Software Sojourner

Hup, Two, Three, ... Crash!

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Mon, 28 May 2012 22:42:00 +0000

After Saturday's ride, where I was both wildly over- and under- pedaling at times, I considered how I ride the exercise the bike versus how I ride out in the Big Blue Room. I realized how much I used the exercise bike's cadence display feedback to help control my exertion.

Unfortunately, my new Sigma BC 1009 STS wireless bike computer doesn't have that ... but the installation guide teased me that the next higher model, the wireless BC 1609 STS Cadence, does. So yesterday had another trip up the street to Bothell Ski & Bike, where I asked about a trade up. They couldn't do that per se (I was missing the packaging), but they gave me a very reasonable deal on the BC 1609.

Newly equipped, we rode out for local errands today. Between the cadence metric and the one additional day's experience, I was far smoother, and enjoyed it more as well.

Even a minor crash at the end didn't ruin my mood. I lost my momentum on the last rise before the house (as Katherine describes it, a very "short but nasty hill"), and my wobbling recovery was interrupted by a looming curb. Too much was happening, and I tipped over. I at least used my limited aikido head knowledge, and I let my fall morph into a sideways roll rather than being stupid and trying to straight arm the sidewalk on the far side of the aforementioned curb. The result was only minor damage: I noticed my shoulder for a few minutes, the handlebar needed to be twisted straight, and Katherine pointed out that I had a classic road rash on the outside of my leg.

(I did straight arm a sidewalk once, on ice around New Years 1984. I remember it well, not to mention the resulting dislocated left elbow that would ache off and on for the next fifteen years. I'll risk the unpracticed amateur roll, thank you.)

I'm not ready to match the summer of 1985, when at ~ 150 pounds I rode over 1300 miles, but small progress is being made.

Once Around the Block

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:54:00 +0000

After verifying the bicycle can roll with its new toys, it sat for a over week while I returned to the stationary bike, played around with the gym at work, and also watched Seattle weather be cool, cloudy and generally less than ideal for riding. The progress did continue on the exercise bike, and I nudged it up another level.

I almost rode outside yesterday evening, but I delayed a bit and when I realized a storm was about to pas through, I punted.

I didn't punt today, or fallback to the exercise bike.

I recruited Katherine, and returned to the scene of my previous retail crimes. She got riding shoes, and I got a new trunk (i.e. bag for my rear rack). Then we pedaled down the Burke-Gilman Trail few blocks, doubled back, picked up the mail and headed home. Total ride, ~ 5+ miles.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done. Suffice to say, I didn't exploit the tools at my disposal to maximize efficiency. And since there remains alot of me to haul around, I need to be efficient.

I need to learn to transfer the power and cadence balance I've acquired on the exercise bike to the road, using my gears better to keep an even a pace.

Practice, practice, practice.

A Skirmish in the Diet War

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:54:00 +0000

The good news is that I have lost 5% of my body weight. But the battle continues.

Of course on the day I have already spurged on a breakfast omelet & bacon, and this afternoon I will have hot chocolate with an old high school classmate, the lunch menu includes:

Meatloaf
Beef, Onion, Garlic, Bacon, Parley, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Parmesan, Corn Flake, Egg, Ketchup, Worcestershire, Cayenne, Paprika, Molasses, Brown Sugar, EVO and S&P

Garlic Smashed Potatoes
Potato, Kale, Garlic, Butter, Lemon and S&P

Yes, the menu includes other (healthier) choices, but I love both meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

(Did I mention meals are free at work?)

Ceiling Cat is saying "Drew, you have done well. See how you handle the next level!' But, but ... I didn't want to turn up the diet knob from easy to medium yet. Ah, well, it really does average out, and my overall progress is good.

Lights, Action, . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:31:00 +0000

Our local bike shop is making a small mint off me, and I haven't even gone for real ride yet.

The kick-off to the latest expenditures was when I got my bike back from its tune up and realized the bike computer (speedometer for us old school types) wasn't registering any speed. This actually predated the tune-up, so it wasn't their fault, but I mentally kicked myself for not having them replace it.

Driving home Monday, I stopped in at the shop to ask when they would not be busy as to expedite my install. I ended up looking at bike computers, and, knowing how tired my light was, lights. It turns out they don't carry FireSwords, but for a package the size of a fat short cigar, 500 lumens from the folks at Light Motion has a pretty good punch. Ditto for the tail light from the same folks. With a wireless bike computer (no wire up the fork) and a competent amateur bike mechanic for spouse, I figured it all could be installed at home, so I bought on the spot.

However, let's just say the bike computer was the cheap part of the trip. Whee!

(I forgot to ask about a wall mount for hanging the bike, which doesn't quite fit in its current summer home since our 2001 Audi was replaced two years ago with a slightly longer 2009 Audi. We won't discuss why we didn't notice before now. Or what the mount could cost me.)

The bike has been stripped of its old electronics, and we'll install the new toys for the weekend.

Side Note:

Regarding actually riding the bike, my stationary bike rides continue, and I am gradually getting more work in per session. This morning I nudged the stationary bike up a level, and I didn't die (or have to back it off, as I did Monday when I first tried without easing my pacing lower). Hopefully I can get in a short spin this weekend.

Human Wheels

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:32:00 +0000

Weight loss and exercise do ~~wonders~~ moderately good things for creaky parts ... in my case that means my legs, especially my knees.

Moderately good things include a drop off of pain in my right knee, and an improved power-to-weight ratio that allows me to handle stairs in a less awkward fashion.

The lack of wonder includes that last weekend, after I walked home just over a mile from dropping off my bicycle for service I could barely move for over two days. Yesterday, when I picked up the bicycle, I got smart and had Katherine drop me. However, I had already ridden my exercise bike, and I lacked the reserves for the ride home, especially the short but steep hill leading to our subdivision. I got home drenched in sweat and fell on the couch until I could drag myself upstairs for a shower and a nap.

Clearly, I'm only getting started here. I guess the wonders won't come until later.

Three Cheers

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Weight Watchers hands out stickers with stars (ones that make your former teacher's Gold Stars look expensive) for every trivial thing imaginable, from minor weight milestones and long term attendance to simply deliver (literally) a "Bravo". Combined with our ... zealous ... meeting leader's cheery nature, it's almost surreal.

When I checked in at the meeting this week, the receptionist noted I had lost my first five pounds, and could it be announced in the meeting? Since my own records are more precise than theirs, it was old news to me. Also, having shed weight before, I view dropping the first five pounds as no more than pulling out of the parking lot, so it's no big thing to me. In any case, I thought it would be nice for others to hear someone making progress, so I said yes.

Never mind other people, I cared when it was announced. ("Hey, I did something!") I was even vaguely disappointed when I realized it was the only thing I would get (no first "Bravo" for me this week).

I find the Weight Watchers meetings to be somewhat hokey and rather over the top, but I also realize the fundamentals (eat less, eat better, don't starve yourself, exercise) are sound, and that in general it's a dose of something which does help.

My first star is pasted next to my weigh-in data for this week.

Once More, With Feeling (and a Support Group)

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:51:00 +0000

My employer is offering to subsidize membership in Weight Watchers, and to support meetings at the office if enough employees join (the "enough employees" is a Weight Watchers requirement, not my company's.)

Given my weight has been stable the past few years at my long term high water mark, I'll try it.

A dietitian told me years ago, "Drew, you know the rules. You just need to follow them!" Maybe WW and their metrics will help that.

Service After The Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:03:00 +0000

When you dive into life in the Apple ecosystem, life can be expensive. On the other hand, sometimes it's worth it.

As implicitly shown in our cat blog, my home office includes a Mac Pro. I speced it out in 2008 to run multiple virtual machines, but mostly it and its monitors keep the cats warm while I just surf the web.

However, last Caturday I had a real project I wanted to attack, so I hopped out of bed at the crack of dawn and powered it up to do actual programming and ... got nothing except a blinking power light announcing a memory error.

Oh, bother.

I did a bit of poking about, and then made an appointment at the local Apple store. I hauled it in. They agreed it was probably memory or associated components, and admitted the patient. They held it for a week, through two rounds of parts ordering. I muddled along with my work portable in the meantime.

I picked the machine up yesterday, with two components replaced for $150. I brought it home, and booted it up. Once. Second boot, the symptom is back. Oh, bother redux.

It was back to the Apple store today. They were able to get it resuscitated, and I'm typing on it now.

This where I should say "What a pain" for them not fixing it the first time, but I know perfectly well the machine worked when I got it home, if however briefly. Furthermore, their second pass replaced more components for no charge, and generally supported a machine which is not close to being the current model.

My take: "Will use again".

p.s. The real pain is the <expletive> machine itself, which is built like a tank and thus weighs 40+ lbs. It's worse than hauling a catzilla to the vet.

A Bit of Time Riding

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:40:00 +0000

I was feeling wiped at work, so I bugged out early after letting my manager know. I napped, and rose around dusk just after Katherine left for class.

The quiet made me feel like I was back in my old apartment in Kingston NY, a third story walk up over an optician on a good block in a not so good part of town. It was the same isolation, and yet ...

... The Summerhill Kitten Farm blog has enough pictures of the house to more than hint at our creature comforts, and for that matter, the creatures escorting me about the house have broken my reverie multiple times. And there's the matter of the car in the garage -- I lacked both in Kingston.

One could say life is good here, far better than my first lonely winter in the Mid-Hudson Valley a quarter of a decade ago.

I'll just say it's time to feed my trusted companions.

Minor note: Note this is not about the feline overlords, although they were certainly about. If it was, I'd have posted this on the kitten blog. No, life is different from when I was in Kingston.

Where the Action Is

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Having moved to blogger, I'm trying to generate more content. This is not hard, since any is greater than zero.

However, I should include my usual disclaimer, which is I write more on both our kitten blog and on Twitter.

I do like how easy it was to add live links to the most recent updates for both sites on my sidebar, as I never found customizing MovableType very easy.

(I'm also on Facebook, but my content there is not public.)

Testing posting

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Tue, 31 May 2011 23:13:00 +0000

Content. I used to remember what content was ...

Administrivia - Site Blog Software Upgraded

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:53:00 +0000

We've been seeing too much comment SPAM lately, so for the first time in too long a time (3 years), we've upgraded the Movable Type software which drives our blogs.

With Movable Type 5.01, we are now able to require commenters to sign-in order to reduce SPAM. We will not be collecting your login information, but rather relying on your choice of another web site (Google, Yahoo, AIM, Live Journal etc.) to verify you exist. (We won't see your password for that other site, they'll just us tell your name and maybe email address.)

The leap in software releases required us to change the look of the blogs; we're not done with Katherine's TFM blog yet. In addition, we MAY have broken some links.

Please notify of us any problems you have reading or commenting on the blogs.

Nine months

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:15:00 +0000

My dietary habits have been really bad since the new year, but I can say one thing ... it has now been a full nine months since I had cola. That should be the longest stretch by far since I started drinking it around the end of the Ford Administration.

Lance Armstrong, I'm NOT

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:03:00 +0000

I rode the semi-recumbent stationary bike on my regular schedule today. This is noteworthy only because I nudged it up to level 3 for 48 minutes and lived to tell about it.

In October, I was using level at 1 for 32 minutes.

Most interesting to me is not the "distance" I went, but that my knees (my weakest link) have far less discomfort with this level and time than in they did during the lighter workouts back in October. So it would appear I am responding to the regular exercise.

Still a Few Bugs in the System

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:09:00 +0000

A Wii Fit showed up for Christmas, after Katherine searched high and low for it which is tale in itself.

(Short version: She gave up, chose another present, and happened to ask about Wii Fit when she was paying for my other present. Score!)

When Wii Fit tested my weight and balance on Friday, it pronounced my Wii Fit Age as 12 years older than my calendar age, and noted that I'm obese. (No kidding...)

When it tested me today, it said that I had gained four pounds and that my Wii Fit age had dropped 9 years. I think it's downright confused. I have lost weight (per the bathroom scale, used daily), and my fitness certainly hasn't improved that much to overcome the perceived weight gain.

Side note: Since my last post in November, I have been exercising and slowly losing weight, about 7 pounds in the past month on top of previous losses. The loss could be a little faster (bot not much), so life is good.

A New Component Failure

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:52:00 +0000

Weight continues to drop faster slightly faster than it should.

Exercise hit minor glitch today when I switched to the Schwinn Airdyne to add my arms to the workout. It promptly reminded my posterior why we bought the semi-recumbent bike four years ago -- the Schwinn saddle doesn't interface well to my own over sensitive (and overloaded) component.

This may be the Great Phys Ed Instructor in the Sky telling me take a walk outside for a change. However, that can overload the knees (which is why I like the stationary bikes). My legs actually want some exercise, we'll see.

Whoops ...

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 12:43:00 +0000

I lost 2.5 pounds in the last day. This would be great, except that makes 5 pounds for the week, which over my goal of 1.5 to 3 pounds. (Over 3 pounds a week, you lose muscle unless really exercising.) This is not a real concern unless it continues.

My riding does continue, a good thing. I just finished the third of bi-daily rides on the semi-recumbent stationary bike, after about the same number again either I'll up the time per ride or ride more often.

Boston, You're My Home ...

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 07:19:00 +0000

The NY Times has an article on the Boston area which actually starts across the river in Cambridge, to where Katherine and I went on our early dates.

It makes me miss that Dirty Water.

Pedal, pedal

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:46:00 +0000

I'm gearing up (too) slowly after the recent check up, but progress is visible. I've lost another couple of pounds, I feel my appetite is under control, and today I hit the exercise bike again and it didn't hit back.

However, I think my love affair with the McRib sandwich has to end immediately. Sigh, I liked those things.

The Ongoing Decline of Western Civilization, Media Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:49:00 +0000

I don't which is the saddest sign of the magazine publishing industry of the following that earned shelf space at the local Safeway:

A Historical Commemorative Woman for All Seasons magazine fawning over Sarah Palin that was too cheap to find a unique cover photo of her instead of the standard Red Suit head and shoulders media shot.
Star Wars has its own magazine. Still.
The cover of Rachel Ray's own magazine managed to make her look fat. :-)

Of course, they had a copy of Twlight in paperback which I could browse, so the rack wasn't a complete loss.

This Time, We Mean it ...

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:12:00 +0000

The POST failure has been checked. Result is not a major issue, but something I won't note here lest a few search engines archive it for posterity to be retrieved out of context.

Action to take, startlingly enough, is lose weight. No funky or otherwise medications needed. But the good idea just got even more important.

An important note is that I am cleared to exercise.

POST Failure Redux - Seek Service

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:46:00 +0000

After another long break, I'm back on the exercise bike. Yesterday was my fourth ride on an every other day schedule. Unfortunately, I ran into another episode of being overheated and unsteady about fifteen minutes after I got off. I didn't think I was that hungry, but eating a fruit cup cleared me up enough to get real lunch.

Time to an appointment and get the system checked.

iPhone vs ...

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:56:00 +0000

My iPhone has resumed growing on me. Maybe I need shots for it. Following up my previous comments:

The Omnifocus people got their act together and stopped crashing.
The SplashId thinking it was a new install is not their fault, a number of applications can act like that, due to an Apple bug.
The Urbanspoon application does have the ability to lock the location, etc, but they hide it in plain sight. *sigh*

I wonder how it will rate against the Google Android after the latter has a few months of public use and feedback. (Comparing new to burned in would be unfair. )

The iPhone You Love to Hate

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:00:00 +0000

I have an original iPhone from work which I use for on-call duty plus person use. It's now running the iPhone 2.0 software and various nifty apps from the Apple Apps store.

Random iPhone 2.0 software comments:

Applications that crash silently return to the main menu. This gets interesting when an app corrupts it data and crashes every time it starts up. Hello, OmniFocus for iPhone developers? (I had to delete it and reinstall.)

(Fortunately, I had previously synced the data to my Mac.)
An application upgrading over the Net decided it was a new install and cleared its database. Hello, SplashId developers?

(Fortunately, I had synced that data to my Mac as well.)
Cute apps that randomly lookup real data could use options. Yes, I want to eat random food. No, I don't want to drive randomly 20 miles. Hello, UrbanSpoon developers?

Random general Apple comments:

Apple letting their servers getting swamped on launch day by people registering new iPhones while others upgrade
was, for want of a better term, lame. Capacity is not free or easy, but a business decision to make a big splash with a global launch needs to be backed up with resources and fallback plans.
If launch issues were lame, the outages with Apple's online service Mobile Me are scary. As David Pogue documented, 1% of the users could not access their mail for days.
No talk of Apple can go without mention of Steve Jobs; this week's topic is the secrecy over his health. Words don't describe anything to do with the cult of Steve.

Gotta Check That Manual

noreply@blogger.com (Drew Derbyshire) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:02:00 +0000

I rode the bike again, again feeling wiped. It would have helped if the bike had been ridden since my last post on the topic.