Over the river and through the woods to Georgie's house we go

Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, we were all fully aware of the history of the development of airplanes. Contrary to what you see on North Carolina license plates, Dayton is the true birthplace of aviation, the place the Wright Brothers called home and conducted their research on air transportation.

The Wright Brothers were owners of a bicycle shop called the Wright Bicycle Exchange located on 1005 West Third Street in Dayton. They moved the shop several times and changed the name as the business grew, and they began to manufacture their own bicycles with innovations such as pedals mounted to the crank by threaded posts rather than regular screws, the latter which could easily come undone as the rider pedaled and the former which is still used on bicycles today. However, by the early 1900s, the brothers had become so engaged in the development of airplanes that they sold the company.

In 1902, Orville and Wilbur took turns pedaling down the street with a third wheel attached to the handlebars. It spun freely, with two metal plates on top of it, one which was flat and the other curved, a setup that allowed the Wrights to measure air resistance. Oh yes, bicycles were very instrumental in the invention of the airplane. The drivetrain of a bicycle was used in the development of the propeller. A crushed bicycle box inspired the shape of the wings. The aluminum engine was built by their bike shop mechanic, Charlie Taylor.

The photo above was taken at a point along the Mount Vernon bike trail at National Airport. If I had thought about it more, I would have taken the water bottles and the bag off the bike for a better picture, but as standing at the end of a runway watching planes take off was a bit nervewracking, I only stood around to watch two planes take off, so close I felt like if I lifted my hand, I could touch them. It was a heartpounding experience that I shared with many other cyclists.

The route goes through Old Town Alexandria, which is always a good trip. It's remarkable how preserved it is, while so many places in DC were allowed to crumble. Alexandria still has a colonial feel to it while save a very few places in the District (mostly Georgetown), Washington's older buildings were built in the nineteenth century, so it's interesting to get down to Old Town every now and then. It took me a little over an hour to get there and is a good place to stop for lunch or dinner on the ride, which takes about five hours, give or take twenty minutes either way.

I rode the entire length of the trail from my house to Mount Vernon - more than 40 miles roundtrip. Quite an accomplishment for someone who has only been riding bikes for a month, I think. It's a great ride down the Potomac and through the swamps and the woods leading to George Washington's old mansion. I've never been there and didn't go in yesterday, either. Not for $13.

Baseball is a beautiful game

Shapes, lines, and angles

I took this photo of a bike I just finished putting back together (with a new wheel!) and really liked it. I've been taking a ton of bicycle photos, but this is one of my favorites.

This bike's for sale, by the way, a Bridgestone Mixte 300. It rides great - I went for a mini ride today (after a much longer one around the Mall) and kind of want to keep it, but I already have a nice Trek mountain bike and I don't need another bike. Besides, there are like ten other bikes in my basement right now!
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The machines that inspired the airplane

Bikes make good photography subjects. I don't know if it is the shiny metal, the simplicity of the machines, or some the peculiar shapes, but I envision taking a lot of shots this summer with bicycles in them. If the weather is decent, I'm going to try to make the ride out to Mount Vernon on Sunday. It's 18 miles one way, and the most I've done this summer is 20 miles total, so I hope I'm not taking too big of a leap!

This vintage Bianchi women's road bike is for sale. I'm in the process of tuning it up and polishing it so it looks like new. I am also looking for a new tire for it, but it is otherwise in excellent condition.

On Elitism and the frequent misuse of that word

Somehow, coffee has become some sort of status symbol. You hear it frequently from the more rural parts of this country or from those cities in Middle America who have experienced emigration of the more educated because of a lack of job prospects. Country music singers wail about how latte sipping urbanites just don't get the "good life."

The thing is, when a small town in Ohio finds out they're getting a Starbucks, they're excited. They write letters to the editors of their small town newspapers praising the move. They order their caramel mocha mint double latte skim milk with whipped cream with no problem. But they'll continue to refer to the people who live on the coasts as "elitists."

I'm sick of it. People repeat this phrase because they have heard it somewhere else and they don't even know what it means. They use it to refer to people with higher levels of knowledge than them, with higher levels of income than them, with higher levels of education than them, and pretty much anyone who lives in a city on a coast.

The fact is, this whole "I'm entitled to my opinion" mentality in this country is resulting in terrible policy (Exhibit A: George W. Bush) and is partially responsible for the messes we're in right now.

No, all opinions are not equal. People who have read about an issue and have studied it generally are closer to the truth than someone who has not. Seems like a simple concept, doesn't it? For the life of me I can't understand why it is difficult for some people to grasp. Someone who has studied political science knows more about political science than someone who didn't study it. Someone who has studied business concepts knows more about business concepts than someone who hasn't studied it. Someone who has studied climate change knows more about climate change than someone who hasn't studied it.

By study, I don't necessarily mean at a university, though that is a big help. By study, I mean someone who has read about it - and not just read about it in one source but in many sources.


The best example of a wrong opinion is when the media was first covering the Sarah Palin book tour. A reporter asked someone who had been waiting in line for three hours why she liked Palin, and the response was something to the effect of "She's real." The interviewee had some sort of anti-bailout shirt on, and the reporter quoted Palin from November when Palin said she supported the bailout (people "forget" it was Bush who bailed out the banks). The girl did not believe the reporter when she told her Palin had supported the bailouts. This is typical. People believe whatever they want to believe without bothering to look up the facts.

But there are those of us who do know the facts. KNOW the facts. The sky is, in fact, blue on a sunny day. Only a blind person would deny this.

Week in review

Once upon a time, back when we had one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States of America, I developed this blog. I've tried to jumpstart it a few times since I quit it, but it's never worked out. I'm going to try it again.

I lost the struggle with plastic bags yesterday. I don't know why it has to be a struggle, why cashiers insist on putting things in plastic bags when we are perfectly capable of either carrying the things in our hands or putting the things in bags we already have with us. But it is. Before I even could hand over my lunch money, the woman had put my salad in a bag. I'll give the establishment some credit - they switched from styrofoam to plastic. But they have to work on their plastic bag policy. I get so sick of having to give bags back.

The other bag event was at the grocery on my way home from work. I stopped by to grab some dinner and some beer to enjoy while watching the Reds game. I had a mostly empty backpack on my back, but while I was digging out my bonus card and ID, the guy had already put my stuff in two separate plastic bags.

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO REFUSE PLASTIC BAGS??? We really need to educate stores on this excessive use of plastic bags.

It's tough trying to live a greener life. I kick myself every time I forget to unplug my phone or camera charger. Usually I remember, but two or three times a month, I leave it. But I got rid of my car, bike or use Metro to work and generally walk the walk. So many talk and are hypocrites in their behavior.

Speaking of hypocrites,

I'm putting on the yellow shirt (and fighting windmills?)

This blog was supposed to be about Washington. I've been methodical about it at times, have written profusely at times, have ignored it at times, changed it's theme and never stuck with it at times, got angry at it at times. Last time I changed it, it was going to be a sort of photoblog. It still is, if I ever get around to posting more. My laptop died, so it hasn't been easy.

I do have a slowass PC, so at least there's something, but it's rather annoying to wait for everything, and I don't have a desk big enough to use it comfortably. The monitor is huge. But it's great for watching baseball games online, which I do four or five times a week.

Anyway, the point of this post wasn't any of the above. I wanted to write about a new hobby of mine, one that I'm thoroughly enjoying and that may give me the freedom I want from office life for awhile. Cycling. See, because I have been so miserable having to sit inside an office all day while life goes on under the sun, I've been trying to come up with ways to take a break from it and to enjoy life for a bit. So I got this notion in my head that I was going to sell my car and bike around Europe for a few months in the fall. It's been seven years since I've stepped foot on European soil, and I miss it dearly. I know so much has changed in those seven years, and I am very curious to see what has. I also thought I could write a travel book on my adventures there, one that would show not only the changes that have taken place in the decade since I first visited Europe until now, but also how I have changed since my college eyes were opened to the world back then to the jaded, bitter person I've become.

So with that crazy idea came the bike thing. My bike was in horrible shape, so I took it apart to fix it up. And I enjoyed taking it apart and learning about all of the parts - just learning the proper names for things was a start. The bike was covered in rust, so I was going to have to take it apart down to the frame, strip it, repaint it, replace the seat and seat post that were stolen, replace the brake and gear cables...pretty much everything but (thankfully) the front and rear deraillers and the pedals needed to be replaced. I went to Craig's List to find parts. Instead, I bought another bike for $25. It had a lot of rust and wasn't high quality, but at least I could ride it to start getting into shape for my European trip. I continued to look for parts on Craig's List for the other bike. I found a quality Trek bike for $75, so I bought it, thinking I would sell the other bike on CL. First, though, I took it apart, sanded all of the rust off of it, repainted the parts that needed to be repainted, put it back together, and sold it for $100.

I really enjoyed it, so I put an ad on CL asking for people's old bikes they did not want. I got a lot of responses, so I'm picking up four bikes to fix up tomorrow at no cost. And voila, a new hobby with a potential to turn into a job was born.

And why did I post that here? Because this is a themeless blog these days, and I will be doing a lot of biking (and a lot of photography during the biking. Of course, I'll stop the bike to take the photos!) And I'll comment on the things I'm taking photos of and who knows what will come of it?

I don't know if I'm going to do the Europe thing, but I'm really hoping this bike stuff works out so I can work on my own for a bit. Life's too short to sit in an office.

I'm moving to Denmark

Late risers unite in Denmark

If you find it hard to get up in the morning, don't despair - you're not lazy, you're just genetically programmed that way, says the B-Society in Denmark...One strong cup of coffee later and I was on my way to meet Stephen Alstrup who runs his own B-certified company.

By the time he gets to his train station the platform is empty and so are most of the seats on his commuter train.

"I'm useless early in the morning," he says cheerfully. "All I can do is drink coffee, and stare into space."

"People used to get up early because they had to feed the animals. But I haven't got any cows or chickens, so I can sleep late."

And when we get to Stephen's office, that is empty too - apart from one member of staff who has been there most of the night and is just leaving, and the company's only A-person who actually enjoys the early start.

The rest of them arrive when they choose - any time up to 3.30pm or so - each to their own rhythm.

Business benefits

It is a small hi-tech company and Stephen needs brains which are working at full speed.

It used to be called disorganised but not any more.

"Everybody gains," he says, "they're here when they're fully awake, and the business benefits."

Fox = Al Qaeda?

“The candidates that can’t face Fox, can’t face Al Qaeda. And that’s what’s coming.” - Roger Ailes, referring to Democratic candidates who don't want to waste time on Fox shows.

So, in the world of logic, Mr. Ailes' statement equates Fox with Al Qaeda. Funny stuff.
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There is no such thing as reality

It's sad that people can mobilize to get a television show back on the air but can't get off their asses to do anything about this war (or a host of the world's other real problems, like Sudan, AIDS in Africa, poverty anywhere, to name a few of the infinite examples.) Probably because they're sitting on their asses watching television, oblivious to the real world around them.

Fans trumpeting the cause of CBS' canceled drama "Jericho" have caught the network's ear.

CBS, deluged with calls, messages and shipments of nuts signifying viewer displeasure, is reconsidering its decision, a source close to the production said Tuesday.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. A decision on whether to bring the show back, probably for a midseason run, is imminent, the source said.

"We are tired of the networks (not just CBS) tossing aside quality programming," was the message carried by jericholives.com, one of several Web sites protesting the cancellation. "Enough! We're going to fight for this one."

Clarke Ingram, a "Jericho" fan from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a spokesman for jericholives, said he was optimistic that CBS would find a way to revive the drama about a Kansas town isolated by a nuclear terrorist attack.

Show sounds like a real winner...

article

Blinded by the light

The hideous logo for the London 2012 Olympic Games has gotten worldwide criticism that is falling on deaf ears. Now, it appears that this garbage is causing epileptic seizures.

I blame the Freemasons and their global conspiracies, you know, with the elixars of life and the DaVinci Code and all that jazz.

Doesn't matter - the world is ending on May 5, 2012, so those games will never happen. At least, that's what people like Mel Gibson and Darren Daulton would have you believe. And the Mayans.

/got nothin'