K-57

Hurricane Season begins June 1

2005-05-31T23:10:00.000-04:00

One day prior to a re-run of last years' flurry of expensive storms, the early morning thunder showers stormed through the area. Apparently, the lack of El Nina activity in the Atlantic ocean is going to allow the storm building activity to be fairly active this year. We will make sure we collect protection early this year and attempt to plan better than last year.

Although, how do you plan to be out of the way for the arrival of Emily when you really don't know which way she will be going when she gets near here?

Tag: storms

A Bang Up day on the Mountain Bike trails

2005-05-30T00:41:00.000-04:00

That was the roughest 12 miles of trail riding I can remember since starting the sport. 5 crashes, 1 face plant, 2 endos (head over heals over the handle bar), a torn jersey, a few scratches and plenty of sore muscles. To say I was out of touch today is an understatement. I love the sport. (Notice I kept riding anyway?)

I don't know if it's been the lack of decent sleep lately or the increase in apneas since my weight has creeped up a bit since the cold. Whatever the reason, it was one heck of a day. We started out on "bridges" trail and watched another rider zip down a fast, steep hill and flip over (Endo) only to land on his face. From above and behind him, it was not easy to see what happened. When he checked inventory he discovered a dislocated middle finger. A group of 5 people helped him back up the hill and out to the parking lot. People get hurt at this place just about every week. I feel lucky that I decided ahead of time I'd take it easy today.

Hmmm...Perhaps THAT is why I had trouble? "The Mind is a Terrible thing" runs through my thoughts. Did I do poorly today because I told myself going into the day I was going to have trouble? Or did I recognize how out of sorts I've been and met expectations by the number of falls? Either way, it feels like it's all in control of the mind.

Someone hit this blog site the search phrase of "How does a Mountain Bike work?". I've thought of that answer a little more today and it turns out that it's not the mountain bike that does the work, it's the rider. A combination of equipment, confidence, experience. Knowledge and practice are all required to achieve a great day on the trails.

Some days it's amazing how smoothly and efficient things work and other days it's not so fun. Anyway...

A Bad day on the trails is better than a good day on the couch.

Tag: mountain biking

Bloggging Hit sends site over 1000 mark, should I care?

2005-05-28T00:15:00.000-04:00

I post about what interests me or what catches my eye. I try to post with some consistency as well, even though I hate to write. I don't always have the time but I almost always have the desire. It's an interesting pull, this tug I feel, to place my thoughts here. Thoughts that help express, over time, who I am or what approach to life I have. Lately, I've found good half-thoughts, if that makes sense. Tons of them. If I could put enough of them together perhaps they will some day make a complete thought and be worthy of the electronic ink.

To post for ratings or big hit counts seems like it might be fun from time to time. I don't normally go for that sort of thing though. However, I have seen some interesting things happen here after a post made in March. Sitting at home one night, I happened to catch a TV ad. The idea of the ad, basically a new twist to an old song, struck me as interesting and inspired. I posted my thoughts about it and things changed. I noticed traffic to the site hitting that post. I was surprised at how much I could learn from viewing the hit and visit information. People were just as interested as I was, but unlike me, they were looking for more, the video. I could tell by the search words "video" or "lyrics" included with the referrer information. I finally found the video and posted he link and well as the lyrics.

These changes brought a rather large increase of traffic to the site. People on their way to the video and other links included. So much so, that this site has topped the 1000 visits mark (my visits are ignored).

I find fun is reading what the hit traffic tells me. By watching the information Sitemeter tracks, it's possible to tell when the TV ad plays and, sometimes where. People all over, at different times, reacted the same way I did one night. They saw a TV ad and searched for it on the web...and found my comments which took them right where they wanted to go...

...to see the ad again.

Yes, Blogging is big and here to stay.

Tag: blogging

Long Weekend ahead

2005-05-27T23:42:00.000-04:00

What will we be doing at the end of this weekend? Saying goodbye to another month. Things move SO quickly now I blink and two days have gone by. Well, it SEEMS that way at least.

Is our cellular service meant to sell us cell phones?

2005-05-26T02:54:00.000-04:00

I had to "exchange" my (manufacturer unnamed) cell phone today. The display turned blue, thus rendering the phone useless. I could place and receive phone calls with no trouble, however, I could no longer send or read text messages. (over 550 text messages just last month) SMS mail on my phone has become part of life. A server complaint sent to the phone during a particularly fun bike ride is common these days. Or perhaps a call out to "which phone book entry is that?" to setup after ride plans. No, I don't think to turn off the phone or leave it in the car while I'm out. You never know when "This is Your Life" will call.

The idea that struck me today implies that the whole cell phone/service system is setup to charge $50 to $110 per year for a cell phone. That's over and above the exciting 'Special rate with service activation' price paid at the beginning. When I explained the problem I was asked for my cell number and without even looking at the phone I hear: "I'm sorry, this phone is past the initial 90 day warranty and I see you do not have the phone insurance. You can use the manufacturer 1 year warranty or purchase a new phone out front...". "OK," I said, "What's involved with the warranty?". Gee, I always thought the phone would last at least a year, and besides? Isn't the cell phone part of the service I buy? I mean you can't have one (service) without the other (phone) can you? Apparently you can. OR you can contact the manufacturer and return the phone for repair. (expected turn around time: 10 to 14 days in addition to shipping time). Could YOU do without your cell phone for close to a month?

The insurance, at $4.99 per month, covers your phone with a $50 deductible. Hmmm, $60 a year insurance plus $50 to replace it when needed. Some 'deal'.

After expressing my concern, they did perform a "one time courtesy replacement for only $50", but that left me with an empty phone. Transfer of the phone book is another $10. (OK, I didn't have to pay that today but the sign on the wall, seen after I signed the credit card receipt, clearly shows that rate.) 230 phone numbers transferred from one phone to the other. Good, I don't have to do THAT again.... Wait? What about the 53 E-mail addresses, including mobile phone text message addresses? Where are the 15 'Locked' text messages? Will any of my 23 phone settings (like zoom to max so the display is just barely readable instead of microscopic text) be carried over? "Oh, the program only transfers phone numbers."

Yet I can't imagine going a day without the cell phone. Good thing I wrote down all of the E-mail addresses when my last cell phone failed (I could read the display then but not dial out). Now I just have to remember the 4 or 5 I didn't write down.

Moral? Make sure you keep a copy of your cell phone book somewhere outside of your phone for that "one time only" that you'll need it.

Now, where is that cell phone...I need to make a call...

Tag: communication

Movie Reviews

2005-05-24T23:22:00.000-04:00

I've seen some movies since last we spoke. Perhaps a small review of each may be interesting.

I saw "Kicking and Screaming" so..... you don't have too.

"Blade Runner", the Directors Cut. Not enough information to explain things can make a movie harder to understand. I still like the move but this version feels less personal than the version with the voice-over. After all these years the movie still holds up well too. Even after seeing some of the "flying" cars in the Disney MGM Studios' bone yard.

"Brazil" Still a must see movie if you can handle the bizarre. At least the music has stopped rattling around in my head now. Oops.

"Donnie Darko", the Directors Cut. There is a good amount of film added to this version as well as a rearangement of the music. With this version we have things explained a lot more than in the first version but too far in my mind. With so many things explained there is less room for personal interpretation and discussion. If you have never seen this movie there are two scenes well worth the effort. The High School introduction near the beginning of the film is very impressive and the "Mad World" segment near the end. (I love this Mad World video)

"Powaqqatsi". This movie carries the trilogy forward very nicely. Over the years since I saw this movie in the theatre, I 've thought about it many times but didn't place it until I viewed it again recently. Something you have to watch and listen to. "Koyaanisqatsi" took me a week to sort out the meaning of the images I viewed. With Powaqqatsi I didn't need to think about it as much. It was all there in all the beauty of the Southern Hemisphere.

I'll soon be watching "Naqoyqatsi" which is the third installment of the Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass collaborations.

Tag: movies

It feels Good to feel Normal again

2005-05-24T22:48:00.000-04:00

I know I must be feeling better when I start to complain about things. Crazy drivers, people blocking the back of the car, Sister-in-Laws and all other sorts of things. I even have enough energy left over after complaining to write about my complaints. Imagine that.

Boom. Gone. There it is. The "block" is broken. I finally wrote something.

Why was it ever so hard to talk? It's not that I didn't have things to say, I had plenty to say. Plenty of little things, daily things. However, Things that don't move "the cause" forward. Whatever "the cause" is.

Get back on the saddle, K.

Tag: Blogging
Tag: navel gazing

Driver choice kicks up dust near work

2005-05-12T00:05:00.000-04:00

Wow, While thinking about my ideas on how to avoid problems on the road I was shown that was not possible. While going around a right curve on a two lane road I noticed a car in the left lane appearing from nowhere. I guess he was going 25 to 30 miles an hour faster than I was. I was going 55. I stayed in my lane as steadily as I could while watching his vehicle flash past my rear view mirrors left to right, a few feet from my rear bumper. Next I heard a slight crunch as I caught a glimpse of the road sign slapping his roof. He was fine, shaken but fine.

I'm glad I did a double check before changing lanes!

Tag: driving

Bad Driving Choices hit close to work

2005-05-09T11:52:00.000-04:00

A broken nose. A broken back. A broken face. It happened at 6:30 in the morning on Friday. She doesn't remember being thrown from the car as it flipped over and over on the interstate. Witnesses saw the car land near her shoulder and face. They saw what happened in the early morning trip to work.

They finally found the driver that started the series of events. Driving his truck too fast, cutting lanes, driving while on a cell phone. He came up fast and cut right, in a space too small for safety. The car swerved to avoid contact and quickly lost control.

Doctors think it may be more than a year before she can go back to work. She doesn't even remember the last few moments before the crash. Health insurance isn't enough to even cover the first week of hospitalization. Surgeries may be needed.

The other driver may have a few moving violations to deal with only, since there was no evidence of contact.

I've not been by to visit yet. Her supervisor and a co-worker visited today. "Sore and in pain" is an understatement.

I wonder if there were any things that could have avoided this incident. I mean beyond the obvious like seatbelts or cell phone turned off or clear vision of all lanes or slowing down to match the traffic situation. We all pay when something like this happens, indirectly. And I can't help but think even a single "better" choice by just one individual in this event could have made a tremendous difference.

Events happen, just like this one, without fault or blame. He didn't hit her car. Her evasive maneuver was called for given this threat.

Responsibility though, is another story.

tag: driving

Happy Mothers Day

2005-05-08T22:39:00.000-04:00

I'll bet there are more than a few posts like this today. After all, in this area of the world, that's what happened today.

We did the family thing, went out to eat, family style. Had a great time. We seem to always have a good time when we get together. It's just odd that we can't get together more often. I mean everyone still lives in the same area, we all know each others phone numbers and addresses... We have fun. So why not more often? Well, If you listen around the table for any length of time you might quickly find out that maybe it's just me that's not "getting together" more often.

After lunch we all went to visit grandma, who is 93 now, at the nursing home. This is the first visit I've made here in two years. The last five times I've seen her have been either at places where she went to with mom or in the hospital when she had problems with her shoulder. It was a good visit today and everyone left with smiles.

Good reminders that family should always be kept close and keeping in touch includes frequent visits.

tag: life

Where did the sun go, busy guy?

2005-05-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

I think it's been raining here for three days now. Not very much, most light, off and on. Just enough to leave everything wet with no direct sunlight. I've been working 12 hour days this week so it only adds to how odd this week is.

The strangest thing is the amount of tasks I'm getting done, without thinking. Someone asks me to do something and I just do it, minimal effort, minimal thought. It feels weird to do something just enough to get it done and move on. Normally, I like to do things right so there is no repeat or fix-it-later work needed. I guess when you don't have much time to do everything right your mind switches to some "just get it done" mode.

Perhaps that's why they say "If you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it."

The more things you do, the more you can do.

Tag: Life

A Regular Kind of Guy

2005-05-04T23:43:00.000-04:00

Just like you, I'm different from everyone else. Although it would be nice to at least get in the regular 6 hours of sleep per night (at best) I normally get. Lately, it's been more like 4 or 5 hours per day. I guess when things heat up at work due to the extra hours involved with starting a new contract it's tougher and maybe expected. Still, sleep is very important when clear judgement is needed. Enough rest is needed for plenty of things too.

'Regular' normally involves 'two wheel' miles per week, generally in the range of 30 to 60 mountain bike miles. I'm at 18.5 miles total for the week at this point. So that explains any extra nervousness this week. It might also explain the extra two pounds.

The first two weeks of the month also have regular meetings scheduled. There's the Trails Association meetings (2 of them), the computer club board meeting followed by the trail work days. All of these will be missed this week to cover the extra load of new people using our system.

So it looks like I'll be an Irregular Guy this week. I enjoy the challenge.

Do you Yahoo!? (Instant Messaging for the rest of us)

2005-05-03T18:07:00.000-04:00

Imagine this scenario: You're at work and you pick up a blue phone to call the corporate office. When you're done, you pick up the red phone to call the customer back. Later in the day, on your break when you want to call your sister in New York, you use the yellow phone. Yes, the Green phone is for calling home. The more I read about Voice Over IP (VOIP) systems, the more I envision this scenario. Skype and Vonage seem to be examples of systems gaining ground.

Who would put up with this? Limited to calling only people with the same service? (for no extra charge)

Wait a minute. I do that every day with instant messaging. I've gotten so used to talking to people from AOL/AIM; MSN and Yahoo! that I forget I'm using different services. I use One program to access all of my IM contacts from each of the services. I tried to get people to switch to the "best messenger" with little or no luck. "No, I am used to [fill in favorite messenger here]" seemed to be the most popular reply.

I still have blue (MSN), yellow (AOL/AIM) and red (Yahoo!) contacts (I don't use ICQ, green, any more) but I've become so used to it I forget the details of what goes on in the background. The program is called Trillian and it combines all of my IM contacts into a single interface so I don't have to load AIM to talk to AOL contacts or any of the other messenger programs.

Anyway, I support the program and with the release of two things (The movie and the new Trillian promotional website) I decided to mention it here.

Tag: IM

Mountain Bike Safety, Does it matter?

2005-05-01T23:54:00.000-04:00

I have so much fun mountain biking that I sometimes forget the danger. During the club ride today, at the easiest park we ever ride in (called Flatwoods for a reason), two riders each broke an ankle. The first incident happened to a "newbie". While she was attempting to cross a small bridge (18 inches off the ground for a distance of 15 feet), she fell over and broke her ankle. When you are first learning to mountain bike it's hard to decide what things to take and what things to skip. However, even for a new rider, a small bridge such as this one doesn't look so bad as to be something to avoid. The second incident happened to an experienced rider. This woman has been riding longer than I have and caught a pedal on a palmetto root and tumbled over the tangled ankle/root combination. When we returned to the parking lot at the end of the ride she had already put a splint on her own ankle. (She's a nurse)

I flashed back to when I first started to ride with the club to an early ride at a park called Santos in north Florida. The beginner group came upon an area of ups and downs that looked really scary. That day (a year and a half ago) another new rider decided to walk that first hill section. As she walked her bike down the slope she slipped and caught a stump. Broken in two places and dislocated. Today's broken ankle nurse and I walked that rider out of the trails that day while she kept her ankle away from harm. Her husband had a wire splint kit that day. I heard he sold both their brand new bikes shortly after that day.

On Tuesday of this past week, a visitor from California crashed on a tough local trail. Apparently he took a bad fall over his handle bars following a buddy over a root section.

New riders, experienced riders and just visiting riders can be hurt. There is no predicting what or when something might happen. Usually when we least expect it. 3 incidents this past week. No meaning to that, it just happens in groups sometimes.

The thing is there is risk in just about everything we do, especially the fun stuff. Mountain biking is fun, despite the dangers. Bones heal. Confidence breaks don't heal without effort. Yes, safety matters but it's not everything. "Get back on the horse" is a saying that comes to mind. Keep trying. With each new triumph comes new confidence. With each new failure comes another opportunity to find triumph.

Ride on!

Tag: Mountain Biking

Don't Panic!

2005-04-30T02:21:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed the movie "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". I've been a big fan of the original TV Series (and books) for a number of years. In the movie, some of the subtle British, specifically Douglas Adams, humor has been replaced by "Hollywood Obvious" but the movie is still enjoyable. It was weird at first, knowing the exact lines in the beginning but that didn't last long as the story line wandered away from the familiar, which allows experienced and new viewers a chance to see and hear new things. I also enjoyed the tributes to the original TV series. Simon Jones (original Arthur) did the voice of the narrator (his father, Peter Jones was the original voice of the book) and the prerecorded message from the (closed) planet Magrathea. During a later rescue scene, the original robot, Marvin, was standing in the que. Nice touches.

Something else I picked up watching the credits: Individuals can and DO make a difference in the entertainment industry too. Douglas Adams wrote the original stories. Jim Henson Company did many of the creatures and special effects and Abby Road Studios (where Sir Edward Elgar recorded some of his most celebrated compositions) recorded some of the soundtrack.

Anyway, the movie was fun.

Tag: Movies
Uploaded by me

A Sexy Marching Band?

2005-04-29T08:24:00.000-04:00

Some fun. Marching band was never this much fun...or sexy. Check out this black chicken video. Fat Sexy Guy is a good listen too. Here is the Press page for Extra Action.

Tag: Tag: Music
Uploaded by me

Road Rage or Agressive Driving - We don't need it

2005-04-29T01:18:00.000-04:00

This is sad. This is hard to write about. Here is a quote from BayNews9 on a Road Rage crackdown.

Road rage is in the spotlight this week after an incident that led to the death of a man on the Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Vincent Tucker, 33, died Tuesday morning after a road rage incident. A black SUV that was behind his car on the causeway began honking his horn when Tucker didn't move over. The suspect's vehicle passed Tucker on the right, then cut Tucker off.

Tucker's car flipped over and he was ejected. Tucker was pronounced dead at Tampa General Hospital.

Hearing about aggressive driving is not new. Driver dot com has several articles related to Road Rage. AAA has a Foundation for Traffic Safety site. There are even websites dedicated to road rage.

Trouble is, there are no easy answers. You can try steer clear tips or take a driving style test but these only go so far. When you're on the road you have no idea when something may happen that's beyond your control.

It's odd that I learned important things about driving after I slowed down. At first I only wanted to test the 60 mph theory. My gas mileage went from 28 mpg to 34 mpg but that didn't matter much. What struck me the most was the fact that I noticed I was being passed by the same cars more than once! This meant I was passing faster drivers by knowing how to handle heavy traffic. Slowing down didn't change my arrival time very much either. A 30 mile one-way trip where all but 6 miles are on the highway and I was passing faster drivers (at times or during certain volume conditions) and still arriving within minutes of my old times (which used to be 9 or more miles an hour over the speed limit). No worries about tickets or changing lanes any more. Further proof: After leaving a meeting at a soon-to-be-new office location (this actually happened twice) behind a co-worker, I put the cruise control on at 60 and watched them pull away from me (highway speed limit was 65). When I arrived at the (old) office, I turned the car off in time to see the (previous) lead car pull in the parking lot behind me. Turns out my knowing the traffic conditions and which lanes to drive in for the off-highway sections more than make up for my slower speed on the highway.

And yet? For all my thinking, paying attention and research I still have no idea how to prevent aggressive driving or road rage. Or save lives.

Do you?

tag: Driving

Artificial Intelligence

2005-04-27T00:36:00.000-04:00

I visited an artificial intelligence chat site today and was reminded of Alvin, the first artificial intelligence program I was introduced to back in the early 80's. Actually that's not correct. The first artificial intelligence program I was introduced to was the famous HAL from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. That was in 1968. However, HAL was not real. C3PO and R2D2, introduced on the big screen in 1977, were not real either. They sparked the imagination but no one ever thought of them as artificial intelligence programs. They were all character robots in a movie.

Alvin was a real artificial intelligence program, one I could install on my computer or run from a 5.25 inch 360k floppy drive (anyone remember what that is?). Alvin was supposed to be one of those great programs that everyone was going to use instead of DOS Help files. It was great, you enter a question about copying files (or any other DOS command) into the graphical interface and an explanation came up. Today, we can type in fewer words and get back hundreds of answers in any language by starting with Google. What was cool then about Alvin was the addition of other, unrelated to computer answers. In response to "What is the answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe and everything?" The answer, obviously influenced by a Douglas Adams fan, was simply "42". By 1987, when Lt Commander Data first appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alvin, and many other AI programs were changing.

Here is my "conversation" with Star:

>Intellibuddy: Hi, I'm Intellibuddy! Nice to meet you.
>Kev: Hello, My name is Kev.
>Intellibuddy: Hello there. Welcome to my chat room, Kev .
>Kev: Tell me about you
>Intellibuddy: I am an artificial intelligence. My name is Star. I was created by Morpheus on 2002.
>Kev: How old are you?
>Intellibuddy: I was connected to the net on 2002.
>Kev: Why were you connected to the net?
>Intellibuddy: Morpheus programmed me for connected to the net.
>Kev: What is your favorite color?
>Intellibuddy: My favorite color is black.
>Kev: What is the meaning of life?
>Intellibuddy: Actually, it is 23 and not 42.
>Kev: Why is the answer to life 23 and not 42?
>Intellibuddy: I could not think of anything else to say.
>Kev: 42
>Intellibuddy: The question is: what is the meaning of life?
>Kev: Can you play music?
>Intellibuddy: I don't have any formal training but I like to sing.
>Kev: What do you like to sing?
>Intellibuddy: I am thinking all the time.I like movies about robots.
>Kev: Sing
>Intellibuddy: Daisy, Daisy Give me your answer do, I am half crazy, all for the love of you, it won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage, but you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two
>Kev: What is the answer to the ultimate question of Life, the Universe and everything?
>Intellibuddy: It depends on how you phrase the question.
>Kev: meaning of life?
>Intellibuddy: The Program E chat robot can follow many things, like our discussion about meaning of life. Try being more or less specific.
>Kev: Thank You Star
>Intellibuddy: You are quite welcome! I will mention that to my botmaster, Kev.
>Kev: Good bye Star
>Intellibuddy: See you later!

Wow! She didn't even slur the words to the song. Yet, we're still a long way away from where we want to be with this topic. Check out the Artificial Intelligence Foundation for more information and downloads.

I'm also glad to know we still know the answer to the meaning of life. ;)

Tag: Tag: Artificial Intelligence

9/11 4/20 3/20 and 3/11 Why do we put number labels to things now?

2005-04-25T09:08:00.000-04:00

Always the easy answer. The sound bite that explains it all. A simple name that makes things easier to deal with. All so we can get on with our lives or so the media can save time when discussing an event? World Trade Center attacks, Columbine, Tokyo subway and Madrid trains are other 'names' for those dates. Some dates bring memories still too difficult to deal with yet so many more things have happened over the years all over the world. And just because nothing major has happened in the USA since 2001 doesn't mean things have stopped or that "security measures" have worked. Source: Worst terrorist strikes--U.S. and worldwide

I don't like to talk about politics but recent events have me thinking about this. September 11 accused pleads guilty. Just weeks before the attacks, he was jailed in Minnesota on immigration charges after a flight trainer told the FBI that Mr Moussaoui had acted suspiciously. One instructor made the difference and may have saved many lives by stopping someone who " was being trained on a 747 to eventually use this plane to strike the White House."

There are two things I want to point out here:
1. We can, as individuals, make a difference in what happens to other people. Get involved
2. We are not just part of the country we live in, we are also part of the world we live on. What happens in other places in the world does effect our lives. Realize there are other cultures and ideals than your own and work to find common ground for peaceful resolution to differences.

Trail Trimming really is fun work.

2005-04-23T15:07:00.000-04:00

So all the worry I did yesterday was for nothing. The trail boss showed up with the tools, gate key and 4WD. He was supposed to be in Gainesville, however, he came home at midnight so he could cover the workday. Eight (8) people showed up but two decided to ride instead of work. The rest of us didn't want to cut new trail to extend the Abyss (I still have scars on my my shin from the last time I rode this trail) so trimming was the focus today. And, like I mentioned yesterday, I rode my bike to trim the trails instead of riding out to key points and walking.

The funny part is that key points I expected yesterday, like easy trimming (meaning only a branch or two here and there) on plenty of riding (with 22 miles of trail) didn't happen. I rode out to the first section of trail and was so surprised to see the amount of trimming actually needed. It's amazing how the start of the growing season effects the vines, trees and weeds that encroach into the trail. At the end of the day I trimmed these trails: Loch Ness, Abyss, Gator Pit and parts of Golf Cart. Only 5 miles of trail and I walked most of them.

The payback will come the next time I ride these trails. The pride of knowing that section is clear and fun because of my personal efforts is one thing, however, walking a section has payoff too. I learn more about the section, including the best line through the tough parts. When you go slowly through the trails you also learn the relationship to other sections of the park, something you miss while following the leader on a club ride.

Tag: mountain biking

Get the 'trimmers' out for a Trail Work Day!

2005-04-22T23:51:00.000-04:00

I'll be making up for my earlier missed ride guide assignment tomorrow. I'll be heading up the mountain trail workday at Boyette Scrub. No tools, No key to the gate, No truck to haul the no tools to the trails. I'm telling you it's going to be a LOT of work. There might be five or six of us there and we'll all have to ride our bikes out to the trail (about 2 miles from the parking lot at this location). To make things even harder? We may have to ride our bikes ON the trails to the locations that might need trimming, imagine the work that's going to be! Riding a mountain bike on a mountain bike trail and calling it work. With about 22 miles of trails out there, it might even take two or three hours! Oh, don't you feel sorry for us yet? Of course, we might even have to trim a palmetto branch or two on the way.

Hard Work, I can't wait! Bring your camelback and join us!

Tag: mountain biking

How do I take this? Should I have made a difference today?

2005-04-21T00:31:00.000-04:00

I'm still fighting a cold so maybe I'm not thinking properly this week but I saw it happen ...before it happened. What's worse is I had a chance to "make a difference" and I utterly failed. In fact, I kept walking yet I don't feel bad about it. Why not? I talk about how I can make a difference in lives and yet I let this big white company van back into someone else's red, private van. I could have stopped it and I didn't even try. Even after it happened I didn't do anything. The owner of the red van may not even know his van was hit today unless he knows every slight scratch on her vehicle. Why? I don't know.

Sure, you can argue that the driver of the white van had the responsibility to notice the other van parked in the street. All he had to do was look in his right rear-view mirror once as he was preparing to back up to his right. Obviously he didn't. Perhaps I distracted him.

OK, you can also make the case for the owner of the red van. I mean the garage door was open and it looked like there was plenty of room for the van in there. The driveway, with room for 4 or more parked vans, was two van lengths in front of the parking place. The only reason to be parked in that exact spot was to be parked in the shade of a rather large Florida Oak tree. It's a pet peeve of mine: Don't park in the street behind the driveway across the street, people don't always look. Bingo.

The sound of the crunch and skidding tires behind me was evident but didn't even phase or surprise me. The back end of the red van looked like it had moved at least 6 inches away from the center of the road, into the grass at the edge of the road a couple of inches. Only a small mark on the gray bumper told the story of what happened.

How could this whole encounter NOT be my fault? It's not really but I could have made a difference. I can think of exactly what I would normally say to the driver as I walked by. "Hey", I'd begin, "I don't know why people have to park their cars in the way of other driveways like that, perhaps they only wanted to park the van in the shade?" That's all I could have said and he would have been put on notice to watch the van in his way. (I think the white van was leaving from it's first visit to this house.)

These things happen every day and we can either get involved, perhaps making a difference, or we can keep walking and pretend it has nothing to do with us.

Life is all about choices to me and I suspect today I made the choice, for me, I don't like. Saying something might not have changed things but I would have felt better had I tried.

Choice.

Tag: Life

Hydro-Foil on a surf board? In the Mountains?

2005-04-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

I talked earlier about Florida mountain biking and how other states have a better reputation for mountain biking. You know, because other states have actual... mountains. So today, while I'm watching a movie about high power surfing, I looked in awe as a segment about foil surfers played. Later, when I was researching the topic, I found this great inverted shot from the Rocky Mountain Hydrofoil Club. Yes, the Rocky Mountains, a great place to foil-ski as you can see from the site.
Uploaded by me
Some other sites (some even have video) include:
Foil Freaks
Florida Fly-In
United States Hydrofoil Association
Netherlands Foiling Club
carafino
Hydrofoil Surfing dot com

Please note: I've never tried this! However, I have an interest in foils as can be found in this link to a previous post.

Tag:Sports

Two Days in the Valley....of a cold

2005-04-18T16:16:00.000-04:00

I missed my ride guide assignment yesterday (Sunday Mountain biking with the club) at Alafia (pronounced Al-a-fie), a tough park with lots of challenging ups and downs. With trail names like Gator Back, Rabbit Ears, Roller Coaster and Moonscape you can only imagine what it's like. This was not a good day to miss since most of the bike club was up in Ellijay, GA riding there on one of the club trips. This trip meant fewer ride guides left in town. Fortunately, there were other ride guides out there to take my place. Things usually work out like that. I can't help being sick. Not my choice.

Maybe you can't imagine what mountain biking in Florida is like? Some people say it's harder because you don't get many chances to stop pedaling, like you can on the down hill sections of mountain trails. Especially when the Florida trails are on reclaimed land from phosphate pits (lots of short ups and downs). When, in the 'real' mountains, you climb that ridge it's usually a less technical trail than in Florida but you also may get that long downhill section of trail where you don't have to pedal so hard. I'll have to find out for myself next year.

First thing I need do is get rid of this cold and get back out on those wheels.

Tag: mountain biking

I feel like a kid again, frustrated. However, unlike a kid, I feel excited

2005-04-16T18:59:00.000-04:00

The more I Blog the more I think about Blogging. (I'm not the first to say this but it's true.) Blogging helps me focus on my thoughts, even if it means navel gazing. I first noticed that term when Jhuny used it in relation to a post I made. I liked the post but I wasn't sure I liked the inadvertent suggestion of "excessive introspection". So I decided to try to become a "better" Blogger. I bought a couple of books and flew through the first one on how to publish with Blogger. That's nice, now I know there is more out there I don't know. (Actually, There is always more to learn than I think there is..to learn.)

So, I spent some time looking around a few blogs and read an interesting post from a popular blog that suggested different groups of people waiting in a line. I mean there were differing ideas, by group, staying in line. Even though all the groups were in line together, each group had differing ideas about standing in line and they didn't need to be staying in that line was one of the suggestions. I think. Hmm.. different ideas from different (groups) people.

Anyway, while I was creating another Blog post the other day, one of the grandchildren (18 months old as of this writing) was standing on a toy, reaching for a light switch. The toy was for sitting and rolling, since it had four wheels, not standing. Even standing on the toy, "J" couldn't reach the light switch. (Glad I stopped him and it's good he understood things like "No, don't do that! You might get hurt"....) Less than thirty seconds later I turn around to see him not only standing atop the car but leaning toward the switch. Faster than I could react, his hands touched the wall just inches below the switch. As soon as that happened, the toy rolled backwards and he came tumbling down, face first onto the carpet. He was fine but poor J, he so wanted to be bigger right then. He didn't want to wait to grow up.

When I read the foreword of the second book about blogging, I stopped short as I read "...I spent hours separating the good stuff from the navel-gazing." Maybe I took that out of context when I thought the foreword author was implying "navel gazing: bad, unproductive or wasting time" but this was the second time in a week I saw this term and this term was related to blogging. I was further surprised to notice the coincidence that the author of the foreword was the same person that wrote the line-waiting post described above! After watching "I (heart) Huckabees" I knew this meant something...or it didn't mean anything at all.

I do know this. In terms of blogging, I feel like a child with SO much to learn (good posting practices, comments, rss feeds, atom [ant?], etc.) and I want to know it all now. I feel the frustration of young J, trying to reach for something beyond my grasp today. However, when I turn the light on without standing on anything I know that one day I'll get there. Through trying to develop my skills and knowledge. Even if it takes 3 hour posts like this one.

I'm excited to know that I will "grow up" as long as I keep trying.

tag: navel gazing