I've been bombarded at work the last couple weeks, and I just wanted a few minutes yesterday to relax over lunch, but was interrupted not less than 6 times in 1 hour.
It was over noon hour.
I was reading a book.
I had earbuds in. (they were not plugged into anything)
A co-worker a few cubes over, observing only the inflection in my voice stopped in late and said, "man....you need to chill."
Thanks, Captain Obvious.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Overload
Sorry for the complete lack of material here, but I've been stupidly busy lately.
Last week I was trying to finish "The Stone Raft" by Jose Saramego before book club. I knocked down 110 pages within 24 hours but still didn't finish. Fortunately I got much farther than anyone else in the club. My little brother showed up in town that night too.
I'm always trying to manage Rotaract's community service committee better; we have tons of events coming up, including a service project of our committee's creation. It will be good.
I'm still working on the scholarship application, and the essays are coming together slowly. Seriously -- they have to be $25000 good. I'm trying to tie world peace with Biomedical/Clinical engineering. While talking to a scholarship committee guy, he volunteered me for helping him start up a whole new Rotaract club.
Work has been ridiculous. I've been busy working on a side project within our project mandated by our VP that is completely useless. Incredible how powerful & wealthy stupid people can become. At the end of the task, we will know nothing new except for some calculated numbers.
I really sucked at my ski league this year. It's over, and I"ll do it next year. Hopefully I can get some practice in for the 2010 season.
I've had literally such little time that the only time I've had for working out is before work, and 5:10am does just not agree with me. It really hasn't made much difference that all the XC ski trails are trashed. Fortunately, the bike is on the trainer in my room, and I can watch ski flicks on my laptop. I'm going for a run right now in the snow.
After that, it's out & about with my dad & brother in law.
Last week I was trying to finish "The Stone Raft" by Jose Saramego before book club. I knocked down 110 pages within 24 hours but still didn't finish. Fortunately I got much farther than anyone else in the club. My little brother showed up in town that night too.
I'm always trying to manage Rotaract's community service committee better; we have tons of events coming up, including a service project of our committee's creation. It will be good.
I'm still working on the scholarship application, and the essays are coming together slowly. Seriously -- they have to be $25000 good. I'm trying to tie world peace with Biomedical/Clinical engineering. While talking to a scholarship committee guy, he volunteered me for helping him start up a whole new Rotaract club.
Work has been ridiculous. I've been busy working on a side project within our project mandated by our VP that is completely useless. Incredible how powerful & wealthy stupid people can become. At the end of the task, we will know nothing new except for some calculated numbers.
I really sucked at my ski league this year. It's over, and I"ll do it next year. Hopefully I can get some practice in for the 2010 season.
I've had literally such little time that the only time I've had for working out is before work, and 5:10am does just not agree with me. It really hasn't made much difference that all the XC ski trails are trashed. Fortunately, the bike is on the trainer in my room, and I can watch ski flicks on my laptop. I'm going for a run right now in the snow.
After that, it's out & about with my dad & brother in law.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
3 very random things.
1. I just watched Demetri Martin's new show on comedy central. It is very funny, and you should watch it. The best scene not involving Mr. Martin's characteristic jokes or flip charts was (SPOILER) a scene of a fictional movie set, where Demetri is supposed to be an actor that is trying to perfect a scene where he blows up at his cheating girlfriend. Each time they "roll," he acts very passive, but when the director yells "CUT" he flies off the handle. A classic in the making.
2. After that, I saw a trailer for some movie called "Watchmen." I really didn't pay attention to what the movie is about, but what caught my attention was the music--- a song by The Smashing Pumpkins called "The Beginning is the end is the Beginning." The only place you can find this song is on the Batman + Robin soundtrack (the 4th installment in the first series of Batman movies starring Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and the Governator as Mr. Freeze) Not only is it wildly ironic that the song has been revived as a theme song for a new (non-Batman movie), but even more ironic is that this song never actually was in the movie.....hold onto your pants.....it was a remix of a song that was a theme song for Batman + Robin, and the song actually used in the movie was called "The End is the Beginning is the End." I knew all of this off the top of my head.
*After proofreading this last passage, I've just realized that I may be channeling Chuck Klosterman.
3. I had book club tonight, and nobody finished the book. I was the person who was able to delve deepest into Jose Saramego's nobel prize winning "the stone raft" which I read approximately 120 pages in a space of 6 hours in the last 24 hours before the club started. We planned to meet at La Bodega, but it was closed for renovation (coincidence?). The book has been a very challenging but rewarding read thus far. It will be finished soon.
2. After that, I saw a trailer for some movie called "Watchmen." I really didn't pay attention to what the movie is about, but what caught my attention was the music--- a song by The Smashing Pumpkins called "The Beginning is the end is the Beginning." The only place you can find this song is on the Batman + Robin soundtrack (the 4th installment in the first series of Batman movies starring Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and the Governator as Mr. Freeze) Not only is it wildly ironic that the song has been revived as a theme song for a new (non-Batman movie), but even more ironic is that this song never actually was in the movie.....hold onto your pants.....it was a remix of a song that was a theme song for Batman + Robin, and the song actually used in the movie was called "The End is the Beginning is the End." I knew all of this off the top of my head.
*After proofreading this last passage, I've just realized that I may be channeling Chuck Klosterman.
3. I had book club tonight, and nobody finished the book. I was the person who was able to delve deepest into Jose Saramego's nobel prize winning "the stone raft" which I read approximately 120 pages in a space of 6 hours in the last 24 hours before the club started. We planned to meet at La Bodega, but it was closed for renovation (coincidence?). The book has been a very challenging but rewarding read thus far. It will be finished soon.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
OMFG
I found this photo at Bikesnobnyc.blogspot;com
Apparently, someone took a perfectly good Cervelo P2C and turned it into a fixie. And not just a believable track bike, they put riser bars on it and made it into some bmx/ urban abomination. Apparently the owner then tried to sell it on craigslist. I hope someone had contacted the authorities and the perpetrator is in a mental institution.
Apparently, someone took a perfectly good Cervelo P2C and turned it into a fixie. And not just a believable track bike, they put riser bars on it and made it into some bmx/ urban abomination. Apparently the owner then tried to sell it on craigslist. I hope someone had contacted the authorities and the perpetrator is in a mental institution.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Why Bicyclists wear spandex
So everyone outside the know makes the odd assumption that cyclists wear tight clothes "spandex" because it is aerodynamic.
It's true that wearing "spandex" from neck to knee is somewhat aerodynamic, but there are other major considerations going on here.
In the broad scale, the human body is very much not aerodynamic. Aerodynamics are important when cycling at high speed, above 20mph, but bike races are not won at high speeds. When cyclists are racing at high speeds, there's ususally a large pack of riders who ride in other rider's slipstream. They're usually won on long, steep hills....where even the fastest guy might be riding at 12mph. Not so much for aerodynamic considerations at that speed.
If being aerodyamic was the primary goal of such clothing, we'd also all wearing an aero helmet and be on a time trial bike like Dave Zabriskie here.
So why "spandex" then? A few things:
1. You, the casual observer, aren't able to see huge sweatspots. You should actually be applauding the fact that we aren't subjecting you to huge splotches of wetness emanating from our underams, chest, and crotch. We'd probably get way more crap if we wore cotton.
2. It doesn't chafe. Ever go to the gym wearing streetclothes and work out *hard* for an hour? If you haven't, I'll fill you in. Anywhere your body has been moving, the wet clothes will have abraded away your skin and chafed. It even happens with the best of clothes.
3. It doesn't stay wet. Generally, cyclists are rarely on a ride for less than an hour. On just a warm day, you can sweat off a few liters of fluids in an hour. Wet clothes are unconfortable and unsightly (see #1 & #2)
Same goes for helmets. the sculpted helmets you see cyclists wearing are also not really aerodynamic. They're designed keep your head from overheating on a 95F day when you're not cracking your skull to the pavement after being buzzed by an oblivious soccer mom on her cell phone.
Also, people don't wear cycling clothes to look like Lance Armstrong. If anything, pro cyclists are sponsored by performance clothing companies in the same way Tiger Woods & Kobe Bryant sell sporting apparel. When I see a neighborhood game of b-ball, and see some guys wearing jerseys, I don't think, "what a moron! that guy thinks he's Shaq!"
Perspective: Drivers of horse carriages were constantly annoyed by bicyclists at the turn of the century 20th in New York City; little has changed in over 100 years. And should the day come that we're rationing our dwindling petroleum reserves for strict consumption for international air transport and agricultural equipment, I'm sure whatever you're using to get around, a cyclist will find some way to piss you off.
It's true that wearing "spandex" from neck to knee is somewhat aerodynamic, but there are other major considerations going on here.
In the broad scale, the human body is very much not aerodynamic. Aerodynamics are important when cycling at high speed, above 20mph, but bike races are not won at high speeds. When cyclists are racing at high speeds, there's ususally a large pack of riders who ride in other rider's slipstream. They're usually won on long, steep hills....where even the fastest guy might be riding at 12mph. Not so much for aerodynamic considerations at that speed.
If being aerodyamic was the primary goal of such clothing, we'd also all wearing an aero helmet and be on a time trial bike like Dave Zabriskie here.
So why "spandex" then? A few things:
1. You, the casual observer, aren't able to see huge sweatspots. You should actually be applauding the fact that we aren't subjecting you to huge splotches of wetness emanating from our underams, chest, and crotch. We'd probably get way more crap if we wore cotton.
2. It doesn't chafe. Ever go to the gym wearing streetclothes and work out *hard* for an hour? If you haven't, I'll fill you in. Anywhere your body has been moving, the wet clothes will have abraded away your skin and chafed. It even happens with the best of clothes.
3. It doesn't stay wet. Generally, cyclists are rarely on a ride for less than an hour. On just a warm day, you can sweat off a few liters of fluids in an hour. Wet clothes are unconfortable and unsightly (see #1 & #2)
Same goes for helmets. the sculpted helmets you see cyclists wearing are also not really aerodynamic. They're designed keep your head from overheating on a 95F day when you're not cracking your skull to the pavement after being buzzed by an oblivious soccer mom on her cell phone.
Also, people don't wear cycling clothes to look like Lance Armstrong. If anything, pro cyclists are sponsored by performance clothing companies in the same way Tiger Woods & Kobe Bryant sell sporting apparel. When I see a neighborhood game of b-ball, and see some guys wearing jerseys, I don't think, "what a moron! that guy thinks he's Shaq!"
Perspective: Drivers of horse carriages were constantly annoyed by bicyclists at the turn of the century 20th in New York City; little has changed in over 100 years. And should the day come that we're rationing our dwindling petroleum reserves for strict consumption for international air transport and agricultural equipment, I'm sure whatever you're using to get around, a cyclist will find some way to piss you off.
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