I love my folding bike, as it can come with me whenever I travel and fits into the back of just about any car or truck without a rack. But what if you took the folding bike ethos further? What if you took your bike and make it convertible into a carrier bike and a stroller? Perfect for the mom-on-the-go? Turns out someone already did!
It has been a strange couple of weeks for weight-loss. Last week, I got quite sick with a high fever, and was not able to do pretty much any cycling. Just sleeping over and over. Then, we hit my lowest points of the year, the period from Halloween to November 2 (the anniversary of my father's death). With the health issues and the emotional issues, I decided to make the weekend into "free days" where I ate what I wanted. I spiked up quite a bit, but also came back down quickly. I am feeling better now, but am still easily tired so have not gotten back on the bike.
Hopefully, I can get back on two wheels shortly. I have Veterans Day off on Wednesday, so I may try to do a ride then. Here's hoping!
One week from tomorrow, all landline or wireless phone calls made in the Constitution State will require 10 digits (i.e. the area code plus the phone number). Until now, CT has survived without going to 10-digit-dialing, so a large number of local organizations do not include area codes in their advertising or business cards. Now is the time to update your address book and speed dialers!
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-10-digit-dialing-notice,0,6343485.story
Don't wait until next Saturday, or you may find yourself unable to make that important phone call!
When Barack Obama campaigned, a major portion of his "change in Washington" rhetoric centered around the posting of Bills online prior to passage, to give Congress and citizens time to read and analyze it before a vote. It was a GREAT idea that was long overdue, especially in the Age of the Internet where distribution costs are nil. Speaker Pelosi went along with the idea, but has consistently gone back on it. Now, she has broken an EXPLICIT pledge to post the Health Care Bill for 24 hours before the vote.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/11/pelosi_breaks_pledge_to_put_he.asp
Let me be the first to say it. If there is a "Contract With America" document created for the 2012 election - a list of promises that Republican candidates will sign onto so voters KNOW what they are getting - number 1 on the list should be to make it LAW for bills to be posted for 24 to 72 hours before a vote (exceptions to be made for emergency measures like disaster relief and declaring war). It is sad that one of the few ideas I could support the president on has proven to be the same idea that has been cast aside most often.
Ever since I was a child, I wondered why there were different bikes for boys versus girls. While the genders are certainly built differently, there didn't seem to be anything in our biologies that required a different design for pedal-powered transportation. Well, the Straight Dope has the answer! (Caution to those of a nervous disposition - since we are talking about gender differences, the article discusses specific anatomical differences that could be - ahem - "impacted" by the differing designs.)
This is insane and hopefully will torpedo the bill entirely. The Democratic leadership has put a section into their health care bill which requires ALL PUBLIC OPTION ENROLLEES TO BE CHARGED TO FUND ABORTIONS. This means even if you are anti-abortion and choose a plan which does not cover the procedure, your money is being used to abort the fetuses of others.
http://republicanleader.house.gov/blog/?p=666
If this passes it will require that I opt out of any government-run insurance option for the sake of my conscience. Thanks a lot. This kind of thing is what has made it more and more difficult for me to ever cross party lines to support any Democrat, even though in many ways I am a moderate.
The Senate has passed a bill that will extend jobless benefits for 16 weeks for those whose benefits run out by the end of 2009. For those in states with unemployment rates above 8.5%, those benefits would be extended to 20 weeks. The house has a similar bill that has already passed, so most experts agree that the bills will be reconciled quickly. In the same bill, the first time home buyer tax credit of $8000 was also extended to April 30th of 2010 as well as a new benefit that would give home buyers who have held their existing house for at least 5 years a tax credit of $6500 if they buy home.
Millionaire businessman Ned Lamont will announce Thursday that he is running for Governor of Connecticut. Lamont is best known for wrestling the Democratic Senatorial nomination away from Joe Lieberman in 2006. Lieberman still went on to win as an Independent. If Connecticut trends like Tuesday's Governor races, then Lamont will be too Liberal to be elected.
Be sure to check out today's Shirt.Woot. Definitely a keeper for anyone who loves life on two wheels! (Remember, Woot Shirts are available for one day only. If you miss it on 11/5/2009, click on the image to below instead to see what all the excitement was about.)
The rebooted V premiered last night to, frankly, astounding numbers. 14.3 million viewers, and a 5.2 rating in the demo were certainly beyond what anyone was expecting. Even ABC had not dared to dream that big. The marketing campaign was certainly huge, I haven't been able to read a magazine in the past month without ads on every few pages. There have even been multiple V adds on any given single website in the past week. The marketing was massive, and it brought out a lot of viewers.
I was looking forward to V, remembering the terrifying nature of the first mini-series as a kid. Muse had never seen the original and so had few preconceived notions but was willing to go along for the ride. Sadly, after an hour of the program, we both arrived at the same conclusion: boring, cliche, and tired. Oh so tired. There is nothing in this show that hasn't been done before. And no, I'm not referencing the original. I mean that there is not one idea in this new V that hasn't been done a thousand times in the past 30 years. It came across as if the writers are expecting people to enjoy it simply because it's a remake, and apparently therefore, does not need anything original.
We have pretty spaceships hovering over cities, terrorist cells that are really just Visitors planning our downfall, whiny way-too-pretty boy kids rebelling against their parents, aliens seeming oh-so-nice just to soften us up before they eat us, etc. Oh, and the priest is already making eyes at the FBI agent like he's ready to renounce his vows after knowing her for all of a half an hour. And the "best" bad line of the night goes to Scott Wolf who gets to ask Anna, the leader of the Visitors, "Are there any ugly Visitors? You're all so beautiful." Ack! I think I just lost my dinner. I get the meaning, but it was about as well executed as a George Lucas line.
Then add on that the whole hour seemed so rushed. I was astounded at how much they gave away already. So many devices that should have come into play later, and they're already revealed. Then of course, there is the closing "season preview" which totally destroyed any sense of mystery or suspense.
The rumors are that this show has been beset with production problems from the start. There are only four episodes ready to launch (there were unknown factors that shut filming down at least twice) and ABC has already announced that after those four, the show will be on hiatus for at least 4 months.
The show might maintain an audience, but sadly I expect to see a huge drop in the coming weeks. I'm as avid a sci-fi watcher as you can find, and even I have no excitement left in me to watch this show. Will I? For the time being, the recorded version so we can get through it faster without commercials. But this rebooting of V seems to be so much like the visitors. Something ugly and not at all good hiding just beneath a pretty exterior.
I'm curious if any of our readers/posters watched the premier and if so, what your thoughts were.
In what is sure to be a surprise onto the White House, Democrats are now admitting that no Health Care Reform Bill will be passed or signed this year.
http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=8987651&pid=4380645
While President Obama has been publicly confident about the bill, the myriad of problems to be worked through have been daunting for legislators and the public. The fact is that we are looking to overhaul a problem 50 years in the making, and it will take time to pick and choose which parts to keep and which to throw out, especially since the Democratic Leadership has made it clear they have no interest in smaller bills which address only select parts of the problem.
I took up the bicycle purely as a way to lose weight, when I realized it was out of control. But for many, there is not as obvious a trigger for action as the number on the scale. A new study gives us a really good number to get us onto a bike: 60% increased survival rate for those who do light exercise. The increase was seen by those who did only 50 minutes of walking or bicycling three-times-a-week, saw huge gains in their survival rate. This was especially pronounced for those under high stress from their jobs or other life circumstances.
Here is a true story posted by someone on Neal Bortz' website in a comment section of one of his posts.
"A few years ago, I pulled into a 7-11 and a car was running in the parking lot. A guy was getting into it and I told him that he was taking a big risk doing that. He said, "I hear ya" and drove off. I went in to get my caffeine jolt and a guy comes running in saying his car had been stolen. I'd been speaking to the car thief.
I live in MD and it is against the law to keep a car running unattended. The guy not only lost his car, but was cited by the responding officer."
Too Funny.
A key problem facing cyclists as we try to expand our numbers is how to share the road with automobile-drivers. Communities around the country are struggling to determine the best way to encourage life on 2 wheels, without making it less safe for those involved. Some advocate dedicated bike paths and "bikeways" to keep confrontation between bikes and cars to a minimum, while others believe that "claiming the road" as equals is the best way to promote equal treatment. Studies show the more people biking, the safer the ride is, as motorists become used to dealing with cyclists and thus are more tolerant. Yet, cities seeing fewer accidents with a rising number of cyclists are also seeing a rising severity of injuries.
