Blogging, why?

My girlfriend doesn't like my blog. Perhaps it is useless, and not a good investment of time.

I hope to actually make this a useful blog for at least something. hmmm.... vague. I should come up with a blog mission statement. Perhaps even a blog vision. I'll mull this over.

For now, this will have to do. I hope to at least reach the tiny green circle of useful blogs.

otherwise, check out the great viral humor of graphjam: http://graphjam.com/2009/05/22/song-chart-memes-blogs/

Update to Motivation and Julie Moss Ironman

Update! Bob Bennitt spoke in Atlanta this week and I was able to catch the presentation.  

Short Bio: Babbitt completed his first Ironman back before the earth cooled, in February of 1980. How big was the Ironman back then? Only 108 idiots were entered that year and Babbitt completed the race on a $75 police auction bike that had been charred in a fire. He raced with panniers on said bike with a tent and a sleeping bag because he didn't know you were supposed to do the whole thing in one day, plus he had a support crew that provided him with the best in the world of nutrition- Big Mac, fries and a coke plus a snow cone. He also is the only athlete in Ironman history to complete the bike ride wearing regular shorts and a belt plus a wool cycling jersey.... in Hawaii.  

Since the Ironman, Babbitt has co-founded Competitor Publishing, a division of The Competitor Group, Inc., which now owns eleven regional fitness publications in 28 major municipalities around the nation with a total monthly circulation of 700,000. He also co-founded the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) which has raised millions of dollars to help disabled athletes stay in the game. He created the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series, which makes its Atlanta contest this Saturday, June 20th at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers. Bob became the 10th inductee of the Ironman Hall of Fame in 2001.  

Bob spoke to the effect that for the first few years, Ironman was just this crazy event that a few people were doing. ABC sports would show Dave Scott jogging across the finish at the end of the days racing.  

It wasn't until Julie Moss, needing so desperately to finish what she had began, being passed as she crawled the last 100 feet of the course was broadcast that Ironman and triathlon exploded. People sought inspiration in what could motivate somebody to keep going when their body had completely given out. That is the spirit of Ironman and possibly a key to human condition.

ALL CAPS DOES NOT MAKE IT BETTER

Image via Wikipedia

BE CAREFUL WHEN BUYING BIKES ON CRAIGSLIST

I cannot take credit for this and read it on CL from another city. 


1) Just because your bike was made in Europe doesn't mean you've got a winner. They made a lot of junk, too. 
2) A low end bike that was $97.00 in 1976 is not, magically, worth $400.00 now. 
3) Adult bikes do not have goosenecks. 
4) If the chain is conspicuously rusty and kinked in the picture, nobody is going to fall for your claims of "mint condition." 
5) If you get asked how many speeds it has and do not know nor care, pull your ad. Immediately. 
6) Telling us that you found it in a barn is not a rationale for overpricing it. 
7) Take OFF the $10 price tag from Goodwill before you take your Craigslist picture and ask $250 for it. 
8) "Light and FAST!" . . . Ok, if you say so. 
9) Not everything with those cooky, curvy handlebars is a race bike. 
10) Neither is a race bike "improved" by flipping those curvy handlebars upside down. 
11) Don't be offended if someone offers you an insulting amount that is far less than you want for your bike - they're just smarter than you. 
12) Don't get ticked off if someone low-balls you when you state "make offer" in your ad. You asked for it. 
13) Tires are tires and wheels are wheels. These terms are not interchangeable. 
14) Breaks should be referred to as "brakes", petles or petals as "pedals". 
15) Your bike was not made by Shimano, Suntour, or Campagnolo. I know you saw that name somewhere on it, but just trust me on this one. 
16) Vintage implies it was worth something when it was new, otherwise it's just OLD. 
17) High tensile steel - yeah, they put a sticker on the bike that says it but I wouldn't be bragging about it. 
18) Go ahead and repost that 10 speed Huffy every week - no one will tire of its charm. If you're willing to endure the humiliation, we'll be there for you until you reach your target market. 
19) ALL CAPS DOES NOT MAKE IT A BETTER BIKE. 
20) Pictures of the LEFT side of the bike aren't worth much of anything, nobody can see the drivetrain. All things considered, perhaps you'd rather want to hide it anyway. 
21) Blurry pictures add a negative symbol to your price tag. 
22) If you steal someone else's photos (not the manufacturer's) from the web and use them to represent your own bike, you are absolute scum. 
23) "Suitable for fixie conversion" doesn't make a POS frame any more valuable. For that matter...WHAT makes it suitable? 
24) If you think your bicycle is worth a four figure sum ($x,xxx), the LEAST you could do is to spell the brand and component names correctly (eg. Trek, not treck; Schwinn, not shwin; Campagnolo, not Campagnola; and Shimano - not shmano, shimono, or shamano) 
25) Include the size of the bicycle! Measured from the center of the cranks (the big sprocket) to the top of the seat tube (before the silver or black post that holds the seat [saddle].) It needs to be in either inches or centimeters. Both if you are nice. 
26) NEXT, Magna, Huffy, Roadmaster, and Murray are NOT highly-respected brands. Get over it. 
27) Taking a nice multispeed road bike that was posted here two days ago for a reasonable price raping it of all good derailleur parts, making it a single speed with a $22 Chinese bmx cog from performancebike.com does not double or triple its value or make it a "race bike" or "fixie". 

Additions from a local CL reader. 

28) There is no such thing as a road mountain bike 
29) Just because you are selling it for a friend doesn't make you an expert if you are not 
30) If you don't list the brand and it is unreadable in the photos, we will assume it is a POS 
31) Research the going price of your bike before posting 
32) Just because it cost a lot 10 years ago when it was brand new and you have barely rode it, doesn't mean it is worth 50% + of new price (see #31) 
33) Just because you bought it within the past year doesn't mean someone is going to pay close to what you paid, especially if the new model years are coming out and yours is now discounted 
34) Don't use terms you do not understand - if it does not have rear suspension, it is not full suspension 
35) Proofread - I have never seen a bike measured in feet but I've seen a lot of 26' bikes posted 
36) If it is a *mart bike and you just paid to have it "tuned up", you probably just wasted your money as the tune up was probably more than the bike is worth 
37) We don't want to call for basic information you should have posted or to have you send us pictures 
38) Don't sell a used helmet unless you really did just buy it, otherwise it may have been crashed and is a safety hazard 

Barrel Man update

From the looks of things the vandal has quite a talent. Perhaps this notoriety can help open opportunities for work more legitimate and profitable.  Like a hacker who then helps the law enforcement catch other criminals - Mr. Joseph Carnevale has limitless potential in traffic safety creation.

Although, his barrel man costing $360 in damages for three barrels reveals overpricing in the construction barrel world.  Hell, oil doesn't even cost $120 a barrel - yet.

N.C. Artist get in trouble for Barrel Man

From: http://nopromiseofsafety.com

I couldn’t get it out of my head. Its that itch, that need to make real an idea that has rolled around in one’s head for days, snowballed itself into a temporary obsession that just has to be satisfied.I arrived in a flash and snatched them up from where they stood on the street. As I threw them into the trunk of the vehicle I had to rough them up some so they would fit. I shoved and beat and mangled them into place and was off before any witnesses knew what had even happened.

Later on that night, they stood huddled in the corner of the room, silent. They looked on while I slowly set out the duct tape and plugged in the power drill. Then I pulled out the switchblade and released the cold metal blade. They would never be the same.

It didn't last long, but commuters in Raleigh, North Carolina were treated to a whimsical display of street art recently, as a 22-year-old NC State student (allegedly) assembled a barrel monster out of bright orange traffic barrels and put it to work directing traffic on a busy public street. Police say Joseph Carnevale is being charged with larceny for stealing and damaging the traffic barrels on May 31 for the purpose of building a statue, and I guess they're right, but it always seems unfair when it's vandalism you actually like.

The lesson learned here is: Don't be so vain to take credit for your work, unless you are willing to pay the price of your pride.  More should follow after Joseph's court appearance on the 21st of July.

Happy Birthday Army

Image by US Army Korea - IMCOM via Flickr

14 JUN 1775 - making this the 234th Birthday of the U.S. Army!

Motivation

Are people inherently lazy?  Does the majority of the population just go with the flow, and take the path of least resistance in life?

Maybe it is because people become comfortable with their station in life and do not desire to make more of themselves.  I think that most individuals will act to avoid discomfort, than to seek pleasure.

So if the above is valid, what propels some individuals to go beyond their comfort zones and try to make something better of themselves, or their world?

Julie Moss, 2d place 1982 Iron man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRB1p89k7_I