to apply from; VERY bad if you have to be out of the current place by April 15. Also, we were paying $900 here, and anything comparable will be $1200 or more. This in the middle of planning and paying for wedding and reception stuff, by the way.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but crying was definitely the front-runner.
Then, attempted action. Browsed the online newspaper classifieds, and called about two places. Debated whether to email Terrie or let her remain blissfully unaware for at least the drive home, and then she got home anyway.
Looked at a 2BR house going for $1350 - maybe slightly bigger than the current place, but in the middle of town, across the street from an apartment complex (higher possibility of burglary, not to mention late-night traffic, gunshots, who knows what else.
We went to the chinese place for dinner (and now THEY are annoying me too, serving EVERYTHING within like ten minutes [and didn't they forget to bring rice?]...) to talk over the options, such as they are. Discussed cancelling the Death Valley part, but really, that wouldn't save us a lot. And the problem seems to me more about the futility of finding a decent place in 30 days than about the money we'll have to blow on first-and-last etc. And the MASSIVE inconvenience of having to move two weeks before a still-in-the-planning-stages idyllic desert honeymoon vacation.
We determined to lower our standards a bit, without being able to determine much else, as we are at the mercy of prospective landlords and a fairytale real-estate market. We will even go for a one-bedroom place, if we can cram all our stuff in, and we accept that this may be the end of Road Rash Diaries as we know it.
I do figure I can handle a 10 or 15-mile commute regularly (depending on hills and safe shoulders) and could even do 20, 25 on a semi-regular basis, and there's also the bike-bus-bike option, but distance from work isn't going to be a determining factor in where we "choose" to live.
This may turn out to the good, but I can't see it at the moment. Though, y'know, the prospect of a new, different, place is kind of exciting no matter what the place is -- it's a fresh start.
The fondest hope is that we can squeak into someplace around $1200, drop some of the luxuries like cable TV and possibly the cable internet, hunker down and get serious about saving money for a home where this cannot happen to us again.
Note that this happened to me once before, many years ago, and I ended moving first to a hellish situation in Bolinas, later to the girlfriend's Mom's house, through one or two "satisfactory" apartments, before landing in the great Fairfax duplex where I lived for 11, 12 years. And it was tough, but also a load-off, to move out of THAT place too.
Thursday, March 15, 2001
770.0.
Man, I don't know why my legs get so sore after missing a day (more so than after missing two or three days, seems like), but it takes a lot more effort to get up the minor slopes on Skillman, much less the Fair Avenue hill.
No movies last night; saw Richard Thompson at the Mystic Theatre instead. This was the third time we've seen him at the Mystic, a theatre whose main redeeming quality is that it's local.
What a wondrous guitar player! What great songs! Have reviewed RT shows before, so won't get into it deeply, but suffice to say that, even though I was quite tired, the show was two hours of entrancement. As always. The guy has a unique guitar-playing style, such that he can produce a full sound unaccompanied, somehow keeping a strong bass line going while playing complex rhythms and melodies AND singing. Nothing short of amazing. Seemed like he got into a couple of depressive jags last night, a lot of slow numbers, but still delivered with some rockers like "Daddy Was a Mummy" and "Feel So Good." Great banter between songs, too. He also introduced a very funny new song about Kenny G's lack of musicianship.
Opening act was a woman who played various stringed instruments (one appeared to be a baritone ukelele!) with her cello-playing friend, singing in that kind of nasally affected voice that many women use nowadays. Her chatting with the audience, and her first couple of songs, were really stilted and not-quite-right. Made me uncomfortable. She closed, though, with a great torch song in French "Vie en Rose." (psst! This is how I know that nasal voice was affected.) But you realize while watching someone like that, they have enough belief in themselves to stand up in front of strangers and belt it out, touring the country at budget rates as a second- or third-billed act, and you have to have a certain amount of respect for that...
Annoying guy at work has brought in his recumbent bike, and is of course saying how much better it is in every way than a standard bicycle. <yawn>
Man, I don't know why my legs get so sore after missing a day (more so than after missing two or three days, seems like), but it takes a lot more effort to get up the minor slopes on Skillman, much less the Fair Avenue hill.
No movies last night; saw Richard Thompson at the Mystic Theatre instead. This was the third time we've seen him at the Mystic, a theatre whose main redeeming quality is that it's local.
What a wondrous guitar player! What great songs! Have reviewed RT shows before, so won't get into it deeply, but suffice to say that, even though I was quite tired, the show was two hours of entrancement. As always. The guy has a unique guitar-playing style, such that he can produce a full sound unaccompanied, somehow keeping a strong bass line going while playing complex rhythms and melodies AND singing. Nothing short of amazing. Seemed like he got into a couple of depressive jags last night, a lot of slow numbers, but still delivered with some rockers like "Daddy Was a Mummy" and "Feel So Good." Great banter between songs, too. He also introduced a very funny new song about Kenny G's lack of musicianship.
Opening act was a woman who played various stringed instruments (one appeared to be a baritone ukelele!) with her cello-playing friend, singing in that kind of nasally affected voice that many women use nowadays. Her chatting with the audience, and her first couple of songs, were really stilted and not-quite-right. Made me uncomfortable. She closed, though, with a great torch song in French "Vie en Rose." (psst! This is how I know that nasal voice was affected.) But you realize while watching someone like that, they have enough belief in themselves to stand up in front of strangers and belt it out, touring the country at budget rates as a second- or third-billed act, and you have to have a certain amount of respect for that...
Annoying guy at work has brought in his recumbent bike, and is of course saying how much better it is in every way than a standard bicycle. <yawn>
Wednesday, March 14, 2001
No bike today; have things to do involving a four-wheeled internal combustion vehicle.
Rode home via King yesterday. Nice ride, though the confounded wind! Best thing for that is to just resign myself to taking it slow in a lower gear. Thus did most of Rainsville on the dirt shoulder.
And now, your heavily-IMDB-linked movies.
Wonder Boys and Almost Famous appeared at the vid store yesterday.
Wonder Boys is a funny movie with an outstanding cast. Rent it and enjoy!
Almost Famous is a film I've been looking forward to, being as it is about rock'n'roll and I generally see everything about rock'n'roll. Also funny, and also with a good cast, this movie was very entertaining and quite believable. If you ever thought "Rock Journalist" might be the easiest job in the world, watch this before quitting your day job. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who I've liked in everything I've seen, plays Lester Bangs probably better than Lester would've (at least kinder and gentler...). The kid got kind of annoying over the course of the movie, but then, I suspect Cameron Crowe probably is too. Billy Crudup was great, Kate Hudson perfectly ditzy. Knowing that this is semi-autobiographical, I looked up the trivia on IMDB to see what band Crowe might've toured with early in his career.
Rode home via King yesterday. Nice ride, though the confounded wind! Best thing for that is to just resign myself to taking it slow in a lower gear. Thus did most of Rainsville on the dirt shoulder.
And now, your heavily-IMDB-linked movies.
Wonder Boys and Almost Famous appeared at the vid store yesterday.
Wonder Boys is a funny movie with an outstanding cast. Rent it and enjoy!
Almost Famous is a film I've been looking forward to, being as it is about rock'n'roll and I generally see everything about rock'n'roll. Also funny, and also with a good cast, this movie was very entertaining and quite believable. If you ever thought "Rock Journalist" might be the easiest job in the world, watch this before quitting your day job. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who I've liked in everything I've seen, plays Lester Bangs probably better than Lester would've (at least kinder and gentler...). The kid got kind of annoying over the course of the movie, but then, I suspect Cameron Crowe probably is too. Billy Crudup was great, Kate Hudson perfectly ditzy. Knowing that this is semi-autobiographical, I looked up the trivia on IMDB to see what band Crowe might've toured with early in his career.
Tuesday, March 13, 2001
759.8.
Dead pheasant last night beside Skillman - surprising there aren't more. Almost stopped to get a feather, but really... yeck! Plus I had just stopped a few minutes back to watch and try to identify a small raptor hovering over a field. It's pretty amazing when they do that, hanging motionless in the sky, moving wings and taiol minutely to adjust, looking down intently at some prey you'll never see unless he dives and comes up with it... This one might have been a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned (haven't been able to unequivocally identify either of those in the wild). Less than or near 12" length, but I don't think it was a kestrel...
Quite a bit warmer this week. Overcast this morning, not a lot of beauty to the ride, just getting to work.
Movies last night
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999): Good movie. Basically a courtroom drama with a strong dose of guilt over treatment of the Japanese during WWII... I rented this damned thing at LEAST three times before, paid late fees on, etc., and though it was overdue again last night, I made myself watch it so I wouldn't rent it again and again forever. Certainly, worth renting at least once, but after all that buildup (and the glowing review on IMDB), kind of a letdown. Don't let my opinion stop you from watching it.
Mountains of the Moon (1990): Oh, I liked this one. Can't prove it by me, but allegedly factual account of the explorations of Sir Richard Burton (not the drunken actor) and John Speeke in Africa, seeking the source of the Nile. I like historical drama like this partly because I may have quotes by some of the people portrayed (such as Burton and his wife/biographer Isabel) in my born-today pages. Lots of action and interaction, and interesting view of the "noble savage" (and the "savage nobles" of Royal Geographic Society in Victorian England!). The principle actors really deliver well-fleshed-out characters. And imagine! A movie set mostly in Africa with not a single "deadly-snake" scene!
You know, some movies are one-watchers; others are good for several viewings. I'm not sure what makes that difference for me, but "Snow" is a oner, and I would watch "Mountains" again. Between these two movies, the former tells a story and the latter creates a world. Someone else would see it the opposite way. Half of the quality of any movie/book/art/music is in the imagination.
Getting close to "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," here, but beyond that, not only is the quality invested by the viewer, half of the backstory and subtext on which the viewer bases their view, is created by them as well.
Dead pheasant last night beside Skillman - surprising there aren't more. Almost stopped to get a feather, but really... yeck! Plus I had just stopped a few minutes back to watch and try to identify a small raptor hovering over a field. It's pretty amazing when they do that, hanging motionless in the sky, moving wings and taiol minutely to adjust, looking down intently at some prey you'll never see unless he dives and comes up with it... This one might have been a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned (haven't been able to unequivocally identify either of those in the wild). Less than or near 12" length, but I don't think it was a kestrel...
Quite a bit warmer this week. Overcast this morning, not a lot of beauty to the ride, just getting to work.
Movies last night
Snow Falling on Cedars (1999): Good movie. Basically a courtroom drama with a strong dose of guilt over treatment of the Japanese during WWII... I rented this damned thing at LEAST three times before, paid late fees on, etc., and though it was overdue again last night, I made myself watch it so I wouldn't rent it again and again forever. Certainly, worth renting at least once, but after all that buildup (and the glowing review on IMDB), kind of a letdown. Don't let my opinion stop you from watching it.
Mountains of the Moon (1990): Oh, I liked this one. Can't prove it by me, but allegedly factual account of the explorations of Sir Richard Burton (not the drunken actor) and John Speeke in Africa, seeking the source of the Nile. I like historical drama like this partly because I may have quotes by some of the people portrayed (such as Burton and his wife/biographer Isabel) in my born-today pages. Lots of action and interaction, and interesting view of the "noble savage" (and the "savage nobles" of Royal Geographic Society in Victorian England!). The principle actors really deliver well-fleshed-out characters. And imagine! A movie set mostly in Africa with not a single "deadly-snake" scene!
You know, some movies are one-watchers; others are good for several viewings. I'm not sure what makes that difference for me, but "Snow" is a oner, and I would watch "Mountains" again. Between these two movies, the former tells a story and the latter creates a world. Someone else would see it the opposite way. Half of the quality of any movie/book/art/music is in the imagination.
Getting close to "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," here, but beyond that, not only is the quality invested by the viewer, half of the backstory and subtext on which the viewer bases their view, is created by them as well.
Monday, March 12, 2001
752.4.
Pleased to have passed 750! Wonder if I can get a thousand before the late-April wedding, or at least the May reception? It's a vague goal, like my plan to take a long ride yesterday, never happened. See how close I get by uh Apr 14, when there's two weeks to go, and then get serious if it's doable. 25 workdays till the 14th = 200 miles at 8/day. Actually, pretty easily doable, if I keep avoiding the car, and occasionally take those longer routes.
I often talk about the 'golden' evening light, but there's also a 'silver' morning light, when the grass is dewy or frosty and the sun hits it with cold white light... Looks almost like snow. Took a picture this morning that'll probably be overexposed, but I have to make the attempt.
It almost seems like winter is already over (saw first [dead] snake of the year Friday afternoon), but I would expect a few more rains this year. Got good (and compact) rain pants yesterday at sonomaoutfitters, while buying our new 3-person Walrus tent (which probably will never have three persons in it, but we'll have more room). On comparison with our old-faithful 2-person Cirrus tent, it actually packs smaller and weighs less, so might even use it for backpacking. The Cirrus is and has been a great tent, but it's just a little cramped inside, especially with bad weather when we're stuck in there with a bunch of our stuff. The Walrus also has a hoop on the rainfly at the entryway, providing an extra area for keeping boots dryish. When you read the footprint dimensions on a tent, those aren't entirely accurate - the Cirrus, when set up, curves upwards at the edges... Before honeymoon, might also get good new pads, but you wouldn't believe how expensive those things are!
Visited yesterday with my best man John, who is planning a bachelor party. No strippers or anything like that, please. In fact, I'm thinking that maybe we just want a unisex bachelor/ette party... but y'know, this really is a separate 'guy thing' and 'gal thing.'
A million lizards at John's place, and a pair of (he says) mating red-tails - one flying over us screeching as we sat on the back porch.
May be able to recoup the head-gasket loss. Known problem with 1995 Ford 3.8L V-6. I *knew* it wasn't just me! Even if I get no reimbursement, THAT much is immensely satisfying, that it wasn't (necessarily) stupidity on my part that caused the head gasket(s) to fail.
Oddly, the job of creating a style guide has been taken from me, the only person in the organization whose title is "editor." Also, the other cities choose to NOT have their doc edited because of the one-editor bottleneck. Then what the f890 IS my job? I'm all verklempt... talk amongst yourselves... We'll work it out.
Movies: The Music Man (1962). They shouldn't have had the half-hour-plus "Behind the Movie" thing before the real thing (Shirley Jones hosting, others from the movie interviewed, many pieces of scenes previewed). I'm usually a sucker for a musical like this, and it certainly has its moments, but I can't buy the Liberace-ish Robert Preston as a leading man, nor can I clear the Partridge Family from my head while watching Shirley Jones. Much enjoyed the very-young Ron Howard and the very-old Hermione Gingold. Still, for all the distractions, the movie comes up swinging and ultimately delivers a lovely old-timey magic.
Pleased to have passed 750! Wonder if I can get a thousand before the late-April wedding, or at least the May reception? It's a vague goal, like my plan to take a long ride yesterday, never happened. See how close I get by uh Apr 14, when there's two weeks to go, and then get serious if it's doable. 25 workdays till the 14th = 200 miles at 8/day. Actually, pretty easily doable, if I keep avoiding the car, and occasionally take those longer routes.
I often talk about the 'golden' evening light, but there's also a 'silver' morning light, when the grass is dewy or frosty and the sun hits it with cold white light... Looks almost like snow. Took a picture this morning that'll probably be overexposed, but I have to make the attempt.
It almost seems like winter is already over (saw first [dead] snake of the year Friday afternoon), but I would expect a few more rains this year. Got good (and compact) rain pants yesterday at sonomaoutfitters, while buying our new 3-person Walrus tent (which probably will never have three persons in it, but we'll have more room). On comparison with our old-faithful 2-person Cirrus tent, it actually packs smaller and weighs less, so might even use it for backpacking. The Cirrus is and has been a great tent, but it's just a little cramped inside, especially with bad weather when we're stuck in there with a bunch of our stuff. The Walrus also has a hoop on the rainfly at the entryway, providing an extra area for keeping boots dryish. When you read the footprint dimensions on a tent, those aren't entirely accurate - the Cirrus, when set up, curves upwards at the edges... Before honeymoon, might also get good new pads, but you wouldn't believe how expensive those things are!
Visited yesterday with my best man John, who is planning a bachelor party. No strippers or anything like that, please. In fact, I'm thinking that maybe we just want a unisex bachelor/ette party... but y'know, this really is a separate 'guy thing' and 'gal thing.'
A million lizards at John's place, and a pair of (he says) mating red-tails - one flying over us screeching as we sat on the back porch.
May be able to recoup the head-gasket loss. Known problem with 1995 Ford 3.8L V-6. I *knew* it wasn't just me! Even if I get no reimbursement, THAT much is immensely satisfying, that it wasn't (necessarily) stupidity on my part that caused the head gasket(s) to fail.
Oddly, the job of creating a style guide has been taken from me, the only person in the organization whose title is "editor." Also, the other cities choose to NOT have their doc edited because of the one-editor bottleneck. Then what the f890 IS my job? I'm all verklempt... talk amongst yourselves... We'll work it out.
Movies: The Music Man (1962). They shouldn't have had the half-hour-plus "Behind the Movie" thing before the real thing (Shirley Jones hosting, others from the movie interviewed, many pieces of scenes previewed). I'm usually a sucker for a musical like this, and it certainly has its moments, but I can't buy the Liberace-ish Robert Preston as a leading man, nor can I clear the Partridge Family from my head while watching Shirley Jones. Much enjoyed the very-young Ron Howard and the very-old Hermione Gingold. Still, for all the distractions, the movie comes up swinging and ultimately delivers a lovely old-timey magic.
Friday, March 09, 2001
744.9.
Did the extra two miles last night on the King Road route. Great-GrandBoss saw me preparing to leave at 3:30 - hope he understands that I often get here before 7 and often don't do lunch.
TGIF. Have done good work this week.
Newt/salamander in the garage this morning -- maybe he's keeping warmer there than outdoors. Nice sunrise, chilly air. Wanted to stop and take pictures, but only took one. Need a holster or something for the camera. Like in a car, you might catch a glimpse of something and stop, and half the time when you get back to it it's not as great as you originally thought.
Last night, visited a caterer we liked and, I think, locked 'em in for the wedding reception party 5/19. Extraordinary salad, with walnuts, mandarin orange, and ah... a bunch of other stuff. Chicken with salsa. Filet Mignon for our carnivorous friends. Will also have vege/vegan stuff, but really, that's like 2% of attendees, so not we're gonna weigh it towards them more than 10%. The perceived quality of the caterers may be more important than the quality of the food...? Well, if you're in Marin/Sonoma, and have a wedding coming up, you might want to check out Forks and Fingers catering. Or you might want to check back here around 5/22 or so; if there are any problems, they'll be documented.
Dinosaur (2000):
Oh man, I don't know. Technology has enabled us to see things on film that would've been impossible like 10 minutes ago, but it's the same old story of an individual's quest for safety, belonging, and freedom, and the (sanitized, bloodless) trials-by-fire he must endure--all reduced to soft, gummable chunks for consumption by toothless two-year-olds. The human parts are played by animated dinosaurs, who in turn are voiced by humans. Especially annoying is how, even in fantasy dinosaur land, there's the stereotypical comic-relief, overweight-and-slow-moving-but-full-of-common-sensical-folksy-wisdom triceratops played by Della Reese (I guess Whoopi was already booked for another comic sidekick voice role - and suggest you miss THAT movie too). C'MON moviemakers, there are more than three types of black people in the world! Tagline: "You have never seen anything like this." Actually, I have. This is the same plot and cast of characters you've seen 500 times (if you've watched 600 movies). The ONLY things this movie has going for it are the background scenery and lack of singing. Really. Go see Toy Story or Chicken Run again instead.
If only the advanced technology of today could somehow be applied to the story line and dialog... sigh. This movie makes me wish that they still had to draw 'em frame by frame.
IMDB fans rate it 6.5 out of 10, but they are high.
Did the extra two miles last night on the King Road route. Great-GrandBoss saw me preparing to leave at 3:30 - hope he understands that I often get here before 7 and often don't do lunch.
TGIF. Have done good work this week.
Newt/salamander in the garage this morning -- maybe he's keeping warmer there than outdoors. Nice sunrise, chilly air. Wanted to stop and take pictures, but only took one. Need a holster or something for the camera. Like in a car, you might catch a glimpse of something and stop, and half the time when you get back to it it's not as great as you originally thought.
Last night, visited a caterer we liked and, I think, locked 'em in for the wedding reception party 5/19. Extraordinary salad, with walnuts, mandarin orange, and ah... a bunch of other stuff. Chicken with salsa. Filet Mignon for our carnivorous friends. Will also have vege/vegan stuff, but really, that's like 2% of attendees, so not we're gonna weigh it towards them more than 10%. The perceived quality of the caterers may be more important than the quality of the food...? Well, if you're in Marin/Sonoma, and have a wedding coming up, you might want to check out Forks and Fingers catering. Or you might want to check back here around 5/22 or so; if there are any problems, they'll be documented.
Dinosaur (2000):
Oh man, I don't know. Technology has enabled us to see things on film that would've been impossible like 10 minutes ago, but it's the same old story of an individual's quest for safety, belonging, and freedom, and the (sanitized, bloodless) trials-by-fire he must endure--all reduced to soft, gummable chunks for consumption by toothless two-year-olds. The human parts are played by animated dinosaurs, who in turn are voiced by humans. Especially annoying is how, even in fantasy dinosaur land, there's the stereotypical comic-relief, overweight-and-slow-moving-but-full-of-common-sensical-folksy-wisdom triceratops played by Della Reese (I guess Whoopi was already booked for another comic sidekick voice role - and suggest you miss THAT movie too). C'MON moviemakers, there are more than three types of black people in the world! Tagline: "You have never seen anything like this." Actually, I have. This is the same plot and cast of characters you've seen 500 times (if you've watched 600 movies). The ONLY things this movie has going for it are the background scenery and lack of singing. Really. Go see Toy Story or Chicken Run again instead.
If only the advanced technology of today could somehow be applied to the story line and dialog... sigh. This movie makes me wish that they still had to draw 'em frame by frame.
IMDB fans rate it 6.5 out of 10, but they are high.
Thursday, March 08, 2001
736.1.
Very foggy; again, why I got lights. Allowed the headlight to burn out over the last couple of weeks so I could give it a full charge. My mechanical ineptitude is well-documented. I don't really understand these batteries, and got somewhat conflicting info in the instructions (how do you drive a technical writer crazy?).
I really wish cars would move at least a little bit into the oncoming lane (when no traffic is actually oncoming) to pass me. If nothing else, it shows that they see me. It would be so easy to hit something unexpected on the shoulder and swerve/fall out into the driving lane... When I'm driving (even before I started biking regularly) I consider this when passing peds or cyclists or horses - give at least their full height in lateral room to fall.
Great Egret in one of the fields on Skillman - they're very beautiful birds, and large, yet they have a certain lack of grace that is comical, and when you see one "outstanding in his field," he's usually looking to scare up a meal, with that hunched-over, undertakerish look of a vulture.
Lessee, movies: last night, "The Contender" and "Meet the Parents."
The Contender: Jeff Bridges sleeping through a(nother?) presidential performance, and Gary Oldman typically excellent (and difficult to identify). Joan Allen playing a senator with almost-impossible integrity, nominated for Vice President, when an indiscretion from her past causes problems. Good cast, engaging enough story. It could happen here, but I don't suppose it would play out like this.
Meet the Parents: Funny, the kind of slapstick where you're slightly embarrassed to be laughing out loud at Ben Stiller's misfortune, but Stiller has a face that's just MADE for misfortune, and there are some moments where just the deadpan face shot is enough to make me burst out laughing.
Very foggy; again, why I got lights. Allowed the headlight to burn out over the last couple of weeks so I could give it a full charge. My mechanical ineptitude is well-documented. I don't really understand these batteries, and got somewhat conflicting info in the instructions (how do you drive a technical writer crazy?).
I really wish cars would move at least a little bit into the oncoming lane (when no traffic is actually oncoming) to pass me. If nothing else, it shows that they see me. It would be so easy to hit something unexpected on the shoulder and swerve/fall out into the driving lane... When I'm driving (even before I started biking regularly) I consider this when passing peds or cyclists or horses - give at least their full height in lateral room to fall.
Great Egret in one of the fields on Skillman - they're very beautiful birds, and large, yet they have a certain lack of grace that is comical, and when you see one "outstanding in his field," he's usually looking to scare up a meal, with that hunched-over, undertakerish look of a vulture.
Lessee, movies: last night, "The Contender" and "Meet the Parents."
The Contender: Jeff Bridges sleeping through a(nother?) presidential performance, and Gary Oldman typically excellent (and difficult to identify). Joan Allen playing a senator with almost-impossible integrity, nominated for Vice President, when an indiscretion from her past causes problems. Good cast, engaging enough story. It could happen here, but I don't suppose it would play out like this.
Meet the Parents: Funny, the kind of slapstick where you're slightly embarrassed to be laughing out loud at Ben Stiller's misfortune, but Stiller has a face that's just MADE for misfortune, and there are some moments where just the deadpan face shot is enough to make me burst out laughing.
Wednesday, March 07, 2001
727.1.
Beautiful morning, just perfect. The bike ride does a lot for me.
Those who may read this... may think it's pretty lame to base a blog on bike riding when it's only like 8 miles per day, when "serious" cyclists may do 100 or more miles in a given day. And why it's "Road Rash" when people like Johnny Knoxville do road rash infinitely better than I ever could or would (and indeed, I have yet to take a fall, knock wood). I guess it's more a journal than a bike-riding thing, but the bike-riding definitely drives it. "Road Rash" just came to mind when I created it; I might've come up with something more clever and more germane, but there it is. I've been wanting for some time to catalog some of the movies I watch, so I get to do that too.
Today's ride was about enjoying the view, and about taking out a little bit of anger (on the uphills).
Peach-colored cloud layer above a strip of blue sky above low-lying tule fog, layers of my morning parfait (that's french, and something of a pun). The cattle on Skillman watch me cruise by... Up the Fair Ave hill in 2-5 gear has become my morning sweat-breaker. Right after this hill, there's a pretty deep down-and-up that gives a very brief respite from pedalling before requiring all I've got to power up the other side in 3-8 (sometimes clicking down to 2-8, 2-5, at the very top if I don't get enough momentum). These are the only real hills on my short route. When Fair turns onto Bailey, that's a nice long 20mph downhill to Petaluma Blvd and the traffic.
No 10% loan. I am a bad credit risk, though I have no debts and a relatively large disposable income each month after rent & expenses. I want a fun new truck, with power and payload, but after more thought, I REALLY don't want to pay 33% interest to get there. Granted, if I pay early, that 33% goes down significantly. But it could be that if I save more money while driving for free in the Mustang (and the bike!) for a few months, I can do a lot better and get an '01 model when they're clearing them for the '02s, with a hefty down payment as well, and not find myself beholden for the next 5, 6 years of my life. I'm happier and happier about this decision as I spend more time NOT in debt...
Big work project will be starting soon, and I'm actually pretty excited about it (but farbeit from ME to ever show it!).
Now, your daily IMDB-linked movie. "Damn Yankees!" last night. Not really up my alley, but hoo-ha, that Gwen Verdon , who died last year, is stunning as "Lola." I now understand the popularity of that "Whatever Lola Wants" song, as she sang and danced it in the movie. She was funny, sweet, goofy, and sexy in that sequence, and in the movie as a whole, about the only high point for me. Ray Walston (who died 1/1/ THIS year) is about one spiral-cut away from full-on Shatner ham (but hey, some good quotes at the IMDB link above - I'd better get him into "Born Today"). Tab Hunter (not dead, but going on 70 years old) has a few moments (the heavy-drinking scene is pretty remarkable), and is pretty convincing as a naive, stupid, aw-shucks ballplayer, but overall I can't tell how much of THAT is acting.
Beautiful morning, just perfect. The bike ride does a lot for me.
Those who may read this... may think it's pretty lame to base a blog on bike riding when it's only like 8 miles per day, when "serious" cyclists may do 100 or more miles in a given day. And why it's "Road Rash" when people like Johnny Knoxville do road rash infinitely better than I ever could or would (and indeed, I have yet to take a fall, knock wood). I guess it's more a journal than a bike-riding thing, but the bike-riding definitely drives it. "Road Rash" just came to mind when I created it; I might've come up with something more clever and more germane, but there it is. I've been wanting for some time to catalog some of the movies I watch, so I get to do that too.
Today's ride was about enjoying the view, and about taking out a little bit of anger (on the uphills).
Peach-colored cloud layer above a strip of blue sky above low-lying tule fog, layers of my morning parfait (that's french, and something of a pun). The cattle on Skillman watch me cruise by... Up the Fair Ave hill in 2-5 gear has become my morning sweat-breaker. Right after this hill, there's a pretty deep down-and-up that gives a very brief respite from pedalling before requiring all I've got to power up the other side in 3-8 (sometimes clicking down to 2-8, 2-5, at the very top if I don't get enough momentum). These are the only real hills on my short route. When Fair turns onto Bailey, that's a nice long 20mph downhill to Petaluma Blvd and the traffic.
No 10% loan. I am a bad credit risk, though I have no debts and a relatively large disposable income each month after rent & expenses. I want a fun new truck, with power and payload, but after more thought, I REALLY don't want to pay 33% interest to get there. Granted, if I pay early, that 33% goes down significantly. But it could be that if I save more money while driving for free in the Mustang (and the bike!) for a few months, I can do a lot better and get an '01 model when they're clearing them for the '02s, with a hefty down payment as well, and not find myself beholden for the next 5, 6 years of my life. I'm happier and happier about this decision as I spend more time NOT in debt...
Big work project will be starting soon, and I'm actually pretty excited about it (but farbeit from ME to ever show it!).
Now, your daily IMDB-linked movie. "Damn Yankees!" last night. Not really up my alley, but hoo-ha, that Gwen Verdon , who died last year, is stunning as "Lola." I now understand the popularity of that "Whatever Lola Wants" song, as she sang and danced it in the movie. She was funny, sweet, goofy, and sexy in that sequence, and in the movie as a whole, about the only high point for me. Ray Walston (who died 1/1/ THIS year) is about one spiral-cut away from full-on Shatner ham (but hey, some good quotes at the IMDB link above - I'd better get him into "Born Today"). Tab Hunter (not dead, but going on 70 years old) has a few moments (the heavy-drinking scene is pretty remarkable), and is pretty convincing as a naive, stupid, aw-shucks ballplayer, but overall I can't tell how much of THAT is acting.
Tuesday, March 06, 2001
719.6.
Drove yesterday to do some errands, and it was raining pretty much all day anyway.
I hate these times when I skip the bike ride on a friday or monday (and the weekend between); it seems like I can almost feel the loss of physical strength (not to mention wind).
Nurse Betty. A likeable movie - give it 4 or 5 out of 10. But Renee Zelweiger gives me the creeps. Now I can't remember the name of the other... Waking the Dead. Also a decent enough film, but really a little melodramatic, and the actors (Billy Crudup and the Ali-McGraw-ish Jennifer Connelly) didn't really carry it off. Nothing worse than watching a couple of actors "weeping their eyes out" and being almost entirely unaffected!
Overdressed for biking today - cloudy out, but I don't think it's actually going to rain. So I could've packed the rainjacket in, and probably will pack it out. Lots of wind in the weekend storms - lots of debris on the road, especially on the shoulder where I ride...
Test drove three very different cars Saturday: Dodge Dakota 4x4, Nissan XTerra, and Toyota RAV4. All three were suitable to a particular niche, I suppose.
Liked the Dodge quite a bit, except that the bench seat was not very comfortable for a long ride (which is what I hope to do most with this vehicle). Low front of roof had us leaning forward to peer out - definitely want a sunroof (and don't really need the overhead console). It feels really solid. Part-time 4WD seems like a good idea. 4.7L V-8 very nice, and "4WD-Lo" gave a really powerful feeling.
The XTerra was pretty cool, but the salesman who took us out seemed to get nervous suddenly and claimed to need to get back to the showroom because they were short-handed. Excuse me, but if I'm going to spend 20k on a vehicle, a 20-minute drive ain't gonna sell it to me. There was a clunk when we came to a stop sometimes - may be something normal with full-time 4WD.
Toyota dealer claimed there were no 5-speed RAV4s available (there's one in the parking lot here at work, bought nearby in San Rafael), and we ended up driving a 4-cylinder 2WD automatic - a car we had no interest in buying. With rear window down, HUGE amount of wind-buffeting noise on that car. The XTerra is cool, but I got a lot better feeling from the Dakota.
Dodge dealer from Oakland calling me last night. All I want is a freakin' quote, and I specifically note "please no calls" on every internet form where I have the choice, and I have spent time selecting the options I want on a web page, and still these guys call. His quote was over 25k, with the SLT package.
And we have the "Sport" package and the "XL" and the "SE" and the "SOB" with wildly-varying prices for each, and different stories about what the package actually contains... Makes it (intentionally) difficult to compare two similar cars.
Oh well. Waiting on a potential better (like, 4% better!) APR loan offer from the local credit union, but do have preapproved loan in hand at 14%.
Drove yesterday to do some errands, and it was raining pretty much all day anyway.
I hate these times when I skip the bike ride on a friday or monday (and the weekend between); it seems like I can almost feel the loss of physical strength (not to mention wind).
Nurse Betty. A likeable movie - give it 4 or 5 out of 10. But Renee Zelweiger gives me the creeps. Now I can't remember the name of the other... Waking the Dead. Also a decent enough film, but really a little melodramatic, and the actors (Billy Crudup and the Ali-McGraw-ish Jennifer Connelly) didn't really carry it off. Nothing worse than watching a couple of actors "weeping their eyes out" and being almost entirely unaffected!
Overdressed for biking today - cloudy out, but I don't think it's actually going to rain. So I could've packed the rainjacket in, and probably will pack it out. Lots of wind in the weekend storms - lots of debris on the road, especially on the shoulder where I ride...
Test drove three very different cars Saturday: Dodge Dakota 4x4, Nissan XTerra, and Toyota RAV4. All three were suitable to a particular niche, I suppose.
Liked the Dodge quite a bit, except that the bench seat was not very comfortable for a long ride (which is what I hope to do most with this vehicle). Low front of roof had us leaning forward to peer out - definitely want a sunroof (and don't really need the overhead console). It feels really solid. Part-time 4WD seems like a good idea. 4.7L V-8 very nice, and "4WD-Lo" gave a really powerful feeling.
The XTerra was pretty cool, but the salesman who took us out seemed to get nervous suddenly and claimed to need to get back to the showroom because they were short-handed. Excuse me, but if I'm going to spend 20k on a vehicle, a 20-minute drive ain't gonna sell it to me. There was a clunk when we came to a stop sometimes - may be something normal with full-time 4WD.
Toyota dealer claimed there were no 5-speed RAV4s available (there's one in the parking lot here at work, bought nearby in San Rafael), and we ended up driving a 4-cylinder 2WD automatic - a car we had no interest in buying. With rear window down, HUGE amount of wind-buffeting noise on that car. The XTerra is cool, but I got a lot better feeling from the Dakota.
Dodge dealer from Oakland calling me last night. All I want is a freakin' quote, and I specifically note "please no calls" on every internet form where I have the choice, and I have spent time selecting the options I want on a web page, and still these guys call. His quote was over 25k, with the SLT package.
And we have the "Sport" package and the "XL" and the "SE" and the "SOB" with wildly-varying prices for each, and different stories about what the package actually contains... Makes it (intentionally) difficult to compare two similar cars.
Oh well. Waiting on a potential better (like, 4% better!) APR loan offer from the local credit union, but do have preapproved loan in hand at 14%.
Friday, March 02, 2001
Thursday, March 01, 2001
704.6.
Brrrr! Frost on the ground, fog in the air (33'F currently), and I wore the no-finger gloves because I feel stupid wearing black wooly winter gloves in the afternoon with a short-sleeved shirt. Headline: "Fashion Victim Loses Fingers."
Visibility down to about 100 ft on one stretch of Skillman (why I bought lights). Very pretty, actually, where the sun is hitting the long frosted grass.
No hawks, no lambs, not much looking around at all. Just pedal it to work and the warm shower!
"Lonely Are the Brave" last night on vid. 1962, B&W. Kirk Douglas, Carroll O'Connor, Walter Matthau, many others. From an Edward Abbey book, and Abbey had a bit part in the film somewhere but I couldn't spot him (probably he didn't have his trademark beard). Adapted for screen, I presume, by Dalton Trumbo - he shares a writing credit, but I kinda doubt he actually sat in the same room with Abbey for more than a few minutes at any given time. Really, really dark, this movie, but you hear Abbey's "voice" throughout, therefore very enjoyable in spite of darkness. It's up there -- on a scale of one to ten, let's say 8 or 9.
Brrrr! Frost on the ground, fog in the air (33'F currently), and I wore the no-finger gloves because I feel stupid wearing black wooly winter gloves in the afternoon with a short-sleeved shirt. Headline: "Fashion Victim Loses Fingers."
Visibility down to about 100 ft on one stretch of Skillman (why I bought lights). Very pretty, actually, where the sun is hitting the long frosted grass.
No hawks, no lambs, not much looking around at all. Just pedal it to work and the warm shower!
"Lonely Are the Brave" last night on vid. 1962, B&W. Kirk Douglas, Carroll O'Connor, Walter Matthau, many others. From an Edward Abbey book, and Abbey had a bit part in the film somewhere but I couldn't spot him (probably he didn't have his trademark beard). Adapted for screen, I presume, by Dalton Trumbo - he shares a writing credit, but I kinda doubt he actually sat in the same room with Abbey for more than a few minutes at any given time. Really, really dark, this movie, but you hear Abbey's "voice" throughout, therefore very enjoyable in spite of darkness. It's up there -- on a scale of one to ten, let's say 8 or 9.
Wednesday, February 28, 2001
700.9!
(Passed 600 on 2/6, so I'm doing a little more than 100 a month - though last week I only rode one day.)
Kickin' ass on the ride home. Old familiar-looking red-shouldered hawk on the wires by Bailey Ave...
Nissan XTerra that previously looked pretty cool, now doesn't look so great, per Consumer Reports...
But equivalent vehicles are all quite a bit more expensive. May look at Subarus, though my ex-boss had a "Forester," and I can't stomach driving one too no matter HOW good it might be. Anyway, I'm meanwhile moving a step forward on the loan process.
Good productive work day - though a lot of the work we did may turn out convincing us to go another way, that does happen sometimes.
Family all okay in Seattle...
(Passed 600 on 2/6, so I'm doing a little more than 100 a month - though last week I only rode one day.)
Kickin' ass on the ride home. Old familiar-looking red-shouldered hawk on the wires by Bailey Ave...
Nissan XTerra that previously looked pretty cool, now doesn't look so great, per Consumer Reports...
But equivalent vehicles are all quite a bit more expensive. May look at Subarus, though my ex-boss had a "Forester," and I can't stomach driving one too no matter HOW good it might be. Anyway, I'm meanwhile moving a step forward on the loan process.
Good productive work day - though a lot of the work we did may turn out convincing us to go another way, that does happen sometimes.
Family all okay in Seattle...
697.1.
Ho hum, another beautiful winter day in Sonoma County. Already in the 50s at 6:30 or so.
Sun rising as I rode in. Stayed in 3-8 (highest gear) all the way to the bottom of the Fair Ave. hill, but frankly not feeling as peppy as I did monday and tuesday.
Lambs again, both on Skillman and Bailey. The ones on Bailey were backlit by the rising sun, and I stopped and almost got out the camera, but of course they all started heading for the back of the yard as soon as I stopped.
"Jesus' Son" last night. A funny, sad, weird, wonderful, movie. Go see it.
Then, "When Animals Attack," on regular cable. Same old footage, and really, kind of annoying, again, how people consider their lives somehow worth more than that of a wild creature. I would consider it an honor to be thought foodworthy by a cougar (and isn't it natural selection at work, when some dummie gets attacked by a bear because they sleep in the open smelling like food?). It was heartbreaking to see those stupid rangers holding the dead cougar up after they'd shot it because it attacked a little kid (who was not paying attention [and whose PARENTS were not paying attention], and was running and looking to the cougar very much like prey - what do you expect a lion to do? Introduce itself and shake his hand?). It's simply wrong. Let's see. How many cougars left in the world? How many dumb children and parents?
Then we're off on a little riff with the cats: "When Animals Cuddle."
"As the unsuspecting couple watches TV, the wild ferocious Siamese are stalking them, waiting for a lap to appear..."
(If you liked the Siamese, check out bentmetal sometime.)
Hoping to start being busy here, one of these days....
Ho hum, another beautiful winter day in Sonoma County. Already in the 50s at 6:30 or so.
Sun rising as I rode in. Stayed in 3-8 (highest gear) all the way to the bottom of the Fair Ave. hill, but frankly not feeling as peppy as I did monday and tuesday.
Lambs again, both on Skillman and Bailey. The ones on Bailey were backlit by the rising sun, and I stopped and almost got out the camera, but of course they all started heading for the back of the yard as soon as I stopped.
"Jesus' Son" last night. A funny, sad, weird, wonderful, movie. Go see it.
Then, "When Animals Attack," on regular cable. Same old footage, and really, kind of annoying, again, how people consider their lives somehow worth more than that of a wild creature. I would consider it an honor to be thought foodworthy by a cougar (and isn't it natural selection at work, when some dummie gets attacked by a bear because they sleep in the open smelling like food?). It was heartbreaking to see those stupid rangers holding the dead cougar up after they'd shot it because it attacked a little kid (who was not paying attention [and whose PARENTS were not paying attention], and was running and looking to the cougar very much like prey - what do you expect a lion to do? Introduce itself and shake his hand?). It's simply wrong. Let's see. How many cougars left in the world? How many dumb children and parents?
Then we're off on a little riff with the cats: "When Animals Cuddle."
"As the unsuspecting couple watches TV, the wild ferocious Siamese are stalking them, waiting for a lap to appear..."
(If you liked the Siamese, check out bentmetal sometime.)
Hoping to start being busy here, one of these days....
Tuesday, February 27, 2001
692.9? (It's usually 6 miles on the King Road route.)
Phenomenally lovely day (high 74'F), after all the rain and snow. We're expecting more rain on the weekend, but this weather should hold for this week's commuting.
Approved for a car loan. Now gotta figure out what car to get, and where.
Recommended reading: Car Buying Tips
Even if I do everything else stupidly from here on out, I believe the above site probably saved me 6% on the loan APR.
Anyway. Again, staying in higher gears up the hills, and don't know if this is a result of something physical or just a mindset adjustment. It's nice, though. Makes me think I'm semi-healthy.
Phenomenally lovely day (high 74'F), after all the rain and snow. We're expecting more rain on the weekend, but this weather should hold for this week's commuting.
Approved for a car loan. Now gotta figure out what car to get, and where.
Recommended reading: Car Buying Tips
Even if I do everything else stupidly from here on out, I believe the above site probably saved me 6% on the loan APR.
Anyway. Again, staying in higher gears up the hills, and don't know if this is a result of something physical or just a mindset adjustment. It's nice, though. Makes me think I'm semi-healthy.
686.9.
Chilly. I think the pheasant is related to the roadrunner...
Very small lambs along Skillman, just where the road is higher than the land to the south, so I was looking down on two ewes and three lambs huddled beside a barn.
Well, not only is the ride getting easier, but also shorter! Odometer read 683.3 when I left this morning, so only 3.6 miles today, evidently, .3 miles down from the usual 3.9. Allow for rounding, better turns here and there, and (perhaps) fewer stops?
More prospective landlords looking at the house(s) today. Sigh. I do wish THIS thing would now be over, one way or the other; the uncertainty is worse than any possible outcome.
"Born Today" has some pretty good ones today. Since about the past year, some of the quotes surprise even me - I don't always remember the ones I added more than a year ago, or, y'know, I added them with a chuckle six months back and immediately forgot 'em. I continue to work on these pages on weekends, though I've slacked off a bit lately, pushing for some undefined encyclopedic quality. Hav eadded many more cross references like those for presidents, prime ministers, and first ladies, and the links between wives and husbands like under Joanne Woodward and Liz Taylor today. And there's this continuing cogitation about how I can make it bigger, more unbelievable as a piece of work. Gee y'know, of musician, artist, writer, and quotemonger, I'd really prefer to be remembered after I'm dead as one of the first three... Be this as it may, the database is closing on 10,000 records - at that point, I might consider trying to shop a book around.
Wonder if, somehow, someday, that site will provide some kind of windfall for me. It seems to gain steadily in hits; generally has been creeping up towards (and past) three hundred main-page hits (and 15,000+ total hits) per week. (In spite of the annoying fact that typical visits always show Lolo Ferrari (3/4, 3/5) as one the most popular hits.) People who like "Born Today" seem to like it "repeatedly" - they come back; with some, I've had brief e-versations.
Guess I have work to do; at any rate, I have a latte to buy & drink while I wait for work to appear...
Chilly. I think the pheasant is related to the roadrunner...
Very small lambs along Skillman, just where the road is higher than the land to the south, so I was looking down on two ewes and three lambs huddled beside a barn.
Well, not only is the ride getting easier, but also shorter! Odometer read 683.3 when I left this morning, so only 3.6 miles today, evidently, .3 miles down from the usual 3.9. Allow for rounding, better turns here and there, and (perhaps) fewer stops?
More prospective landlords looking at the house(s) today. Sigh. I do wish THIS thing would now be over, one way or the other; the uncertainty is worse than any possible outcome.
"Born Today" has some pretty good ones today. Since about the past year, some of the quotes surprise even me - I don't always remember the ones I added more than a year ago, or, y'know, I added them with a chuckle six months back and immediately forgot 'em. I continue to work on these pages on weekends, though I've slacked off a bit lately, pushing for some undefined encyclopedic quality. Hav eadded many more cross references like those for presidents, prime ministers, and first ladies, and the links between wives and husbands like under Joanne Woodward and Liz Taylor today. And there's this continuing cogitation about how I can make it bigger, more unbelievable as a piece of work. Gee y'know, of musician, artist, writer, and quotemonger, I'd really prefer to be remembered after I'm dead as one of the first three... Be this as it may, the database is closing on 10,000 records - at that point, I might consider trying to shop a book around.
Wonder if, somehow, someday, that site will provide some kind of windfall for me. It seems to gain steadily in hits; generally has been creeping up towards (and past) three hundred main-page hits (and 15,000+ total hits) per week. (In spite of the annoying fact that typical visits always show Lolo Ferrari (3/4, 3/5) as one the most popular hits.) People who like "Born Today" seem to like it "repeatedly" - they come back; with some, I've had brief e-versations.
Guess I have work to do; at any rate, I have a latte to buy & drink while I wait for work to appear...
Monday, February 26, 2001
683.2.
Took a little extra bit from Skillman through the "secret" Vinafera road, through the elementary school, and then over Two Rock.
(I know, non-local people reading this will have no clue what I'm talking about... really gotta get a local map up here somewhere.)
Maybe my imagination, but the grinding uphill yesterday at Putnam Park seems to have had some effect on my climbing ability. I powered over the little hill on Fair Ave in the highest gear, and then over Two Rock without the usual stops... so maybe I am getting some lasting benefit here in spite of the smoking.
But I saw a guy on a road bike (in full stretch-pant cycloid gear) going west on Bodega as I was going east towards the school, and I saw him again on Eucalyptus. He HAD to have stopped somewhere, or else I totally kicked his ass speed-wise, including a significant uphill where he had mostly downhill. Of course he stopped somewhere, but it made me feel really, really good about my cycling to date - so, thank you, cycloid-dude, whoever you are!
We were told today at work that the project on which we've been working is changing completely. Basically instead of just doing stages 1 and 2, we're jumping straight to 3 or 4. And there were admonitions that we'd need to work long hours and weekends for the next three to six months, and that "slackers" would be let go. None of this really bothers me, except: I've only been REALLY busy at this job about five days in the last nine months -- compared to my last job, this job is a BREEZE. I've been busier and liking it in the past couple of months, and I really do like to be busy - even like the 12-hour days of crunch time - but pardon my skepticism when they imply that I'll be busier than I've ever been in my 25 years of working! Anyway, there are significant rewards for star performers, and oddly, "other opportunities" for "glory hogs." I've never (never) hogged another's glory, but I have on occasion felt compelled to raise consciousness about my own accomplishments.
Anyway, as I come to understand the full scope of the project, maybe I'll have more respect for it, but as it stands, I don't see this being a WordStar 5, or the 1991 Payroll season, or any number of other REALLY high-stress times in my working life. If it is such a time, I welcome it! I'm not drinking, I'm in as good physical shape than probably the last ten years, and I'm basically content and happy with my life, except for occasional boredom at work (and this damned housing and vehicle situation). There is no better time for this to happen.
Took a little extra bit from Skillman through the "secret" Vinafera road, through the elementary school, and then over Two Rock.
(I know, non-local people reading this will have no clue what I'm talking about... really gotta get a local map up here somewhere.)
Maybe my imagination, but the grinding uphill yesterday at Putnam Park seems to have had some effect on my climbing ability. I powered over the little hill on Fair Ave in the highest gear, and then over Two Rock without the usual stops... so maybe I am getting some lasting benefit here in spite of the smoking.
But I saw a guy on a road bike (in full stretch-pant cycloid gear) going west on Bodega as I was going east towards the school, and I saw him again on Eucalyptus. He HAD to have stopped somewhere, or else I totally kicked his ass speed-wise, including a significant uphill where he had mostly downhill. Of course he stopped somewhere, but it made me feel really, really good about my cycling to date - so, thank you, cycloid-dude, whoever you are!
We were told today at work that the project on which we've been working is changing completely. Basically instead of just doing stages 1 and 2, we're jumping straight to 3 or 4. And there were admonitions that we'd need to work long hours and weekends for the next three to six months, and that "slackers" would be let go. None of this really bothers me, except: I've only been REALLY busy at this job about five days in the last nine months -- compared to my last job, this job is a BREEZE. I've been busier and liking it in the past couple of months, and I really do like to be busy - even like the 12-hour days of crunch time - but pardon my skepticism when they imply that I'll be busier than I've ever been in my 25 years of working! Anyway, there are significant rewards for star performers, and oddly, "other opportunities" for "glory hogs." I've never (never) hogged another's glory, but I have on occasion felt compelled to raise consciousness about my own accomplishments.
Anyway, as I come to understand the full scope of the project, maybe I'll have more respect for it, but as it stands, I don't see this being a WordStar 5, or the 1991 Payroll season, or any number of other REALLY high-stress times in my working life. If it is such a time, I welcome it! I'm not drinking, I'm in as good physical shape than probably the last ten years, and I'm basically content and happy with my life, except for occasional boredom at work (and this damned housing and vehicle situation). There is no better time for this to happen.
677.1.
Road Rash Rides Again!
I finally attempted some off-road riding yesterday, spending about an hour on the single-track trails at Putnam park. Very discouraging, that all of this road riding hasn't really prepared me much for riding on those trails. Of course, it was muddy, and of course I had to ride up a mile-long paved-but-steep path (and get bitten by some bastard's uncontrolled dog) just to get to the dirt trails. Of course, I hadn't ridden the bike even on the road since Tuesday. Of course, excuses are a dime a dozen. But still, I was getting winded WAY too quickly, practically at the first intimation of an uphill track.
Well, it's something else to work up to, and I have a vague idea that I'll start riding there every Sunday.
No cheap online loan for a car. After reading a certain set of articles on the web (I'll post the URL later), I will NOT finance a car thru a dealer, and probably won't even buy a car from a dealer. I'll probably go to the dealers, though, to test-drive. We looked at the Nissan XTerra saturday - a cute little 4-wheeler with some attractive features. Have read good and bad things about it (and Nissan service) since. It's not really comparable to the 2WD Dodge Ram/Dakota trucks towards which I was gravitating earlier, a different beast entirely (and maybe as much as $5k more - but vehix.com* compares it to the Durango, which is as much as 10k more than the straight Dakota on which it's based).
* Note: vehix.com is probably funded by the automakers; i.e., a promotional site (why they can afford to advertise on TV). They don't really provide much useful info about the vehicles. It's mostly the stuff you can read on the sticker at the dealer.
Resolved to ride more than I drive and, as much as possible, continue with the daily riding to work. Somewhat happier now with the car, having gotten used to driving it again (and having taken a couple of drives around the west county). Saturday, we saw a couple of kites (which we may have seen before but hadn't identified); one hovering almost motionless, hunting, over a field for about five minutes - we both cheered when it finally dove to the grass and appeared to come up with a kill; and the usual assortment of other raptors. The mustard is blooming impressively now in big fields here and there. I will amend my usual story about why it's called "The Golden State," because I think it's these giant swatches of mustard, not the more sparse poppies, that early explorers probably saw.
Also Saturday, we talked with a potential caterer for our wedding reception. $2500 and an appointment in Sonoma (almost an hour of driving), courteous and friendly enough, but not only do they have nothing to sample, they have the temerity to mention that our party (75 people) is "small." While it may be true, that's not something you EVER mention in a service-oriented business. It certainly should have no bearing on the level of service you provide -- it's still the most important wedding reception WE will ever do, and they need to take a class with Tom Peters (or whoever that customer-satisfaction motivational-speaker guy is). This being my first experience with wedding-reception caterers, maybe it's the norm. But I don't like that, and I don't like that they're situated this far away (though granted, Marin County caterers may be significantly more expensive). Once we have at least one other caterer to compare them to, maybe I'll think differently.
Sunday was one big sky show. Menacing black clouds; here and there a sudden shower of big fat raindrops; rainbows; "golden" evening light, setting the mustard blossoms afire. But no more kite aerobatics.
Friday's quarterly meeting was pretty much as expected. 90 minutes of travel each way. Powerless, pointless, ENDless -- PowerPoint.
Road Rash Rides Again!
I finally attempted some off-road riding yesterday, spending about an hour on the single-track trails at Putnam park. Very discouraging, that all of this road riding hasn't really prepared me much for riding on those trails. Of course, it was muddy, and of course I had to ride up a mile-long paved-but-steep path (and get bitten by some bastard's uncontrolled dog) just to get to the dirt trails. Of course, I hadn't ridden the bike even on the road since Tuesday. Of course, excuses are a dime a dozen. But still, I was getting winded WAY too quickly, practically at the first intimation of an uphill track.
Well, it's something else to work up to, and I have a vague idea that I'll start riding there every Sunday.
No cheap online loan for a car. After reading a certain set of articles on the web (I'll post the URL later), I will NOT finance a car thru a dealer, and probably won't even buy a car from a dealer. I'll probably go to the dealers, though, to test-drive. We looked at the Nissan XTerra saturday - a cute little 4-wheeler with some attractive features. Have read good and bad things about it (and Nissan service) since. It's not really comparable to the 2WD Dodge Ram/Dakota trucks towards which I was gravitating earlier, a different beast entirely (and maybe as much as $5k more - but vehix.com* compares it to the Durango, which is as much as 10k more than the straight Dakota on which it's based).
* Note: vehix.com is probably funded by the automakers; i.e., a promotional site (why they can afford to advertise on TV). They don't really provide much useful info about the vehicles. It's mostly the stuff you can read on the sticker at the dealer.
Resolved to ride more than I drive and, as much as possible, continue with the daily riding to work. Somewhat happier now with the car, having gotten used to driving it again (and having taken a couple of drives around the west county). Saturday, we saw a couple of kites (which we may have seen before but hadn't identified); one hovering almost motionless, hunting, over a field for about five minutes - we both cheered when it finally dove to the grass and appeared to come up with a kill; and the usual assortment of other raptors. The mustard is blooming impressively now in big fields here and there. I will amend my usual story about why it's called "The Golden State," because I think it's these giant swatches of mustard, not the more sparse poppies, that early explorers probably saw.
Also Saturday, we talked with a potential caterer for our wedding reception. $2500 and an appointment in Sonoma (almost an hour of driving), courteous and friendly enough, but not only do they have nothing to sample, they have the temerity to mention that our party (75 people) is "small." While it may be true, that's not something you EVER mention in a service-oriented business. It certainly should have no bearing on the level of service you provide -- it's still the most important wedding reception WE will ever do, and they need to take a class with Tom Peters (or whoever that customer-satisfaction motivational-speaker guy is). This being my first experience with wedding-reception caterers, maybe it's the norm. But I don't like that, and I don't like that they're situated this far away (though granted, Marin County caterers may be significantly more expensive). Once we have at least one other caterer to compare them to, maybe I'll think differently.
Sunday was one big sky show. Menacing black clouds; here and there a sudden shower of big fat raindrops; rainbows; "golden" evening light, setting the mustard blossoms afire. But no more kite aerobatics.
Friday's quarterly meeting was pretty much as expected. 90 minutes of travel each way. Powerless, pointless, ENDless -- PowerPoint.
Thursday, February 22, 2001
"The bike stops here."
Well, not really, but the pun's been in my head. Just had to use the car two days in a row because of work and errand-related stuff, and have the infamous 15-hour department meeting tomorrow. Will get back on the bike monday.
We had a great hailstorm and downpour at 5am today. Can't believe the cats still wanted to go out in it.
Sweet Dreams last night - I like my biopics using at least two actors to show the biographee at different ages, so I can compare whether the child actor looks sorta like the adult. However, "Sweet Dreams" starts in Patsy Cline's late teens, so Jessica Lange is all you get throughout. Ed Harris was good in this movie. But it didn't seem like it really gave a good feel for who Patsy Cline was, much less where she came from. Couple that with the knowledge that Lange lip-synched to Patsy's singing throughout (and imagining it in silence), I was dissatisfied with the flick.
I now own my million-dollar Mustang. Well, I got the title from Ford back in August, and have just now finally gone to the DMV to take Ford Credit off the title.
Preparatory to shopping for a new vehicle. Consider the Mustang a $300/mo rental, with a few free months as a bonus and then an $1800 surcharge.
It runs okay now, fine I guess, and it's nice to have both headlights and temp gauge golden. But, non-mechanic that I am, I can't quite shake the feeling that the car coldly betrayed me. The bicycle hasn't done this . . . yet.
Well, not really, but the pun's been in my head. Just had to use the car two days in a row because of work and errand-related stuff, and have the infamous 15-hour department meeting tomorrow. Will get back on the bike monday.
We had a great hailstorm and downpour at 5am today. Can't believe the cats still wanted to go out in it.
Sweet Dreams last night - I like my biopics using at least two actors to show the biographee at different ages, so I can compare whether the child actor looks sorta like the adult. However, "Sweet Dreams" starts in Patsy Cline's late teens, so Jessica Lange is all you get throughout. Ed Harris was good in this movie. But it didn't seem like it really gave a good feel for who Patsy Cline was, much less where she came from. Couple that with the knowledge that Lange lip-synched to Patsy's singing throughout (and imagining it in silence), I was dissatisfied with the flick.
I now own my million-dollar Mustang. Well, I got the title from Ford back in August, and have just now finally gone to the DMV to take Ford Credit off the title.
Preparatory to shopping for a new vehicle. Consider the Mustang a $300/mo rental, with a few free months as a bonus and then an $1800 surcharge.
It runs okay now, fine I guess, and it's nice to have both headlights and temp gauge golden. But, non-mechanic that I am, I can't quite shake the feeling that the car coldly betrayed me. The bicycle hasn't done this . . . yet.
Tuesday, February 20, 2001
666.9 - the devil's mileage!
But actually not. The bike's been in for maintenance, and so rides extra smoothly today.
I get a little weary of repeatedly saying that I've just barely managed to squeak in between rainstorms, but that again has been the case. Rain in Northern California is rarely of the clouds-open-and-pour-everything-for-hours-on-end variety. We get the major downpours occasionally, but it's usually a matter of waiting a few minutes and then it peters out into drizzle. It's been raining on and off all weekend, and I kinda dreaded this morning's ride, but - part of my "resolutely get on the bike and go" morning routine.
The cold has returned, but it's now in the more-alarming bronchial area. Hawking up phlegm, yuck. Wish I had actually quit smoking one of those 18 million times I tried. I know I need to, but we're trying to get a "safe" amount of non-drinking behind us before we cross that hurdle. If we take away all of our "comforts" at once, we're WAY more likely to start 'em ALL again. "Do you know that smoking is killing you?" Duh, yes, I do, and I'm completely, horribly, addicted. I see myself sitting helpless as the cancer spreads and my life is cut short, drag by drag. Well, it won't be long now.
Nice little hike yesterday at Roy's Redwoods. Really little, like less than a mile, but a redwood grove is like a cathedral - Quiet, with a very high ceiling, and people chanting and some guy telling you what to do... Oh wait, that's a REAL cathedral.
"Get Carter," man what a stooopid movie. It could've actually been okay, but Stallone (and I should know this by now) doesn't touch anything with a light hand. What could've been an interesting psychological-suspense-noir thriller a la Frank Miller's "Sin City" graphic novels, becomes in Stallone's hands a ham-fisted bludgeoning of the viewer and all players. Flashing on the fact that we should all boycott Stallone (I suppose I'm just a little late getting to this), and get him out of the public consciousness before he runs for office or something. He's some dumb schmo from Joisey, y'know, whose sole talent lies in the arena of body-building. He really IS Rocky, and has no business "acting" in anything else. He shouldn't even get that Travolta-like hiatus and Pulp-Fiction comeback. And for trying to be Bogart in this movie, he should be shot, after being set afire and pushed out a 14th-story window. Remind me later that I said this: I will never give a penny to Stallone again. Woody Allen's unwatchable, but some of his movies are still pretty good. Stallone is waaaay beyond that.
I'm pretty indiscriminate when it comes to renting movies (I generally get 4 for $8 at local vid store), but must remember that this IS giving money to the filmmakers/cast/etc., and encouraging them to do more. Gotta be more careful about that.
Supposed to get the Mustang back today. I'll believe it when I see myself driving it home - hoping it's less than the max quoted, because that's exactly what I have in checking at the moment. Looked at Dodge (and a couple of Chevy) trucks yesterday... 'spensive, but not TOOO bad. I sorta think it'll improve my credit rating to take on SOME credit burden. They frown on people making xx,xxx a year and not owing any money to anyone, y'know.
The stuff you get used to: I don't think I'd buy a car without power windows/door locks at this point. Power windows are a safety feature: ever tried to roll down the passenger window while driving 60mph down the freeway? Or hell, even your OWN window! Considering whether I really want a CD player in the car... tapes are longer, and I have hundreds of CDs where there's only a couple songs I like. But now I can burn CDs, so could still manage to keep the CD collection intact in the house, but really, CDs max 80 minutes, tapes 110 . . . Conclusion: I don't need a CD player in the car.
Okay, to the smokes and latte and showers now...
But actually not. The bike's been in for maintenance, and so rides extra smoothly today.
I get a little weary of repeatedly saying that I've just barely managed to squeak in between rainstorms, but that again has been the case. Rain in Northern California is rarely of the clouds-open-and-pour-everything-for-hours-on-end variety. We get the major downpours occasionally, but it's usually a matter of waiting a few minutes and then it peters out into drizzle. It's been raining on and off all weekend, and I kinda dreaded this morning's ride, but - part of my "resolutely get on the bike and go" morning routine.
The cold has returned, but it's now in the more-alarming bronchial area. Hawking up phlegm, yuck. Wish I had actually quit smoking one of those 18 million times I tried. I know I need to, but we're trying to get a "safe" amount of non-drinking behind us before we cross that hurdle. If we take away all of our "comforts" at once, we're WAY more likely to start 'em ALL again. "Do you know that smoking is killing you?" Duh, yes, I do, and I'm completely, horribly, addicted. I see myself sitting helpless as the cancer spreads and my life is cut short, drag by drag. Well, it won't be long now.
Nice little hike yesterday at Roy's Redwoods. Really little, like less than a mile, but a redwood grove is like a cathedral - Quiet, with a very high ceiling, and people chanting and some guy telling you what to do... Oh wait, that's a REAL cathedral.
"Get Carter," man what a stooopid movie. It could've actually been okay, but Stallone (and I should know this by now) doesn't touch anything with a light hand. What could've been an interesting psychological-suspense-noir thriller a la Frank Miller's "Sin City" graphic novels, becomes in Stallone's hands a ham-fisted bludgeoning of the viewer and all players. Flashing on the fact that we should all boycott Stallone (I suppose I'm just a little late getting to this), and get him out of the public consciousness before he runs for office or something. He's some dumb schmo from Joisey, y'know, whose sole talent lies in the arena of body-building. He really IS Rocky, and has no business "acting" in anything else. He shouldn't even get that Travolta-like hiatus and Pulp-Fiction comeback. And for trying to be Bogart in this movie, he should be shot, after being set afire and pushed out a 14th-story window. Remind me later that I said this: I will never give a penny to Stallone again. Woody Allen's unwatchable, but some of his movies are still pretty good. Stallone is waaaay beyond that.
I'm pretty indiscriminate when it comes to renting movies (I generally get 4 for $8 at local vid store), but must remember that this IS giving money to the filmmakers/cast/etc., and encouraging them to do more. Gotta be more careful about that.
Supposed to get the Mustang back today. I'll believe it when I see myself driving it home - hoping it's less than the max quoted, because that's exactly what I have in checking at the moment. Looked at Dodge (and a couple of Chevy) trucks yesterday... 'spensive, but not TOOO bad. I sorta think it'll improve my credit rating to take on SOME credit burden. They frown on people making xx,xxx a year and not owing any money to anyone, y'know.
The stuff you get used to: I don't think I'd buy a car without power windows/door locks at this point. Power windows are a safety feature: ever tried to roll down the passenger window while driving 60mph down the freeway? Or hell, even your OWN window! Considering whether I really want a CD player in the car... tapes are longer, and I have hundreds of CDs where there's only a couple songs I like. But now I can burn CDs, so could still manage to keep the CD collection intact in the house, but really, CDs max 80 minutes, tapes 110 . . . Conclusion: I don't need a CD player in the car.
Okay, to the smokes and latte and showers now...
Friday, February 16, 2001
658.2.
Late start, couldn't sleep last night.
"Bring It On," aimed at teens, was not a bad movie for what it was (a movie about cheerleaders attempting to win a national competition). There were some humorous moments, and the ending was not entirely expected. A simple four- or five-star rating system doesn't really cut it for me: movies must be taken in context. The "Scream" movies, for example, are among the best in their niche, while certainly NOT the best in the "all-movies" basket. Of teen-highschool-cheerleader-moral-dilemma films, this one rates four out of five. I found myself wishing, often, that they never tried to get serious about the star (Kirsten Dunst) love-interests OR the underprivileged inner-city cheerleader competitors. I found myself wishing said inner-city cheerleaders would just kick the crap out of Dunst and her palefaced friends. On the other hand, I really liked the "cheerleader love song," and the competition provided the whole point of the film. It wasn't "Election," but it was mostly watchable.
Pair of red-shouldered hawks today in a tree on Skillman. Are they still mating? Guess it makes sense, depending on gestation period... Noticeably more traffic an hour later than my usual time on my route...
Legs tired... must... rest...
Late start, couldn't sleep last night.
"Bring It On," aimed at teens, was not a bad movie for what it was (a movie about cheerleaders attempting to win a national competition). There were some humorous moments, and the ending was not entirely expected. A simple four- or five-star rating system doesn't really cut it for me: movies must be taken in context. The "Scream" movies, for example, are among the best in their niche, while certainly NOT the best in the "all-movies" basket. Of teen-highschool-cheerleader-moral-dilemma films, this one rates four out of five. I found myself wishing, often, that they never tried to get serious about the star (Kirsten Dunst) love-interests OR the underprivileged inner-city cheerleader competitors. I found myself wishing said inner-city cheerleaders would just kick the crap out of Dunst and her palefaced friends. On the other hand, I really liked the "cheerleader love song," and the competition provided the whole point of the film. It wasn't "Election," but it was mostly watchable.
Pair of red-shouldered hawks today in a tree on Skillman. Are they still mating? Guess it makes sense, depending on gestation period... Noticeably more traffic an hour later than my usual time on my route...
Legs tired... must... rest...
Thursday, February 15, 2001
650.5.
Shamelessly took the car in yesterday, because otherwise I wouldn't've come in at all. That was an amazing cold: hit like a ton'o'bricks Tuesday; I slept pretty much straight from 2pm to 7am Tuesday/wednesday, and again slept quite a bit wednesday afternoon/evening, and it's all but gone today. Still feel some effects, but felt well enough to bike in to work, and that's saying something.
Got pictures from earlier photo-ride, so anyone crazy enough to read this will be able to see some of what I'm talking about. My usual thumbnail grid - for a brief description of an image, hover over a thumbnail with the mouse pointer. Think I'll add a(n image-)map and other navigation later.
Surprised what appeared to be a duck and a pheasant taking a bath together in the roadside ditch this morning -- and they surprised me, too! Flew straight up and across about 6 ft in front of me. I guess if they mate, you get a phuck. <groan>
Shamelessly took the car in yesterday, because otherwise I wouldn't've come in at all. That was an amazing cold: hit like a ton'o'bricks Tuesday; I slept pretty much straight from 2pm to 7am Tuesday/wednesday, and again slept quite a bit wednesday afternoon/evening, and it's all but gone today. Still feel some effects, but felt well enough to bike in to work, and that's saying something.
Got pictures from earlier photo-ride, so anyone crazy enough to read this will be able to see some of what I'm talking about. My usual thumbnail grid - for a brief description of an image, hover over a thumbnail with the mouse pointer. Think I'll add a(n image-)map and other navigation later.
Surprised what appeared to be a duck and a pheasant taking a bath together in the roadside ditch this morning -- and they surprised me, too! Flew straight up and across about 6 ft in front of me. I guess if they mate, you get a phuck. <groan>
Tuesday, February 13, 2001
642.9.
Snow on Sonoma Mountain last night and this morning! They got 3.5" up in Ukiah - most since like 1922. Estimate the snow line at 1000' or lower, though the local newspaper says 1500. Maybe the base of the mountain is already at 500, 600'.
I think I may be getting another cold. Really hackin' and wheezin' this morning, after not enough sleep...
Weird movie "Jupiter's Wife" last night, about this NYC homeless woman, and this filmmaker guy who got to know her and started to track down her history. Interesting partly because she was at one time somewhat in the public eye, so he was able to find TV and newsreel footage from her earlier life (e.g. as the first female horse-drawn-carriage driver in Central Park), and piece together some of it. *** out of *****, because she's pretty annoying in her current state (and so's the producer/narrator), but it was thought-provoking... And at least partly confirmed something I always suspected - that the ranting of the homeless is based on real people and events; they mythologize their lives. And that irksome little knowing "mystic" smile while one spouts apparent gibberish, is indeed knowing, but it's no big cosmic mystery, just their everyday crap, twisted via aliasing and anthropomorphism. Gotta tell ya, I've had to deal with crazies in the street before; this filmmaker found a rare harmless one, and thus (I think) got a pretty inaccurate portrait of homelessness in general.
Funny though, in a later "True Hollywood Story" on Mackenzie Phillips, her dad "Papa" John Phillips, had the exact same post-too-much-LSD ramble and mumble...
So from my night of video and TV viewing, I have no more sympathy than before for (a) the crazy homeless or (b) the crazy rich.
Man. Feeling crappier by the minute here. Well, I'm already here, and not much difference between bike ride home now and bike ride home eight hours hence.
Snow on Sonoma Mountain last night and this morning! They got 3.5" up in Ukiah - most since like 1922. Estimate the snow line at 1000' or lower, though the local newspaper says 1500. Maybe the base of the mountain is already at 500, 600'.
I think I may be getting another cold. Really hackin' and wheezin' this morning, after not enough sleep...
Weird movie "Jupiter's Wife" last night, about this NYC homeless woman, and this filmmaker guy who got to know her and started to track down her history. Interesting partly because she was at one time somewhat in the public eye, so he was able to find TV and newsreel footage from her earlier life (e.g. as the first female horse-drawn-carriage driver in Central Park), and piece together some of it. *** out of *****, because she's pretty annoying in her current state (and so's the producer/narrator), but it was thought-provoking... And at least partly confirmed something I always suspected - that the ranting of the homeless is based on real people and events; they mythologize their lives. And that irksome little knowing "mystic" smile while one spouts apparent gibberish, is indeed knowing, but it's no big cosmic mystery, just their everyday crap, twisted via aliasing and anthropomorphism. Gotta tell ya, I've had to deal with crazies in the street before; this filmmaker found a rare harmless one, and thus (I think) got a pretty inaccurate portrait of homelessness in general.
Funny though, in a later "True Hollywood Story" on Mackenzie Phillips, her dad "Papa" John Phillips, had the exact same post-too-much-LSD ramble and mumble...
So from my night of video and TV viewing, I have no more sympathy than before for (a) the crazy homeless or (b) the crazy rich.
Man. Feeling crappier by the minute here. Well, I'm already here, and not much difference between bike ride home now and bike ride home eight hours hence.
Monday, February 12, 2001
635.3.
Clothing was indeed still damp. Rode into town Friday for "beers" with ex-coworkers. Intermittent sprinkles as I explored beyond the new bike path (which is great for avoiding K-Mart and the McDowell/Washington traffic, but is not clearly marked where it turns off the erstwhile maintenance road, which becomes a rut next to a creek before fizzling out altogether), hefted the bike and myself over the fence, and tried generally to get to the downtown bike shop without being on major vehicle routes.
Got a rear fender, which is not noticeable except for the fact that I now have no Team Brown racing stripe up my back. And now of course I'm noticing the spray from the FRONT wheel.
Still had an hour to kill, so went to Red Devil Records, where the guy graciously (but nervously) allowed me to bring the bike inside while I browsed. However, he's got this near-life-size cardboard stand-up of Blondie, which he says is worth $500, but he props right near the front door. My rear tire accidentally touched it at one point. I felt very bad about it, and you shouldn't have a bike in a record shop, etc., but jeeze, I wouldn't prop anything that valuable right by the front door... I mean, knowing how clumsy people are (even without bikes), and knowing that in a good storm the wind could blow the rain right in there, I'd put it at the back.
I never liked Blondie much. Mostly image, not much ground (though perhaps some wind, haw haw) broken there (as compared to others of the mid-70s NY punk era).
Understand, I really like the store and the guy is cool. He knows my tastes somewhat, and has cogent recommendations for me that are often right on target. I consider it worthwhile to pay retail prices SOMETIMES for (a) supporting a cool local business, and (b) that personal touch. He also knows a bit of what I already have, thus almost talked me out of inadvertently buying a second copy of "No Teaser" (12th of the great "Teen Shutdown" series...), which, when I got home I found that I indeed already had it.
Anyway, got a boot of the Jam "BBC sessions" - second Jam bootleg, but really how can you have too much of this great neo-Mod band? Right when the Who were starting to suck, along comes the Jam with some great great albums (recommended: "The Gift" and "Setting Sons," though all are pretty good).
Rain off and on all weekend, but this morning I somehow again dodged a soaking. It's gonna get me good at some point here.
Hmm, best get to shower/coffee/work.
Clothing was indeed still damp. Rode into town Friday for "beers" with ex-coworkers. Intermittent sprinkles as I explored beyond the new bike path (which is great for avoiding K-Mart and the McDowell/Washington traffic, but is not clearly marked where it turns off the erstwhile maintenance road, which becomes a rut next to a creek before fizzling out altogether), hefted the bike and myself over the fence, and tried generally to get to the downtown bike shop without being on major vehicle routes.
Got a rear fender, which is not noticeable except for the fact that I now have no Team Brown racing stripe up my back. And now of course I'm noticing the spray from the FRONT wheel.
Still had an hour to kill, so went to Red Devil Records, where the guy graciously (but nervously) allowed me to bring the bike inside while I browsed. However, he's got this near-life-size cardboard stand-up of Blondie, which he says is worth $500, but he props right near the front door. My rear tire accidentally touched it at one point. I felt very bad about it, and you shouldn't have a bike in a record shop, etc., but jeeze, I wouldn't prop anything that valuable right by the front door... I mean, knowing how clumsy people are (even without bikes), and knowing that in a good storm the wind could blow the rain right in there, I'd put it at the back.
I never liked Blondie much. Mostly image, not much ground (though perhaps some wind, haw haw) broken there (as compared to others of the mid-70s NY punk era).
Understand, I really like the store and the guy is cool. He knows my tastes somewhat, and has cogent recommendations for me that are often right on target. I consider it worthwhile to pay retail prices SOMETIMES for (a) supporting a cool local business, and (b) that personal touch. He also knows a bit of what I already have, thus almost talked me out of inadvertently buying a second copy of "No Teaser" (12th of the great "Teen Shutdown" series...), which, when I got home I found that I indeed already had it.
Anyway, got a boot of the Jam "BBC sessions" - second Jam bootleg, but really how can you have too much of this great neo-Mod band? Right when the Who were starting to suck, along comes the Jam with some great great albums (recommended: "The Gift" and "Setting Sons," though all are pretty good).
Rain off and on all weekend, but this morning I somehow again dodged a soaking. It's gonna get me good at some point here.
Hmm, best get to shower/coffee/work.
Friday, February 09, 2001
625.5.
"It's all too beautiful..." running through my head. What song is that? I'm thinking the Faces' "Itchykoo Park," but doesn't sound right.
Rain, as expected, but not too bad. I really need to get a rear fender - every time I go through a puddle, butt-debris. All clothing drying in the locker, prolly still be damp for the ride home. It doesn't much matter if it's actually raining (barring downpours) or just wet on the ground - I still get about the same amount of wet.
Like a postal worker, I must make my appointed round-trip. It would be nice to be better armed, though.
Oddly, the light of cold (& wet) reason this morning sort of illuminates the vehicle debacle. There's no getting around the fact that it just needs to be done, and it's not really like it's gonna break me. Good things will happen sometime later. If I'm going to take a certain delight in voluntary hardships, might as well lay back and enjoy the involuntary ones!
One thing nice, it hasn't led to heavy drinking, and it seems I've finally made the same night-before/morning-after connection with drinking that I made some ten years ago with cocaine.
It's not like I ever thought of drinking/drugs as a "solution" or an "escape" re problems. It was just a fully-conditioned reaction to them. Bummed? Drink! Like hitting my knee with a hammer. As it happened, I had pretty much the same reflex for happiness, boredom, payday, and just about any other emotion or situation. I can't believe that I ever took hangovers as a matter of course, though. The drinking (or drugging) itself was pleasant enough for the first hour or two, but it not only tended to turn sour before the evening was up, it would leave a sour taste in my mouth for at least a day following, and leave my brain fuzzy for as much as a week.
Now there's no excuse for my fuzzy brain, but at least I'm not actively adding to the fuzziness. After all, "Fur is Murder."
I think I'm finally seeing some weight loss, some slight reduction in flab. Though biking is my only exercise right now, so I don't really expect to get washboard abs or anything, I do expect, from the non-drinking and 40 miles a week of biking, a certain slimming effect. It's nice to see that happening, even if it is only imaginary.
It's easier to have a good self-image when there's less "self" to get your mind around.
Back to the quill and papyrus, then...
"It's all too beautiful..." running through my head. What song is that? I'm thinking the Faces' "Itchykoo Park," but doesn't sound right.
Rain, as expected, but not too bad. I really need to get a rear fender - every time I go through a puddle, butt-debris. All clothing drying in the locker, prolly still be damp for the ride home. It doesn't much matter if it's actually raining (barring downpours) or just wet on the ground - I still get about the same amount of wet.
Like a postal worker, I must make my appointed round-trip. It would be nice to be better armed, though.
Oddly, the light of cold (& wet) reason this morning sort of illuminates the vehicle debacle. There's no getting around the fact that it just needs to be done, and it's not really like it's gonna break me. Good things will happen sometime later. If I'm going to take a certain delight in voluntary hardships, might as well lay back and enjoy the involuntary ones!
One thing nice, it hasn't led to heavy drinking, and it seems I've finally made the same night-before/morning-after connection with drinking that I made some ten years ago with cocaine.
It's not like I ever thought of drinking/drugs as a "solution" or an "escape" re problems. It was just a fully-conditioned reaction to them. Bummed? Drink! Like hitting my knee with a hammer. As it happened, I had pretty much the same reflex for happiness, boredom, payday, and just about any other emotion or situation. I can't believe that I ever took hangovers as a matter of course, though. The drinking (or drugging) itself was pleasant enough for the first hour or two, but it not only tended to turn sour before the evening was up, it would leave a sour taste in my mouth for at least a day following, and leave my brain fuzzy for as much as a week.
Now there's no excuse for my fuzzy brain, but at least I'm not actively adding to the fuzziness. After all, "Fur is Murder."
I think I'm finally seeing some weight loss, some slight reduction in flab. Though biking is my only exercise right now, so I don't really expect to get washboard abs or anything, I do expect, from the non-drinking and 40 miles a week of biking, a certain slimming effect. It's nice to see that happening, even if it is only imaginary.
It's easier to have a good self-image when there's less "self" to get your mind around.
Back to the quill and papyrus, then...
Thursday, February 08, 2001
621.8.
Does anyone even read these stupid things?
Head gasket. $1500 - $2000, or more once they get it open. I guess I expected this, but I'm bummed nonetheless. This on top of recent housing rejection and continuing uncertainty, wimpy tax refunds (note: after 10% deduction into 401k AND $100 extra tax every paycheck), general life changes, and seemingly a million upcoming expenses, and wanting to have a worthy honeymoon, a dreamy camping vacation through all of our favorite desert lands and some new ones. It all costs money; money that I'm watching pour out of my bank accoutn before my eyes, a flow I can't staunch.
Bike shop *just happens* to be closed for the weekend - was hoping to take it in for maintenance, perhaps preventing disability of my only current mode of transpo.
When it rains it pours. Expect now for the real bad weather to start, jah? Or an injury that removes the biking option altogether.
At the ripe old age of 43, I'm just now starting to fully understand that saying, "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger" (or something like that). I've always relished hardships (when they weren't TOO hard), when I've undergone them voluntarily. As long as the car sat in the driveway, an unknown, it was my own glib choice to do the bike-exclusive commute. And I was saving money - enough to be ready to pounce on a new home, if something good turned up. Enough to buy a new car and not sweat it too much. Enough to weather a month or two of unemployment. Enough, at least, to do one of those things.
Now that the car is in the shop and I know it's a BIG expense, and it's no longer a happy little "voluntary" thing, the bike ride is just a way of getting to work, isn't it.
And I just don't understand what I could have done differently, really, to have avoided this. The temp gauge was never pegged in the red, it was just (apparently) running very warm. They "fixed" an overheating problem in September 99 - so why did this come up again so badly?
Pedal on, dude. It must be done, and it will make me stronger, and this is just a setback, albeit a large one. And hey, I was ahead there for a month or two - I actually HAVE the money to fix the car; this has almost never been the case with prevous car trouble.
But I'm mighty tired of the feeling of dark, dark despair, not getting what we want and getting what we don't want.
It certainly helps to have Terrie with me through stuff like this. I honestly cannot imagine life without her.
Does anyone even read these stupid things?
Head gasket. $1500 - $2000, or more once they get it open. I guess I expected this, but I'm bummed nonetheless. This on top of recent housing rejection and continuing uncertainty, wimpy tax refunds (note: after 10% deduction into 401k AND $100 extra tax every paycheck), general life changes, and seemingly a million upcoming expenses, and wanting to have a worthy honeymoon, a dreamy camping vacation through all of our favorite desert lands and some new ones. It all costs money; money that I'm watching pour out of my bank accoutn before my eyes, a flow I can't staunch.
Bike shop *just happens* to be closed for the weekend - was hoping to take it in for maintenance, perhaps preventing disability of my only current mode of transpo.
When it rains it pours. Expect now for the real bad weather to start, jah? Or an injury that removes the biking option altogether.
At the ripe old age of 43, I'm just now starting to fully understand that saying, "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger" (or something like that). I've always relished hardships (when they weren't TOO hard), when I've undergone them voluntarily. As long as the car sat in the driveway, an unknown, it was my own glib choice to do the bike-exclusive commute. And I was saving money - enough to be ready to pounce on a new home, if something good turned up. Enough to buy a new car and not sweat it too much. Enough to weather a month or two of unemployment. Enough, at least, to do one of those things.
Now that the car is in the shop and I know it's a BIG expense, and it's no longer a happy little "voluntary" thing, the bike ride is just a way of getting to work, isn't it.
And I just don't understand what I could have done differently, really, to have avoided this. The temp gauge was never pegged in the red, it was just (apparently) running very warm. They "fixed" an overheating problem in September 99 - so why did this come up again so badly?
Pedal on, dude. It must be done, and it will make me stronger, and this is just a setback, albeit a large one. And hey, I was ahead there for a month or two - I actually HAVE the money to fix the car; this has almost never been the case with prevous car trouble.
But I'm mighty tired of the feeling of dark, dark despair, not getting what we want and getting what we don't want.
It certainly helps to have Terrie with me through stuff like this. I honestly cannot imagine life without her.
617.9.
Well, dropped off the car. I have a bad feeling that this is gonna kill the savings, but it must be done. Poor ol' Mustang, I don't know how much of its current troubles are the fault of Ford, and how much are the fault of Blake's Auto Body (who attached a clip from another Mustang when this one was "totalled"). One thing that's a little annoying, I had it in to Dave's about 6 months ago for an overheating problem, and now it was overheating again, and finally (perhaps) blew a head gasket. Aren't they supposed to fix things more or less permanently, when they fix things? Not in today's customer-service-oriented world. The customer can suck lemons.
This morning was of the type I've been meaning to photograph, frost on the ground and a mellow sunrise. But though I had the camera, didn't have the heart for it.
From Dave's, I took the Lohrman-Magnolia-Marshall-Skillman route. Not very pleasant once you cross Petaluma Blvd, but other than that, not bad. No big uphills, a couple of "nice" (but not in low 30s/high 20s!) downhills.
Liking my job -- I'm finally busy -- but starting to actively hate the company. They keep having these mandatory meetings, and the meetings almost always turn out to be pointless, at least to me, the lowly drone. Latest is a mandatory quarterly meeting, 8am to 8pm, in Burlingame (twelve-hour day plus an hour and a half commute each way), with a bloody DRESS code - no jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes. This kind of stuff is WHY I'M NOT A SALES PERSON.
No other place I've worked has created such hardships for its (development- and engineering-type) employees. No other place I've *heard of* has done so.
Meanwhile, there are several deadlines looming.
Granted, the annual meeting is a "treat," and I'm sure "they" feel we owe them bigtime for that.
I would only object a little IF there was a solid reason for me to be there in person - and maybe there is - but if past experience serves, I could as well be in Katmandu and get exactly the same value from it.
Oh well. They pay me, I do what they say. To the showers....
Well, dropped off the car. I have a bad feeling that this is gonna kill the savings, but it must be done. Poor ol' Mustang, I don't know how much of its current troubles are the fault of Ford, and how much are the fault of Blake's Auto Body (who attached a clip from another Mustang when this one was "totalled"). One thing that's a little annoying, I had it in to Dave's about 6 months ago for an overheating problem, and now it was overheating again, and finally (perhaps) blew a head gasket. Aren't they supposed to fix things more or less permanently, when they fix things? Not in today's customer-service-oriented world. The customer can suck lemons.
This morning was of the type I've been meaning to photograph, frost on the ground and a mellow sunrise. But though I had the camera, didn't have the heart for it.
From Dave's, I took the Lohrman-Magnolia-Marshall-Skillman route. Not very pleasant once you cross Petaluma Blvd, but other than that, not bad. No big uphills, a couple of "nice" (but not in low 30s/high 20s!) downhills.
Liking my job -- I'm finally busy -- but starting to actively hate the company. They keep having these mandatory meetings, and the meetings almost always turn out to be pointless, at least to me, the lowly drone. Latest is a mandatory quarterly meeting, 8am to 8pm, in Burlingame (twelve-hour day plus an hour and a half commute each way), with a bloody DRESS code - no jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes. This kind of stuff is WHY I'M NOT A SALES PERSON.
No other place I've worked has created such hardships for its (development- and engineering-type) employees. No other place I've *heard of* has done so.
Meanwhile, there are several deadlines looming.
Granted, the annual meeting is a "treat," and I'm sure "they" feel we owe them bigtime for that.
I would only object a little IF there was a solid reason for me to be there in person - and maybe there is - but if past experience serves, I could as well be in Katmandu and get exactly the same value from it.
Oh well. They pay me, I do what they say. To the showers....
Wednesday, February 07, 2001
610.4.
Late start. Chilly but still. Wind last night was pretty annoying - I'd like to say I dislike it more than rain, but in the midst of it, rain is worse. Worst of all, I guess, would be windy rain in the dark.
Vulture atop a telephone pole, head uplifted (but wings not spread), looking towards the sun. I've gained a lot more respect for vultures in the past few years. They're actually pretty majestic creatures (and the largest birds we typically see hereabouts).
Car goes into the shop tomorrow. Think I can keep riding most days even with the car available. The tough ones are when I'm late, when it's cold, and when it's rainy. Rain is the only one that really should stop me...
Late start. Chilly but still. Wind last night was pretty annoying - I'd like to say I dislike it more than rain, but in the midst of it, rain is worse. Worst of all, I guess, would be windy rain in the dark
Vulture atop a telephone pole, head uplifted (but wings not spread), looking towards the sun. I've gained a lot more respect for vultures in the past few years. They're actually pretty majestic creatures (and the largest birds we typically see hereabouts).
Car goes into the shop tomorrow. Think I can keep riding most days even with the car available. The tough ones are when I'm late, when it's cold, and when it's rainy. Rain is the only one that really should stop me...
Tuesday, February 06, 2001
602.8.
Breeze picking up as promised in weather reports, probably about 40 degrees, just before sunrise. No frost. Geese and vultures out in force this a.m. Pair of black and white goats on Fair Ave. Oddly, no barking dogs today.
I hate when someone's walking in the same direction as me on the overpass. They don't hear me coming though I whistle a merry tune loudly as I approach. Can't really go off the curb around them because the road traffic is coming towards me (and the curb's pretty high, so I'm committed to facing them past the onramp on the other side). If she'd suck it up and plaster herself against the fence, I could go past safely and continue on my way. But NOOO, she's taking every inch of the sidewalk with her massive bulk, trundling along there at .31415 mph... And of course if I get OFF the bike to walk it past her, I'm a double-wide too.
Passed the fearsome 600... Not too bad... passed 500 on 1/18 - 20 days ago (so THAT's why I'm blogging this!). Avg 5 miles per day (haven't ridden weekends much since it's been my commute -- it's closer to 8 mpd if I only count the days I actually ride), not a big deal, but satisfying to have the numbers rolling consistently rather than in spurts of 15, 20, 25. Considering it took a couple of months to get to the initial 100, and from there to 200, etc. If I'm spending ANY time defending/justifying my mileage, it's really too much time, isn't it.
Breeze picking up as promised in weather reports, probably about 40 degrees, just before sunrise. No frost. Geese and vultures out in force this a.m. Pair of black and white goats on Fair Ave. Oddly, no barking dogs today.
I hate when someone's walking in the same direction as me on the overpass. They don't hear me coming though I whistle a merry tune loudly as I approach. Can't really go off the curb around them because the road traffic is coming towards me (and the curb's pretty high, so I'm committed to facing them past the onramp on the other side). If she'd suck it up and plaster herself against the fence, I could go past safely and continue on my way. But NOOO, she's taking every inch of the sidewalk with her massive bulk, trundling along there at .31415 mph... And of course if I get OFF the bike to walk it past her, I'm a double-wide too.
Passed the fearsome 600... Not too bad... passed 500 on 1/18 - 20 days ago (so THAT's why I'm blogging this!). Avg 5 miles per day (haven't ridden weekends much since it's been my commute -- it's closer to 8 mpd if I only count the days I actually ride), not a big deal, but satisfying to have the numbers rolling consistently rather than in spurts of 15, 20, 25. Considering it took a couple of months to get to the initial 100, and from there to 200, etc. If I'm spending ANY time defending/justifying my mileage, it's really too much time, isn't it.
Monday, February 05, 2001
599.1.
Remind me -- it's February, right? Once again, I rode home in a t-shirt, carrying two sweatshirts in the pack - figure it's close to 70 degrees out right now. Made the King hill in 6th gear -- usually, I wimp out about halfway up and get down to about 2nd for that last part.
I always try to take the long way when I start getting close to a mileage milestone (e.g. 600, tomorrow); whe I left work I was thinking I might do the full-on Pepper Road -> Spring Hill run, but then I just sorta automatically turned off Pepper onto King... It's a no-turning-back difference of like eight miles, so no small decision... Maybe tomorrow.
Remind me -- it's February, right? Once again, I rode home in a t-shirt, carrying two sweatshirts in the pack - figure it's close to 70 degrees out right now. Made the King hill in 6th gear -- usually, I wimp out about halfway up and get down to about 2nd for that last part.
I always try to take the long way when I start getting close to a mileage milestone (e.g. 600, tomorrow); whe I left work I was thinking I might do the full-on Pepper Road -> Spring Hill run, but then I just sorta automatically turned off Pepper onto King... It's a no-turning-back difference of like eight miles, so no small decision... Maybe tomorrow.
592.6.
Very foggy, enough so that the glasses were pretty much glazed over by the time I got to the downhill on Bailey, and I had to stop before heading into the 1/4-mile high-alert zone (going east on westbound Petaluma Blvd.), where the oncoming headlights would completely blind me...
"Chased" a pheasant for about 50 feet along a front yard on Skillman. Graceful as those guys look in flight, they're only slightly less clumsy than a quail, on foot.
Pleasant enough ride. Wonder how long I'll be able to keep doing this (i.e., if we're going to have to move to someplace thirty miles from work and the bike will sit rusting in the garage/backyard).
Lots of unknowns at this point -- that's just one of 'em.
Very foggy, enough so that the glasses were pretty much glazed over by the time I got to the downhill on Bailey, and I had to stop before heading into the 1/4-mile high-alert zone (going east on westbound Petaluma Blvd.), where the oncoming headlights would completely blind me...
"Chased" a pheasant for about 50 feet along a front yard on Skillman. Graceful as those guys look in flight, they're only slightly less clumsy than a quail, on foot.
Pleasant enough ride. Wonder how long I'll be able to keep doing this (i.e., if we're going to have to move to someplace thirty miles from work and the bike will sit rusting in the garage/backyard).
Lots of unknowns at this point -- that's just one of 'em.
Friday, February 02, 2001
Thursday, February 01, 2001
573.3.
Tuesday, I took 24 pictures on the ride home; will post them somewhere after developing. Nothing spectacular, but I tried to get a sequence of pix showing the entire ride from Rainsville, Liberty, Center, and King, and some of the critters I see every day. Not my normal ~3.9-mile ride - actually about 6 miles, and a lot more work when I stop every quarter mile (e.g. at the bottom of a hill when I had some momentum...) to take a picture. For whatever reason, couldn't post to blogger that day, but it got me to
577.4.
Finally broke the string yesterday and drove to work and back. Quite cold this morning and beautiful with frost on the grass, but too dark to get a picture on the ride in. I've been working 9+ hour days this week, working on other people's files and trying to get it done quickly so I don't get blamed if anything's late. Anyway, that's why I'm riding to work in the dark. I will get that frost-and-sunrise picture one of these mornings... I'd been figuring 20-30 minutes for the standard 3.9-mile ride; timed it today, not stopping anywhere but also not pushing it, at 23 minutes.
I unofficially consider some of this time to be part of my working hours. If I was an employer, I'd give people SOME credit for exercise time, maybe 30-40 minutes a day (ha! maybe 46 minutes precisely) , because it does make for good workers. I will stay and work 10, 11, 12 hours if I need to, but on a normal day, if I don't have crucial work to do, I consider seven-hours-plus-biking a pretty good day.
Tuesday, I took 24 pictures on the ride home; will post them somewhere after developing. Nothing spectacular, but I tried to get a sequence of pix showing the entire ride from Rainsville, Liberty, Center, and King, and some of the critters I see every day. Not my normal ~3.9-mile ride - actually about 6 miles, and a lot more work when I stop every quarter mile (e.g. at the bottom of a hill when I had some momentum...) to take a picture. For whatever reason, couldn't post to blogger that day, but it got me to
577.4.
Finally broke the string yesterday and drove to work and back. Quite cold this morning and beautiful with frost on the grass, but too dark to get a picture on the ride in. I've been working 9+ hour days this week, working on other people's files and trying to get it done quickly so I don't get blamed if anything's late.
I unofficially consider some of this time to be part of my working hours. If I was an employer, I'd give people SOME credit for exercise time, maybe 30-40 minutes a day (ha! maybe 46 minutes precisely) , because it does make for good workers. I will stay and work 10, 11, 12 hours if I need to, but on a normal day, if I don't have crucial work to do, I consider seven-hours-plus-biking a pretty good day.
Tuesday, January 30, 2001
567.2.
Early ride, crisp and clear (and dark!). A dog started to follow me on Fair road, right before the little down-and-up.
Barking dogs don't scare me. Silent dogs scare me, esp. when I can't quite make out the dog's shape, and can't really look back to get a closer look...
But whatever it was, I lost it on the downhill.
Need better lights - perhaps a helmet light would be enough, since I could aim it independently of steering... It would also provide more 'binocular' vision (hence, depth perception). Need to get the reflector back on, too, in case the taillight batteries die.
Started bringing the (non-digital) camera. Got a picture or two last night, will ride in a bit late one morning and try to catch some of that light. Maybe tomorrow.
Early ride, crisp and clear (and dark!). A dog started to follow me on Fair road, right before the little down-and-up.
Barking dogs don't scare me. Silent dogs scare me, esp. when I can't quite make out the dog's shape, and can't really look back to get a closer look...
But whatever it was, I lost it on the downhill.
Need better lights - perhaps a helmet light would be enough, since I could aim it independently of steering... It would also provide more 'binocular' vision (hence, depth perception). Need to get the reflector back on, too, in case the taillight batteries die.
Started bringing the (non-digital) camera. Got a picture or two last night, will ride in a bit late one morning and try to catch some of that light. Maybe tomorrow.
Monday, January 29, 2001
559.3.
Had planned to take the car in this morning, after checking the oil and water yesterday (they told me to check for milky oil, indicating water in the crankcase, and the oil didn't look milky to me), the car seemed to run okay. When I started it this morning (after loading the bike and rack onto the back), the car starts fine, but the gas pedal is at the floor with no effect on fuel delivery to the engine.
This just gets better and better.
Finally found out Friday that we didn't get the house we'd hoped for - major disappointment. Now we're forced to continue looking at places, which can be pretty depressing: $1500 for a house not much bigger than our current $900 rental.
Since we're about to put down another month's rent here, maybe I should just let the car sit for another month (or two, or three). I'm enjoying the daily bike rides, the weather hasn't been horrible, and I could make a little interest on the money I'll eventually spend on getting the car fixed.
Otherwise, a fine morning; low-lying Tule (too'lee) fog, no frost and no rain, and I got in just before sunrise, with peach-colored highlights low in the eastern sky...
Had planned to take the car in this morning, after checking the oil and water yesterday (they told me to check for milky oil, indicating water in the crankcase, and the oil didn't look milky to me), the car seemed to run okay. When I started it this morning (after loading the bike and rack onto the back), the car starts fine, but the gas pedal is at the floor with no effect on fuel delivery to the engine.
This just gets better and better.
Finally found out Friday that we didn't get the house we'd hoped for - major disappointment. Now we're forced to continue looking at places, which can be pretty depressing: $1500 for a house not much bigger than our current $900 rental.
Since we're about to put down another month's rent here, maybe I should just let the car sit for another month (or two, or three). I'm enjoying the daily bike rides, the weather hasn't been horrible, and I could make a little interest on the money I'll eventually spend on getting the car fixed.
Otherwise, a fine morning; low-lying Tule (too'lee) fog, no frost and no rain, and I got in just before sunrise, with peach-colored highlights low in the eastern sky...
Friday, January 26, 2001
551.7.
That was actually the eighth day in a row, today is the ninth. Taking car in on Monday. It was raining pretty hard this morning, but again caught a window of relative dryness, and got in to work well before 7.
Note to self: need rear fender to prevent unsightly butt debris. Really don't want to turn the bike into an RV, but in daily commuting, there are certain necessities, and only so much fits in my day pack. Have so far resisted saddlebags and the like...
Note 2 self: get replacement batteries for the taillight. It's been running for only maybe 12 hours total, but it would be better to have the batteries than not. (The headlight battery, I can charge every other day in the garage.)
That was actually the eighth day in a row, today is the ninth. Taking car in on Monday. It was raining pretty hard this morning, but again caught a window of relative dryness, and got in to work well before 7.
Note to self: need rear fender to prevent unsightly butt debris. Really don't want to turn the bike into an RV, but in daily commuting, there are certain necessities, and only so much fits in my day pack. Have so far resisted saddlebags and the like...
Note 2 self: get replacement batteries for the taillight. It's been running for only maybe 12 hours total, but it would be better to have the batteries than not. (The headlight battery, I can charge every other day in the garage.)
Seventh day in a row today riding the bike to work and back. Finally hit some
rain (earlier, we had some major downpouring and even hail, but I managed to hit
a window where it was little more than vertical mist). Mild rain is no big
deal, unless it's also dark and the cars have their lights on, which tends to
leave me blinded for moments in a fantasy world of floating jewelry unless I
remove my glasses (which I prefer not to do).
Closing in on 550 miles since I bought the bike in June - pretty major recent
escalation in weekly mileage, though, since the car hasn't been an option.
I am seeing some very slight physical benefits, finally, from this (in, uh,
combination with a month of not drinking 9 Pyramid Hefeweizens every other day
and eating significantly less meat).
I love the time on the way to work and back, even when it's dark, when I have
20-30 minutes to just pedal and zone out. I love seeing the same dogs running
along their fencelines and barking at me every day. I love seeing the
occasional hawk up close on a wire or soaring high above, the pheasants from the
pheasant farm, the horses and goats and cattle. I love the sunrise/sunset,
towering clouds or creeping fog, frost on the grass or just plain grass getting
greener thru the winter.
I love turning down a ride home on a day like today, and making it home soaked
and tired. I love not wimping out and getting in my car for the four-mile
commute. I love knowing in advance where the puddles and potholes will be on my
various routes.
I pack into my ear/neckwarmer, sweatshirt and gloves, sweatpants, helmet, and
backpack, and I'm snug and self-contained. Got my clever blinky LED taillight
and 10-watt headlight always on. The cars are the enemy, but I know how to best
avoid them.
More than when I was riding maybe twice a week, even when those were 20-mile
rides, this daily eight or so is a groove.
One of these days, I'll take the digital camera along and stop and take a
picture every quarter-mile or so, and post it on my site - hopefully I can catch
one of those frosty sunrise days.
Mental clarity really hasn't improved a lot, but I think there's a sort of
temporary discombobulation at breaking up the old routines and starting new
ones. I still tend to run out of mental energy when I don't get an
early-afternoon nap (which of course I usually don't). I notice much more that
I need that morning coffee. Mostly, I like when I realize at work that I've
already thought something through on the bike, or catch myself smiling for no
reason...
Arranged today to get the car fixed, but not all that enthused about its being
available to me again.
rain (earlier, we had some major downpouring and even hail, but I managed to hit
a window where it was little more than vertical mist). Mild rain is no big
deal, unless it's also dark and the cars have their lights on, which tends to
leave me blinded for moments in a fantasy world of floating jewelry unless I
remove my glasses (which I prefer not to do).
Closing in on 550 miles since I bought the bike in June - pretty major recent
escalation in weekly mileage, though, since the car hasn't been an option.
I am seeing some very slight physical benefits, finally, from this (in, uh,
combination with a month of not drinking 9 Pyramid Hefeweizens every other day
and eating significantly less meat).
I love the time on the way to work and back, even when it's dark, when I have
20-30 minutes to just pedal and zone out. I love seeing the same dogs running
along their fencelines and barking at me every day. I love seeing the
occasional hawk up close on a wire or soaring high above, the pheasants from the
pheasant farm, the horses and goats and cattle. I love the sunrise/sunset,
towering clouds or creeping fog, frost on the grass or just plain grass getting
greener thru the winter.
I love turning down a ride home on a day like today, and making it home soaked
and tired. I love not wimping out and getting in my car for the four-mile
commute. I love knowing in advance where the puddles and potholes will be on my
various routes.
I pack into my ear/neckwarmer, sweatshirt and gloves, sweatpants, helmet, and
backpack, and I'm snug and self-contained. Got my clever blinky LED taillight
and 10-watt headlight always on. The cars are the enemy, but I know how to best
avoid them.
More than when I was riding maybe twice a week, even when those were 20-mile
rides, this daily eight or so is a groove.
One of these days, I'll take the digital camera along and stop and take a
picture every quarter-mile or so, and post it on my site - hopefully I can catch
one of those frosty sunrise days.
Mental clarity really hasn't improved a lot, but I think there's a sort of
temporary discombobulation at breaking up the old routines and starting new
ones. I still tend to run out of mental energy when I don't get an
early-afternoon nap (which of course I usually don't). I notice much more that
I need that morning coffee. Mostly, I like when I realize at work that I've
already thought something through on the bike, or catch myself smiling for no
reason...
Arranged today to get the car fixed, but not all that enthused about its being
available to me again.
Thursday, January 25, 2001
544.2.
It's become pretty much a matter of course to get on the bike and go to work.
Issues arose at work yesterday, so I came in early today - before sunrise, at least. Riding home last night and riding in today, I thought about this.
I've run into this frequently in my "career" in the corporate world: In the heat of the moment, some people;s first reaction is to seek to fix blame, focusing on the problem rather than the solution. Thousands of pages of documentation, and three or four things missing or wrong suddenly make us incompetent.
Pretty early on, I started to basically ignore blame like this, choosing to focus on the solution. I may appear to not care about the problem, because indeed I don't. I don't care who's wrong or right, who blew it back in 1897. I want to arrive at the quickest and best solution, and allow us all to get on with our lives.
Nice bike rides today and yesterday; nothing much to say about 'em other than that. Looks like rain again today, but I beat it this morning...
It's become pretty much a matter of course to get on the bike and go to work.
Issues arose at work yesterday, so I came in early today - before sunrise, at least. Riding home last night and riding in today, I thought about this.
I've run into this frequently in my "career" in the corporate world: In the heat of the moment, some people;s first reaction is to seek to fix blame, focusing on the problem rather than the solution. Thousands of pages of documentation, and three or four things missing or wrong suddenly make us incompetent.
Pretty early on, I started to basically ignore blame like this, choosing to focus on the solution. I may appear to not care about the problem, because indeed I don't. I don't care who's wrong or right, who blew it back in 1897. I want to arrive at the quickest and best solution, and allow us all to get on with our lives.
Nice bike rides today and yesterday; nothing much to say about 'em other than that. Looks like rain again today, but I beat it this morning...
Tuesday, January 23, 2001
532.9.
The expected rain has arrived. Heavy at times today, but mild enough during the ride home. Better not to wear glasses, which get so covered wit hdroplets that when a car comes the other way with lights on I only see a million tiny stars. Will save my goodwill points for getting a ride home when it REALLY rains, meanwhile, I need the exercise.
The expected rain has arrived. Heavy at times today, but mild enough during the ride home. Better not to wear glasses, which get so covered wit hdroplets that when a car comes the other way with lights on I only see a million tiny stars. Will save my goodwill points for getting a ride home when it REALLY rains, meanwhile, I need the exercise.
529.0.
Rode in the dark today - rain forecast, figured I'd try to beat it, and get an early start at work. Very warm, so I think it probably will rain.
I think I'm almost MORE visible in the dark; the lights standing out more than in light or semi-darkness.
Not much of a view, though, except the 40-ft oval directly ahead.
Rode in the dark today - rain forecast, figured I'd try to beat it, and get an early start at work. Very warm, so I think it probably will rain.
I think I'm almost MORE visible in the dark; the lights standing out more than in light or semi-darkness.
Not much of a view, though, except the 40-ft oval directly ahead.
Monday, January 22, 2001
521.4.
Rain predicted for tomorrow and Friday. Today, fog! Visibility about 200 ft. Again, the lights prove a worthwhile investment.
Oriental couple walking along Skillman -- usually it's just the woman. Kids out waiting for the school bus. Pheasants (or something!) screaming off in the bushes to the side somewhere. Glasses get a little foggy, and outside of clothes wet. But mainly a pretty comfortable ride. Again, hills not as bad as they've been after a hiatus. Frost again on the grass.
Should find out in the next few days if this commute if gonna be replaced by the 10-mile one. Certainly not a bad thing, but there WILL be somewhat fewer route options (without considerably longer rides). If I can keep this more-frequent riding up, though, 20 miles/day won't be a big deal -- on the shortest route, there's only two hills, both long and gradual.
Rain predicted for tomorrow and Friday. Today, fog! Visibility about 200 ft. Again, the lights prove a worthwhile investment.
Oriental couple walking along Skillman -- usually it's just the woman. Kids out waiting for the school bus. Pheasants (or something!) screaming off in the bushes to the side somewhere. Glasses get a little foggy, and outside of clothes wet. But mainly a pretty comfortable ride. Again, hills not as bad as they've been after a hiatus. Frost again on the grass.
Should find out in the next few days if this commute if gonna be replaced by the 10-mile one. Certainly not a bad thing, but there WILL be somewhat fewer route options (without considerably longer rides). If I can keep this more-frequent riding up, though, 20 miles/day won't be a big deal -- on the shortest route, there's only two hills, both long and gradual.
Friday, January 19, 2001
517.7
No rain. A little earlier and warmer coming home; the hills nevertheless don't seem as difficult today.
A single hawk in a tree on Rainsville, looking exactly like the Maltese Falcon. Too far away and too much shade to tell what kind, but from the size, a redtail or red-shouldered. Bunches of small birds congregate on certain wires, their afternoon social.
Dogs all along the way, protecting their turf, very brave behind their fences, can't quite keep up with me.
King Road, a fine ride down, and only one car passing on the way up.
Baby llama at the end of King is getting bigger. Grey with black spots - pretty unusual llama coloring.
No rain. A little earlier and warmer coming home; the hills nevertheless don't seem as difficult today.
A single hawk in a tree on Rainsville, looking exactly like the Maltese Falcon. Too far away and too much shade to tell what kind, but from the size, a redtail or red-shouldered. Bunches of small birds congregate on certain wires, their afternoon social.
Dogs all along the way, protecting their turf, very brave behind their fences, can't quite keep up with me.
King Road, a fine ride down, and only one car passing on the way up.
Baby llama at the end of King is getting bigger. Grey with black spots - pretty unusual llama coloring.
511.2.
Mindless, uneventful rides home and back to work. You get in a rhythm... Warmer this morning - first without frost in a while - probably means rain is coming. Warm is good, though, for the power usage and for my bike rides.
When I'm driving, I go as far as possible out of the lane to stay clear of bikes and peds - you never know if one is going to take a fall into your path. Wish others would also drive this way - it's a little unnerving to have someone pass two feet away from you at 50mph. Granted, there may be oncoming traffic, etc., but if there's room, jeeze, why not use it?
Then there are those who creep along behind when there's room to get by. Drive Briskly, folks! Not aggressively, just... you want to get where you're going in the most efficient way possible. There's no need to crawl behind me - I'm already moving over as far as I can on the shoulder, but it's not always practical to stay there forever!
Mindless, uneventful rides home and back to work. You get in a rhythm... Warmer this morning - first without frost in a while - probably means rain is coming. Warm is good, though, for the power usage and for my bike rides.
When I'm driving, I go as far as possible out of the lane to stay clear of bikes and peds - you never know if one is going to take a fall into your path. Wish others would also drive this way - it's a little unnerving to have someone pass two feet away from you at 50mph. Granted, there may be oncoming traffic, etc., but if there's room, jeeze, why not use it?
Then there are those who creep along behind when there's room to get by. Drive Briskly, folks! Not aggressively, just... you want to get where you're going in the most efficient way possible. There's no need to crawl behind me - I'm already moving over as far as I can on the shoulder, but it's not always practical to stay there forever!
Thursday, January 18, 2001
503.0.
The Fair Ave. route is .1 mile shorter than the Rainsville route, map indications to the contrary. Go figger!
Frost everywhere this morning, scattered low-lying fog, and a big fat orange sun just peeking out at 7 or so.
Frightened a pair of pheasants, who in turn frightened me, this morning - don't know if they're native (I don't see pheasants elsewhere), but there's a pheasant farm on Skillman so they're pretty common around there. They're beautiful birds. Perhaps we should try pheasant sometime. Bet it tastes like chicken.
Construction-type guy in a pickup yelled something at me as I crossed in front of them - I think something derogatory related to my manhood and my taillight - like because I have a blinking LED taillight on my bike I am somehow less manly than if I didn't. Duh, the fact that you NOTICE it means you SAW me, which means it's doing EXACTLY what I got it for, which means I'm SMART. Or something. People who feel the need to put others down - such an obvious ploy to mask insecurities on the home front.
Oh well. No skin off my back, just a bit of morning wierdness.
The Fair Ave. route is .1 mile shorter than the Rainsville route, map indications to the contrary. Go figger!
Frost everywhere this morning, scattered low-lying fog, and a big fat orange sun just peeking out at 7 or so.
Frightened a pair of pheasants, who in turn frightened me, this morning - don't know if they're native (I don't see pheasants elsewhere), but there's a pheasant farm on Skillman so they're pretty common around there. They're beautiful birds. Perhaps we should try pheasant sometime. Bet it tastes like chicken.
Construction-type guy in a pickup yelled something at me as I crossed in front of them - I think something derogatory related to my manhood and my taillight - like because I have a blinking LED taillight on my bike I am somehow less manly than if I didn't. Duh, the fact that you NOTICE it means you SAW me, which means it's doing EXACTLY what I got it for, which means I'm SMART. Or something. People who feel the need to put others down - such an obvious ploy to mask insecurities on the home front.
Oh well. No skin off my back, just a bit of morning wierdness.
Wednesday, January 17, 2001
499.1.
King Road again. Nice fish-scaley sunset. Tempted to go a half-mile up the road just to have the round trip get me to 500, but I'll get it tomorrow.
Another great day, though, and two in a row with the all-bike commute.
I can sorta justify eating at Burger Thing or Gag in the Bag from time to time, if I'm doing all this sweating to and from work...
King Road again. Nice fish-scaley sunset. Tempted to go a half-mile up the road just to have the round trip get me to 500, but I'll get it tomorrow.
Another great day, though, and two in a row with the all-bike commute.
I can sorta justify eating at Burger Thing or Gag in the Bag from time to time, if I'm doing all this sweating to and from work...
492.4.
Again chilly, but sunny. Looking at a map, the Liberty Rd route is shorter than the Fair Ave., but it definitely feels longer - that slow climb on liberty is worse than the quick one(s) on Fair.
Well, okay - it's four miles (from odometer readings here); I thought the other was 3.5, but we'll see tomorrow.
Nothing much to report today, just another nice ride. Legs feeling the renewed activity.
I actually like the fact that my car is not currently driveable, and I'm forced to ride the bike. "Lard" knows I need the exercise, but also I have that half-hour of "meditation" on the way to work. I'm rarely thinking of anything specific while riding, other than the focus on the road ahead for debris, watching the wires and posts for raptors, listening for cars coming up behind. I'm in this peculiar receptive "intake" mode. I don't really think about the cold (now that I've got my cold-weather bikewear sort of assembled, and so not emulating Curly of the Three Stooges on downhills over 15mph "WOOP woop woop woop woop...")
And I'm more or less ready for work when I get there (after showering, getting my latte, and perhaps shooting a few racks of pool with Toby)...
Again chilly, but sunny. Looking at a map, the Liberty Rd route is shorter than the Fair Ave., but it definitely feels longer - that slow climb on liberty is worse than the quick one(s) on Fair.
Well, okay - it's four miles (from odometer readings here); I thought the other was 3.5, but we'll see tomorrow.
Nothing much to report today, just another nice ride. Legs feeling the renewed activity.
I actually like the fact that my car is not currently driveable, and I'm forced to ride the bike. "Lard" knows I need the exercise, but also I have that half-hour of "meditation" on the way to work. I'm rarely thinking of anything specific while riding, other than the focus on the road ahead for debris, watching the wires and posts for raptors, listening for cars coming up behind. I'm in this peculiar receptive "intake" mode. I don't really think about the cold (now that I've got my cold-weather bikewear sort of assembled, and so not emulating Curly of the Three Stooges on downhills over 15mph "WOOP woop woop woop woop...")
And I'm more or less ready for work when I get there (after showering, getting my latte, and perhaps shooting a few racks of pool with Toby)...
Tuesday, January 16, 2001
488.4 A bt longer ride home. It's so crisp and clear out! Winter (when it's not raining) is actually a really nice time to ride. Sun went down on my way home, those few moments of Golden light hitting the newly-green fields. King Road hill not too bad a climb, and a nice ride down, cooling the sweat. Cattle are complaining everywhere - who knows why? They're not destined for the slaughterhouse, they live on some of the most costly real estate in the world, and that grass looks pretty darn juicy.
481.9 Well, I'm a blithering idjit with cars, so may be riding the bike more for a while here.
Chilly this morning, but I bundled up pretty good, so... pretty much a standard ride in to work. Had the misfortune to be riding right during the school bus run up Skillman, so kept catching up to the stopped bus, and eating a bit of exhaust each time. Yech.
Chilly this morning, but I bundled up pretty good, so... pretty much a standard ride in to work. Had the misfortune to be riding right during the school bus run up Skillman, so kept catching up to the stopped bus, and eating a bit of exhaust each time. Yech.
Wednesday, December 27, 2000
18.5 miles, only 4 or 5 raptors - weird!
I guess I was a little earlier this morning, but I covered much the same ground, and only saw 4 or 5 hawks. One, however, I startled from a fence on the downhill side of Walker Rd., and he flew along low and just ahead of me for about 100 ft before turning off. You don't get to see the top of a flying hawk often! It was big and dark brown, so could even be a golden eagle, but was probably a red-tail. Quite chilly this morning for here - sorry to everyone else in the country, for whom "chilly" is well below freezing, but it's all relative, yes?
A couple of nice stops - top of middle two rock one the way out, very crisp and clear. Walker Road, always a delight. My lane on Spring Hill Road coming back was closed, and in general there wasn't much traffic anyway - so pretty silent out there and the sun was just starting to warm things up.
The (mostly) Mexican workers at the duck farm are still on strike. I know they're paid minimum wage at best, and I'd like to see them win, but man they leave a lot of garbage, and they've got a little shantytown going (though of course it's good they have shelter for when it rains), and it's really pretty unpleasant, to ride by. Plus I have to slow down on that nice long downhill. I know, poor baby...
Almost did the entire final two rock hill without using brakes, till a car came up behind and honked as it was passing. So still haven't broken that 41mph barrier, but suspect I will this week. And then what? I don't think I want to even try for 45, let alone 50, not on THIS bike!
Well, felt I'd be lucky to do 10 miles today, but I managed almost double that, so am pretty pleased with my riding this week so far. I have a vague idea of getting past 500 on the odometer before starting work again - that doesn't look too difficult now, especially if I ride on through the weekend... But I may try to get an off-road day in here soon. The ultimate goal, someday, is to climb Big Rock Ridge without getting off and pushing.
Undecided, whether the headlight and taillight are helpful, but I leave them on, and it does give me a little more confidence that drivers do see me as they approach.
I guess I was a little earlier this morning, but I covered much the same ground, and only saw 4 or 5 hawks. One, however, I startled from a fence on the downhill side of Walker Rd., and he flew along low and just ahead of me for about 100 ft before turning off. You don't get to see the top of a flying hawk often! It was big and dark brown, so could even be a golden eagle, but was probably a red-tail. Quite chilly this morning for here - sorry to everyone else in the country, for whom "chilly" is well below freezing, but it's all relative, yes?
A couple of nice stops - top of middle two rock one the way out, very crisp and clear. Walker Road, always a delight. My lane on Spring Hill Road coming back was closed, and in general there wasn't much traffic anyway - so pretty silent out there and the sun was just starting to warm things up.
The (mostly) Mexican workers at the duck farm are still on strike. I know they're paid minimum wage at best, and I'd like to see them win, but man they leave a lot of garbage, and they've got a little shantytown going (though of course it's good they have shelter for when it rains), and it's really pretty unpleasant, to ride by. Plus I have to slow down on that nice long downhill. I know, poor baby...
Almost did the entire final two rock hill without using brakes, till a car came up behind and honked as it was passing. So still haven't broken that 41mph barrier, but suspect I will this week. And then what? I don't think I want to even try for 45, let alone 50, not on THIS bike!
Well, felt I'd be lucky to do 10 miles today, but I managed almost double that, so am pretty pleased with my riding this week so far. I have a vague idea of getting past 500 on the odometer before starting work again - that doesn't look too difficult now, especially if I ride on through the weekend... But I may try to get an off-road day in here soon. The ultimate goal, someday, is to climb Big Rock Ridge without getting off and pushing.
Undecided, whether the headlight and taillight are helpful, but I leave them on, and it does give me a little more confidence that drivers do see me as they approach.
Tuesday, December 26, 2000
24 miles, 26+ raptors!
Perhaps overdid it a bit today (you see here almost all of the riding I've done lately), but I have the week off, and I feel really guilty about not riding much, with perfectly decent weather. Indeed, on this bike, this is the longest ride I've done in one sitting.
The hawks were out in force! Several Kestrels, Red Tails (incl. a pair of 'em fighting), Red-Shouldereds (incl. a very agitated pair screaming at me), and one confirmed Northern Harrier. A couple of unidentified ones that seemed to be somewhere between the red-shouldered and the kestrel in size. One very large, all-white-breasted one that might've been a red tail morph, but I like to think was something more exotic. Probably, it's an overweight seagull.
The route was pretty great. I've done all parts of it before, but had never put together the whole loop in quite this way. Three major hills, and many minor ones. Unfortunately, they're working on Middle Two Rock Rd at the bottom where I usually get to go for the land speed record, so the record of 41mph stands -- for now. Kind of a disappointment to have to hit the brakes on that last downhill, and to be one mile short of 25 when I got home.
If it's true that hand size correlates to penis size, Greg Lemond must have a very small penis indeed, as the gloves HE calls "L/XL" are too small for my hands - and *I'm* certainly no porn star.
Hope I'm not too sore to ride again tomorrow - had hoped to get significant (for me) mileage this week. Guess I'd be happy with at least ten miles...
Perhaps overdid it a bit today (you see here almost all of the riding I've done lately), but I have the week off, and I feel really guilty about not riding much, with perfectly decent weather. Indeed, on this bike, this is the longest ride I've done in one sitting.
The hawks were out in force! Several Kestrels, Red Tails (incl. a pair of 'em fighting), Red-Shouldereds (incl. a very agitated pair screaming at me), and one confirmed Northern Harrier. A couple of unidentified ones that seemed to be somewhere between the red-shouldered and the kestrel in size. One very large, all-white-breasted one that might've been a red tail morph, but I like to think was something more exotic. Probably, it's an overweight seagull.
The route was pretty great. I've done all parts of it before, but had never put together the whole loop in quite this way. Three major hills, and many minor ones. Unfortunately, they're working on Middle Two Rock Rd at the bottom where I usually get to go for the land speed record, so the record of 41mph stands -- for now. Kind of a disappointment to have to hit the brakes on that last downhill, and to be one mile short of 25 when I got home.
If it's true that hand size correlates to penis size, Greg Lemond must have a very small penis indeed, as the gloves HE calls "L/XL" are too small for my hands - and *I'm* certainly no porn star.
Hope I'm not too sore to ride again tomorrow - had hoped to get significant (for me) mileage this week. Guess I'd be happy with at least ten miles...
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