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How To Draw a Confusing Diagram

Published July 15, 2009

This document, House-Democrats-Health-Plan.pdf (mirrored from the original link at docs.house.gov), is a shining example of not to make an informational graphic. Or, more specifically, how to intentionally make a confusing graphic to show the “other side” as convoluted and “bureaucratic”.

Note that items are intentionally not grouped requiring long, overlapping arrows to connect them. Lots of shapes and sizes and colors are used, there is no established flow, and all manner of niggling details are included. (Federal Mandates for Website Design, Defense Dept. up top, etc.)

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Collapsed Bathroom Rugs

Published July 15, 2009

After cleaning the bathroom this evening I tossed the rugs in the washer to clean them up. Unfortunately, as I went to put them in the dryer I found that the wash cycle had done them in. Ah well. I guess 7.5 years (just about the amount of time since I’d moved in) is a good life for them.

This also meant that I had to remove many, many, many handfuls of shredded rubber backing and nylon thread from the bottom of the washer. There was also a bunch of rubber and nylon in the laundry tub, so I hope that the pump isn’t too clogged. As all the water had drained I’m guessing it’s okay, but it won’t hurt to pay extra attention on the next load.

Now to find a good deal on some new rugs…

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Stupid Forgetful Self

Published July 14, 2009

After work today I intended to head out to Novi’s Lakeshore Park and ride the Tree Farm. This didn’t happen.

First, I forgot my CamelBak at home this morning, so at lunch I ran home to both get it let Afie out to use the bathroom. However, when at home I got called into some work stuff which required my immediate attention and necessitated not going back to the office before the end of the day. I thought that this would be okay, because I could just leave from there, with all my biking stuff in the trunk of the car, and head out to Novi. So, I did.

However, once I reached the I-696 / I-96 junction, which is basically Novi, I realized that my bike shorts were in my laptop bag, sitting on one of the benches in the lab. Whoops. I’d brought them in this morning to make changing easier in the afternoon, throwing a huge wrench into the trip to Novi. After calling a friend to ask where I might be able to buy another pair in that area and coming up empty, I just turned around and headed back to work. Now, here I am.

I think I’ll end up just going to Stony Creek or something after I leave here, just so I can ride around for a bit and relax. I’m really disappointed, because I was looking forward to riding the Tree Farm, especially as I’m (likely) going to be in a race there a week from Saturday.

Ah well.

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Fruit Of The Neighborhood

Published July 12, 2009

Right next to my condo is a large, empty field, most of which I believe to be owned by a local church. While walking Afie in a remote part of said field this evening I came across a rather large stand of blackberry plants with about 1/3 – 1/4 of the berries ripe.

After taking Afie home, grabbing a bowl, and getting to picking I ended up with just under half a pound of berries. These are really, really wonderful. Sitting here eating them tastes just like summer up north at my grandparents cottage / house after returning from the berry patches at the edge of the woods, just a mile or so down the road.

Oh, and the cost? Some time, ten (or so) mosquito bites, slightly scratched arms and legs, and a few berry stains on my hands. Thankfully no ticks were involved, despite the walk through tall grass and it being a warm July day.

I think I’ll eat maybe half of them now, then save the rest for breakfast tomorrow. I’ll likely leave them unwashed as well, just because.

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Highland Wore Me Out

Published July 12, 2009

On Kristi’s suggestion, her, Erik, and I headed out to Highland Recreation Area to ride the mountain bike trails there. So, we did, hitting all four loops. (See map here.)

I’m thinking that I really like this trail, although it was mentally draining to ride. Almost the entire route is twisty narrow single track with lots of stair step-like descents over roots, and technical climbs around, over, and between rocks and roots. This is the sort of trail where you have to carefully plan when to wipe sweat or drink from a CamelBak, as there seems to be something new around every corner and absolute attention is crucial.

After riding we went to El Patio on M-59 in Waterford for Mexican food, and it was quite good. As we were just on the outskirts of Pontiac it’s not hard to find good Mexican, but this was a particularly nice mixture of proper Mexican stuff and American-Mexican. Dessert was a Oreo Blizzard.

Upon returning home I’d intended to wash my car, but I kept nodding off while getting ready to do so. I guess Highland wore me out, so the car washing will have to wait a day or three.

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Moblog Photos: Rubble, Pain Enterprises, Spicy Cheese Balls

Published July 8, 2009

I’ve been doing a lot of bike riding lately, and not much else. Here’s some photos taken with my phone which are related:

· Rubble just off of the Paint Creek Trail along the Paint Creek, near the Clarkston Road intersection.
· Reading The Confusion outside of Rochester Mills while waiting for some friends after a bike ride.
· Spicy Cheese Balls from the bar near Novi’s Lakeshore Park, after riding the Tree Farm.

And, here’s a photo that isn’t related to biking:

· Pain Enterprises truck, going down the road.

So, guess what’s happening tonight. Yes, more riding. Tonight is Stony Creek, and if tomorrow goes as intended I’ll be at Bald Mountain and Addison Oaks then. Friday… Likely no biking and getting stuff done around the house.

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Bike Nashbar Was Hacked, Vulnerable for 2-3 Months

Published July 7, 2009

While at lunch a few minutes ago I received a call from bike nashbar informing me that they had a data breech and that they wanted to inform me of it. They answered my questions and indicated that it was a credit card processing breech, and that it happened at the end of December, 2008 and the hole was closed in early March, 2009. This means that any credit card transactions made during this 2-3 month period were potentially subject to interception.

The calling then confirmed the last four digits of the card I had used there, which also just happens to be the credit card of mine which was compromised in February of this year. I can’t help but feel that the two are closely related.

Poking around a bit online showed a few other sites (1 · 2 · 3) confirming this.

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Hiking the Potawatomi Trail

Published July 5, 2009

This weekend Danielle and I rented some backpacks, sleeping bags, pads, and a tent from REI and headed out to the Pinckney Recreation Area to hike The Potawatomi Trail. After riding it on Memorial Day we figured that it would be a good location for a first overnight backpacking trip, and it was.

For food we brought along MREs in both surplus and civilian versions. They are decent meals, and at just over 1 pound each aren’t bad for an overnight trip. The food is general TV dinner quality, and about 1200 calories per meal. Eating one yesterday afternoon after setting up camp and another this morning before leaving, we were quite satisfied. I was also able to use the flameless heater in them to make this video of an MRE heater being burned in a campfire. In short, it burns hot and bright enough to overwhelm the CCD.

The second day of hiking was quite a bit easier than the first, which may be attributed to our leaving camp before the hottest part of the day. Another upside to finishing the hiking early is that we were able to return the rental stuff to REI a day early and be refunded an extra day of rental costs.

If you’d like to see more photos from this trip, click here: Potawatomi Trail (July 2009)

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Recumbent Weirdness

Published July 1, 2009

My coworker Brian is looking to sell his recumbent bicycle, a Sun EZ-Sport CX. I offered to check it over for him and take some photos of it, so now it’s here at my house. As part of this I decided to take it for a ride, as seen above. I’ve only gone a couple miles on it, but I’m really not sure what to think of it.

For one, the really long wheelbase makes it very slow to turn, and the small front wheel makes it feel not as stable as I’d like. While it is very easy to get going and stays upright well, but with any lean outside of a turn it feels a bit twitchy, and as if it would prefer to turn or fall over.

I’ll probably get some more riding in with it while checking it over, but I’m not sure where I’ll do this at. Sitting lower to the ground, rim brakes for slower stopping, and overall less control makes me hesitant to take this on public roads, even residential ones.

Here is a picture of the bike itself, if you’re interested.

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This Laser Does Not Lase

Published June 30, 2009

Yesterday I acquired a Spectra Physics 155 laser, which contains a 060-4 Helium Neon (HeNe) laser tube. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. I have a feeling that I’ll be throwing it away. The power supply seems okay, although I don’t have the required power resistors to properly test it. I suspect that air leaked into the tube and now it doesn’t work.

Here’s a couple more photos of the tube: Front (Alt. Angle) · Model Number Sticker · Rear

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