Eighty Years (or so) To The Big Zero

Update: I’ve been calling gas stations and the word (spoken in broken English with a thick India accent) is the same ”We placed an order, Sir, but no idea when it’ll arrive. Sorry, Sir.”

So today I went to get gas for my car because it is on E and the light that shines telling me I have approx. 25 miles left turned on when I got in the car this morning.

I drove the 8 or so miles down the road and by-passed the BP and Pan Store because they were gauging the prices. I moved on to the Circle K and their prices had jumped 50 cents since Friday. But it didn’t matter they were also out of gas. Hmmm… getting a little concerned.

So I drive back to the BP and Pan Store only to learn they are also out of gas.

I have a decision to make:

Drive all the way into town as far as I can hoping that the only gas station past the Circle K and town has gas and if not run out on the side of the road.

Go home and not go to work today.

I chose the latter. I’m at home. That was an awkward conversation with the boss explaining why I won’t be coming in today but he was understanding since he’s driving into work now looking for a gas staion with fuel.

I always wondered what would happen if we simply ran out of gas in the country? I don’t think it’ll happen but in isolated spots it’s happening now. Only because the media has people wound so tight that it takes very little to set the mob off.

There is no shortage people!

Oh well… perhaps tomorrow I’ll be able to get to work? My boss says he’ll have a deputy stop by the house and pick me up. 8^) I’m hoping to get a car pool ride or ask a friend to drive to Monticello with a five gallon can. That should hold me over for a couple days - 150 miles at least.

The Daily Commute

So my computer broke again this week. I just got it back up and running.

I don’t mind that it broke. Things break but what bugs me a little is that I have absolutely no idea why it just stopped working.

It may have been an update, a bad shutdown sequence, or a failing harddrive, I’m not sure.

Well fortunately CompUSA went out of business and I was able to purchase this software called Acronis 11 Home Edition. I put in the backup disk, booted to it and restored to a previous state. Unplugged all the harddrives but the C: drive and the program drive and was back up. This of course after a day of troubleshooting.

I spent the last couple days after work upgrading all the software and other minor windows tweaks that I realized I wanted after the first time I set my system up so in a way I suppose it works out.

I was going to play board games tonight but went and took a nap and woke up three hours later, two hours after board games started, so didn’t make it. Really just needed to get some sleep.

Big weekend ahead. Neighbors coming over to help clear some land on Sunday. Co-Worker coming over to pick up cut up and haul away straight pine longs for a raised garden project at the school that same day, and Second Saturday readings by students for most of the day on Saturday.

On an economic, daily commute message I’ve started carpooling with a co-worker. We switch of days for the week. This will help both of us save on gas. The only down side is that I have to get up at 6 am each morning to be at work at 7:30 am. But that means I get to leave at 3pm rather than 4pm. Saving the gas is good.

Well gotta run. Numbers is on.

The Daily Commute, Thinking out loud, This Land

So I filled up the tank in my brand new Toyota Corolla a week or so ago (check the Daily Commute for an exact date).

I went to a Murphy Gas station which are the stations just outside the Wal-Marts. They have the most inexpensive gas in town. I also noticed a new sign when I filled up - “Now with 10% ethanol.”

Well I think my car doesn’t like the gas because it’s hesitating when I start it. It’ll skip a little and I actually have to pump the gas pedal some. When I first got it I would simply turn the key and it would start. Now it takes a moment.

I think the 83 percent gas is not playing well with the new car. I’m still gonna get 83 percent but I’m not going to get it from Wal-Mart anymore. I’m thinking Chevron and fill up with a tank of their fuel cleaning gas with Techron. See if makes a difference.

I’m at less than a quarter tank now so I’ll be filling up tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes.

In other news I’m becoming very bored with my exercise routine. I stopped running because I was constantly dredding the walk/run time. So I backed off and am simply walking again. I still am only able to do 7 push ups, although they are becoming easier it’s not smooth and I’m winded at 7. I also stressed out my lower abs with the sit-ups. I think doing incline sit-ups really focuses the lower stomach and inner thigh muscles because they are hurting. If you take a look at the Road to Mt. Olympus you’ll see a couple mornings/nights were I skipped the sits and push ups. I need to let the muscles heal up some.

Some days are better than others.

This weekend I cleaned my living room of stuff and took it to GoodWill. I think I’ll be able to get at least $8000 in tax right offs with the stuff I pulled in. 8^) That side of the living room looks much better now. At least it’s not so cluttered. I think getting rid of stuff and having an empty clean space feels better than working out and getting in shape. Does anyone else feel like there’s just so much “stuff” going on around us and in our lives these days? I can’t be the only one with this feeling.

There’s a pressure of minutia that is incessent these days. Oh great, now I’m in a mood. Terminator better come on soon so I can get to bed.

I watched Jericho the other day online. I can’t stay up to 10pm to watch the show so I have to watch it on the cbs.com website. They allow you to stream it. But Fox requires you to download and install their own special player to watch shows. Bastards. No wonder people use bittorrents.

I better go before I get too worked up and start spoutting off like Howarth Beale.

Before I go though, I saw this amazing show on PBS called Ape Genius. It was fantastic. Everyone should watch this program.

** Speaking of crazy talk - if the solution to this economic downturn we’re having in America begins to sound like the Politicians are promoting a new currency to better stablize the future economy you’ll know all we’ve gone through these last couple years has been just part of the plan. You heard it here first. Crazy Talk I know, but still… who’s to say?

A Whole New You, The Daily Commute, Thinking out loud

My sun room is 95% cleaned up. I still have some items across the top of the bookcases but until I clean the 3rd bedroom those items will have to wait for their new home.

As you can see this room is a pig sty.

It slowly became cluttered and before I knew it I couldn’t use it. You’ll notice the sit up bench to the right. I would make my way through the maze and do my sit ups on that bench. The shelves became a nestling place for any random book/magazine that made its way into the house. I’m telling ya we have too much stuff! Or at least I do. I really want to reduce the amount of stuff I have but I am not at the point where I’ll just get a big dumpster and toss everything.

I’d like to get some value back from all these items scattered around the house. But fret not, I have a plan. I’m going to build a website were I can auction off all my stuff. People will be able bid on the items they want. I may even open it up for other people so they can auction their own items on the site. I’m in the process of working out the schema and such for the database and web design layout and functionality but when it’s completed it’ll be awesome I swear. It’ll be huge! I should probably check and make sure there isn’t another site similar to this though. It’s always good to check for your competition when building websites on the web.

So in between working on this auction site idea I have cleaned the sun room

and marked it off in my Mind Map Priority and Projects page:

On other news my Geo Metro has been retired from active service. It was time. 

I got a 2008 Toyota Corolla. I’ll take pictures eventually. But basically go to the Toyota website and look at the 2008 Corolla’s and choose the Desert Sand color and that’ll be my car.
(Maybe now women will unlock their front doors when I go to pick them up for our dates. 8^)

Here’s something cool.

The January numbers for my trek to Mt. Olympus. I had a total melt down this last week as far as walking/running goes but I’ll get back on the calves and knees and feet again this week. I maintained my other routine though.

I think I’m going to stop doing the Dips in favor of Military Presses and Arm Curls with the weight bar. It just seems more balanced. I’ll do push-ups every morning but the weight bar in the evening. We’ll see.

In other fronts the cookie jar was stolen. Well it wasn’t stolen but it might as well have been - it was definitely raided. I had to pull money out of the jar to cover expenses for the month of January. I didn’t get paid in January since in my job we get paid twice in December. It’s a holiday thing that totally screws up the ledger. Most of the expenses were unexpected bills, gas, and food.

So that withdraw is reflected in the Cookie Jar page.

That’s ok. This month will be much better. My auction website idea will see to that. 8^)

A Whole New You, The Daily Commute, Thinking out loud

I have three(3) entries for the Daily Commute up on that page.

I had to redo the page to make better sense of the data and to help keep track of things more efficiently. (Well as efficiently as necessary for a blog and not a scientific paper.)

It rained on Saturday night and I didn’t get a walk in. So on Sunday I played some disc golf in the morning. It was under 30 degrees in North Florida that morning. Later that day I went for a three mile walk as well. I’m maintaining a consistent exercise routine of sit-ups, push-ups and dips. I’ve also included some extra data regarding mass.

I’m not worried about that changing too much this early in the experiment - muscle weighs more than fat after all. I’ve noticed a nice albeit minor change in the looseness of my pants and shirts. Minor but noticable. I also feel better when walking/running.

An update on my Entertainment budget. I completely blew through my budget last week by about five dollars. I went and saw the movie Gloverfield with some friends. It was a good movie and enjoyable. It’s very shaky cam’ish. I hope the directors cut has some small bits that are shaky cam and the rest of the movie is steady shot. I wonder how it will change the feel of the movie? I know my eyes would settle down more if presented that way.

Anywho… better go. Time for a walk.

PS(The number in parathesis next to the disc golf number is my score for 18 holes. For example, this Sunday I was +7 over par, counting three as par for each hole. I’m getting better. 8^) )

The Daily Commute, Thinking out loud

I posted my first official set of records for 2008 in “The Daily Commute” page on the upper right hand navigation panel.

If these formulas don’t make sense please let me know. I’d hate to be living under the assumption that something was true when it really wasn’t. Wouldn’t you want to know?
PS(Oh, I went by Wal-Mart to get gas - it’s the cheapest in town - and didn’t go in for a stroll. I probably just saved $30 dollars. 8^)

The Daily Commute

I was playing board games on Saturday at the local Piteria - there is a regular Saturday board gaming group that meets and since I like board games and the people there are patient and never yell at me for not immediately getting the rules I go every now and again. I’m slow with rules but when I finally get them I really like the games and can play fairly well.

Right, what’s the point of this post?

Ok so I was talking with the Master of the Gaming Group who I shall refer to as Master R. Why is this person the Master? Well anyone who arrives to a gaming group with no less than three iMac boxes filled with games is really into games. When they know how to play and stomp you at every game in their possession = Master.

So I was talking with Master R. and he mentioned he doesn’t own a car. What?! Oh that’s right he, does own a car but takes the bus everywhere.

“But I’m way out in the middle of nowhere. The city doesn’t go out that way.” Says I.

“Oh, you rules ignorant fool. You can take route X to route Y, transfer at P to double back through Y and transfer again to B to meet the M bus which is always late by five minutes and the one you really want, but instead of standing on the street corner for twenty minutes you might as well enjoy the ride on P and B which takes you by the beautiful lake pond where you can watch the ducks and swans. Hey, it’s your turn. Pay attention! ” *smack*

“All right! Do you have any hearts?”

Blink. Blink. “This is San Juan, there are no hearts.”

Later at home I looked up the bus routes in the area and to my surprise there is a park and ride not fifteen minutes from my house.

It takes 45 minutes to get to work. If I took the park and ride it would take 45 minutes. But I won’t have to drive through traffic and could sleep, read, or just hang on the bus for the ride.

The only consideration is it worth the $41.25 per month to use the bus twice a day Mon-Fri? Would it really save that much gas? It would definitely save on the wear and tear on my car.

I’m still looking into it and will be riding the bus this week on a trail run and see how long it really takes and how difficult it is to transfer to the other bus. I don’t have to work for another week so I’ll see how it goes.

BTW - San Juan is a great game.

The Daily Commute, Thinking out loud

I have uploaded the data set for my car’s mileage and gas purchases from April-October of 2006. It’s in the Daily Commute page in the upper right column. Every time I made a stop I recorded the information and later entered it into a spreadsheet.

I will be doing this again during the six months starting in January.

For the curious my car is a 1996 Geo Metro. I have driven this car across the country; along the spine of the country from Maryland through Ohio to Indiana and then south through Kansas to Texas, from Texas through Kentucky to Maryland, from Maryland to West Palm Beach Florida, and WPB to Texas for a total of about 9 times. (The first 7 times without a radio. But no worries during long trips I’d play fun games like “I spy” to pass the time. When I arrived in the town I live in now, I finally put a radio in the car. Those carefree gaming days are over. Besides I was getting tired of losing all the time. )

Well more on that later.

And so after 11 years of extensive travel across this great rocky, hilly, snowy, rainy and sunny land my car is really showing its age. I fear that it may die during this experiment. If so I will have to get another car which will be a huge expense and something new. So that is a necessary caveat during this Six Months to Reset experiment.

But when/if I do need a new car you can bet it will be the most efficient car available within my means. I’m currently leaning toward the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Corrola.

And to those who ask why not buy American cars you have a Chervolet now? I say, fuck the American Automotive Industry. For fifteen years they built nothing but gas gussling SUVs and trucks with no innovation other than how many cup holders can be put in the middle seat and the installation of tiny television screens in the head rests. They had no vision, no conscious of the future and now are paying the price while others pay an even higher price to salvage and bail them out of the hole they dug for themselves and to a larger extent the country. (I don’t put the blame all on the big three, the sheep who purchase these vechicles garner some of the blame as well. But to be fair, they were up against some pretty serious marketing/advertising and social pressures to purchase these types of vechicles, especially considering those were mostly all that were being offered.)

This recent 35 mpg legislation is bullshit also. 35! That’s an average for every car the company builds. So they can build one whole mess of cars and the average needs to be 35, not the minimum for all. That’s not innovation that’s a numbers game. And by 2020! What the fuck is that about? That’s not change that’s slow as molassis growth. With or without this legislation by 2020 average mpg would have increased by market pressures alone. Especially after the world (and hopefully Americas) started getting their spine back against corporate interests and excessive consumerism - hopefully. (Something has to give soon.) 2020! Who the hell do they think they are fooling here? Apparently everyone.

You want to really make a car that will sell? Build a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon and you would be on top of the world. And if you had built it 15 years, nar 10 years ago, there would be no financial crisis for your business and people would have bought that car in droves even in the mid 1990s. I know I would. If it was up to me it’d be 100 mpg in three to five years and if you can’t keep up sell to someone who can and get out of the way. The times they are a’ changing! (I wonder why the auto industry hasn’t been to interested in building gasoline efficient cars for a while now? Seems to me if they had, some global crisises might have been avoided or at least lost the influence and false sense of urgency subtly driving them. But that’s just crazy talk.)

Well I’m getting into a rant and this was suppose to be just an update to the Daily Commute to give you an idea of how that part will work. Data under the page and rants and commentary in the blog posts.

Until then.

The Daily Commute