Urbana-Champaign Bicycle Commute

Title

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:41:00 +0000

It's really winding down, or up, as the case may be. 9 days 'til "study day" then finals week.
Being revisited: that you can't distribute squares over terms.
This would be where I would emphasize - go deeper than what looks right. Remember what it MEANS. So that even though you are "simplifying" -- alas, it looks messier and more complificated.

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Random post just so Google still thinks it exists.

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:05:00 +0000

My blog's now at http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com

I got tired of trying to convince Google that this isn't a spam blog. Hey, just a click away and they'll check and see this isn't spam -- except they actually don't. They tell me what spamblogs are... and name characteristics mine doesn't have.
I woulnd't mind if they *said* "yo! we're not making any adsense funds offa you! So we're gonna make it a bunbite to be here!"
Nope, they make it more of a backbiting bunbite.
It's only a coincidence, I'm sure, that the spam-letter-code says "pigfek" at the bottom ;)

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:15:00 +0000

Just stopping in out of perverse curiosity. Of course, I've still got the 'character ID' down below.

And, no surprise, now it asks me to "fill out the form" to request a review. The fact that I have "filled out" exactly that form twice already and it has been ignored isn't mentioned. I do wonder if I'm missing somethign about the "form," since it seems to be simply a "letter id" itself ... wonder if it doesn't work in Firefox or something.

Sorry, this is a "third time's for losers" situation, in my opinion. Google socks.

I'm still spam.

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:12:00 +0000

At "least" their automatic message says they're sincerely apologetic and that they received my request to unlock on the 19th (of course, they received the other one a few weeks before that.)

Google Socks

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:14:00 +0000

... Yes, indeed.

I've been returned to "apologies if you're not a spam blog, please send a request."

This is the third request.

Something tells me it's a bot doing the research. Jes' like a spambot.

Happily fleeing Google's crap. Wondering when they'll foul up their email... better start looking for options before they decide I'm sending spam from there, too.

Snork. Now, it tells me to do the visual verification and doesn't even have a picture, so I &**cant** get it right the first time. Is that something google reserves for people who say they sock?

Is Google even more big brother than Word?

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:31:00 +0000

http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com/

That's where I"m gonna go post the picture of our "itty bitty bike shop."

yea, I'm still waiting on "review" - wondering when/if I'll get the switched message from "we received your request on September 11" to "please send a request for review" again.

Deciding Friday

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:12:00 +0000

... I'm thinkin' that by Friday I'll have gotten to know my way around Wordpress to say so long to Google blogs.
Yes, I requested a review - and you can't request every day and no, there's no "contact a real person" avenue. (After the request, I got "your request has been received" the next couple times I checked; then a week after *that* I got the "you should request a review" message again. I'd guess they're so overwhelmed by the spam that they can't keep up, and they have an automatic reset so that the burden is on me to get back on the list.
Time to stop being in the vulnerable masses. (There should be a sociological/ economic term for it - being a target because of the hugeness of one's group.)
Time to write about cycling instead :)
And... on wordpress, since the flogging letters get harder and harder to match.

Ike and HOodoo

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Vicarious hoodoo
That's Howard, deadhead et al, prepping for the Hoodoo 500, which is happening NOW. I'm pausing in my Saturday ride for some of that stuff called food.It's feeling extremely tropical here, except there arent those blobs of hurricane clouds or anything. It's just warm and humid and windy. OH, and a big noise happened so I reckon the ILlini scored :)

Tried the "deep breathing snot rockets" on this cold and didn't get to euphoria land, but it *did* feel good and perhaps it will make the cold not last so long. It feels like exactly the same cold.

Still on track for 1000. COnsidering a moonlight "solidarity to hoodooers" outing.

Oh, and I"m going to cut and paste this to Wordpress. I'll make a final decision at the end of the week but I'm sick up and fed with stoopid lettres.

MOjo?

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:24:00 +0000

... http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com

So just for fun I clicked on the "why do I have this?" because yea, it's been a few weeks.

It had said that I shouldwait for them to process my request.

Now it is back to saying I should fill out a form again.

Gosh, the less I post, the fewer times I have to put up with such crap.

I am thinking that they simply want fewer blogs. Of course, if frequently posting real bloggers leave, then the ratio of real to spam will suffer.

Google Socks

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 03:45:00 +0000

A girl could like that wordpress - see http://bicycleuc.wordpress.com/. For starters, you can make links open a new window if you want to, and uploading the new header was fun (I'll peruse my images... that one with the train was obvious 'cause it's long and wide).
Yes, it's been goin' on two weeks and I'm still getting my little letters to type. The Internet is all about inertia and those silly letters have motivated me...

Thomasboro bites

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:07:00 +0000

Saturday we wanted to avoid game traffic and headwinds home, so we went to Thomasboro. Last time I was out there, I was chomped on by a dog at the house at the corner of Highcross and 2300. This time, when I pulled in to the Casey's, something got me through my lycra. I've got a lovely welt on my upper thigh.
On an unrelated email discussion, somebody mentioned the value of photographing skin reactions to things, to document changes, etc. I was inspired and had the camera with me.
There was a viral email a decade back about "things to do to freak out your co-workers." Add to the list: Go into a bathroom stall and take flash pictures.
(Don't have the right cable or I just might post it ;) )

Went in this a.m. via Office Depot and a fella on big tires engaged in a race. I passed him and he stayed just behind... lagged a bit and then surged, giggling audibly, got a little ahead of me and then faded fast, coughing. Okay, we were both trading "woopee!" noises :D
On the other hand, the Trek rider I talked to at lunch was struck by a driver on the way in today :(
The South Route to Parkland: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=163806
The North Route, with Roads http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2249138
An even more North route based on the map and my vague memory that parts of Washington are Brick and a pain, which could be wrong: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2249158
(the North route can be taken right on through Main Street, too, through Seibel Hall)

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:32:00 +0000

Too busy to contemplate blogmoves... enjoying the names of the alleycatters! Major IceHole indeed! Must be a winter biker :)

Had to make mental adjustment to NotHurry this morning, again, 'cause there's just too much pedestrian and bicycle traffic (over 20 cyclists). It's not as if the attitude actually changes the time it takes - but it changes the encounters with others and whether I slow down and smile, or slow down a second *later* and jump... and still end up proceeding when it's appropriate, which would hve been the same time no matter when I slowed down.

308 miles last week :) First week in September is often >250 but it can be hard to top 300. Now for the rest of the month, which will entail *not* being distracted by blogs so I can get Done What NEeds To Be Done.

Welts...

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:33:00 +0000

... yesterday's sting has a nice big red blob around it today. It itches, though, which means healing, eh? Wasn't a bee...

this letter crap is beyond old. Yo. Tomorrow moving?

Greenbelt Reel Lawnmower Society

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Seems my brother's group won the grand prize in my hometown's Labor Day parade for precision lawnmowing :)
Rode the Boulevard ride in Chicago today. Perfect weather and a well-organized ride with lots of volunteers with large orange flags to show where to turn, really good pavement markings (except one spot with the confoundingly ambiguous sign "CONTINUE RIDING" and finally a single stenciled arrow) The folder was the right bike (aside from fitting into Frank's car next to his, with the other two bikes on the rack on the back) since it squirts so easily through anything and bounds over rough roads. Saw a soul or two I recognized from GITAP.

metric day

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:19:00 +0000

... got in 100K and a little more - and got stung through my lycra, somehow, out near THomasboro - never saw a bug but felt it and Wild looking welts they are but they don't hurt any more. Grateful for a not-too-sensitive immune system :)

Volunteered at the bike coop today for the new Saturday hours, which were almost utterly unannounced... but there were at least 10 new folks who happened by. Since I have *extremely* limited actual mechanical skills, I had volunteered to do naught but talk to people; not my favorite thing in the whole world but it did mean the folks working on bikes and helping people work on bikes could *do* that. Now, I just have to remember 40% of the important details (like, "are you a member? did you sign in?")

OH, and I got a wordpress blog. Might just start doing that instead... but not tongiht - but about when these hard to read letters push my button one too many times.

poor bicycle riders...

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:39:00 +0000

I went into the grocery store for cheese and bagels and noodles ...all the cheapest kind :) ... and when I asked about my nickel for having my own bag, the checker was abashed and apologetic. I tried to make light of it... told her the truth - it's my "mad gambling money" and when I get to a dollar, I buy a lottery ticket. She was even *more* apologetic... I didn't have time to explain that actually, I bought the vending machine lottery tickets, too, not the big ones, because I *don't* dream of getting millions. I just have fun occasionally scratching off and getting $5.
(I didn't tell her I did the same with half of my money from the cans I pick up off the road when I'm doing intervals, either ;) ) I'm due for a trip to the Goat... gonna go for $3.00 in cans in September :)

I'm honestly getting pretty tired of this stupid letter crap.

Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:40:00 +0000

branta canadensis indeed - welp, I"m trying to *earn* faux spam status, since I"m still typing in that revolting letter recognition. You see, it is nonsense. I excel at discerning dyslexic, dysgraphic expressions - from handwriting that has patterns attempting to make words with meaning.

Did a 14 mile "power surge" at the end of the commute tonight. DId most of the miles in under four minutes. (Speedo still busted so I have to use a clock for my speedometer - since roads are a mile apart, I try to get there in under four minutes.) Got lots of howdies adn some of them even people I recognized :)

This was one of those weeks where I was always behind. Friday obligations evaporated, tho', so here's hoping to ketchup!

Goose anecdote

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:57:00 +0000

I turned onto campus on the sidewalk and it was populated with geese, most of 'em on the right of the walk, some of 'em on, and some of them to the left, with a goose or two actually on the campus drive.
Aha! A chance to use my horn!
I tooted from a reasonable distance and expected dispersal radiating from the sound. Instead, the critters all ambled East (away from the road), tho' it meant some crossed the walk in front of me.
If you're looking for your doctoral thesis topic and you decided not to explore the uncharted genetic foot condition in our family, then the dispersal patterns of branta canadensis when honked at could serve, eh?

No mockin' the mockingbirds

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:54:00 +0000

http://almarose.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/this-day-got-beautiful-in-it/

I started pondering the implications of considering all creation in a self-centered way and then decided to just get into it ;)

misty

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:11:00 +0000

'tis misty indeed, as the vestiges of Gustav ooze away. I await the hypotonic tomato explosions as the plants suck up this moisture after a dry spell.
Lots of spamblogs infused with the word "dahon" ... but none with Xtracycle :) Definitely an increase in the spamblogs over the past two weeks.
Rode in strong this a.m. tho' I slept in so it was the 7.3 mile version. 7 other bikes in the mist.

Vehicular Cycling Workshops

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:08:00 +0000

That's right, you can get the basics of riding your bicycle as a vehicle (as opposed to a gadget ;) ) at teh U of I. Check it out - it's an hour's session. It would be awfully cool if people actually went to them :)

Gosh, another link on my "link farm." Google socks.

Gustav

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:42:00 +0000

The vestiges of Gustav are here... and we'll get practical examples of hypotonia (which I was explaining to a student yesterday) as tomatoes explode their skins, I'm sure.
Damp ride in but just sprinkles. Couldn't go fast like yesterday 'cause it's later and there are *people* around! The nerve!
New urban dictionary "cool" word: "steeze," as in "style and ease" or self-confidence. Do you have it? I think I left mine with my keys, wherever they are, but it's around somewhere!
Ed Kieser ("the whining weatherman") said we'd have the "flavor of fall" next week, but "not freezing or anything." I'm ready :)

Not Grumpy

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:13:00 +0000

Okay, I am still grumpy at computers which aren't being cooperative (I am not a Mac person. I want a computer to do what I command it to do. I do not want a computer to cutely and vainly attempt to anticipate my needs. I never want to do exactly what a Mac informs me I *must* want to do, though they're better than they were back in dos days.)
Very nice commute in this a.m. I love how the legs feel 48 hours after a century :) If I had a working speedo (have I mentioned all kidns of electronics not liking me these days?) I could tell you how fast I went, including 2 victory laps aggressively crunched out around campus.
Saw the rec center at the U in "prime time" yesterday - it *is* a mass of bicycles everywhere. They're on the "temporary yellow" racks, they're on every metal bench and up the railings on the stairs. I feel sorry for people who need railings to climb stairs. I feel sorry for people
Ah, the Mother ( ) U.

Monday Century :)

noreply@blogger.com (SiouxGeonz) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Welp, I found map number five, but 4:30 Monday morning it wasn't here. Musta left it at my friend's where I was doing the Internet thing, along with the Route to Catlin.

However, I'd deeply pondered said Route to Catlin, and I had printed out from Catlin to Perrysville including a serious zoom-in of Catlin to Belgium to across the river to Perrysville Road.

So! I was enabled to ride from here to Catlin 'cause I'd studied on it, and from Catlin to Belgium over gravely roads and across the river with only one wrong hill up "Twin HIlls" (of course the wrong turn was up a hill, but it had been fffllllaaat 'til then and I was BORED! and... it was a leetle hill) and then through Grape Creek over the river and to Perrysville to do the "perrysville ride" (picture to come) ... and then not ride back 'cause we ate at the Moonglo which is well north of my Route OUt and after 105 miles and burgers I wasn't ready for that kind of thinking.

Excellent weather - almost no wind in the morning (tho' the 3 mph was against me)... got hot (but around 90, not kill-you hot), and the danged wind switched - it still wasn't severe but it *did* make me think we must be going the wrong direction! and we saw lots of cool covered bridges. Pics to come.

Now off to do the last Pedaling for Pleasure of the season...