apple juice

I’m not sure what prompted looking through my archives this evening, but I realized… this blog is nearly 10 years old!

Hard to believe that I’ve kept this thing going for that long. It started out as a place to post pictures of our puppy, Yeti, and quickly turned in to my little soapbox on the war in Iraq.

Since I don’t have quite as much time alone with my thoughts these days, I haven’t been able to put the same effort in to writing as I would like. Not that there aren’t issues to discuss…

A couple little notes from the archives: I recently objected to some friends saying some harsh things online about President Obama. I had (in my mind) thought that there was no way I had resorted to any sort of childish name calling of President Bush in my online postings. It didn’t take me long to find an example… sorry about that.

I called an Obama presidency on July 27, 2004. I thought I was on record earlier, but that must have been a face to face conversation with someone following a trip to Chicago in 2003…

Well, if you all keep reading, I’ll keep writing, and even if you stop, I’ll still be here.

I’ve made a goal for this school year: to bike to work on Mondays. All year.

So, before the year actually gets underway, the weather today presented a bit of an opportunity in the form of a rainstorm. Let’s try out these fenders! Does this rain jacket actually hold up? Should I bike in these shoes in the rain? Will I get drenched? Am I insane?

The answers to those questions are presented below in list form:

1. No
2. No
3. Yes
4. Not totally.

Luckily wet jeans, socks and shoes are only temporary. Character lasts a lifetime.

How was the actual ride?

Well, I was cruising faster than normal due to the reduced traffic on my preferred bikeways. I did pass one other gentleman who was seemingly oblivious to the deluge. He was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, no helmet, and a european satchel slung over his shoulder.

Being outside in the rain on a bike sounds (aurally) amazing.

The branches that I typically will pass with a comfortable whisper collided with my helmet like I imagine salmon falling from the sky might sound as they hit the pavement. (Wet, slappy)

The fenders were amazing, not a lick of spray coming from below. My lights were flashing and generally making me look like a Christmas tree on wheels, so that was also a positive.

15 minutes door to door, and a big smile on my face when I arrived. (To the laughter of fellow employees)

Things to remember for next time:

Rain pants.

Rain boots.

sonja: It’s time for bed, emilia.

emilia: Let’s have a family snug-fest!

me: is that where we all snuggle?

emilia: mmm, snugglish!

guilty for loving burgers. I wish the costs were upfront at the register. I’m telling you, a carbon tax is a good idea. Free markets rely on good information, and when you don’t have the full story when you make your decisions at the store – we make “sub-optimal” decisions.

Great article in Slate magazine about the demand for oil in developing countries. What I always find ironic about the “drill, baby, drill” nonsense is that it basically won’t work to lower our energy costs. If a higher price will be paid for the gas outside of the US – that’s where it will go.

I read elsewhere that the natural gas hoopla is the same situation. That natural gas will come out of the ground (fracked or otherwise) and head straight overseas if someone is willing to pay more.

I’m 100% behind one of the conclusions of this article: raise the gas tax. It will drive our consumption down and prepare our infrastructure for the near future where gas is likely to be a LOT more expensive anyway.

I’d tune up those bikes and move to the city if I were you…

The New Gas Guzzlers

In the real world, nothing magical will occur when the lines between rich-world and developing-world oil consumption cross in the near future. But the shift is emblematic of a changed reality that hasn’t yet been fully processed by Americans. We’re used to living in a world where rich countries were the whole ballgame and the American economy was so much bigger than Germany’s or Japan’s that we could afford to treat the global economy and the American one as largely coextensive. Those days are gone. In the near future, trends in global commodity prices—most of all the highly variable price of gasoline—are more likely to be driven by policy changes in Asia than in the United States, making America’s perennial game of political whining about the price of gasoline even more ridiculous than usual.

we received this report from daycare a couple days ago:

Emi fell right to sleep during rest time this afternoon! I let her nap from 1:15 – 1:45. She was less than thrilled when I woke her – and when I asked if she wanted to color she said, “No. I just want to listen to Bon Iver and not talk to anyone!” #cutesthipsterever

while I applaud her choice of music, I’m sensing a moody, brooding teenager phase coming on…

By the way, Senna is a great movie that you should watch.

Here is a video of Formula One great Ayrton Senna demonstrating the techique in a Honda NSX. You’ll note he’s wearing a button-down shirt, dress pants, Italian loafers, and no helmet while burying the speedometer on his way around the track.

(Via kottke.org.)