September 2004 Archives

I had planned to go to Mervyn's over lunch, but got an urge to ride fast and hard that couldn't be ignored.

The morning low clouds hadn't burned off all the way when I left work at 12:50pm. I stopped briefly at the signal getting on the freeway at San Rafael, but otherwise rode straight through until I hit construction getting back on the I-210 after the mountains.

Up Angeles Crest to Upper Big Tujunga Canyon, a quick (very) run over to Angeles Forest, and back down Angeles Crest. I got back in a minute or two after 2:00pm.

It was the most fun I'd had over lunch hour in a long time. 57.2 miles.

Early Sunday morning, I went out front to get the newspaper, and discovered quite a mess. About a dozen eggs had been thrown at the front of the house.

All of the cars were hit, except for Jeremy's. He came in around 2:30am from a party, obviously tired and distracted, and must have missed the carnage. I hosed down all the cars (including Jeremy's). Justin pulled the cars onto the street, and did a great job hosing down the driveway. I took a scrub brush and some Cinch to clean up the garage door.

No one else on the street appeared to get hit. I guess we were just the lucky ones chosen.

I watched Master and Commander this morning. The unfortunate midshipman had just drowned himself to remove his bad luck from the ship when I finished.

The nurses normally insert the needles without incident, but this morning the needle in my left arm went in off target, and I wound up with a black and blue area the size of a quarter just above the puncture. It's a little sore, but no big deal. Click below to see it in living color.

With a clear head and plenty of sun-screen, I hit the soccer fields on Saturday for a day of refereeing.

First up was a 1:00pm BU-12 YDP game between Temple City and Pasadena. Both teams were very skilled, but Temple City's strikers were just a little stronger, and they won 5-2.

I took a break to make pico de gallo for Jeremy and Sarah's multi-course pot luck down in Orange County. I noticed that it's been a few years since I cut myself with a knife.

Back at the park, I did a GU-14 game. The game was somewhat boring - 4:00 is just too late on a hot day for an interesting game at this level. We all muddled through.

My goal of maximum fun and minimal soreness was mostly realized. The games were fun, and I had only the expected leg soreness this morning, so I'll call it a successful day.

Pictures of some enhancements I made to the FJR1300. I installed Heli bar risers, added some wiring under the dash, installed a Valentine V-1 hardwire adaptor, and Magnum Blaster Horns.

I rode up to Big Bear to visit with Pat and Harvey, Crystal, Terry, and Logan. Carole went up to show her parents a couple of houses, and I tagged along.

We shared a sandwich at Shelley's, and went up the back way. The winds through the desert were strong, in the 30-40 mph range, and made the ride from Victorville to the base of the hill a little too interesting for my tastes. Slow traffic reduced the fun all the way into Big Bear Lake.

I talked football with Terry, and got to spend some time with Logan. Crystal had a banquet party of 50 that kept her at work, but truth-be-told Pat's dinner wasn't ready anyway. I had hoped to leave around 7:00-7:15 to beat some of the cold, but wound up leaving just before 8:00.

This was my first time riding in the mountains at night. The constant on-coming traffic meant a lot of high-beam to low-beam switches, and things got a little hairy on some of the low-beam-required curves. I put the windshield up almost all the way to cut down on the cold, but my fingers were pretty numb at the base of the hill. Heated gloves for Christmas, anyone?

The 10 was slow from the downhill section of Kellogg Hill all the way to the 605. It got so slow in West Covina that I followed an R-1 lane-splitting to the right of the fast lane. I think it saved me 15 minutes.

From Rising Hegemon: The Bogus Assault -- Father Freeper of the Year:

Serial Republican Victim complains for the THIRD straight presidential election of being assaulted and has his family assist.

Any time you're exploiting your three-year-old girl's tears, you're on the right track.

My good friend Connie was laid-off by our misguided company after 14 years with MSC. We had a great going-away lunch for her, organized by her friend Lori.

I watched Office Space during apheresis this morning. I was at the printer and baseball bat in the field part when I finished. It was tough to head off to work just afterwards...

I saw my first 5J California license plate this morning, on a new silver Volvo SUV waiting to turn left from Huntington Drive onto northbound Rosemead Blvd.

You seem to have forgotten that loyal Democrats elected you as mayor and as state senator. Loyal Democrats, including members of my family and me, elected you as lieutenant governor and as governor. It was a loyal Democrat, Lester Maddox, who assigned you to high positions in the state government when you were out of office. It was a loyal Democrat, Roy Barnes, who appointed you as U.S. Senator when you were out of office. By your historically unprecedented disloyalty, you have betrayed our trust.

Great Georgia Democrats who served in the past, including Walter George, Richard Russell, Herman Talmadge, and Sam Nunn disagreed strongly with the policies of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and me, but they remained loyal to the party in which they gained their public office. Other Democrats, because of philosophical differences or the race issue, like Bo Callaway and Strom Thurmond, at least had the decency to become Republicans.

inconcinnity - Lack of congruity or harmony; unsuitability.

In many areas of the country, the changing of the seaons is marked by the reds and golds of fall leaves, followed by the snows of winter, the greenery of spring, and the heat of summer.

Southern Californians mark the changing of the seasons in different but equally striking ways. I mark the beginning of fall by the small but significant increase in freeway traffic as students return to school. On the best days in L.A. the freeways can barely keep up with demand, so the extra school traffic is enough to put congestion over the edge. My normal 5 minute freeway commute turns into 15. My Jamba Juice is finished in the car, instead of in my office. I noticed it today, the first work day after the Labor Day holiday.

Summer in So. Cal. has the opposite effect - traffic on the freeway frees up just enough to be tolerable. (I realize I'm out of line complaining about a 15 minute commute, when many people, including my boss, have 75 mile plus commutes - one way.)

We know it's winter here when the St. Augustine turns yellow-brown, and we turn off the AC in the car. The tops of the local mountains turn white, and the local radio stations have ski reports.

Spring is just a brief period between the hardships of winter - longer lines at the Starbucks, short lines at Jamba - and the heat of summer. The walnut tree in the backyard gets its leaves back, and the doves make a nest in the patio frame.

We have seasons in Southern California - you just have to know how to spot them.

Happily, Rick called the house around noon to invite us all over for a barbeque - arrive anytime after 2:00, with food served around 5:00.

Justin and I drove over around 3:00pm, with a stop at Ralphs for chips and sodas. The guest list included the Bowsers, Rob, Yvette, Michael, and Trevor, Chris, Scott and the kids, and Jimmy and his friend Jackie.

Jeremy stopped by after dropping Sarah off at home. They had gone out to the AMC in Covina for a group interview, and by all accounts most of the people in their group were longshots for a second interview. Sarah and Jeremy did fine, from what they told us. Jeremy had to leave for work before dinner was ready, but got to eat a few snacks.

I was great to chat with everyone. We talked about motorcycles (of course), concrete block walls, contractors, cars, cement driveways, kids, household chores - you name it, we talked about it. Justin played with the kids in the pool, dragging Jake around on a boogie board. Trevor spent hours in the pool - prune hands for sure. Michael was getting over a bad cold, and didn't get to swim.

I helped clean up a little, and we left for home around 6:45pm. I had a great time.

I spent a few hours making some additions to the FJR. It was pretty fun - for the most part - but not so cheap.

I added a barrier strip and jumper plate, wired through a relay that activates through the running light circuits. From there, I added two Magnum Blaster replacement horns, to improve my odds out on the mean streets, and the hard-wire adaptor for the V-1. I'm leaning towards buying a left-mirror mount stem stand, but for now will use velcro on the right brake reservoir to mount the V-1.

Here are photos of this operation, plus the Heli bar adaptors that I installed a couple of days ago.

I took the FJR up to the canyons this morning for the first time. Way fun.

I left the house just after 7:00am, and rode straight through to Tom's in Palmdale without stopping. On the V-star, I normally stopped in Tujunga for gas, both to make sure I had enough fuel and to get in a good stretch after the freeway and before the hills. The FJR requires no such stop.

The bike handles amazingly well, especially considering I'm still getting used to it. Ham and Eggs hit the spot.

Bouquet Canyon was seriously fun. All those slow corners that made the V-star pegs drag went by without drama, and at a much higher yet more comfortable speed. By the time I hit Little-C, my wrists were getting tired, even with the new Heli bar risers on - I'd hate to think how they'd feel without the Heli's.

It's very tough to keep in the break-in range on the 210 coming south from Osborne and through La Crescenta, where flow-of-traffic in the fast 3 lanes is 90+. I did my best, and made sure to vary the speed when possible.

137 miles total.

I watched Runaway Bride this morning while I gave platelets. The movie was better than I expected, in a romantic comedy kind of way. I left when they were doing the second rehearsal.

I'm now a big proponent of the ring finger for the hemastat puncture. Much less painful than the middle finger.

IN THE CLASSROOM

More than 500 students go to Caltech to work with top scholars and explore scientific ideas.
By Peter Y. Hong
Times Staff Writer

September 1, 2004

Albert J. Bollard, 20, traveled from England to Caltech this summer to pursue lofty scientific questions with world-class researchers — questions like: "Would you prefer to run over a puppy with your car, or shoot dead a gorilla?" and "Would you rather kill a deer or suffer second-degree burns to your hand?"

The gruesome inquiry actually aimed to serve a greater social purpose. Bollard and his Caltech collaborators were studying how the brain responds to morally charged questions. Subjects pondered those repugnant choices while strapped into a brain-scanning machine.