James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

[JimN]

https://www.caledonianrecord.com/ne...cle_925eeacc-f4cb-5824-a6e8-f9e0453fe26c.html

"The plan is to build a new walking bridge over Scott’s Cove to once again connect the farm and Prouty Beach. The farm is also accessible by Bluff Road. The bridge is a major part of the cost of the recreation path plans, estimated to cost $1 million, Zschau said."

 

[UtahJoe]

From here in San Diego, looks like your rim needs retaping.

 

[pooriggy]

The bridge is a major part of the cost of the recreation path plans, estimated to cost $1 million, Zschau said."

Well the Brooklyn Bridge cost 15.5 mil in 1883, I guess 1 mil for a pedestrian bridge on 2018 is not out of line, plus you have to add in those aluminum billets and tariffs.

 

[JimN]

Well the Brooklyn Bridge cost 15.5 mil in 1883, I guess 1 mil for a pedestrian bridge on 2018 is not out of line, plus you have to add in those aluminum billets and tariffs.

Yeah, they are gonna have to do another round of fundraising if they haven't already sourced their materials.

 

[Norm]

I think people don't like that first Black Mirror episode because it's probably a little too uncomfortably true in describing our society. I agree it's raw. But look at the turd we have in the Oval Office. Can you sit here right now and honestly say with 100% certainty that public opinion could not politically sway someone to hump a swine on national TV? While I do agree it is a hair much, this is the medium of what that specific director* was trying to say. The real key here is that everyone was in front of the TV waiting to see it live which is why nobody knew the Duchess had been released 30 minutes before it happened. Society as a whole was complicit in the act of the swine humping, because it was so engrossed in watching it go down, nobody was around to take notice that the Duchess has been released in the middle of London.

On that note, I think it really nailed some of the depravity of our current society.

* I am told these are all independently directed

@shrpshtr325 - I like the concept of historical fiction and I have added The Man in the High Castle to my watch list. We have Amazon Prime, but who doesn't?

Black Mirror & High Castle aside, I rode my bike outside today. I fully admit that I am addicted to Zwift. But I have also been trying to keep the bikes out of the rain as much as possible, especially the road bike. With the weather almost perfect today, combined with only 1 meeting (that turned into 2, but still), I couldn't let this one go. I'll get plenty of indoor riding soon enough but it was too nice to stay inside. Managed 2+ hours of tempo-ish riding, which tops off 3 straight days of solid rides. By the end of the ride I was good & tired, all done with this 3 day training block.

In theory I was going to rest for the next 2 days, and hit Town Hall Saturday. But this was dependent on Julia being ok with skipping Chinese school and going with me. For various reasons, I no longer support this Chinese school endeavor and I am not going to let it influence what we do on the weekends. I figured she would be ok with bagging it this weekend to go out to PA and watch me race and maybe grab lunch with my parents. She hemmed & hawed when I suggested it which means she is probably afraid of her mother if she skips it. It is literally a Macho Man/Hulk Hogan battle every week to get her to go. So I am puzzled that I gave her an out and she is hesitating.

If I do go to Town Hall, @MadisonDan, I have to race 40+ or the fast guys, as I am a cat 2. I know, it's hard to believe. That race is 2:30pm and the Bridgeton race would be 2:46pm. Either way I am rolling mid-afternoon, if I roll at all. As I sit here right now, I am seeing KMC as my first race of the season, which is not ideal. But what am I gonna do? Bridgeton is over double the distance compared to Town Hall. It's hard for me to convince the family to spend 4+ hours in the car to race 45 minutes or whatever.

I now have nobody else on my phone plan, so I am considering switching over to Verizon. I was going to do this 100%, because of the Canada coverage. But now AT&T has revamped their plans and has the same coverage for Canada. I am still grandfathered in with this NYSE discount from when I worked there. So I get 15% off the rate. I'm intrigued by this WatchTV thing they offer, with 30+ streaming channels and 15,000 movies. But I can't find what movies they have available so I don't know if it's like 14,998 Jackie Chan-esque Hollywood Farts plus 2 marquee movies a month, or if it has a legit lineup. Anyone know the answer to this?

I finally gave up on trying to stay current with the NYTimes subscription. Between the writing 1-2 hours a day, blogging, reading the monster book, reading the eBook, and trying to ride myself into cross shape, oh and that pesky work thing, I just don't have time to keep up with it. I have stacks of book reviews and magazines plus random travel sections and other sundy sections here & there.

Tomorrow is Thursday already. Where does the time go?

 

[pooriggy]

For various reasons, I no longer support this Chinese school endeavor and I am not going to let it influence what we do on the weekends. I figured she would be ok with bagging it this weekend to go out to PA and watch me race and maybe grab lunch with my parents. She hemmed & hawed when I suggested it which means she is probably afraid of her mother if she skips it. It is literally a Macho Man/Hulk Hogan battle every week to get her to go. So I am puzzled that I gave her an out and she is hesitating.

I'm going to guess that there is something she likes more then skipping Chinese school, and that is the Control she has in this situation.
Or she hates cx more then Chinese school, in which case I don't blame her. I'd rather get talked at in Chinese for 2hrs then go watch old people with bad taste in clothing ride around a synthetic race course.

 

[MadisonDan]

Quick thoughts.
- Makin’ the bacon
- +1 on High Castle
- See you Saturday
- I miss my VZW discount from 2002 (switched to ATT for iPhone, then back when erruyone carried iPhone) and four jobs ago
- NYT pile = fire.

 

[ChrisG]

Bridgeton is over double the distance compared to Town Hall. It's hard for me to convince the family to spend 4+ hours in the car to race 45 minutes or whatever.

Everyone to whom I mention the Bridgeton race has the exact same response: That place is far AF, and the drive is miserable. I live 2 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and driving to Bethlehem is preferable (and less miles) than the trip to Bridgeton.

Mrs. G was into Black Mirror, as I recall. I was hanging out in the room, but not really watching, during the pig-humping episode. I remember thinking that it was shock for shock's sake. And that the dialogue of the episode, in general, seemed pretty stilted and predictable.

 

[seanrunnette]

I'd rather get talked at in Chinese for 2hrs then go watch old people with bad taste in clothing ride around a synthetic race course.

There're now a couple UCI races in China, if you want to go for the full experience.
I'm on the bubble about Bridgeton. This would be weekend number two of not being home. OTOH, it's a NJCX race, and as has been pointed out many many times before, if we don't go... And plus, it's a fun course. The sand is a real brain scrambler. Actual drifting happening out there at the pointy end, a loooooong HPCX-style start/finish, the beach, the amphitheater (I hope that's still in?). There are some many yesses about this race. VS the distance.
The Man in the High Castle is one of my favorite PKD books. The series, meh. Overwraught, with lots of wet eyed looks and meaningful moments that only work if you've gone down the rabbit hole, which I didn't. Clunk. I prefer the pointed vicious humanity of Fleabag. But I'm a cynic.
BTW, I think @pooriggy is right about the control thing. But what do I know. I've got two cats and a dog.

 

[MadisonDan]

the amphitheater (I hope that's still in?)

I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure the run up the steps was out last year.

 

[seanrunnette]

I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure the run up the steps was out last year.

Dang.

 

[Norm]

Today is a considerable day of looking forward. That will be my theme of the day.

Looking forward into my future, I see...

...The Same Phone Carrier. I have decided to stay with AT&T. I changed my plan today which moves me to the Canada-is-free zone and drops my bill by a bunch ans gives me unlimited data (which I won't use). I hate that when you look at the bill you get $X for the plan then SURPRISE, $Y for an access fee. It's total horseshit. Now I need to get a new phone. The one I have from my mom is mostly fine but the 16G means I can't load all my apps. If I decide this plan sucks I can always jump. But once I buy the phone, I'm stuck with the carrier. I also get free HBO with the deal and The Darkest Hour is one of the movies available, which I have been itching to watch for a few months now.

...A Wedding. We applied for our marriage license this morning. I had asked @Kirt to come as our witness but he was doing piddly nonsense, like flying to Utah to ride mountain bikes. So he sent his wife instead. She witnessed us reading off our details to the clerk, who wrote it all up. Then we raised our hands and swore that we did not lie. I honestly don't remember doing this stuff before. At this point we are 16 days from blast off.

From the Warren Health Department:

...More Black Mirror. I was working out when I watched the UK PM episode, so the specific dialogue was less important than the overall message, though I cede that the specific dialogue between the PM and his staff was janky. Today I watched 15 MIllion Merits and it's good enough, though not entirely unpredictable. If this had been a real dystopian novel, he would have killed himself up on stage instead of moving from 1 veal fattening pen to another.

...A New Work Future. When we got bought out I knew that it would not last forever. I hoped we could ride it out, keep the magic going, make things happen. But the original 12 are now 8 or 9, and as the months have gone on it looks more and more like the rapid, awesome startup was being swallowed by the inability of the Borg to move quickly. Recently, it became clear that things are not going to change, and that once we hit our retention bonus date in March, we would likely be tossed or relegated to garbage men and forced to look elsewhere. It's a little sad, but it may be the case that the shark has totally been jumped, and the slog to March will be harder and harder to attain. As my boss told me recently, work towards personal goals because that's what you need to take from the experience at this point. I am doing exactly that.

My future, it is a riddle

...Another Debate About Chinese School on Saturday Morning. I asked Julia after school if she wanted to go to Chinese school on Saturday and she said, "I don't know." I am not sure I agree with the Control thing, because I have taken her to Chinese school over the course of the last year, and to the dentist twice. She _BY_FAR_ hates Chinese school more than the dentist. I think she would prefer for me to state clearly that I, [insert irresponsible adjectives & names here that her mother will hurl at me], was the one who specifically stopped her from going. In the great game of Pick Your Battles, it's hard for me to pick this one. In 2 weeks she will skip for sure. I need to make sure I keep it reasonable. But mark my words, Saturday morning will be a struggle.

...Town Hall Uncertainty. See above. I'm really shitty at this whole planning thing. I try to take life as it comes but I am losing ground right now. My calendar tells me I have 87 days of cross left. So whatever. Also, see impending wedding note above. We have plenty to do, so maybe skipping out for a full day is not the best idea?

...A Bike Ride Today. I admit that in order to look forward and see this particular item, I need to use a mirror. I will pilfer the black mirror from above to do this. As mentioned above I rode the Zwift Trainer today. Weather was gray and I was just looking to easy spin and watch some TV, which I did. I found it ironic that I was on a bike watching a virtual me on a computer while also watching a show where a guy would get on a bike and watch himself on a virtual screen.

Top screen is my Zwift, bottom screen is the iPad showing Black Mirror:

...A Bike Ride Tomorrow. As I sit here now at just about 10pm on Thursday, I have 38 hours in the books for the week. At 10:30 tomorrow morning my week will end, and I will be free to do what I want. Given the unlikely trip to Town Hall I may shoot the moon and go ride my bike outside instead of taking it easy. Maybe I'll take the RIP out to Chimney Rock to see if it still actually works. Or maybe a big road ride? Or maybe I will venture to Round Valley and punish myself for skipping out on it all year. Actually, I need espresso beans, and Black River is right there. Maybe I'll take that call from the road, come to think of it.

 

[Patrick]

stolen from @joemundi

just because.

 

[StayHydrated]

stolen from @joemundi

View attachment 77308

just because.

Peep that real pro tanline on the right leg

 

[Carson]

stolen from @joemundi

View attachment 77308

just because.

Looking through the turn. Even when carrying your bike!

 

[jmanic]

I wish I had known you were going to the health dept.
you could have picked up the permit for the burgers and dogs.
Dark horse says we can borrow the grill again.

 

[Norm]

Man, I look like I know what I'm doing in that picture. I am pretty sure that's the single C race I did that year at Whirlybird, back when they still called it a C race. I won and upgraded to cat 3 the week after.

Today was a good day, mostly because I banked enough hours to pretty much take it almost entirely off. In order:

1) Kicked off the day by sleeping until 7:00, when D's alarm went off. I went to bed at 10:30 so that's a solid 8.5 last night. Even D awas surprised, saying, "Man you were really tired." Felt good to sleep in.

2) After everyone went to school & work, I wrote for ~45 minutes. Did not get a lot done, was sorting out some shit. Eventually I'll explain this nebulous thing I am doing. I am sure you can figure it out.

3) At 8:30 I start doing my 2 hours of work needed to hit my 40. This is wrapped up by literally sitting on my portable camp chair in the Newman's Lane lot, fully decked out in orange & blue. The second the call is done, my week is done. I do not respond to an email the remainder of the day.

4) I ride Chimney Rock on the Rip. Despite my meltdown and trying to smash it to smithereens, it works flawlessly today. The tire, incidentally, is a Magic Mary - @pooriggy had asked last week and I never responded. I put a tube in it, and frankly the thing is so massive I am not sure it is physically possible to pinch flat this thing. I do all of blue, pretty much all the directions, then some variation of the red trails, for a total of 1 hour. The fork is still leaky, btw. I have to air it up every ride, as it leaks down to about 30 PSI between rides. But at least it lasts the ride. Also, the dropper is awesome. Really makes the bike better.

5) As I get dressed I ask D if she wants to have lunch, and she says yes. We go and grab some Japanese. She gets sushi and I get an udon noodle soup. It was tasty, and a nice little interlude to my day.

6) After lunch I trek out to Black River Roasters and get a double espresso, a pour over for the road, and 3 pounds of beans. This will be for the wedding day, which is 15 days away. The espresso is on point, really good.

7) I then head to Bridgewater Commons and pick up my rings. Yes rings, plural. I bought 2 because I liked 2 different ones. Left is tungsten and the right is titanium & ceramic. Men's rings cost so little in comparison. We also bought the watch with this purchase. They fit, so this is another thing off the list.

8) On the way home I hit the nursery to grab 4 plants to put in the front planter.

9) Through all the driving, I listen to the @pooriggy podcast he suggested, Attention Please. Since we went to Canada and I dropped my phone in the drink, I have been more cognizant of my phone usage. As such, this podcast definitely rang a bell. I take exception to some of what was said, in particular the notion that the technology makers should design a phone to address people's addiction to it. I think it is our own responsibility to own this effort. You can't really expect these companies to address the issue. Regardless, a solid listen.

10) Went home and planted the 4 things I bought. This will be an ongoing effort between now and 2 weeks from tomorrow. Maybe it will stick? The house looks nicer when it's maintained like this. You can see all the mums on the porch. D is on a mum buying streak, she came home with 3 more tonight. I think we now have 12. Hopefully these bloom just in time for the big day. I plan on putting something yellow between these purples. I also need to buy that deer spray, because we all know what's going to happen.

11) After I shower up, I hunker down and write for almost 2 hours.

12) D and the boys come home (Julia is with her mom just tonight). She makes them wings, and we have salad with steak on top. It was perfect, hit the spot.

13) Bought tickets to see Enchanted at the Chester Theater, for Friday October 12th. I would link it, but the site isn't working right now. You can figure it out. We've gone to a number of shows here and we really like it. With the weather starting to get colder, it will be theater season again soon. Hopefully we get to go see @seanrunnette there this winter.

14) Wrote this blog post.

Things I did not do today that were on the list:
A) Go to Hilltop to get my replacement MTB shoes
B) Put together the Zwift desk that showed up today
C) Get a haircut

 

[pooriggy]

also need to buy that deer spray, because we all know what's going to happen.

I like ornamental grasses, they are easy to grow and are deer resistant. You just have to chop them down to a height of about 6" every late March/April and they grow back.

 

[pooriggy]

Also, I'd recommend a foundation planting along the front of your house to soften up the brick. China Girl Holly, Inkberry, Rhododendron, Virginia Sweerspire, Clethera(great for the bees) Hydrangea macrophylla(also good for bees but needs lots or room) are good choices and deer resistant.

 

[Norm]

Saturday morning, I wake up and write, which is my pattern these days. I get in maybe 90 minutes in total, which is sufficient. I often think that weekends will be rife with free time but I sleep in a bit, then 1 kid is up for soccer and another gets dropped off then another up for soccer and before long I need to get on the trainer, which I do just after 9:30. So only 90 minutes in the end but I put some things together.

The trainer is ridden this Saturday morning in lieu of going to Town Hall. Before I got on the trainer, I was speaking with Julia at the breakfast table and we discussed her going to Chinese school, and she told me that going to a cross race was of no interest to her. So there you go, @pooriggy had it right. Watching this nonsense was not worth it to her. After this revelation I went downstairs to enjoy my time inside while some segment of you drove to Pennsylvania to ride up & down a hill. One day I will ride back & forth on grass instead of nowhere when I pedal.

Today I just rode my bike with no plan, and whatever happened, happened. The aim here was watching The Darkest Hour, which I had seen half of on an airplane earlier in the year. This is my first perk of changing plans with AT&T, the free HBO. The movie is good, I would recommend it. In all I rode just over 2 hours, the length of the movie. I did circles in Watopia for 43 virtual miles.

After the ride, D dropped Julia off at Chinese school, and I went out in the yard to work with the boys. We stacked some wood, watered the plants, cleaned the porch, moved some wood in the yard, cleaned up the patio, raked/mowed an old leaf pile away, and set up a small area which I hope to use as a sitting area outside. This week my step-father and I are going to rebuild a garden bench and I have a chiminea I dropped there. I need to figure out the edging and plants and such. Just to throw more pressure on my life, I need to finish this in 2 weeks. Just 14 days away.

Also opened up the old trails I built for Zac, but he went inside and pretended to get a drink while watching videos on his phone. Kids.

This afternoon we went to Dani's (wife of the Kubick's, Christian is in Vegas for a trade show) and had coffee/wine while the boys used the pool for a few hours. Was nice to sit around and sort of relax, but I now feel like I should be productive 100% of the time with something. Did I say 14 days yet? Oh yeah I did. Well if not, there it is. Just 14 days. I kinda wanted to come home and burn some wood in the chiminea and sit outside. But I showered instead.

On that note, my PSA: schedule a chimney cleaning now. I did that today. @capedoc knows my guy. His guy.

Ate dinner (this tasty Costco curry thing we get), cleaned up, then we watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the 2005 version. So far it's entertaining. I wrote this blog while I wrote it. That's 0 movies this month before today, and 2 today. Trying to get through Cryptonomicon by month end but I've fallen behind and I'm not sure I'll do it. So 5 books last month, maybe none this month. The Denmark-is-awesome book isn't too awesome.