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Life isn't that bad. My car is running well, I have a girlfriend that I care about lots, school is going well, and I'm on good terms with most everyone I know. Still, I wish I had more motivation. Motivation to eat better, exercise more, get all of my transfer stuff in order, and get in shape for racing next year. Also, I really should sell all of my excess bike stuff to pay for more bike stuff. That's how it goes, though. It'll all happen in due time.

I can't for the life of me recall whether summer starts at the end of May or June. Moot point really; for all intents and purposes, it's summer. No more classes, working full time, and red wheels flying through the woods, albeit not as often as I wish. Thursday, I'm even planning a trip to the shore. I'd be all for going more often, but my car is dead. When your girlfriend has a car and only a weeklong window before she's gone for another two months, you've got to seize the opportunity.

Next week, should all go according to plan, the roommate and I are going to spend all day biking in White Clay, DE. It's a blast. If you mountain bike and have not been, I highly recommend. Seeing as neither of us has a functioning car, we're taking the train to and fro. The only problem with that is that there are only trains that run in the morning and then more that run in the evening. No afternoon trains. We're going to be in it for the long haul. Believe me, though, there are worse places in the world to be stuck with a mountain bike for nine hours.

Cyclic numbers

1 x 142857 = 142857
2 x 142857 = 285714
3 x 142857 = 428571
4 x 142857 = 571428
5 x 142857 = 714285
6 x 142857 = 857142
7 x 142857 = 999999

1 ÷ 7 = 0 . 142857 142857 142857 14...
2 ÷ 7 = 0 . 285714 285714 285714 28...
3 ÷ 7 = 0 . 428571 428571 428571 42...
4 ÷ 7 = 0 . 571428 571428 571428 57...
5 ÷ 7 = 0 . 714285 714285 714285 71...
6 ÷ 7 = 0 . 857142 857142 857142 85...
7 ÷ 7 = 0 . 999999 999999 999999 99...

For the record, 0.999999... is another way of writing 1.

Number theory, not numerology.

Bridge Over Troubled Music

Why did no one ever tell me that Windows' calculator had a scientific mode? Why have I gone the past 10 years of owning a computer without knowing this? For most of you, this may not seem like a big deal, but if you've ever taken an advanced mathematics course, you'll know how excited I am. It has all the features of my TI-36X (non-graphing) calculator. Graphing calculators are for pussies. I bring it old school.

Solid State Survivor

Something is amiss with my computer. As a result of this... inconvenience... I have found myself using the internet less and less. Since I have my fancy new phone (for details, please see my previous entry), I no longer rely on computers for things like email, news, or weather reports. This is not a bad thing at all.

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I've been slacking off big time with riding. This is disconcerting considering that the first Michaux race of 2008 is about a month away. I don't even want to train to win, just to make it through.

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On a (cryptic) personal note, I must remind myself to remind myself to not get carried away this time around. This time, I want it to be different.

Drum Machine, Cello, Headwrap

I'm not one to brag about fancy gadgets usually, but I recently acquired an awesome new phone:

I have to admit, it's pretty awesome. Especially considering I didn't pay anything for it (thanks Corey!). I think I need to get a hard case or something for it, though; I'm afraid I'll break it. Fortunately I still have my old phone to bring with me should I decide to go for a bike ride or something like that. Ah, the beauty of SIM cards.

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On the subject of gadgets, I recently discovered that the iPod Shuffle has been cut in price to $50. The Shuffle, if I may say so, is really awesome. I've crashed on it (no really, it was sandwiched between the ground and my chest), and it never skipped a beat. The charger isn't quite as robust, but nevertheless it's awesome. I've needed to get a new charger for a while, but they're $20, so why not spend the extra $30 and get another iPod Shuffle? I think I could make use of it. Plus, I could buy an orange one to complement my blue one.

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I think my room is going to get more crowded soon. I've decided that I don't really want to sell any of my bikes, so I'm going to find new storage solutions instead. I think that I can fit one on the wall above my desk, one on the wall above my mantle, and one directly above my bed, all using some kind of hoist. It's only a matter of time before my room looks like a bike shop.

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Speaking of bike shops (and I think this is the second to last bit of my disjointed series of unrelated, disjointed paragraphs... dis... jointed... disjointed), I'm a bit confused about the thought processes of people who buy things for their bikes. Working in a shop, I see all kinds of things coming through, including (but not limited to) mismatched brake levers and brakes (i.e. v-brakes with regular rat trap drop bar levers - not s'posed to work together), 6-speed freewheels with 7-speed shifters (that goes without saying), the whole 27" vs. 700c wheel thing (and the associated brake problems), cranks on the wrong size/taper bottom bracket, etc. I mean, it's not like people order the wrong parts for their cars on the internet... right?

Wait... yeah, it all makes sense now.

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Lastly, spring break is this week. I'm working at least on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so someone should get in touch with me and hang out.


I still don't know if anyone reads this.

Travel is Dangerous

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My Saab died. Again. That's it. I'm going car-free for a while. Kind of a bummer, kind of not.



Worst purchase ever.

Age of Consent

I acquired several albums last night. For various reasons, I won't disclose the source of the music. Anyway, I managed to get some much needed new wave, such as the album containing the song whose name is the title of this post, and Ministry's first album. Granted, Ministry isn't really new wave, but if you'd ever heard their first album, "With Sympathy," you would certainly think there were two bands with the name. It was a total sell out on Al Jourgensen's part, but that doesn't stop the fact (for me) that it's still awesome. Shit, I've got the album on cassette in my car's deck right now. Speaking of, I need to upgrade the stereo. And get that rust checked out.

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In addition to getting more tunes, I learned several interesting facts about cranberries. I knew that they were aquatic plants, but I didn't know that 90% of the time, the bogs aren't actually flooded - at least not in cranberry farms. I also never realized how far north the range of the cranberry spanned. It all actually makes sense, seeing that the acidic bogs are normally found in higher latitudes, and cranberries are a highly acidic fruit. I think this all has something to do with the fact that I now actually like cranberries. By the way, cranberry juice and amaretto is a winning combination.

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One last thing. I stumbled upon a website, knowbeforeyouvote.com. Since it was neither "approved by any political campaign or committee" nor "paid for or endorsed by any candidate," there's no chance whatsoever that this isn't a completely fair and unbiased website penned by (a) Paultard(s) (which, by the way, is my new favorite term for supporters of a particular politician, right next to [Lyndon] Ladouchebag or Larouche Youth Movement - oh wait, that last one's real). Seriously though, Ron Paul supporters are the type of people who claim that the moon landing was faked and organized a march on the World of Warcraft. They support pulling out of the UN for fuck's sake! You can't make this shit up. They put the 'tard' in Paultard.

I'm going to go do stuff so I can at least pretend to not waste my day.

And Again

Seriously, was every kid watching this retarded? It makes no sense.

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I started writing a paragraph about how I feel that religion is far too prevalent in the government these days, but it just turned into a Pat Robertson bashing. So I'm going to bash Pat Robertson. God he's such a douchebag. Aside from his crass remarks made alongside Jerry Falwell after September 11th, 2001, attacks on feminism, or his intolerance and outright condemnation of pretty much every non-Christian religion (including some non-Baptist Christian denominiations), he is a business partner and supporter of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian dictator who is currently being indicted for war crimes such as mass murder, supporting insurgencies in neighboring Sierra Leone, rape, and recruiting child soldiers. It seems Patty boy had about eight million bucks invested in Liberian gold mines. Very Christian of you, Pat. If I ever get the chance to, I will spit in your face. Oh yeah, and he can leg press 2000 pounds apparently. Right. That must mean I can press like... two tons. But yeah, Pat Robertson is a total douchebag. Regardless of whether or not he apologizes for the many outrageous statements he makes, the fact of the matter is that he still makes them.

MMVIII

Over the past couple of years, my take on the holiday season has changed drastically. This year is certainly no exception. For Thanksgiving, instead of having dinner at my aunt's house, I opted to walk 5 blocks and have dinner at my friend's sister's apartment. On Christmas Eve, I went to the Ethiopian bar around the corner with my mom and her boyfriend. And last night, New Year's Eve, I went snowboarding. For the first time. Ever.

I don't own any equipment. I borrowed my roommate's old board, a friend's old boots, and some snow attire (although I left the pants at home - something I sorely regretted as my ass became completely soaked after the snow melted). I'll tell you, I felt completely out of my element. Aside from the fact that I had a plank of kevlar and plastic and whatever else strapped to my feet, I felt like an alien on the slope. Everyone's clothes seemed so bright and shiny, a stark contrast to everything I know from mountain biking.

I'll tell you though, falling on ice (and it was ice - albeit large granules of soft ice - not snow), well, it hurts. I kept falling on the right side of my ass, directly on the bone. My knees and elbows feel raw, and my neck is sore. I'm not sure I'm completely sold on this whole snowboarding thing. However, going snowboarding was far better than anything else I would have done last night. Except maybe for going to Mighty House.

The Single Speed World Championship in 2008 is in Napa, CA. I've never been to Napa, but should I be 'accepted' to go, I'll be there in August!