As I sit here it is 8:38 in the morning. I should be sitting in my cubicle, drinking my morning coffee, saying good morning to everyone and wondering how long it is until it's time to go home. Trouble is about 24 hours ago I was informed that my services were no longer required at my company.
So instead I'm sitting here, nursing a hangover that would kill a goat, thinking about getting some curly fries from Jack In The Box, blogging and looking for a new job.
There are some positive things about not having a job. I've been wanting to get more into blogging and writing stories. As Dorothy told me "You can start that epic novel you've been bragging about for years." I have been talking a lot of talk and not doing much walking. I used my job as an excuse to not do the things that I really wanted to do. But I see this whole unemployment deal as a way to prioritize my life. Take some time to reevaluate where I am now and where I'd like to be. Finally sit down and write that damn book because I know it would be epic once it were finished.
I'm not sure exactly where the road will take me but I am sure that it's going to be one hell of an adventure. Am I scared? Hell yeah I am. Am I going to let it stop me? No I'm not. This is my time and I'm going to use it.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Four Months - A Bikers Tale
In the beginning of May, 2011 I undertook a change in pace. May as many of you know is National Bike Month and a local website iBikeFresno.org was holding a million mile challenge. Simple enough, get everyone in Fresno to bike a million miles total in May. That was four months ago and this is what I have learned/done in that time:
I came in 114th place in the challenge with 419 miles biked throughout May. My goal was to break into the top 100 but with people like Paul Moore who came in 1st with 1826 miles I just couldn't do it.
I've biked from the West Side of Fresno to Pine Flat Dam which round trip came out to over 60 miles. Biking that far when you're not used to it really hurts your butt as my friend Jon and I discovered. We had to throw in the towel about 15 miles from making it back to his house and asked his wife to pick up our smelly asses.
In a city as wide open and hot as Fresno, people give you plenty of weird looks when you tell them you've switched over to pedal power. The most common question I get from friends and strangers is "when are you going to start driving again?" To which I reply "I don't know. When it stops being fun."
Road bikes are a lot easier to ride than mountain bikes. I didn't think there would be that much of a difference in the ease of riding until a few weeks after getting my road bike but 28" wheels and smoother treads make all the difference in the world. The one complaint I have about road bikes is that you're always freaking out that you're going to get a flat. In the three months I've had my new bike I've patched it, replaced the tube and had to get the rear wheel re-trued. I never had to get my mountain bike re-trued. So there's that.
People who work in bike shops can't easily convert from metric to standard and vice versa. I mentioned earlier that my new bike has 28" wheels but I found that if you walk into a bike shop and tell them that, you'll be met with blank stares. 26" mountain bike tires is cool with them but 28" road bike tires is crazy talk. It's 700c in case you were wondering. I also learned the difference between a Presta valve and a Schrader valve and when it's appropriate to use which.
Finally I learned that no matter how hard I try I cannot get over my average biking speed of 15mph. I've gotten as fast as 25mph but that was just a sprint. Distance wise I'm still doing 15. I figured by now I could average 20 maybe 25 but again, my dreams are crushed. Maybe I need to get a bike uniform, you know, bike shorts and a jersey. Those guys always pass me like it's no big deal. I did keep up with this one girl wearing a uniform but it was because she had a nice butt and she was wearing skin tight spandex.
So four months in and I am barely scratching the surface of where I can go on a bike. A co-worker and I were talking about installing a solar powered stereo on my bike and I have to be honest, that sounds really cool. I'll keep you posted on where I go in this little social experiment of mine. Till then, keep on pedaling.
I came in 114th place in the challenge with 419 miles biked throughout May. My goal was to break into the top 100 but with people like Paul Moore who came in 1st with 1826 miles I just couldn't do it.
I've biked from the West Side of Fresno to Pine Flat Dam which round trip came out to over 60 miles. Biking that far when you're not used to it really hurts your butt as my friend Jon and I discovered. We had to throw in the towel about 15 miles from making it back to his house and asked his wife to pick up our smelly asses.
In a city as wide open and hot as Fresno, people give you plenty of weird looks when you tell them you've switched over to pedal power. The most common question I get from friends and strangers is "when are you going to start driving again?" To which I reply "I don't know. When it stops being fun."
Road bikes are a lot easier to ride than mountain bikes. I didn't think there would be that much of a difference in the ease of riding until a few weeks after getting my road bike but 28" wheels and smoother treads make all the difference in the world. The one complaint I have about road bikes is that you're always freaking out that you're going to get a flat. In the three months I've had my new bike I've patched it, replaced the tube and had to get the rear wheel re-trued. I never had to get my mountain bike re-trued. So there's that.
People who work in bike shops can't easily convert from metric to standard and vice versa. I mentioned earlier that my new bike has 28" wheels but I found that if you walk into a bike shop and tell them that, you'll be met with blank stares. 26" mountain bike tires is cool with them but 28" road bike tires is crazy talk. It's 700c in case you were wondering. I also learned the difference between a Presta valve and a Schrader valve and when it's appropriate to use which.
Finally I learned that no matter how hard I try I cannot get over my average biking speed of 15mph. I've gotten as fast as 25mph but that was just a sprint. Distance wise I'm still doing 15. I figured by now I could average 20 maybe 25 but again, my dreams are crushed. Maybe I need to get a bike uniform, you know, bike shorts and a jersey. Those guys always pass me like it's no big deal. I did keep up with this one girl wearing a uniform but it was because she had a nice butt and she was wearing skin tight spandex.
So four months in and I am barely scratching the surface of where I can go on a bike. A co-worker and I were talking about installing a solar powered stereo on my bike and I have to be honest, that sounds really cool. I'll keep you posted on where I go in this little social experiment of mine. Till then, keep on pedaling.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Fixing forum comments: Part II
I like reading forum comments if only to see into the void that is the internet's hive mind. Sometimes though I'm embarrassed by what I find. There are so many people out there who post what they believe to be intelligent strings of thought, but due to a lack of proper grammar, spelling or poor sentence structure their point is lost. So as a service to these poor individuals I will try to make order from chaos.
This next comment comes from a Sacramento Bee article by Jim Sanders (re-posted on fresnobee.com) about fees that are added on to traffic violations.
URL found here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/02/22/2281542/california-fees-boost-traffic.html
This next comment comes from a Sacramento Bee article by Jim Sanders (re-posted on fresnobee.com) about fees that are added on to traffic violations.
URL found here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/02/22/2281542/california-fees-boost-traffic.html
Username gofresno wrote:
"This is just robbing people out of money. It is horrible for state to revenue by extorting money from citizens in today's hard economic times.
Fines for minor traffic violations are unbelievably high. How people supposed to afford to keep paying any more????
There is no more "protect and serve" by those cops out there. They are just hunting who they can give tickets too to keep their quotas. If you even ask cop a question just expect to get fined these days. Very very sad."
Fines for minor traffic violations are unbelievably high. How people supposed to afford to keep paying any more????
There is no more "protect and serve" by those cops out there. They are just hunting who they can give tickets too to keep their quotas. If you even ask cop a question just expect to get fined these days. Very very sad."
Here are my corrections to his/her/their post:
"I believe this is simply a way of robbing people out of money. It is unfathomable for a state to obtain revenue by extorting citizens, especially during today's hard economic times. The fines for minor traffic violations like running a stop sign or driving 15 mph over the speed limit (a $236 fine) is unbelievably high. How does the state expect people to be able to afford paying higher penalties?
There is no more "To Protect and Serve" by Police Officers anymore. It is my opinion that they are simply out hunting for who they can give tickets in order to obtain their quota. It's almost like if you ask a Police Officer a question you can expect to get a fine. That would be very truly sad."
I had to find an example within the article to justify why a fine is unbelievably high since the author of the comment didn't provide one. Also, I'm not entirely sure you get slapped with a fine for asking a Police Officer a question. If so I probably have tons of unpaid fines since I ask a lot of questions.
If you have any examples of crappy internet forum comments please send them to me and I'll fix 'em up real good. You can email me at yominkitkat@gmail.com, twitter me @yominkitkat or find me on Facebook under the pseudonym Kevin Askew
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Fixing forum comments: Part I
I like reading forum comments if only to see into the void that is the internet's hive mind. Sometimes though I'm embarrassed by what I find. There are so many people out there who post what they believe to be intelligent strings of thought, but due to a lack of proper grammar, spelling or poor sentence structure their point is lost. So as a service to these poor individuals I will try to make order from chaos.
This first comment comes from a The Huffington Post article wherein Jon Stewart made the claim that Sarah Palin might be a Russian spy.
Permalink found here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/pierre_F_Lherisson/stewart-palin-russian-spy_n_816764_75921470.html
Revised forum comment:
While John Stewart's assertion that "Sarah Palin may, just may, be a Russian spy." is hilarious and demonstrates the vicious steps some people could take to crush an opponent. Whether by making or insinuating false statement about an adversary this clearly falls into the propaganda department. The aim of propaganda is to cast doubt on your opponent. Such tactics sometimes take an unexpected twist and end with unforeseen consequences. John Stewart would have been better off portraying Sarah Palin as an Agent Provocateur for the Democratic Party. Trying to insinuate that she [Sarah Palin] gets paid handsomely assuming the roll of the extreme right to coerce weak minded Republicans to resort to violence. Such stratagem if well orchestrated, would have been more effective in his attempt to discredit her. To call Sarah Palin a Russian spy casts some serious doubts on Stewart's IQ.
This first comment comes from a The Huffington Post article wherein Jon Stewart made the claim that Sarah Palin might be a Russian spy.
Permalink found here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/pierre_F_Lherisson/stewart-palin-russian-spy_n_816764_75921470.html
Revised forum comment:
While John Stewart's assertion that "Sarah Palin may, just may, be a Russian spy." is hilarious and demonstrates the vicious steps some people could take to crush an opponent. Whether by making or insinuating false statement about an adversary this clearly falls into the propaganda department. The aim of propaganda is to cast doubt on your opponent. Such tactics sometimes take an unexpected twist and end with unforeseen consequences. John Stewart would have been better off portraying Sarah Palin as an Agent Provocateur for the Democratic Party. Trying to insinuate that she [Sarah Palin] gets paid handsomely assuming the roll of the extreme right to coerce weak minded Republicans to resort to violence. Such stratagem if well orchestrated, would have been more effective in his attempt to discredit her. To call Sarah Palin a Russian spy casts some serious doubts on Stewart's IQ.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)