Lee's Blog

Blog

  • Travel – Rochester NY & Jacksonville FL

    Ah, I love to travel.  To see cool places, see old friends and family, meet new people, eat good food.

    Ah, I hate to travel.  Stuck in traffic, bad weather, cancelled flights, cheap airport food…

    So this past weekend I drove to Rochester NY to visit family (more to follow later), and then flew to Jacksonville FL for business.

    One thing that I love about flying is to be able to enjoy a new perspective on things.  You can see clouds from above, fleets of tiny little yellow school buses…  It is fun for a map geek like me to try to identify locations below from memory.  Unfortunately, I traveled mostly at night and through cloudy skies, so I only managed to ID Philadelphia PA, Savannah GA and JFK Airport.  But on the plus side, the distant thunderstorms were pretty fireworks to see, kinda like paper lanterns winking on and off.  And I had a great view of the crescent moon rising.

    Clouds over the east coast:

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  • Boston Globe – Cycling editorial

    I’ve biked over 12,000 miles on the streets of Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Milton, and it has often been an adventure…

    People have cut me off in traffic – but you expect that in Boston.  I’ve had people throw drinks at me.  Did they think I was dehydrated?  I don’t think so.  People occasionally shout things, too.  Usually something about ‘get off the road’, but sometimes it’s hard to tell ’cause voices don’t carry well over the road noise, distance and speed differences.  When I had long hair, guys would hoot and holler at me.  That was weird…  I’ve also crashed into a car door.  I should have gotten stitches for that one…  Have you ever wiped out in traffic in the middle of a rotary in the rain?  Scary.  Wiped out on garbage slime?  Eeeew.  Run a red light across four lanes of traffic without a clear view?  Stupid.  There’s more, but you get the idea…

    Cambridge, as always, is pretty progressive.  They have many bike lanes, which makes biking there better.  But in Boston, you have to fend for yourself.  It can be tough.  My (proverbial) hat is off to those who commute or courier in the city.  I’m too lazy for that now… (more…)

  • Cool Tech – Extreme Cycling

    Here is a story about guys engineering sleek but impractical designs to push the boundaries of biking to the very limits of technology and human endurance…

    This Is a Bike. Trust Us. – And you won’t believe how fast it goes or how much the guy inside is suffering
    By Preston Lerner, Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2006 


    Rob English and most of the other luminaries of HPV racing are braving the broiling desert heat in Casa Grande to assault another world record, this one in the so-called Hour, the most hallowed mark in cycling lore. (Ian Logan / For The Times)

    Barely visible against the vast asphalt expanse of the Nissan test track, a white speck emerges from the soft light of the Arizona dawn. As it approaches, it takes shape as what might be a miniature submarine, or maybe a giant suppository on wheels. Crammed within the tiny, fully enclosed, artfully streamlined body is a world-class cyclist who’s reclining like guy on a Barcalounger as he pedals furiously enough to make his bike the world’s fastest sweatbox. He rockets past with a whoosh, and I suddenly understand why his ride is called a human powered vehicle, or HPV, rather than just a bicycle.

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  • This week on the bike & New York Times article on nutrition

    Okay, this week I managed to go biking three times.  On Sunday I went up and down the Charles River [links one, two, three] (and ruined a tire and tube on innumerable tree roots, potholes, sewer grates, and skidding to avoid a car running a red light).  Thursday I rode leisurely with the guys from work, and on Wednesday I rode with the guys from Landry’s bike shop.  Their so-called intermediate group somehow joined their fast group, and they dropped me like a rock even though I was averaging over 18 mph at the time.  I had to take a shortcut to catch up with them…

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  • Editorial Cartoons

    http://www.gocomics.com/jeffdanziger/

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  • Redneck Air Conditioner

    When the man at the auto repair shop told me that it would cost $1400 to fix my car’s air conditioning, I just laughed at him and said, “I can fix it myself for a whole lot less than that!”

    My momma didn’t raise no fool!!!!!!

     

    [Thanks to Mike Chizmar]

  • The best D*** Mo****-F****** hockey coach ever!

    Chris Chelios reflects on his junior days where he was coached by Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Pulp Fiction)…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8s6aid04pw

    [Thanks to Dan Gaither]

  • Boundaries of Sox Nation

    After the traumatic experience of ’86, I tend to keep the Sox at a bit of emotional distance [It could be argued that I do that all too often in life].   But sometimes that helps, especially when the Damn Yankees pound the Sox like they did last night.

    Anyway, as a map geek and a not-exactly-rabid Sox fan, I found this article in the New York Times to be interesting…

    Where Do Rivals Draw the Line?
    By JOHN BRANCH, The New York Times, August 18, 2006

    THE CITY of New Britain, near the geographical center of Connecticut and the midpoint between New York City and Boston, is home to the Rock Cats, the Minnesota Twins’ Class AA affiliate in the Eastern League. But the Twins do not have much of a fan base in New Britain. As is the case across much of the state, there is a debate in New Britain about which is the more popular team, the Red Sox or the Yankees. (more…)

  • Attack of the Mannequins

    I understand that there are such things as freak accidents, and that you have to look out for yourself, but a lot of these things sound like frivolous lawsuits, people trying to make a quick buck.  It just seems alien to me the lengths some people will go to.  And besides that, how do you show your face in public after claiming that you were attacked by a display mannequin?

    Mannequin in Suit — Lawsuit, That Is
    Westminster woman sues J.C. Penney after she and the dummy clash over a blouse.
    By Roy Rivenburg, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
    August 18, 2006


    PLAINTIFF: Diana Newton, 51, says in her lawsuit that she suffered a cracked tooth, recurring shoulder pain and numbness in her fingers after a mannequin’s arm fell off and struck her. (Alexander Gallardo / LAT)     (more…)

  • The Lego Church

    You think you’re bored..? Take a look at what this guy did with all the time on his hands!  *WOW!!“The Lego Church”

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