If you want something that’s like a regular book, then GET regular books! Here is a handy-dandy list of what you CAN do with regular books that you cannot with iPad books (or any other electronic book, for that matter):

• Give to a friend after you finish
• Lend out to a friend
• Sell for money
• Work without electricity
• Work anywhere from ungodly cold temperatures to 451°F
• Read during takeoff and landing

Until I can do the first three things on that list regardless of which platform my book’s new owner has, I will be sticking to my regular books, thank you very much.

NO

I saw this on my Facebook feed today: Texas Water in UT Tower-Shaped Bottle to Raise Millions for Academic Scholarships. This completely flies in the face of the school’s push for environmental stewardship.  Also, this is just one of those things where being green will save green.

* – For the Brita system, non-recurring cost includes the first 40 gallons of service.  For the water filtration system, non-recurring cost includes the first 1,320 gallons of service.

Prices are approximate in the above table.  For the home and dorm room settings, I think there is no excuse to be drinking bottled water.

From an artistic standpoint, I would find much more favorable a glass-etch scale model.  It is surely not as flimsy as a water bottle, and it would not be blemished with this HUMONGOUS  burnt orange H2Orange text splattered on one side.

Even as a UT alumni, I cannot support this.  My donations will always be in cash, the form in which it is most beneficial to the organization and myself (in the form of a tax deduction).

Between Rockmart and Cedartown, there are these really steep hills.  I call them “The Hills of Heck.”  The bad news is that I had to walk the bike uphill once or twice on both occasions.  The good news is that I quickly learned how to better use my gears for climbing uphill.  This will be most useful when I decide to ride to work as there is a quite steep, rolling uphill.

Shortly after crossing the state line, we turned around to find out that someone got a flat tire.  All of us stopped for the sake of comradery.  We then got stopped by a train that blocked the road for about ten minutes.  That was on my “not a very nice thing to do” list.  Finally, we had our obligatory meal at Frankie’s Italian Restaurant.

Then there’s this conversation…

(10:13:23 pm) Her: you, nut!!!
(10:15:33 pm) Me: I got some nuts right here… want some? (offers a dish of cashews, peanuts, etc.)
(10:16:13 pm) Me: Perhaps you’ll like these nuts more. You’ll need a wrench to go with these… (shows container of hex nuts)
(10:16:41 pm) Her: oh my gosh…for a second I had a bad thought!
(10:16:57 pm) Me: A bad thought?
(10:21:21 pm) Her:think about it…
(10:21:55 pm) Me: (looks down) Oh, those? The thought of being kicked, punched, or otherwise hit in that area is absolutely painful! (cringes)
(10:25:05 pm) Her: yeah
(10:25:58 pm) Me: Oh, man… that little thing about nuts is so going on my blog.
(10:26:41 pm) Her: great!! (sarcastic tone)
(10:26:56 pm) Me: You’ll remain unnamed, I promise.
(10:27:35 pm) Her: good
(10:29:53 pm) Me: Gee, there was still a bit of life left in that nutty tangent.
(10:30:09 pm) Me: Something to the tune of, “Aaw, nuts! …”
(10:30:16 pm) Her: okk
(10:30:35 pm) Me: OK, I’ve milked that for all it’s worth.

As I launched my career, I aimed for stability.  It is the stability I recognize the need for if I am to provide for a family.  It is the stability in which I slowly increase my wealth.  It comes with opportunity costs and constraints that I am still struggling to accept.  Sometimes, I can’t help but to feel admiration for the more adventurous folk.  Take, for example, my friend and former coworker Joe.  He decided that the corporate life isn’t for him, so he recently off-boarded from the company and has set off on a road trip.

Joe, if you come across this, I wrote this to say that what you are doing is an act of courage.  I wish you nothing but the best: A reliable car, good health, good weather, and kind people along the way.  I am optimistic that this will be one heckuva story by the time this is over, and I will be following this story wishing that I could do what you do.

You can follow Joe’s journey at www.joesroadtrip.com

Figure 1: Almost there…

My Facebook was not affected because I was not logged in, but Facebook will prompt for a log in.  After a bit of clicking around, one is likely to see a “security check” requiring them to take a survey (read: Sign up for spam offers), as shown below in Figure 2:

Figure 2: Fake “security check.”  Most “are you human?” checks are done with a Captcha.

So, what can we learn from this?  Let’s look at Figure 3 below:

Figure 3

In essence, only pages residing on facebook.com should be liked.  If someone “likes” a link that takes you outside Facebook, it is SPAM!  Do your part in keeping Facebook cool!  Report these spam links by clicking “Hide” on these links and “Report” them as “Spam!”

In one go, I broke my distance and speed record.  And for anybody interested, there is a kml file you can load into Google Earth for analysis!  This will be my first ride in benefit of a charity, and it feels good to know that my efforts will be in support of research to cure and improve the quality of life for those with diabetes.  If you could, join me by either riding in your locality or making a donation.

Recycling goes here, right?

Right…

WRONG!

As someone who tries to do right by the environment, I found that infuriating.  Well, looks like I’ll have to make that occasional drive to Smyrna to take care of my recycling.  To whoever pulls this crap: Don’t offer “recycling” in which the things to be recycled get lumped into the trash.  It is a waste of your time, it is a waste of my time, and it is outright deceptive.