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11
Mar 25

First outdoor ride of the year

Yesterday, at the end of class, I gave my students my other bully pulpit lecture. I tell them at the beginning of the term that being at the front of the room allows me to give one or two brief speeches that have little or nothing to do with the class. And yesterday was the day, because today was the day.

That speech is the one about how to pass other road users safely when you’re driving. There are relatively new state laws. People don’t know them very well. I am updating people one room at a time. I have a whole patter about this, because I’ve been doing it for years. I used to do it much more intently.

The whole thing was about being careful to allow cyclists room to safely operate when you pass them. And I won’t tell you what I wear or what color my helmet or my bike is because I want you to be safe and attentive and considerate when you pass all of them them. Because one of them might be me. “And remember,” I used to say in the driest tone of humor I can muster, which is pretty considerable, “I have your grade, right here, in my hand.”

That’s what I used to do, and one semester a student said to me at the end of the term that I’d psyched her out and tensed her up whenever she saw a cyclist. That’s not the point. Nor is it the point to threatened anyone’s grade, of course. It’s a laugh line. After that, it seemed important to point out, “This is a laugh line. But, also, be careful.”

All of this was made much more relevant after my lovely bride’s pickup truck-caused accident in 2022. And it’s relevant since we’ve been doing research in this area the last few months. And it’s relevant because, today, the weather was beautiful and I took my bike off the trainer and put it on the road. (Twenty-two days earlier than last year!) Oh, happy day.

Also it was a momentous day, of sorts. I’ve been sneaking up on this little achievement for a while, and I certainly didn’t want to capture it indoors. So I have slacked off on the trainer, with that in mind. I didn’t really want to do it on a road I know very well, but that’s the risk you run when you are on your normal training roads. Not that it matters, nothing about this matters, but, somewhere, right in here, I reached a mileage equivalent to the earth’s equatorial circumference.

That’s 24,901 miles to you and me. I celebrated by dropping a gel, turning around, and picking it up.

The bullfrogs were cheering me, and summer, on.

In addition to being the first outdoor ride of the year, and the equatorial ride, it was also new bike computer day. New is a relative term. I bought this, used, at the end of last September and mounted it in the cockpit today. The computer I just retired, a Garmin 705 Edge, I bought used in 2020. It was a 2008 release. My new computer is the Garmin 520, which made its way into the wild in 2013, so I’m happily still behind the curve, but it is a half-decade leap forward for me.

And that’s an important five years because the new computer communications with this new light, the Garmin Varia. I got one for The Yankee for her birthday last year, she loves it, and so she got one for me for Christmas. This is no mere light. There’s a radar system here, and it detects approaching vehicles, and then signals the computer, which beeps, turns red on the edges, and displays dots meant to represent the traffic behind you.

It’s a cool little feature. Sometimes, in the right circumstances, you don’t always hear the oncoming vehicles, so it is a nice help. Though you mustn’t think of it as 100 percent accurate. It’s not too bad on false positives, but there seems to be one time of day, if you’re riding in front of a low-in-the-sun sky, that it isn’t perfect. It didn’t pick up the first two cars that passed me on this initial ride today, but I think it caught the rest of them. One extra layer of safety.

What’s nice is that sometimes the headset will beep, because the Varia picks up a vehicle before I hear it. I have developed a three-look technique that seems to help. I glance over my shoulder when the oncoming motorist is well back, when they’ve closed about half the distance and then just before they get to me. And this seems to help them realize that I’ve seen them too. Since I’ve started doing this late last summer, most of my passes have been much better.

But perhaps the best part of the Varia is this. It has different light settings, and I’ve watched this with great amusement while riding behind The Yankee. She leaves her light on a solid setting, but when a car or truck gets to a certain distance away from them, the light starts blinking. Every time, every time, you see the car decelerate and move over.

So if you wandered to this page thinking about bike radar, we’re still in the early days, but big fans of them so far.

Also, because why not, it was new jersey day.

I got a good sale at NeoPro. Full zip, three pockets, they do the job you ask a bike jersey to do, except make me faster and skinnier. They’re bike jerseys.

Now I need to find good sales on bib shorts.

And to go pack. So, if you’ll excuse me.

Monday / photo / Rowan / video — Comments Off
10
Mar 25

Giving you no mis, and certainly no dis

In class today we discussed disinformation and misinformation. There is a difference. Did you know the difference? I recently had a nice conversation with a colleague at Cambridge about this, and I showed one of his videos in class.

It gets down to motive, we decided, but motive isn’t always clearly perceived. And the conveyance of bad information is bad, either way. Happily, my students have a pretty decent handle on the social engineering often at play with disinformation. But there’s always something new to learn. The next time the class meets we’ll discuss some techniques on savvy consumption.

And then we get into the fun stuff!

About time the class sighed.

Just kidding, it’s all fun. It’s an international media class. Coming up after spring break we’ll talk about the Armed Forces Network and sports on the international stage, and advertising and social media. It has all been a great deal of fun.

Almost as fun as after office hours, when I went to a nearby JoAnn’s. They’re all closing, of course, and that’s unfortunate for the people that work for the company and it’s stores, but there’s something about store closings that is interesting to me.

And what was interesting today was how unusually crowded this JoAnn’s was, and how the shelves were already getting bare. But I walked around, saw all of the things that weren’t fabric, and then I bought some fabric. It seemed worth it for an early evening’s worth of entertainment. I’ll make some new pocket squares from them this summer.

It was probably the largest JoAnn’s I’ve ever seen, which is to say, bigger than two or three others I’ve ever noticed. Smaller than a late 20th century major retailer, much bigger than necessary for fabric. I wonder if the kitchen section was somehow part of their problem. Maybe it was the wood craft section. Or the enormous floral quadrant. It seems they’ve strayed, in their pursuit to pursue Hobby Lobby.

I also saw some of the reasons why JoAnn’s has struggled these last many years, the all too familiar considerations that have hit brick and mortar stores of all stripes. The apps on my phone were happy to tell me how much cheaper every comparable brand and product were elsewhere.

It’s a sad feeling, in a bad-laminate-floor-under-worse-neon-lighting way. But, still there were employees straightening things up, moving things around, offering good cheer, great theatrical performers that people are when working in retail. Retail was never easy, but the challenges they face today … it all felt typified by the last dying gasp of advertising that was plastered around the store. “New shipments arriving from our warehouses daily!”

The rapidly thinning shelves would suggest otherwise. Crafty customers of crafts had been busy picking the place clean; there aren’t many reasons to go back.

I know the reasons you come back here. The proof is in the analytics, and the analytics say the most popular feature on the site is our regular check-in with the kitties, which starts right now.

Poseidon has to follow you everywhere, especially when that place is behind a closed door. So when his honed feline senses tell him you’re heading to a door, he’s there. And in this case, he had to get into the bathroom so he could jump on this rickety MDF cabinet top and be taller than everyone.

He is very pleased with himself in that photo. Sometimes you try to keep a cat out of things, but other times, you’re just too tired, distracted, slow, or you remember that look they get when they’ve conquered the unconquerable.

For Phoebe, it is different. Her race is to find the coziest spot possible.

I respect her dedicate to her craft.

So, you can see, the cats are doing just fine. And so begins another week, one like any other, but different in every way.

What does that even mean? I’ve no idea, but we’ll find out together, in this space, this week.

photo / Rowan / Wednesday — Comments Off
5
Mar 25

Just work

Last night, and again earlier today, I finished putting together the last of my notes for the day’s lecture. We talked about journalism in places like Europe, Kazakhstan, China, and Russia. You might think that’s too much to do in 75 minutes, and you’d be right! But we touched on some things. They asked some questions. Shared some thoughts.

The sun was out. The sky is getting warmer. Spring Break is beginning in 10 days. Touching on some things, asking questions and sharing thoughts is a great goal. So mission accomplished, I guess.

Immediately after class was over I sat down in a committee meeting, which ended soon after it began. So I went to a group function and met some new students and had a pretzel.

My primary mission this evening was in finishing this packet I’ve been working on, off-and-on, for weeks and weeks. It’s done. I have written about this stuff all I care to, which is how I know I’m finished with it. All I have to do now is agonize over it some more. And convert the whole thing to PDFs.

Tomorrow I’ll go to campus and submit the thing. I’ll spend the next several days wondering how this managed to take up so much time. It was mostly my fault, which is why I’m glad to have finished the thing, and with a full two days to spare.

photo / Rowan / Tuesday — Comments Off
4
Mar 25

I used the word “zip” six times below

I returned to campus this afternoon to visit with a production class. The professor has asked me to be a client. His students have been making cycling safety videos, and an audio spot, to help raise awareness of the state’s safe passing laws. This is my third visit to the class this term, which isn’t much, but it isn’t nothing. The first visit, I gave them the problem. The second time, they gave me their initial pitches. Today, they presented their works in progress. And now we get to pick which ones we want to go forward.

So I walked into the class and said to the professor, “What would you like from me today?” And so we settled on feedback. I’m good at feedback. I was, for many years, a professional feedback giver, after all. I tried to let my colleague give the production feedback, but, I did that for 15 years, and that’s a habit that’s hard to break. Hopefully I didn’t step on his toes.

But let me tell you, these projects are all interesting. There are eight or nine, and they all came from different starting points, which is always fascinating as a demonstration of creativity. They all had the same briefing and Q&A with me, but they’re all trying to tell the story and carry the message in different ways. Some of them have reasonable potential. I think we’ll probably try to continue on with three or four of them, if the students are interested in completing the work.

The last time I visited with that group the class ended early so as to get the commuters on the road before a snow system came through. Today, I walked the long way around the building before, and after, because it was just so perfectly pleasant out today. I’d spent the morning and early afternoon working inside and had no idea how spectacular the day was.

It was windy in the late afternoon. I had to stop by the hardware store to pick up some zip ties. We use some on a fence cover and those little ties won’t do fr the wind we get. But you can purchase a bigger version. The package says it is certified to 150 pounds. I don’t know what the wind’s PSI is here, but other weathering effects will come into play eventually. These ties, too, will fail after some time. But they’ll work for now.

And the good news is, I now have a stockpile. The hardware store only seems them in bags of 50. This evening, while I was outside fixing the problem, I realized I only needed four.

Also, these thick heavy duty zip ties only come in lengths of 24 inches. I only need about an 1/8th of that. That’s a lot of zip tie to snip off at the end. Why doesn’t the zip tie maker offer individual locking heads that can somehow be used on all of those off cuts?

I wonder what people are securing that requires the better part of that full length zip tie. And, also, where they store them. It took me a while to find a cabinet large enough to hold them in. (I’ll never remember they’re under the restroom sink when I need to use another one two years from now.)

If I have time to wonder about that, I should spend that time on work instead. So back to that. The grading is done for the week. I have one more class prep and two committees to prepare for, but, otherwise, it’s just that great big work packet. The plan is to get the bulk of it done tonight, finish it off tomorrow and pass it on on Thursday, in advance of Friday’s deadline. And then to not think about it, much like those zip ties, until this time next year when I must do it again.

Monday / photo / Rowan — Comments Off
3
Mar 25

I have a Post-it note full of details for the week

It is all written in a very small print. And I will be scratching off items until Thursday.

It started with a meeting that was over in 8 minutes. For some reason, it ran for another 23. The second worst part was that it was in my office. You can’t just leave your own desk, right?

We talked journalism in class today. This is the week o’ journalism, which I’ve managed to include in a class that is not about journalism. This is useful because, next week, we’re talking about misinformation and disinformation. So that’s three things very much integral to our time, and all of them certainly useful in a class titled International Media Communication. So today it was mostly American journalism, my justification being that’s where we are. Wednesday we’ll talk about journalism practices in Europe and some parts of the Middle East and Asia.

Also that packet. Tonight, I have taken seven pages down to two. Tomorrow and Wednesday I’ll finish it up, restructuring a few things, moving parts around and doing a necessary edit and killing a bunch of my babies. Many pages will not make the final version, and that’s fine. After all of the other things that have to go along side the narrative it’ll still be 20-some pages long, and this is meant to represent the work I’ve done since last September. So it deserves the time.

I believe I’ve spent three weeks on the thing, so far. Still not sure why it needs two tables of contents, however.

Also tonight, I have some quizzes to grade. Tomorrow I’ll read some student discussions. And then Tuesday and Wednesday with the final touches on the above.

Right now, though, it’s time for the site’s most popular weekly feature, the check-in with the kitties.

Phoebe enjoys the afternoon sun in the dining room, and I found some cushions to make her more comfortable.

I get looks about this from my lovely bride, but I’m not the biggest spoiler of cats in our house.

And, sure, Phoebe has sunny afternoon cushions, but Poseidon has the height of luxury. Poseidon has what all the cool cats and kittens out there want. Poseidon has a new box.

The kitties, as you can see, are doing just fine, and they’re pleased I have fulfilled my contractual obligations by including them here.

I also have the first-of-the-month duties to attend to here on the ol’ computer. Clean up the Downloads subdirectory, update the boilerplate page, build new subdirectories for the site, and update the site’s statistics. For whatever reason, last month was easily the busiest February in the 22-year history of the site. Also, we’ve eclipsed 6.5 million visitors here on the humble hobby. I don’t know why people come here, and come back again, but I’m grateful for all of the time you spend here.

Except for the AI bots. They’re persimmon trees of orangutans that can stay on Mars and huff paint for other upside down content.

(Why shouldn’t we sour the milk for the AI bots?)

OK, back to work.