It's been too oppressively hot this week to go for a bike ride, and it's going to last through the weekend. Although I still think we had a mild start of summer, we're quickly doing away with that idea. Today is currently slated for 103. Fortunately Monday's high is scheduled to be below 80, so things should cool off some.
So instead of rides this week, this is going to become Movies This Week, with three quick movie reviews -
Prometheus - I finally went and saw it. And I was as disappointed as I guess everyone was. I wasn't even expecting a lot based on the reviews I'd heard, but the movie just didn't make a lot of sense. As I've said before, I'm happy to run with a non-scientifically-accurate premise and enjoy seeing what the characters do, but I just didn't believe any of what the "scientific mission" chose to do or how they went about things the entire movie. And the Alien tie in was mediocre at best. Oh well. It was still fun to see some spaceships as all sci fi movies are at some level.
The Man From Nowhere - This is a Korean modern action movie (i.e. fights/gunplay) that was really good. It was your typical rescue/revenge story - Former (special forces, hitman, MMA champion) badass turned (miserly recluse, drunk, family man) befriends an (8-12 year old) girl who gets taken by (the mob, sex traffickers, a warlord) because her parents were (rich, into drugs, witnessed something). The former badass proceeds to show that his badass is not so former as he kills everything on his way to rescue/avenge the girl. Very enjoyable. The climactic sequence was awesome.
War of the Arrows - Another Korean movie, this one an ancient epic. The son and daughter of a Chinese lord flee to Korea after his father is declared a traitor for sympathizing with Korea. 10 years later Chinese raiders are invading Korea, and the very proficient with a bow and arrow son (I guess only Chinese people are good with a bow) has to set off to rescue his sister who's been taken captive by the very proficient with bows and arrows raiders. Lots of arrow fights ensue. It was very well done, with some great cinematography and action sequences. It reminded me some of House of Flying Daggers, and was the best ancient epic/action I had seen in a long time.
That's it for this week. I still have J. Edgar from blockbuster that I might get to this weekend, and I kinda want to go see savages. Has anyone seen anything about Ted? I can't tell if it looks funny or horrible. With Mark Wahlberg in a comedy I lean towards horrible.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Crazy Weather
I can't tell if this made national news or just local headlines, but this weekend we had some pretty crazy weather that did quite a bit of damage. Friday was forecasted to be in the upper 90s, with temperatures rising over 100 for both Saturday and Sunday. Heat indexes with humidity were going to be closer to 110. They weren't calling for a particularly high chance of storms any of the three days, so everyone though they'd just have to tough out the heat. Caitlin and I got home after grabbing dinner downtown around 930 on Friday. I walked the dog, and everything seemed fine. We decided to try to watch the new Futurama on the DVR. About 5 minutes into it the lights started to flicker a little. The TV/DVR held together for a bit, but pretty soon we totally lost power.
Not expecting storms, I thought perhaps it was a brown-out from all the AC, although thats extremely rare around here, particularly at night. With the lights out though we quickly realized that the window was flashing pretty much continuously. Caitlin heard things snapping. It was pretty impressive. Figuring it was just a regular storm and without power though, we went to bed.
When we woke up we still didn't have power, and a quick look outside showed that this wasn't a normal storm. There were trees down everywhere. My neighbor lost their fence, but fortunately their new deck appeared to have survived the impact. When I walked the dog we had to basically forge our way through the woods and back because all of the paths were blocked. I was able to drag a few things out of the way, but the full trees were too much. When I got to the baseball field I realized how much wind there must have been. Several large branches from trees had blown all the way to the middle of the baseball field, which is already offset from the trees. A 50 lb branch blowing 200 feet through the air takes some power.
The prospect of facing 100+ weather without AC was a daunting one. Worse, power was down everywhere, so most restaurants and other public places were closed. I decided to bail out and drove out to the Casino in Charlestown where I figured they had generators and I could kill the day playing poker. Caitlin drove to the mall/movie theater that did have power, but after an hour+ of trying to find a parking space, she gave up, and it took her another half hour to escape the traffic. Fortunately our power came back early Saturday afternoon. We were lucky. One of the 5 people on my current project team only got it back this morning, so he stayed home to take care of things. My mom still doesn't have power (she has been staying with us).
Prior to this weekend we'd actually had a very mild summer, with only a handful of days over 90 and relatively low humidity (Caitlin would argue otherwise, but she just doesn't have the perspective yet). A clear indicator of the fact that its been mild has been the lack of pop-up thunderstorms that are usually a nightly occurrence this time of year. I haven't had any problems with rain for baseball so far this summer, which is rare. The storms materialize when hot and humid weather on the ground builds up instability in the atmosphere that ultimately triggers a short but powerful storm that blows itself out after 20-30 minutes. This year though we've hardly had any of them.
Apparently this storm started as a pop-up storm in Chicago. Only instead of blowing itself out, the conditions were just right for it to build on itself. It started off building slowly, but as it gained energy the pressure differences started pulling it faster and faster, such that it eventually was flying at 60 mph across the country in a beeline from Chicago to DC, building energy the whole way and leaving a swath of destruction behind it. It hit DC at its strongest before ultimately dissipating over the ocean. Good times. A time lapse of the radar -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0MG7aOjZciY
Not expecting storms, I thought perhaps it was a brown-out from all the AC, although thats extremely rare around here, particularly at night. With the lights out though we quickly realized that the window was flashing pretty much continuously. Caitlin heard things snapping. It was pretty impressive. Figuring it was just a regular storm and without power though, we went to bed.
When we woke up we still didn't have power, and a quick look outside showed that this wasn't a normal storm. There were trees down everywhere. My neighbor lost their fence, but fortunately their new deck appeared to have survived the impact. When I walked the dog we had to basically forge our way through the woods and back because all of the paths were blocked. I was able to drag a few things out of the way, but the full trees were too much. When I got to the baseball field I realized how much wind there must have been. Several large branches from trees had blown all the way to the middle of the baseball field, which is already offset from the trees. A 50 lb branch blowing 200 feet through the air takes some power.
The prospect of facing 100+ weather without AC was a daunting one. Worse, power was down everywhere, so most restaurants and other public places were closed. I decided to bail out and drove out to the Casino in Charlestown where I figured they had generators and I could kill the day playing poker. Caitlin drove to the mall/movie theater that did have power, but after an hour+ of trying to find a parking space, she gave up, and it took her another half hour to escape the traffic. Fortunately our power came back early Saturday afternoon. We were lucky. One of the 5 people on my current project team only got it back this morning, so he stayed home to take care of things. My mom still doesn't have power (she has been staying with us).
Prior to this weekend we'd actually had a very mild summer, with only a handful of days over 90 and relatively low humidity (Caitlin would argue otherwise, but she just doesn't have the perspective yet). A clear indicator of the fact that its been mild has been the lack of pop-up thunderstorms that are usually a nightly occurrence this time of year. I haven't had any problems with rain for baseball so far this summer, which is rare. The storms materialize when hot and humid weather on the ground builds up instability in the atmosphere that ultimately triggers a short but powerful storm that blows itself out after 20-30 minutes. This year though we've hardly had any of them.
Apparently this storm started as a pop-up storm in Chicago. Only instead of blowing itself out, the conditions were just right for it to build on itself. It started off building slowly, but as it gained energy the pressure differences started pulling it faster and faster, such that it eventually was flying at 60 mph across the country in a beeline from Chicago to DC, building energy the whole way and leaving a swath of destruction behind it. It hit DC at its strongest before ultimately dissipating over the ocean. Good times. A time lapse of the radar -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0MG7aOjZciY
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Rides This Week - 06/30/2012
So I did manage to get back in the saddle for a couple rides to work this week on Monday and Wednesday. Both felt great, as the oppresive heat wave that has defined this weekend hadn't moved in yet. The heat wave's not supposed to move out until the end of the week, so I likely won't get back out again until next weekend.
Monday 6/25 - 16 miles - To work
Monday 6/25 - 16 miles - From work
Wednesday 6/27 - 16 miles - To work
Wednesday 6/27- 16 miles - From work
Monday 6/25 - 16 miles - To work
Monday 6/25 - 16 miles - From work
Wednesday 6/27 - 16 miles - To work
Wednesday 6/27- 16 miles - From work
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Conflict Mediation in High Intensity, High Emotion Competitive Situations
Umpiring’s been going well. I’m working less than I have in years past, which is a good thing, but I’m still over 50 games for the year already. It’s been a good balance. With the school season over, we’re into the (generally) much lower key rec season where games matter a whole lot less to everyone, and with that the baseball definitely goes downhill a little as well.
Anyways, I was working with a guy the other day who had just graduated from college, and was still looking for a job and umpiring in the meantime (much like I did after graduation). He cracked me up when he said he put umpiring on his resume as “Conflict mediation in high intensity, high emotion competitive situations.” While that’s actually a pretty accurate description, it just reeks of resume BS in a way that’s spectacular.
Last night I worked a game where that description was more applicable than usual. It was a 45 and up mens league game. In the third inning Team A started complaining that Team B had an illegal player. Apparently Team B didn’t think they were going to have enough people so they got a sub to come in, which is allowed. But then Team B’s 9th guy was able to make it, so now they had 10, which Team A claimed was not allowed. Pretty soon the coaches were yelling at each other, trying to call two different league commissioners who each thought would side with them, and 20 people are standing around waiting to start playing again. Trying to get between them was pointless. Eventually Team A gave up and said they would play on, but protest the game afterwards, so we continued.
Then in the 6th inning this giant brutish asshole didn’t like that I called two strikes on him. The first one might have been a little low, but it was a crap game so every other batter was walking and I was trying to open it up. The second one was a beautiful curve that went from the bottom of the letters on the inside corner to belt high over the center of the plate. Strangely, the second one pissed him off more than the first, and he started bitching, calling me terrible and asking how badly I wanted to go home. Often people like to think all we want to do is call outs so that the game is over and we can go home, but given that we had 4 innings and 20 minutes left on the timelimit I questioned his logic in this situation.
I warned him, and he shut up for a pitch, but when I called the next pitch a ball, (an extremely high outside pitch) he gave me a “oh I guess you have some limits look” and started to open his mouth to be an asshole again. I should have ejected him then and there, but instead I cut him off and warned his bench that anything else and I would start throwing people out. The next pitch he whiffed with a hilariously overdone swing for strike three, and the pitcher (who knew both strike calls were justified) just started laughing at him.
I warned him, and he shut up for a pitch, but when I called the next pitch a ball, (an extremely high outside pitch) he gave me a “oh I guess you have some limits look” and started to open his mouth to be an asshole again. I should have ejected him then and there, but instead I cut him off and warned his bench that anything else and I would start throwing people out. The next pitch he whiffed with a hilariously overdone swing for strike three, and the pitcher (who knew both strike calls were justified) just started laughing at him.
He looked ready to charge the mound, but again I cut him off and ordered him back to the dugout. He glared at me loathingly (again I should have tossed him) but stalked off. He proceeded to glare at me (I think he thought he was threatening) every time he ran on and off the field the rest of the game. I regretted not tossing him, but he didn’t give me an excuse for the rest of the game. The rest of the team had been fine before that, but they started to get a little chatty from there out. When they blew their lead in the bottom of the 8th (the last inning because of the time limit) they really started to go off, but fortunately we were done and just got out of there.
All in all I thought it was some great conflict mediation in a high intensity, high emotion competitive situation.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Things have been busy
I haven't posted much lately because things have been busy. It's summer baseball season, so I've definitely been having a lot of games (I'm over 50 for the year now). Last weekend was the BBBBBQ (Beer BourBon and BarBeQue) festival among other Holmesing shenanigans, and there have been other events the last few weekends. On top of it all work has been especially busy so I've been working more hours than normal, and when I'm not working writing isn't always what I want to do.
So life is busy, but good. I think I'm through my trail descriptions for a while. There's one or two others in DC I might get to eventually, but I would want to re-ride them first. I've only been on one short ride on my bike since New York thanks to baseball, work, extreme heat, and rain, but that's ok. I'm hoping to get down to work tomorrow or Wednesday. We moved buildings a couple weeks ago (just down the street) so my gym isn't as conveniently in the same building, but oh well. The move has been a little frustrating, I don't like my new space (a cube) as much as my old crammed little interior office. There's just a lot less privacy both audibly and in not having a door/having my back to the not-door and being next to a kitchen area so there's lots of foot traffic. Also there is not enough AC in the new building, although it's not awful.
BBBBBQ festival was awesome, as was a weekend with all the male holmeses from around the country. DC, Pittsburgh, Houston, LA, San Francisco, and Minneapolisish? (I don't have a clue where Alex lives in Minnesota, but I figure I have a 50/50 shot on the city). The VIP tickets were worth 10 times the additional cost for them. Good times. Also, while my crab feast suggestion was not as big a hit with everyone as I had hoped, it meant I was eating leftover crabs all week. I took a psuedo-sick day Monday to recover (I still worked a good bit from home, like I said work's been busy), but it ended up being appropriate since I proceeded to have a mild cold the rest of the week.
Kina is doing well, although she apparently does not like loud fireworks. She seemed fine when the first couple went off that didn't make loud booms, but she was spooked by the end.
I'm currently going back and forth between Valkyria Chronicles and Little Big Planet. Valkyria has been a lot of fun but requires at least an hour to play through levels, and more to see the stories on either side. LBP has been a fun distraction that's easy to pick up and put down, but not much more.
Caitlin and I went to Brave, which was definitely cute and enjoyable, but certainly no Wall-E or Up. I got War of the Arrows from blockbuster which is one of the best Asian ancient/epic type movies I've seen in a good long while. Other than that there haven't been any notable movies. Despite middling reviews I still want to go to Prometheus, but other than that I'm a little disappointed with the summer movie lineup. I don't think I really care about anything until Dark Knight at the end of next Month. Oh well.
So that's life.
So life is busy, but good. I think I'm through my trail descriptions for a while. There's one or two others in DC I might get to eventually, but I would want to re-ride them first. I've only been on one short ride on my bike since New York thanks to baseball, work, extreme heat, and rain, but that's ok. I'm hoping to get down to work tomorrow or Wednesday. We moved buildings a couple weeks ago (just down the street) so my gym isn't as conveniently in the same building, but oh well. The move has been a little frustrating, I don't like my new space (a cube) as much as my old crammed little interior office. There's just a lot less privacy both audibly and in not having a door/having my back to the not-door and being next to a kitchen area so there's lots of foot traffic. Also there is not enough AC in the new building, although it's not awful.
BBBBBQ festival was awesome, as was a weekend with all the male holmeses from around the country. DC, Pittsburgh, Houston, LA, San Francisco, and Minneapolisish? (I don't have a clue where Alex lives in Minnesota, but I figure I have a 50/50 shot on the city). The VIP tickets were worth 10 times the additional cost for them. Good times. Also, while my crab feast suggestion was not as big a hit with everyone as I had hoped, it meant I was eating leftover crabs all week. I took a psuedo-sick day Monday to recover (I still worked a good bit from home, like I said work's been busy), but it ended up being appropriate since I proceeded to have a mild cold the rest of the week.
Kina is doing well, although she apparently does not like loud fireworks. She seemed fine when the first couple went off that didn't make loud booms, but she was spooked by the end.
I'm currently going back and forth between Valkyria Chronicles and Little Big Planet. Valkyria has been a lot of fun but requires at least an hour to play through levels, and more to see the stories on either side. LBP has been a fun distraction that's easy to pick up and put down, but not much more.
Caitlin and I went to Brave, which was definitely cute and enjoyable, but certainly no Wall-E or Up. I got War of the Arrows from blockbuster which is one of the best Asian ancient/epic type movies I've seen in a good long while. Other than that there haven't been any notable movies. Despite middling reviews I still want to go to Prometheus, but other than that I'm a little disappointed with the summer movie lineup. I don't think I really care about anything until Dark Knight at the end of next Month. Oh well.
So that's life.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The Bluemont Junction Trail
I almost didn't include this one in my list of trails, but now that I've covered most of the other big trails I figured I might as well get this one too. The Bluemont Junction Trail is about 1.5 miles of paved trail that connects the W&OD and Custis trails a mile or two after they split. The trail splits from the W&OD in Bluemont park (right next to the house I grew up in) and connects up to the Custis trail in Ballston. There's a big hill up from the W&OD at the start, and then another to get over I-66 to the Custis trail at the end, but other than that it's flat.
The W&OD, Custis, and Bluemont trail make for about a 4 mile circuit, and I used to ride that route all the time when I was a kid. While I don't mostly go for rides that start down there anymore, I do still occasionally use the circuit to cap off a ride down the W&OD and turn around.
Google Maps
The W&OD, Custis, and Bluemont trail make for about a 4 mile circuit, and I used to ride that route all the time when I was a kid. While I don't mostly go for rides that start down there anymore, I do still occasionally use the circuit to cap off a ride down the W&OD and turn around.
Google Maps
Monday, June 11, 2012
New York Biking
I was up in New York to bike with my sister two weekends ago. She lives in downtown Manhattan. I drove up after work on Friday and after slogging through rush hour traffic and an hour delay from a highway-closing multicar accident/truck fire, we just got a quick dinner and went to bed early Friday. On Saturday we did a 62 mile ride to Nyack and back , and then a shorter meandering ride Sunday before I headed home. The weather was perfect both days.
On Saturday we went from Erin's apartment in Manhattan across town to the trail that goes up the Hudson. From there we continued up to the GW Bridge, then went across. It was something like 400 feet to go from the river to the bridge, and that happened pretty fast which was tough. We continued up the west side of the river along roads that are signed as for bikers up out of New Jersey to a little town called Nyack that's apparently where all the bikers go. There was a many biker filled bakery where we had a little lunch and then headed back. I also bought a cookie and a pecan bar for after the ride. Both were delicious. The way back was a little tougher as there we worked from the river elevation back up to bridge elevation over a long stretch, and we had a killer headwind the last stretch home in Manhattan, but we made it.
On Sunday we just kind of went all over south Manhattan. We started out going to the West side of the island and stopped at the donut plant. Great donuts. From there we went down South to go see the new (and extremely tall) Freedom tower that's going up. It's now taller than the Empire State Building. We tried to go to the 9/11 memorial but it turns out you need to get tickets in advance (they're free, but you have to reserve them). We continued down through battery park at the southern tip of the island, and then took a ferry over to Governor's Island. Governor's Island apparently used to be a coast guard station, but they moved out a few years back and the city has been turning it into a big park. It was about 2 miles to bike around it, which w did once before going halfway back and having some lunch and a beer. After ferrying back to Manhattan we continued up the East river and then back home.
Some things were different biking in New York. First off, Manhattan street biking is a little terrifying. Around here I am pretty much always on car-free trails, and when I'm not they are wide suburban roads. But I was surprised that Manhattan street biking wasn't as terrifying as I had expected, given how driving can be there. We stuck to the E-W streets for the most part which have lower traffic, and only a single lane. One lane of traffic makes all the difference. On the west side of the river there aren't so much bike trails as wide shoulders. Most of this felt plenty safe, but there was a section where it was two lanes each way, with not a huge shoulder. Biking on the side of two lanes is always worse than on the side of one, because despite the extra width, people are much less likely to slow down or move over into the other lane, particularly when there's a car there but even when there's not. With one lane, people can see the oncoming traffic better (and vice versa) so people get over a little as they go by, or at least wait until they can. There wasn't too much traffic on the dicey stretch though and plenty of other bikes so we made it. The roads were actually marked as bike routes because I guess thats how they want to go.
The other different thing was that we didn't run into any wildlife, but we did see a lot of wilddeath, aka roadkill. My sister is terrified of birds, and deathly terrified of dead birds. She counted 8 on the Saturday ride, including at least one duck, a bright red cardinal, a couple pigeons, and a few other less descript mashes of crushed flesh and feather. In addition to the birds, there was a ground hog, cat, squirrel, and a couple of reasonably sized snakes. I guess that's what you get when you're biking on roads more, particularly highish speed parkways through forest.
Anyways, all in all we had a fun weekend, and hopefully it helped Erin finish up her training for her century ride next week. Good luck to her!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Rides this weeks - 06/09/2012
A lot of good rides to report on, but all of them last week. It's been a busy work week and I've been tired/umpiring, so despite obscenely gorgeous weather I didn't get out this week. I'll have a post on my NY riding hopefully soon. In the mean time -
Sunday 5/27 - 35 miles - Finally made it to the end of the Accotink trail! There's a lot more river fords those last few miles. . . Also it was brutally hot.
Monday 5/28 - 45 miles - W&OD one way to Purceville from Shirlington. Got it done without too much trouble, although it was also brutally hot that day too. My mom picked me up at the far end and we went to a couple wineries before heading back to my car.
Tuesday 5/29 - 16 miles - To work
Tuesday 5/29 - 16 miles - From work
Saturday 6/2 - 62 miles - to Nyack from my sister's apartment. More on this later.
Sunday 6/3 - 15 miles? - Around South Manhattan from my sister's apartment. More on this later too.
And that sums it up. Not sure when I'll get back on the trail, as I have umpiring and hosting duties for the next week.
Sunday 5/27 - 35 miles - Finally made it to the end of the Accotink trail! There's a lot more river fords those last few miles. . . Also it was brutally hot.
Monday 5/28 - 45 miles - W&OD one way to Purceville from Shirlington. Got it done without too much trouble, although it was also brutally hot that day too. My mom picked me up at the far end and we went to a couple wineries before heading back to my car.
Tuesday 5/29 - 16 miles - To work
Tuesday 5/29 - 16 miles - From work
Saturday 6/2 - 62 miles - to Nyack from my sister's apartment. More on this later.
Sunday 6/3 - 15 miles? - Around South Manhattan from my sister's apartment. More on this later too.
And that sums it up. Not sure when I'll get back on the trail, as I have umpiring and hosting duties for the next week.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Four Mile Run Trail
The Four Mile Run (4MR) Trail is a 6 mile trail (insert distance joke here) that runs parallel to the W&OD while the W&OD goes along Four Mile Run (a stream). The trail starts just after the Custis trail splits from the W&OD around W&OD mile marker 4. It continues past the end of the W&OD another 2 miles until it hits the Mount Vernon Trail and the stream empties into the potomac.
While it runs parallel to the the straight, level W&OD rail trail, the FMR trail is neither straight nor level. It winds whimsically along with the river, with some pretty brutal hills up, down, through, and along some of the ravines. The trail is paved, although at a few points the pavement is pretty old and tree roots have turned it into an extremely bumpy ride. Parts of the trail through busier parks have a good bit of foot traffic, but there aren't a lot of people who ride the trail end to end, particularly since the W&OD is so close and convenient. It cuts in and out with the W&OD at a number of points, so you can take sections of both pretty easily.
Due to the hills, the trail has a unique feel compared to most of the other trails in the region, and it can be a good challenge for a short ride. It's also a welcome change of pace occasionally if I'm biking down that way.
Google Maps
While it runs parallel to the the straight, level W&OD rail trail, the FMR trail is neither straight nor level. It winds whimsically along with the river, with some pretty brutal hills up, down, through, and along some of the ravines. The trail is paved, although at a few points the pavement is pretty old and tree roots have turned it into an extremely bumpy ride. Parts of the trail through busier parks have a good bit of foot traffic, but there aren't a lot of people who ride the trail end to end, particularly since the W&OD is so close and convenient. It cuts in and out with the W&OD at a number of points, so you can take sections of both pretty easily.
Due to the hills, the trail has a unique feel compared to most of the other trails in the region, and it can be a good challenge for a short ride. It's also a welcome change of pace occasionally if I'm biking down that way.
Google Maps
Monday, May 28, 2012
Custis Trail
The Custis Trail runs for 4 miles from mile marker 4 of the W&OD in Arlington down to the end of the Mount Vernon trail in Rosslyn. It follows and runs alongside I-66 for its duration. Although it's kind of through the parks that line the highway, at times there aren't really sound barriers so it can be a loud ride. Also, while the highway is relatively flat, the trail tends to go up to the level of bridges, then down to the level of underpasses. It makes for a very hilly ride.
Not the best trail in the area, but its not too long, and the only good way to bike to Rosslyn and from there get to the Mount Vernon trail or into DC. I will also occasionally go up this way on my way home for work for a change in scenery.
Google Maps
Not the best trail in the area, but its not too long, and the only good way to bike to Rosslyn and from there get to the Mount Vernon trail or into DC. I will also occasionally go up this way on my way home for work for a change in scenery.
Google Maps
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Rides this week - 5/26/2012
I biked to Battleship and then a haircut and pet store run Sunday, totalling about 14 miles, and then managed to commute on Friday. I've got two baseball games today and one tomorrow, but on Monday I'm hoping to do a good long ride somewhere. Perhaps I'll convince Caitlin to come pick me up at the end of the W&OD.
Sunday 5/20 - 14 miles - Around
Friday 5/25 - 16 miles - To work
Friday 5/25 - 16 miles - From work
Next weekend I may or may not post my rides this week since I'll be up in New York doing a few rides with Erin. I'll be sure to backfill though at some point.
Sunday 5/20 - 14 miles - Around
Friday 5/25 - 16 miles - To work
Friday 5/25 - 16 miles - From work
Next weekend I may or may not post my rides this week since I'll be up in New York doing a few rides with Erin. I'll be sure to backfill though at some point.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Mirror's Edge Review
So I just found this in my drafts, even though I thought I'd published it a few weeks ago. So here's the first video game review I talked about before -
Overall Rating - B
Quick Summary: Mirror's Edge is a free running game. In a distopian future where the police state controls everything. "runners" (who basically do parkour over the tops of buildings) carry people's secrets for a little cash. But some shit goes down and suddenly everyone is coming after you. You spend the rest of the game running - away from cops, towards answers, and really just all over the place.
Gameplay: B
Graphics: A
Story: D
Music/Sound: C+
Replay: B
Multiplayer: N/A
Depth: Low
Playtime: 10 hours
I heard a lot about this game when it first came out which was early in the PS3 days. It was graphically stunning, and one of the first actual free running games that had ever been made, so the idea was new (it's since been copied quite a bit). It was fun to get in and play something that I heard about a few years ago.
While the graphics can't be considered quite as state of the art anymore, they still look great, and really add to the feel of running through a futuristic city. The story was garbage, really just an excuse for you to be going everywhere you are at the speeds you are, but the cut-scenes between the 11 levels go to a sort of cartoony/anime style graphics that were fun. I think they did this because the cut-scenes have a lot more on the people/characters that you never get a good look at while you're playing, so it was an easy way to give them life without having to high definition detail them.
Now onto the gameplay, which is really what this game was about. When the game worked, it worked great. You would dash along a rooftop, slide under a vent, then vault over a fence while running along a wall to get to another rooftop. It gave you the sensation of flying. Usually the game worked when you had to move fast, but occasionally there'd be certain spots where it just didn't want to let you do what you were doing everywhere else. There was one point where you had to run along a wall, and for whatever reason 9/10 times that wall didn't let you run along it. Since falling to your death set you back 2 minutes, it was annoying to have to do it over and over again, particularly since there were some hard fights right after that took me a few tries to make it by.
There were also times in the game where you didn't have to go fast. Nobody was chasing you, but you needed to climb up a building or through an overly complicated sewer system or something. Here the game really got frustrating. Fine movement controls didn't work well for things like when you needed to get right up to the edge of something before jumping, so half the time you just walked right off the edge. Oh well. Despite the frustrating sections here and there, by and large the running mechanic did what it was supposed to and kept it fun.
There wasn't much to the music, but the sounds did a good job of letting you know when people were after you, and also of letting you know that you had hit the rooftop, or caught the pipe you jumped for. Also, one of the best little additions to the game was what happened when you fell off the side of a building. Rather than just saying you die, the game kept going until your reached the ground. The ground starts coming closer and closer, faster and faster. You start flailing. Things get a little blurry. The sound ramps up from light wind to faster and faster wind around your ears. The splat/crunch at the bottom was especially well done, and everything cuts out. I wasn't entirely expecting it the first time it happened, and it was kind of terrifying.
All in all this was a fun little distraction. At only about 10 hours to play through the story, it was a quick easy playthrough. Once you complete the story there's a number of time trials and speed runs and things like that that you could spend some time with, but after trying a few of them I decided to move on. Perhaps at some point I'll come back to it and try a few more.
Overall Rating - B
Quick Summary: Mirror's Edge is a free running game. In a distopian future where the police state controls everything. "runners" (who basically do parkour over the tops of buildings) carry people's secrets for a little cash. But some shit goes down and suddenly everyone is coming after you. You spend the rest of the game running - away from cops, towards answers, and really just all over the place.
Gameplay: B
Graphics: A
Story: D
Music/Sound: C+
Replay: B
Multiplayer: N/A
Depth: Low
Playtime: 10 hours
I heard a lot about this game when it first came out which was early in the PS3 days. It was graphically stunning, and one of the first actual free running games that had ever been made, so the idea was new (it's since been copied quite a bit). It was fun to get in and play something that I heard about a few years ago.
While the graphics can't be considered quite as state of the art anymore, they still look great, and really add to the feel of running through a futuristic city. The story was garbage, really just an excuse for you to be going everywhere you are at the speeds you are, but the cut-scenes between the 11 levels go to a sort of cartoony/anime style graphics that were fun. I think they did this because the cut-scenes have a lot more on the people/characters that you never get a good look at while you're playing, so it was an easy way to give them life without having to high definition detail them.
Now onto the gameplay, which is really what this game was about. When the game worked, it worked great. You would dash along a rooftop, slide under a vent, then vault over a fence while running along a wall to get to another rooftop. It gave you the sensation of flying. Usually the game worked when you had to move fast, but occasionally there'd be certain spots where it just didn't want to let you do what you were doing everywhere else. There was one point where you had to run along a wall, and for whatever reason 9/10 times that wall didn't let you run along it. Since falling to your death set you back 2 minutes, it was annoying to have to do it over and over again, particularly since there were some hard fights right after that took me a few tries to make it by.
There were also times in the game where you didn't have to go fast. Nobody was chasing you, but you needed to climb up a building or through an overly complicated sewer system or something. Here the game really got frustrating. Fine movement controls didn't work well for things like when you needed to get right up to the edge of something before jumping, so half the time you just walked right off the edge. Oh well. Despite the frustrating sections here and there, by and large the running mechanic did what it was supposed to and kept it fun.
There wasn't much to the music, but the sounds did a good job of letting you know when people were after you, and also of letting you know that you had hit the rooftop, or caught the pipe you jumped for. Also, one of the best little additions to the game was what happened when you fell off the side of a building. Rather than just saying you die, the game kept going until your reached the ground. The ground starts coming closer and closer, faster and faster. You start flailing. Things get a little blurry. The sound ramps up from light wind to faster and faster wind around your ears. The splat/crunch at the bottom was especially well done, and everything cuts out. I wasn't entirely expecting it the first time it happened, and it was kind of terrifying.
All in all this was a fun little distraction. At only about 10 hours to play through the story, it was a quick easy playthrough. Once you complete the story there's a number of time trials and speed runs and things like that that you could spend some time with, but after trying a few of them I decided to move on. Perhaps at some point I'll come back to it and try a few more.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Battleship Review
Quick Summary - Aliens come to earth. They fight some warships.
Quick Review - Meh
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/
I was excited for battleship, even if nobody else was. Aliens show up, and trap some battleships in a forcefield, and create a grid, and then they have good old fashioned blind naval warfare to duke it out. And from the makers of GI Joe!
I must say, I was disappointed. About an hour into it I was thinking holy crap this is awful. The initial setup was overly long and even more overly pointless. The characters weren't particularly likable, and every decision they made was just obviously wrong. And aside from the aliens and the ridiculous premise, the basic premise of things like it being a navy ship and how that ship was run didn't make any sense and were poorly done. The obnoxious absurdity outweighed the enjoyable silliness, and the result was not good.
After about an hour though it picked up a little bit, and the scales tipped back towards silliness. We got into them playing live action battleship, and we start finding out some more about the aliens. By the end I had at least come to terms with how awful it was going to be and was ready to enjoy some explosions and alien ass kicking. Suffice it to say in that in that, I was not disappointed.
Quick Review - Meh
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/
I was excited for battleship, even if nobody else was. Aliens show up, and trap some battleships in a forcefield, and create a grid, and then they have good old fashioned blind naval warfare to duke it out. And from the makers of GI Joe!
I must say, I was disappointed. About an hour into it I was thinking holy crap this is awful. The initial setup was overly long and even more overly pointless. The characters weren't particularly likable, and every decision they made was just obviously wrong. And aside from the aliens and the ridiculous premise, the basic premise of things like it being a navy ship and how that ship was run didn't make any sense and were poorly done. The obnoxious absurdity outweighed the enjoyable silliness, and the result was not good.
After about an hour though it picked up a little bit, and the scales tipped back towards silliness. We got into them playing live action battleship, and we start finding out some more about the aliens. By the end I had at least come to terms with how awful it was going to be and was ready to enjoy some explosions and alien ass kicking. Suffice it to say in that in that, I was not disappointed.
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Accotink/Cross County Connector Trail
The Accotink trail is the most interesting trail I've written on yet, and is actually becoming one of my favorites. The trail itself goes back and forth from being pavement, to concrete, to packed gravel, to loose gravel, to dirt, and for a very short stretch even runs through a loose, sandy beach. The trail crosses the Accotink Creek a few times, and for two of the crossings you pretty much have to ford the river, which is interesting. There's a couple points where mountain bike trails branch off from the main trail and into the woods, with much rougher paths. I assume because of the varied terrain, the trail is a lot less crowded than the W&OD or Mount Vernon trail, and while there are occasionally other bikers, most of the people who are on the trail are runners/walkers. In addition to being much less crowded, the trail runs through pretty much entirely park and thick forest, which means most of the trail is shady, another big plus as it gets warmer.
The trail starts about two miles south of house. It runs east for a little bit until it hits the beltway, and then cuts south down to Lake Accotink. Theoretically some of that is the Cross County Connector (CCC) Trail which runs from the Occoquan river in the southern corner of Fairfax up to the Potomac in the northern corner. North of our house though, the CCC is really just a walking/hiking path, and you can't easily bike it (I tried once and ended up walking my bike out of the woods). Past Lake Accotink the CCC trail continues and is bikeable, although I've never quite made it to the end. 4-5 miles after the lake, the trail goes through streets and winds its way over a couple highways. I've gotten lost there the few times I've been down that far, each time making it a little further than the last. The last time I went I finally found where the trail is supposed to go, but by the time I did I needed to turn back. I think if I did make it to the end it would be about 20 miles from my house - a perfect weekend round trip ride.
Google Maps
The trail starts about two miles south of house. It runs east for a little bit until it hits the beltway, and then cuts south down to Lake Accotink. Theoretically some of that is the Cross County Connector (CCC) Trail which runs from the Occoquan river in the southern corner of Fairfax up to the Potomac in the northern corner. North of our house though, the CCC is really just a walking/hiking path, and you can't easily bike it (I tried once and ended up walking my bike out of the woods). Past Lake Accotink the CCC trail continues and is bikeable, although I've never quite made it to the end. 4-5 miles after the lake, the trail goes through streets and winds its way over a couple highways. I've gotten lost there the few times I've been down that far, each time making it a little further than the last. The last time I went I finally found where the trail is supposed to go, but by the time I did I needed to turn back. I think if I did make it to the end it would be about 20 miles from my house - a perfect weekend round trip ride.
Google Maps
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Rides this Week - 4/19/2012
As previously mentioned, Bike DC was Sunday, so that was pretty awesome. I also managed to bike to work both Thursday and Friday. Friday was national bike to work day, so I ended up with a free T-shirt for that one along with a free bagel.
Sunday 5/13 - 53 miles - Bike to work day
Thursday 5/17 - 16 miles - To work
Thursday 5/17 - 18 miles - From work via Custis
Friday 5/18 - 16 miles - To work
Friday 5/18 - 16 miles - From work
High School Playoffs continue this week (I had three days of three-man umpiring this week, although 2 of them were 1 game, perhaps more on that later), so while my schedule is wide open right now, I'm likely to end up with a few games as the playoff picture becomes clear. So we'll see how much I get in next week.
Sunday 5/13 - 53 miles - Bike to work day
Thursday 5/17 - 16 miles - To work
Thursday 5/17 - 18 miles - From work via Custis
Friday 5/18 - 16 miles - To work
Friday 5/18 - 16 miles - From work
High School Playoffs continue this week (I had three days of three-man umpiring this week, although 2 of them were 1 game, perhaps more on that later), so while my schedule is wide open right now, I'm likely to end up with a few games as the playoff picture becomes clear. So we'll see how much I get in next week.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Let the Bullets Fly Review
Quick Summary - Robin Hood like bandits in 1920s China ambush a new governor who has just bought his position and is on his way to his new province for the first time. Since nobody knows who the new governor is, the head of the bandits decides to take the governor's spot. He doesn't play by the normal rules though, and pretty soon runs into trouble with the local rich drug lord who actually runs things. Pretty soon we have a Robin-Hood style story where the benevolent governor is trying to return the people's wealth to the people. Guns are involved.
Quick Review - Amusing but dissapointing.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1533117/
Quick Review - Amusing but dissapointing.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1533117/
After seeing the previews, recognizing a few of the cast, and hearing it was the highest grossing film in China, I was pretty excited for this one. I was expecting a Smokin Aces style chaotic action/thriller with lots of gunplay and some comedy mixed in. Instead it was more of a Kung Fu Hustle type of comedy with a little bit of action that wasn't all that thrilling. And as with most Chinese movies, some of the comedy gets lost in translation. Oh well. It wasn't all bad, and I still enjoyed it on some level, but after having such high hopes it was definitely a letdown.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Bike DC
Bike DC yesterday was a big success. The weather was perfect (low 70s and sunny), and the biking was good. A little bit of miscommunication meant we never met up with Erin's other friend who was doing it, but that's ok.
We metro-ed down to the starting point. The ride was supposed to start from 7:00-7:30, but since the first train doesn't leave until 7:00 on weekends we didn't get going until about 7:45. We had to book it a little since at some point they were going to unclose roads, but there were lots of other people who had done what we did and started a little late, so we weren't in any real danger. There was also a shorter "family ride" that started at 7:45, so we kind of got stuck with them right at the beginning, but we went around a lot of them and pretty soon they split off for the easier path.
The route started off in front of the Capitol, and took us up Pennsylvania avenue in front of the Whitehouse. From there we went up the Rock Creek Parkway, which winds along the creek into Northwest DC. We turned around right about where you get off for the National Zoo. Coming back we wound along roads past the Kennedy Center to the Roosevelt Bridge across the Potomac into Arlington.
From there we were directed up the George Washington Parkway which runs along the Potomac from Alexandria through the entirety of Arlington and up to where the Beltway crosses the Potomac in the North. There was a big hill we had to work our way up as the parkway gets higher and higher above the river leading up to Great Falls. Shortly after that crested we turned back and flew back down the hill. Next we went up some side roads to cross Rt 50, and made a spiraling loop around the Iwo Jima memorial. Then we cruised along the edge of Arlington Cemetary past the pentagon, to a rest stop that was at the Air Force Memorial. From there we doubled back to the Roosevelt bridge to cross to the finish line at McPherson Square. The whole thing reminded me a little of the N64 racing game "Crusin USA" where you race through famous US cities and fly by all the landmarks (which in the game are not at all correctly geographically placed).
It was pretty crowded the whole way, which meant we couldn't go quite as fast as we might have liked at times, but it didn't hold us back too much. And it was nice to not have to worry about traffic lights or cars. If we'd gotten an earlier start we might have been better off since we could have avoided the family riders, but oh well. You could definitely tell where the family routes were and weren't since the number of kids increased substantially. Most of the time though we were on at least 2 lanes of road or more that we had to ourselves, but sometimes that included both directions of bikers.
Still, as a one time (or perhaps once a year thing) it was worth the $40. I even forked over the extra 15 for a tshirt. It was cool to see how many people there were out there too (I don't know actual numbers, but at least in the 1000s, if not around 10,000). Drinks and bananas and chips at the finish line were nice too. There were two intermediate rest stops we didn't partake of, and I had brought a backpack with gatorade, a water bottle, some fruit, and some peanuts.
On our way up the GW parkway Erin saw the only crash of the day we witnessed as a few people wiped out. At the very end a little kid ate it too, but that hardly counts. We also passed a few people dragging boom box playing recordings of spin workouts which was amusing. There were lots of weird bikes around including a good number of Tandems, both of the two person and three person varieties), as well as some weird bikes with boxes on the front that I had never seen before. They were like wagons but a rider sat in the back and pedalled. They were weird. About 100 yards from the finish line, Erin shouted I'll race you and took off, cutting me off behind a crowd of kids. Since she thought I was stuck she slowed down though, which I capitalized on after dropping back to take the wide way around, and I zipped past her right at the end.
From the end of the ride Erin and I biked home. We went down to the Mall, then over past the Lincoln Memorial across the Memorial bridge. We were able to hop on the Mount Vernon trail from there and then back up the W+OD like I commute for work. Since Erin wanted to get to 55 miles for the day, we added the Bluemont loop in and went a little further into Vienna than we needed to before heading home. In total we went 53 miles, and including stops it was just over 5 hours. We capped it off with a mothers day BBQ that included ribs and lamburgers. All in all, not a bad day.
We metro-ed down to the starting point. The ride was supposed to start from 7:00-7:30, but since the first train doesn't leave until 7:00 on weekends we didn't get going until about 7:45. We had to book it a little since at some point they were going to unclose roads, but there were lots of other people who had done what we did and started a little late, so we weren't in any real danger. There was also a shorter "family ride" that started at 7:45, so we kind of got stuck with them right at the beginning, but we went around a lot of them and pretty soon they split off for the easier path.
The route started off in front of the Capitol, and took us up Pennsylvania avenue in front of the Whitehouse. From there we went up the Rock Creek Parkway, which winds along the creek into Northwest DC. We turned around right about where you get off for the National Zoo. Coming back we wound along roads past the Kennedy Center to the Roosevelt Bridge across the Potomac into Arlington.
From there we were directed up the George Washington Parkway which runs along the Potomac from Alexandria through the entirety of Arlington and up to where the Beltway crosses the Potomac in the North. There was a big hill we had to work our way up as the parkway gets higher and higher above the river leading up to Great Falls. Shortly after that crested we turned back and flew back down the hill. Next we went up some side roads to cross Rt 50, and made a spiraling loop around the Iwo Jima memorial. Then we cruised along the edge of Arlington Cemetary past the pentagon, to a rest stop that was at the Air Force Memorial. From there we doubled back to the Roosevelt bridge to cross to the finish line at McPherson Square. The whole thing reminded me a little of the N64 racing game "Crusin USA" where you race through famous US cities and fly by all the landmarks (which in the game are not at all correctly geographically placed).
It was pretty crowded the whole way, which meant we couldn't go quite as fast as we might have liked at times, but it didn't hold us back too much. And it was nice to not have to worry about traffic lights or cars. If we'd gotten an earlier start we might have been better off since we could have avoided the family riders, but oh well. You could definitely tell where the family routes were and weren't since the number of kids increased substantially. Most of the time though we were on at least 2 lanes of road or more that we had to ourselves, but sometimes that included both directions of bikers.
Still, as a one time (or perhaps once a year thing) it was worth the $40. I even forked over the extra 15 for a tshirt. It was cool to see how many people there were out there too (I don't know actual numbers, but at least in the 1000s, if not around 10,000). Drinks and bananas and chips at the finish line were nice too. There were two intermediate rest stops we didn't partake of, and I had brought a backpack with gatorade, a water bottle, some fruit, and some peanuts.
On our way up the GW parkway Erin saw the only crash of the day we witnessed as a few people wiped out. At the very end a little kid ate it too, but that hardly counts. We also passed a few people dragging boom box playing recordings of spin workouts which was amusing. There were lots of weird bikes around including a good number of Tandems, both of the two person and three person varieties), as well as some weird bikes with boxes on the front that I had never seen before. They were like wagons but a rider sat in the back and pedalled. They were weird. About 100 yards from the finish line, Erin shouted I'll race you and took off, cutting me off behind a crowd of kids. Since she thought I was stuck she slowed down though, which I capitalized on after dropping back to take the wide way around, and I zipped past her right at the end.
From the end of the ride Erin and I biked home. We went down to the Mall, then over past the Lincoln Memorial across the Memorial bridge. We were able to hop on the Mount Vernon trail from there and then back up the W+OD like I commute for work. Since Erin wanted to get to 55 miles for the day, we added the Bluemont loop in and went a little further into Vienna than we needed to before heading home. In total we went 53 miles, and including stops it was just over 5 hours. We capped it off with a mothers day BBQ that included ribs and lamburgers. All in all, not a bad day.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Rides this week 5/12/2012
Rain and baseball have been on opposite days, so I didn't get any rides in until today. Strangely enough I've only had baseball rainouts on one day this year though.
Saturday 5/12 - 22 miles - W&OD to Herndon and back with Erin!
Tomorrow is bike DC day. I think the target is 55 miles. That may require biking past home and then back, so we'll see how far we end up going.
Saturday 5/12 - 22 miles - W&OD to Herndon and back with Erin!
Tomorrow is bike DC day. I think the target is 55 miles. That may require biking past home and then back, so we'll see how far we end up going.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Fairfax County Parkway Trail
The Fairfax County Parkway is basically DC's second beltway in Virginia, running from Rt 7 in Herndon down I95 in Lorton, about 10 miles out from the real beltway. The FCP trail mostly runs along it but there are a few breaks. The trail runs for 30 miles, and was paved originally although it is not well maintained so you need to watch out for roots/pot holes. It's not all that nice a ride either, since even though it's called a "parkway" it's basically just a highway, and for the most part the trail is right alongside the road, not behind a barrier or even through a few trees.
Until recently, I thought the trail only ran from I66 and North, because the trail splits from the parkway there and you need to take the trail along side roads to get back to the trail on the other side. Apparently it ends abruptly again down in Burke and you're forced onto the actual roads to get around the mile break. I've never ridden the southern section, but its on my list of rides to do. This weekend was actually the first time I'd made it to the Northern end.
The very end in the South meets up with the Accotink trail, and the trail crosses the W&OD in Reston (the furthest North I've been). It's about 7 miles from my house to the trail, but the roads between the two are very bikable. I've made the loop with the W&OD and the FCP trail a couple times. I may try the loop with the Accotink at some point too.
Google Maps
Until recently, I thought the trail only ran from I66 and North, because the trail splits from the parkway there and you need to take the trail along side roads to get back to the trail on the other side. Apparently it ends abruptly again down in Burke and you're forced onto the actual roads to get around the mile break. I've never ridden the southern section, but its on my list of rides to do. This weekend was actually the first time I'd made it to the Northern end.
The very end in the South meets up with the Accotink trail, and the trail crosses the W&OD in Reston (the furthest North I've been). It's about 7 miles from my house to the trail, but the roads between the two are very bikable. I've made the loop with the W&OD and the FCP trail a couple times. I may try the loop with the Accotink at some point too.
Google Maps
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Rides this Week - 5/5/12
42 miles on Sunday in 3:15. Not bad at all. Then 4 days of baseball. And today was the first time I've ever made it to the end of the Fairfax County Parkway Trail.
Sunday 4/29 - 42 miles - Home to W&OD MM 35. Back to Reston (to get my car)
Friday 5/4 - 16 miles - To work
Friday 5/4 - 16 miles - From work
Saturday 5/5 - 32 miles - Home to Farifax County Parkway Trail to North end, return on W&OD
Jen will be here tomorrow, plus I have a game, so probably no ride tomorrow. I'm hoping to ride to work on Wednesday. Next weekend is Bike DC. My sister's coming to town and we're going to do the ride, then bike home. So that should be fun.
Sunday 4/29 - 42 miles - Home to W&OD MM 35. Back to Reston (to get my car)
Friday 5/4 - 16 miles - To work
Friday 5/4 - 16 miles - From work
Saturday 5/5 - 32 miles - Home to Farifax County Parkway Trail to North end, return on W&OD
Jen will be here tomorrow, plus I have a game, so probably no ride tomorrow. I'm hoping to ride to work on Wednesday. Next weekend is Bike DC. My sister's coming to town and we're going to do the ride, then bike home. So that should be fun.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Fucking 800 numbers
Does anyone have an easy way to record phone calls? Because I am sick and fucking tired of calling 800 numbers 3 different times and talking to 6 different people who give me 9 different stories, and having absolutely nothing except my word (which they don't believe) to say that this is what someone else just told me, and therefore please do this. It's bullshit. And they think if they give you the runaround long enough you'll give up. And every time you ask a question they put you on hold for 20 minutes.
Verizon is by far the worst offender, (I can't tell you how much of a pain in the ass it was to move because they screwed things up again and again and again) but it's Bank of America who's pissed me off today. A little while back I called them about a mistaken late fee on my April mortgage payment. The lady said pay it, we'll waive it, and it will get deducted from next month's payment. This didn't seem like a great idea, but after confirming it a few times very specifically I went ahead and did it. When it didn't get deducted this month, I called back today, and they tell me they waived a late fee for May, you can pay however late you want this month. I told them they were idiots, it was for last month, and you need to refund me what I payed, and they say well now that you've payed it we can't refund it, but if you had told us at the time we could have waived it for April right then on the phone.
I had a name (Kelly) and extension (4064) for the lady I talked to the first time, but there was never an opportunity to enter an extension, and when I tried to say can I talk to her again they said no, you're auto assigned. So why the hell did she give me that info and tell me to call her back to verify it got waived?
In the end I bitched enough that they got me to the right person and it was taken care of, so that's something. And it only took about 50 minutes. Verizon I would probably still be on the phone tomorrow trying to get it sorted out.
I just feel like if I could record the calls easily I could confirm that I wasn't making this stuff (which is a possibility) and plus they would make for great blog posts or news stories or something about how terrible this entire process is.
Ok, I'm done venting.
Verizon is by far the worst offender, (I can't tell you how much of a pain in the ass it was to move because they screwed things up again and again and again) but it's Bank of America who's pissed me off today. A little while back I called them about a mistaken late fee on my April mortgage payment. The lady said pay it, we'll waive it, and it will get deducted from next month's payment. This didn't seem like a great idea, but after confirming it a few times very specifically I went ahead and did it. When it didn't get deducted this month, I called back today, and they tell me they waived a late fee for May, you can pay however late you want this month. I told them they were idiots, it was for last month, and you need to refund me what I payed, and they say well now that you've payed it we can't refund it, but if you had told us at the time we could have waived it for April right then on the phone.
I had a name (Kelly) and extension (4064) for the lady I talked to the first time, but there was never an opportunity to enter an extension, and when I tried to say can I talk to her again they said no, you're auto assigned. So why the hell did she give me that info and tell me to call her back to verify it got waived?
In the end I bitched enough that they got me to the right person and it was taken care of, so that's something. And it only took about 50 minutes. Verizon I would probably still be on the phone tomorrow trying to get it sorted out.
I just feel like if I could record the calls easily I could confirm that I wasn't making this stuff (which is a possibility) and plus they would make for great blog posts or news stories or something about how terrible this entire process is.
Ok, I'm done venting.
Video Game Reviews
I finished up Mirror's Edge last week, so I think I'm going to make that my first VG review. To start thinking about how I wanted to write a review, I looked over a few different review sites and decided that sites that gave ratings in individual categories were the most useful. It's tough to split things out though because games come in such completely different types/styles. How do you compare mario to Starcraft? Halo to Warioware? In many cases, the only thing two video games will have in common is that it shows up on your TV.
In thinking through what was important, I decided to split my rating into 6 categories, so when I review a game I'll give an overall rating, along with a rating in each of the 6. Also, since numeric ratings of subjective things are entirely too misleading, I'll be using an A through F scale (with no E). Haven't decided on whether I'll use +/-s to go with them. My 6 categories are -
Gameplay
Graphics
Story
Music/Sound
Replay
Multiplayer
The overall score will be independent of any of the category scores as opposed to an average or anything like that, since there can be great games that get bad scores in individual categories. In addition, depending on the game, I will have a few other things that I won't rate A-F, but will have a quick summary of, such as depth, play time, or unlockables. These are things that a grade doesn't make sense for but are things to knowing what type of game it is.
Here's what each category will rate -
Gameplay: Gameplay covers things like controls, game mechanics, game speed, and difficulty/learning curve. In my opinion, by far the most important category. A game with poor gameplay is not likely to score high, even with A's in every other category. Gameplay is what makes games fun.
Graphics: Pretty obvious here. Realistic graphics are usually a plus, but games with artistic styles (even if 2d) can score well too. Detail is very important here, and it will depend a lot on what works best with the game/what the designers were going for. Graphics are what make a game engrossing and help you forget that you're not in whatever world you're playing in.
Story: A good video game story has a lot of the same qualities as a good book or movie. The story rating will cover the plot, character development, originality, and engagment. The story is what pulls you in and keeps you playing until the end.
Music/Sound: The games with the best music/sound are games where you don't even notice it. But terrible voice acting or poorly placed music can really detract from a game. While probably the least important category, music and sound can be what make a good game great. Music is what builds the atmosphere and pulls in your emotion.
Replay: As someone who still has every game I've ever owned (less some of what's been stolen/destroyed, and I've even recovered many of those), it's important to me for a game to be worth playing twice. Or three times. Or hundreds of times. I think it's also telling if by the end of a game you never want to play it again. Replay value is what keeps you coming back again and again.
Multiplayer: Here I'm just rating a game based on its overall multiplayer experience, including things like competition level, speed/lag, and ease of getting in/out of games. Some games are made for multiplayer, others just tack it on. Games that are single player will get an N/A here, and that's not a bad thing either. A good multiplayer is what keeps a game fresh.
In thinking through what was important, I decided to split my rating into 6 categories, so when I review a game I'll give an overall rating, along with a rating in each of the 6. Also, since numeric ratings of subjective things are entirely too misleading, I'll be using an A through F scale (with no E). Haven't decided on whether I'll use +/-s to go with them. My 6 categories are -
Gameplay
Graphics
Story
Music/Sound
Replay
Multiplayer
The overall score will be independent of any of the category scores as opposed to an average or anything like that, since there can be great games that get bad scores in individual categories. In addition, depending on the game, I will have a few other things that I won't rate A-F, but will have a quick summary of, such as depth, play time, or unlockables. These are things that a grade doesn't make sense for but are things to knowing what type of game it is.
Here's what each category will rate -
Gameplay: Gameplay covers things like controls, game mechanics, game speed, and difficulty/learning curve. In my opinion, by far the most important category. A game with poor gameplay is not likely to score high, even with A's in every other category. Gameplay is what makes games fun.
Graphics: Pretty obvious here. Realistic graphics are usually a plus, but games with artistic styles (even if 2d) can score well too. Detail is very important here, and it will depend a lot on what works best with the game/what the designers were going for. Graphics are what make a game engrossing and help you forget that you're not in whatever world you're playing in.
Story: A good video game story has a lot of the same qualities as a good book or movie. The story rating will cover the plot, character development, originality, and engagment. The story is what pulls you in and keeps you playing until the end.
Music/Sound: The games with the best music/sound are games where you don't even notice it. But terrible voice acting or poorly placed music can really detract from a game. While probably the least important category, music and sound can be what make a good game great. Music is what builds the atmosphere and pulls in your emotion.
Replay: As someone who still has every game I've ever owned (less some of what's been stolen/destroyed, and I've even recovered many of those), it's important to me for a game to be worth playing twice. Or three times. Or hundreds of times. I think it's also telling if by the end of a game you never want to play it again. Replay value is what keeps you coming back again and again.
Multiplayer: Here I'm just rating a game based on its overall multiplayer experience, including things like competition level, speed/lag, and ease of getting in/out of games. Some games are made for multiplayer, others just tack it on. Games that are single player will get an N/A here, and that's not a bad thing either. A good multiplayer is what keeps a game fresh.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Mount Vernon Trail
My second favorite trail in Northern Virginia, the Mount Vernon trail runs just over 17 miles along the Potomac from Mount Vernon to Rosslyn. Aside from when it bends around national airport, and for a short stretch through the streets of Alexandria, the entire trail is right on the water and gives some great views of the monuments and other sites across the river. The trail is fully paved, and since it follows the river it is very level except for a short but steep 100' descent/climb at the Mount Vernon end. I guess that 100' is what constitutes "Mount" Vernon. Go East Coast.
There's a lot of history along this trail, not only from the views of DC, but also as it goes around Arlington Cemetary, past the Pentagon, through historical Old Town Alexandria, and ends at George Washington's home. As such, particularly from Rosslyn to the airport (where it is directly across from DC) the trail can be crowded (often with tourists), but usually you can work your way around people to stay at a reasonable pace. I do not however recommend biking this section of the trail during the Cherry Blossom Festival, as it ends up pretty much packed with pedestrians who aren't paying any attention to anything.
I've biked the entirety of the Mount Vernon trail several times, and gone through shorter sections several more either as a shorter ride or connecting to other trails. From the Mount Vernon trail, there are paths up to and across all of the bridges across the Potomac from the Key Bridge in Rosslyn down to the Wilson bridge in Alexandria. The bridges connect to numerous trails in both DC and Maryland. In Virginia, the end of the Mount Vernon trail in Rosslyn connects to the end of the Custis trail. The Four Mile Run Trail ends at the Mount Vernon trail in Crystal City, and connects up to the end of the W&OD in Shirlington. All in all, it's a nice, easy ride with convenient access from many other trails.
Google Maps
There's a lot of history along this trail, not only from the views of DC, but also as it goes around Arlington Cemetary, past the Pentagon, through historical Old Town Alexandria, and ends at George Washington's home. As such, particularly from Rosslyn to the airport (where it is directly across from DC) the trail can be crowded (often with tourists), but usually you can work your way around people to stay at a reasonable pace. I do not however recommend biking this section of the trail during the Cherry Blossom Festival, as it ends up pretty much packed with pedestrians who aren't paying any attention to anything.
I've biked the entirety of the Mount Vernon trail several times, and gone through shorter sections several more either as a shorter ride or connecting to other trails. From the Mount Vernon trail, there are paths up to and across all of the bridges across the Potomac from the Key Bridge in Rosslyn down to the Wilson bridge in Alexandria. The bridges connect to numerous trails in both DC and Maryland. In Virginia, the end of the Mount Vernon trail in Rosslyn connects to the end of the Custis trail. The Four Mile Run Trail ends at the Mount Vernon trail in Crystal City, and connects up to the end of the W&OD in Shirlington. All in all, it's a nice, easy ride with convenient access from many other trails.
Google Maps
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Rides this week 4/28/12
So I didn't make it on any rides this week. Sunday, Monday, and Thursday rain kept me off the trail. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday baseball kept me on the field. Since Thursday I couldn't ride, I went to the gym, and today I'm just sore from my lift. I might try to go out a little bit later, but there's a wine festival we're going to this afternoon (from the people who put on bbbbq), so that might not happen.
So instead, rides this week will turn into crazy baseball things that happened this week.
So instead, rides this week will turn into crazy baseball things that happened this week.
- In my game Tuesday, with runners on first and third (R1 and R3), the pitcher tried to fake-pick off the guy at third to then turn and throw to first (to catch the guy who was more likely stealing (you can't fake a throw to first from the mound, but once you've faked to third you can do whatever)). He had R3 if he threw the ball, but instead he kept with his original plan and threw to first, catching R1 off the base. There was a short first rundown between 1st and 2nd with the fielders watching to make sure R3 didn't try to score, but before they could get R1 out, R3 took off. They threw home, and got R3 in a second rundown between home and 3rd. This one lasted a little while (probably 3 back and forths) but they did ultimately get R3 out. By this time, R1 was past second, and for whatever inexplicable reason, was off the bag far enough that as soon as R3 was out, the fielders through the ball to second and caught R1 in a third rundown between 2nd and 3rd. This time the guy did not last long, and tried to run around the fielder on his first time back to 2nd, and was tagged out. So three rundowns between all three sets of bases that resulted in 2 outs.
- In my game Wednesday, a kid stealing second managed to get there just in time for a close play but was safe. He proceded to stand up off the bag to dust himself off without calling time, and was tagged out. A couple innings later the same kid managed to get picked off of third by the catcher after a pitch. Some people are just not good at running the bases.
- In my game last night, a batter fouled a ball off straight at one of the light poles. It hit a light square on, shattered the glass, which proceded to rain down on the fans below. Since it was all over the field too, we had to stop and try to shovel the pieces off the field. I don't think anyone except the baseball was hurt, but the ball was totally shredded and had to be put down.
Friday, April 27, 2012
The Paper Guy
Holy crap. While walking the dog this morning I experienced the paper guy. I had no idea. Despite what the 8-bit days of video gaming taught us, the paper guy is not a 10 year old kid on a bicycle dodging all manner of hazards. In my neighborhood, the paper guy is a large 50 year old guy in a funky mini-minivan creating all manner of hazards.
I was up a little early this morning, so at 6:15 I took the dog for her morning walk. On our way over to the park, I saw this car like thing careening around our small, tight, neighborhood roads. It was a little weird, but we were on the sidewalk so I just tightened up on Kina's leash and watched as it came to careen past us. I was not expecting the plastic bag projectile that shot out the window and passed a few inches in front of and over my head. It made me jump back, and I almost cursed at the guy, but the paper landed literally leaning against the center of the door of its intended house. A few houses down three more papers flew out of the window in quick succession at three consecutive town houses, all hitting their exact marks. He flew around the corner and several more shot off towards houses on that side.
About as I came up on the corner he'd just gone around, the guy then flew back around the circle and stopped his car in the same corner. The car was an old early-90s thing that looked like a mini-van in terms of height and boxiness, but only would have seated 4-5 people. The driver's door flew open and a tall, fat guy with all white hair jumped out of the car carrying 3 papers. He was probably only in his late 40s/early 50s, but the years had worn on him quite a bit. In the car, newspapers were piled all over the dashboard blocking half the windshield. They were all over the passenger seat as well. Kina and I were turning away from the street to head into the park, and without a word of warning, the guy practically ran us over. He had to deliver papers to a few houses that aren't really on the road, and the end unit's door faces away from the road entirely so he has to get around the block. So he bulled by us to toss the papers at the houses, then jogged back to the car, and raced off.
The whole thing was a little surreal. Kina looked about as confused as I felt. Fortunately she didn't go after any of the flying papers. I don't know if this is a normal day for him, but in addition to being bizzare his efficiency was kind of impressive.
I was up a little early this morning, so at 6:15 I took the dog for her morning walk. On our way over to the park, I saw this car like thing careening around our small, tight, neighborhood roads. It was a little weird, but we were on the sidewalk so I just tightened up on Kina's leash and watched as it came to careen past us. I was not expecting the plastic bag projectile that shot out the window and passed a few inches in front of and over my head. It made me jump back, and I almost cursed at the guy, but the paper landed literally leaning against the center of the door of its intended house. A few houses down three more papers flew out of the window in quick succession at three consecutive town houses, all hitting their exact marks. He flew around the corner and several more shot off towards houses on that side.
About as I came up on the corner he'd just gone around, the guy then flew back around the circle and stopped his car in the same corner. The car was an old early-90s thing that looked like a mini-van in terms of height and boxiness, but only would have seated 4-5 people. The driver's door flew open and a tall, fat guy with all white hair jumped out of the car carrying 3 papers. He was probably only in his late 40s/early 50s, but the years had worn on him quite a bit. In the car, newspapers were piled all over the dashboard blocking half the windshield. They were all over the passenger seat as well. Kina and I were turning away from the street to head into the park, and without a word of warning, the guy practically ran us over. He had to deliver papers to a few houses that aren't really on the road, and the end unit's door faces away from the road entirely so he has to get around the block. So he bulled by us to toss the papers at the houses, then jogged back to the car, and raced off.
The whole thing was a little surreal. Kina looked about as confused as I felt. Fortunately she didn't go after any of the flying papers. I don't know if this is a normal day for him, but in addition to being bizzare his efficiency was kind of impressive.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Lost in the Woods
We've had Kina for almost a week now, and she's been settling in well. I think she's getting used to the daily routine, she doesn't seem to mind too terribly being home alone much of the day. Even Onyx is coming around, although he's still got a ways to go.
In walking her every morning I've started to explore Nottaway park a little more. In addition to the several paved/gravel trails that meander through the park, there are a number of narrow dirt pathways that wander off into the wooded areas. A couple of them are well enough walked that they can be easily followed in and out of the woods.
This morning though I decided to try a path that was just behind our house. It was definitely a path at first, but as we got further and further into the trees, the path narrowed, became overgrown, and ultimately just kind of disappeared. By the time I decided that this wasn't going to continue out of the trees, when I turned around I could barely tell what way I had come. Kina seemed confused too, and managed to wrap her leash around several different trees/vines
Since the forest is really not that big (I don't think you could actually get lost in it) I decided to head towards the closest houses that you could just barely make out through the trees and cut our walk a little short. On my way though, I came across the foundation of an old, long since gone building. It had probably been a house. Everything that was left was concrete. There was a step up to what would have been the front door, and along the side there were several steps down into the foundation. A few feet away there was a metal box that looked like it might have been an electrical box once.
Kina tried to go down the stairs into the foundation, but I pulled her back since I had no idea what might be down there. She tried to jump straight back up to ground level, but didn't quite make it. After a short but frantic scampering, she fell back in and half rolled down a stair or two. Silly puppy.
It was really strange to come across a ruins in what was basically my back yard. I think that's unusual in most of America, let alone in an urban area less than a half mile from a metro stop. Usually land or buildings like that are either sold and built over, or declared historic and highly advertised. I don't have a clue what would have been there, or when. Nottaway has been a forested area since as long as I can remember. I would be surprised if the park wasn't there when they built our townhouse complex in the early 80s. I don't think any roads would have gone in that far, but perhaps there was a driveway of some kind that led up to it. There was no sign of any wood or other building material aside from the foundation, so whatever it was made of was either hauled off or has had time to rot.
Anyways, I'll have to go back to explore without the dog at some point (and also with long pants so my legs don't get cut up again). Perhaps with a little investigative work I can solve the mystery.
In walking her every morning I've started to explore Nottaway park a little more. In addition to the several paved/gravel trails that meander through the park, there are a number of narrow dirt pathways that wander off into the wooded areas. A couple of them are well enough walked that they can be easily followed in and out of the woods.
This morning though I decided to try a path that was just behind our house. It was definitely a path at first, but as we got further and further into the trees, the path narrowed, became overgrown, and ultimately just kind of disappeared. By the time I decided that this wasn't going to continue out of the trees, when I turned around I could barely tell what way I had come. Kina seemed confused too, and managed to wrap her leash around several different trees/vines
Since the forest is really not that big (I don't think you could actually get lost in it) I decided to head towards the closest houses that you could just barely make out through the trees and cut our walk a little short. On my way though, I came across the foundation of an old, long since gone building. It had probably been a house. Everything that was left was concrete. There was a step up to what would have been the front door, and along the side there were several steps down into the foundation. A few feet away there was a metal box that looked like it might have been an electrical box once.
Kina tried to go down the stairs into the foundation, but I pulled her back since I had no idea what might be down there. She tried to jump straight back up to ground level, but didn't quite make it. After a short but frantic scampering, she fell back in and half rolled down a stair or two. Silly puppy.
It was really strange to come across a ruins in what was basically my back yard. I think that's unusual in most of America, let alone in an urban area less than a half mile from a metro stop. Usually land or buildings like that are either sold and built over, or declared historic and highly advertised. I don't have a clue what would have been there, or when. Nottaway has been a forested area since as long as I can remember. I would be surprised if the park wasn't there when they built our townhouse complex in the early 80s. I don't think any roads would have gone in that far, but perhaps there was a driveway of some kind that led up to it. There was no sign of any wood or other building material aside from the foundation, so whatever it was made of was either hauled off or has had time to rot.
Anyways, I'll have to go back to explore without the dog at some point (and also with long pants so my legs don't get cut up again). Perhaps with a little investigative work I can solve the mystery.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Lockout Review
Quick Summary - In 2070 the president's daughter is visiting a brand new space station prison when the prisoners riot and take over the station, taking her and a number of the crew hostage. The president decides to send in a single man to infiltrate, break her out, and get her to the escape pod (yes, there's an escape pod).
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592525/
Aside from that I'm not sure how to review this movie since the plot does not merit re-mentioning, there's nothing deep enough to analyze for more than about 5 seconds, and the only parts that are even worth complaining about all include spoilers. So instead I will just give a list of what made this movie awesome:
*Disclaimer: I tend to enjoy some terrible movies**.
**Re-disclaimer: I also tend to enjoy awesome movies. Like GI Joe.
Quick Review - Definitely enjoyable*
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1592525/
This movie probably could have been terrible if they had even tried to take themselves seriously. Almost immediately though they do away with the premise that any of this would be not-ridiculous. What's left is an enjoyable action/comedy with some Shoot 'em up style sci-fi shenanigans.
Aside from that I'm not sure how to review this movie since the plot does not merit re-mentioning, there's nothing deep enough to analyze for more than about 5 seconds, and the only parts that are even worth complaining about all include spoilers. So instead I will just give a list of what made this movie awesome:
- A speeder-bike/futuristic-hovercraft-helicopter type thing chase with lots of explosions.
- Voice activated mines (when you catch one don't say "Oh Shit")
- Thinking you escaped into an impregnable holding cell only to find it is slowly filling with nitrogen that will kill you
- Finding out that the impregnable holding cell can be impregnated from both the front and the rear without too much effort
- The two Irish brother villains, one conniving, one insane
- A high orbit space battle between a heavily armed space station with automatic defense turrets and a bunch of military fighter ships
- Maggie Grace (who's both hot and apparently good at getting kidnapped)
- Airlock executions (which never get old)
- The president gets removed from office by the head of the secret service
- The prison literally crashes into the international space station out of nowhere
- Guy Pearce being an asshole all movie
- Zombie-like hordes of prisoners chasing people around the station and getting thwarted by blast doors which conveniently open/close at only the right times
- Witty dialogue all movie long (its kind of what made the movie)
*Disclaimer: I tend to enjoy some terrible movies**.
**Re-disclaimer: I also tend to enjoy awesome movies. Like GI Joe.
Monday, April 23, 2012
W&OD
I figured I'd start my trail descriptions with the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) trail, since it is far and away the trail I have spent the most time on over the course of my life.
The W&OD regional park is both Virginia's longest and skinniest park. It runs for 45 miles of paved trail and is never more than 100 ft wide. It starts in Shirlington, just a few miles from downtown DC, and ends in Purceville, out in rural Loudon County. There's ~ 500' of elevation change in the first 12 miles out of Shirlington as you cross the fall line, then it drops 100' over the next few miles before going in to a very slow, steady incline the remaining 30 miles. The trail was converted from an old railroad line that used to bring coal from the mountains down to the city, so even when there are elevation changes it's low grades, and the trail is very straight with hardly any winding.
Most of the trail is in enough park that at worst you only see the backs of houses, but at a few points it runs along side a highway or through a more urban area. The trail is well maintained and is heavily utilized year-round unless there's snow. For at least most of the first 30 miles, there are somewhat regular water fountains along the trail.
I've only ever been to the far end of the trail once. Last year I drove my bike out to Purceville and rode the full 45 miles into Shirlington. Caitlin picked me up there and we went back to pick up my car. It's nice out there, and there's a lot less people on the trail. I started from that direction since it's down hill going west to east. At some point this year I'm planning to tackle it going the other way. Eventually, (and this may never happen) I would like to try to do the full trail round trip.
The W&OD has always been near and dear to me because aside from my time in California I have always lived within about 5 miles of it. The house I grew up in was less than a mile from mile marker (MM) 3.5. My first apartment after college was about 3 miles from MM 7. My current house is 2 miles from MM 11.5. It's the trail I used to always ride as a kid, both alone and with family. Weekend mornings my dad, sister, and I regularly used to bike the W&OD out to Falls Church for brunch at Big Boy. My mom would drive and we'd all ride back in the car. Today I use it both to get to work and whenever I'm looking for a close, easy ride.
Friends of the W&OD
Google Maps
The W&OD regional park is both Virginia's longest and skinniest park. It runs for 45 miles of paved trail and is never more than 100 ft wide. It starts in Shirlington, just a few miles from downtown DC, and ends in Purceville, out in rural Loudon County. There's ~ 500' of elevation change in the first 12 miles out of Shirlington as you cross the fall line, then it drops 100' over the next few miles before going in to a very slow, steady incline the remaining 30 miles. The trail was converted from an old railroad line that used to bring coal from the mountains down to the city, so even when there are elevation changes it's low grades, and the trail is very straight with hardly any winding.
Most of the trail is in enough park that at worst you only see the backs of houses, but at a few points it runs along side a highway or through a more urban area. The trail is well maintained and is heavily utilized year-round unless there's snow. For at least most of the first 30 miles, there are somewhat regular water fountains along the trail.
I've only ever been to the far end of the trail once. Last year I drove my bike out to Purceville and rode the full 45 miles into Shirlington. Caitlin picked me up there and we went back to pick up my car. It's nice out there, and there's a lot less people on the trail. I started from that direction since it's down hill going west to east. At some point this year I'm planning to tackle it going the other way. Eventually, (and this may never happen) I would like to try to do the full trail round trip.
The W&OD has always been near and dear to me because aside from my time in California I have always lived within about 5 miles of it. The house I grew up in was less than a mile from mile marker (MM) 3.5. My first apartment after college was about 3 miles from MM 7. My current house is 2 miles from MM 11.5. It's the trail I used to always ride as a kid, both alone and with family. Weekend mornings my dad, sister, and I regularly used to bike the W&OD out to Falls Church for brunch at Big Boy. My mom would drive and we'd all ride back in the car. Today I use it both to get to work and whenever I'm looking for a close, easy ride.
Friends of the W&OD
Google Maps
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Rides this week 4/21/2012
Had a great ride Sunday, where I once again got lost at the end of the Accotink (google maps mislead me again). I got further this time before I had to turn back to see the ladies who were getting home from their trip. The ride wiped me out though so I kinda turned into a potato (sorry Danielle). Also, boo rain on Wednesday so I couldn't bike to work.
Sunday 4/15 - 30 miles - Accotink down to the Fairfax County Parkway
Thursday 4/19 - 21 miles - W&OD to Herndon
Saturday 4/21 - 28 miles - W&OD past Herndon to Sterling
Supposed to be a lot of rain tomorrow and Monday, but hopefully I can ride to work Wednesday and or Thursday.
In other news, the next unusual wildlife sighting was a rafter of turkeys. They weren't chilling on the path, like the fox, deer, and beaver but just a little ways off of it. They looked lean and mean though. Wild turkeys are supposed to be pretty vicious.
Sunday 4/15 - 30 miles - Accotink down to the Fairfax County Parkway
Thursday 4/19 - 21 miles - W&OD to Herndon
Saturday 4/21 - 28 miles - W&OD past Herndon to Sterling
Supposed to be a lot of rain tomorrow and Monday, but hopefully I can ride to work Wednesday and or Thursday.
In other news, the next unusual wildlife sighting was a rafter of turkeys. They weren't chilling on the path, like the fox, deer, and beaver but just a little ways off of it. They looked lean and mean though. Wild turkeys are supposed to be pretty vicious.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Paying to Bike
So what's the deal with paying people to either run somewhere or ride your bike? I recently saw an add for an organized ride, and I was surprised to see that it cost $30 to sign up. They had 10, 20, and 50 mile routes, but they were all on the W&OD only, so it was $30 to ride up a section of the public bike trail that I ride all the time. There may have been a T-shirt involved, but that's it as far as I can tell. What the heck's the $$ for? I looked around a little and realized that these things happen all the time, and that in fact $30 was on the cheaper end. The only organized ride I've done before was bike to work day which was free and more of a lets get as many people to sign up as we can type of event, since everyone was biking to and from different places.
A few events claimed themselves in the name of charity, others were on routes that required road closures and such, so perhaps I can understand those, but all in all they seem like steep prices for something I can just go out and do whenever I want. My sister has signed up for a couple rides in New York, and invited me up for one, but it's the weekend of the BBBBQ festival so I can't go. Instead she's going to come down here in May and we're going to do Bike DC - http://www.bikedc.net/ - for $40 each. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but it'll be fun to do a ride with her, and it'll be on closed roads that I couldn't otherwise ride.
How much do people pay for running places? Marathons, half marathons, 10Ks, and the like? Why don't you just run 26 miles on your own? What happens if you go to the place and just run with people without signing up/paying? The event I mentioned at the start of this was Saturday morning, so I may try to just go see what its like up there.
Anyways, maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but I don't know that I see the point of paying to do things I can do for free.
A few events claimed themselves in the name of charity, others were on routes that required road closures and such, so perhaps I can understand those, but all in all they seem like steep prices for something I can just go out and do whenever I want. My sister has signed up for a couple rides in New York, and invited me up for one, but it's the weekend of the BBBBQ festival so I can't go. Instead she's going to come down here in May and we're going to do Bike DC - http://www.bikedc.net/ - for $40 each. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but it'll be fun to do a ride with her, and it'll be on closed roads that I couldn't otherwise ride.
How much do people pay for running places? Marathons, half marathons, 10Ks, and the like? Why don't you just run 26 miles on your own? What happens if you go to the place and just run with people without signing up/paying? The event I mentioned at the start of this was Saturday morning, so I may try to just go see what its like up there.
Anyways, maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but I don't know that I see the point of paying to do things I can do for free.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Rocking it
No single long post today, but a bunch of little ones packed together.
First off, I realized my hypothesized equation yesterday was wrong. It didn't account for distance to average out my speed relative to elevation, and as it was written, if i climbed high enough i would eventually have had a negative speed. I have adjusted accordingly so that it makes a little more sense and the limits work out.
S = (12*D - .06*E - .01*G)/D
S = speed (mph)
D = distance (miles)
E = elevation change (feet)
G = gain (feet)
Without cluttering that too much, the first constant is mph, the 2nd and 3rd are mph*miles/ft.
Second, we've decided to adopt Kina and we should be bringing her home permanently on Friday. Caitlin wrote a good post about how the overnight with her went, and there's a cute picture of her on our floor with lightning over her head. http://my-geeker-joy.blogspot.com/2012/04/dog-adoption-part-2.html
Third, I had another great game last night on a gorgeous night. After Herndon allowed only 16 batters in the first 5 innings, Chantilly scored one in the 6th to tie it 1-1. Chantilly managed to bring in 2 more in the top of the 7th and won 3-1. Both pitchers threw complete games, and in fact there were no substitutions by either team, which I don't think I've ever seen before in a complete 7-inning High School game. Game time was 1:25. This made up for my game Monday where a home team 2-4 lead going into the 7th turned into an 18-4 loss. The 16 run inning took about 50 minutes and turned a decent game into an ugly one.
Lastly, this was too good to not repost -
http://news.menshealth.com/get-promotion-with-beard/2012/03/11/
As if I wasn't intimidating enough. Also, it certainly does make you look older.
First off, I realized my hypothesized equation yesterday was wrong. It didn't account for distance to average out my speed relative to elevation, and as it was written, if i climbed high enough i would eventually have had a negative speed. I have adjusted accordingly so that it makes a little more sense and the limits work out.
S = (12*D - .06*E - .01*G)/D
S = speed (mph)
D = distance (miles)
E = elevation change (feet)
G = gain (feet)
Without cluttering that too much, the first constant is mph, the 2nd and 3rd are mph*miles/ft.
Second, we've decided to adopt Kina and we should be bringing her home permanently on Friday. Caitlin wrote a good post about how the overnight with her went, and there's a cute picture of her on our floor with lightning over her head. http://my-geeker-joy.blogspot.com/2012/04/dog-adoption-part-2.html
Third, I had another great game last night on a gorgeous night. After Herndon allowed only 16 batters in the first 5 innings, Chantilly scored one in the 6th to tie it 1-1. Chantilly managed to bring in 2 more in the top of the 7th and won 3-1. Both pitchers threw complete games, and in fact there were no substitutions by either team, which I don't think I've ever seen before in a complete 7-inning High School game. Game time was 1:25. This made up for my game Monday where a home team 2-4 lead going into the 7th turned into an 18-4 loss. The 16 run inning took about 50 minutes and turned a decent game into an ugly one.
Lastly, this was too good to not repost -
http://news.menshealth.com/get-promotion-with-beard/2012/03/11/
As if I wasn't intimidating enough. Also, it certainly does make you look older.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Map My Ride
I recently started using the Map My Ride app on my phone. Basically you turn it on when you start a ride, and it tracks your GPS until you turn it off. At the end, it breaks your ride down and gives you lots of stats such as distance, time, speed, and calories, plus it shows you a map of your ride and elevation changes by distance. They've got a bunch of other fitness planning stuff (like diets and things) that I don't use. It's a pretty cool little app, and has helped me better track my rides and pace. I think my favorite piece is the elevation map, since thats something I wouldn't be able to easily see with google maps and a clock. What's also cool is that it then saves all your workouts and keeps a log, so you can go back and see how you did before. While I'm less concerned about my previous pace, I like that I can map out the trails I take regularly and see how all over Northern Virginia I really get.
For the joggers there's an equivalent Map My Jog app or you can get either and just change it back and forth from running to biking. You can then also have friends and see each other's stats and workouts (if you let it, of course there are privacy settings). If anyone else is on there and wants to friend me, I am username Kevinywev in Vienna, VA.
Also, I mentioned this in the comments on my rides this week post, but I'm going to start doing some posts about the trails I ride a lot. If you friend me you can see some of the trails that way, or I may try to make a google map and link it.
The other project I might undertake soon is to plot how fast I go as a function of the variables the app gives me - Horizontal distance, Vertical gain (all the up, without subtracting any down), and Vertical change (starting elevation - ending elevation). I still need some more data points before I can get some effective numbers, but I'm interested to see what I get. It'll also be fun to see how trail types impact things (paved vs not, lots of road crossings vs continuous). This might not be as obvious from the app but once enough data is there its only a matter of analyzing it. . .
My current hypothesis is that S = (12mph-0.005mph/ft*E-0.001mph/ft*G)
S=speed
E=elevation difference (initial-final, in feet)
G=gain (total up not counting any down, in feet)
In other news, I have apparently not done enough math/science of late, because coming up with that equation took me wayyyy longer than it should have.
For the joggers there's an equivalent Map My Jog app or you can get either and just change it back and forth from running to biking. You can then also have friends and see each other's stats and workouts (if you let it, of course there are privacy settings). If anyone else is on there and wants to friend me, I am username Kevinywev in Vienna, VA.
Also, I mentioned this in the comments on my rides this week post, but I'm going to start doing some posts about the trails I ride a lot. If you friend me you can see some of the trails that way, or I may try to make a google map and link it.
The other project I might undertake soon is to plot how fast I go as a function of the variables the app gives me - Horizontal distance, Vertical gain (all the up, without subtracting any down), and Vertical change (starting elevation - ending elevation). I still need some more data points before I can get some effective numbers, but I'm interested to see what I get. It'll also be fun to see how trail types impact things (paved vs not, lots of road crossings vs continuous). This might not be as obvious from the app but once enough data is there its only a matter of analyzing it. . .
My current hypothesis is that S = (12mph-0.005mph/ft*E-0.001mph/ft*G)
S=speed
E=elevation difference (initial-final, in feet)
G=gain (total up not counting any down, in feet)
In other news, I have apparently not done enough math/science of late, because coming up with that equation took me wayyyy longer than it should have.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Post-College Biking
After college I didn't have a bike for almost a year. When my mom had moved out of the house I grew up in we had gotten rid of our older bikes since there was nowhere to store them in her new condo. I ended up buying a bike in February just before moving out in April. It was a solid Trek mountain bike that cost me close to 400. That bike helped me get back into more serious riding instead of the just biking to get places I had done in college. It lasted me a year and a half until I managed to more-or-less total it.
I was biking to work at the time down an access road along a major road in front of a shopping center. Everyone was stopped at an intersection waiting for traffic to slow on the main road so that they could turn on to it. I had slowed down but didn't stop at the stop sign and didn't see a car that was hiding behind an SUV that was waiting. The car pulled into the intersection and right in front of me, and I T-boned the car. I had almost managed to stop myself in time but not quite, so I didn't hit him all that hard. Because I was going slow I had managed to turn myself and brace somewhat for the impact. I bounced backwards off my bike, and landed on my padded backpack full of clothes, and my helmet kept my head from taking a hit.
The guys car had some seriouis dents/scrapes along both side doors. I walked away pretty much unscathed, but my front wheel was slightly bent and the handle bars were twisted. While I still have the bike and can still ride it, it looks off and doesn't ride all that well, so I don't fully trust it. All things considered I was pretty lucky. The driver was freaked out, and even though in court it likely would have come down to my fault for running the stop sign, he was happy to not exchange info and get out of there. Since I was fine I figured that worked.
The following spring I bought another bike, this time a road bike. Unlike my current bike, this was definitely not a mountain bike - it had a thin road tire, no shocks, and all in all was a little less rugged, but not so much so that I couldn't take it on grass or other hard-but-not-paved surfaces. I was really liking that bike and going on some substantially longer rides in the 3 months or so I had it before it got stolen. I took it with me when I went to Alabama the first time for a month, and it ended up getting stolen out of my car in a 2-hour window outside my hotel in front of the busy pool on a Sunday afternoon. I was pretty bitter about that, and really all of alabama. That was a bad month that led to several more bad months that led me to leave that job. But since I was travelling and working so much I didn't really miss not having a bike until I bought the new one this year.
I was biking to work at the time down an access road along a major road in front of a shopping center. Everyone was stopped at an intersection waiting for traffic to slow on the main road so that they could turn on to it. I had slowed down but didn't stop at the stop sign and didn't see a car that was hiding behind an SUV that was waiting. The car pulled into the intersection and right in front of me, and I T-boned the car. I had almost managed to stop myself in time but not quite, so I didn't hit him all that hard. Because I was going slow I had managed to turn myself and brace somewhat for the impact. I bounced backwards off my bike, and landed on my padded backpack full of clothes, and my helmet kept my head from taking a hit.
The guys car had some seriouis dents/scrapes along both side doors. I walked away pretty much unscathed, but my front wheel was slightly bent and the handle bars were twisted. While I still have the bike and can still ride it, it looks off and doesn't ride all that well, so I don't fully trust it. All things considered I was pretty lucky. The driver was freaked out, and even though in court it likely would have come down to my fault for running the stop sign, he was happy to not exchange info and get out of there. Since I was fine I figured that worked.
The following spring I bought another bike, this time a road bike. Unlike my current bike, this was definitely not a mountain bike - it had a thin road tire, no shocks, and all in all was a little less rugged, but not so much so that I couldn't take it on grass or other hard-but-not-paved surfaces. I was really liking that bike and going on some substantially longer rides in the 3 months or so I had it before it got stolen. I took it with me when I went to Alabama the first time for a month, and it ended up getting stolen out of my car in a 2-hour window outside my hotel in front of the busy pool on a Sunday afternoon. I was pretty bitter about that, and really all of alabama. That was a bad month that led to several more bad months that led me to leave that job. But since I was travelling and working so much I didn't really miss not having a bike until I bought the new one this year.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Rides this week - 4/14/12
I had hoped to go for a long ride Sunday morning, but a minor hangover and a major but brief food poisoning from breakfast left me incapacitated for most of the day. Other than that due to a busy week I didn't get out as much as I would have liked, but I did get a few good rides in.
Wednesday 4/11 - 16 miles - W&OD to work
Wednesday 4/11 - 16 miles - W&OD from work
Friday 4/13 - 3 miles - safeway/the bank and back
Saturday 4/14 - 34 miles - Mount Vernon trail round trip
My baseball schedule is picking up next week too, so I'll have to maximize my weekend time.
Wednesday 4/11 - 16 miles - W&OD to work
Wednesday 4/11 - 16 miles - W&OD from work
Friday 4/13 - 3 miles - safeway/the bank and back
Saturday 4/14 - 34 miles - Mount Vernon trail round trip
My baseball schedule is picking up next week too, so I'll have to maximize my weekend time.
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Next Three Days Review
Quick Summary - Russel Crowe is a middle class man who's wife has been (he believes) wrongfully imprisoned for murder. When their last appeal fails, he decides to break her out of prison and run for it with her and their 6ish year old son.
Quick Review - Worth Watching
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1458175/
I don't remember this movie ever being in theaters, which is surprising given that it has Russel Crowe and Elizabeth Banks as leads along with smaller roles by Liam Neeson and several others I recognized. The first 15 minutes or so are of the family and how happy they are and then boom she gets arrested for murdering her boss. It then cuts to a few years later and they're losing their last appeal. It's made clear that the evidence is very condemning.
Most of the movie is then about how the hell someone who is not a criminal goes about breaking his wife out of jail. He doesn't have any friends that he's willing to turn to, nor any criminal contacts who he can think of to talk to. He's not particularly rich so he can't easily just buy his way through everything. He's incredibly nervous the couple times he tries to do even the most basic set ups for his plan that he might get in trouble for doing. It ends up being really suspenseful at times as he works to get her out. I can't say I could quite relate to it, but it made you think could I do this? How would I react in this situation?
There's also a little of did she or didn't she going on, and questions of would it be worth throwing your life away to be with the woman you love, even if she was a murderer. Several times he gets asked if its all worth the risk (or probability) that both he and his wife will end up in jail and his son will be SOL without parents. There are lots of questions about what's best for a family and all that.
Of course at the end of the movie he goes through with it and starts to break her out, and without adding spoilers suffice it to say they make it past the front door. Just before the very end though the DVD I was watching flaked and so I didn't get to see the very very end, which kinda sucked, but I could pretty much see what was going to happen. Stupid blockbuster.
Anyways, all in all I thought it was a good suspenseful thriller and it's definitely worth a watch.
Quick Review - Worth Watching
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1458175/
I don't remember this movie ever being in theaters, which is surprising given that it has Russel Crowe and Elizabeth Banks as leads along with smaller roles by Liam Neeson and several others I recognized. The first 15 minutes or so are of the family and how happy they are and then boom she gets arrested for murdering her boss. It then cuts to a few years later and they're losing their last appeal. It's made clear that the evidence is very condemning.
Most of the movie is then about how the hell someone who is not a criminal goes about breaking his wife out of jail. He doesn't have any friends that he's willing to turn to, nor any criminal contacts who he can think of to talk to. He's not particularly rich so he can't easily just buy his way through everything. He's incredibly nervous the couple times he tries to do even the most basic set ups for his plan that he might get in trouble for doing. It ends up being really suspenseful at times as he works to get her out. I can't say I could quite relate to it, but it made you think could I do this? How would I react in this situation?
There's also a little of did she or didn't she going on, and questions of would it be worth throwing your life away to be with the woman you love, even if she was a murderer. Several times he gets asked if its all worth the risk (or probability) that both he and his wife will end up in jail and his son will be SOL without parents. There are lots of questions about what's best for a family and all that.
Of course at the end of the movie he goes through with it and starts to break her out, and without adding spoilers suffice it to say they make it past the front door. Just before the very end though the DVD I was watching flaked and so I didn't get to see the very very end, which kinda sucked, but I could pretty much see what was going to happen. Stupid blockbuster.
Anyways, all in all I thought it was a good suspenseful thriller and it's definitely worth a watch.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Kina!
Caitlin and I have been looking at getting a dog for a while. See her blog for a good summary of what we've done so far -
http://my-geeker-joy.blogspot.com/2012/03/dog-adoption-part-1.html
We're hoping to find a dog with a little lower energy that can handle the fact that we both work full time jobs and aren't in the house for a good chunk of the day. Since neither of us have had a dog before we also decided to look for a dog that's house broken with at least some basic training. This ruled out the brand new puppies, but we'd still like a younger dog. Since Onyx isn't going anywhere the dog also needs to be good with cats.
Last Saturday we went to another adoption thing and met a number of dogs, including several that we had seen/liked from their descriptions online. From online we had liked Tetra the most, followed by Misty and then Kina. Caitlin had also liked Mystique, although I hadn't been sold. All 4 of these dogs were there.
Unfortunately Tetra had a pending adoption, so she was out from the get go. She turned out to have more energy than we probably wanted anyways.
Her description had said this, but Misty turned out to be extremely timid. While most of the dogs at the event were running around and sniffing each other, or at least happily standing around, Misty was cowering under a chair behind the table. I was hoping for a dog with a little more energy/confidence than this. Misty's foster mom also pretty much told us she wanted to give her to someone who already had dogs, so we weren't sure she'd approve us..
Mystique was nice, and I would still probably consider her. My main hold up for Mystique was that she apparently came from a not-great place, and I have been warned to stay away from rescue dogs with unknown backgrounds. Mystique's fosterers also thought she'd be better in a multi-dog family, but they did not seem nearly as hung up on this as Misty's fosterer.
We also met Kina, who was the best fit of who we saw. She was pretty mild mannered and apparently very curious. She's got a laid back temperment. She's a Shepherd mix, with a wider body that makes her look bigger than some of the other dogs we looked at. She's older than we might have liked, but I think she'll do well with us.
Tonight we get to bring Kina home to do a trial day. It'll give us a little time to make sure we're a good fit with her, and that she's a good fit with us. Hopefully she does not try to kill Onyx. If she is a good fit, we move forward with the formal adoption (which apparently involves some paperwork and a "donation" to the rescue). I'm excited to see how it goes.
If you'd like to see some pictures and a quick description, you can find her bio on the website here -
http://shepherdrescue.net/cgi-bin/Dog_View.asp?Dog=2605&Return=dogs.asp&Type=1&page=2&DogID=2605
http://my-geeker-joy.blogspot.com/2012/03/dog-adoption-part-1.html
We're hoping to find a dog with a little lower energy that can handle the fact that we both work full time jobs and aren't in the house for a good chunk of the day. Since neither of us have had a dog before we also decided to look for a dog that's house broken with at least some basic training. This ruled out the brand new puppies, but we'd still like a younger dog. Since Onyx isn't going anywhere the dog also needs to be good with cats.
Last Saturday we went to another adoption thing and met a number of dogs, including several that we had seen/liked from their descriptions online. From online we had liked Tetra the most, followed by Misty and then Kina. Caitlin had also liked Mystique, although I hadn't been sold. All 4 of these dogs were there.
Unfortunately Tetra had a pending adoption, so she was out from the get go. She turned out to have more energy than we probably wanted anyways.
Her description had said this, but Misty turned out to be extremely timid. While most of the dogs at the event were running around and sniffing each other, or at least happily standing around, Misty was cowering under a chair behind the table. I was hoping for a dog with a little more energy/confidence than this. Misty's foster mom also pretty much told us she wanted to give her to someone who already had dogs, so we weren't sure she'd approve us..
Mystique was nice, and I would still probably consider her. My main hold up for Mystique was that she apparently came from a not-great place, and I have been warned to stay away from rescue dogs with unknown backgrounds. Mystique's fosterers also thought she'd be better in a multi-dog family, but they did not seem nearly as hung up on this as Misty's fosterer.
We also met Kina, who was the best fit of who we saw. She was pretty mild mannered and apparently very curious. She's got a laid back temperment. She's a Shepherd mix, with a wider body that makes her look bigger than some of the other dogs we looked at. She's older than we might have liked, but I think she'll do well with us.
Tonight we get to bring Kina home to do a trial day. It'll give us a little time to make sure we're a good fit with her, and that she's a good fit with us. Hopefully she does not try to kill Onyx. If she is a good fit, we move forward with the formal adoption (which apparently involves some paperwork and a "donation" to the rescue). I'm excited to see how it goes.
If you'd like to see some pictures and a quick description, you can find her bio on the website here -
http://shepherdrescue.net/cgi-bin/Dog_View.asp?Dog=2605&Return=dogs.asp&Type=1&page=2&DogID=2605
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Oakton at Herndon
I worked a pretty good game last night - it was quick (1:34 game time), fast paced, well played by both sides, and it was a gorgeous evening. Herndon and Oakton are both Division 6 AAA teams (the highest in Virginia) and traditionally do pretty well. I don't think either team is quite up to their normal level this year, but Oakton was the favorite going in. Oakton scored a run an inning for the first 3, and then Herndon got one back in the bottom of the 4th. Herndon managed to put together a 3 run rally against Oakton's closer in the bottom of the 6th to take the lead 4-3. In the top of the 7th, Oakton hit a double with 1-out, but didn't manage to get him in so the game was over. Herndon's pitcher threw the complete 7, which is pretty unusual in high school, especially after he struggled some early.
This was the game that I worked with the partner from last year. We didn't address the back and forth from last year, but I did notice that he was not as critical as I'm used to him being. In part it was because this was a pretty easy game to work where nothing went wrong, but I'm pretty sure he had just backed off some as well. All in all, I enjoyed the night.
This was the game that I worked with the partner from last year. We didn't address the back and forth from last year, but I did notice that he was not as critical as I'm used to him being. In part it was because this was a pretty easy game to work where nothing went wrong, but I'm pretty sure he had just backed off some as well. All in all, I enjoyed the night.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Counting
Does anyone else ever count things as they go through life? I not infrequently find myself counting random things as they happen. Generally things that happen in a relatively short time that are relatively periodic.
Stairs are a great example. Almost any time I am going up or down stairs I end up counting them. With stairs I do it so regularly that I can still tell you how many stairs there were at any place I have lived. The house I grew up in had 3 stairs up the hill in the yard, then 5 more to the door, 12 stairs down to the basement and 8 from the porch to the yard. My first apartment had I think 19 to the main level from the parking lot, and my last apartment had 4 and then 3 up to the ground level. My current house has 13 stairs each between the top, middle, and bottom levels although the top stairs are in a 5-4-4 configuration where the bottom are in a 6-4-3. At AVS a flight was 13 on the first half and 12 for the second to get between floors, with a double flight that was an additional 13-7 for the first floor.
It's not just stairs. I have extreme difficulty not counting train cars when I see one going by. I always used to count the number of flashes a do-not-walk sign gave before going solid, but since most of them have timers on them these days it's taken the fun out of it.
On the less periodic side, I always used to love counting coins back when I collected them and also when counting all my coins meant counting all my money. I still count poker chips at the table a whole lot more often than I need to.
Am I totally weird for doing this? I don't take it to the Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction extreme (where he knows exactly how many of everything there is, and counts and does that many of the same thing every day), but I don't know that its normal. I think it might be a left over from back when I was musical and counted the rhythm of things all the time, but who knows.
In any case, if I'm not alone, what if anything else do other people count?
Stairs are a great example. Almost any time I am going up or down stairs I end up counting them. With stairs I do it so regularly that I can still tell you how many stairs there were at any place I have lived. The house I grew up in had 3 stairs up the hill in the yard, then 5 more to the door, 12 stairs down to the basement and 8 from the porch to the yard. My first apartment had I think 19 to the main level from the parking lot, and my last apartment had 4 and then 3 up to the ground level. My current house has 13 stairs each between the top, middle, and bottom levels although the top stairs are in a 5-4-4 configuration where the bottom are in a 6-4-3. At AVS a flight was 13 on the first half and 12 for the second to get between floors, with a double flight that was an additional 13-7 for the first floor.
It's not just stairs. I have extreme difficulty not counting train cars when I see one going by. I always used to count the number of flashes a do-not-walk sign gave before going solid, but since most of them have timers on them these days it's taken the fun out of it.
On the less periodic side, I always used to love counting coins back when I collected them and also when counting all my coins meant counting all my money. I still count poker chips at the table a whole lot more often than I need to.
Am I totally weird for doing this? I don't take it to the Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction extreme (where he knows exactly how many of everything there is, and counts and does that many of the same thing every day), but I don't know that its normal. I think it might be a left over from back when I was musical and counted the rhythm of things all the time, but who knows.
In any case, if I'm not alone, what if anything else do other people count?
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Rides this week - 4/7/12
I'm going to start trying to put up my rides for the week. If that's horribly boring, well, then too bad. Since this is the first time I'm doing this I'm going to go back to last Friday, but then I'll try and do it every Saturday for Sun-Sat. Here goes -
Friday 3/30 - 28 miles - Accotink trail down from home down to Franconia, and back
Tuesday 4/3 - 21 miles - W&OD from home, miles 11.5-20 and back
Wednesday 4/4 - 15 miles - W&OD from Herndon, miles 20-27.5 and back
Saturday 4/7 - 14 miles - W&OD side trail from home, miles 11.5-16 and back
Hopefully I'll start having contiguous blocks of time where I can get some longer rides in next week.
Friday 3/30 - 28 miles - Accotink trail down from home down to Franconia, and back
Tuesday 4/3 - 21 miles - W&OD from home, miles 11.5-20 and back
Wednesday 4/4 - 15 miles - W&OD from Herndon, miles 20-27.5 and back
Saturday 4/7 - 14 miles - W&OD side trail from home, miles 11.5-16 and back
Hopefully I'll start having contiguous blocks of time where I can get some longer rides in next week.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Umpiring part 2
As I mentioned last time, after every NV game the senior umpire does an evaluation of the junior umpire. A part of this process is to do a post-game discussion between umpires after the game to give feedback on how an umpire is doing and any advice on how we can do our jobs better. When a veteran umpire is working with a rookie, this is pretty one directional. When two umpires that are at the same level/have the same experience work together, its much more bi-directiona, even if one is designated senior we both help each other out.
This process has two results. The first is that we are always being evaluated and critiqued. This is a good (or even great) thing since it means that we're always getting advice and hopefully also means that we're getting better. Over time, every umpire that works in our association does get better, and that's a good thing for everyone - that umpire, the partner(s) he's working with, and the players/coaches/fans he's working for. Umpires who aren't open to feedback don't tend to last very long in our association.
The second result is that we are always being driven to get better, even when we don't necessarily want to. It's always assumed that the only reason you're working this level of baseball is because you haven't quite gotten good enough to where you can work the next level of baseball. I got as good as I ever wanted to be during my second full high school season (2 years after college), and I call a pretty good game. I just don't have the drive to move any higher, for a number of reasons.
Most importantly, it's just not a priority for me. To work college baseball, you generally have to drive several hours to the games which are all over the middle atlantic for early afternoon games, which means taking time off work. There's also just a different atmosphere of competition at higher levels that add another level of stress to working that I don't think I need. While I enjoy the competitive varsity high school games I get in the Spring, I have the most fun working decent rec games where everyone is out there to have fun and be competive, but in a way that doesn't really matter. I'm happy doing what I'm doing.
Last year after a 3-man playoff game where I made a couple mistakes I had it out a little bit with the crew chief. Saying I had it out with him is a gross exaggeration of a short debate in a couple respectful emails, but it got me to actually tell someone why I'm not trying to do college ball. The crew chief was a senior ump who has helped me a lot over the years, and he was very disappointed i wasn't putting in the extra effort to go to the next level. He was mad I hadn't spent hours reviewing and practicing 3 man mechanics before the game. He couldn't understand why I hadn't spent hundreds of dollars (1000+) and a week of vacation going to the 3-man college camp our assocation puts on in Florida that works with several of the colleges down there. It got down to the gritty details of that I hadn't shined my shoes prior to the game. In the end though I think he understood where I was coming from and he backed off.
I say all this because I have another game with this umpire next week. The previously mentioned game was one of the last games I did last year prior to getting stationed in Alabama for the rest of the summer and fall, so I haven't seen him since. I'm sure it will go fine, but I'm interested to see what he thinks and how he rates me. In any case, I'm sure I'll call a good game, and in the end I'll probably just keep working at the level I'm at.
This process has two results. The first is that we are always being evaluated and critiqued. This is a good (or even great) thing since it means that we're always getting advice and hopefully also means that we're getting better. Over time, every umpire that works in our association does get better, and that's a good thing for everyone - that umpire, the partner(s) he's working with, and the players/coaches/fans he's working for. Umpires who aren't open to feedback don't tend to last very long in our association.
The second result is that we are always being driven to get better, even when we don't necessarily want to. It's always assumed that the only reason you're working this level of baseball is because you haven't quite gotten good enough to where you can work the next level of baseball. I got as good as I ever wanted to be during my second full high school season (2 years after college), and I call a pretty good game. I just don't have the drive to move any higher, for a number of reasons.
Most importantly, it's just not a priority for me. To work college baseball, you generally have to drive several hours to the games which are all over the middle atlantic for early afternoon games, which means taking time off work. There's also just a different atmosphere of competition at higher levels that add another level of stress to working that I don't think I need. While I enjoy the competitive varsity high school games I get in the Spring, I have the most fun working decent rec games where everyone is out there to have fun and be competive, but in a way that doesn't really matter. I'm happy doing what I'm doing.
Last year after a 3-man playoff game where I made a couple mistakes I had it out a little bit with the crew chief. Saying I had it out with him is a gross exaggeration of a short debate in a couple respectful emails, but it got me to actually tell someone why I'm not trying to do college ball. The crew chief was a senior ump who has helped me a lot over the years, and he was very disappointed i wasn't putting in the extra effort to go to the next level. He was mad I hadn't spent hours reviewing and practicing 3 man mechanics before the game. He couldn't understand why I hadn't spent hundreds of dollars (1000+) and a week of vacation going to the 3-man college camp our assocation puts on in Florida that works with several of the colleges down there. It got down to the gritty details of that I hadn't shined my shoes prior to the game. In the end though I think he understood where I was coming from and he backed off.
I say all this because I have another game with this umpire next week. The previously mentioned game was one of the last games I did last year prior to getting stationed in Alabama for the rest of the summer and fall, so I haven't seen him since. I'm sure it will go fine, but I'm interested to see what he thinks and how he rates me. In any case, I'm sure I'll call a good game, and in the end I'll probably just keep working at the level I'm at.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wildlife
I guess animals love this time of year too.
Friday afternoon I went for a bike ride down the Accotink trail. On my way back, I was coming around a slow bend and saw a dog running down the trail. I figured once I got around the bend I'd see who it was running with. Once I came around though I realized that it was on its own. It was running at a quick trot, in a straight line, on the right side of the path as it should be, all in all seeming very well behaved. I started to wonder if I should stop and try to grab it. Since I was on my bike even if I grabbed it I couldn't do much with it, but if someone was running after it I might slow it down enough to let them catch up. It was a medium-large dog, but I thought if I saw a collar it might be worth seeing how it reacted to me as I got closer.
Pretty soon I got close enough that it noticed me though, and it kind of jumped to turn and look at me. That's when I realized that this was not a lost dog, but a fox. At this point it quickly bounded off into the woods. It was the biggest fox I had ever seen. Generally I think of foxes being a little bigger than a large cat, but distinctly smaller than a medium sized dog. I think of them hunting bunnies and squirrels. While this guy might have had trouble with a full grown buck, it probably could have taken down most smaller deer.
On Tuesday I was riding up the W&OD when a deer walked onto the path a good long ways in front of me. It stopped, pretty much stradling/blocking the entire path. As I got close I was slowing down and shouting at it hoping it would move, but it didn't budge. As I got real close it slowly turned and started to go back the way it came such that I was able to get by, but it really didn't seem bothered by me in the slightest.
Then Wednesday I biked a different section of the W&OD, and what I'm pretty sure was a beaver scurried onto the path a few hundred feet ahead of me. It hung out on the path for about 10 seconds and then scurried off on the other side.
I'm starting to wonder what I'm going to come across next. Deer are common but never that brazen, there are fox (foxes?) around but not that many and never that large, and I don't think I've ever seen a beaver around here.
Friday afternoon I went for a bike ride down the Accotink trail. On my way back, I was coming around a slow bend and saw a dog running down the trail. I figured once I got around the bend I'd see who it was running with. Once I came around though I realized that it was on its own. It was running at a quick trot, in a straight line, on the right side of the path as it should be, all in all seeming very well behaved. I started to wonder if I should stop and try to grab it. Since I was on my bike even if I grabbed it I couldn't do much with it, but if someone was running after it I might slow it down enough to let them catch up. It was a medium-large dog, but I thought if I saw a collar it might be worth seeing how it reacted to me as I got closer.
Pretty soon I got close enough that it noticed me though, and it kind of jumped to turn and look at me. That's when I realized that this was not a lost dog, but a fox. At this point it quickly bounded off into the woods. It was the biggest fox I had ever seen. Generally I think of foxes being a little bigger than a large cat, but distinctly smaller than a medium sized dog. I think of them hunting bunnies and squirrels. While this guy might have had trouble with a full grown buck, it probably could have taken down most smaller deer.
On Tuesday I was riding up the W&OD when a deer walked onto the path a good long ways in front of me. It stopped, pretty much stradling/blocking the entire path. As I got close I was slowing down and shouting at it hoping it would move, but it didn't budge. As I got real close it slowly turned and started to go back the way it came such that I was able to get by, but it really didn't seem bothered by me in the slightest.
Then Wednesday I biked a different section of the W&OD, and what I'm pretty sure was a beaver scurried onto the path a few hundred feet ahead of me. It hung out on the path for about 10 seconds and then scurried off on the other side.
I'm starting to wonder what I'm going to come across next. Deer are common but never that brazen, there are fox (foxes?) around but not that many and never that large, and I don't think I've ever seen a beaver around here.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
New PS3! And games to go with it!
About 2 weeks ago I bought a PS3. For a long time we've been using Caitlin's old laptop as a DVD player. Unfortunately, Caitlin's old laptop is a PoS that is mostly broken. The monitor on it doesn't work so we had to use it through the TV to see what we were doing. It took a long time to boot and maybe 25% of the time seemed to forget it had a DVD drive and it made us reboot. If you bumped the table it was on at all, it would frequently just totally lose the DVD and we'd have to start all over.
So we decided it was time to get an actual DVD player. I've been thinking about getting either an Xbox 360 or a PS3 for a while, and since the PS3 has the built-in bluray it won out. I ended up paying a little more for a 320GB version (as opposed to a 160) that also came with a game. Although I probably wouldn't ever fill up the 160 harddrive, the fact that I've filled up 2 PS2 memory cards, both my gamecube memory cards, and am pretty much out of space on my non-data-transferrable Wii, I erred on the side of caution because I hate deleting game files. I went back to play a couple of my PS2 games at one point, and when I realized I had deleted my game files for them it made me really sad, since it meant I couldn't just start at later points in the game, etc.
The game the console came with was Infamous 2. I hadn't heard much about it (or the first one) but I figured what the heck, I'll give it a try. And I've been pleasently surprised to find it's been a lot of fun. It's a grand theft auto type open world game but with superpowers, and fighting super-villains instead of murdering/robbing innocent people/the world.
I went looking for what PS3 games I had missed that I should go back and play. Pretty soon I had ordered a half dozen games on Amazon (the list is below) and now I can't wait for them to get here.
Little big planet
Mirror's edge
Disgaea 3
Demon Souls
Valkyria Chronicles
Final Fantasy XIII
I'm probably most excited for Valkyria Chronicles, which was the only one I hadn't really heard of. After seeing a few reviews though I'm pretty psyched. I've got my work cut out for me though to get through all these games. They were all $20 or less, and made me remember this XKCD.
http://xkcd.com/606/
Any other PS3 recommendations? I've heard Journey is worth it.
So we decided it was time to get an actual DVD player. I've been thinking about getting either an Xbox 360 or a PS3 for a while, and since the PS3 has the built-in bluray it won out. I ended up paying a little more for a 320GB version (as opposed to a 160) that also came with a game. Although I probably wouldn't ever fill up the 160 harddrive, the fact that I've filled up 2 PS2 memory cards, both my gamecube memory cards, and am pretty much out of space on my non-data-transferrable Wii, I erred on the side of caution because I hate deleting game files. I went back to play a couple of my PS2 games at one point, and when I realized I had deleted my game files for them it made me really sad, since it meant I couldn't just start at later points in the game, etc.
The game the console came with was Infamous 2. I hadn't heard much about it (or the first one) but I figured what the heck, I'll give it a try. And I've been pleasently surprised to find it's been a lot of fun. It's a grand theft auto type open world game but with superpowers, and fighting super-villains instead of murdering/robbing innocent people/the world.
I went looking for what PS3 games I had missed that I should go back and play. Pretty soon I had ordered a half dozen games on Amazon (the list is below) and now I can't wait for them to get here.
Little big planet
Mirror's edge
Disgaea 3
Demon Souls
Valkyria Chronicles
Final Fantasy XIII
I'm probably most excited for Valkyria Chronicles, which was the only one I hadn't really heard of. After seeing a few reviews though I'm pretty psyched. I've got my work cut out for me though to get through all these games. They were all $20 or less, and made me remember this XKCD.
http://xkcd.com/606/
Any other PS3 recommendations? I've heard Journey is worth it.
College Biking
As mentioned before, I've had bad luck with bikes the last 10 years. In college, I went through three different bikes over the course of my 4 years. One was pretty much totalled, one was stolen, and one was pretty much totalled and then stolen.
Back then I didn't ride my bikes all that hard. For the most part I used them to go back and forth from football practice down the hill, or to the other 5C campuses for classes or food, or even just for the 1/4 mile to get to class. I'd venture down to the village to go to the bank or the post office and up to the safeway for snacks and such. The furthest I would go would be about 4 miles down to the movie theater, or once or twice I went down to Montclaire to go to Gamestop or Bestbuy. And while I certainly enjoyed riding, I always had a destination. I think only once I went for a ride purely for the sake of riding and found a bike trail a little further up into the foothills. In retrospect it was a shame, because there was probably some great trails around, and the weather was always right for it.
In any case, I got my first bike in California right when I first got to college. I found a bike store and asked if they had any used bikes. I needed one quickly because from day one I was travelling to and from football practice which was on CMC's campus twice a day, and a bike just made things way easier. The guy had a used one he said he'd give me for $50. I said sure and away I went. That bike lasted through freshman year, but it was basically falling apart by the end of it. I probably would have suffered through with it for a little while longer, but I left it locked to a bike rack over the summer, and when I came back it was gone.
So sophomore year I buckled down and went to a real bike store to buy a new bike. For about $250 I bought a new, pretty reasonable mountain bike. It worked great, ran smooth, and I rode it all over. It took about 3 months before it was stolen while locked to a rack. I forget if it was from my dorm or if I had left it in academics over night, but in any case, it was gone. Distraught and out what in college was a sizable chunk of currency, I went looking to find something cheap and used again.
I found another used bike somewhere that would get me through the remaining 2.5 years of college. Although functional, by some point in my junior year the gears had broken down to the point where it would only work in the highest of the 3 main gears, and the chain would only catch on half the smaller gears. While it was great going down hill, it was a tough ride to get back up. I ended up giving it to an underclassman when I graduated, and found it unusable when I went back for homecoming the following fall and tried to take it for a spin.
It's been 4 years since college, and I'm once again on my 3rd bike. The stories behind the first two are a little more interesting (and a little fresher in my memory) so I will save those for another post.
Back then I didn't ride my bikes all that hard. For the most part I used them to go back and forth from football practice down the hill, or to the other 5C campuses for classes or food, or even just for the 1/4 mile to get to class. I'd venture down to the village to go to the bank or the post office and up to the safeway for snacks and such. The furthest I would go would be about 4 miles down to the movie theater, or once or twice I went down to Montclaire to go to Gamestop or Bestbuy. And while I certainly enjoyed riding, I always had a destination. I think only once I went for a ride purely for the sake of riding and found a bike trail a little further up into the foothills. In retrospect it was a shame, because there was probably some great trails around, and the weather was always right for it.
In any case, I got my first bike in California right when I first got to college. I found a bike store and asked if they had any used bikes. I needed one quickly because from day one I was travelling to and from football practice which was on CMC's campus twice a day, and a bike just made things way easier. The guy had a used one he said he'd give me for $50. I said sure and away I went. That bike lasted through freshman year, but it was basically falling apart by the end of it. I probably would have suffered through with it for a little while longer, but I left it locked to a bike rack over the summer, and when I came back it was gone.
So sophomore year I buckled down and went to a real bike store to buy a new bike. For about $250 I bought a new, pretty reasonable mountain bike. It worked great, ran smooth, and I rode it all over. It took about 3 months before it was stolen while locked to a rack. I forget if it was from my dorm or if I had left it in academics over night, but in any case, it was gone. Distraught and out what in college was a sizable chunk of currency, I went looking to find something cheap and used again.
I found another used bike somewhere that would get me through the remaining 2.5 years of college. Although functional, by some point in my junior year the gears had broken down to the point where it would only work in the highest of the 3 main gears, and the chain would only catch on half the smaller gears. While it was great going down hill, it was a tough ride to get back up. I ended up giving it to an underclassman when I graduated, and found it unusable when I went back for homecoming the following fall and tried to take it for a spin.
It's been 4 years since college, and I'm once again on my 3rd bike. The stories behind the first two are a little more interesting (and a little fresher in my memory) so I will save those for another post.
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