First (real) ride of the year

It was nearly 60 degrees and sunny today. At least partly sunny. Is there a difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny? I knew it was going to be nice and I told myself yesterday that I was going for a ride today. After sleeping in late (I came away 15 cents richer after poker last night!) I left shortly before noon. It was a fun 2-1/2 hour ride centered on Skyline and going up and down the best roads off of Skyline; Germantown, Rock Creek, Rocky Point, Logie Trail, McNamee, Newberry, and back down Germantown. I've ridden these roads many dozens of times and they never get old. There was a nice lack of traffic on most of the roads today. I hope this is a trend. It was a nice surprise. Gravel, potholes, ripples, and bumps are almost always an issue on most of these roads, other than Skyline, but is more than made up for with usually no other traffic and a high fun factor.  I need to try and make at least a short ride like this a weekly thing again. I feel much more relaxed now. Motorcycles are fun!

 

Farthest point west, near the end of the pavement 

on Rocky Point Rd. Tree farms all around.

Right here

Clouds

At the same place, but across the road.

The legendary Germantown Rd. It really is that steep. 

A super fun road that is unfortunately also very busy.

Last stop 

Quote of the day

The ultimate explanation of economic development — I will argue — lies not in economic factors, such as land, labor, and capital, or even in social forces, such as education, religion, and entrepreneurship. Rather, all these will be added when most people learn, as the Japanese and northwestern Europeans did, that it is good business to be just and considerate toward one's neighbors; to solve quarrels peacefully; to be held accountable for the efficient use of resources (both public and private); and to abide by modes of behavior — hereafter called institutions — that have been negotiated and agreed by interested parties.

A History of Wealth and Poverty: Why a Few Nations are Rich and Many Poor - John P. Powelson

Spring term classes

Yesterday I registered for the classes I decided to take next term.  A total of 14 credit hours. Classes start March 29.

Monday and Wednesday

• HUM100 (Intro to Humanities) from 1:00 to 3:00  Highly rated teacher
• MTH112 (Elementary Functions) from 3:30 to 5:50  Same teacher, same textbook
• PE182S (Tai Chi) from 6:00 to 7:20 One credit class.

Tuesday and Thursday

• EC203 (Principles of Econ: App to Econ Issues) from 3:00 to 4:50  More economics!!!

I was going to take ESR172, which is just like ESR171, but from a geological perspective. But in order to get the same math teacher again (Matthew Funk, just got promoted to the head of the math department), I had to make the choice between the two classes because they are at the same times on the same days. I can take the ESR classes next year. I need to keep going on the math. So that was my choice and I signed up for the humanities class instead. Humanities fulfills 4 out of the 8 social science credits I need.

I'm not sure about the Tai Chi class. I may wait until I can do the 3 credit HPE class later. That might be the smarter way to do it. Still, Tai Chi sounds interesting. I can always drop it. I have a month to decide.

More books I've been reading

Books I have read recently:

The Omnivore's Dilemma - Michael Pollan
Of all the books I have recommend so far, you should read at least this one. Its probably available at nearly every public library (free!) or bookstore (not free).

Climate Coverup: The crusade to deny global warming - Hoggan & Littlemore
Interesting and good to know. No matter what your opinion of climate change is, it's impossible to ignore the facts presented.

Freakanomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything - Levitt & Dubner
Interesting non-technical book that covers some very eclectic economic issues.

Superfreakanomics: Global cooling, patriotic prostitutes, and why suicide bombers should buy life insurance - Levitt & Dubner
More of the same. Hard to put down. Politcally incorrect. Experiments with child-size crash test dummies and introducing money to monkey cultures.

Still reading:

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution - Hawkin, Lovins, & Lovin
One of the most interesting books I've read in a long time.  New ways to look at capitalism.

The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the environment, and crossing from crisis to sustainability - James Gustav Speth
Things that are bad about capitalism and theories about how it can be changed. Another interesting and informative book.

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Wow! I'm about half way through this short novel about a father and son and their post-apocalyptic journey on The Road.  Maybe not what you might think it is. Find out for yourself. Read it! 

Still waiting to be read:

Progress and Poverty (edited and abridged version) - Henry George
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy - Noam Chomsky

Garbage Panda

Garbage Panda is my new favorite Shoutcast station. They describe the genres played as surf, punk, trash, garage, rockabilly, and misc. old stuff. Here's a sampling of the last 12 songs -

Berenice - Shampoo
Los Pegajosos - Hoy voy a loquear
Masshysteri - Var Del Av Stan
Man Or Astroman? - 9 Volt (Rechargeable Version)
Atomic Mosquitos - Planet From Outer Space
Neptunes - Girl From Another World
The Aquavelvets - Spanish Blue
Blank File - Like A Prayer

The Rezillos - (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures
Loz Esquizitos - El Moscardon
Bitch Boys - Shark Attack
Saints - River Deep Mountain High

I really hate the song that is playing right now, and its the second time tonight that I have heard it. Its yet another version of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, this time by some band called King. This song has always been terrible. This version in no better than any of the others.

More comments, please!

Maybe you are shy. Maybe you think you have nothing to say. Regardless of what you have to say, I would enjoy a little more feedback from those who read this blog. And I am curious as to who some of you are (especially whoever lives in the Hood River/Zillah/Carson area) . I know that my parents read this and my sister (she's the only one who has ever left comments, besides some guy back east who I have no idea who he is) and a few friends. I'm not looking for compliments. Even if its just to say that you agree (or disagree) with something I said, or that you read or watched something that I suggested. Any kind of feedback would be awesome.

You can also respond to me at my email address (gman97216@yahoo.com) if you would rather not have your comments posted for everyone to see.

Lots of school work

Having wasted a large part of the weekend doing other things, I hit the books hard the last two days. I'm just taking a break from homework to write a couple of posts here. Today has been especially busy. So far this week, I have read the latest chapter for economics, answered the end of chapter questions, and reworked some of the data exercise figures that I found. I still have two more article reviews to do for this class and have until March 12 to finish those, but I would like to get them done sooner than that so I don't need to deal with them later. 

I finished four chapters worth of homework questions for math first thing this morning. There is a ton of stuff in those chapters that I need to memorize. I also worked a bit on the writing assignment for math (I know, that doesn't make much sense) but am having some difficulties with the second half of it. So if you know about functions that are their own inverses, let me know. I could use some help.

I also worked on a report for my environmental science class. I wrote a paper on a BBC film, Farm for the Future, and how the information presented in it pertained to things we have been learning in class. This is a great short film that focuses on how modern agriculture is overly dependent on fossil fuels and some possible solutions to the eventual crisis that could happen if these practices are not changed soon. It has some really good info on permaculture and I encourage everyone to watch it. It is less than 50 minutes long and you can see it (in 5 parts) on YouTube for free. I still have done very little on my literature review, other than reading the book. I need to get going on this soon. It really shouldn't take more than a few hours to finish the 3-5 page paper. I also need to finish reading chapter 9 in the textbook before Thursday, but only have about 5 or 6 pages to go. There are several extra credit projects that we can do, and more will be offered in the next couple of weeks, but I probably won't do much of that unless I have lots of extra time on my hands. I don't think I will need any extra credit in this class. It should be a fairly easy "A" without it.

I have been thinking about a lot of different things that are important to me that I want to post about, but don't really have a lot of time to devote to what is basically a waste of time. It would be satisfying, but can wait. And I'm still trying to read more books than I should be right now. Too many books, too little time.

New clutch. Yay!

On Friday, I got the clutch plates and springs I ordered for the GpZ.  Very nice. That only took two days for the parts to get here. The nice weather encouraged me to quickly install all of the clutch parts that I have been gathering.  It only took about an hour and a half to do the entire job on Saturday afternoon (thank you Erik, for letting me use your garage and air compressor). The bike now has, in addition to new friction plates and springs, an almost new clutch basket and bearing. What a difference! No more horrible noises and shuddering. It had been quite a few months since I had ridden and it was nice to be back on two wheels. I had a very busy weekend and didn't manage to go on a longer ride like I had hoped to. And now its raining again and probably will be through at least the weekend. Although we need the rain, I hope that more nice weather is in store for next week. Its still too early to ride to Detroit (one of my favorite nearby rides) or Mt. St. Helens (another favorite) because of the snow in the mountains, but it is warm enough to take a spin out to the end of Skyline, to Vernonia, or probably even to the coast (by back roads, of course). I had nearly forgotten the therapeutic effect riding has on me. I'm going to have a hard time selling the GpZ. About the only things I will miss are working on it and cleaning it. Its a filthy pig right now, having sat outside under a cover for the last few months without cleaning it beforehand, and is in need of an oil change. Still, wouldn't it be nice if those were the most pressing things I ever had to deal with.

Motorcycle updates

The weather has been mild here for the past month or so. It was warm and sunny today. I'm ready for spring. I am also feeling deprived. Its been way too long since my last motorcycle ride. I was inspired to finally order the clutch plates and springs for the GpZ. The parts were $114 from Vicious Cycle. I'll probably start going there for all my misc. motorcycle needs. They are pretty close to me and its good to support local independent shops. If its nice this weekend and the parts have arrived I may try to change the worn out clutch parts then. It would be nice to get a few good rides in before I try to sell it. I've had some great times on the Kawi, improved my skills an amazing amount on it, and it was the perfect bike for me at the time, but it just isn't practical for in-town driving, which is most of the driving that I do now. I really wish I still had the DRZ-400SM.  Super-amazing fun bike! If I sell both the GpZ and the Sportster maybe I'll have enough to get another 400.

Speaking of the Sportster, I'm afraid I need to admit defeat and take it to a shop, maybe Johnny's in Vancouver, and have them fix my starting problem. I think I know what the problem is, but I don't want to be stuck with another expensive part I don't need if I'm wrong. Right now the project is stalled until I can get that specific issue fixed. I've done little to nothing on it for 2 months or more. 

The GpZ, ready for a 4 day trip through
the Oregon Cascades in July 2007

The DRZ, only a little over a year old,
waiting for its new owner in 2006.
New rear tire had less than 15 miles on it.
Best bike EVAR!

The Winter Olympics

Due to the lack of snow, new events are being considered.

ESR171

Environmental Science: Biological Perspectives is one of the easiest classes that I have had so far. It's interesting and I am learning new things, but it just isn't that deep and doesn't have a lot of homework. A 3 to 5 page literature review (I guess that sounds better than a book review) of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan is the hardest and longest assignment we have. I highly recommend this book anyone who eats food. And its easy and fun to read. But the class is a good  macro view of a huge and complex subject. And easy. The test wasn't that difficult, but I did study a lot for it. I got a 102%! Only missed one of the extra credit questions. And I found out that this class and the five field trips that are part of it are considered science classes with labs.  That's two less classes I have to take if I pick ESR172 next term. And it uses the same text book that I already have. Excellent! Apparently these are all reasons these classes are so popular. I didn't know. Now I do. Tomorrow we have a "lab" at the Rebuilding Center, which is about a 10 minute walk from home. Hopefully it won't be raining.

 

Quote of the day

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

Aldo Leopold - A Sand County Almanac, 1949

Quitting smoking and getting sick

In the past year, I've been thinking more and more about quitting smoking. I was close to doing it about a month ago, but didn't. I knew that there was no time that was better or worse to quit and just needed to make the commitment to do it. I started telling my friends that I planned to quit and that they had my permission to give me a hard time about continuing to smoke.  I set a date for my last day of smoking and wrote it on my calendar. That date was Sunday, Feb. 7.

I started showing signs of some kind of sickness on Saturday night during poker. Although I have been sneezing more and more over the past few years and had assumed that I was developing allergies, I seemed to sneeze a lot more than I would have expected that night. Sunday was similar. I didn't feel all that bad (I thought it was the pizza) but was still sneezing a lot. Monday rolled around and I felt fine other than a sore throat and a slight headache in the evening that I attributed to the lack of nicotine. This morning I woke up and was congested, had a sore throat, was coughing, had stuffed up ears, and a headache. I don't think this has anything to do with quitting smoking. But, it has helped me quit. If you've ever smoked, you know that many times when you get sick, smoking becomes really disgusting and doesn't do anything for you except maybe make you want to vomit. So, I have been fine with being sick, which I rarely am, but I hope that it goes away soon. I really don't want to miss any school because of it.

Anyway, I did have two cigarettes yesterday (what was left in my last pack), but did not enjoy either of them. Although I have had some cravings, they haven't been nearly as bad as I had expected. But it's still pretty early in the process. I was feeling pretty mean and cranky yesterday though and ended up apologizing to several people for things that I said. Hopefully, that will pass soon also.

Now I need to go do something else, because all this talk about cigarettes is making me want one. Wish me luck and "Thanks!" to everyone who has been supportive of me.

Chicken run

I've been helping my friends, Erik and Mary Kate, with their garden for the past couple of weeks. I offered to supply my labor in their garden this year in exchange for some new knowledge about gardening and maybe a few veggies after they come up. The have been gracious enough to ask for my input and ideas about a host of garden-related things. And Mary Kate keeps feeding me the most delicious meals while I'm there. No hyperbole here - she really is an amazing cook and can make even the most pedestrian food taste fantastic.

We spent one afternoon planning what was going to go in the garden and where it would be.  I spent another day helping clean up, tear down, move the rabbits, and do general labor-type things that needed to be done. We came up with a plan for a fenced run for their eight chickens and kept modifying it even while we were building it. I spent Friday helping dig holes, put in posts, shoveling dirt and rocks,  putting up chicken wire, and generally getting muddy. Neither Erik or myself had any real experience with chicken wire and we learned a few things. It turned out fine, and the chickens seem to like it, but we would probably do several things differently if we had another chance.

Their garden is an interesting place. It keeps changing every year (this is year three) and seems to get substantially better every year. It certainly doesn't have a rigid plan and may not look all that organized, but I think that is part of the beauty of it. It has kind of an organic and natural feel to much of it, and most of the wood used for outbuilding and fencing has been recycled. And they plan to use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides - just all natural amendments, including manure from the rabbits.  The garden is quite a bit larger than it seems from these pictures.

Getting started on the fence

Almost done!

Busy busy

The last two weeks have been jam packed full of schoolwork.  The last two chapters of economics has been a killer.  Our instructor said that those chapters were by far full of the hardest material of the course. That's a relief.  I don't know how many more formulas and graphs I could remember.  This is still easily my favorite class and I think that the challenge has been a big part of that.  Last week I was also studying for my environmental science exam. I had no idea what to expect (first exams are always like that) and studied like a madman for the test. It was easier than I thought it was going to be, but it's a good thing that I did study so much. We only have 2 exams the entire class and they cover a lot of material. I'm pretty sure I aced it, but I won't know until Thursday. Classes for this term are now half over, although the last week is final tests only, so I really only have five weeks to go. This term seems to be flying by.