There will be rain, and

To update things slightly on the ride-to-work front:

I have ridden to work every Monday and every Friday this school year.

I have ridden home from work every Monday.

On two Fridays The Wife has picked me up.

• She was headed out of town, and had to meet friends at a rendezvous, and I had to take the car and the Corbchops.
• She and the Corbchops came to school for Halloween and…well…they were already there.

It has rained on me. Hard.

I have decided not to bomb down Alabama hill in the rain and dark.

• No one can see me, even with my super-power light, when the rain is streaking their side window.
  • Because they’re not expecting a bicycle.
  • Because they’re not looking hard enough.
  • Because goddamnyoustupidflippingdumbass.
  • Because I know better.
  • Because I can’t stop very fast when it’s rainy.

I will still bomb down Alabama hill when it is dry and dark.

One of my favorite riding pastimes is seeing how far away a sign can reflect my super-power light.

• The answer is “Far.”

My riding buddy for Fridays, MKMM, is not very into riding in the hard rain.

It is dark now in the morning. Soon it will be dark when I get home.

I feel strong.

• Very strong, when I power up hills!
• When I treat them like speed bumps!
• When I zip!
• When I zoom!

I do not mind riding just twice a week.

Toy Story & Toy Story 2 in 3D

The glory of the big screen is such that when you have a chance to see the great movies of all time, or the important movies of your life, in a theater, you must. One never knows when they will return.

So I have seen on the big screen (after their initial release) some 15 or so Alfred Hitchock movies, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, Lawrence of Arabia, 2001, Bottle Rocket, The Third Man, Raging Bull, A Christmas Story, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Exorcist, A Hard Day’s Night, All About Eve, Sunset Blvd., Nosferatu, Blood Simple, and probably some others I can’t remember. It’s great to have these at home, to watch whenever, but there’s nothing like that theater experience.

So Toy Story and Toy Story 2. The first introduced us to the often-heralded-by-me glory of Pixar. The second is certainly among my favorite movies. So I had to go see them, even if it meant going by myself (which it did, but mostly just due to logistics).

I don’t need to tell you about the quality of these films. So instead, let’s just talk about 3D.

I don’t think I like 3D that much. It cost me $3.50 more, which was annoying, but maybe not that bad since I got to see two movies. And I was pleased that Pixar did not attempt any gimmicky 3D effects, sprawling way out into the audience. The 3D was not that overly noticeable, really, except for moments where there was a real depth to the images, where something in the foreground definitely looked in front of the images in the background. This was nice, but not necessary for me.

Three hours with 3D glasses made my eyes hurt and gave me a slight headache.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned. I like my movies 2-D. I’ll take life in 3D and film the way I’m used to seeing it. New movies made in 3D will have gimmicky moments. I’m not that interested.

Will technology leave me behind? Am I slipping out of the target demographic? What’s a guy to do?

Wait and see.

‘Nuff said.

Home->Silver Lake->Home

I. Prologue

Since our first trip, I’ve been itching for another weekend bike tour with my old good friend Mark. We were planning for May again, and then planning for summer, and then all of a sudden all those times had passed, and here we were in October. But The Wife and the Corbchops are out of state, and the timing is right, and the weather’s never too bad in the middle of October, right?

II. Positivity can change weather patterns

I’d been compulsively checking the weather all week, seeing an unpromising daily/hourly shift between 100% and 80% chance of rain Saturday, and 30-60% on Sunday. Which is fine. I’ve got rain pants, after all.

Was it good or bad that I didn’t see this until I got back?

Special Weather Statement – Western Whatcom County

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON…

A RATHER STRONG EARLY FALL COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP NORTHEAST ACROSS WESTERN WASHINGTON LATE THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE FRONT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A FEW THUNDERSTORMS.

BEHIND THE FRONT…THE AIR MASS WILL BECOME UNSTABLE AS COOLER AIR MOVES IN ALOFT MAKING THE REGION RIPE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS. THIS INSTABILITY WILL BE COMBINED WITH STRONG WIND SHEAR IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THAT COMBINATION BRINGS ABOUT THE POTENTIAL FOR ROTATION TO DEVELOP IN ANY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

ALTHOUGH TORNADOES ARE RARE IN WESTERN WASHINGTON…WHEN WE DO GET THEM IT IS NORMALLY UNDER SITUATIONS SIMILAR TO THIS WHEN THEY HAPPEN…BUT EVERYTHING HAS TO COME TOGETHER JUST RIGHT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL BE MONITORING THE SITUATION CLOSELY THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AND WILL ISSUE STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS AS NEEDED. WE ARE ACTIVATING THE SKYWARN SPOTTER NETWORK AT THIS TIME FOR THE POTENTIAL AFTERNOON CONVECTION AND ARE ASKING FOR CALLS RELATED TO UNUSUAL CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY.

Tornadoes? Seriously?

Commute, commuted

Logistics and life have changed my bike commute schedule as this new school year rolled ’round. The Corbchops has a nanny, and The Wife and I assigned ourselves a drop off and pick up schedule that maximizes Corbtime. Which, in turn, prevents me from riding to school on nanny days.

But The Wife works only three days a week. So while it pales compared to last year’s challenge, do indeed challenge myself once more: Two days a week, every week, all school year long.

So far I have been successful. Two days, every week through September. But it’s not yet dark (maybe next week, though), it’s not yet (that) cold, and it’s not yet raining-without-stopping (I’ve only been rained on once so far). But I have a fancy and bright new light. And warm clothes. And rain gear.

I am confident.

But I’m only writing an update once a month, and no fancy statistics this time. Just the facts, good or bad.

“Then we’re gonna have to ride two days a week. And this idea, I don’t back down from.”