Day: December 16, 2009

It’s Almost Winter…

Published December 16, 2009

Here’s Bob putting more air in the rear tire of his bike after tonight’s cold weather made it feel particularly soft and uncomfortable to ride on.

For tonight’s ride we started out from my house with the temperature in the low 20s and headed up to River Bends for a quick ride on the trails there. This resulted in 14.31 miles over an hour and a half, making for a rather pokey 10.1 MPH average. With the air as cold as it is anything over 13 MPH or so hurt, and the trails we were on are lumpy and icy enough that one tends to poke along in a relatively low gear. Not long after returning the National Weather Service had my area listed at 18°F.

Cold weather riding is nifty, and I’m glad that I’m appropriately equipped to do so, but it sure is a lot harder than when its nice out.

Let’s Advertise Like It’s 2001

Published December 16, 2009

A new X10.com-branded X10-speaking appliance module has been installed along with my old receiver for switching the light behind my iMac. It’s now much nicer, as I can turn the light on and off without reaching behind or under the desk. Now I just need to wait for Monoprice to get a stock of the short USB cables so I can order them along with a bunch of other stuff to finish the office wiring.

Yes, this is the infamous X10 Wireless Technologies with the terrible popup/popunder banner ads that came to embody the irritation of online advertising. Thankfully I was able to find the devices on eBay from Big John’s Place out of northern Illinois.