Gosling parade

Sweet!

Computer arrives
Power, speed, brilliant colors
Awesome, happy, sweet!

It took me long enough! I've known that it was time for a new computer since late last year, but the impending release of Vista made me wait. Yes, I could have figured out how much computer I needed to support Vista in that timeframe, but I decided to wait until the operating system had been out for a little while. Last week I finally came to my senses, spent some time pouring over features, and ordered my new computer. Honestly, I didn't expect to see it for another week, but it clearly wanted to join my household; it arrived today.

Funny... it came with Google Desktop installed and running. I thought about turning it off, but wait! One of the first sites that I visited was my photo gallery - I wanted to get a sense of the quality of the screen (and it truly is awesome). Then I did a double-take. There was a small square flitting through photos on the right edge of the screen, and I saw a picture of myself there - and I haven't yet copied any of my photos onto the computer. What! It turns out that the Google Desktop Photos gadget watches as you surf web sites and picks up photos from visited sites. For now, I've stopped it from adding more photo sites; I'd like some control over what randomly jumps into my eyes. What an interesting gadget! It definitely brought a smile to myself (as if I didn't already have overflowing smiles from just playing with my new toy! (For those of you who aren't running Vista, this isn't a Vista feature but a Google desktop feature.)

Oh, you want to know what I bought? A Dell laptop, an Inspiron with a 17" TrueLife glossy widescreen display. The display size was the source of one of my arguments with myself; I kept flipping between the 15.4" and 17.1" display. But really, it's the quality of the display that blows me away.

Thanks for listening... I just had to share my excitement about my new toy!

New blooms still emerging...

...open your eyes and see the amazing flowers!

Can you see the tiny red bug?


I was beginning to wonder when the iris would appear...

Images captured as I traveled...

...to Portsmouth and back again

More photos are available in my gallery Feeding an addiction, May 2007.

Feeding an addiction

An addiction to what? You didn't guess already? I'm addicted to traveling on my bike, and I'm addicted to playing with my camera.

And it's time for a quick escape. I'll be wandering from home to Portsmouth and back again on my bicycle, camera close at hand. You can follow my wanderings in my journal Feeding an addiction.

Lots of photos? backups...

I had somewhat of a rude awakening yesterday when I found that one of the external drives that I use to backup my precious computer files was misbehaving. I/O errors, ouch!

I’ve wanted a copy of my files offsite (as in not at home) for a while. I’ve been using 2 external drives, keeping one at home, with the intent on keeping the second drive at my office. Sometimes that happens, but more often it doesn’t. So I've had two backup disks, but both have been in the same physical location. That's not really too smart, is it?

I recently became aware of Amazon S3 (also known as Simple Storage Service). Files stored on S3 are kept in multiple physical locations. And it's an offsite (away from home!) storage location, with no need for me to carry disks anywhere. I'm sold, now all I need to do is get my files copied.

File copies are in progress, and I'm relieved!

If you're interested, here's a link to Amazon S3.

In addition to S3, you will need a product to drive the backup process. I'm currently using a tool called Jungle Disk. There are others available as well.

Power?

Off the grid!

I arrived at the office this morning to find a long line of vehicles on the road in front of the building. Power company trucks, trailers containing generators, police cars... lots of vehicles.

It turns out that there was an explosion in a switch that removed the power from two office buildings and from the Marriott Hotel across the street. And yet with emergency resources (in the form of movable generators) we had full power and the ability to work today.

Power is something we take for granted, as in it's just there. But sometimes it's not...

Quiet, wet!

Wet, wet, where's the sun?
April showers, May flowers
It's May, still raining!

I hear a clamor from the garage; my bicycles want to ride. So do I, but I'd much prefer riding down dry roads. And after my bicycles peeked out at the rain, they agreed with me that today wasn't a riding day.

As it turns out I was just plain lucky. Mid-morning, the roads were wet but getting drier, the sky was a lighter shade of gray, no rain was falling. It looked like a reasonable time to get out for a quick ride. I pumped the tires, dressed in cycling attire, and opened the door to find that the sky had turned a dark shade of gray. As I stood there, it started pouring once more. I guess I'm glad I was a little slow getting started because if I had been moving faster I would have been caught on my bike in that downpour. Yes, I know, it's more than possible to ride in the rain - but I'd really prefer not to. And it totally trashes the bike.

I went back to my inside activities for a while, waiting for the deluge to get a bit lighter. Still wet... somehow I don't mind walking in the rain as much as riding. Walking, rainy walking, deep gray skies lightened as I wandered. The sky was still leaking rain as I arrived home again.

It's been gray for days now, but a change is coming. By late afternoon, the gray clouds scattered, leaving a blue sky decorated with white. End of the day sunshine, amazing...

Sometimes...

...I'm just too hard on myself. Is that a surprise to anyone but me? No, I didn't think so!

What started this? Well, it was last week's rides. I managed two days of commuting to work, one short after-work ride, and two weekend rides, 28 miles on Saturday and 30 on Sunday. That was a total of 155 miles, which is respectable mileage given that it is still really early in the riding season. But - I finished my ride on Sunday wondering why I didn't have the desire to take a longer ride. Thirty miles seemed right for the day, but shouldn't 40 or 50 feel right? Apparently not yet...

Yes, I am talking to myself here...
Hey Denise - it's just nearing mid-May. It's still early; you can't emerge from winter and this year's slow return to warmth and dry pavement with 40 to 60 mile weekend rides on top of increased commuting mileage. You really need to accept the fact that it takes a while to work up to your summer mileage.
OK, end of self-lecture!

My bicycles jump into my life often, for multiple purposes (but you already knew that, didn't you?). I ride year-round for exercise, shorter rides in the colder weather, leading to longer rides in the comfortable spring to summer to fall months. But another "e" word comes into play here too - enjoyment. I truly enjoy riding, moving quietly, looking around me, absorbing the beauty, laughing at animals, rolling down the road.

From spring until the end of summer - while longer days supply full daylight - I try to commute to work by bike several days a week. My bike is my transportation, and the switch from motorized to self-propelled transit is enough to keep me from getting bored by my repeating ride, covering the same territory over and over again.

Touring, using my bike to go places (for longer than a day), wandering, looking to see, looking to play with my camera - that's another important use of my bicycle. And my biggest problem with my touring habit is picking the places to visit. That's really not a problem; instead it's a process of dreaming, tossing ideas up in the air, and finally catching one of those ideas as a destination.

It's the short rides around home that are getting to me. I know that I need to accept that it is early in the riding season. The longer rides will come, supported by my always improving fitness level as well as the desire to wander further from home. Oh, and that 4-wheeled motorized vehicle hanging out in the garage tells me that she is ready to give me and my bike a lift to new riding territory to help prevent boredom.

Now I just need to get moving on planning a biking and camera vacation. Having a trip to look forward to helps keep me happily looking forward.

Oh, you want to know why I am writing at 6 in the morning? Well, I believed the weather forecast posted last night that showed that today would be a good day to ride to work. Oops! The forecast changed, and there are water droplets coming from the sky... musing time.

Floral transitions