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Twitter Updates for 2008-08-27

Olaf — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Would you like fries with that hamburger? Took a spill on the bike this morning and attempted a base-slide into work. Didn’t work, I’m out! #
I think my pants are damp with lymph fluid – that’s going to suck later when I have to peel them off. #

Road Rash is Like Diaper Rash, but Not as Cute

Olaf — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:21:56 +0000

Carlos brought to my attention his recent exploration of road rash. Oh, Carlos, where can I learn more? Personal experience is often a better teacher than anything else.

Today I took my first big spill on my bicycle. I was very close to work, as it often happens, so I finished up the ride with blood running down my leg. When I got to work and hit the shower, I learned the extent of the damage. In describing this for my right leg, it’s probably easier to talk about the parts that remained undamaged. They’re without noticeable tan, hairy, but otherwise beautiful. Maybe a few lumps and scars from previous accidents. Oh, and rare hamburger meat comes to mind when looking elsewhere.

It’s entirely my fault. I was shooting across a green light with traffic to avoid stopping and losing my pace. The roads are wet from all the rain, so when traffic stopped just after the light, I was unable to follow suit. I touched the front brake to slow me down, but the front tire instantly locked up. Too much pressure, apparently. With that, it was a matter of 1 second before all hope of regaining composure was lost. I flattened out on the road with my bike and slid for an eternity before finally stopping myself with my face…on the curb. The curb is okay and only suffered minor indignities. I actually had time to think about how bad the road rash was going to be while I slid. I was toying with the idea that it may not be so bad because of the wet roads – a true fact, actually. Funny thing about these things is that you don’t really feel the pain until after you stop. I felt heat on my leg from the friction, but that was it. And like a 10-year-old, I jumped up out of the street and yanked my bike up onto the sidewalk as if to pretend nothing happened. I was asked if I was okay and needed a ride, but the adrenaline and shock had me thinking I’d be fine, if only a little scuffed up. I am okay, truly. The rash on my leg hurts pretty bad, but it’s tolerable.

I was able to get it cleaned up pretty well in the shower at work, though I will need to do some scouring at home. The worst part at the moment is that I’m wearing jeans that are slowly getting damp with, presumably, lymph fluid. My buddy, Brandon, is picking up the medical supplies to keep me from sticking to the jeans. I have some additional precautions to take while riding in the rain, but I didn’t really learn how to avoid the lock-up problem. Brandon says disc brakes are better for “modulating” to avoid the lock-up. Calipers tend to give you all or nothing, which is certainly what it felt like today. On a positive note, I’ve now ridden nearly 350 miles commuting.

Twitter Updates for 2008-08-18

Olaf — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:59:59 +0000

@HamWithCam With the exception of the beach part, that sounds like a normal day using bike panniers. #
Muffin, banana, granola bar, and yogurt. That’s a pretty good breakfast! I normally try for the biscuits and gravy @ work cafeteria. #
Captain’s Wafers, coffee, and almond granola – ready to ride! #

Twitter Updates for 2008-08-15

Olaf — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:59:59 +0000

When riding your bike, you can’t hold your breath long enough after a garbage truck passes you. #
@brianb What’s up with the extra XBOX’s? I only have an old-school XBOX. #
@mdotadotx I missed that! That’s good to hear after their upset the other night. #
@HamWithCam Phelps is going to melt down his gold medals and make a kick-ass dental grill after the Olympics. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-08-11

Olaf — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:59:59 +0000

@mcottmeyer You missed a good time digging post holes at my house! Maybe next time. #
@brianb You’ll go blind playing with that thing. #
@HamWithCam Their balance bar routine was stunning – better than the Chinese scores. We’ll see if it helps their floor scores. #
67°F this morning. That makes for a chilly bike ride when you’re used to 80°F. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-08-09

Olaf — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Holy moley! You can’t go wrong with 2008 Tai Chi masters in a sychronized routine!!! #
Is it just funny to me that they have “tremendous national pride” having just gotten some astronauts in space a couple of years ago? #
I’ll bet the Bejing Olympics fireworks blow Disney World away! #
…they sure do! #
The Central African Republic is in central Africa. It’s a Republic. #
Lovin’ the show, but I’m getting pretty tired. Time for bed! #
Speaking of Olympic events, I’ve now clocked 210 miles on my bike since I began the work commute. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-08-07

Olaf — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:59:59 +0000

@yellowjeepgirl I would be happy to stow it in my waterproof panniers – I need to fill them to look extra useful. #
@lunitius The bike computer went to ’00°’ on my ride home yesterday. I thought it was done there, but it got up to 03°. #
@DinoRubble If you figure out a way to cheat the system, I wouldn’t tell anyone! #
It’s raining pretty consistently now. It was a hard rain at first, now a nice drizzle that hopefully will keep going… #
Deleted my MySpace account. Worthless. #

Twitter Updates for 2008-08-06

Olaf — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:59:59 +0000

@DinoRubble If my design scores high enough in the 7 days it has to be voted on, it will get printed. #
@HamWithCam At least it wasn’t a full-blown ninja warrior assasination attempt. Those are very disruptive to a night’s sleep! #
Bleh. PHP makes me forget what I once knew in JavaScript! #
Hurray! Bike panniers have been ordered. No more loaded backpack bike trips for me! #

Twitter Updates for 2008-07-23

Olaf — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:59:59 +0000

Home with the animals. The dog and one cat are sacked on the bed with me. #
I had received the new iHome Zune clock radio gadget when I arrived home today. We’ll see if *that* will wake me. #
First day back in the office. I biked in, but only half my normal distance. Still exhausted after vacation. #
A co-worker told me about “One Day as a Lion” today. They’re Beastie Boys meet White Stripes. #

Top 5: Things You Wanted to Know About Me

Olaf — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:41:50 +0000

The meme is apparently now a lost word; used only by uncool dads and hipless (as in the lack of being hip) half-wits. I’m getting on in years, relatively speaking, and am inclined to use such lingo as to embarrass those who would be so easily offended.

For lack of better alternatives, I bring to you the current meme on my plate. Young whipper-snappers may be unfamiliar with this word, but it is essentially an Internet chain-letter. Spazzmanda passed this on to me from her blog, where she refers to such activities as “tagging.” I always thought that was a cultural art of defacement by way of graffiti, but what does an old fart like me know.

The Rules: Rules are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people and posts their names. Then the player goes to each of the “named” people’s blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. If you’ve been tagged, you do the same, letting the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer. Your answer, of course, is the answer to the following questions. Here we go!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? One decade ago I was two months from my 2nd wedding anniversary with my lovely wife, Amy. We had no children, though we had pets. We were in our first year at our first house together (and current house). Amy was still in school at North Georgia College and State University (though it may not have been a State University at the time), and I was working for…Whittman-Hart, perhaps. I was a consultant beginning to cut my teeth on information systems security. It would be my primary job and objective for the next several years. I registered gradin.com for the first time – it was a standard 2-year registration and cost me $70.00 (I think my last registration was $8.95 for a year). I was finally able to access my awesome Mindspring account web space using my rocking X2 US Robotics Sportster (externel) modem via www.gradin.com. I was working in Allaire’s Cold Fusion, though I couldn’t afford a license for the server to host my own site using their technology. I used Allaire’s Homesite as my primary editor with Photoshop and Fractal Painter as my graphics packages. I think I was trying to get onto Bellsouth’s xDSL beta program, but with no luck due to my distance from the carrier. I was, however, involved with Wachovia’s beta online account access. It was a glorified BBS – awesome!

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today? I’ve got ESX hosts to convert to 3.5i, installable. SAN storage to attach, and VMs to migrate both through traditional migrations, as well as the new and improved Storage VMotion. I also have some process proposal documentation to get done for the collected efforts of the Norcross lab engineering team, as well as that of our Hillsboro office. I hope to get some ping-pong in at lunch, ride my bike 10 miles back to my car, and then facilitate a drum circle for 100 people in northeast Georgia with some friends.

3. Snacks I enjoy: Have you tried my nuts? They’re salty and dimensionally variant. I enjoy the texture especially, though others are just happy I am able to share – there’s more than enough for everyone to enjoy! I also like beef jerky and granola bars.

4. Places I’ve lived: I’ve had a good spread in my life, though as of late my homestead has been very static. I began in Ocean Springs, MI; moved to Plano, TX, and then jumped to San Diego, CA shortly thereafter. We moved a couple of times there, but finally moved out the state to Tuscon, AZ. From there, we departed for Waycross, GA, and then onto Gainesville, GA where I live now. I’ve moved several times throughout both of these places in Georgia, and I’ve been here the longest amount of time so far.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: This is actually the title of a post I’ve been working on for a while now. It’s a recurring theme throughout our decade+ of marriage, and one that will most likely continue to develop and mature in time. The most boring thing I think of from our list is to pay-off debt and acquire some commercial real estate to lease. There’s money accumulation prospects in that, so we would do well to set ourselves for the inevitable loss of said billions through the frivolous purchases from our list. There are two more intriguing opportunities: 1) Develop a waterfront district on Lake Lanier – a boardwalk with shops and dining – that aids in the lake’s restoration efforts, as well as providing some awareness about the lake’s ecosystem. 2) Convert an old mill on the outskirts of town into a turn-of-the-century arts and crafts guild. History tells us that these guilds are mere congregations of passionate people in the arts and crafts and generally have no ability to sustain themselves financially.

5 “Tagged”