digitalMoto.net

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/blogs/autosblogpost.aspx?post=3ee3b791-cde5-44c4-a95f-7081c47f8059

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/5-great-excuses-for-buying-a-truck?icid=autos_2383

So…  Do both.

When the weather’s good ride a bike.  It’s in everyone’s best interests.  Then when the weather isn’t so snappy or when you need to haul something, use your truck.  Problem solved.

Works for me. 

I found a copy of TofW 2 at MotoCorsa today.  The woman’s Ducati needed a transmission adjustment.  I have avoided MotoCorsa for a while now.  The sales pressure is a bit much. 

When I got back into the office, I threw it into the DVD drive of my desktop machine.  Having watched about 30 minute of it, I’m really impressed.  Being able to see the real world result of mistakes makes it much easier to understand.  Then being able to see the difference correct execution makes finishes off the lessons.  I think this is one DVD that I will have to watch over and over and over again.  Anything that helps me be a better rider is a good investment in time and money.

http://www.twistofthewristdvd.com/

Now, if my VS2010 help files would finish updating, I’d be ready to start my vacation!  What do you mean?  Doesn’t everyone write code on the plane to Maui?

Super colliders fail because of time travelers.
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/10/is-a-time-travelling-higgs-sab.html

Agile is treating the symptoms, not the disease.
http://www.javaworld.com/community/node/3530

And for the gear heads…
GIpro X-Type – Gear Indicator
http://www.pashnit.com/product/gipro_x_type.html

“Yes, have some.”

Windows 7

I have to admit I am totally jazzed about the Windows 7 release. I’m rarely an early adopter and I still avoid messing with betas. My mindset is usually, “I don’t have time to get everything done on my plate as it is. Why would I want to play with something that I know it is (probably) broken and doesn’t include any upgrade path when the full release comes out?” Still I’m really tempted to throw Win7 RC on the netbook.

Speaking of the netbook. I am falling in love with it. It is a crack up in so many ways. I am doing all of these things that you shouldn’t do to a netbook. I installed Visual Studio Team Edition with all of the add-ons. I installed Virtual PC so I can run a Win2003 Server in the background while I program. I’m plugging in my portable laptop drive then working off compressed versions of my files. All of these action shouldn’t be possible on a XP Home netbook. I don’t know how many times I got warning, but I still plowed ahead and did it. And EVERYTHING works. I can query my Win2003 server, which is running SQL Server 2005. My biggest problem is the small screen. This could be fixed with a higher rez or a larger screen, but then I am leaving the realm of netbooks. It is a challenge to work on such a small screen. At work, I have a 20 widescreen. At home, I have a pair of 20” flat screens on my development machine and a 22” on my test box. So the shift to a single 10” widescreen requires a bit of effort. Still… It works. Yeah, it’s slow. Yes, I coulda/woulda/shoulda done it differently, but pushing this little machine is kind of fun. Tuesday night, I was a PADNUG with everything fired up and running. I had my external drive, my Bluetooth mouse, Virtual PC running and active while I fixed a couple bugs in VS2008TS. It rocked.

Sidebar:

DreamSpark
If you’re a current university or high school student, you can download professional Microsoft developer, designer, and gaming software through DreamSpark at no charge. Yes, students get to download software at no charge.

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I installed ASP MVC on Wednesday after confirming I had already installed .net 3.5 SP1. It dropped in without any issues.

Which brings me around to the original topic… I am thinking about digging up another laptop hard drive so I can install Win7 on the netbook without mucking about with the default OS install. I know where I’ve got a 100 gig drive lurking someone where around the house.

Moto Crash: Update
The KTM should be back on the road next week. My new helmet might arrive today. I need to pick up some new armour on my way home from work tonight. I’m already lining things up for a shakedown run through the Cascades.

My body is starting to re-align. Muscles are less sore or sore from PT as opposed to sore from muscle spasms that last for days. I am back to tapping my foot at work. I tend to thump out the bass drum lines to the music I listen to while I program. I’m on the second floor of a steel reinforced building. When I get going, the monitors on the workstation next start to bob. It’s kind of funny for me, but I’m sure it annoys my co-workers beyond measure. I usually smile and stop as soon as I notice or someone points out the shake. I don’t mean to do it.

Guilty as charged.
100 Basic Geek-Skills for Geeks

Last weekend, I rode about 1200 miles through southern British Columbia. Scott and I left Saturday morning and returned on Monday. I had a good time. I have never been over near Osoyoos before so that was a new experience. I really enjoy my time in Canada. It’s good to get away. The map shows the actual route taken. The original plan lacked some of the zigzagging near Klickitat and in Seattle. I was frustrated by a large truck on SR14, which is why I lead us up to BZ Corner. And we managed to hit Seattle during rush hour. After a required stop at Dick’s Burgers on 45th, taking 99 south seemed more entertaining than sitting on I-5 with my foot down.

Here’s the map:

View Larger Map

Yesterday, I was hit by a car while riding into downtown. I was exiting 26 Hwy to go into the city. I was in the far right lane on a one-way street. The light was red. I was slowing to stop at the light. The light turned green and another driver who was 2 cars back in the queue, stopped in the middle lane, decided that she wanted to be in my lane without looking. I grabbed both brakes and locked my rear wheel before I hit her right rear quarter panel. Then I hit the pavement. I never made it to the while line. Unfun. Nothing was broken (on me). I did hit my helmet on the pavement and trashed about $1600 in armour in the process. The other driver admitted fault and we have the same insurance company.

The map is a sat photo of the intersection, if you are interested.

View Larger Map

I’m already analyzing my actions and I don’t think there was anything I could have done. I wasn’t speeding. In fact, I was slowing down to stop for the red light. The other driver saw the light turn green and jumped into my lane without a moment of notice. The only possible thing I could have done would have been to crank the bike to the right harder, but since I locked the rear wheel that wasn’t possible. I was already sliding against the slope of the pavement as the left lane sits a few inches lower than the right and the whole thing took place in a slight corner. There wasn’t enough time/space to let off the brake and reapply. I am sure there was something I could have done to not put myself in that situation, but I haven’t figured that one out just yet.

The bike is pretty beat up but the dealership says it is fixable. I need a new radiator, oil cooler, side panel, bar end, mirror, shift lever and a handful of other obvious parts. The real cost will not be known until they start digging into it. And dont’ forget to replace all of that damaged armour…

As for me, I’ve been directed to stay home for a couple days and load up on pain killers and muscle relaxers. Basically, I unsafe to drive a vehicle right now. Now if the headache would just go away…

So it really isn’t the years. It is the miles. One great weekend followed by a dumbass in a cage.

We made it as far as BZ Corner. Traffic was bad and we got rolling 30 minutes later than I had hoped which sucked us into the worst of rush hour and more delays.

Free of the mess, we railed through the canyons near Sandy. Running up to BZ Corners, there were deer and dogs on the road. After fuel and food, we agreed that hitting the Klickitat River canyons after dark might not be suck a bright idea. So we reversed course and went back to SR14 and home. We still covered over 150 miles of twists and turns with minimal interstate action.

We are planning on doing it again next weekend, but farther…

The craving is growing. Pieces are lining up. Maybe this summer will be the one to complete the quest: a Saddle Sore 1000 certificate. My conditioning isn’t near where it needs to be, but I still have time and I do have experience on longs days in the saddle having completed multiple 500+ mile days and one 800 mile day. It is all about pacing and knowing when to take breaks (early and often). Scott mubbled something about pushing on the second day to score the Bun Burner.

Saddle Sore 1000 / Bun Burner 1500

It looks like we will do the attempt on the FJR and SuperDuke. That in itself presents a few logistical issues. The FJR range is 300 miles. The KTM fuel light pops on around 150 or 160. Storage. Highway stability at speed. Effort expended in the canyons. Etc. Everything is a trade-off. The basic idea is a hard push at the start to score the cert(s) then an easy cruise back home. Maybe I should mail a few things up to the motel in advance?

View Maywood Park, OR to Stewart, BC in a larger map

BTW: Stewart, BC is just across the border from Hyder, AK. There is no official crossing and Google maps can’t seem to map directly to Hyder these days. It could do it last year.

Now, I need to start burning some miles to get back into shape…

I’ve noticed this (One of ‘those’ days…) is a very popular page. Today I re-read it. I saw a couple more typo’s and places where I wasn’t very clear. But more than anything else it was frustrating and disappointing to revisit that moment.

I know the guy had a life before all of this. He made a bad choice, but his choices had consequences far beyond his limited world. I had multiple conversations with the insurance companies. I learned his name, Mason Andrews. I learned that the driver he hit was terrified to get back in a car and was vowing to never ride again. I know that it took me almost a year to stop thinking about what I saw when I got back on a bike. Maybe that is why I still feel that tightness in my chest when I think about it. It was a brutal moment. Exceptionally fast and infinitely slow.

Spilt blood, bent steel, torn carbon, shattered glass, falling tears, and bare feet.

I still ride, obviously. The SuperDuke is in the same class as the S4R. And I have been seduced by carbon, ti, and steering dampers. But I try not to make those kinds of mistakes. I know what I don’t know. I don’t know the KTM well enough yet to really push it. I do know that you don’t push in rush hour traffic, at least not like that. Sure I break the laws and occassionally lane split when it suits my purposes. I use the power of that v-twin to scoot past the cages that would block my progress. But I also know what happens if I make a mistake…

Live. Ride. Breathe. Feel every moment. And understand that one choice will cause those ripples to move away from you and impact other’s in ways that you never imagined.

I couldn’t sleep last night. I worked in the garage until after 23:30, then spent time installing new parts on the master bathroom shower. It was after 00:30 when I finally crawled into bed. Then I couldn’t sleep. I read for a while, which didn’t help. I learned about the “Query Pattern” and that got me thinking about some development I’ve been working on for the last couple weeks. I laid in bed ‘thinking’ until about 02 when I got up to play Peggle until 03:30. Read more…

So how did I fall under the Ducati spell? As I said the other day, I finally rode the Hypermotard from Ducati. Uninspiring. Boring. Uncomfortable. Disconcerting. I got off the bike thinking there were a host of things I’d need to change if I was to buy one. In short, it just didn’t suit me.

Last night, the woman woke up at 2 coughing. She joked that she had swallowed a hair ball. The cats are usually in our face most of the night so that isn’t a wholly unreasonable idea. So she woke up coughing. I woke up. She went back to sleep. I stayed awake… until about 6:30 this morning. I was surfing around trying to figure out what I want in a bike. Ideally, I’m looking for an alternative to the FJR for commuting. I need the power to do the 75 mph assaults in the morning and crisp handling to survive the stop-n-go for my ride home. I’d also like something that I can play with on the weekends. I’m not looking for super-slab performance or off-road capabilities. I want something that works for me.

KTM SuperDuke? Read more…

Sixx: AM
Courtesy Call
The Heroin Diaries

*Dialtone, knocking, Mexican TV*
Female voice: Housekeeping…
*Knocking*
Female: Hello, housekeeping?
*Tries, door, knocking*
Female: Hello?

Well you found me, but I don’t know
Why you wanna save me…
Well, God is great and God is good
But God didn’t help me when he could
And life dances so lonely by.
Read more…

Note to self: Raspberry Fruit & Grain Cereal Bars == gross

My MP3 player was dead this morning. I didn’t have NPR or music during my morning commute. I was basically lost in my own thoughts, which really isn’t a great place for me to be when riding through rush hour traffic. I can spend hours just thinking about ‘stuff.’ I guess that is why I do what I do. I could have gotten an masters in Philosophy, but I ended up writing software. It is an exercise in self-disciple, curiosity, and hard-headedness. I sit in front of a keyboard, typing (just like I am right now) for hours and hours and hours. There are days when I really would rather be somewhere else. Riding. Swimming. Lifting weights. Working with my hands. Getting laid. Sleeping. But here I sit… typing, solving problems, thinking about ‘stuff.’

Anyway…

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. I’ve been spending a lot of time alone. Even when I’m around other people I’m buried deep in my own thoughts. Here are the top 10 contemplative thoughts of late. Read more…