cycling / IU / podcast / Twitter / Wednesday — Comments Off on It goes much faster now
19
Aug 20

It goes much faster now

We’re counting down the days until classes begin again next week. That’s something to look forward to. No matter what you do, no matter how much you work ahead of time, whether in a normal semester or, as we’ve learned this year, a pandemic, there’s always a huge crush right at the starting line. There’s always more. Always the last minute thing, the unexpected, the sudden memo that subvert’s some previous week’s work.

So it was that at one point this morning I was in a Zoom, and on a webinar, and following a work-based Slack chat and having a text exchange all at once.

That, as I noted elsewhere, is Friday-level bandwidth.

On the bike, it was a rare day. It was almost fast for me — though admittedly average for others. It was one of those rare days where I could look down and proudly note I was pulling 20 mph up a hill and pushing through 38 on a slightly ramped down -1 percent decline … and still get dropped.

But on two segments I really worked on I set new PRs. On the first one I knocked off 19 seconds off my best time over that 1.2-mile stretch. That was a nine percent reduction. Who knows if I could do that again through there. (I know. I know how I felt at the end of it. I might find a second or two, but not much.)

And on the segment nearest the house at the end of a swift (for me) I took four seconds off my fastest time in a 1,000 meter sprint. If I can cut 16 more seconds off my time there I’d make the all-time top 10 on that Strava segment. It seems … improbable.

Kyle Anderson, is an economist at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business at IUPUI. I talked with him today to discuss the state’s economic condition as we make our way through August. He talks about the prospects for recovery, sectors hardest hit, evictions, personal advice and more.

He isn’t as optimistic as the last time we talked, but he does see some positives out there. I wonder if economists figure “At some point, no one is going to listen to the gloom. I need some silver linings in here.” One supposes an added benefit of having all the data at your disposal that an economist can call upon has to lead to something good, somewhere.

After we wrapped it up he said I asked good questions. So my minor in economics is paying for itself once again.

Some stuff from Twitter …

This was amazing, and I should have stopped watching the conventions right here. No way anyone comes out with anything much better than Rep. Gabby Giffords.

More on Twitter, check me out on Instagram and more On Topic with IU podcasts as well.

photo / Tuesday — Comments Off on But don’t analyze the marker
18
Aug 20

But don’t analyze the marker

Among the many systems of keeping your life organized, you have to create strata so it all makes sense. And I have many systems. Calendars chart meetings and long term reminders. Index cards chart a day full of chores and meetings. My inboxes are tasks demanded by others. Word documents create a running list of fluid, ever-changing instructions to myself, half-baked ideas and strips of things I’ve copied and pasted. Notebooks hold life’s real mysteries: things that were important in the moment and adjudged to be of lasting significance, or at least worth treating like a mysterious message when I run across it again at some future point when the past is more than foggy.

But for everyday, in-the-moment reminders, the trust sticky note can’t be beat. You can get an hour or two’s worth of tasks on one with ease. They stick to a desk or, sometimes, a wall, and when you’re doing the peel-off process gives just enough resistance to mark the achievement. (And they fold up nicely into paper footballs, but that’s a different sort of benefit.)

Devoid of context, they are simultaneously enlightening and and mystifying.

Every day, sticky note. Every day.

Monday / photo — Comments Off on That was a quick week off from blogging
17
Aug 20

That was a quick week off from blogging

Welcome back! It’s been a week away, and what a week! Let’s see what you missed … a few bike rides, a few runs, a good joke based on a 70-year-old book, and a nice mini-essay based on a 24-year-old book.

Also, I got to visit with the bunny that lives in the front yard.

So a full week, really.

And then on Friday night I had a lovely video chat with my sister. There were two videos on Saturday evening, and that’s how those have become second nature. You get invited to an anniversary party and then you just stop by with someone else to just catch up.

I feel like we should devote a room to this purpose. Comfortable chairs and good light, room for a good two-shoot. Something to consider.

Anyway, it was back to it today. Another week starts, a week before classes begin. Lots of emails and a flurry of text messages and Slack messages and if you can put a group into the loop we’re having to keep track of it messages. There are schedules to build and productions to arrange and tutorials to record and meetings to attend and scripts to write and two or three podcasts to record.

And webinars. Six hours of webinars this week. Six of 18 hours on the same platform this semester. Or maybe 27. Perhaps it is 36. The scheduling has made it difficult to determine. Suffice it to say that, at the end, I’ll be well versed on a new tool we’ll soon be using.

I did three of those hours today, and then wrote a 300 word summary for others. It turns out it isn’t that difficult to get 180 minutes of highly specific material down into a few paragraphs. You just have to let your readers infer a few dozen important things.

At any rate, the pace is picking up as we get closer to the semester, as it should. And that’s good!

But how have the cats been since we checked in with them now two weeks ago? Just dandy, thanks for asking.

Phoebe is still showing off, this time on one of her cat trees.

And Poseidon is seen here taking a nap on the stove top cover.

We made that thing out of leftover wood to keep cat paws off hot stove eyes and it’s now one of their favorite spots.

We sat on the deck one lovely evening last week, and they were most distressed.

Watching a cat meow and not being able to hear it is one of the small pleasures. You should take advantage of the small pleasures. The good thing is there are a lot of those out there.

Take a day and jot each one down as you run across it. You’ll be surprised how the list starts to stack up.

Friday / IU / photo — Comments Off on The floor needs more witticisms, really
07
Aug 20

The floor needs more witticisms, really

Had the opportunity to go to campus today to do some work. We were producing some instructional videos. How to mount a camera on a tripod. How to turn it on. How to change the settings. This sort of thing. Useful stuff. And beneficial to do in a video form because it will maximize the return on time investment. Teach a basic thing to a camera, so the video it captures can be seen over and over by students as necessary, rather than continue to give boutique, small-group presentations of the same material. It’s a good approach. The circumstances of the day have made it an imperative, even if it’s something we’ve intended to do for several years.

People ate lunch in a room that will hold socially distanced students in our first classes next week. I sat in a chair where some future industry giant will sit, and watched people munch on sandwiches.

There are soap dispensers and wipes and stickers about. One suspects more signs will go into place in the next week or so.

A few places where a person sits that custom and decorum suggest will still feature human interaction now have a cling wrap structure around them. Some of that went up today. Chairs are spaced and excess furniture is stacked. We saw to that a few weeks ago.

And, in general, the mood will be:

There are a lot of plans in place — testing, prophylactic, event restrictions and limitations — hopefully it will be sufficient toward the cause of educating students and conducting research and all of the other things that take place on campus. Or, all of the things that will take place this year. Some of it will be quite limited, sadly. That’s the mood. No gathering please.

Taking next week off from writing here. No particular reason. There’s some work stuff and a break sounds good and, when I do come back, there might be an actual tidbit or two to catch up on. So, until then, be safe. Exercise grace and patience with one another, and yourself, and we’ll catch up on August 17th.

adventures / cycling / photo / Thursday / Twitter / video — Comments Off on To get even with yesterday
06
Aug 20

To get even with yesterday

This was yesterday. We had a bike ride and I worked at it a little bit and sweated and probably made some straining faces in-between big gasping breaths and managed to stick on her wheel for a while.

And then I passed her and she had to chase me for a change. She, of course, was able to do this effortlessly.

And when I got in I did the thing I’ve been meaning to do for a few days now, but I’ve gotten a little negligent and forgetful about for some reason. I cleaned and lubed my bicycle chain.

It’s a simple process, you take off the computer, flip the bike over, wipe all the gunk and grease off the chain and the put a little drop of this on the links and then spin it around the cassette on the big gear and the little one, enjoying the smell and the satisfaction that you’re ride will at least be quiet the next time you get outside.

We’re going to learn. Eventually. Today will not be that day.

This was my biggest contribution to the internet today. I think you’ll appreciate it, as well.

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