personal

Experience and thoughtfulness

Some people will never be considered “experienced”. To become experienced, one must reflect upon experiences and attempt to draw understanding from them. “This didn’t work out, this did. Hmmm? Why is that?” Failure to inspect our experiences leads no where.

You can also get ahead of the curve. “What do I think I should do in this situation? What am I capable of doing? where do they intersect? What does this more experienced and or capable person think? Does that change anything significant?” This is the nature of thoughtfulness.

So with these two simple notions at hand explain to me dear reader why no one pulled through on my ride this morning for over a 10 mile stretch into a headwind? I waved, I pulled out, I slowed… nothing. It’s was like watching one of the TDF breakaways falls apart where it has become everyone for themselves. Ya know, the guys in back never pull through? I would pull out and slow, everyone else would slow. I’d pull out and wave… nothing. Slowly extremely would bring questions of “Are you OK?”. Sigh. I’m fine. Keep pedaling! There was no reason someone else couldn’t stick their nose in the wind. A couple of folks were clearly being lazy, they had no problem sprinting ahead when they felt motivated. Quite a few had no problem pulling when we turned and the wind was longer in our faces. A couple of folks were probably inexperienced and haven’t been taught proper etiquette. Hopefully, they’ll go home and wonder about these moments and at least think “What was that about?”

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33 miles, almost 1000ft of climbing, an average speed of 13.4 that is really a lie ( well no, it’s not in the sense that I’m sure it is the average for all movement on the ride, but that includes the dinkying around the parking lots and city streets… so I pawed through the graph for the “on the road sections” and sure enough even the uphill averages were over 15 with some sections in the low 20’s.

The next annoyance was when I realized that a so called “expert”, an expert by virtue of nothing more than experience, put my wife’s bike rack together wrong, with some critical parts installed backward. My analysis is that in this case the person hasn’t built many of this model rack, and it was a misreading of the instructions, but I was surprised at how things went when I tried to put a bike on the rack. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Yesterday I saw a picture of the same rack and in just one second it became clear which parts had been installed wrong, and now it all makes far more sense, and works properly. The failure here is that someone who should be used to this (the so called expert) rushed the job. He should be used to working with customers waiting, he does it all the time. I was in no particular rush, and wasn’t hovering (on purpose). So it’s just sloppiness.

We can make a choice about the quality and nature of our work. We can be present and demand a level quality that we will not forego. To me it is essential to constantly be aware of this. I don’t always get to work to the quality level I wish, there are other constraints on my work such as time, cost, and my own ability to execute. What I cannot and do not give up is the awareness of those decisions, how they are made and why, and allow some lesser level than I desire become assumed and routine. I am aware of my decisions, my experience, and I will not release my thoughtfulness to the best of my ability.

From A to Green: How to green your day job

From A to Green: How to green your day job: When you go to work, do you check your green values at the door? A recent survey of U.K. office workers showed that most don’t feel it’s their responsibility to make their workplace greener. But most offices squander massive amounts of energy — and if we worker types don’t change that, who will? Today we offer tips for greening your day job, from the time you clock in until the supper bell rings.[It’s a start…]
Source: Grist Magazine

Uphill Errands

Why is it when I run errands on my bike the profile looks like this:

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That’s right… there’s 6 to almost 11% grades. Not long, but steep. It should be noted that I was dropping off my wife’s car for service so the downhill direction was, of course, done in the car. Ain’t that always the way.

Secrets of book publishing (and life!) Secrets of book publishing I wish I had known

Secrets of book publishing I wish I had known: Following up on these overviews of the book industry, I thought I’d share some lessons I learned from publishing Bit Literacy. I originally tried to go through mainstream publishers but eventually self-published it, because of what I learned in the process. I wish I had known everything below before I wrote my book. [I find similarities everywhere here… finding work or a job, finding gigs as a musician, working with local retail outlets, etc., etc. When it comes to people doing stuff, no one is interested in you but you. And if someone is interested (read, seemingly willing to help you), it is a sure sign that they see some way you can make them money, or help them, or generally for them to get something out of whatever they intend to do (see Frank Zappa). I don’t mean to sound so cynical, there’s a lot of cases where this isn’t true, and in fact I see nothing wrong with it. Understanding people’s motives means dealing honestly and openly. Pretending, misleading, or outright lying is far worse. Be up front about what you’re going to get and it’ll work out.]
Source: Good Experience Blog

Laurence Gonzales Everyday Survival: How to Survive (Almost) Anything

How to Survive (Almost) Anything: Take tasks that require no thought and re-invent them so that you have to think. This bears repeating: Survival is not about equipment and training alone. It’s about what’s in your mind and your emotional system. Living in a low-risk environment dulls our abilities. We must make a conscious effort to learn new things, to force ourselves out of our comfort zones. [This applies to so many things… despite our deep desire to create continuity in our lives, it is best for us if things keep changing and we keep learning and adapting. It’s better from almost every view point I can think of (diet, exercise, thought, etc., etc.) It’s the same lesson I learned as a musician years ago. Adaptation is something that can be practiced.]

A man after my own heart…

10 This particular picture warms my heart. Not only his he kissing his daughter, not only has he lost a great deal of weight riding his bike, not only is he a musician, but there’s also a large Coltrane poster and a bike stand juxtaposed in the background. Finest kind! (He also sports the Zero Per Gallon patches. It’s like we’ve jammed somewhere along the line. :~)

Welcome Alltop!

Alltop (a Guy Kawasaki venture) has decided that Turnings is worthy of listing. I’m not sure how this happened, but it’s about time.

Alltop, confirmation that I kick ass

I’m in the life section. And BTW, that should be “Further confirmation”…

Almost the end of the Great Clif Mojo bar Taste Test (now with support for cancer research)

The end of the Great Clif Mojo bar Taste Test is near. You can’t rush a taste test, nor can you rush greatness. Put them together… and well things can take a while. That’s the way it goes. Below is Seth’s brief comments on the various flavors.

Pay attention now… because Seth’s really cool. And here’s why: For six years Seth has been riding in the Pan Mass Challenge, raising serious amounts of money for the Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber. Last year (2007) they collectively raised 33,000,000 dollars. Seth himself has raised $23,845.94 to date. Righteous! So go right now and help him raise more money this than ever. I’ll wait…

Click here to raise money for the Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber.

One last thing… the software development community supports Seth’s efforts and gives software which he in turns auctions off. Besides feeling really great about yourself for donating, you can also score some awesome software (scroll down).

Thanks! Now about those Mojo bars, if you need to catch up here’s a reverse chronological list:

The reason the GCBMTT is almost done is simply because I (purposely) never completed my own reviews of the products. Undue influence and all. So that’ll be coming up in the next week or so. Meanwhile, keep reading and get your Mojo on!

The Great Mojo Bars Taste Test: “It’s been a few months since I tried them, and I’d be lying if I said I could remember the names of all of the flavors. Instead, I looked up the names in one of Daniel’s old posts. Once I saw the names, I did at least remember what I thought of the bars.

Mixed Nuts: Eh. About what you’d expect. Tasted like mixed nuts, but in bar shape.

Fruit Nut Crunch: I liked this one.

Mountain Mix: Eh. So-so.

Chocolate Peanut: Very tasty. Two great tastes that taste great together, and I’ve always been a sucker for a Reese’s.

Honey Roasted Peanut: I was expecting (or at least hoping for) the taste of Planter’s honey-roasted peanuts, but it isn’t really like that. It’s more like really sweet peanuts.

Peanut Butter Pretzel: If I remember this one correctly, then it’s one of the four I would buy again. Sweet and salty.

Peanut Butter and Jelly: This had one of the best flavors, but could have a used a touch of salt.

I’m still not a fan of granola bars during bike rides, but I do like to have one at least 30 minutes before heading out. Unfortunately, Mystic Cycle doesn’t carry them, so I need to talk them into picking some up for me if I’m going to make them part of my daily routine.”

Seth, I hope Mystic helps you get your Mojo on! Thanks for taking part.

Karate Monkey build

daniel testing karate monkey build After a weekend with no voice, and the gentle knell of my attempts to clear my throat the predominant sound in the house this weekend, I dropped by the RBC picnic with the as yet untested build of my Karate Monkey. Mostly Deore, a few Ritchey bits, and Avid mechanical brakes, the build is fairly inexpensive and not particularly light. To me that means not worrying about breaking stuff, getting it muddy and wet. I have some bits and pieces in the closet to try, some handlebars, a wheel, etc. and I’ll do that slowly over the next few months… but I’ll talk about them more when I get them on the bike. It is fun to ride even now.

I’d love to try a truly fat tire like an Endomorph on the front to see what that feels like. Maybe someone has a Pugsley or something in the area?

I was dressed casually (even sloppily) for the picnic, which explains the running shoes… but it was really humid and hot out, especially the spot where the picnic was held. When we went for a ride around the lake, it was obvious that there were much cooler spots. The club is raising funds by taking portraits of members with their bikes. I have every intention of doing this, but yesterday was not the day I intended to do it. Between my cold and the heat, the lack of caring about the way I dressed… I was a site. Nonetheless, pictures were taken by David, and naturally I look awful. Awful! No matter. I do enjoy the pictures of my playing photo apprentice and NBA style sweat mopper as seen here for my riding pal Jenni. I can’t wait to do this for real (the picture part, not the apprentice part) with Lisa & Noah.

A few of us who brought bikes decided to loop the lake. I ride a road bike so much of the time nowadays that in trying to navigate around the families that sometimes clog the path, I’m reluctant to run on the dirt. There I am hesitating, checking out the dirt looking to see if it is firm enough when a fat tire angel (or is that fat and tired angel? Whatever… :~) whispers in my ear that to stop looking and just go. Hah! So much for skinny tires.

After one loop the picnic crashed to a close with a thunderstorm and copious amounts of rain. Fun!