Just wanted to give my parents, who are off in Paris right now and my girlfriend, who is out on the beach in San Diego through Monday an idea of what they're missing.
I should have bought those snowshoes.
Showing posts with label Ranting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ranting. Show all posts
Friday, February 05, 2010
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The good, the bad and scummy
All week I've been eagerly waiting for this weekend to come. I had big plans and with Aimee in Florida through the end of the weekend, I had no commitments to speak of. Perfect for a couple of long days out in the great outdoors. I tossed around the idea of a backpacking trip with Brian, or maybe a fast packing trip, just me and my pup; 20+ miles on Saturday and another 20+ on Sunday with super minimal gear. Could be pretty sweet, if of course I could work the gear right. Then I was thinking long ride, Shaffer and Hoyles Mill and Black Hills and maybe more if I could figure it out for Saturday. Sunday, change it up with a sweet long trail run.
Then it started raining and any and all of those plans went down the tube. Well, almost all.
While I knew any sort of mountain biking was out for the weekend I figured I could try and squeeze in a long run somewhere. I headed up to Patapsco to see what the trails were like with the intention of heading to Columbia to run some errands if they were bad. What I found were surprisingly tacky and solid trails all around.
So, I donned a lumbar (fanny) pack with a water bottle holder, bungees for my rain jacket and pockets for cell phone and gu's and hit the trails with Cass. I stuck to trails I never ride and trails away from heavy run off and river valley areas and saw tons of areas in the park I've never before seen. After tooling around some of the different routes up between Avalon and the 195 park and ride entrance I headed out the paved Grist Mill trail searching for some different trails and different areas. I found a way across the train tracks and made it up eventually to the Hilton area and headed out further from there.
At this point we'd been out running for about an hour and a half to two hours and it was starting to rain. The trails were holding up and the rain barely seemed to be coming through the leaves so I decided to keep going since I was still feeling good. Headed out a few trails that eventually brought me back down to the paved trail (still grist mill maybe?) and a dam where I circled back around on Buzzards Rock Branch Trail. At this point the rain was starting to pick up so remembering a few key things from a park map I'd looked at back at the Hilton area I headed back in the general direction of where we came from, all the while sticking to different trails.
Eventually we made it back down to the parking area at the trail head (middle?) of Soapstone and started on the final stretch, deciding to stick to soapstone since it was about time to be finished. The cloud cover was starting to make it dark in the woods and it was getting late (much later then I realized). Soapstone was beginning to get a bit nasty though it generally is probably one of the first trails to get bad as the water tends to run and puddle on the trail there naturally.
When we finally made it back up to the trail head a bit over 3 hours later I think both Cass and I were ready to be finished, dry and fed. Unfortunately, some scumbag had decided my truck looked money and that there was probably something of value in it. They smashed my passenger side rear window with a rock (which they left me as a souvenir on Cassie's bed along with a wonderful pile of glass and only charged me a wallet! How wonderful a present.
Oddly enough they left my (outdated?) ipod player sitting in my center console where the wallet was as well as my GPS navigation device which had slid out from under the passenger side seat and was sitting in plan view when the passenger side door was opened (which they had done). Strange... apparently these guys were too good for my electronic devices! Though they did take my ipod car charger I think.
BofA had called me while I was running which I guess I'd missed hearing coming from wrapped in a plastic bag in a pocket near my dairy-aire. Apparently they spent some $70 at MacDonalds before attempting to rack up about $1000 at Walmart. Pretty easy to ID the fraudulent purchases there since I REFUSE to eat MacDonalds and haven't been to a Walmart probably since I was at school in Pittsburgh.
This is going to be a fun week. New driver's license, new work ID, NEW REI MEMBER CARD!!!, new smart trip card (which had some $80 still on it), new health insurance cards, (damn it, they stole the cross I kept from when I was young serving at my church as an acolyte! S@#$!), new AAA card, phew, I just took my social security card out of my wallet a little while back..., oh yeah new debit card, new costco card... Let's see. Anything else? I think that's more then enough. I'll be really pissed if they got my Cosi card.
Ok, I'm done. I think I've blown off enough steam for one night. If you made it this far... sorry!
At least the run was great!
Then it started raining and any and all of those plans went down the tube. Well, almost all.
While I knew any sort of mountain biking was out for the weekend I figured I could try and squeeze in a long run somewhere. I headed up to Patapsco to see what the trails were like with the intention of heading to Columbia to run some errands if they were bad. What I found were surprisingly tacky and solid trails all around.
So, I donned a lumbar (fanny) pack with a water bottle holder, bungees for my rain jacket and pockets for cell phone and gu's and hit the trails with Cass. I stuck to trails I never ride and trails away from heavy run off and river valley areas and saw tons of areas in the park I've never before seen. After tooling around some of the different routes up between Avalon and the 195 park and ride entrance I headed out the paved Grist Mill trail searching for some different trails and different areas. I found a way across the train tracks and made it up eventually to the Hilton area and headed out further from there.
At this point we'd been out running for about an hour and a half to two hours and it was starting to rain. The trails were holding up and the rain barely seemed to be coming through the leaves so I decided to keep going since I was still feeling good. Headed out a few trails that eventually brought me back down to the paved trail (still grist mill maybe?) and a dam where I circled back around on Buzzards Rock Branch Trail. At this point the rain was starting to pick up so remembering a few key things from a park map I'd looked at back at the Hilton area I headed back in the general direction of where we came from, all the while sticking to different trails.
Eventually we made it back down to the parking area at the trail head (middle?) of Soapstone and started on the final stretch, deciding to stick to soapstone since it was about time to be finished. The cloud cover was starting to make it dark in the woods and it was getting late (much later then I realized). Soapstone was beginning to get a bit nasty though it generally is probably one of the first trails to get bad as the water tends to run and puddle on the trail there naturally.
When we finally made it back up to the trail head a bit over 3 hours later I think both Cass and I were ready to be finished, dry and fed. Unfortunately, some scumbag had decided my truck looked money and that there was probably something of value in it. They smashed my passenger side rear window with a rock (which they left me as a souvenir on Cassie's bed along with a wonderful pile of glass and only charged me a wallet! How wonderful a present.
Oddly enough they left my (outdated?) ipod player sitting in my center console where the wallet was as well as my GPS navigation device which had slid out from under the passenger side seat and was sitting in plan view when the passenger side door was opened (which they had done). Strange... apparently these guys were too good for my electronic devices! Though they did take my ipod car charger I think.
BofA had called me while I was running which I guess I'd missed hearing coming from wrapped in a plastic bag in a pocket near my dairy-aire. Apparently they spent some $70 at MacDonalds before attempting to rack up about $1000 at Walmart. Pretty easy to ID the fraudulent purchases there since I REFUSE to eat MacDonalds and haven't been to a Walmart probably since I was at school in Pittsburgh.
This is going to be a fun week. New driver's license, new work ID, NEW REI MEMBER CARD!!!, new smart trip card (which had some $80 still on it), new health insurance cards, (damn it, they stole the cross I kept from when I was young serving at my church as an acolyte! S@#$!), new AAA card, phew, I just took my social security card out of my wallet a little while back..., oh yeah new debit card, new costco card... Let's see. Anything else? I think that's more then enough. I'll be really pissed if they got my Cosi card.
Ok, I'm done. I think I've blown off enough steam for one night. If you made it this far... sorry!
At least the run was great!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Kick'em while they're down!
It's tough to complain in light of recent events about how rough I've got it, but being the accomplished whiner that I am, I've managed to pull through just the same. In all seriousness my thoughts are with those affected by the crash and my hopes lie with those in Iran, doing what they can to be heard.
A few weeks ago I got angry with Mike and Bryan for inciting havoc on bicycle tires everywhere, but I figured the worst was through. Turns out I was dead wrong. Instead my luck has continued on the downward trajectory that has been my path of late (did I mention the torn sidewall on the scalpel during the shed ride a week before Big Bear? Yeah...). If those weren't enough, last Thursday after riding from Hains to work and back I got home only to find another rear flat on the CAAD9 and a large piece of glass sticking out of the tire. I hung the bike up and left it for the weekend deciding to busy myself with house work and spring cleaning instead.
So, come Saturday evening when Aimee and I are heading out for some fine dining at the Olive Garden courtesy of a gift card left over from Christmas the last thing on my mind is a flat tire. Apparently the great deflater wasn't through with me yet. A large drywall screw and my back passenger side tire had become intimate friends during a brief drive for gravel and once again my tire changing abilities were brought to the forefront.
Actually we took Aimee's car and left mine for the next morning parked against traffic where the tire would be accessible on a flat section in front of my place. Long story short, the lug nuts are basically corroded to the bolt and a call to AAA is in order since the 12 inch tire iron just won't provide the leverage. Get everything finished and head back inside to take care of the dogs and grab Aimee for the drive to the tire repair shop, etc and when I come back, maybe 30 minutes later I've got a parking ticket for parking against traffic.
A little additional history here, since I've been dating Aimee I've received a few parking tickets. Most recently and notably are the $100, tow required "failure to secure DC tags" tickets I've been getting by the handful during non-residential restricted times. I currently have two in for review and another which I did not send in within the required time frame. So, not only do the tire gremlins have it out for me, but the parking gods shine elsewhere these days as well.
The Rear derailleur was just a little icing on the cake, oh and my crappy Hayes Sole brake that was blown out on Jamis is in the process of being replaced as well. At least the mechanical Avid BB7's won't have issues with fluid pressures/levels or blown fluid lines. (Sweet! Just got the call the Jamis is all ready to go! THANK YOU FAMILY BIKE SHOP!)
A few weeks ago I got angry with Mike and Bryan for inciting havoc on bicycle tires everywhere, but I figured the worst was through. Turns out I was dead wrong. Instead my luck has continued on the downward trajectory that has been my path of late (did I mention the torn sidewall on the scalpel during the shed ride a week before Big Bear? Yeah...). If those weren't enough, last Thursday after riding from Hains to work and back I got home only to find another rear flat on the CAAD9 and a large piece of glass sticking out of the tire. I hung the bike up and left it for the weekend deciding to busy myself with house work and spring cleaning instead.
So, come Saturday evening when Aimee and I are heading out for some fine dining at the Olive Garden courtesy of a gift card left over from Christmas the last thing on my mind is a flat tire. Apparently the great deflater wasn't through with me yet. A large drywall screw and my back passenger side tire had become intimate friends during a brief drive for gravel and once again my tire changing abilities were brought to the forefront.
Actually we took Aimee's car and left mine for the next morning parked against traffic where the tire would be accessible on a flat section in front of my place. Long story short, the lug nuts are basically corroded to the bolt and a call to AAA is in order since the 12 inch tire iron just won't provide the leverage. Get everything finished and head back inside to take care of the dogs and grab Aimee for the drive to the tire repair shop, etc and when I come back, maybe 30 minutes later I've got a parking ticket for parking against traffic.
A little additional history here, since I've been dating Aimee I've received a few parking tickets. Most recently and notably are the $100, tow required "failure to secure DC tags" tickets I've been getting by the handful during non-residential restricted times. I currently have two in for review and another which I did not send in within the required time frame. So, not only do the tire gremlins have it out for me, but the parking gods shine elsewhere these days as well.
The Rear derailleur was just a little icing on the cake, oh and my crappy Hayes Sole brake that was blown out on Jamis is in the process of being replaced as well. At least the mechanical Avid BB7's won't have issues with fluid pressures/levels or blown fluid lines. (Sweet! Just got the call the Jamis is all ready to go! THANK YOU FAMILY BIKE SHOP!)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Listen up Ma-Nature
Now don't get me all riled up here...
I sent Ma-Nature a hint tonight. I've been refusing to cut my beard or my hair since early December since it's been so cold out. Things got a bit hairy if you will be hey, my noggin and chin stayed nice and toasty.
Tonight I'm giving mother nature the green light for warm weather. I shaved it all back down to my summer cut, so MN let's get on that one.
The way I see it, one of two things will happen. The umbrella effect or spring. Spring of course is self explanatory. The umbrella effect is how when you remember your umbrella the rain holds off but of course when you forget it... tough shnookie. I sense a tough shnookie comin up coutesy of my haircut.
I sent Ma-Nature a hint tonight. I've been refusing to cut my beard or my hair since early December since it's been so cold out. Things got a bit hairy if you will be hey, my noggin and chin stayed nice and toasty.
Tonight I'm giving mother nature the green light for warm weather. I shaved it all back down to my summer cut, so MN let's get on that one.
The way I see it, one of two things will happen. The umbrella effect or spring. Spring of course is self explanatory. The umbrella effect is how when you remember your umbrella the rain holds off but of course when you forget it... tough shnookie. I sense a tough shnookie comin up coutesy of my haircut.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Dumb groundhog
Looks like I'll be pulling out the road bike after all this weekend. Rain starting tomorrow and lasting through the entire weekend with wintry mix and snow coming out the other end. Then snow/wintry mix off and on all week next week! Good lord give us a break!
Generally I like my seasons; I enjoy spring and fall, love my winter laden with snow and summers, well you know, it's the humidity that gets ya. Generally, especially after a winter of snowfall as disappointing as this year's I'd still be itching for that one last heavy snowfall to bury us for a couple of days. This year, I just want it to be over!
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that there is no way we'll get enough snow to make this worth it. Eh, whatever, just let it be spring already!
Generally I like my seasons; I enjoy spring and fall, love my winter laden with snow and summers, well you know, it's the humidity that gets ya. Generally, especially after a winter of snowfall as disappointing as this year's I'd still be itching for that one last heavy snowfall to bury us for a couple of days. This year, I just want it to be over!
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that there is no way we'll get enough snow to make this worth it. Eh, whatever, just let it be spring already!
Monday, February 09, 2009
Oblivious case of the moondays
After my constant pestering and of course my gift with strings attached, Brian has got his review of the 53x11 The Early Break up on his site. Basically, B comes comes down to the same conclusion as I though he does a bit of a better job with the whole "knowing what he's talking about" thing.
Thanks B.
I've managed to start riding my bike to the metro here in Greenbelt lately; something I've struggled to find the motivation to do at times in the past year and a half. Basically my excuses are as follows:
1. I sweat pretty easily and it sucks to go to work all sweaty and nasty.
2. Which bike??? I'm not about to leave the nice road bike or one of my Mt rigs at the metro all day. The cross rig (finally dialed into the righ working gear works for that now).
3. Pedals. I don't own a single set of flats. WTF? So, I either ride my speedplays or spd's with regular shoes or bring an extra set of shoes to change when I get there.
4. It's cold.
5. I'm lazy.
So, lately I've been riding the speedplays while wearing my hiking shoes and just dealing with everything as I go. Finally this weekend I switched out the pedals for the spd's and just wore the old mtb cleats to work. They're black so I guess I don't look like that big of a dork. It works, I'm learning to use my clothing more dynamically to help keep me warm and cool myself off during the brief 2.5 mile ride (ie zipping and unzipping the zipper) and I generally reward myself with a mug of hot joe to sip during the long metro ride in. (Shhhh, don't tell nobody).
Where I was going with this story back from the beginning of this novel was that this morning I had a ridiculous encounter with a driver coming out of my neighborhood. I was riding down the road when a women pulled out from the left turning into my lane. She basically turned out right into me, not just ahead, not just behind but directly into the side of me while I rode. She didn't do in a fashion that really left me a comfortable space beside the curb as I've had cars do before and really it seemed like she didn't even see me.
I basically stopped and let her just go then caught up with her at the stop sign just ahead which she rolled through to make her right turn, effectively cutting me off as I made my right into the bike lane. After this one I accelerated and was going to bang on her window to yell at her, or at least make her aware I was there but she suddenly accelerated as if she knew I was trying to catch her. B*tch!
So we get down to the next light and she's stopped behind someone waiting for the light to change. I pull up beside her and stop next her her passenger side window. She's staring directly ahead not acknowldging me at all until I tap on the window and she looks startled and opens the window. At first I thought she was ignoring me on purpose; I was standing directly in her window staring at her yet she had no clue. I told her what she did and she apologized and said she had no idea and of course thanked me for letting her know...
Wow, just amazing how clueless a person can be. I'm glad I ride defensively and expect people to do stupid stuff most of the time. People are dumb.
Thanks B.
I've managed to start riding my bike to the metro here in Greenbelt lately; something I've struggled to find the motivation to do at times in the past year and a half. Basically my excuses are as follows:
1. I sweat pretty easily and it sucks to go to work all sweaty and nasty.
2. Which bike??? I'm not about to leave the nice road bike or one of my Mt rigs at the metro all day. The cross rig (finally dialed into the righ working gear works for that now).
3. Pedals. I don't own a single set of flats. WTF? So, I either ride my speedplays or spd's with regular shoes or bring an extra set of shoes to change when I get there.
4. It's cold.
5. I'm lazy.
So, lately I've been riding the speedplays while wearing my hiking shoes and just dealing with everything as I go. Finally this weekend I switched out the pedals for the spd's and just wore the old mtb cleats to work. They're black so I guess I don't look like that big of a dork. It works, I'm learning to use my clothing more dynamically to help keep me warm and cool myself off during the brief 2.5 mile ride (ie zipping and unzipping the zipper) and I generally reward myself with a mug of hot joe to sip during the long metro ride in. (Shhhh, don't tell nobody).
Where I was going with this story back from the beginning of this novel was that this morning I had a ridiculous encounter with a driver coming out of my neighborhood. I was riding down the road when a women pulled out from the left turning into my lane. She basically turned out right into me, not just ahead, not just behind but directly into the side of me while I rode. She didn't do in a fashion that really left me a comfortable space beside the curb as I've had cars do before and really it seemed like she didn't even see me.
I basically stopped and let her just go then caught up with her at the stop sign just ahead which she rolled through to make her right turn, effectively cutting me off as I made my right into the bike lane. After this one I accelerated and was going to bang on her window to yell at her, or at least make her aware I was there but she suddenly accelerated as if she knew I was trying to catch her. B*tch!
So we get down to the next light and she's stopped behind someone waiting for the light to change. I pull up beside her and stop next her her passenger side window. She's staring directly ahead not acknowldging me at all until I tap on the window and she looks startled and opens the window. At first I thought she was ignoring me on purpose; I was standing directly in her window staring at her yet she had no clue. I told her what she did and she apologized and said she had no idea and of course thanked me for letting her know...
Wow, just amazing how clueless a person can be. I'm glad I ride defensively and expect people to do stupid stuff most of the time. People are dumb.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Dogs will be dogs
Quick rant for the day.
I'm sick of hearing about people sounding off on dogs and dog owners! The greenbelt listserv is in the midst of a bitch session against people who let their dogs off leash while a few blogs I've read lately have had a few blasting words for people doing stupid things with their dogs, then to top it all off MORE has a new favorite thread for the day about dog shit on the W&OD trail.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning people behave this way, I'm just tired of hearing people bitch about it at the moment. Particularly on the listserv, there is a one sided "argument" going on of folks spouting off about dogs off leash; but no one is on there disagreeing with them. So essentially, they're just bitching to bitch; the old talking because you like the sound of your own voice bit. Annoying as sh*t if you ask me.
As an aside, I do let my dog off leash quite frequently in the "field" behind my house to play ball. If anyone comes around I either keep her focused on the ball (which is quite easy actually) or keep a hold on her until they pass. No harm (or bother) no foul.
On the other hand I've had a number of encounters with people who have very unfriendly and downright vicious dogs lately in Greenbelt. Running along the trail with Cass (attached to me on a 4 foot leash mind you) to the lake I was actually yelled at to stop by a guy who couldn't control his dog from attempting to attack us/her/whatever. Like father like dog...
I'm going to stop here because my main source of annoyance is the listserv, and I feel I've let enough of that steam out.
If you want some positive pup time check out what Jason Berry has coming up in the pipeline. They did a feature on Vick's dogs a while back when they first went to the Best Friends animal sanctuary. Very good stuff.
I'm sick of hearing about people sounding off on dogs and dog owners! The greenbelt listserv is in the midst of a bitch session against people who let their dogs off leash while a few blogs I've read lately have had a few blasting words for people doing stupid things with their dogs, then to top it all off MORE has a new favorite thread for the day about dog shit on the W&OD trail.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning people behave this way, I'm just tired of hearing people bitch about it at the moment. Particularly on the listserv, there is a one sided "argument" going on of folks spouting off about dogs off leash; but no one is on there disagreeing with them. So essentially, they're just bitching to bitch; the old talking because you like the sound of your own voice bit. Annoying as sh*t if you ask me.
As an aside, I do let my dog off leash quite frequently in the "field" behind my house to play ball. If anyone comes around I either keep her focused on the ball (which is quite easy actually) or keep a hold on her until they pass. No harm (or bother) no foul.
On the other hand I've had a number of encounters with people who have very unfriendly and downright vicious dogs lately in Greenbelt. Running along the trail with Cass (attached to me on a 4 foot leash mind you) to the lake I was actually yelled at to stop by a guy who couldn't control his dog from attempting to attack us/her/whatever. Like father like dog...
I'm going to stop here because my main source of annoyance is the listserv, and I feel I've let enough of that steam out.
If you want some positive pup time check out what Jason Berry has coming up in the pipeline. They did a feature on Vick's dogs a while back when they first went to the Best Friends animal sanctuary. Very good stuff.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
The big shibang!
So, that's it. It's over. Life as I knew it now resumes.
It feels good... to a degree.
I enjoy being finished, though I already miss the buildup a little.
The race was fun and I did about what I expected in my first. Cheers, to a successful first season in the Triathlon. I may actually feel comfortable calling my a triathlete now for the first time. Somehow, completing a couple of sprint tri's just didn't seem like enough to say the word.
It feels good... to a degree.
I enjoy being finished, though I already miss the buildup a little.
The race was fun and I did about what I expected in my first. Cheers, to a successful first season in the Triathlon. I may actually feel comfortable calling my a triathlete now for the first time. Somehow, completing a couple of sprint tri's just didn't seem like enough to say the word.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Ugh
In taking my own advice, bike/car interactions are part of the training/bicycle riding "community" in general. Debates on topics such as this are best held in general cycling forums, not informational forums for the local racing community. Obviously my beliefs are not fully agreed upon by all of the Mabra community but I know there are at least a handful who do. Chris, after an early post, continued his thoughts on the Racing Union Blog; quite appropriate. Check it out, comment there. That's what it was meant for.
I can understand a debate regarding the safety of races/event sign ups/referees/rules; those things which have popped up in the past (though the debates raged on into to trolling wars) are at least directly relevant to racing. Debates in general though should be reserved to the bar or bike forums or whatever. I will from now on hopefully hear about upcoming race signups through teammates since I'd rather not have to delete 30 single thread emails form my account every time I check my email.
The appropriate use of a crap blog. Rant over.
I can understand a debate regarding the safety of races/event sign ups/referees/rules; those things which have popped up in the past (though the debates raged on into to trolling wars) are at least directly relevant to racing. Debates in general though should be reserved to the bar or bike forums or whatever. I will from now on hopefully hear about upcoming race signups through teammates since I'd rather not have to delete 30 single thread emails form my account every time I check my email.
The appropriate use of a crap blog. Rant over.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Another great Headline
" Sheriff's squad car kills two cyclists"
Yeah, so maybe the whole "Kit" thing is real, only that's no snazzy new mustang...
It had to be the car...
Yeah, so maybe the whole "Kit" thing is real, only that's no snazzy new mustang...
It had to be the car...
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Cyclist may be suspect in NY bombing
This is a sad, sad description that is akin to saying it was a tall guy wearing a hat and carrying an umbrella. Almost every person I know who rides a bike would fall suspect to that description since almost all ride to and from places, typically caring things... in a backpack.
The headline from CNN is just really nice to see. Hopefully no jack hole from the other side of the crazy house decides to take matters into is own hands and start trying to run over all cyclists.
The headline from CNN is just really nice to see. Hopefully no jack hole from the other side of the crazy house decides to take matters into is own hands and start trying to run over all cyclists.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The battle continues
Wow! How cool is that? GW Bush decided to drop by the old FPB to see what’s up here at the Department of Labor. I was sitting in my cube working away for my man when suddenly the old guy walks right in says hello we had a little chat about my work! I offered him one of my Girl Scout cookies and he only made 1 secret servicemen try it to make sure it was safe! Wow what a swell guy he is.
Actually the truth of the matter the soon to be not-so-dearly departed Prez did stop by the building today. We were not invited; we were not officially told. We were harshly greeted and spoken to if we happened on any ground within 100 feet of anything within sight of him actually. The reason for this surprise visit? You guessed it; another attack by the four wheeled hegemony on those of us that toil on two wheels.
Bush along with his three hundred and seventy six vehicle escort service ascended on the garages of the FPB like a horde of gnats in the swamps of
You may have won the battle; but you’ll never win the war!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
No tax here still means a tax over there
I wrote this post yesterday but then got tied up and didn't get the chance to post it. Today there is another article to direct a bit of similar attention to. Bush wants to cut corporate taxes; so his trillion dollar war is not going to be payed for the corporations that bankrolled his presidency and whose benefit from the war is the greatest (Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, etc...).
Seems smart, instead me and even more so my kids will pay for it. President Bush, you're a first class asshole.
--------------
This morning in the post an article caught my eye and got me thinking about the recent attempt in VA for abusive driver fees that raised such a huge stink. The article this morning dealt with Fairfax County looking to increase commercial real estate taxes in order to raise more money for transportation projects. The message here; they’ve got to get it one way or another and either way someone’s not going to be pleased. Though, if they don’t get it somewhere they’re going to hear about that instead since the transportation system will quickly turn to crap, bridges will fall, road will crumble, paths will not be built, additional lanes of super highways won’t be built (ok so some of it would be positive, though those would probably be the things that would get pushed through first).
Anyway, throughout the life of this abusive driver fee bit I’ve been kind of sitting in disbelief and chuckling to myself at the same time. Disbelief that people are justifying their arguments against the law with the fact that they’ll be hurt by it because they are breaking the law. “No way! Ya’ll can’t fine me lots of money for speeding or blowing off that stop sign!” sounds to me like “No way! Ya’ll can’t put me in jail for stealing those CD’s!” I mean I know they’re different and all but they’re both breaking the law, plus a traffic violation is much more likely to cause harm to another person then a minor theft.
Chuckling to myself because, well, the money’s got to come from somewhere and in the end it always comes down to the people’s pockets. Higher commercial real estate taxes mean higher costs for business which of course are then transferred over in the end to the consumers, aka potential abusive fine payers. One way or another guys, one way or another.
The abusive driver fees on the other hand are actually pretty great in my eyes and would be far better then additional taxes else where. If you think about it it’s an additional “tax” that would be so easy to not have to pay. All you’ve got to do is OBEY THE F’ING LAW and look at that you’ve in retrospect kept your taxes from rising, or from another view essentially lowered them. Yes, please! I’ll take that option. 20 MPH+? Who needs that?
I’ve got to give it to folks that I’d be upset if this fee were applied to cyclists too so every time you get cited for running a red light or blowing through a stop sign you pay a hefty fine. I would however grit my teeth and bear this oh so terrible and undo burden, oh and probably not blow through any more stop signs. The difference here though is that cars doing similar things unfortunately have a much higher chance of causing harm then me riding my bicycle. That’s generally just my own life I’m putting in my hands with that as opposed to all those around me.
The arguments about it hurting certain people more then others is just a bit ridiculous as well. Yeah some folks can afford to pay the additional fees and will therefore probably still do stupid things and continue speeding as before; but EVERYONE can slow down! I took driving school just like everyone else and I distinctly remember being taught how to use an f’in brake. No excuses people. Have a little sense and get over yourselves.
Anyway, throughout the life of this abusive driver fee bit I’ve been kind of sitting in disbelief and chuckling to myself at the same time. Disbelief that people are justifying their arguments against the law with the fact that they’ll be hurt by it because they are breaking the law. “No way! Ya’ll can’t fine me lots of money for speeding or blowing off that stop sign!” sounds to me like “No way! Ya’ll can’t put me in jail for stealing those CD’s!” I mean I know they’re different and all but they’re both breaking the law, plus a traffic violation is much more likely to cause harm to another person then a minor theft.
Chuckling to myself because, well, the money’s got to come from somewhere and in the end it always comes down to the people’s pockets. Higher commercial real estate taxes mean higher costs for business which of course are then transferred over in the end to the consumers, aka potential abusive fine payers. One way or another guys, one way or another.
The abusive driver fees on the other hand are actually pretty great in my eyes and would be far better then additional taxes else where. If you think about it it’s an additional “tax” that would be so easy to not have to pay. All you’ve got to do is OBEY THE F’ING LAW and look at that you’ve in retrospect kept your taxes from rising, or from another view essentially lowered them. Yes, please! I’ll take that option. 20 MPH+? Who needs that?
I’ve got to give it to folks that I’d be upset if this fee were applied to cyclists too so every time you get cited for running a red light or blowing through a stop sign you pay a hefty fine. I would however grit my teeth and bear this oh so terrible and undo burden, oh and probably not blow through any more stop signs. The difference here though is that cars doing similar things unfortunately have a much higher chance of causing harm then me riding my bicycle. That’s generally just my own life I’m putting in my hands with that as opposed to all those around me.
The arguments about it hurting certain people more then others is just a bit ridiculous as well. Yeah some folks can afford to pay the additional fees and will therefore probably still do stupid things and continue speeding as before; but EVERYONE can slow down! I took driving school just like everyone else and I distinctly remember being taught how to use an f’in brake. No excuses people. Have a little sense and get over yourselves.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
A final word
Just to put it out there now; I will not be discussing this year’s tour anymore on here. I will still watch it and will still follow what is happening, but I am no longer excited. The tour no longer matters, it is the dopers and who will be caught and what it will mean in the long run that matters now. I almost wonder if the tour now views this as a purging year (years?) and has decided to blow things up this year and make it big enough and serious enough so that they can begin to recover and at least appear reasonable in the eyes of the fans.
Anyway, despite the fact that I could never get behind Rasmussen and would not have cheered much for him if (when) he won, I don’t like that he was pulled. The is no pride in victory left for Contador at this point; here we are left feeling that he was beat and would have to settle with second and now all of a sudden a move like that puts him in yellow. It is just winning by default; like winning through a forfeit it means nothing but a win in the record. You didn’t necessarily deserve it, you were just there. The live coverage writers at cyclingnews.com and velonews.com are right when they mention the lack of meaning in this tour any more. It will never be remembered as the epic battle that it should be; it will be the tour that Vino was kicked out of and that the team pulled out their own man while he was almost the definite winner of the tour.
Sad, but I am now almost viewing this as a joke myself. If it weren’t for the frown on my face and anger in my heart, I’d laugh.
Anyway, despite the fact that I could never get behind Rasmussen and would not have cheered much for him if (when) he won, I don’t like that he was pulled. The is no pride in victory left for Contador at this point; here we are left feeling that he was beat and would have to settle with second and now all of a sudden a move like that puts him in yellow. It is just winning by default; like winning through a forfeit it means nothing but a win in the record. You didn’t necessarily deserve it, you were just there. The live coverage writers at cyclingnews.com and velonews.com are right when they mention the lack of meaning in this tour any more. It will never be remembered as the epic battle that it should be; it will be the tour that Vino was kicked out of and that the team pulled out their own man while he was almost the definite winner of the tour.
Sad, but I am now almost viewing this as a joke myself. If it weren’t for the frown on my face and anger in my heart, I’d laugh.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
A tarnished image, a bleak future
The thing that hits me the hardest with this "doping scandal", and the latest one the most is this.
It's not the drugs or the fact that the riders are using them. It's that Pro cycling is considered a joke because of it to so many people. Whether they understand how truly grueling and difficult professional bike racing is or not (and I certainly can't claim to; I've only just a sliver of a taste from my Cat V sufferings) they won't respect these riders and they won't respect bike racing. It made me so sad to see this break out and now to read the after math of people giving up on pro cycling and losing faith in their heroes. Shoot, I had the utmost respect for Vino, and quite frankly I still due, even if it's a bit diminished after this; he is still an incredible rider and and can do things on the bike that I can never dream of. Doping is the wrong message and a doper is a bad role model, but what about Michael Vick.
While Vino's career and perhaps even his future in the world of cycling is over. It'll be telling to see when Vick is allowed to start playing again and when his endorsements will fall back into line. Playing time this season would certainly not surprise me.
Along another vein, Mike over at GamJams.com had an interesting take on the possible fall out from the latest tour disaster. While it sounds rosey and great I think I'd have to lean towards the ideas of my club that less is better, even if we all wish we could get the same great deals on our gear a lot of the other clubs get.
On the other hand I would think with a drop off in sponsorship of pro racing there will be less money to go around no matter what the marketers want. The following drop off in interest in bike racing, which of course has already started, will only lead to a drop off in sales for the companies that were sponsoring it. Those Lance wanna be "Fred's"
everyone loves to complain about make the sponsorships possible. Not saying these guys don't suck to deal with sometimes, but we should be thankful to them for at least supporting the sport and bike riding in general. I'll cheer for them over Michael Vick or massive gas guzzling SUV's any day. Shoot, I'd rather cheer for them rather then half the doped professional athletes America has to offer. These guys get away with it because the governing bodies believe/know it's good for the sport (or at least it's popularity) to let the power hitters dope and build excitement. I mean what reasonable SUV driving, overly self indulgent, super size eating slob wants to see a game where it's all natural; no home runs? c'mon now that's just boring. Just imagine all the records lost, and shucks, we'd have to be in awe still of Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. Where's the fun in that?
Apparently the French Media and the and the rest of the drug busters crew don't give a damn about America's (or Germany's for that matter) interest in cycling.
Sorry, the bumbling rant is now finished.
It's not the drugs or the fact that the riders are using them. It's that Pro cycling is considered a joke because of it to so many people. Whether they understand how truly grueling and difficult professional bike racing is or not (and I certainly can't claim to; I've only just a sliver of a taste from my Cat V sufferings) they won't respect these riders and they won't respect bike racing. It made me so sad to see this break out and now to read the after math of people giving up on pro cycling and losing faith in their heroes. Shoot, I had the utmost respect for Vino, and quite frankly I still due, even if it's a bit diminished after this; he is still an incredible rider and and can do things on the bike that I can never dream of. Doping is the wrong message and a doper is a bad role model, but what about Michael Vick.
While Vino's career and perhaps even his future in the world of cycling is over. It'll be telling to see when Vick is allowed to start playing again and when his endorsements will fall back into line. Playing time this season would certainly not surprise me.
Along another vein, Mike over at GamJams.com had an interesting take on the possible fall out from the latest tour disaster. While it sounds rosey and great I think I'd have to lean towards the ideas of my club that less is better, even if we all wish we could get the same great deals on our gear a lot of the other clubs get.
On the other hand I would think with a drop off in sponsorship of pro racing there will be less money to go around no matter what the marketers want. The following drop off in interest in bike racing, which of course has already started, will only lead to a drop off in sales for the companies that were sponsoring it. Those Lance wanna be "Fred's"
The guy on the Colnago, which probably should be recycled to an owner who will ride the thing hard and fast, like it deserves to be ridden, will have the highest end Campy special edition gear that he could afford, based on the sale of his eldest child’s kidney, or a little bit of creative billing to one of his more unwary clients.
everyone loves to complain about make the sponsorships possible. Not saying these guys don't suck to deal with sometimes, but we should be thankful to them for at least supporting the sport and bike riding in general. I'll cheer for them over Michael Vick or massive gas guzzling SUV's any day. Shoot, I'd rather cheer for them rather then half the doped professional athletes America has to offer. These guys get away with it because the governing bodies believe/know it's good for the sport (or at least it's popularity) to let the power hitters dope and build excitement. I mean what reasonable SUV driving, overly self indulgent, super size eating slob wants to see a game where it's all natural; no home runs? c'mon now that's just boring. Just imagine all the records lost, and shucks, we'd have to be in awe still of Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. Where's the fun in that?
Apparently the French Media and the and the rest of the drug busters crew don't give a damn about America's (or Germany's for that matter) interest in cycling.
Sorry, the bumbling rant is now finished.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
A divided nation
I interrupt my regularly scheduled biking posts for a quick unrelated rant; please note I have no real formal education in this subject area and this is simply my own opinion. If you would like to express a differing opinion please feel free to comment…
It seems to me capitalism and our own economy are driving down the overall standard of living in our country, at least in certain sectors of it and will continue to do so for years to come. Reading through this New York Times article this morning got me thinking about the state of our country, the outsourcing of certain jobs and the future of our economy. Not that any of these are new ideas or are all that astounding, but I think they are imminent and unstoppable with the path we are driving through capitalism.
First as more and more middle class jobs are outsourced and others are replaced by computer programs and machines, there is going to be a huge portion of our nation’s workers that are left floundering in the hole that is left behind. They may not have the creative potential or the training to compete in the ever changing “higher end” work environment and will therefore be left out of the new world economy as replaceable parts. On the other hand since retail and service jobs at the lower end of the economic ladder cannot readily be replaced and certainly cannot be outsourced (until we have robots being operated by technicians in India working at McDonalds) their pay will continue to be eclipsed by the ever advancing high end positions.
We talk about the increasing gap between the richest and the poorest Americans but with our economic system what else would we expect? Not everyone has the ability or opportunity to become a high end worker and unless things within our domestic policy take on some pretty drastic changes we will continue to see an ever widening gap and a dieing middle class to boot. In fifty years when the efficiency of our capitalist economy has eliminated costs (ie payrolls) where are we going to be left? Corporations keep getting larger and larger with ever increasing power, politically, economically and globally.
I guess the ideal situation will be when we finally reach a level of efficiency where costs are so minimal we will no longer need a lot of money to live well. I suppose then no one will have to work and the standard of living will be at an all time high. Maybe then we’ll all be able to have the same low cost goods and services available to us and universal healthcare for everyone. Maybe this is what our corporate ideals will bring us, assuming they don’t ruin our living environment first.
Instead of focusing so much on growing our GDP and making things better for the top half of the income brackets, maybe we should start to think about how to help bring up the bottom half’s standard of living. That of course wouldn’t be economically efficient though, I mean where are the profits in that? Maybe if we could get companies and our country to stop focusing on the short term they would see that bringing up the lower income brackets would produce a larger base and a broader range of customers to cater to. That seems to me like it would provide a much higher potential for growth and income then would saturating their current customers.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled postings.
It seems to me capitalism and our own economy are driving down the overall standard of living in our country, at least in certain sectors of it and will continue to do so for years to come. Reading through this New York Times article this morning got me thinking about the state of our country, the outsourcing of certain jobs and the future of our economy. Not that any of these are new ideas or are all that astounding, but I think they are imminent and unstoppable with the path we are driving through capitalism.
First as more and more middle class jobs are outsourced and others are replaced by computer programs and machines, there is going to be a huge portion of our nation’s workers that are left floundering in the hole that is left behind. They may not have the creative potential or the training to compete in the ever changing “higher end” work environment and will therefore be left out of the new world economy as replaceable parts. On the other hand since retail and service jobs at the lower end of the economic ladder cannot readily be replaced and certainly cannot be outsourced (until we have robots being operated by technicians in India working at McDonalds) their pay will continue to be eclipsed by the ever advancing high end positions.
We talk about the increasing gap between the richest and the poorest Americans but with our economic system what else would we expect? Not everyone has the ability or opportunity to become a high end worker and unless things within our domestic policy take on some pretty drastic changes we will continue to see an ever widening gap and a dieing middle class to boot. In fifty years when the efficiency of our capitalist economy has eliminated costs (ie payrolls) where are we going to be left? Corporations keep getting larger and larger with ever increasing power, politically, economically and globally.
I guess the ideal situation will be when we finally reach a level of efficiency where costs are so minimal we will no longer need a lot of money to live well. I suppose then no one will have to work and the standard of living will be at an all time high. Maybe then we’ll all be able to have the same low cost goods and services available to us and universal healthcare for everyone. Maybe this is what our corporate ideals will bring us, assuming they don’t ruin our living environment first.
Instead of focusing so much on growing our GDP and making things better for the top half of the income brackets, maybe we should start to think about how to help bring up the bottom half’s standard of living. That of course wouldn’t be economically efficient though, I mean where are the profits in that? Maybe if we could get companies and our country to stop focusing on the short term they would see that bringing up the lower income brackets would produce a larger base and a broader range of customers to cater to. That seems to me like it would provide a much higher potential for growth and income then would saturating their current customers.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled postings.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Quick Comcastic Rant
This is just killing me right now; I’ve continued to duke it out with Comcast to get my account all straightened out and the lack of customer service is just amazing. After faxing my information to the three numbers I was given five times last week I was finally told yesterday to make the trip out to their payment center to drop it off in person. I went during my lunch on Tuesday and went to the administration offices and was told to leave them at the desk. When I asked to speak with the person that would be taking care of the situation so that I could talk about the details of what needed to be done and how it was going to be handled (I even asked if I could get a phone number that I contact her at and not for the first time), I was told she would give me time to get back to my office and she would give me a call. Four hours later I receive another email from the support services people telling me there is someone scheduled to come to my house on Thursday morning to set everything up…
Thanks for the phone call and outstanding customer service guys. If it wasn’t for the hundred dollar credit on my account I would say forget it and find another provider right now. Instead I’m going to stay home Thursday morning and wait for the service people to likely show up hours late and waste one of my personal days. Then I think I’m going to switch to another provider as soon as possible after the credit is gone.
My quick rant for the morning… I actually had a pretty nice weekend enjoying the weather and had plenty to write about; hopefully I’ll get some time and get some things down soon on all that.
Thanks for the phone call and outstanding customer service guys. If it wasn’t for the hundred dollar credit on my account I would say forget it and find another provider right now. Instead I’m going to stay home Thursday morning and wait for the service people to likely show up hours late and waste one of my personal days. Then I think I’m going to switch to another provider as soon as possible after the credit is gone.
My quick rant for the morning… I actually had a pretty nice weekend enjoying the weather and had plenty to write about; hopefully I’ll get some time and get some things down soon on all that.
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