3-One-Thousand.

Please people. When you follow a bike, give them 3 seconds of lead time. There wasn't an incident today, but people follow so close on today's ride that if there was an incident, a biker would end up under your car. Then you are facing manslaughter charges.


Other than that, the day was excellent! With blue skies above and cool breezes behind, the bike had no problems straightenin' the curves and flattenin' the hills! I thought my joints would give me problems, but only my ears and shoulder blades are sore. My mileage is now 650 and I'm scheduled for service tomorrow!

Land Between the Lakes by V-Strom

Pic #1 - Whoa, did you know there is a dude ranch/camp at LBL?

From 2009-05-15 LBLbyVStrom

Pic #2 - Lighthouse Harbor

From 2009-05-15 LBLbyVStrom

Pic #3 - God Damn!

From 2009-05-15 LBLbyVStrom

A 200 Mile Day!!

If anyone needs me today, I'll be somewhere along here:

Flats do not just happen to other people

I thought carrying an extra bicycle tube was for the amatuers. I thought SAG was there to help other cyclists. I thought I was invincible on the bike. I was wrong.

As my finger joints are aching, I was waiting for Steve to post about it. And he did.

I am not a recycler...

But you know what? That's ok. I said to Jenn last night, "I'm waiting for my inspiration, my reason to finish what I start." and it led to an immediate epiphany and overnight re-evaluation. I am not a recycler and no amount of waiting for someone to inspire me to be so is going to change that. So I asked myself, why are you making life more complex than it should be? Why are you, one, PUTTING UP and then stressing over artificial roadblocks to your growth?

I give myself leave of failing to recycle and I give myself leave of waiting for someone to mould me into a a person who would. Who can make me a better man. I can.

Life is good, now keep it simple.

Shared Experiences

Steve, Jenn (not that Jen, the other Jenn) and I took a 216 mile train ride today! Although sitting for the 108 mile out/108 mile back trips was excruciating, the company was very nice. The three of us talked for the 4.5 hour trip out, walked around downtown Monterey TN for an hour before taking the 4.5 hour trip back. On the trip back, we took turns naping and talking. It was a very good day that ended with a great Mexican restaurant dinner.

Words for the day: Look out for the domino's!

On the train:


Steve and "Not-That-Jen" Jenn:


"The Great Disappearing Stevie Act":

Thursday Funnies

As seen on Jen's blog...



Which reminds me of Sony's new free MMO, "Free Realms". I tried it out last night. To create a safe environment for children, Sony provides a type of vegas slot machine name generator. You rotate through the dials until you come up with a first name, last name prefix and last name suffix. You know, to be safe for the kids.. I was able to create a "Takeo Ashclown". Awesome.

Lastly, On the 100th aniversary of the maiden Titantic journey, a British company is going to recreate it complete with 1,309 passengers.. NPR's take, "Let's hope no one packs their IRONY.". They are booking a band if anyone is interested.

EDIT: Found a better more disturbing name:

Bikers are a funny lot

After cycling on the bike, I decided to do some biking on the cycle. I was craving a bbq sandwich, so I headed to Mrs. Winners Chicken Restaurant. I park my bike where I can see it out the window and sit down to eat. This Hardly Davidson rider pulls up outside the window and gives me a sideways glance. He gets off the bike, looks at my bike and then looks back at me. I think, crap, he's going to give me crap. So I continue to eat while he's still pacing by his bike outside of my window. I think to myself, I'm glad I'm wearing my biking/stomping boots now. As I started to fiddle with my helmet, he taps on the window and motions for me to come outside. Alright, time for a fight. So I go out and he looks at me, looks at my bike. He extends a hand and says, "I don't know how to say this,". I extend my hand but prepare to duck and counter/throat punch. He continues, "But, biker to biker, I'm fleeing from a domestic.".

The story can end there. All in all, he was just looking for gas money to flee the cops.

HELLA-FUN!!!

THAT.
WAS.
AWESOME!!

Blue skies and the wind was at my back on the motorcycle as I shopped for a small back-pack and picked up my new multi-day, disposable contacts and new styled glass frames. I think I hate the glass' frame. The really cute girl behind the counter seemed genuinely enthusiastic when she said she liked them. I think Lenscrafter's employees are very well trained. The contacts are very nice though. They are crystal clear and I don't feel them any longer. I've never had contacts you wear for several days and then dispose of.

Dee-DeeDee!

No wait..that's not the right phrase..

Hidden, Integrated, Actuating Sunglasses

That's how awesome the helmet is. Flip a switch on the helmet and a hidden sunshield slides down into place between the visor and my glasses.





Oh, right! The bike is cool too! It's getting serviced today for pickup tomorroooow!

Roller Coaster Life

Congrats to Steve on his Roller Coaster results! I liked the title and, once again, am not above thievery.

Made some changes this weekend. LOTRO patched in some EZ-Mode changes and then made them defaulted to on just this week. I hadn't played since December 2008, but this was the last straw. Turbine is chasing the paper dragon of higher subscription numbers by making the game more mass appeal. This means instead of doing right by their current subscription base, they are taking a chance and experimenting with game design to gather some of WoW's players. Don't get me wrong. WoW is a GREAT game. Solid game, huge world, lots of variety and infinitely scalable on hardware. But there is ALREADY a WoW. LOTRO players are looking for a niche game covering Tolkien's Middle Earth. Although it was a very fun game, I guess they have had it wrong since the beginning. For example, magic stat weapons dropped more often than sea gull poop at a sardine festival. Magic stat weapons should be very rare in Middle Earth. Another example is how small the world was designed. At about mid-level, it only took about an hour to run from one side of the world to the other. Tolkien's Middle Earth took weeks/months to traverse.

Not content to stop there, I also canceled my recently subscribed Sony Station account. EQII was just depressing. I started in the Greater Faydark newbie zone. Daytime in GFay is about as dark as nighttime. I spent day night after night soloing as I couldn't quite sync my hours played with that of my friends playing.

To be honest with myself, if i'm to level anything, it needs to be my Honda del Sol and my home.

For a couple of weekends, I've browsed a few car dealerships to test drive convertibles, hoping it would get me excited about my own. I hadn't driven the spiritual successor of my del Sol yet, the Honday S2000. The Clarksville dealership didn't have one, so on Saturday, I grabbed Steve and we headed to Hopkinsville. They didn't have one either, but while searching, I heard from the passenger seat, "Hey, there's a Honda Motorcycle dealership.". "Sure, let's stop, it won't hurt to look.", I responded.

And then it was love. I fell for a Suzuki V-Strom dual-sport. I'm shocked that this is a dual-sport. The wheel fender and fairing share characteristics with a touring or road bike. I LIKE IT! Tomorrow, I'm headed to my local dealership to test drive and work the numbers.

On Sunday, I had an eye exam, got contacts, sunglasses and ordered a new style of frames. The contacts and sunglasses are for cycling while the frames are for the professional metrosexual at work. They also have Transitions lenses. With insurance, I think it was an excellent deal overall.

Healthcare Funnies

I've been looking through the benefits provided by Cardinal Health. One that I've paid for, but haven't used yet is the eye care benefits. So today I browsed to their website and found a funny/gross word-verification:



Now, as if that wasn't funny enough, I check out the prices for Lasik and this gets good. They offer a 1 year satisfaction guarantee as an option! WHOA! What happens at the end of the year?!? Do I go blind?!? Not only that, but notice that the "free" lifetime guarantee option will cost you an additional $700! ... For the "free" lifetime guarantee! I guess the budget conscious person (the one with little health consciousness) could buy one eye at 1 year satisfaction and the other eye at lifetime. That way you hedge your bet and spread out the risk.



Now wait, funny aside, this is one of those cases where we should protect consumers from themselves. A 1 year guarantee shouldn't even be a consideration lol. Of course, consumers should also be protected from the cheap (and I don't mean in-expensive) flea-market crap that WalMart sells.

Tenthousandaire

At the end of this month, I will have put away $10,000 in cash savings. Thank you, Thank you. I attribute my success to the teachings of Jacob H. And my job. And the job-related expenses.

I have the money split into two savings accounts, one online and the other brick-and-mortar. Which lets me see how badly brick-and-mortar banks treat their customers. I have twice as much money in my brick-and-mortar savings as my online, but the brick-and-mortar savings earned less than six times what the online savings earned. Let's read that again. If I multiplied the interested paid in the brick-and-mortar by 6, it would still be less than that earned by 1/2 of that money in an online savings account. Bye-bye brick-and-mortar.

Oooo, pretty..

If you ever rebuild an engine, buy (or steal) the dealership's service manual. Here are a couple sample pages:

Green & Cool

This month's Popular Science feature was green energy. Here are some cool technologies to keep an eye on:

Jellyfish Wind ($400) - 3 foot tall, non-intrusive, personal wind tower that plugs into a wall socket. It generates up to 40 Kilowatts per month. That would be 10% of my monthly power. If I conserve, it could be more. http://www.clariantechnologies.com/main/page_plugin_wind_power.html

Solar-Panel Windows - Huh, translucent solar panels, that can be frosted or turned into a light panel electronically. Neat. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20081210006113&newsLang=en

Campsite Solar Generator ($400) - We must have one. http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3151823&bhcd2=1239384772

Clearing the Cobwebs

Since my IRL BFFs are taking a family vacation, I've had the time to do real physical labor. Biking, Grilling, Movies, Parties and Road-Trips turn out to be my KRYPTONITE. I've discovered something about work. Doing work that is not enjoyable and is physical is very therapeutic. Sure, I work, and although it's labor, I am a knowledge worker which very, very rarely requires any physical exertion. Sure, I bike, and that is physical labor that requires exertion, but it is enjoyable. There is a guilty pleasure associated with it. When you complete physical labor that is not enjoyable, there is a sweet pleasure at completion that has you looking for more.

As this post does have a theme, I've footnoted all the interesting things that happened that don't play into the theme.

It started with easy work on Friday cutting my lawn.

Saturday, I had to take my truck in for it's 30k service(1). Before-hand, I stopped by Advanced Auto and AutoZone to order the rebuild kit for my Honda del Sol(2,3). While waiting on the truck, I test drove a Pontiac Solstice(4).

I had to go to Mom's house next to cut her lawn, but found that someone she hired to cut limbs off a willow tree 3 weeks ago hadn't return to clean up the mess. I had to go buy an axe to finish the job and haul the limbs. It took me about 20 minutes of work before I finally learned how to swing an axe safely and effectively. Six hacked willow branches and two landfill trips later, I was finally able to start cutting her lawn.

Sunday I woke up energized from all the physical labor! I trimmed my bushes first thing and sawed three lower limbs off of my front yard Charlie-Brown tree(5). Then I purchased a bristol brush, telescoping pole and some house wash. I considered buying a pressure washer, but that turned out to really be overkill for a house my size. It was the right decision as it took very little effort to brush the mildew from the siding. I started measuring for a planting bed, but then the clouds moved in.

I'm still energized, which is a good thing because my garage has to be cleared to start work on my little red sports car.

Clearing my to-do list has really focused and cleared my mind. So literally and figuratively, I've found that I'm clearning the cobwebs from both my surroundings and my mind.

(1) - I got a quote from Nissan 3 weeks ago at $479 so I was shocked when the bill came to $592! I questioned it and they said, "Whoops! We made a mistake.". Now let's think about this. If I hadn't known that the service would cost me $479 beforehand, I wouldn't have questioned the $592 cost. Which made me wonder...how often does this happen? I'm going to submit a BBB report on this.

(2) - While emailing a friend, I challenged myself to rebuild the engine and clutch before the start of Jazz on the Lawn on May 9th.

(3) - While waiting for my truck, I scanned the Honda Certified Service Manual. It's amazing! 2,000 pages of complete blow-outs of each engine component, specs (torque, tolerances) and step-by-step instructions on disassembly.

(4) - It has a heavier feel than my del Sol. It also has a 3 feet by 10 inch trunk... I prefer having my nimble two-seater over a roadster. To be sure, I stopped by Saturn to look at the Saturn Sky. It's the exact same body style, but when I mentioned this to the salesman, he said "No, they are completely different.". As this pissed me off, I started pointing all the details on the car of how he was wrong. And then I asked about the trunk size where he confessed they were the same.

(5) - Cutting the bushes into ornamental umbrellas, while anesthetically pleasing, has turned the rest of the plant into a MONSTER. I guess all of the water, nutrients and energy that was going to the lower branches is now redirected to the top. I'm hoping to replicate the effect on my Charlie-Brown tree.

Life Lesson #2

Never gchat with Larry when you want to level something. You will purchase and subscribe to many more games that you can play.

Yep folks, I am once again a SOE Station Access member. Any other takers? We are starting low level and will work our way up through the dungeons of the Shattered Lands.

(and with that I have broken my monthly posting record)

Hold on America! It's time!

The Dow was up 7.73% this month. That is the largest increase for a 1 month period over the last 6 years. Your rewards for investing during the low period shall be reaped. Hold on or you may get whiplash from watching your 401k's!

I should be a-okie-dokie

I like budgeting. In as much that I usually keep a minimum 6 month projected budget. In reviewing it due to recent events, I found that I would be alright if I lost my job. I currently have 6 months of cash-on-hand reserves and another 6 months of investment assets. That's if I pay the minimum of everything on-time. Even after the year, I still have 90 days to get my stuff in order before banks get possessive. How did I get here?

Like dieting, no single budget is going to work for everyone (which is why there is such a market for all those books and seminars), but I have found a way to become a millionaire over time. The cornerstone principle is realizing that the experts have it bass-ackwards. Stay with me now; they tell you that you must pay off your debt before saving for your retirement. But how many people have the discipline to actually do this? How many of us sprint towards having zero debt for 1 or 2 months before falling back for another year? It is extremely difficult to escape the draw of debt. Debt is sold to us on TV and on billboards. Debt has become a solid pillar in our economy. So now, we are always chasing zero balance AND since we never get there we never start saving for retirement. Or maybe you do get to zero for a few months and then decide to buy a shiny, new, 2007 Nissan Frontier truck with your newfound cash.

So the plan that has worked for me for years is to accept that I have debt and to start saving to be a millionaire at retirement...RIGHT NOW. First thing. Open an online-only savings account and get $1,000 in it. This is your cushion and does wonders for your finanical peace of mind. Just having $1,000 in savings makes a huge psychological difference. Why an online account? If your savings is at the same brick & mortar bank as your checking account, transfers between the two are immediate, as quick as a mouse click, instantaneous. See that new iPhone...Hmm, I do have $1,000 in savings...WHERE'S THE INTERNETZ?!? Transfers between online and brick & morter banks can take days and gives you time to evalute whether you want to have your money in bank limbo.
Next, work your way up to $400+ per month (start at $100/month and work up) in investments and make it AUTOMATIC so that you don't see or think about it. It is also important that you build your savings account. Get enough for 1 month, then 2 months and on to 3 months as soon as possible. What's left, take care of your shelter/food needs and then spend what's left on your debts.

One side-effect of this is that I stopped using debt because I knew those balances were not dwindling quickly anymore.

EDIT: A second side-effect of this is you can plan to take out large portions (but less than 50%) of your savings at regular intervals to pay off & close huge chunks of debt while still being protected by your left-over savings.

The Layoffs Begin

I got up at 7:59 am to discover we had an 8 am emergency conference call. I made it in just under the wire to hear that one of our team was being lay'ed off. An Engineer in Florida, in addition to 800 other employees across the organization, were cut today. All morning, familiar names have been coming across email with "Today is my last day. It's been fun. I will miss you all.".

How I still have a job as the new guy is beyond me. A vastly experienced Specialist (the counterpart to an Engineer) was cut from TN and I suspect an entire level of Implementation Management. I talked with my boss and he tells me that my job is not in danger. He even encouraged me to take my vacation. My fear is that this is a company PR line. Regardless, the financially responsible thing for me to do now is to keep all of the cash I have saved for flight training in the bank. It was a fortunate confluence of events (discovery of and aggressive savings for my Sport Pilot License, scheduling conflicts and delays, tax refund and vehicle overpayment) that got me into a good financial position if I am next to be let go.

And if I am kept on through the tough times, then it all works out. Next year, I'll have enough money to train locally for a full pilot license with the ability to take more than 1 passenger and to fly at night time...maybe even with dual engine and instrument ratings...why stop there! Let's go Commercial!

You know what I'm doing tonight..I'm relaxing for the first time in 4 months and leveling something..anything..in some MMO!