Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: Personal Page 4 of 59

Beara Peninsula, Ireland

Blue house on the Beara Peninsula, Ireland
Is it a cozy brick house, full of love? Or is it a fortress of solitude, putting space between its owner and the rest of the world? I’ll never know, but I wonder about it, every time I look at this picture.

See where this picture was taken.

On Bullying (Mitt’s and Otherwise)

Looks like Mitt Romney participated in some pretty foul acts, in high school.

So, I don’t think any adult should be condemned for an act undertaken in childhood/teenage years. But I don’t think it’s at all unfair to judge him on how he handles looking back at it from adulthood.

I not only witnessed – but participated in – some awful behavior towards other kids. Did it kinda sorta make sense at the time? Sure. But as an adult, I look back, and I’m horrified at what a bunch of little monsters we were. And given the chance, I’d apologize a million times over for it.

So when you’re given a chance, as an adult, to own up to it, and you equivocate?

Screw you. You’re a shitty human being.

Clarendon Cycles: Rolling Past Borders

One thing about the DC area?  Borders are *everywhere*.  Alas, the people and organizations that are responsible for those borders don’t always do a very good job of acknowledging that people cross them every day.  Here’s my take, from a cyclist’s perspective.

Electric Bikes & Arlington Cycling

My latest Clarendon Cycles piece is about e-bikes, prompted in part by my meeting with the Trans-America Electric Bike Tour crew.   I’m being quite honest when I’m describing it as a *click* moment, where I finally move from e-bike skeptic to e-bike appreciator (if still not quite an outright embrace).

Boris and Anna’s tour covers all sorts of interesting things.  Check ’em out.

East Africa 2012: Getting There

Boarding at ADD

It started out early last year.  A friend suggested that I think about joining him (and a couple other guys) in an attempt to ascend Kilimanjaro.   Getting a view of Africa from 5,895 metres/19,336 feet?  Who *wouldn’t* want to do that?  As exciting as the idea was, though, I just couldn’t make it work in the planned timeframe.  So it was with no small amount of jealousy that I followed along with the planning as I helped out with some of the provisioning over the year (they’re based in Dubai, which is sadly short of excellent stores like Casual Adventure and REI).

Then in October, one of the original crew fell ill and the trip got pushed off to February.  I let it roll around in my head for a while, and by the time we were in December, I knew I couldn’t skip this.  So I signed on, and from there the trip snowballed.  What started out as an in-and-out summit attempt with a few people turned into a six person Kilimanjaro expedition.  Then (assuming no one died or otherwise did something inconvenient), we’d head to Zanzibar – adding a few more adults and children – for some rest and recovery.  And since it was on the way home, why not hit Addis Ababa for a few days?

So that was the plan for my February.  Interested in how it worked out?  The first of several installments is on the other side of the jump.

Satisfied.

Kilimanjaro from the air

A few months ago, I decided to join a very good friend’s long-planned attempt to ascend Kilimanjaro.  A few days ago, I got back from that attempt.  So now I’m going to try and tell the story.

 

A Different Direction

image

Not that there’s been much action here lately, but there’s going to be something of a gap.  I’m hoping I can occaisionally update via phone from the road.  If not, back in a few weeks …

A Year In Motion

Remember when I did this?  Or this?

Totally obnoxious, I know.

And you can bet I’d do it again, given the opportunity (tho’ I did miss the 2010 map).  I’m petty like that.

This past year was a little bit different, in terms of motion and my interest in tracking it.  I mean, I did manage to get to a nice destination or two:

View from the balcony at Waikiki

But mostly, my focus this year was on smaller units of measure.  I turned into something of a data junky, taking my previous interest in creating GPS tracks in interesting new places to new heights.  This new habit ranges from the silly to the, well, I’m kinda glad I’ve got proof of this (because I don’t plan on doing it again).

For the most part, my riding was great this year.  It started off strong, with a fantastic week of riding in California (Mt. Tam, Monterey, and Santa Barbara).  It just got better from there.  I rode hard and regularly, often with a friend who was good at pushing me hard without getting too annoyed in the process.  Without being too complimentary, I’m sure I’m better off for it.

On the racing side, it was a decent year.  No particularly standout performances, but I have to admit to being pretty happy with a top 10 showing at Leonardtown.  I finally pushed myself into Cat 4, so next year should be a new round of exercises in suffering for the glory of 32nd place, but at least it will be away from the crazy squirreliness of Cat 5s.  In the end, it was 5,000+ miles of riding and (this is the one I’m really proud of) 200,000+ feet of climbing.  2012: less pedaling, harder pedaling.  Still haven’t figured out the exact plan for racing.

Running took a back seat this year, despite my best (half-hearted?) efforts.  As great as I felt about pulling off the Marine Corps Marathon in 2009, I just don’t think I’ve got the time/capacity to do something like that again.  On the other hand, the ability to knock out a nice 5-10 miler in a strange new city is about as good as it gets, and I’d like to be able to maintain that in perpetuity.  So this year?  My “long runs” weren’t that at all – 5-8 miles, max (and I can recall exactly how much that 8 mile run hurt).  2012: get comfortable with 10 mile runs again.

I did log another set of dives this year, one set off Oahu (which was so-so) and another off of Maui (much better).  I’d entertained some ideas about taking advantage of my proximity to the sunken U-boats off the coast here this year, but I think I need to spend some more time in the water before taking that on.  Diving just isn’t something I can pursue locally (because as much as I dig it?  Cold low visibility water just isn’t that motivating for me.).  That said, I think I’ll have at least one fantastic opportunity in the near future to log some more dives, and I hope to finally make it out to dive off Catalina with a friend.

So that was 2011 in motion.  Smaller steps than years past, but many more of them.  2012 should bring a nice balance to things.  Looking forward to it.

 

Credit Card Currency Conversion Fee Settlement Windfall! (Or: I Should Have Picked Option A)

Back in December of 2007, I posted about a proposed settlement for the Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fee class action suit.  Members of the class had three options for recovery:

  1. take a straight $25 settlement if you traveled outside the US at least once in this period (and simply swear to that fact);
  2. get a somewhat larger settlement based on a declaration of how many total days you spent outside the US during that period (the settlement will be based on an estimated average figured out by the credit card companies and class action representatives); or
  3. provide a substantiated record of how much money you actually spent outside of the US during that period, and receive a refund of the fees actually charged.

Despite having have spent a substantial amount via credit cards in foreign currency over the years, I ended up just going for option 2.  It just involved flipping through my passport and copying over the dates onto the claim form.  As I noted in the comments to the original post, it had to be worth something, right?  Well, almost 4 years later, I got my check.

$18.04.

I should have gone with Option A, eh?

(Also, if you submitted a claim?  Watch your mail closely.  It doesn’t look like a check at all.  I nearly threw this one out.)

Endless

Arlington National Cemetery, December 2011

Page 4 of 59

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