All growed up.

So last weekend I was in the final stages of my laptop hunting and so I wanted to make a trip to BestBuy to look at what they had there. And of course I took TRM with me.

She wanted to visit the nearby Linens and Things store because it's going out of business and so having a 'whole store' kinda sale going on (although seriously the stuff still wasn't particularly cheap, the real world is much to expensive for my tastes). So we stopped there first.

While we were walking around with no real goal in mind it occured to me that quite a few months back I had put a new pillow on my list of things to buy sometime. I had 3 pillows all which were quite squashed and not so awesome anymore. And then I thought I had solved the problem when I absconded with a pillow from Grandma's house as she was moving out. Sadly though it was only a small step above what I only had.

So there I was browsing the pillow section of the store. And seriously who buys pillows that cost over $100 - that's crazily crazy. I found myself a nice $15 one. I'll admit the expensive ones are better than it I'm sure. But definately not like 10X better. But I digress.

The interesting thing about the whole experiance was that it just made me feel quite particularly like I was an adult now. As a child pillows were just there. They materialized of their own accord I'm pretty sure. Probably with some parental assistance, but I most certainly did not ever have anything to do with the matter.

And there I was walking out of the store with the pillow that I just spent my hard earned income on.


I suppose maybe eventually I'll become a bit more accustomed to the whole on my own, not a child thing.




Or maybe it's better to maintain this innocent fascination with the silly little things in life.

I finally did it.

Towards the end of my last year of college I started to notice that my computer seemed to be slowing down some. Inevitably 3 years of hard use was taking it's toll. I easily admit that I'm not particularly easy on computers. Running 3 programs (an internet explorer, aim, and a music player) is about the minimum of what I will ever have up. And I like to find new things and play with them: new picture managers, cool programs like Gimp, etc. So invariably the dell was decent enough when I first got it, but given what I wanted to be doing not quite so up to snuff.

So that spring I actually started researching laptops, mostly as an idle dream. Then around graduation time (of year, not when I actually graduated myself) my parents said that they'd buy me a laptop as a graduation present - yippie! So the old computer chugged along into the summer quite well enough (I thought it was questionable then, but I now know better) through the summer as I contemplated my options.

Memorial day weekend hit and the good old Taurus met it's demise in spectacular fashion alongside the highway (good pictures that car fire did make). And as fate would have it my parents decided to contribute $1000 towards the purchase of a new vehicle. Have I ever mentioned that I hate cars. Because seriously I do. They just suck the fun out of life as I see it.

But I never gave up browsing the computer sites and dreaming of the day when I would have a shiny new bit of technology for my very own. I continued on with the old monster of a desktop. For a time it served well enough. But by last fall it was showing its age a bit too much. I stopped using it for much of anything involving new programs. And I even tried to avoid any non-vital program updates as much as possible. By this summer just trying to surf the internet while chatting with a friend could be difficult.

However I am a thrifty little bugger. During the first few months of my job I was seriously not spending any money outside of basic necessities. And so by the time I hit January when I started to seriously investigate my finances I had saved up quite the neat little safety cushion. And so when I prepared my budget spreadsheet the computer column was born. Dilligently I saved.

And as I saved I continued to ogle and drool over all of the pretty laptops on the interwebs.

My little pile of cash grew, and the goal was getting quite near. At last I finally decided to make a decision and go through with it.

I suck at decisions. By my logic my ridiculous hair is a perfect example of this. I'll just make do with what I have instead of having to decide something. Personality flaw number 83 maybe.

But last Saturday I seriously and for real when through with it.

For under $975.21 (including tax and shipping) I purchaed, from Best Buy. A Dell Studio 15. It has some pretty sweet specs. 2.1 processer, 4G RAM, 320 HD, WXGA+, bluetooth, webcam, much much shinyness.

After much waiting with bated breath and a literal recreation of this: online package tracking , my laptop arrived on Wednesday evening. Since then pretty much all of my non-work and non-sleep time has been spent with the laptop within arms reach. Yup, I'm that much of a dork.

There is just so much awesomeness to discover.

There are also a few potentially serious flaws. But I'm avoiding that.

Right now at this very moment. I have open Mozilla where I am typing this, AIM where I am chatting with Little One, I have Ruckus open and playing music, and iTunes is also open because I'm running some other little crazy program (that is a serious ram hog btw) that is supposed to be eliminating duplicates from iTunes, because after the transfer of songs onto here (plus a transfer from an external onto the old computer a few months back when we had to re-format the drive because of a battle between the old computer and something mean presumibly from the internet, and really the poor old thing didn't stand a chance) my iTunes library is pretty bad form. A bit ago I was not typing this or listening to Ruckus but I was watching the Dancing With The Stars that I missed from this week. It ran without a hitch, and even looked pretty durn good. [Although seriously I can't believe Cloris is still on the show - wtf people!]

I still can't believe I spent all that money on something so superfilous. So weird.

Oh that reminds me of another post I wanted to make last weekend.....

Check!

After working 12 straight days I always go a bit nutty and can’t wait for the weekend. Last week was no different. This time I seemed to have hit the weekend with a bit more emphasis than normal.

I had all these thoughts of things I wanted to do whirling through my head. And so rather promptly after arriving home from work on Friday I sat down and typed out the following list on my aim where I updated it as I completed things:

Clean car (inside and out)
Finish laundry – whites
Do laundry – darks
Clean room
Clean kitchen (after apple madness)
Make apple sauce
Make apple butter
Start abstract Christmas tree paper cutting
Complete at least 1 window office art things
Complete at least 1 vase Christmas present
Learn to double knit, start Christmas present
Take out winter clothes, put away summer clothes
Sort canning jars

I later added “hike 6 miles, and go on hot date with a watchmaker” when said date asked why it wasn’t on the list (cuz it was the fun activities not the at home chores).

But of that all I completed the following:
Cleaned my car inside and out
Finished laundry darks and whites
Cleaned my room
Made 7 quarts of applesauce
Made approximately 3.5 quarts of apple butter
Finished the abstract Christmas tree paper cutting
Completely refinished and painted my window art
Finished 1 vase Christmas present
Learned to double knit and got the yarn to start the present
Swapped my seasonal clothing
Sorted our canning jars and even cleaned most of them
Hiked 3-4 miles (seriously up a mountain)
Went on a "hot" date with a watchmaker

All in all I am ridiculously proud of myself I did a freaking lot this weekend. It’s awesome feeling. Except that I’m also feeling way too tired today. *sigh* Can’t win them all.

Sailing the celestial spaces.

Yesterday TRM and I drove an hour down into Maryland to go to a REI store there that was having a "Backpacking 101" seminar/class thing.

I was a bit anxious as it was my idea and I was worried that it'd be stupid and that's alot of driving for something stupid.

But good news! it wasn't stupid and quite worthwhile.

First of all REI is an outdoors enthusiast mecca. Seriously the place freaking rocks. Tons and tons of camping stuff. Oodles of biking things. Spiffy clothes, etc. And as an awesomely awesome bonus the workers actually know what they're talking about and can like help you out with what to get. Sweetness.

The seminar itself was rather interesting. The presenter was an employee/avid hiker. Basically he talked just a bit about general things like planning and leave no trace, but then just tried to go through all the stuff you need for backpacking. He explained it all and told us what he uses and stories about absolutely everything. He knocked somethings down, talked others up. It was pretty freaking good.

So now I'm all psyced to go backpacking again.

I don't know if I've ever brought it up here before but TRM and I are planning next summer to go on a Sierra Club Beginner Backpacking trip. I came up with the idea last year and she was into it as well. So the thought was to start saving money now. The cost of the trip is $500ish with the Club. Then there's whatever (significant) cost to get out there (most of these trips are out on the West Coast) and possibly stay somewhere before/after. And last but most certainly not least is all of the gear.

Backpacking requires alot of gear. The thing last night reinforced this. Actually the whole experiance really left my head spinning, so much to think about.

Today I sat down and using the REI website put together a tentative list/budget of everything I need (well I suppose it really is more of a want) to aquire. I came up with $700 as a basic get the stuff I pretty much really need generally at a rather low price. Stuff that it would be nice to have/can be gathered over a longer period of time (although things like having not just 1 but 2 shirts are in this now as well as good to have but not necessary things like treking poles) are an extra $400.

Ouch. That is definately over my initial estimate of $500 for gear. Ah well in theory this stuff will last me for years. And shall provide years of awesomeness.

TRM and I are actually going out for our first hike this weekend. It's off to a bit of the Appalachian trail that is quite close to us. I'm thinking we'll do about 6 miles. And I'm excited.

In writing this I also found an amazing quote that just mentally 'took my breath away' if that makes any sense to you:


"How hard to realize that every camp of men or beast has this glorious starry firmament for a roof! In such places standing alone on the mountain-top it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make - leaves and moss like the marmots and birds, or tents or piled stone - we all dwell in a house of one room - the world with the firmament for its roof - and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving any track." ~John Muir

Happy Gedächtnestag

Actually I’m a day late. And realistically Gedächtnestag was celebrated back on Sunday so I’m even more late. But I am writing today….so deal with it.

Now if you are a normal person you are probably sitting there confused. You could most likely care less what day Gedächtnestag is and are wondering more about how the heck one pronounces it, or more importantly what the heck it is….good question.

Let me start this story by informing you that I am a Schwenkfelder. And I’m proud of it.

What is a Schwenkfelder you may ask? Well a Schwenkfelder is a follower of the religious teachings of Caspar Schwenkfeld von Ossig. He lived way back in the 1500’s and one of his contemporaries was Martin Luther (whom hopefully you’ve heard of and know something about him and his 95 Theses and all). Schwenkfeld lived within the Holy Roman Empire in a place called Silesia (which is now round abouts where Poland is located) and he not only questioned Catholic practices, but also formed his own ideas that were outside of the Lutheran realm as well. His big teachings were thinking for ones self and coming to your own conclusions as well as following a “Middle Way.”

However inevitably Silesia (and most of the populated European world) were not so keen on the individual ideas thing and Schwenkfeld was labeled a heretic – ouch. He though did manage to gather a following, they called themselves Confessors of the Glory of Christ, luckly for me the name didn’t stick and these people would eventually become known just as Schwenkfelders. Those people continued to follow Schwenkfeld’s teachings despite a harsh political environment. Back then religion and politics were pretty much one in the same. And at that time in history the Holy Roman Empire, while ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor, was more like a bunch of smaller fiefdoms. And so an agreement had been made between the Emperor and all of the provincial rulers that each ruler could choose for himself if his lands would be Catholic or Lutheran. Unfourtionately Schwenkfelder was not an option, and so the valiant Confessors were persecuted.

By the early 1700’s it was getting pretty bad and the Schwenkfelder’s were seriously considering escaping their native lands to find religious freedom. After a temporary respite while staying on the lands of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendof, a pretty awesome and unbelievably liberal guy for the day, in Saxony their freedom was again in question and their thoughts turned to moving to the new world. Specifically they picked Pennsylvania where there people spoke of religious freedom, plus there was already a good contingent of German folk.

There were a few different migration groups however the largest set sail in 1734 and arrived in Philadelphia on September 22. Two days later on September 24th the Schwenkfelders held a day of Thanksgiving for having made the grueling journey to begin their new lives in the new world.

Each year, from then on, Schwenkfelders gather together on the Sunday closest to September 24 and together celebrate Gedächtnestag, or as we also call it Day of Remembrance. It is the oldest continually celebrated day of thanksgiving in the US (our claim to fame!).

On that day we take the opportunity to reflect upon our past. There is a traditional meal of bread, apple butter, and water. When I was younger I understood that we did that because when those pilgrims first landed that simple meal of fresh food was a feast. I now know that this is most likely not at all true, and I’m not sure if it’s a common misconception by everyone, or a child’s error. But it’s the tradition and we love us some apple butter. Some people even call it Apple Butter day.

Most importantly however is that we are remembering. The part that I love most about being a Schwenkfelder is our rich and vibrant history. What can I say, it makes me feel special. I love telling the story or even just teaching other people to pronounce the name.

I haven’t regularly attended church for over 4 years now having moved away most of the first 3 years for school and now having moved away for my job. And of all the reasons why I miss home being a practicing Schwenkfelder is probably what gets me the most.

But I still remember. And I figure that so long as I remember I’ll always be a Schwenkfelder at heart.

Happy Gedächtnestag!



Clause: The historical parts of this entry may not be 100% accurate as I was mostly just telling it from my own memory.

5 days in a nutshell

Date: 7/8/08
Time: 6:15PM-7:15PMish
Distance: 11.936 miles
Average Speed: 13.3 mph
Time Moving: 54 minutes 07 seconds

Let's see what I can remember of this ride....

Well it had been planned that Jo and I would go out after work. She gets home later than I, generally between 5:30 and 6. Originally I was thinking that we would ride a whole loop, 20 miles, which is approximately 2 hours. But then we realized that the Olympics opening ceremony started at 7:30. The plan had to be changed.

So around 6ish Jo was home and we're getting all ready to go. I went through all my normal getting ready to ride routine of getting the water bottle, puting the cell phone and whatever else I'm taking in the pack, checking the pressure on and adding extra air to the tires. And I was ready to go. So I wheel out of the garage and Jo comes behind me.

I look at her bike and I'm like "umm...forget something?" She looked at me somewhat quizzically and I pointed out that her rear tire was completely flat. Which was odd being as it just came back from the shop, but whatever. So she goes to pump it up and it is determined that she has a flat. D-oh.

So she goes inside to go get a spare and change the tire and I ride around our little loop. I pull back in the drive way and she's unfurling the new tube. I've never actually changed a tire (kinda not idea for as much as I ride now, but hey we'll cross that bridge when we get there) so I thought the tube looked a bit off but didn't comment much. Then I saw the valve. "Umm is that going to fit"? See we both have road bikes with those little skinny tires. And those skinny tires have smaller valves, Presta valves. The tube she had in her hands had a Schrader, larger and what most people are used to, valve. She thought it might still fit, but called the bike shop before she tried...and it was a no go.

So then the plan was completely scrapped and I went off on my own and she went to the bike shop to exchange the spares for ones that would actually work for our bikes, so that she could ride the next day.

Other than all that it was a quite uneventful ride. Although I totally was working hard and pushing myself and so managed to post my fastest average speed yet of 13.3. Yay!

Oh and the Olympics opening ceremony was pretty cool. People in China are crazy. Staying up late to watch that was just the beginning of many nights to come.


Date: 7/9/08
Time: 8:20AM-I don't remember probably 11:20ish
Distance: 31.543miles
Average Speed: 12.0 mph
Time Moving: 2 hours 37 minutes 11 seconds

The next morning came early. But we managed to drag our lazy butts out of bed and were in the saddle on 20 minutes behind schedule.

It was crazy cool, for August that is, and so I got to wear my awesome arm warmers that I got back when it had just started to turn from cool into the summer heat. They were quite good and I like them. I have this amazing ability to be constantly cold. And the wind you generate biking can, in my opinion, make it quite chilly.

Jo was impressed how much faster it seemed like I could go. And it does feel faster, although the final averages speeds don't seem all that impressive.

I was originally hoping to go for 40 miles, and we probably could have pushed it and done it. But I was feeling fatigued even in the first 10 miles so decided to cap it at 30 miles for the day.

One amusing part was where we made our turn-around to go back was just after a long straight on a nice, although sometimes there are cars, road. Heading out, away from home, we were fighting against the wind. I hate wind it is evil and kills me every time. Jo was out ahead pumping away and I just started trailing. But when we turned around to come back you couldn't feel the wind at all any more and I was keeping up with her easily. I was even amusing myself by drifting (aka making her do more work to my own advantage).

So all in all, good, though not spectacular, ride. We then ran all of these errands which killed the whole afternoon somehow. But I did get supplies for some Christmas presents so I'm very proud that I'm finally actually going to work and plan ahead this year. And we also got more fishies - our tank is looking significantly more awesome, and less empty, now. And that evening we watched a bit of Olympics then went and saw Mamma Mia. Which I totally recommend. It's out there and in a good many ways pretty bad. But just so much fun that it trumps any flaws. And after the movie it was even more Olympics and a much too late bedtime, again.


Date: 7/10/08
Time: 8:15am-10:15am-ish
Distance: 23.813 miles
Average Speed: 12.7 mph
Time Moving: 1 hour 52 minutes 26 seconds

It was even more difficult to get up on Sunday. But again somehow we managed it.

Honestly I don't remember much from this ride. Maybe the sleep deprivation was getting to me.

Back on the Thursday prior I had wanted to do 60 on Sunday. But riding that morning I could feel there was no way that would happen. Up on the bike while peddling away, when I am normally quite awake, I totally wanted to take a nap - not idea.

Although we really were pushing it for the first 10 miles or so. Theres this one mostly flat, maybe a bit down hill section that has gentle curves but its open so you can see what's ahead. It's my favorite spot of the ride, albeit brief and I typically race through it a bit. When we hit there today we happened to be behind a small group of other bikers. Jo was ahead and was itching to pass. So when we hit the spot, having come off of some hills, she sped up to get in front. And I sped up with her....and we were definitely flying along at 20mph for a bit. Pretty durn sweet if you ask me.

Oh! one other thing. One of the stops on Saturday errands was to Dick's sporting goods where I picked up the bike gloves that I've been drooling over for quite a while now. I wore them on Sunday and while I wasn't quite sure initially, it seemed like the padding wasn't hitting where I thought it should, I didn't notice ever having the pain in my hands that I'll normally get on a ride - yay!

We just went with one loop, 20 miles, especially because we were originally going to go hiking that day as well. But both of us were pretty wiped and wanted to do things around the house.

So the hiking was canceled and I had a nice rather lazy Sunday: cleaned my room and the kitchen, read a bit, started testing and even had time to complete my Christmas present craft (it came out well, I'm happy). And of course watched the Olympics, got sucked in, and stayed up too late.

And now just because I've a bit of a theme going (the whole stay up too late Olympics thing) I shall deviate from the bike-centric blog, which this kind of-almost was.

So oddly enough while we were out on Saturday I got in line at Dick's Sporting goods and who is in the line next to us but Ally, who has been taking ballet class with me all summer. It was one of those slightly awkward moments where you first see someone in a completely new context. But the real point is that she said that our teacher had moved class to Monday. This was news to me, last I heard she had moved it from Tuesday (which was different than the original Thursday) to Thursday. But sure enough on Monday while I was at work she called and left a message to remind me that class was on Monday. Take note that it was a 'reminder' of the thing I had never been technically informed of.

In all of the original planning Monday was to be a day off so by body was not quite so keen on ballet. But I went anyways and my teacher denied that Thursday was ever an option - that irked me a bit. It was a rather uneventful class, except that I forgot my shoes -grr. And I came home and was sucked back into the Olympics, although I did exercise some will power and went to bed earlier than the past few nights.

So yesterday I finally got my rest day of no physical activity. And I used it to get a good bit of reading before, once again, letting my addiction get me. But womens team gymnastics was live. And since they're on the other side of the world that meant that it began at 10:30. But they were actually showing nearly al....


whoa the post was cut off by the MS site...how annoying.

Re-Engage

Date: 7/6/08
Time: 6:10-7:10ish
Distance: 11.647 miles
Average Speed: 12.3mph
Time Moving: 65:53

I'm back!

The last time I rode was July 19/20 when I participated in the Central PA MS ride. It consisted of riding up and down 100+ miles of way too many hills in scorching heat. Rock on.

So basically I'm crazy for this all. But it actually felt quite good to be back on the bike again after about 2.5 weeks off.

I made one serious adjustment to my bike. I raised the seat probably about 2 inches or so. Now I'm not a bike or fitting expert but I'm pretty sure that my bike frame is too big for me. So to compensate when I first started riding I lowered the seat so that it was all but sitting on the cross bar (this is a good 1+ inch lower than the 'do not lower past this line' on the seat post). This was just more comfortable for me. However as I rode more I realized that I wasn't extending my leg as much as I could, and should, but I didn't want to raise the seat before the big ride #1. A random guy on the ride actually said it looks like you should raise your seat...and I was like yea I know.

So anyways the seat is up so now I do quite literally have to hop on and off of the seat when I stop being as my leg does not reach the ground from the seat. But I do have quite a bit more power to my petal. It was pretty sweet. Felt weird...but hopefully I'll get used to it. I could get up to 16mph and maintain it much more easily. Although I was fatiguing quickly, I think that was more to do with the break/out of shapeness.

So seat change = good. Now I should just clean the drive train again (that was a mess last time) and if I can actually zip tie my cycloputer (thing that gives me those stats at the top) instead of twist tie-ing it to the frame my bike shall once again be tip-top.

Now that I'm done rambling on about that the actual ride:

Uneventful. Jo was sore from the gym so I went on my own. But it was just a short jaunt. I wanted to do an hour at try to make 12 mph. Check and check.

A rather amusing thing that happened was as I was approaching the big steep hill that is the start of the Greenbelt this other biker came out of no where and passed on my left. I don't know what I was doing but I was just poking along, still getting used to the new seat position I think. He was an older gentleman riding a mountain bike/maybe hybrid. I could tell that he was a somewhat serious rider by how he moved. And he was also wearing a volunteer shirt from the Tour'de'belt that I rode a few months ago.

So anyways he kind of blows by me in a not really 'greater-than-tho' fashion, but not particularly friendly like either. The gap between us grew, partially because I go slow on those crazy switchbacks. But then once we were down on the trail I found that I could go fast given my new bike-awesomeness so I kept him in my sights most of the whole ride. Then fairly close to the half way point he stopped for some reason and was standing there when I breezed (is that english?) by. By now feeling quite confident in my bike off I went. But then I soon started being all slow like again and was taking a drink when he came up next to me again. "I thought I left you way behind" he said. "Nope" I just smiled as he proceeded to get in front of me again and pedal away. I proceeded to not stay right on top of him, but definitely kept up for the 1 maybe 1.5 remaining miles before I turned around. I'm pretty sure he kept looking over his shoulder to see if I was there.

So that all was quite amusing. The most crazy part of my ride, in my humble opinion, came right near the end. The last 7/10 or so of our ride is downhill. Which is pretty sweet. So I'm just cruising along, seeing what speed I could keep up for it (a little over 20 mph). And I just happen to glance down a fairly wooded driveway on my right and what is standing in the middle of the drive way but a peacock. Now the plumage did seem a bit on the ragged side, but I'm positive it was a male peacock. Well that or I'm positive that I am delusional and I saw a male peacock. I was incredibly amused, considered turning around to check for my sanity's sake, but decided the uncertainty was more amusing, and proceeded home.
Jo says that peacocks do exist in the wild....but I think it's crazy that one could exist in 'the wild' of someones drive way in suburban Harrisburg.

Good times.

I intended to ride today but there a Thunderstorm so that plan was scratched. The new plan is to go out tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. 60 miles by Sunday maybe?