I spent most of the week in Washington. The D.C. version.
We stayed at the Bethesda Hyatt. The room was OK. In fact it was a palace compared to what Captain Bob and I are used to on our bike trips. But when you get over $300 / day I would think you would have an exhaust fan in the bathroom. Maybe even a wide-screen TV?
The hotel was about 9 miles from where I was going every day. So the Metro was the only choice. Fortunately the start was right under the hotel. Good thing as Nicole hit the mid-Atlantic this week.
I have never been on the Metro and I think the last time I was on a NY subway was in the early 80s so I'm a wide-eyed newbie. When you look at the Metro Map you can get the heebie-jeebies trying to figure out how to navigate the thing. But it turned out to be easy. All I had to do was hop on the Red Line, transfer to the Blue or Orange Line at Metro Central, travel a few more stops and I was there.
Now I did need to walk outside the hotel. But it was to an area with a cover so no rain on me. An elevator brought us down about one level. About 50 feet to right was an escalator. The longest, steepest escalator I've ever seen. I'd swear this thing must be 1/4 mile long. At the bottom there are a row of machines vending tickets. For my $20 I got a small square piece to heavy stock paper with a magnetic strip down the middle.
So I put the ticket in the slot and it pops out a few feet away. I took the trains to my destination and fed the ticket through the turnstile slot again. When it popped out this time, a new balance was printed.
Come near the end of the week I was running low on money. Just popped the ticket in, fed a couple bucks in, adjusted the total to what I knew I needed, pushed the button and out popped a new ticket and my change.
Now I'm no Luddite but I think the sophistication is pretty marvelous. Yeah I guess if I jumped from an early 80s PC to today's PC maybe I'd find that marvelous too. I have since been told that the Metro is cleaner and such than the NY subways but they have synthesized voices announcing stations and the like that you can actually hear and understand. The Metro is still a human over a loudspeaker that you can't understand.
Showing posts with label Captain Bob. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Captain Bob. Show all posts
2010-10-02
2010-06-27
An LBI Day
The wily captain brokered a deal where he painted a few rooms in his ex-mother-in-laws Long Beach Island house for a week stay there. So, of course, most of his family glombed on to this and joined him for part of his stay.
Spousy had a retirement party to attend to so we went down on Friday. The drive down was fine although my knee started to bother me. I would have thought that keeping my leg straight and foot on the foot rest would be the best position. Wrong. I found that bending my leg so that my foot was back by the front edge of the seat.
We got there around noon. Although I'm not much of a beach person (so why am i on LBI?), soon we were off to the beach. I really hate sunburn so I stayed under an umbrella until about an hour before we were going to leave. Most of time I watched the local fauna or this dredge that had little activity.
The next morning Captain Bob and I rode north to the Barnegat lighthouse. It was a great ride on the way down in the cool morning. Apparently we had a tailwind. The way back was tougher. It was hotter and we clearly had a head wind. By the time we got back, my knee was a bit sore and swollen.
That evening we ate at the Greenhouse Cafe. It was pretty good and reasonably priced. Captain Bob and John both brought too much wine. But as I expected to drive back later, I only had a 1/2 glass.
Later we went to the final showing of the Black Maria Film Festival (John is the founder and director). It was hosted by the LBI Foundation of the Arts & Sciences. I didn't think any of this year's films stood out. I didn't like Pickles for Nickels and a couple others but didn't have any favorites. Perhaps I was less in the mood because my leg was starting to hurt while sitting there. It was also so cold that I had to get up and walk around about 1/2 through. In fact, at one break, I heard others call for the air conditioning to be turned down. As near as I can tell, that never happened.
When the films were done, I was glad to get out in the warm humid outside. We waited for John to out, chatted for a bit, then left. When I got back to the car I was surprised that it was already cool. Remember awhile back, Captain Bob had to buy a new car? Well he had this new Prius that he apparently left running for 3 hours. We will see how good his gas mileage is after that.
We went back to the beach house. Captain Bob made me some coffee. I put my bike on the rack and we took off.
Two hours later I was back and in my own bed.
Spousy had a retirement party to attend to so we went down on Friday. The drive down was fine although my knee started to bother me. I would have thought that keeping my leg straight and foot on the foot rest would be the best position. Wrong. I found that bending my leg so that my foot was back by the front edge of the seat.
We got there around noon. Although I'm not much of a beach person (so why am i on LBI?), soon we were off to the beach. I really hate sunburn so I stayed under an umbrella until about an hour before we were going to leave. Most of time I watched the local fauna or this dredge that had little activity.
The next morning Captain Bob and I rode north to the Barnegat lighthouse. It was a great ride on the way down in the cool morning. Apparently we had a tailwind. The way back was tougher. It was hotter and we clearly had a head wind. By the time we got back, my knee was a bit sore and swollen.
That evening we ate at the Greenhouse Cafe. It was pretty good and reasonably priced. Captain Bob and John both brought too much wine. But as I expected to drive back later, I only had a 1/2 glass.
Later we went to the final showing of the Black Maria Film Festival (John is the founder and director). It was hosted by the LBI Foundation of the Arts & Sciences. I didn't think any of this year's films stood out. I didn't like Pickles for Nickels and a couple others but didn't have any favorites. Perhaps I was less in the mood because my leg was starting to hurt while sitting there. It was also so cold that I had to get up and walk around about 1/2 through. In fact, at one break, I heard others call for the air conditioning to be turned down. As near as I can tell, that never happened.
When the films were done, I was glad to get out in the warm humid outside. We waited for John to out, chatted for a bit, then left. When I got back to the car I was surprised that it was already cool. Remember awhile back, Captain Bob had to buy a new car? Well he had this new Prius that he apparently left running for 3 hours. We will see how good his gas mileage is after that.
We went back to the beach house. Captain Bob made me some coffee. I put my bike on the rack and we took off.
Two hours later I was back and in my own bed.
2010-05-03
Voodoo Rituals in Toyota Land
Consider the following. A Voodoo ritual? The secret code to find an Easter Egg in some new video game? Nope. Read and try to figure this out. Then scroll down for the surprise answer.
- Start with the driver door open and unlocked. Key out of the ignition
- Insert the key and remove 2 times in 5 sec. Just insert and remove, do not turn the key
- Close and open driver door 2 times in 40 sec.
- Insert the key and remove it again from ignition. Just insert and remove, do not turn the key.
- Close and open driver door 2 times in 40 sec.
- Insert the key in ignition,
- Close the door,
- Turn to on and back to lock in 1 second intervals. 1 time for add, 2 times for rewrite, 3 for confirmation 5 for prohibition. (yes, there is no “4”)
- Remove the key
- Power lock will cycle to confirm
- For add or rewrite mode within 40 sec of the confirmation,
2010-05-02
The Wheel Goes Round & Round - sometimes
I have ridden on the Central Jersey Bike Club's Farm Land Flat Tour continuously for about 12 years now. Despite my knee problems or maybe even because of knee problems I was determined to do it again this year. Besides, I had already sent in my $30.
One of the reasons to do this ride was that if riding was going to be a problem, let's find out now while I still have a chance to get the knee fixed and re-habbed before my intended trip to Key West.
We usually ride either the 50 or 62 (metric century) route, but I didn't want to get stuck 25 miles away when my knee finally broke, so I thought I'd do one of the shorter routes. Of course what I really wanted was an excuse to go there to get a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and my free tee shirt.
Captain Bob was still kind of in recovery from his two broken ribs (see Sometimes it rains and Sometimes it rains - Update) so it was easy to convince him that a short route was the right thing this year. He was thinking of driving the new Prius here. He doesn't have a bike rack but thought he could put down a blanket or some protection and put his bike in the back.
Because the Captain drives here from 90 miles away, I drive to the bike ride most of the time. I prefer my roof rack over the trunk rack so Thursday I decide to put the rack on. Yes, yes, it's unusual to be that far ahead of the game for me, but there I was.
If you are not familiar with Thule roof racks, they consist of a pair of load bars to which you attach various accessories. In my case, bicycle carriers. I have an older version of this Big Mouth. Where the bike carrier attaches to load bar was sliding on one of the carriers so I tried to tighten it up. That's when the lever that you push down to lock it broke. I've only had this rack for eight years and not only did something break but I go to the Thule sight and not only is it obsolete but they don't even list the model.
So on our Thursday night call I mention this and say that I can use the trunk rack. But the Captain says that he has planned on bringing his old Camry (yes he does still have a running one left) so we're OK.
We get down to Brookdale Community College a little after 10AM. We check in to get our tee shirts and water bottles and then proceed to the back where you load up on peanut butter sandwiches. They have those as well as the usual bananas. But the traditional granola snack bars, fig newtons etc are MIA! Even worse, the mix of nuts and M&Ms and such that you scoop in to sandwich bags is not there either. Why oh why did I even bother?
I did notice that the parking lot was not nearly as full as it usually is so maybe this event is going out of style. I also noticed a bagel cutter and I think, cream cheese, so maybe we're just too late for that.
We make our sandwiches, pass on the bananas and head out.
After looking at where the low end routes diverge, we decide to take 18 and 25 mile cue sheets.
A couple miles down the road and I'm thinking "hey this is good". My knee is not bothering me. It's dry and warm. The sun is warm on my back and I'm having a good time. That lasts a little while longer until I have to make my first stop. I come down on my bad knee and WOWZEE! Well, I get going and begin thinking maybe all is not well. I am especially thinking how I'm going to come to a stop the next time.
Well of course the next time eventually comes. I make sure that both feet are unclipped and I come down on the good leg. Unfortunately the road has a slight upslope. So I walk to the other side and prepare to start riding again.
Hmmmm. I can't seem to put all my weight on the bad leg so that I can start pedaling with the good leg. Likewise, I can keep my good leg on the ground, but I don't think I can put enough effort pushing with the bad foot to get going. Finally I sort of lean my chest on the handlebar which allows me to keep my left foot on the ground and I get going by pedaling with my right foot.
Eventually we come to where the 18 & 25 mile routes diverge and in a joint command decision decide that I have nothing more to prove. I'm going to call the Orthopaedic doctor on Monday so there is no point in going the longer route. Fortunately at this stop, getting going is slightly downhill so I'm fine.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. We stopped at a rest stop and they did have some fig newtons ( and more P&B of course). There was a curb there which helped me get going.
Near the end of the ride we have to cross NJ 34. This is also uphilll from the light but for the very first time I was able to slow down enough and keep in the saddle until the light turned green. The moderate hills between there and the end were no worse than any other year and thus our ride ended.
Almost.
We got back to the car and I could not get off my bike. I edged down a little so it was not upright thinking that would make swinging my leg over the top easier. I think it was a good plan. Still do. And it would have worked if I hadn't gotten caught on the seat. Next thing I know I'm sitting in the shade on the grass with my bike on top of me. My gracious captain did come over and pick up the bike. I sat there a minute and gimped to my feet.
Well I can ride with a bum leg, but can't walk very well later. At his point I was limping along at about six inches a step. But about an hour later we got back to my house and I was applying folk remedies to my knee in the form of Yuengling to speed my recuperation.
One of the reasons to do this ride was that if riding was going to be a problem, let's find out now while I still have a chance to get the knee fixed and re-habbed before my intended trip to Key West.
We usually ride either the 50 or 62 (metric century) route, but I didn't want to get stuck 25 miles away when my knee finally broke, so I thought I'd do one of the shorter routes. Of course what I really wanted was an excuse to go there to get a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and my free tee shirt.
Captain Bob was still kind of in recovery from his two broken ribs (see Sometimes it rains and Sometimes it rains - Update) so it was easy to convince him that a short route was the right thing this year. He was thinking of driving the new Prius here. He doesn't have a bike rack but thought he could put down a blanket or some protection and put his bike in the back.
Because the Captain drives here from 90 miles away, I drive to the bike ride most of the time. I prefer my roof rack over the trunk rack so Thursday I decide to put the rack on. Yes, yes, it's unusual to be that far ahead of the game for me, but there I was.
If you are not familiar with Thule roof racks, they consist of a pair of load bars to which you attach various accessories. In my case, bicycle carriers. I have an older version of this Big Mouth. Where the bike carrier attaches to load bar was sliding on one of the carriers so I tried to tighten it up. That's when the lever that you push down to lock it broke. I've only had this rack for eight years and not only did something break but I go to the Thule sight and not only is it obsolete but they don't even list the model.
So on our Thursday night call I mention this and say that I can use the trunk rack. But the Captain says that he has planned on bringing his old Camry (yes he does still have a running one left) so we're OK.
We get down to Brookdale Community College a little after 10AM. We check in to get our tee shirts and water bottles and then proceed to the back where you load up on peanut butter sandwiches. They have those as well as the usual bananas. But the traditional granola snack bars, fig newtons etc are MIA! Even worse, the mix of nuts and M&Ms and such that you scoop in to sandwich bags is not there either. Why oh why did I even bother?
I did notice that the parking lot was not nearly as full as it usually is so maybe this event is going out of style. I also noticed a bagel cutter and I think, cream cheese, so maybe we're just too late for that.
We make our sandwiches, pass on the bananas and head out.
After looking at where the low end routes diverge, we decide to take 18 and 25 mile cue sheets.
A couple miles down the road and I'm thinking "hey this is good". My knee is not bothering me. It's dry and warm. The sun is warm on my back and I'm having a good time. That lasts a little while longer until I have to make my first stop. I come down on my bad knee and WOWZEE! Well, I get going and begin thinking maybe all is not well. I am especially thinking how I'm going to come to a stop the next time.
Well of course the next time eventually comes. I make sure that both feet are unclipped and I come down on the good leg. Unfortunately the road has a slight upslope. So I walk to the other side and prepare to start riding again.
Hmmmm. I can't seem to put all my weight on the bad leg so that I can start pedaling with the good leg. Likewise, I can keep my good leg on the ground, but I don't think I can put enough effort pushing with the bad foot to get going. Finally I sort of lean my chest on the handlebar which allows me to keep my left foot on the ground and I get going by pedaling with my right foot.
Eventually we come to where the 18 & 25 mile routes diverge and in a joint command decision decide that I have nothing more to prove. I'm going to call the Orthopaedic doctor on Monday so there is no point in going the longer route. Fortunately at this stop, getting going is slightly downhill so I'm fine.
The rest of the ride was uneventful. We stopped at a rest stop and they did have some fig newtons ( and more P&B of course). There was a curb there which helped me get going.
Near the end of the ride we have to cross NJ 34. This is also uphilll from the light but for the very first time I was able to slow down enough and keep in the saddle until the light turned green. The moderate hills between there and the end were no worse than any other year and thus our ride ended.
Almost.
We got back to the car and I could not get off my bike. I edged down a little so it was not upright thinking that would make swinging my leg over the top easier. I think it was a good plan. Still do. And it would have worked if I hadn't gotten caught on the seat. Next thing I know I'm sitting in the shade on the grass with my bike on top of me. My gracious captain did come over and pick up the bike. I sat there a minute and gimped to my feet.
Well I can ride with a bum leg, but can't walk very well later. At his point I was limping along at about six inches a step. But about an hour later we got back to my house and I was applying folk remedies to my knee in the form of Yuengling to speed my recuperation.
2010-04-21
Sometimes it rains - Update
When we last saw Captain Bob, he was a bloody mess but appeared to be OK. And Mrs. Captain had gotten back home and the dead Camry was in the driveway.
At the Captainette's insistence, the Captain went to the doctor. So the doctor says as you get older your brain shrinks and the doctor wanted to make sure that the Captain's brain wasn't rattling around getting damaged1. So they order x-rays or some sort of imaging and decide that the brain is OK but that he has a broken rib.
The next Saturday night, the Captain awakes in pain and decides to get thee to a hospital. There he finds out that now he has two broken ribs (however no word on any continuing brain shrinkage). So they give him somesugar pills pain pills and send him home.
The Camry is less fortunate. It needs a heart transplant. Apparently a used engine with 50% more miles than the old (but busted) engine will cost $8,000.00. A quick look at Edmunds shows us that the retail for his car is maybe $10-12,000.
After lengthy wailing on the Captain's part, the Camry heads off to the great car wash in the sky and a new Prius is now gleaming in the Captain's garage.
At the Captainette's insistence, the Captain went to the doctor. So the doctor says as you get older your brain shrinks and the doctor wanted to make sure that the Captain's brain wasn't rattling around getting damaged1. So they order x-rays or some sort of imaging and decide that the brain is OK but that he has a broken rib.
The next Saturday night, the Captain awakes in pain and decides to get thee to a hospital. There he finds out that now he has two broken ribs (however no word on any continuing brain shrinkage). So they give him some
The Camry is less fortunate. It needs a heart transplant. Apparently a used engine with 50% more miles than the old (but busted) engine will cost $8,000.00. A quick look at Edmunds shows us that the retail for his car is maybe $10-12,000.
After lengthy wailing on the Captain's part, the Camry heads off to the great car wash in the sky and a new Prius is now gleaming in the Captain's garage.
1.I've been saying for years that the Captain's brain was shrinking but no one would listen to me.
2010-04-04
Sometimes it rains
For the last couple years, my sister has hosted an Easter get together. Given my knee problems and how the clock is getting ever closer to when I'm supposed to hop on my bike and head for Florida, I decided to ride there to get a sense on how my knee would react.
Originally I was going solo, but at the last minute, Captain Bob decided he would join me. We decided to mostly ride our standard route. We did decide to avoid the bastard hill by swinging over to Route 206. From there we wound through Princeton until we got back on track.
About 3 miles from sis's, we were going through an intersection. I was about 20 feet behind the captain. As I watched helplessly, a gold Hyundai went about halfway past the captain and turned right.
The captain was down.
The woman did stop about 20 feet up the cross road. I asked the captain if he was alright, etc. He said he was OK and actually seemed to be. Turned out that he didn't have even the smallest patch of road rash. The most significant problem was a broken helmet.
The woman moved her car in to a parking lot. I fiddled with my Droid camera trying to figure out how it worked. I figured I should take pictures of what I could for record keeping. Most importantly, I wanted to get a pic of the rear of her car in case she bolted so I'd have the license number (turns out those fears were completely unfounded).
We moved our bicyles over to where she had parked. She was about to give out her info when the police came. The most amazing part was that any given time, there must have been at least 3 police/EMT vehicles there. Another would come and one would go. By the end there must have been 8-12 different vehicles show up.
The EMTs felt up the captain, took his blood pressure, etc. The captain refused treatment and they called off the ambulance.
I called my sister and related just a bit of information to get their imagination going. I basically said that we were delayed and I was trying to keep the captain out of jail.
Captain Bob declined filing a report so the last police officier left and we got on our way. His front fender was rubbing the tire so we performed a quick adjustment and then really got on our way.
About a mile down the road as we were discussing the accident, the captain ran in to a curb and went down again. This time, the blood was flowing all over the place. It was like the Monty Python Black Knight skit.
Somehow we dealt with accident 2. We had to adjust his fender again, but then we were on our way.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we got to sis's without further incident.
But after a while, the captain was on the cell phone talking to Mrs. Captain. She isn't at sis's because Mrs. Captain is visiting her daughter for Easter. She has gotten back to Pennsylvania. Just to the I78 tollbooth. Her car has died.
Fortunately, AAA was on the way and that seemed to end well as the last I heard Mrs. Captain was back and home with her dead car. Captain called when he got home later that night. We'll have to see how he is after his doctor visit.
Originally I was going solo, but at the last minute, Captain Bob decided he would join me. We decided to mostly ride our standard route. We did decide to avoid the bastard hill by swinging over to Route 206. From there we wound through Princeton until we got back on track.
About 3 miles from sis's, we were going through an intersection. I was about 20 feet behind the captain. As I watched helplessly, a gold Hyundai went about halfway past the captain and turned right.
The captain was down.
The woman did stop about 20 feet up the cross road. I asked the captain if he was alright, etc. He said he was OK and actually seemed to be. Turned out that he didn't have even the smallest patch of road rash. The most significant problem was a broken helmet.
The woman moved her car in to a parking lot. I fiddled with my Droid camera trying to figure out how it worked. I figured I should take pictures of what I could for record keeping. Most importantly, I wanted to get a pic of the rear of her car in case she bolted so I'd have the license number (turns out those fears were completely unfounded).
We moved our bicyles over to where she had parked. She was about to give out her info when the police came. The most amazing part was that any given time, there must have been at least 3 police/EMT vehicles there. Another would come and one would go. By the end there must have been 8-12 different vehicles show up.
The EMTs felt up the captain, took his blood pressure, etc. The captain refused treatment and they called off the ambulance.
I called my sister and related just a bit of information to get their imagination going. I basically said that we were delayed and I was trying to keep the captain out of jail.
Captain Bob declined filing a report so the last police officier left and we got on our way. His front fender was rubbing the tire so we performed a quick adjustment and then really got on our way.
About a mile down the road as we were discussing the accident, the captain ran in to a curb and went down again. This time, the blood was flowing all over the place. It was like the Monty Python Black Knight skit.
Somehow we dealt with accident 2. We had to adjust his fender again, but then we were on our way.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we got to sis's without further incident.
But after a while, the captain was on the cell phone talking to Mrs. Captain. She isn't at sis's because Mrs. Captain is visiting her daughter for Easter. She has gotten back to Pennsylvania. Just to the I78 tollbooth. Her car has died.
Fortunately, AAA was on the way and that seemed to end well as the last I heard Mrs. Captain was back and home with her dead car. Captain called when he got home later that night. We'll have to see how he is after his doctor visit.