I'm still out here. Somewhere. In the ether, maybe, but still here. Somewhere.
Maybe.
(I've busier over at Flickr [see link to right] of late. Go check it out.))
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Missed Opportunity/Mystery Ride
The pathway to Hades, they say, is constructed with bricks fashioned out of such things as "shoulda, coulda, woulda" and the like. I'm afraid that I'm guilty of firing my own gargantuan pile of pavers. Well, since this blog is austensibly cycling-related, I guess maybe I should say I'm hewing cobbles laced with the stench of brimstone. Yeah, whatever.
Several of us had made tentative plans to ride from Townsend, Tennessee (on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park) to Elkmont (inside said Nat'l Park) on Thursday with the expressed purpose of witnessing the magic of the fireflies. It turns out that, at this particular time of year, the fireflies that populate the Elkmont area tend to flash their lights in a synchronized pattern. It was first reported to a researcher in the 1970s, I believe, who studied the phenomenon. At first they thought that it happened only at Elkmont, but it has since been witnessed at other places.
But not by me, and certainly not on Thursday evening. I was a victim of weather forecasting. That's my story, and I'm not budging from it.
When I left work on Thursday the Nat'l Weather Service was calling for "Strong Storms" throughout the area. Thus, I bailed. It turns out that we all bailed except Gary S., who ended up going and of course never seeing a drop of rain. He did see some fireflies, though.
I'd thought of using the evening to go to Sundown in the City (a local summer outdoor concert series. The band this week was Uncle Earl, an all-female bluegrass band. I thought Mrs. Guy would enjoy it. Sadly, she had a bad headache. We stayed home instead. And never saw a drop of rain either.
On a side note, Uncle Earl is performing at Bonnaroo, as are several local (Knoxville) bands. My friend John B. will be playing with two of them (Angel and the Lovemongers, and the Westside Daredevils). Bonzer, fellows.
_______________________________________________________
I went for a ride today (Saturday, when I started this post). There was a ride starting at 9:00am starting not too far from my house. I got there at about 8:55am. They were already gone. (What the....?). I have never, ever been to a ride that even started on time, much less more than five minutes early. Yes, my watch is accurate. Very accurate (set to the National Institute of Standards and Technology atomic clock).
Rather than sulk about it and drag myself home to sit in a dejected heap on the sofa, I decided to head down toward downtown. I wanted to go to the Bike Zoo anyway, so I just parked there and headed out, knowing they'd be open when I got back.
I usually have some idea of where I'm going when I start a ride. I'll at least have a general route in mind. Not today. I just, well, headed out, letting the bike aim itself wherever my subconcious whim told it to. I've done this type of ride before, though usually with others along for the ride. We call them mystery rides.
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, OK."
I've been on some Magical Mystery Tours, and I've been on some Tragical Mystery Tours (AKA 'Tragical Misery Tours'). Today wasn't either end of that spectrum, really, but it was a fun ride. I just rode along finding roads I'd never been on before. Some I knew where they would come out, and some I didn't, though I recognized where I came out in all but one place.
All but one, did you catch that? It's important.
I was somewhere around the half-way point I was aiming for as far as mileage (I was hoping for 30 to 35). I was on a road I figure would come out in a certain place. But it didn't. "Hmm", I kept thinking, "maybe it just comes out further up than where I thought."
And then at some point I realized that the sun was in the wrong place for the direction I thought I was going. Hmm, indeed.
What to do? Well, I entertained the notion of continuing on until I eventually hit a road I knew, as I knew I was bounded by several main thoroughfares. Of course, I did realize at the same time that some of those bounding roads were quite a ways away from where I would really like to have ended up. "Hmm", I thought, as I kept riding along. Hmm, indeed.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a couple out working in their yard. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could tell me the best way to get to downtown Knoxville from here."
"Well," said the lady, "you could turn around, take the second left, and take it back to Chapman Highway."
"Or," said the gentleman, "you could turn around and just go straight and come out on John Sevier Highway."
"But whatever you do," she started, "I'm going to have to turn around," I finished for her.
"Yup."
Other pleasantries exchanged, et cetera...
"Thank you very much. Have a nice day."
And that's how a friendly couple out placing mulch kept me from ending up in Sevierville, a good 25-30 miles from where I needed to be (and in so doing prevented a Tragical Misery Tour, or at best a call to Mrs. Guy to drive an hour to come pick me up).
Several of us had made tentative plans to ride from Townsend, Tennessee (on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park) to Elkmont (inside said Nat'l Park) on Thursday with the expressed purpose of witnessing the magic of the fireflies. It turns out that, at this particular time of year, the fireflies that populate the Elkmont area tend to flash their lights in a synchronized pattern. It was first reported to a researcher in the 1970s, I believe, who studied the phenomenon. At first they thought that it happened only at Elkmont, but it has since been witnessed at other places.
But not by me, and certainly not on Thursday evening. I was a victim of weather forecasting. That's my story, and I'm not budging from it.
When I left work on Thursday the Nat'l Weather Service was calling for "Strong Storms" throughout the area. Thus, I bailed. It turns out that we all bailed except Gary S., who ended up going and of course never seeing a drop of rain. He did see some fireflies, though.
I'd thought of using the evening to go to Sundown in the City (a local summer outdoor concert series. The band this week was Uncle Earl, an all-female bluegrass band. I thought Mrs. Guy would enjoy it. Sadly, she had a bad headache. We stayed home instead. And never saw a drop of rain either.
On a side note, Uncle Earl is performing at Bonnaroo, as are several local (Knoxville) bands. My friend John B. will be playing with two of them (Angel and the Lovemongers, and the Westside Daredevils). Bonzer, fellows.
_______________________________________________________
I went for a ride today (Saturday, when I started this post). There was a ride starting at 9:00am starting not too far from my house. I got there at about 8:55am. They were already gone. (What the....?). I have never, ever been to a ride that even started on time, much less more than five minutes early. Yes, my watch is accurate. Very accurate (set to the National Institute of Standards and Technology atomic clock).
Rather than sulk about it and drag myself home to sit in a dejected heap on the sofa, I decided to head down toward downtown. I wanted to go to the Bike Zoo anyway, so I just parked there and headed out, knowing they'd be open when I got back.
I usually have some idea of where I'm going when I start a ride. I'll at least have a general route in mind. Not today. I just, well, headed out, letting the bike aim itself wherever my subconcious whim told it to. I've done this type of ride before, though usually with others along for the ride. We call them mystery rides.
"Where are we going?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, OK."
I've been on some Magical Mystery Tours, and I've been on some Tragical Mystery Tours (AKA 'Tragical Misery Tours'). Today wasn't either end of that spectrum, really, but it was a fun ride. I just rode along finding roads I'd never been on before. Some I knew where they would come out, and some I didn't, though I recognized where I came out in all but one place.
All but one, did you catch that? It's important.
I was somewhere around the half-way point I was aiming for as far as mileage (I was hoping for 30 to 35). I was on a road I figure would come out in a certain place. But it didn't. "Hmm", I kept thinking, "maybe it just comes out further up than where I thought."
And then at some point I realized that the sun was in the wrong place for the direction I thought I was going. Hmm, indeed.
What to do? Well, I entertained the notion of continuing on until I eventually hit a road I knew, as I knew I was bounded by several main thoroughfares. Of course, I did realize at the same time that some of those bounding roads were quite a ways away from where I would really like to have ended up. "Hmm", I thought, as I kept riding along. Hmm, indeed.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a couple out working in their yard. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could tell me the best way to get to downtown Knoxville from here."
"Well," said the lady, "you could turn around, take the second left, and take it back to Chapman Highway."
"Or," said the gentleman, "you could turn around and just go straight and come out on John Sevier Highway."
"But whatever you do," she started, "I'm going to have to turn around," I finished for her.
"Yup."
"Thank you very much. Have a nice day."
And that's how a friendly couple out placing mulch kept me from ending up in Sevierville, a good 25-30 miles from where I needed to be (and in so doing prevented a Tragical Misery Tour, or at best a call to Mrs. Guy to drive an hour to come pick me up).
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Catching Up After an Extended Absence
Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. It’s been a long time since I’ve even thought about posting anything. I’ve been busy, I guess. Busy pursuing and/or developing other interests, mostly.
I originally started this up as a way to let out some creative energy. I remember thinking that I could post about three times a week and be happy. Then, immediately, I threw that notion aside and was posting daily (barring travel, illness or injury – and there were a few of those). I immersed myself into the blogging culture. And it was working very well for me. For about a year.
Then it became tedious. I felt the internal pressure to keep it up. I even felt some external pressure (“Hey, you didn’t post yesterday – are you OK?”). I started to burn out. Add to that the fact that Mrs. Guy was starting to complain about the amount of time I was spending on writing. Yeah, I’ll admit that it was taking longer than in the past. Where the words had previously flowed easily, it became a struggle to come up with something new. I felt like my writing was suffering. It was frustrating. I needed to do something.
So I took a break. I’d meant for it to be a short break – maybe a few weeks. Then I got wrapped up in my photography. The amount of time I’d been spending on writing was then being split between Flickr and trying to spend more time with Mrs. Guy. But now I think I’m starting to feel the spark a little again, so maybe I’ll start posting some again.
But it will be different. I will mostly be posting when Mrs. Guy is on the road with work. I will also try to ignore any self-generated feelings of pressure to write. Maybe I’ll post three times a week, and maybe I won’t. I will, however, try to live up to more of the quality of my earlier work than the products of drudgery that I felt I was putting out toward last winter.
So, what have I been doing? Some riding, though not enough. My mileage is down this year due to nagging injuries, but it’s starting to pick up again (and I’ve started running some again, too). I’ve done some travel. Mrs. Guy and I went to Cabo San Lucas courtesy of her company (and some of the photos I took made my Flickr page). We also took a trip to Charleston, SC to see her sisters (no photos, though I did convince her youngest sister, a burgeoning photog, to get her own Flickr account). I’ve also helped put on a major bike ride (the English Mountain Challenge) again with my bike club. That was just last Saturday.
Oh, and I got allergy tested and am now getting weekly shots. For the next three or four years. Joy.
Coming up? Well, Mrs. Guy and I are going to London in early July to catch the start of the Tour de France (WooHoo!). I'm told we'll also see a couple of plays (including Avenue Q - WooHoo!).
And more allergy shots. For the next three or four years.
I originally started this up as a way to let out some creative energy. I remember thinking that I could post about three times a week and be happy. Then, immediately, I threw that notion aside and was posting daily (barring travel, illness or injury – and there were a few of those). I immersed myself into the blogging culture. And it was working very well for me. For about a year.
Then it became tedious. I felt the internal pressure to keep it up. I even felt some external pressure (“Hey, you didn’t post yesterday – are you OK?”). I started to burn out. Add to that the fact that Mrs. Guy was starting to complain about the amount of time I was spending on writing. Yeah, I’ll admit that it was taking longer than in the past. Where the words had previously flowed easily, it became a struggle to come up with something new. I felt like my writing was suffering. It was frustrating. I needed to do something.
So I took a break. I’d meant for it to be a short break – maybe a few weeks. Then I got wrapped up in my photography. The amount of time I’d been spending on writing was then being split between Flickr and trying to spend more time with Mrs. Guy. But now I think I’m starting to feel the spark a little again, so maybe I’ll start posting some again.
But it will be different. I will mostly be posting when Mrs. Guy is on the road with work. I will also try to ignore any self-generated feelings of pressure to write. Maybe I’ll post three times a week, and maybe I won’t. I will, however, try to live up to more of the quality of my earlier work than the products of drudgery that I felt I was putting out toward last winter.
So, what have I been doing? Some riding, though not enough. My mileage is down this year due to nagging injuries, but it’s starting to pick up again (and I’ve started running some again, too). I’ve done some travel. Mrs. Guy and I went to Cabo San Lucas courtesy of her company (and some of the photos I took made my Flickr page). We also took a trip to Charleston, SC to see her sisters (no photos, though I did convince her youngest sister, a burgeoning photog, to get her own Flickr account). I’ve also helped put on a major bike ride (the English Mountain Challenge) again with my bike club. That was just last Saturday.
Oh, and I got allergy tested and am now getting weekly shots. For the next three or four years. Joy.
Coming up? Well, Mrs. Guy and I are going to London in early July to catch the start of the Tour de France (WooHoo!). I'm told we'll also see a couple of plays (including Avenue Q - WooHoo!).
And more allergy shots. For the next three or four years.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
With Smoke Pouring Out of His Ears...
Hi. I’m not BGoaB. I’m not Major Tom, either. I’m Pick, and I’ve decided to jump on this bandwagon as well. One of the things I’ve noticed when I look around at other people’s blogs is that a great number of people use them to vent about a wide variety of things. I don’t think BGoaB does enough of that. I’m going to make up for that right now.
I’m going to pick on one of my favorite pet peeves. What is that? Smoking. Or I guess I should say Inconsiderate Smoking (and smoking tends to bring out the inconsiderate b@st@rd or b!tch in quite a number of people).
What got me started thinking about this today was my experience driving back to work from lunch today. The girl in the car in front of me was sucking on some foul stink-stick, and of course the breeze was blowing the smoke right back at me. That isn’t really something I complain about too much, though. At least she wasn’t sitting in my car puffing away. No, her sin came a little later after the light changed. She (and I, behind her) got up to about 30 mph when she flicked the still-smoldering butt out of her sunroof, at which time it followed a near-perfect arc onto my windshield. Which is were it stayed. Lodged under the wiper blade. Melting the wiper blade in one spot. Grrr.
Could it be worse than that? Oh, yes, it could be worse than that. As I pulled up beside her to pass (and showing great restraint by not flipping her off, I thought – I mean, what good would it do, right?), I noted the presence of a car seat in the back. And then another. Both full. And a pre-teen girl in the front passenger seat. That, my friends, is horrible. I always figured that I’m OK with smokers who want to kill themselves slowly (or at least smell bad constantly), but when it comes to damaging the health of others, and especially those who aren’t given a choice in the matter? Well, I think that capitol punishment should be reconsidered. Well, maybe not anything quite that severe, but at a minimum there should be public floggings.
Smoke all you want. That is, as long as you are only hurting yourself (and not littering too, you cretins!).
Love,
Pick
Editor's note:
I want to say thanks to Major Tom and Pick for actually stepping up and taking on the challenge (that'll keep their mouths shut next time). As for Pick's post, I don't usually rant quite so much about arguably touchy subjects, but if he wants to rant, I'm happy to have the content.
On a personal note, let me say that I have helped fight five different fires in my life. Three of the five were caused by someone carelessly tossing a still-lit cigarette butt on the ground during drought conditions. One of those fires burned about two acres of grass lawn at my university. It took a long time for that area to come back to normal. One of the others burned up an entire median strip's worth of mulch and landscaping at a shopping center near here. In no case did the offending party likely even realize what they'd done. Just more cases of people not thinking about the possible consequences of their actions.
-BGoaB
I’m going to pick on one of my favorite pet peeves. What is that? Smoking. Or I guess I should say Inconsiderate Smoking (and smoking tends to bring out the inconsiderate b@st@rd or b!tch in quite a number of people).
What got me started thinking about this today was my experience driving back to work from lunch today. The girl in the car in front of me was sucking on some foul stink-stick, and of course the breeze was blowing the smoke right back at me. That isn’t really something I complain about too much, though. At least she wasn’t sitting in my car puffing away. No, her sin came a little later after the light changed. She (and I, behind her) got up to about 30 mph when she flicked the still-smoldering butt out of her sunroof, at which time it followed a near-perfect arc onto my windshield. Which is were it stayed. Lodged under the wiper blade. Melting the wiper blade in one spot. Grrr.
Could it be worse than that? Oh, yes, it could be worse than that. As I pulled up beside her to pass (and showing great restraint by not flipping her off, I thought – I mean, what good would it do, right?), I noted the presence of a car seat in the back. And then another. Both full. And a pre-teen girl in the front passenger seat. That, my friends, is horrible. I always figured that I’m OK with smokers who want to kill themselves slowly (or at least smell bad constantly), but when it comes to damaging the health of others, and especially those who aren’t given a choice in the matter? Well, I think that capitol punishment should be reconsidered. Well, maybe not anything quite that severe, but at a minimum there should be public floggings.
Smoke all you want. That is, as long as you are only hurting yourself (and not littering too, you cretins!).
Love,
Pick
Editor's note:
I want to say thanks to Major Tom and Pick for actually stepping up and taking on the challenge (that'll keep their mouths shut next time). As for Pick's post, I don't usually rant quite so much about arguably touchy subjects, but if he wants to rant, I'm happy to have the content.
On a personal note, let me say that I have helped fight five different fires in my life. Three of the five were caused by someone carelessly tossing a still-lit cigarette butt on the ground during drought conditions. One of those fires burned about two acres of grass lawn at my university. It took a long time for that area to come back to normal. One of the others burned up an entire median strip's worth of mulch and landscaping at a shopping center near here. In no case did the offending party likely even realize what they'd done. Just more cases of people not thinking about the possible consequences of their actions.
-BGoaB
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Oh, Yeah ... Blogging. I Think I Remember That...
Sorry for the delay, folks. It’s almost like I was the Big Guy himself, eh? (I’m just kidding, BG. Put that knife down.) First I got busy, and then I forgot. It took a gentle reminder from somebody else entirely to get me going again.
So, where was I? Hmm. Not really anywhere in particular, I guess. Let’s just start off at some random point for now.
I guess I should clarify a statement I made before for Ms. Lilac Penguin (see comments from the last post). She asked about snow cycling, and I stated that I don’t like the cold so much. She (rightfully) pointed out that my statement seems contrary to my professed love of snowmobiling. OK, what I should have said was that I don’t like cycling in the cold so much. What’s the difference? Clothing, mostly.
When you ride a snowmobile, you can generally wear as much as you want to wear. It doesn’t really matter how heavy it is, nor how restrictive (within certain reasonable limits). I personally have a one-piece whole-body suit I like to wear that is quite well insulated, but I wouldn’t dare to begin marathon running in it. Riding a bicycle, on the other hand, requires that one wears a much lighter set of gear, and thus less well insulated. You also have to consider that you might actually sweat some while riding a bicycle, so clothing that wicks moisture away from the skin is a must.
Then there is always the cold, dry air to think of. Riding the s-mobile doesn’t get my breathing rate up nor does it make me take deep breaths to get more oxygen (unless I do some really exciting maneuvering, whether by intention or not). Deep breathing cold and dry air tends to lead to cold-induced asthma for me if I do it for long enough (like when climbing a local mountain range on a bicycle in sub-freezing temperatures). Not fun. No, not fun at all.
Plus, the helmet is better.
Come to think of it, motorcycling clothing is similar. I can wear better stuff there, too. I’d guess that if the Big Guy was wearing an armored leather jacket and pants during any of his clavicle-breaking wrecks, things might have been different. But there’s a reason bicyclists don’t wear such things while riding. Wearing a leather jacket while physically exerting yourself is rather questionable from a sanity standpoint. Passing out from heat stress is probably counterproductive.
Trivia Question: What Food Network star did a mini-series based on his travels by motorcycle?
Advanced Trivia: What brand of motorcycle was it?
Major Tom
So, where was I? Hmm. Not really anywhere in particular, I guess. Let’s just start off at some random point for now.
I guess I should clarify a statement I made before for Ms. Lilac Penguin (see comments from the last post). She asked about snow cycling, and I stated that I don’t like the cold so much. She (rightfully) pointed out that my statement seems contrary to my professed love of snowmobiling. OK, what I should have said was that I don’t like cycling in the cold so much. What’s the difference? Clothing, mostly.
When you ride a snowmobile, you can generally wear as much as you want to wear. It doesn’t really matter how heavy it is, nor how restrictive (within certain reasonable limits). I personally have a one-piece whole-body suit I like to wear that is quite well insulated, but I wouldn’t dare to begin marathon running in it. Riding a bicycle, on the other hand, requires that one wears a much lighter set of gear, and thus less well insulated. You also have to consider that you might actually sweat some while riding a bicycle, so clothing that wicks moisture away from the skin is a must.
Then there is always the cold, dry air to think of. Riding the s-mobile doesn’t get my breathing rate up nor does it make me take deep breaths to get more oxygen (unless I do some really exciting maneuvering, whether by intention or not). Deep breathing cold and dry air tends to lead to cold-induced asthma for me if I do it for long enough (like when climbing a local mountain range on a bicycle in sub-freezing temperatures). Not fun. No, not fun at all.
Plus, the helmet is better.
Come to think of it, motorcycling clothing is similar. I can wear better stuff there, too. I’d guess that if the Big Guy was wearing an armored leather jacket and pants during any of his clavicle-breaking wrecks, things might have been different. But there’s a reason bicyclists don’t wear such things while riding. Wearing a leather jacket while physically exerting yourself is rather questionable from a sanity standpoint. Passing out from heat stress is probably counterproductive.
Trivia Question: What Food Network star did a mini-series based on his travels by motorcycle?
Advanced Trivia: What brand of motorcycle was it?
Major Tom
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Wreckless Abandon
This is Major Tom with spin control. Since it seems that the Big Guy has left everyone in a lurch and abandoned his post, I have bravely volunteered to step in and give this blogging thing a go.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m doing this because my bluff got called.
I’ve been emailing with the Big Guy for a little while and have been giving him grief about not posting for so long. I’m apparently not the only one. Even his brother from Florida called to make sure he hadn’t gotten injured again (since that’s been the main reason for previous hiatuses – or is that hiatae? I don’t really know).
No, the Big Guy is reportedly painting. He’s apparently spending all of his free time on it. Except for the four or five days he had the flu, that is. Paint, paint, paint. Maybe it wasn’t the flu. Maybe he was just really high on paint fumes. Hmmm.
But for now you get Major Tom. I guess I could go by something like ‘medium-sized guy who used to ride bicycles but now rides snowmobiles and motorcycles’, but MSGWUTRBBNRSAM is a little much.
So I said to the Big Guy, “Dude, what’s so hard about writing a post now and then? How can you be getting writer’s block after doing this for only a year-and-a-half? I bet I could do better.” That last sentence was the mistake I am now living up to. Except my challenge from him is to just write a post once in a while and not every day like he’d been doing. Oh, and I’m free to throw out trivia questions, too.
Ya know, sometimes it’s hard just to come up with one thing to write about, much less several month’s worth. And so far this post has just been background as to why I’m actually writing and not him. I guess I’d better get to typing something with some substance.
**********************************
We just switched around on Daylight Savings Time again. This year was a little different, coming early as it did, but we still fool around with our clocks twice each year (except that I rarely get around to resetting the clock in my car, so it’s only good for half of the year).
The whole idea behind DST was to provide some kind of energy savings, or something. According to what I’ve read and what I’ve heard on NPR, nobody has actually proven that any energy has been saved. In fact, little things like moving the switcheroo up to last weekend this year have cost significant money to businesses and government offices that use computers so that the transition got made more-or-less smoothly. Add to that the issues faced by multi-national companies who have offices in places where they don’t use DST. Seems like a big hassle to me. Some have even suggested that we go on DST permanently. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Here’s what I think we should do. First, get rid of the whole DST thing altogether. Then, if we decide that maybe it would be a little nicer to have more daylight in the evening during part, or even all, of the year, then maybe we should just shift our work hours. Instead of showing up for work at 8:00 am (or 6:30 am for the Big Guy), we start showing up at 7:00 am (or 5:30 am, dude). It’s really the same thing we have now. The sun would be in the same position when we go to work on March 15th at 8:00 am DST as it would when we went to work at 7:00 am Standard Time. And I wouldn’t have to fool with changing my clocks around twice each year (just the alarm time on the clock in the bedroom).
But you know that someone would complain. I can hear it now. “How would we ever remember to change the batteries in our smoke detectors under that set-up?” Oh, I don’t know – maybe write it down on your calendar?
Been a pleasure,
Major Tom
Trivia Question for today: A certain Brit-pop rocker has at least two songs that mention me. What was the second one?
Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m doing this because my bluff got called.
I’ve been emailing with the Big Guy for a little while and have been giving him grief about not posting for so long. I’m apparently not the only one. Even his brother from Florida called to make sure he hadn’t gotten injured again (since that’s been the main reason for previous hiatuses – or is that hiatae? I don’t really know).
No, the Big Guy is reportedly painting. He’s apparently spending all of his free time on it. Except for the four or five days he had the flu, that is. Paint, paint, paint. Maybe it wasn’t the flu. Maybe he was just really high on paint fumes. Hmmm.
But for now you get Major Tom. I guess I could go by something like ‘medium-sized guy who used to ride bicycles but now rides snowmobiles and motorcycles’, but MSGWUTRBBNRSAM is a little much.
So I said to the Big Guy, “Dude, what’s so hard about writing a post now and then? How can you be getting writer’s block after doing this for only a year-and-a-half? I bet I could do better.” That last sentence was the mistake I am now living up to. Except my challenge from him is to just write a post once in a while and not every day like he’d been doing. Oh, and I’m free to throw out trivia questions, too.
Ya know, sometimes it’s hard just to come up with one thing to write about, much less several month’s worth. And so far this post has just been background as to why I’m actually writing and not him. I guess I’d better get to typing something with some substance.
**********************************
We just switched around on Daylight Savings Time again. This year was a little different, coming early as it did, but we still fool around with our clocks twice each year (except that I rarely get around to resetting the clock in my car, so it’s only good for half of the year).
The whole idea behind DST was to provide some kind of energy savings, or something. According to what I’ve read and what I’ve heard on NPR, nobody has actually proven that any energy has been saved. In fact, little things like moving the switcheroo up to last weekend this year have cost significant money to businesses and government offices that use computers so that the transition got made more-or-less smoothly. Add to that the issues faced by multi-national companies who have offices in places where they don’t use DST. Seems like a big hassle to me. Some have even suggested that we go on DST permanently. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Here’s what I think we should do. First, get rid of the whole DST thing altogether. Then, if we decide that maybe it would be a little nicer to have more daylight in the evening during part, or even all, of the year, then maybe we should just shift our work hours. Instead of showing up for work at 8:00 am (or 6:30 am for the Big Guy), we start showing up at 7:00 am (or 5:30 am, dude). It’s really the same thing we have now. The sun would be in the same position when we go to work on March 15th at 8:00 am DST as it would when we went to work at 7:00 am Standard Time. And I wouldn’t have to fool with changing my clocks around twice each year (just the alarm time on the clock in the bedroom).
But you know that someone would complain. I can hear it now. “How would we ever remember to change the batteries in our smoke detectors under that set-up?” Oh, I don’t know – maybe write it down on your calendar?
Been a pleasure,
Major Tom
Trivia Question for today: A certain Brit-pop rocker has at least two songs that mention me. What was the second one?
Friday, March 02, 2007
The Loneliest Number
Gosh. Have I ever been busy this week. Mostly with painting, and that's not going to slack up any time soon. I've also actually done some cycling stuff, including scorekeeping at the last of the KnoxieCross race series last Saturday, and a greenway ride with five other guys on Wednesday.
Today was mostly painting. My arms are a bit sore. So I'm taking the rest of the evening off and I'm headed to Preservation Pub to watch a band with several friends of mine in it.
But I remember promising something about trivia. Well, here's the thing. What with painting and the fact that my Step-Father-in-Law has been having a quintuple by-pass surgery today (and we've been on the phone a lot about that), I haven't really had much time to think of five questions. I did think of one, though. I'd hoped the first one would open the mental floodgates, but it hasn't (yet).
So here it is. You know the procedure by now, and if you don't, go check last Thursday's post for the rules et cetera links.
1 (and so lonely it is right now). What breed was Rin Tin Tin?
I really do hope to have more tomorrow. Really I do.
Today was mostly painting. My arms are a bit sore. So I'm taking the rest of the evening off and I'm headed to Preservation Pub to watch a band with several friends of mine in it.
But I remember promising something about trivia. Well, here's the thing. What with painting and the fact that my Step-Father-in-Law has been having a quintuple by-pass surgery today (and we've been on the phone a lot about that), I haven't really had much time to think of five questions. I did think of one, though. I'd hoped the first one would open the mental floodgates, but it hasn't (yet).
So here it is. You know the procedure by now, and if you don't, go check last Thursday's post for the rules et cetera links.
1 (and so lonely it is right now). What breed was Rin Tin Tin?
I really do hope to have more tomorrow. Really I do.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Movie Night
Some of you may have noticed I haven't been posting much lately. My main excuse is writer's block. Instead, I've been spending my time on other creative endeavors. And painting a few walls, too. Tonight I set all those other things aside to go to my bike club's winter monthly (i.e., we do it once a month during winter) Movie Night. All comers are welcome, not just club members. Tonight we were scheduled to watch the seminal classic Breaking Away.
Things don't always work out as planned, though. Philippe brought his DVD of Breaking Away, but the DVD player wouldn't read it. So he tried hooking up his laptop to the projector. It wouldn't read it either. We tried someone else's Mac book. No dice.
I forgot who it was, but somebody had a VHS copy of American Flyers in their car. Well, any port in a storm, I guess. Philippe took it out of its sleeve...and the end cover fell off. While he went searching around for another VHS tape to cannibalize, we watched a few scenes from Pure Sweet Hell, a cyclocross movie someone else had in their car. If I'd only known how it would go tonight - I have a copy of Breaking Away on VHS at home.
Philippe finally found enough tape pieces for us to watch American Flyers, so we did at leat get to watch a cheesy mid-1980's movie starring Rae Dawn Chong and Kevin Costner's bad mustache. It's a touching film, really. We laughed, we cried, ... well, we didn't actually cry, but we did laugh at a lot of stuff.
____________________________________________________
Trivial Stuff You Might Know
Here's a link to the Rules. Here's a link for where to send your answers. Enjoy.
1. There are, according to Greek mythology, several rivers in Hell/Hades, including the River of Forgetfulness. I can't think of it's name right now. Do you know it?
2. According to Greek mythology, who guards the entrance to Hell (Hades, actually)?
3. Who was the ferryman across the River Styx?
4. Finish the lyric: "Domo arigato, _______ ______"
5. What group recorded "Carry On My Wayward Son"?
Things don't always work out as planned, though. Philippe brought his DVD of Breaking Away, but the DVD player wouldn't read it. So he tried hooking up his laptop to the projector. It wouldn't read it either. We tried someone else's Mac book. No dice.
I forgot who it was, but somebody had a VHS copy of American Flyers in their car. Well, any port in a storm, I guess. Philippe took it out of its sleeve...and the end cover fell off. While he went searching around for another VHS tape to cannibalize, we watched a few scenes from Pure Sweet Hell, a cyclocross movie someone else had in their car. If I'd only known how it would go tonight - I have a copy of Breaking Away on VHS at home.
Philippe finally found enough tape pieces for us to watch American Flyers, so we did at leat get to watch a cheesy mid-1980's movie starring Rae Dawn Chong and Kevin Costner's bad mustache. It's a touching film, really. We laughed, we cried, ... well, we didn't actually cry, but we did laugh at a lot of stuff.
____________________________________________________
Trivial Stuff You Might Know
Here's a link to the Rules. Here's a link for where to send your answers. Enjoy.
1. There are, according to Greek mythology, several rivers in Hell/Hades, including the River of Forgetfulness. I can't think of it's name right now. Do you know it?
2. According to Greek mythology, who guards the entrance to Hell (Hades, actually)?
3. Who was the ferryman across the River Styx?
4. Finish the lyric: "Domo arigato, _______ ______"
5. What group recorded "Carry On My Wayward Son"?
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