Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?

[ when the wind begins to swoon ]
[ Sunday, October 4th, 6:29pm ]

matt and kim - dash after dashI had jury duty summons a couple weeks ago. I spent about 2 days watching them select a jury of 12 plus 2 alternates. I fortunately didn't get picked because it was estimated to be about a month long trial-- an asbestos case.

I got a check in the mail from the city for compensation: $30 for my time plus $5 for transportation.

Discuss.

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[ Tired and wired we ruin too easy ]
[ Thursday, September 17th, 9:58pm ]

the national - apartment storyA few months back, I opened a donor advised fund through Fidelity Charitable Gift. It seemed to make more sense than trying to do lots of individual donations in December. It also has the side benefit that I can pre-donate money and that money slowly grows. For example, it's already gained over 5% since I made the initial investment.

I made my first donation from the fund to Creative Commons. They sent me a reminder email today so I figured I'd try out the fund.

The name of my fund is the Green Bicycle Fund.

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[ and he abandoned his dreams so she could go to sleep ]
[ Thursday, September 17th, 9:53pm ]

matt and kim - frankAs mentioned elsewhere, I'm going to be at UIUC in about a month. Let me know if you're around and we'll meet up. Katherine's also coming, so if you've never met her, now's your chance. I also need a ride to/from the airport because I don't want to rent a car, but I can figure that out later if needed.

I keep thinking that I should post more, but I never seem to be motivated enough. Tonight, I'm going to try to change that.

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[ I never wash my pants. I like to keep the night on them. ]
[ Wednesday, October 29th, 12:16am ]

I watched Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist last week and liked it. It also has an awesome soundtrack.

I have learned how to skid stop on my bike. I'm quickly wearing out my rear tire and have ordered a new one for backup. Since my bike has smaller 650cc tires, tires are hard to find at most bike stores. I have no plans of removing my front brake-- it's still useful for stopping quickly.

Starting tomorrow, I'll be working out of the San Francisco office about 4 days a week. The shortened commute (which will be by bike on non-rainy days) will give me an extra 60-90 minutes a day.

I tried out wesabe for tracking my spending habits, but have switched to just using bank of america's "my portfolio" feature to track spending. It doesn't have as many features as wesabe (and I hear mint.com is even better), but I trust them more with my financial data. I spend less money on eating out than I thought I did.

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[ 30 Rock and NewsRadio ]
[ Sunday, September 28th, 12:25pm ]

I've just started watching 30 Rock. I find that it's like a more modern version of NewsRadio. Both have rich eccentric owners. Both have super nerdy characters. Both have prima donna show hosts.

Discuss.

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[ Google Chrome ]
[ Tuesday, September 2nd, 12:56pm ]

We're live!

Google Chrome

I'm going to try to get back in the habit of blogging over at ponderer.org. There's lots of technical stuff to talk about as we work towards a linux version.

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[ we'll be alright / we have our looks and perfume ]
[ Sunday, May 18th, 10:15am ]

the national - apartment story

As dr_nuk mentioned, Paris has a bike sharing system. It appears to be used quite extensively as I would guess that about 1/3 people on bikes seem to be riding one of these bikes. In general there are a lot of bicycles, vespas, and motorcycles on the street-- many more than what I see in SF. Of the bicycles I see, I would guess that about half are cruisers and half are hybrid bikes. I've seen only two fixies and only a couple road bicycles, which seems weird to me considering the popularity of the Tour de France. Maybe people just don't ride road bikes in the city?

The other really strange thing is that no one on a bicycle is wearing a helmet! Given how crazy the traffic is here (not all the streets have lanes painted on them, motorcycles and scooters regularly get in the lanes headed in the opposite direction to get around cars), I find that quite surprising. Maybe it's a function of socialized medicine?

Obligatory plug: The Aids/LifeCycle starts in two weeks! Get in those last donations before I start the ride from SF to LA.

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[ I wondered how fast is light speed ]
[ Sunday, May 11th, 9:08pm ]

matt and kim - lightspeedYesterday, I rode in my first >80mi ride to Point Reyes and the Cheese factory. It actually wasn't too bad and I don't feel that sore today. I think that means I'll be in decent shape for the actual ride.

There are only 3 weeks left before the ride. I'm actually going on vacation to Paris this Wednesday and losing a week of training time (the vacation was scheduled before I signed up for the ride), but I don't think I'll lose too much fitness during that time.

Also, suggestions for Paris welcome.

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