Sunday, September 23, 2007

Finding Facebook

As IF MVG needs another distraction for me... We got 'hooked' onto facebook this weekend. It is kind of cool. My brother was the one who got me on, but I didn't go wild with it until MVG mentioned it again this week (a coworker of hers in Red Deer is on it).

We both jumped in, and are part of the fastest growing demographic on facebook (the over 35 group) - according to the most recent issue of Wired magazine.

It is now a race to see who can get the most friends... as well as most songs, books, etc. in the vast array of widgets available.

I'm sitting at '8 friends' currently... a slight lead (although, I have MANY more in Linked In - the 'professional social network').

Anyway, back to the story. Countless hours (well, we could count them, but we are lazy, and stuck in facebook) were spent pouring over the details of the applications, looking at our 'friends' pictures (I put friends in quotes, because most of them are actually family), seeing what books our 'friends' read, and what music they like.

My brother keeps using a zombie widget to attack me, but sends me beer often too. I like zombies... we live in a zombie proof loft, so I have no fear of them. I mean hey, zombies are people too... we should all get along.

So, of all of my friends, I actually only have one friend... no, two. The others are family. One is the Abdominator (who was our roomie in Sarnia, which means maybe he doesn't count as a friend, more of extended family or something), and the other is an old high school/ski friend from way back (if you look at me in my face/ass book, you will see the picture in the "Blast from the Past" section - circa 1987... yes, I'm old).

So, now I have to catch up to my older (but apparently cooler) brother on this facebook thing, and send many kegs of beer and zombie attacks his way.

I must go now, this is too distracting for MVG's liking.

-VG

Friday, August 03, 2007

A New Addition

We have (another) new addition to our bike family. I just got a LeMond Poprad cyclocross bike. It is the 2008 model, not even available yet (nor, is there even a picture on the internet that I have found, so this is perhaps the first EVER photo of it for public viewing).

It will be my commuter bike for my new job, but also, I will use it for riding single-track, and perhaps do a cyclocross race or two.

How?


Many of you are probably wondering... how did I convince MVG that I needed a new bike? Well, a good question. I used three tactics as outlined below.

Tactic 1: Fair Trade


First, I used a new tactic, one that I haven't employed before, and one that goes against the now famous "n+1" formula*. The tactic I used was "trade in". That's right, I traded in a bike (my old Trek 2100) and used that credit towards this beauty.

Tactic 2: Togetherness


Before the cross bike, I could ride single track with my Klein Attitude mountain bike, but Sheila had no bike to ride with me. She is now able to "try out" mountain biking on my Klein while I ride the LeMond, and we can do it together. Once she falls in love with mountain biking, she will then get her very own (properly fit) mountain bike.... so the "n+1" will again take effect.

Tactic 3: Safety


With my new job, and the prospect that we will be moving again to a place within riding distance of work, I noted that the road is very busy that leads to my new employer. FORTUNATELY, there is a 'rail trail' next to the road made of crushed limestone. SADLY, this isn't something I could ride my Bianchi on, so I would have to ride on the road, as unsafe as that might seem.... but wait, WHAT if I got a bike that I COULD ride on the trail... one that offered the ability to ride safely, but also could ride on trails AND the road when needed.

Bonus Tactic: Cat


This one only occurred after the fact, but our cat Pepper LOVES new things, so it is only natural that we need to get her new things. Here she is with the new bike.



n+1 formula: This isn't my formula, but was passed on to me, and is for all cyclists to use. The formula (more of a law really) states that n is the number of bikes your currently have, and n+1 is the amount of bikes you need... when you get a new bike, you start fresh with a new n (which has been incremented with the addition of your latest bike).

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Toronto - The missing Post

I thought I posted this prior to my Russell Peters post, but nope. I guess I suck or something (oh, and speaking of sucking, there is a recent article that you ought NOT show to anybody - and NO, I don't suck that way!).

... back to the story





So, it was the weekend of April 6 - 8 (Easter) when we made the journey up from Pittsburgh, and of all things, it snowed. It was a white-out from Erie PA, to Buffalo NY (where we crossed into Canuckistan). We were going up to see MVG's niece perform on her Bassoon (not buffoon), as well as generally visit with that particular section of the family who are all in Toronto for the weekend. Oh, and we did see our bad-luck friend (too much to go into here) on the Friday night, let's just say his head isn't getting any smaller.

So, the performance was ASTOUNDING... I mean really, really amazing. I think, based on seeing a real musician perform, that I will have to sell my last remaining guitar... After the performance, we went to a great vegan restaurant called Fressen. Great beer selection too.

We had a great time... that particular section of the family seems to not want to visit us in Pittsburgh though... strange.

Ok, later. We're getting ready to go out for din-din and a movie (28 weeks later).

New Blog in Town

For those of you out there who consider yourselves somewhat nerdy, have a look out the new blog The Vegan Myth, which is a chronicle of my MythTV project.

Ok, so much for that topic, now what?

Things have been a little boring lately... well, what I mean is, nothing that is too funny or exciting to blog about. We have been just laying low since the "Russell Peters" act in D.C. The week of May 21 will see me going to Solon, OH to deliver some training for a week, MVG will be taking a week off from work to come hang out in the 'burbs of Cleveland. Later on towards the end of June, we have our second trip to Ride Noho for some cycling.

Boy, I'm starting to bore myself now... this is horrible. If I were you, I would just stop reading now. It isn't going to get any better today... I'll try again later.

Bye

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Live from D.C. - Russell Peters

So, we celebrated our anniversary this weekend, although, it really is in May... MVG got us tickets to see Russell Peters live in D.C. It was great, so great. We were in the center of the auditorium, in the second row... so close that the people around us were part of the show ("uncle Fester" to my left and front row, "Jesse" two rows behind him - looking like a young fester with hair, and the inter-racial couple "Samira and Don" up to our right). We were part of the "glow in the dark" white people in the crowd. At the end, I couldn't tell if my pain was from laughter, or my other maladies.

MVG was initially concerned that we weren't going to make it to the show, after work on Friday, I was in severe back pain, and barely able to move. I was confined to a heating pad, with pain killers and 'deep heat'. I had a horrible night's sleep, almost vomiting from the pain. Come Saturday morning, my back felt a bit better, and I really didn't want to miss the show, so we went.

We got to DC, and the hotel had a whirlpool/hot-tub... oh, was this what the doctor ordered. I spent a bunch of time with hot water jets pounding into my back... it felt so good. Almost back to normal. We then went out to eat... as I mentioned earlier though, I was, by this point, nauseous from back pain, thus suffering an intestinal problem - severe sharp pains and abdominal cramping on and off. I made it through the show, but was up again much of the night in pain.

Despite ALL of that... we had a great time in DC, and a great time at the show. I HIGHLY recommend that you go see Russell live, and BUY HIS DVD. You can find some of his stuff on Google Video...

Ok, I'm going back to the heating pad now, until next time.