OopsClunkThud

Under Water

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:16:09 -0700

Since about 2001 I've followed a strict practice of selling off any HP stock I come into as soon as I can. It's worked well with the stock purchase plan as you get to buy at a 15% discount and only have to hold it for about 2 weeks so the risk is low. Two years ago I got some options and exercised half of them last year on the day they vested with plans to exercise the rest this year. Problem is I didn't set myself a reminder and I was too busy with cannonball to remember that they were there.

I remembered them last week when the market tanked. Oops! So much for replacing my 5 year old computer any time soon.

Missed Opportunity

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:53:38 -0700

On the 8th day of the cannonball heading into Cincinnati the "route" stayed north and went directly from Indiana into Ohio. However if you were following the GPS and taking the fastest path, As I was, then you hop on 275 and cut through the northern tip of Kentucky. Shortly after crossing the river I'm in the fast lane, full tuck, and then I see it. A yellow road sign (those indicate warning or caution right?) that reads,

"CREATION MUSEUM 11"

As I fumble for my camera at 70mph I realize there's no way I'll get a shot of the sign so I'm just going to have to go there. 11? As in miles? Then I notice I'm passing exit 11 and it's too late to get over to the right to make the exit. Well, At least I got to see the sign.

I went to see Religulous this weekend and I found out what I missed. Dinosaurs and people living together and a triceratops with a saddle! OMG I can't believe I was that close and missed it. I missed the chance to "travel back 6,000 years to the dawn of creation."

Day 3 and beyond

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:10:39 -0700

After day 3 I didn't have much interest in posting anything public about the cannonball. The big challenge on day 3 was 40 miles of dirt that passed through the Capital Reef and down to Lake Powel. The morning had been one of sensory overload. Every time you thought it had reached a crescendo you came around a corner and found it was even more stunning. The pictures are representative but only just. I decided that I could either experience it or record it and I chose to experience it.

When the dirt started I took it relatively slow at first. I left the passenger pegs on the SYM specifically for this section. I moved my feet back and stood up to be able to absorb the bumps better. I've ridden scooters in dirt before but wanted to get a feel for things before opening it up. That and I wanted to leave some attention free for taking in the views. By the time I hit the switch-backs I was feeling pretty good about the way the bike handled so I opened it up a bit when I hit the flats. The first turn convinced me to slow it back down a bit but I could still maintain a good pace. I reached the lake with 20 min to spare till the next ferry left.

As others reached the ferry I found out that several had crashed in the dirt and one was hurt pretty bad. From that point on I was worried about everyone finishing each day. The rides were still gorgeous and enjoyable but it was a huge relief each day when everyone was accounted for. Not that any of the riders needed me worrying over them, everyone was great, but I worried anyway.

The SYM handled the whole trip with almost no maintenance. I checked the oil each day, added a bit a few times to keep it at the full line. I pulled the belt cover off twice to inspect things but there was no need to change the belt or rollers. The duct-tape covered cardboard I used to make the seat more aerodynamic was showing some wear by the end of the trip but that's to be expected. The rear tier is squared off and down to the wear bars but still has tread left. Below is the mileage on the first 9 days. I didn't fill it up after day 10 so I don't have values for the last day. When it get's back to San Francisco I'll give it a complete service and note any wear items.

day 1	day 2	day 3	day 4	day 5	day 6	day 7	day 8	day 9
62 mpg	64 mpg	64 mpg	68 mpg	69 mpg	67 mpg	63 mpg	69 mpg	53 mpg*

* I think I left the fuel pump on at one point and over filled the main tank causing some of it to spill :(

Day 2

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:28:40 -0700

the on line tracking thing is not working, oh well. The SYM is running great (knock on wood) and other than a broken kickstand yesterday I've had no issues. Finished the day about 10min behind Jess, but I think I got more pictures. Nevada was really beautiful but also fast. Spent most the day tucked in but the bike is not really ergonomic for that style riding.

got most of the points up for the day and the system is working out ok.

Cannonball

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 21:36:00 -0700

Not really ready to go yet but I'm ready to get away from work.

I'll have a SPOT with me to track my location, SPOT OopsClunkThud. I'll be testing it out over the next few days to be sure it's working ok. I'm also trying something different with the GPS. I found a way to put the official route in as a fixed line on the map in addition to routing from checkpoint to checkpoint. This will let me choose to stick to the route or not and have the GPS not get confused with too many points in the route.

The SYM is mostly ready, still need to put tools together and load the bike. Also need to measure one last time how much fuel I can hold. I've been getting 68mpg so if I can hold the full 5 gal I'll have a range of 340 miles.

New blog location

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:58:05 -0800

I'm moving my blog off to a subdomain to free up space on the main OopsClunkThud page for a business I'm launching at the first of the year. I'm rather excited about this as it's the first time I've actually brought a product to market. After getting a great idea you then have to develop it, make sure it works, sort out manufacturing, packaging, sales and distribution... It's a lot of work but I'm keeping the investment and prospects modest. I expect to have the first product for sale by the end of January.

So anyhow, from now on the blog will be located at blog.oopsclunkthud.com. I'll also provide a link from the new oops page when it's all done but for a few weeks it will be a bit of a mess.

Keeping up standards

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:28:07 -0700

Here I am doing my part to keep up the fashion standards of scooter riders. wearing my very cool and unprotective le coq sportif shoes on my daily commute.

well, here's the remains of my cool shoes

From now on it's boots for the commute.

I'm now a hair farmer

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 22:56:09 -0800

3 weeks ago I decided that my hair had reached the magic length of 10 in required to donate to locks of love so off it came. I'm still using too much shampoo but not really missing it all that much. I will grow it back out and donate again I think, provided work doesn't turn it all gray.

Darwin sick and earthquakes

Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:58:43 -0800

So Darwin has been really sick this week and we have had 3 earthquakes over 3.5 in the last four days. coincidence or is he trying to tell us something? Good news is he is no longer puking and he's started eating a bit so if he was telling us something maybe it's passed.

A small spill

Thu, 9 Nov 2006 09:29:40 -0800

Last Saturday I was on a very leisurely ride through the hills of the east bay and I messed up. I was following too close to the person in from of me and, when their rear tire lost grip in a corner sending them to the ground and onto the shoulder of the road, I must have grabbed a hand full of front brake because the next thing I knew I was also on the ground.

We were only going about 15mph if that so damage was minimal. skinned knee, scrape on the forearm no big deal. On the way home my ribs started hurting but not that bad. Seems I landed on my arm and it pressed into my ribs but not a big deal.

Yesterday I went to see a doctor about the rib as each day it has hurt more and hiccups and sneezing approaches the "sharp pain" symptom listed for a broken rib. The doctor did a simple test of pressing to flex the ribcage, he said if it's fractured I would be jumping off the table. I didn't.

So it's just a bruised rib, may even turn black and blue in a few days. I think I'll get some winter tires for the unstealth.