Monthly Archives: July 2008

bicycling to work, update

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As I reported last month, I have been bicycling to work. Since I was out of shape and the ride is 9 miles each way, I started slowly and rode only two days a week. Since Jun 11, I have bicycle commuted 16 days and rode 288 miles. During that time I have cut my commute time from 50 minutes to 35. My legs aren’t yet strong enough that I get a good cardio workout but I’m making good progress. My one-way commute times are:

  • By Car: 20m
  • By Bike: 35m
  • By Bus: 55-65m

Each day I bicycle to work instead of driving costs 30 minutes of time. In exchange for that 30 minutes, I get my prescribed 70 minutes of exercise. It also saves about $4 in diesel fuel but that cost is offset by buying and maintaining my bike. Of course, there are fringe benefits to biking to work. After the initial weight spike as my leg muscles rejuvenated, I am losing a pound a week. Very soon I shall start riding 3 days a week. 

Twitt

iPhone 3G is in demand

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I’m standing in line with 200 others to get my new iPhone 3G. My plan for just waltzing in and buying one a week after release with no wait was optimistic. I estimate that this store had 200 phones in stock today. I have been regularly checking inventory since the release and I know they have sold out of inventory every single day since release.

Twitt

home in Washington

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Friday began at 4AM. By mid-morning, not a single boat had caught a fish and we hadn’t gotten a nibble. The four of us headed back with empty coolers and dampened spirits. But as everyone knows, a bad day fishing is still better than the worst day ____ing. At the docks, the warden shared that nobody was catching Salmon. That made us feel better about getting skunked.

On my way home, I stopped by the Alderwood Mall Apple Store. A couple Geniuses and I agreed that a bug in the latest version of Apple’s iPhone SDK (beta 8) caused my iPhone some irreparable harm. I walked out with a brand new iPhone and a $0 invoice. It’s nice to have a single vendor that builds the hardware, OS, and SDK. It is even nicer when that vendor stands behind it.

As I resumed homeward on I-5, a great song started playing on the radio. I cranked up the volume and sang along. Loudly. As I popped up over a hill the loveliest of images appeared. The day was sunny and bright without even a hint of haze. Which means that despite being 50 miles away, Mr. Rainier appeared so large and imposing that I paused to gaze at her majesty. It warms a part of my soul to be near the mountains.

On Monday, we caught fish. See the photo at right.

Twitt