Vital Statistics

Got the verdict from my mechanic last night: 400 dollars if he only has to replace one valve. Add another hundred if I want to get my heater fixed. Tina and I already decided that we wouldn’t put more than 400 into it, so it’s sayonara to my old truck. I tried to give it to my mechanic, but he said he’s already got too many “projects” sitting around at his house. I’ll probably try Craigslist or I may donate it. I’ve considered taking the sucker apart and trying to fix it myself, but I’d probably have to pay to have it towed then.

Yesterday I spotted a replacement candidate on my ride to work. It’s a four-wheel drive, late 70’s/early 80’s old Ford. The sign in the window says $1800, I think. I wrote down the phone number this morning and will have more info about it soon. A sign in the passenger window claimed it had a recently rebuilt engine and a new clutch and something else I don’t remember. I think older cars are simpler to maintain but I could be wrong. Let me know what you think.

For the second day in a row, there was a FedEx truck blocking the bike lane outside my office. This time the guy was inside, so I stopped and politely asked him to please park closer to the curb so as not to block the bike lane. He said he would try but it’s hard when it’s a tight squeeze. I thanked him and left.

Bike odometer: 5983 miles
Current reading: Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: “I like writing sad songs, it’s a good bag to get into because you can actually acknowledge some deeper feelings of your own and put them in it. It’s a good vehicle, it saves having to go to a psychiatrist.” – Paul
Recent listening: Lifted or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground, De-Loused in the Comatorium, Throw Down Your Arms, Has Been, Science Friday, KBOO Bike Show
Recent viewing: Countdown, Sportscenter, CSI: Miami
Recent playing: Poker Room
Recently Accomplished: Got most of the tax materials together, dropped van off for repair
Imperative To Do: Taxes, lube bike, fix bike fender, fix bike pedal, buy a truck
Cool link: Rate My Professors: Every school in America is listed. Find your favorite prof and rate them.

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 5966 miles
Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: Most Lennon/McCartney songs were composed before going into the studio. One exception to that rule is “Birthday”, which started with Paul jamming at an upright piano. It was not written for anybody in particular.
Recent listening: NPR Story of the Day, DrugMusic, Throw Down Your Arms
Recent viewing: The Henry Rollins Show, Saturday Night Live, World Poker Tour, Nova
Recent playing: Poker Room
Recently Accomplished: Sunday To Do
Imperative To Do: Call John Mechanic, gather tax materials, lube bike
Cool link: LaLa: CD trading website with a great UI. Each trade costs $1 plus shipping which is about 60 cents with the free envelopes they send you.

Sunday To Do

    Completed 

  1. Finished entering CDs into LaLa
  2. Called John the Mechanic (quote not ready)
  3. Send CDs for LaLa trades
  4. iTunes maintenance
  5. Grocery shopping
  6. Fix a computer for Thomas
  7. Haircut
    Not done 

  1. Get all tax materials together
  2. Quicken: pay bills and put receipts in
  3. Coordinate weed pulling with Thomas
  4. Clean bike
  5. Put 24 on a DVD
  6. Buy lug nut wrench

Vital Statistics

Did you catch the latest episode of South Park? Hilarious, symbolic and powerful. Sophomoric humor with an intelligent message buried underneath. The perfect smackdown to both Isaac Hayes and Scientology. South Park-2, Scientology-0.

Bike odometer: 5869 miles
Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: “We were fed up with being the Beatles. We really hated that fucking four little mop-tops boys approach. We were not boys, we were men. It was all gone, all that boy shit, all that screaming, we didn’t want any more, plus, we’d now got turned on to pot and thought of ourselves as artists rather than just performers.” – Paul on the Beatles’ state of mind in 1966
Recent listening: Lifted or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground, DrugMusic,
Strange Little Girls, Mexican Standoff, KBOO Bike Show, Somebody’s Miracle
Recent viewing: NCAA regional semi-finals and finals, Brainiac, South Park
Recently Accomplished: Grocery shopping, paid bills, Metroid Prime: Level 1
Recent playing: Poker Room, Halo, Metroid Prime, Grand Turismo
Imperative To Do: Get motor mounts fixed on truck, buy lug nut wrench and jack for van, start taxes
Cool link: Lake Peigneur: The Swirling Vortex of Doom

Vital Statistics

Despite the moderate headwind that I rode into this morning, I had an absolutely great ride to work. The sun was shining and the roads were not wet. We had a downpour a little while ago, but the sun is out again. I hope it lasts.

Bike odometer: 5862 miles
Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: Although “Norwegian Wood” was mostly John’s idea, Paul contributed the ending to the story of infidelity. Although you might read “So, I lit a fire, isn’t it good, Norwegian Wood” as the teller just making himself at home, Paul intended it to mean that he burned the girl’s place down and left.
Recent listening: Lifted or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground, De-Loused in the Comatorium, Frances the Mute, Crooked Fingers
Recent viewing: Sportscenter, Gonzaga vs. UCLA, LSU vs. Duke, The Office, My Name Is Earl
Recent playing: Poker Room
Imperative To Do: Get motor mounts fixed on truck, buy lug nut wrench and jack for van, start taxes
Cool link: Not Ready To Make Nice: The Dixie Chicks kick off their new album release with a song about all the attention they got for declaring the President to be shameful. Check out the press release – Rick Rubin produced!

Vital Statistics

I loaded all of my Beatles onto my iPod last week so I could refer directly to any song when I was reading about it in the McCartney book. Last night I was reading about “Penny Lane” and I whipped out the iPod because I couldn’t remember the first verse. How shocked I was to find that I don’t have “Penny Lane”! I ordered Magical Mystery Tour as soon as I got home. That’s a hole that has been in my CD collection much too long.

Bike odometer: 5851 miles
Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: “Penny Lane” was written mostly by McCartney about the same time that John was writing “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Both are nostalgic reminiscences of their time together 10 years before in Liverpool. Penny Lane was the name of a bus stop where they would often wait. There was a bank and a barber shop close by. The barber shop had pictures of the different cuts they offered (not “of every head he’s had the pleasure to know”). The fire station is down the road from the Penny Lane Roundabout.
Recent listening: Revolver, Back Track, Rubber Soul
Recent viewing: CSI: Miami, Monk, Sportscenter, Brainiac
Recently Accomplished: work
Imperative To Do: Get motor mounts fixed on truck, buy lug nut wrench and jack for van, start taxes
Cool link: Apocalypse Pooh: Make sure you watch at least half of it before deciding it’s boring. It’s a little slow to start but is hilarious later. If you haven’t seen Apocalypse Now, don’t bother with this link until you have. Say by tomorrow.

Vital Statistics

As I mentioned earlier, I had some problems with some popcorn stuck in my gums. Despite (or because of) my poking and flossing, it became very sore. I was resolved to have my Kakar Dental Group dentist take care of it, but thought I should leave it alone for a few days. Tina suggested swishing it a couple of times a day with Listerine which I did for about three days. Lo and behold, all is well again!

I watched my beloved Hawkeyes fall to Northwestern State last night. I think they drew the highest seed I have ever seen them get and they lose in the first round on a last second three pointer. I feel like Charlie Brown after Lucy pulls the football away. And if it wasn’t bad enough watching them lose it once, it must have been the upset of the day because they showed it about 20 times during the ensuing NCAA coverage on CBS. My bracket is completely blown.

Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: A friend of Paul’s was in the “College of ‘Pataphysics”, which was a sort of joke organization for intellectuals, mostly concerned about drinking. Paul is proud that his mention of ‘pataphysics in “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” is the only one of it’s kind.
Recent listening: My I’m Large, Somebody’s Miracle, Da Vinci’s Notebook
Recent viewing: March Madness, Suns vs. Clippers, Heat vs. Celtics, Conviction, Medium
Recent playing: Poker Room
Recently Accomplished: Truck maintenance (motor mount may be broken), called Kent and my mom, paid bills
Imperative To Do: Start taxes, retrieve Ryno mail, get truck fixed
Cool link: Battlestar Galactica Blog




Rob’s CD Collection – I will never catch up.

I found the White Album and several others without much effort. See any you recognize? (Hint: Click for a larger version.)

Vital Statistics

This article caught my eye on CNN the other day. The father and daughter in the article are “early risers”, which is now described as ASPS (Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome). I looked it up on Wikipedia and soon found myself checking out other sleep disorders. I have had problems with sleep all my life and suspect that I have Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). I also believe that my father had it and probably several of my siblings. DSPS sufferers are often called “night owls.” Sound familiar?

Before we had kids, I entertained the notion that it was Non-24 Hour Sleep Phase Syndrome and actually tried a sleep schedule that wasn’t based on a 24 hour clock. Unfortunately, that and my adverse job circumstances eventually led to clinical depression.

Bike odometer: 5818 miles
Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: Paul wrote the melody for “Yesterday” after he awoke from a dream in which he heard it. The original lyrics were “Scrambled eggs, baby I really love your legs.”
Recent listening: De-Loused in the Comatorium, Coverville, Da Vinci’s Notebook
Recent viewing: Sportscenter, Suns vs. Clippers, The Late Show with David Letterman, Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Recent playing: Poker Room
Recently Accomplished: Cleaned and lubed my rusty bike chain while waiting for the Max
Imperative To Do: Start taxes, retrieve Ryno mail, truck maintenance
Cool link: Death By Caffeine: How much of your favorite caffeine drink does it take to kill you?

Vital Statistics

  Remember me? Dynamite Magazine

Bike odometer: 5805 miles
Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
McCartney Trivia: Nearly all Lennon/McCartney compositions can be described as verse/chorus/verse/chorus/”middle eight”/verse/chorus. John and Paul could not read music so they called all middle passages the “middle eight” regardless of the number of measures. The last verse was frequently just the first verse repeated to really drive it home and make it memorable.
Recent listening: Extraordinary Machine, Rid of Me, Avalon, De-Loused in the Comatorium, Frances the Mute
Recent viewing: Medium, Crime Scene Investigation, Sportscenter
Recently Accomplished: Sent in rebates, paid bills, mowed lawn, purchased new Quicken
Imperative To Do: Start taxes, retrieve Ryno mail, truck maintenance, bike maintenance
Cool link: The Covers Project

Vital Statistics

At the beginning of the week Tina made popcorn one night for the two of us which we enjoyed as we watched TV. She’s found a really good brand of microwave popcorn that make some really good kettle corn and caramel corn. I don’t remember which we had, but evidently a husk from one of the kernels embedded itself in the gum near the back of my mouth and it’s been there ever since. I didn’t really notice until the area had swollen quite a bit. I’ve flossed many times as well as poking at it with a periodontal probe. Nothing has helped thus far so I think I’ll have to visit my dentist next week to get the problem resolved. The whole area is very sore.

Current reading: Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 9-11 by Noam Chomsky
Recent listening: Coverville, the rest of the Christmas CDs

Recent viewing: Big Ten Basketball Tournament, Brainiac, Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Sportscenter
Recent playing: Poker Room
Imperative To Do: Rebates, renew prescription, start taxes, retrieve Ryno mail
Cool link: PhoneSwarm: Coordinated “swarming” of a particular pay telephone somewhere in the U.S. The number is changed occasionally. You call at your leisure and then post a comment. Or just read the funny comments from others.