October 2005 Archives
Missile clears the launch tube, first-stage motor is jettisoned, second stage is engaged, providing full thrust, and accelerating the rocket to speeds in excess of Mach 4. Missile closes to target, the darts fire, each dart with its own high-density penetrating explosive payload, fuse, guidance system, and thermal battery. Dart separation from missile initiates the arming of each warhead, each dart guided independently via a double laser-beam riding system, controlled by the missile operator via the aiming unit. That was the clinical, the academic, what she knew. What she experienced was the roar of the launch, the shock of the missile leaving the launch tube, the flare of light, the wash of heat. White-hot fire streaking horizontally toward number 14 Uzbekiston, her arm shaking, her eye stinging, trying to keep the aiming mark on the door, left wide open in the wake of their flight. The missile vanished, and for a fraction, nothing, not noise, nor light, nothing. Then the house exploded. Chace felt the concussion throughout her body, dropped the launch tube, and turned her back to the flames and falling debris. From the back of the Range Rover, she scooped up the Kalashnikov, the spare magazines, and the blanket, then made her way to the Volga, climbing inside. Ruslan was staring at her, and Stepan, for the moment, had gone silent, held against his father's shoulder, staring past him, at the ruins of the house. She started the car and pulled away from the Range Rover. In the backseat, Stepan said something in Uzbek, and Ruslan responded tartly. In the rearview mirror, Chace could see the man still staring at her. Stepan repeated the word, and Ruslan the same way. "What's he saying?" Chace asked. "Again," Ruslan said. "He wants you to do it again." This time, the urge to laugh was too strong, and Chace didn't bother to fight it.
Use an ftp site as a local drive.
A combination of normal wear and tear, four people sharing one bathroom (three of whom like to steam up the whole place), and a balky window made it necessary to paint the front bathroom. Bathrooms are not fun to paint - especially when the walls need a lot of TSP, sanding, and patching beforehand.
It took the better part of four days to get things done. We bought the paint on Saturday, and I took off the towel bars, etc. Sunday was TSP and general sanding of all the walls and doors, plus patching. Monday afternoon was final sanding, rinsing of everything to get rid of TSP and sanding residue, masking, and priming the patched areas. Tuesday morning was the actual painting.
Tuesday night I took out the drop clothes, removed the masking, scraped off a couple of paint drops from the sink, reinstalled the towel bars and some of the other wall hangings, and reinstalled the door knob, to make it ready for general use. The paint needs more time to set due to the overcast weather, so no showers until Thursday morning, and the door can't be closed until Wednesday night.
Random things I'd like to get:
- Cycle Shop USA - COVERMAX HALF MOTORCYCLE COVER - size large; $35
- FirstGear, First Gear Rainman Motorcycle Rain Jacket - yellow, size XXL; $65.
- Olympia 402 Perforated Gel Glove - Motorcycle USA Superstore - size large; $40
- Ram Mounting Systems - cup holder; $17
- Amazon wishlist
I've come to the realization that I need to do a better job of isolating my ears from noise on the motorcycle. Currently, I use either disposable foam earplugs or Shure e2c in-ear headphones with foam tips, and either one works well until I get to higher speeds, when the wind noise becomes noticeable and distracting.
After some research, it looks like the best solution is custom molded ear monitors - quality headphones attached to an insert custom molded to the ear canal. Here's some links I found for various models:
- Earinc/Insta-Mold - Racing Molds
- Earinc/Insta-Mold - Mini-Monitors
- Earinc/Insta-Mold - Competition Sports Monitors - motorcycle headphones and headsets
My plan is to save up some nqa money, or maybe refereeing money, and get a pair by the end of the year. I'm also considering adding a flexible spoiler to the back of my helmet — early tests look promising, but I need something that doesn't look too geeky.
In doing my research on Coreg, which Dr. Shubin prescribed for me last Wednesday, I came across an article on a women's health site that discussed Coreg, and also mentioned melatonin as migraine preventers. (I've done a lot of research on migraine treatments, and this is the first time I've seen a reference to melatonin as a migraine preventer.) When I dropped off the Coreg and Zomig (an Imitrex equivalent) prescriptions at Walgreen's, I picked up a bottle of 3mg melatonin.
It's only been a couple of days, but the melatonin has made some impact. I have not had a migraine since last Saturday; the initial few days of that span are likely due to destressing on my trip to the ALMS race in Laguna Seca. But I just feel better since taking the melatonin. I'm more alert at work, less fatigued, although I do get sleepy about 16 hours after I last woke up, which seems logical.
Later, I googled migraine melatonin, and found this article on a site that bills itself as an Online Reference For Health Concerns. The article lists a number of other non-prescription supplements, along with studies (mostly in Europe and Canada) on their effectiveness in migraine prevention.
Since the melatonin was doing good things, I decided to dive in, and bought a month's supply of these supplements: CoQ10, glucosamine, riboflavin, magnesium, butterbur, and feverfew, all at the dosages recommended in the write-up. My plan now is to hold off on the Coreg prescription as long as the supplements continue to be effective.
I rode my FJR1300 to the American Le Mans Series race at Laguna Seca the weekend of October 14-16, 2005. I met up with my brother-in-law Cary, his brother Chad, their friend Dave, and my nephew John.
I went to see Dr. Shubin this morning for a 9:45am appointment, which I signed in for at 9:47 after waiting in line for the receptionist. With literally two minutes to go before I reached my waiting limit of 50 minutes (I've walked out on these guys before), Shubin called me in. As usual, he didn't mention or apologize for the long delay — I'm sure it doesn't even register in his mind.
Also per usual, he was brusque: during a lull in the conversation, I started asking about the mandibular repositioning appliance, and he shushed me, saying he would get to that after he finished writing. He asked about my quality of sleep, snoring, etc., and I told him I seemed to be sleeping better, with more dreams, no reports of snoring from Carole, etc. He said the MRA helped in about 75% of patients similar to me, but that I should be happy that at least I'm getting better sleep. I chose not to bring up the $750 in out-of-pocket expenses for the MRA, or the fact the he hadn't mentioned the one in four failure rate...
He asked about the Relpax; I told him that I took it twice and got very fatigued both times. He wrote me a prescription for Zomig ZMT as an alternative to Imitrex, and gave me a few sample doses.
He pointedly avoided mentioning my rejection of his previous prescription for Topamax, and instead prescribed a beta-blocker named Coreg. I did my due diligence on the medication web sites: it's primarily used to treat serious heart failure, and to reduce blood pressure, but I did find some references to migraine prevention. It does not seem to be associated with the cognitive issues that I had with Neurontin and avoided by refusing the Topamax. I will give it a try, and see how it goes.
A couple of the sites that discussed Coreg as a migraine treatment also mentioned melatonin as a possible treatment for migraines. It's an OTC supplement related to sleep cycles, and the symptoms it's supposed to help match some of mine. The Walgreen's website sells melatonin, so I'm going to give it a try.
My follow-up with Dr. Shubin is the day before Thanksgiving.
I saw my first car with a California license plate beginning with 5R - a silver Honda Civic hybrid, solo in the car pool lane with those ugly stickers on the rear side panels.
I dumped a bunch a stuff into Chad's trunk and followed him to the track. We got to park in the campground section, about a mile closer than yesterday, and on asphalt to boot. We got there just as the World class race was getting underway. There was some good action on the corkscrew, but too many cautions made the race flow a little odd.
Porsche Cup GT3 racing was next, and Chad's mechanic Kevin Dobson had taken poll. This race again had too many caution periods, but we cheered when Kevin won the race handily. There was a cool spin in the lower section of the corkscrew during this race: the green number 10 car had been bumped, purposely, a few laps earlier, and the damage caused the fender to rub against the left rear tire. This tire finally gave out halfway down the corkscrew, sending the car into a flat spin that lasted five complete rotations. He was able to limp back to the pits, but his suspension failed soon after and he never passed us again.
I repacked my gear and suited up for the ride home, leaving the track a little before 2:00pm. From SR-68, I headed south on G-20, a fun romp up and down the Laureles Grade, with a bunch of fun twisties. Once I turned east on G-16, Carmel Valley Road, I had to bide my time through town, but things picked up soon after. More great scenery and high-speed fun, with plenty of technical corners to keep you focused. I cut down Central Avenue, with FJR-nominal speeds all the way into King City, where I stopped for some tacos.
I took US-101 south to Paso Robles, stopped quickly for gas, and headed east on SR-46. It's much more scenic to take US-101 all the way back home, but it adds about 100 miles to the route, so 46 is the way to go for the quickest way home. It's posted 55mph the entire way, but alertness and a V-1 make higher speeds possible. It's always prudent to ride in the far right section of the lane, in case one of the on-coming yahoos decides to make a pass long after the opportunity had expired.
I grabbed a bite at a McD's in Buttonwillow, then headed home on I-5. The moon was very bright, with patchy clouds from the storm coming up from the south. I stopped at the base of the Grapevine to add some warmth under my jacket - it gets cold going over the summit.
I pulled into the driveway at home at 8:45pm, wishing I didn't have to go to work the next day…
Continue reading ALMS 2005 - Day 3.
My original plan was to leave around 8:00am, but it always takes longer to actually hit the road. I finished packing, got everything on the bike, added air to both tires (42/42), and finally left the house at 9:52am.
With the V-1 on duty, I made the run up I-210 and I-5 to Frazier Park Rd. in good time — very good time. Once I passed the Lockwood Valley Rd. cutoff and made it past the Pine Mountain Club, I had a lot of fast fun on Mil Portrero and Cerro Noroeste. I normally do this road west to east, so it was like riding a new road.
I turned east/north when I hit the 33/166 junction for the long slog through the oil fields to SR-58. Looking back, this was the least fun part of the day's ride, and only the anticipation of SR-58 and good reception on the XM radio made it palatable.
SR-58 is really three roads in one. Going to east to west, you get fun, fast twisty section, followed by a big stretch of lonely straightaway with awesome whoopdee's, and finishing with more fast twisties. An excellent way to spend the morning. Without admitting anything, the max speed listed on my GPS showed 122mph after the middle section.
I guess my heavy throttle hand burned off too much gas, and I was deep into reserve way too early, so I had to take the La Panza Road cutoff into Paso Robles. I really, really like SR-229 south of Creston, but gas stations are few out here, and walking didn't seem like the best option. I filled up at the first station I found, with 49 miles on the reserve odometer.
After a quick lunch at the Mexican restaurant next to the Motel 6 in Paso Robles, I headed up county road G-14 past Lake Nacimiento and Lake San Antonio to give the V-1 more exercise. In the fall, the central coast views are a great combination of dry grassland with lots of green oaks.
The highlight of the day's route was my first ever trip on Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. — named in the November 2005 issue of Motorcyclist magazine as one of the ten best rides in the world.
I went west on Mission Road, did the quick check-in at the Fort Hunter Ligget guard gate, and puttered along at military-base-nominal speed, enjoying the views. Once you clear the base, the road becomes an awesome path through the central coast range, with a canopy of trees, tight blind curves, and the occasional gravel-strewn corner. The last few miles are steeply downhill, and once you break out of the woods and look down thousands of feet on the mist-shrouded ocean it's a challenge to focus on the road instead of the fantastic views. Luckily, cage traffic is sparse, but you do have to take appropriate care.
By the time I reached SR-1, the weather had changed dramatically. The inland heat had given way to thick fog, cool ocean breezes, and temperatures in the fifties. I felt comfortable enough to stick with my mesh riding jacket, although I considered stopping to put in the liner a few times the rest of the way.
There was suprisingly little traffic (always the biggest frustration on such a cool riding road), and the ones I did encounter were either easily passed or willingly pulled into the turn-outs. (Remember, I do not pass over a double-yellow, just on general principle.) I stopped in Carmel for coffee, but because of the late start it was past 6:00pm and all the shops were closed.
Before I left I'd arranged with Cary to pick up the ALMS race tickets at the will-call hotel, to save time on Saturday. The will-call was in the Embassy Suites hotel in Seaside, just up SR-1 from Carmel. I called Cary to see if he'd been able to get me authorized to pick up the tickets, but he hadn't gotten through, so we agreed it would be best for me to skip the trip to Seaside. Instead, I took SR-1 up to SR-68 for the ride to the motel in Salinas. On the way, it started drizzling, starting out light and getting heavier as I went along. After checking in, I walked across the street to the In-N-Out for dinner, and spent the evening reading my new book.
All-in-all, one of my best riding days in a long, long time.
Continue reading ALMS 2005 - Day 1.
From there, county G-14 to Lockwood-Jolon Road, which goes over the coast range to SR-1 just north of Gorda. A quick stop for coffee in Carmel, then maybe up to Seaside to pick up the race tickets at will-call (if they'll let me — Cary paid for them, and they may require him [and his photo id] to pick them up). I spend the night alone in Salinas.
The race starts late on Saturday, so if I'm feeling it I plan to go up to Hollister (maybe even the outlet mall in Gilroy for new socks!) then down SR-25 — one of my all-time favorite roads. From King City, I'll take Carmel Valley Road (G-16) (another big favorite), G-20, and SR-68 back to Salinas.
The plan for Sunday is to catch the rest of the race program, then do the quick 101-46-5 ride home. If I'm really feeling it, I have the option to stay on the 101 and do some rides in Santa Barbara county.
With two Imitrex so far today, I was glad they finished early so I didn't have to take the bus all the way home, or call Carole for a ride.
Carole, Buddy, and I went hiking to Millard Falls, north of Altadena. Buddy had a great time, but he kept trying to wade into deep water that made him semi-panic. The gnats and 'squitos were fierce, but otherwise Carole and I came home happy, but tired.
The nurse giving flu shots — part of a free company program — was very good - I hardly noticed it at all.
Carol called with a debate about use of asterisks for two different footnotes in the same section, but on different pages. Based on this reference from Gregg, we decided that separate symbols would be best if the two pages could be within the same view (i.e., on facing pages of a double sided document):
1503.f - Footnotes and endnotes are sometimes keyed by symbol rather than by number. This often occurs in tables with figures and in technical material with many formulas, where a raised figure — though intended to refer to a footnote or endnote — could be mistaken for part of the table text or the formula. When the use of symbols is appropriate, choose one of the following programmed sequences:* † ‡ § ¶ OR a b c d e
The official name of the ¶ symbol is pilcrow.
A old take on an even older story. Google video
Here's a list of knots I've been practicing:
