mr. 3000

You may have have seen the original, instant family classic, Mr. 3000 portrayed by the lovable Bernie Mac.

Well, I've got news for you all. I'm the new Mr. 3000.

I've been keeping track of all the miles I've covered on my bike since New Year's Day, 2008. Trips to school, work, the store, and recreational miles. It's an estimate - because I don't have a computer on my bike - I usually calculate my mileage on gmaps pedometer.

Today on my ride home from work, I passed the 3000 mile mark. My goal for the year is to hit 6,000, so I'm a little behind schedule. I'm hoping to make up some of those miles when I start commuting downtown, full time in August.

How does one successfully meet mileage goals? I have a couple of tips that are helpful, and coincidentally, are things that Ashley likes to give me a hard time about.

My first tool - an excel spreadsheet. It's where I keep track of all my daily totals. In grad school I had to mess around with excel spreadsheets for all kinds of financing and statistics. The spreadsheet I've constructed for tracking my miles allows me to see daily totals, monthly totals/ averages, and of course total miles. Ashley laughs at me everytime I come home (right after a ride) and plug the numbers in. She accuses me of cooking up errands to accomplish by bike, just so I can pad my numbers.

Which leads me to my second tip. It's really helpful to have a goal that will push you. It makes you want to go out and squeeze in a few extra miles. Whether its walking, running, biking, swimming - keeping track of your distance is a really rewarding way record what you've accomplished over the course of the year.

I also think I've saved around $600 bucks on gas (assuming I made those trips by car). It's a conservative estimate, considering gas mileage fluctuates greatly when you are driving within the city. Not to mention, the cost of parking is quite substantial out here - so that could be an easy extra $200.

Riding a bike isn't just about saving money (although it's really really nice) for me, it's also about expanding my choices. I can go more places, park more places, and have more fun when I'm on a bike.

I'm very close to purchasing a bicycle trailer, which will allow Ashley and I to do a little touring, as well as make more of our big grocery trips by bike. I can't wait.

I'll keep you guys posted as the year ends and my goal gets closer. I might have to pull a couple of crazy 100-mile Saturdays to get it, so we'll see.

Have gas prices got you guys down? Any of you considering alternative forms of transportation?

4th of july antics

This year for the 4th of July we took a bike ride with a hundred or so of our best friends. Critical mass is a monthly bike ride that takes place on the first Friday of the month, and this year it happened to fall on the 4th of July. How fortuitous! Critical mass gets a lot of bad press, and that's kind of it's function. To get people to think about how we use the streets, and who gets to use streets. Below are some pictures that we took, as well as a few that our friend Steve Mattson took.

The ride starts off at the Santa Monica Pier around seven, and then it meanders wherever the head of the pack feel inclined to go. Lately, the ride has sort of made a b-line out of the City of Santa Monica because we've been getting harassed by the fuzz. This years route was kind of whimsical, but a lot of fun.

Can you spot Ashley and I?

A little easier to find us in this one. In the course of our route the entire of mass of riders had to switch directions. Kind of comical.

Ashley and our good friend Kimber. I think they were sharing a quiet moment along the ride.

I like this picture Ashley took. It totally looks like a bad photoshop job and I have a completely asinine look on my face to boot.

A typical Critical Mass pit stop. Conveniently next to an establishment that sells spirits.

Kimber is halfway through PA school. She has also become our personal health counselor. Ashley and Kimber were talking about one of Ashley's maladies.

After our ride we were quite peckish. We got pizza and salad at Wildflour Pizza on Main Street in Santa Monica. The outdoor dining area in the back is perfect for pleasant conversations and libations on a warm summer's eve.

During the ride there was a pleasant fellow wearing only a speedo, and Kimber & Ashley had a knack for seeing him. It was kind of like staring at their sun. It was painful, but they couldn't help themselves.

The ride started to thin out as it came time to watch the fireworks. We broke with the crowd and headed down to the beach in Venice to catch the fireworks. After the fireworks we got dinner, ran into a few fellow critical mass participants, and then made our way home. It was a delightful 4th of July.

What did you guys do to celebrate Independence Day?

ebay fever continues

The sad tale of my iPod's demise has now been turned into a happy tale of "reuse", greenies everywhere rejoice. Instead of going to a landfill, I sold the remains of my iPod for $15 on ebay. Isn't the internet an amazing place. One day I can drop my iPod out of a window and demolish it, the next day I can sell it to someone?

If there's something I love, it's marketing statements that go too far. Like this one to the right. Ebay - the power of all of us?

I'm not sure if it's the power of all of us, but probably the power of "some of us" who are in the constant hunt for bargains, or... other motives

in memoriam

A couple of days ago my iPod became intimately acquainted with blunt force trauma gravity. The whole spectacle reminded me of television show that I enjoy watching (and Ashley despises).

The premise of mythbusters is that they test myths, urban legends, things you see on movies, rumors... etc. It's really an enjoyable show. The hosts are kind of over the top but even Ashley in her spite admits, "smart people watch this show."

But I digress...

I work on the 8th floor of a 12 story building (not my actual office). My desk is next to the window, facing the street. When I get in from my commute I'm a little sweaty. After I change my clothes I often let my shirt dry on my bike, so it will be dry for my ride home. I open the window next to my desk to expedite the drying process.

My bag also gets sweaty from the ride in, so I was trying to figure out how to position my bag on the window sill so as to benefit from the sun and fresh air, while keeping my bag inside the building. I wasn't trying to pull a Michael Jackson with my bag or belongings... so get that image out of your head right this instant (image provided courtesy of timeinc).

While I was brainstorming about my set up... my iPod slipped out of my bag and hurled towards its premature demise. 8 stories. Approximately 80 feet. My dear iPod. I wonder what the last song going through its little hard drive was? Free fallin' by Tom Petty? Sky is Falling by Blackalicious?

I waited to hear a smash... with my eyes winced. It seemed like an ETERNITY before I heard a crackle and pop. Somewhere a bell rang out to offer a death knell. I went down to street level and a woman had picked up the remains for me to identify the body. Yup... there she was, my little friend. Her heart was true - she was a pal and a confidant.

Despite the traumatic end to my iPod's prolific run, it certainly served me well. Never a problem. I reformatted it a couple of times, stored photos, calendars, large files, and of course all of my music on it. To top all of those accolades - I got my iPod for free. Not in one of those "get five people to sign up for a trial subscription scams" that were rampant on the internet 3-4 years ago... but as a parting gift from my former employer GBSM as I headed off to Washington D.C.

So now I find myself in the market for a new iPod and it's come at quite an opportune time. I just graduated from school and Ashley's been thinking about getting me a pretty fancy phone now that I'm in the business world.

While my music listening days are about to get an upgrade, I'm a little sad at how my iPod left this world. A needless death. I was hoping for 2-3 more years, perhaps the last months would be marked by sporadic functioning and memory loss. Is it better to burn out or to fade away? I guess I know what the burn out feels like. Looking forward to a fade away next time around.

Anyway - thanks for all the good times iPod.

thoughts on luck

The other evening Ashley and I gathered with some friends to eat at a very upscale, exclusive restaurant. As such warm, inviting ambiances often do - the finer things in life came up, more specifically - fond relics of our childhood.

More specifically, good luck charms.
More specifically, rabbit's feet.

Do you remember those hideous things? I could've sworn there was a time when I had at least six or seven of them, in the most unnatural colors. Pink, blue, green... perhaps dying them with outlandish colors cloaked the youthful owners from knowing the violent nature in which they were probably obtained.

But I digress...

This morning I put on a white hanes t-shirt. I have several of them that are plain, that I use to commute in. It also happened to be the same white shirt I was wearing when this happened.

How do I know it was the same one? It has several holes in the shoulder and hip where it served as the only material between me and asphalt.

Anyway, as I put the shirt on I thought, "Wouldn't it be crappy something if that happened again?

Well - I didn't get hit again, but I did fall off my bike with lovely results. I attempted to change lanes and a depression in the concrete had formed a formidable sized ridge for my bike to summit. Instead of going over it, my tires skidded along it and I took a tumble and got a few scratches on me elbow and a lovely souvenir captured below:

As a result, I think i'm going to sacrifice the t-shirt to the bicycle maintenance gods... it is destined to become greasy, oily, blackened, and will eventually be retired into a landfill somewhere. I'm not risking it again.

Do you guys believe in luck, or what?

our date with harrison ford

Last weekend Ashley and I went to see the latest Indiana Jones installment. Harrison Ford has aged well, perhaps attributable to a love interest 22 years his junior.

While he's not in Han Solo shape, he still moved about pretty well and one thing I liked about the film is that they kept the continuity of the feel of the film, primarily with the sound-effects. The classic indiana jones "punch" sounds was rife throughout the film.

I've heard that some people were displeased with the turn the plot took (aliens and such). To those people I say, "what were you expecting? Did you watch the previous films?"

Raiders of the Los Ark - had the ark of the covenant - supernatural powers and what not.
The Temple of Doom had man jamming his hand through another man's chest. Not only does that defy human anatomy (the man had no sternum?), it's completely crazy.
The Last Crusade had lazer beams shooting out of statues eyes and invisible bridges that could only be traversed by faith. Does any of that seem like its grounded in reality? C'mon.

All I can say about Shia LaBeouf is that he didn't distract from the film, and Cate Blanchett played a formidable, militant Ukrainian.

We saw the movie at our new favorite theater in LA - The Pacific Culver Stadium 12. It's just a short little jaunt from our house by bike... and there's convenient bike parking to boot.

Did you guys see the latest Indiana Jones? What did you think?

post script:
We really liked Iron Man. We have such distinguished taste in film, I know...

when life hands you cardboard boxes

You make yourself a desk. A co-worker of mine fashioned this beauty, and I reinforced it's integrity with an old 2x4 lying around the office.

The two supporting walls are boxes for some office chairs, and the box that is serving as my desk is a box from one of those generic plastic-top tables you see around.

Our office is growing quickly, and because we don't have an office manager to organize us and order office supplies, we have to resort to our own ingenuity to outfit the office.

Technically, it's not MY desk... it's just my work station right now. This picture kind of embodies what I think all "work from home" offices actually look like.

If we had some more boxes, I'd make an awesome leather cardboard recliner to match my office furniture.

Eat your heart out Donald Trump