On the Road Again

I greatly look forward to spring: the sunlight, the yard work, going to the park with the kids, and riding my bike to work. This week was unusually warm so last night I pulled my bike off its storage rack last night and checked to make sure I did an adequate tune-up last fall. The kids were thrilled at the prospect and insisted I get their bikes out too. Ben doesn’t really have a bike of his own (or a helmet) so he improvised and used daddy’s (see accompanying photo). He’s still trying to figure out how to put it on. I hope to get him a tricked out tricycle for his birthday (and a helmet that he can put on correctly). Jane quickly hopped on her green specialized hotrock that we bought for he last year. I was so excited to get her a bike back then but she wasn’t interested in riding it. She seemed to do quite well this year though.

This morning I rode my bike into work and my lungs could feel that it had been several months since I had any rigorous physical activity. Fifty minutes later (the slowest time I can ever remember posting) I arrived at the U ready to puke my guts out. If I recall correctly, it took several weeks to acclimate and shed some pounds last year so I’ll just need to be patient with myself. Anyway, were supposed to have a really nice weekend so I want to encourage all of you to dust your bike off and go for a leisurely ride. Happy spring.

The Wireless Spectrum Auction needs your help

Any of you techies out there are anxiously awaiting the announcement of the winners of the wireless spectrum auction. This auction is for the radio spectrum that is currently
being used by analog television (slated to be made available to the winner of the auction in February 2009). Verizon and Google are the two fierce competitors for this spectrum. Verizon initially was pushing for closed standards while Google petitioned the FCC to make the use of the spectrum open so consumers could use any devices (cell phones) on any networks and any applications on those network/spectrums. If you're like me (a Google fan), wouldn't you love to see more consumer choice and greater development in the wireless industry? This is what Google is pushing for. Here's the deal though, Google and Verizon are fierce bidding competitors with a similar amount of assets. However, they earn their primary revenue in two very different ways (Google through paid search and online advertising, and Verizon through subscriptions - and tons of worthless pay-for-service extras on your phone). You may or may not know this, but Verizon is one of the internet's largest advertisers (they are in the top five companies that purchase online advertising). Now wouldn't it be great to siphon some money out of their pockets and into Google's hands? Here's how you can do your part. Next time you're surfing the net (and we know you're doing a lot of it - the average American spends 35 hrs on the internet each week), just be sure to click on any Verizon ad you see. Most of these ads are paid for by the advertiser every time a user clicks on the ad - and when that happens, money goes into the pockets of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Valueclick. So what do you say? Do you want more choices when it comes to mobile phones, applications, and cell phone providers? Wouldn't you love to see Verizon reinvent itself so it's more consumer friendly? Wouldn't you love to see the innovation of Google in the wireless phone industry? Help make it happen - click on Verizon ads everytime you see them.

The dawing of the second ice age

You know those stories you used to hear about your parents walking to school, up hill, both ways, with the wind at their face and whirling snow freeze-drying their hair? Well, that was me this morning, and I want to have a record of it for my children in case they question the truthfulness of my gray-haired tales. Since my employment is also a school (The University), I think I can make the same claims as my forefathers.

I departed work at 6:55 this morning and arrived promptly at 8:35. I thought I would type this blog entry as it would help restore sensation to my finders; if I could type with my toes, I would.

We were met with a blizzard last night as temperatures plummeted and cars slid to and fro. I really enjoy taking the bus, but it is positively the worst method of travel on stormy days. Not only do you have to leave your house at dawn to trudge through the un-shoveled walks (I’m not innocent), but you also putter along in the bus in the right lane, inching around cars that are stuck in the snow banks. When you arrive downtown for your connection (as in my case), you desperately want to run to catch your next bus, but the elderly lady attempting to navigate the icy sidewalks has a look on her face that says, “I wish I had a young man nearby so I could hold his arm.” So you help the poor woman, and end up waiting 30 minutes downtown for the next bus to arrive.

As I stood on the sidewalk freezing – in sheer amazement that none of the four possible busses I could take were on time – I could only wonder if this would be my final hour. The storm was so intense I think others outside were also wondered if this was the dawning of the second ice age. I had visions of future generations extracting my preserved body from the snow and ice as I clutched a copy of the bus schedule in my hands. They would ask questions, like “What was this man doing out in conditions like this?” Little would my discoverers know that I had saved their great, great, great, grandmother from a similar fate.


Before my demise, however, the saving bus finally came and dropped me off at the base of Presidents Circle. What would normally only be a walk a few hundred yards to my building up a moderate incline felt like summitting Mount Aconcagua (without oxygen support, of course), I arrived safely, albeit really late.