Brainstorming...beget brain drops

Yesterday, took it out of the box, put the rear wheel and seat post/saddle in, weighed it at 7 lbs, and discussed where to go next.

Ed is still pushing Campagnolo--and I would love to, but it is pricey. Another advantage would be to get a group with a compact crank, but put that on my Gunnar and the traditional crank on this one--then I would have a more comfortable time in the mountains on the Gunnar.

But there is a problem: Campy bar-end shifters--in the catalog--only come in 10-speed, but Record and Chorus only were listed as 11-speed. So, does one wait to see what is available in the new catalog?

So I think that I am resolved to sell my Trek for about $700, and then go with Shimano Dura Ace. If I get that price for the Trek, then there is only about another $700 to go (yeah, right...it never ends there).

At this point, we need to do some more measuring to determine the right combination of components.

Jay stopped in after getting back from InterBike and I got a bag o' swag--AWESOME.

Sam also came in with a shop pic of him on his time trial machine. He thought that the Talon looked really cool. John opened his big mouth, though: one of my goals for next year is to do the CSG Time Trial, because I want to beat Sam and his $11k machine. "Yeah, Mikey wants to catch you," John says and blows my plan. It is a long time 'til next summer, though, and memories vary from one to another.

At the end of the day, went back in the box.

A look at the future...

Starting in January, I am going to beginning a training plan to complete a half-ironman triathlon. As a part of that preparation, I am building a bike that will be specifically configured for that type of event.

So the blog will--hopefully--be more regular, but also chronicle the preparatory progression for this June 6 event. I do feel that these activities will still fit into my intended theme for the blog, since both can allow me to be very introverted and introspective. I will still comment on the rest of this messed up world, but the inspiration may come while training or building.

Enjoy the journey with me.

What a wonderful world...

I know that people are in business to make money...but when it ripples down to my money, it bugs me.

I love Pandora.com--that website that delivers free livestreaming music based on preferences you put in. I could listen for hours.

But I'm not really upset with Pandora because they had a great thing going and--at least I was--people were spreading the word. They seemed to make their money by selling advertising space on the site; that's okay with me, since I only looked at the site when I turned it on.

Last month, though, I got an e-mail stating that my monthly allotment for Pandora was running out. WHAT! As it turns out, Pandora needed to pay more money for the royalties of the music to their artists. That's fair, but that expense was trickling down to me. To continue listening, I could pay a flat fee to cover the rest of the month, or an annual subscription.

Here's the bright side: the free monthly allotment is plenty for me--if I alternate between Pandora and what I have saved on my laptop, I'm good.

Curse you, Lars, and all the other greedy bastards.

Full Plate Gets Fuller

I have a retired colleague who always posed this question in large staff meetings: If our plates are already full and you want us to do this, too, what gets taken off the plate?

The administrative reply was always one that we just had to keep piling it on...make it ALL fit.

I'm to the point as an educator where I'm feeling like the plate is full.

In short, hug a teacher today.

Two minutes absent of forethought

Went to my son's middle school cross country meet Friday. All of the high school events were run and the middle school race was set to start right on time.

A storm was rolling in, but looking like the chance for rain was beginning to fade. Just before the gun went off, I saw a flash of lightning, but they started the race anyway. The herd passed by running south, we parents, et.al., all scurried to the other side of the field to see them run north. I had heard some parents saying already that the organizers were going to stop the race due to lightning. As soon as they went by us, they were stopped and we all went to our cars.

My wife asked, "How long would the race have taken?" I told her about fifteen minutes.

One might be thinking that I'm upset about their stopping the race; not so much, since I understand the safety issue. What irks me is that no one looked over his/her shoulder to make the decision to not run BEFORE they shot the gun off! Are you telling that the sky looked noticeably different one to two minutes before? Look up, for Pete's sake!

The opening

Okay.

I had a mere handful of goals for the summer, before the school year started, and really accomplished none of them. One of them was to create a blog.

Finally, on September 12th, here it is.

Why the title? It started with a noble concept of getting students involved! A district-wide drive to develop individuals' "assets" so they are "better human beings." One of their lofty goals--a SMART goal, if you will--is for every student to be involved in something. Having been active in high school myself, I seemingly would not be opposed to this; however, after taking or giving numerous personality assessments, it seems to me that there will be some individuals that would rather not.

For example, I am a "green" personality. One who is heavily green really enjoys time alone, independence, not relying on others. To illustrate this, I have what my wife refers to as the "man cave" in our house where I have bicycle stuff galore. The previous owner of the house put slide bolt locks on all the doors to this room--don't know why, but I have left them there with the ever-present threat that I will go in someday and lock them all.

How inane is it to expect every student to get involved? Let them be students first and, for some, just get through high school? Is there anything wrong with that?

Ever since, I've had the thought of creating a blog--maybe even a book--that allows me to express an opinion from this point of view. I don't mean to anger anyone, just voicing an alternative perspective that is uniquely mine.

So in the future, read and enjoy.