So, it's 5:25 AM

...and I have been up for an hour. Why? you ask, well because I am going to New York, that's why. Actually, I am going to New Jersey by way of New York.

I am sitting in a bus that boards at 5:30 in the morning in C-vill and gets to NYC at noon. I don't know if we are actually going to make it by noon, but we'll see what happens. I guess that doesn't really tell you Why I am on this bus at this time. Well, yesterday was my dad's birthday and I wasn't able to getup to Jersey yesterday because of work and stuff, so insidering the price of gas, the cost of short-notice air-travel and the time it would take to drive, this was my only reasonable option. It's the Starlight express. For $149 round trip this bus leave C-ville at 6 AM on Saturday, gets into NYC at noon and leaves NYC on Sunday at 5:30 for a return time of Midnight in C-ville. Come Monday morning, you haven't dont much more than sit around for several hours and you have been transplanted to another world for just a little while.



In a week or so, you will probably get a recap on a 24 hour race that I am doing with the Bathtub Burrito (don't ask) and as I was getting ready this morning, I realized that this was pretty good training. With 6 hours of sleep (it wil be less next week) I am forced awake by a buzzing alarm. It's completely dark, a little cold I am a little dioriented, I have to get up and ride a bike, and...it's raining. Actually, I didn't have to ride the bike this morning. My plan was to get out of the house around 5:00 and get on my single speed MTB to ride across town and get on the bus. When I saw the rain I heard a voice in my head "Expet the Worst" and I had to adapt. First, I han't planned for rain or cold at all. With 95+ degree weather over the last four weks, why should I? I was going to leave the house in shorts and a T-shirt. SoI had to figure out how I was going to get to the bus without getting too wet. I thouht one option was to park near the bus stop and ride to the bus if I had to.

I put my bike on the car and grabbed my rain jacket, (which is really nice to have right now because the bus is freezing) and I hopped in the car. As luck would have it, there was a space right at the bus stop. So now my car is parked (with bike) waiting for me when I get back.
oh, wait, quick interruption. The first of my fellow passengers have arrived. I was curious who else would be taking a36 hour trip to Manhatten. It's two middle aged ladies who seem to know each other but chose to sit in different seats. They seem friendly.


So back to the bus. If it gets any colder in here I am going to have to put on the one pair of pants that i almost didn't pack.

So it seems the bus driver has a son...and maybe a wife? I guess this is a family affair. I noticed the kids seat when I came in but I didn'treally think much of it. This is really a nice setup. He started with a 44 passenger bus, took out all of the seats, and replaced them with 22 BMW SUV chairs. Now that I think about it, the happy female customer getting out of the bus in NYC with her toddler on the Startlight Shuttle advert is probably this guys wife. It maybe just shy of 6 AM but I can still put 2 and 2 together. Anyway, the seats are actually kind of nice. I was just poking around and the seats actaully move. There little controls that you would have in your X5 actually work, well mostly. I can get the seat to move up, down, left and right but I don't think mine leans back. That's a bit of a bummer. I may have to switch seats at some point.


OK, I am glad I am not allergic. Someone just came onboard with an animal in a small cage.I am assuming a cat.

So, now we have two middle-aged women, the bus driver, his wife and child, a younger lady with an animal another gray-haired lay that snuck on at some point. And the kid is making a littlebit of noise. This should be fun.

Three more passengers have just gotten on the bus. They all look post-college age. Two females that appear to be travelling together and a tall skinny dude that I would simply describe as "mild-goth" Maybe by the PM he will be able to go full goth..it's still early.

More info, the two middle-aged ladys are sisters. I am tired, I am going to close the computer and try to get a nap before I watch Sin City.



Ok, it's four hours later. We seem to be making pretty good time. The bus doesn't have to wait at any of the tolls. Either he's got a really good eye for the fast lane or he is setup with EZ pass or something to get throught some special booths. I just finished watching Be Cool, the first of the three movies that I rented frm Blockbuster for this trip. It's pretty good! I kind of remember when I saw the previews and thought I would enjoy it. I won't give a review now but it's worth seeing. Vince Vaugn is priceless.

I did manage to get some sleep but the (bus driver's) wife woke me up because they were picking two people up on the way and I was in the only availale two-person seat. I don't know how long I was asleep, but it was pretty nice to get a little nap. The weather is moderately crappy. Steady light rain for as long as I have been awake and watching movies. Considering the rain and the current state of my wipers, I am pretty glad that I am not driving.

OK, this is uncalled for! Someone on the bus stinks! I have pets so I can understand bringing the cats, and I know it's a little early to be getting on a bus, but somebody should have showered last night and maybe threw on some deoderant this morning. I am not the only one who has noticed. We just got a bad backdraft and I sawthe girl across the walkway discretely trying to cover her mouth and nose with her jacket. That's just bad form.

Internet Aptitude Test

So maybe I am just an elitist a-hole but I think people should be seperated into dumb and not-dumb. This wouldn't be a global rating, it would just apply to certain things.

Like if some one came up to me and asked..."Matlab. Dumb or not-dumb?"

I would reply. "Not Dumb"

"Drywall Installation. Dumb or not-dumb?"

I would definitely have to say... "Dumb"

I could go on but you get the idea. In the spirit of the dumb/not-dumb rating system (dndrs), I propose an internet aptitude test. Why? you ask...Because I don't think everyone that has an internet connection should be allowed to participate in all internet-based activities. There should be a minimum level of competence required to participate in such tasks.

It wouldn't be too hard. It could start off with some simple questions. Maybe some general computer questions and some more specific internet related questions. For example...

1) What kind of computer do you have? (Almost any answer could be acceptable here, PC, MAC, Dell, Gateway, Laptop, a White one)

2) What is the name of the internet browser that you use?

3) What type of internet connection do you have?

4) Open your internet browser and find a particular item on Ebay.

5) What is your email address?

Then maybe they would get a little harder

1) What is your operating system?

2) Name two internet browsers.

3) Actually register with and purchase an item from Ebay.

4) Sign up for an internet forum and make a substantial post, with an image!

5) What is your ISP?

And then a little harder

1) Name 4 internet browsers

2) List an item for sale on Ebay (with html tags and your own hosted images)

3) Remove a virus from an infected machine.

You get the idea. Something like this could save a lot of time! There are plenty of people out there testing internet-based programs and projects that really aren't hitting their target audiences. Think about how much time is lost getting people to set their cookies so they can download a plugin to watch an instructional video or guiding users who are unable to manage multiple usernames and passwords.

Again, maybe I am elitist, maybe this is a dumb idea, but I think someone could benefit from it.

There are some things I am just not good at (yet!)

I can make a pretty good omelet, I can wash the hell out of a dirty pan, I am decent at weeding, I am pretty good at Matlab, and I consider myself an adequate mountain biker…Everyone could probably name a few things that they do particularly well. Things that we just seem to have a knack for or maybe learned at a really young age…but it’s when we go outside of our comfort zones that we find out what we really aren’t good at.

I have been doing some home improvements lately and I have realized

it’s only when you see a professional do what you are trying to do that you realize how much you suck at something.

Maybe suck is too harsh a word. Everyone had to learn from somewhere. No one was born knowing how to drywall or troubleshoot a tripping breaker in a fifty year old house. But I do truly understand why certain people get paid to do what they do. I have only taken one economics class (and only one Cognitive Sciences class also, but that’s irrelevant) but I do remember a couple of basic economic principles. The one that comes to mind is Specialization and Trade. It’s pretty basic. Why learn how to do everything poorly (fix your brakes, grow corn, build a computer) when you can do one (seemingly) useful thing and trade that service with someone who needs that service. Of course we have evolved from the basic principle with a system of credits (read currency) but it’s still the same idea.

I make things happen in Matlab, I get money, I pay someone money to fix my house. Or at least pick up where my limited skills and I left off. So, the next time I feel bad that a professional electrician can do in one hour and fifteen minutes what would take me several weeks, I just think about how long it would take him to generate a simple plot in Matlab.

Here’s some pics from the home improvement process.

This is the paint peeling from the walls and cieling in the bathroom. In this picture we had done some scraping already but not nearly enough.

Here is another shot of the cieling. You can't see the light fixture that I still have to put back together but you can see the vent/light that I installed (with a little help from a professional electrician)

This is the first wall after 2-3 hours of scraping by two people.

This is where the electrical problem was. There is a bad wire in the wall between that hole (used to be a socket) and the lamp that he had to bust out of the drywall. Now there is a wire just dangling in the basement. He's coming back to tighten that up though.

Here's some shots of what I decided to do this morning. Just some gardening.

Ripped up some weeds, turned the dirt, and planted a little doanted mint. There's also some Cukes and greens and something else. It may be too late to get anything to come up, but we'll see. The squash, spinach and raddishes were a huge bust.

looks good without the weeds!

Latest Movie Reviews

I love watching movies. I am easily pleased so if something falls within my range of interests (Mostly Action and Comedy) there is a good chance that I will enjoy it. I think that's why I am having trouble really using Movie Lens to rate and choose movies. All of my selections are between 3.5 and 4.5 stars. I will try to be more critical in an effort to gain some statistical meaning.


Without a Paddle



I am sad to say, even though I like Seth Green, this one was a true stinker. I have seen it twice and I think that's enough to say that this movie get's only one cute blue iPod. The only redeeming qualities were maybe the cute hippies in the big tree and the time they had to snuggle in the rain, but that's about it.




Million Dollar Baby


As much as Without a Paddle sucked, that's how much this movie didn't. It was a little hard to really embrace Dirty Harry since he never opened his eyes and his face looks like an old leather baseball glove, but this movie was dead nuts on!

I can't really say too much without giving away the ending but it's a powerful movie with great characters and some rough situations that leave you thinking for days. For some reason I slept on this one but I am glad BlockBuster was out of whatever else I was thinking of getting.

Five cute blue iPods for this one


Coming Soon...
Melvin Goes to Dinner