hairylunch

I've spent the last few days volunteering at Destination Imagination's Global Finals. There are ~1,275 teams here this week competing, and I volunteer on the Event's Team, which runs and coordinates many of the non-competitive activities that occur throughout the week.

I'm an alumnus of the program, having competed in Odyssey of the Mind since 4th grade. Including my years on University Level teams, I competed for a total of 13 years, and have volunteered for 15 years at various levels. (4 of those years of volunteering and competing overlap).

I had a bit of down time earlier today, so I was able to go and check out a few of the structure challenge presentations. I competed in structure for I think 7 of those years competing), and used to have one of the better known balsa wood structure websites (which I still keep meaning to bring back online, I just haven't taken the time to do so). In any case, I overheard some parents talking about structure and the builders on the teams, and how there's such a learning curve. Brought back many memories, especially as I started when there was essentially no public knowledge about balsa wood towers available.

Random conversation from my soccer game today, after the ball had left our area.

Player from opposing team: "You're Andrew's friend, right?"
Confused me: "yeah"
POT: "You're Ernie right, I think we played poker or something"
Still confused me: "Um, okay . . . "
POT: "I've read a lot of your yelp reviews . . . "

I don't think I've ever played poker with Andrew . . . I'm always surprised when people identify me from my Yelp reviews.

I really like hoodies, and tend to wear them a fair amount. Full zip hoodies as jackets for cool days, baggy pullovers to lounge in, whatever. They're warm, they're comfy, etc.

It's interesting how the article of clothing has become so central in the Trayvon Martin shooting. Ridiculous statements such as "I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was" are being made, and the hoodie has also become a symbol of support.

I was thinking this morning that I might like to get a hoodie made with block letters on the back saying "DON'T SHOOT ME", "NOT A TARGET", or something similar. Of course, a simple search online shows that plenty of other people have had this idea (and are trying to capitalize on it).

I'm curious as to how much of a spike in sales the large clothing brands or retailers have seen because of this . . .

I'm in Columbus, Ohio (well, technically Gahanna I think), and I've been using my Discover card, like I usually do. I spend around $12 for breakfast, and a couple bucks at Target, before my card was denied when getting lunch.

I guess several purchases less than $25 almost 2,000 miles from my home address trips some automated systems . . . whoops . . .

Checked my email and saw a fraud protection email, so I called the number and verified those last three transactions - hopefully my card won't be declined at other places here . . .

I've spent the last hour or so filling in my Facebook Timeline with my moves. I've been going through old LiveJournal entries to try and determine when I moved. I'm a bit saddened that I don't post as much as I used to, even though a large majority of my posts were random and out of boredom.

It was also surprising to me that I didn't get on Facebook till October of 2006 (which is when I was finally able to get a UC alumni email address). Facebook was still private back then, requiring you to have email addresses of the network (e.g. the school or company) you were a part of. Of course, they opened to the public a month later . . .

In any case, I haven't done my traditional New Year's/resolutions post. To recap my 2011 resolutions:

• Not driving for a month - failed at this one. The first excuse would be that my bike was stolen. On the other hand, I did ride the McCarran loop on the 30 pound bike I got when I was 13 or so, and rode the single-speed to work.


• Writing at least twice a month to my livejournal and at least once a month to Yelp - I made it about half the year (if you ignore the stumble in March) as can be seen in the calendar view. I did better with Yelp - looks like I had 30 reviews, though again, no reviews for March.


• get a new laptop - I just bought a Lenovo X100e to act as a secondary machine, but I need to replace my 5 year old Dell 700m that tends to overheat and shut down randomly now - Never did buy another machine. I'm waiting on Ivy Bridge, and will probably pay the premium for an Ultrabook
  

I'm not making any resolutions for 2012 . . . not exactly sure why not . . . vague things I'd like to do are spend more time in the saddle, play more soccer, read more, eat better, etc, but nothing I feel so strongly about that I want to sent measurable goals for . . .

I stopped in Craft the other day to pick up a bottle of Junipero for the host. While there, I saw a bottle of Ransom Old Tom Gin (batch 16, bottle 1701), with the deep brown color, and the label stating it was barrel aged for 3 to 6 months. I picked it up then and there, mainly out of intrigue.

I then went to Public House, and mentioned to Chris how I was excited they had it at Craft, and it seemed really cool. He mentioned he hadn't had it, and to let him know how it tasted.

Silly me then remembered I've actually had this gin - I had it the weekend of Greg's bachelor party in Portland, and even Yelped about it, over two years ago.

Whoops!

I was volunteering yesterday afternoon at the Reno Bike Project, and unbeknownst to me Occupy Reno was having their second General Assembly a few doors down at the Underground. There was a bit of overflow, with people wandering in and checking out the RBP's wares and what they offered. While it was great to see people excited, and getting actively involved in their communities, I keep thinking the whole Occupy movement is a bit silly. I love that it's energized folks, that they use a Collective Thinking process that tries to empower all by using things such as the General Assembly and consensus based decision making, and using civil disobedience and peaceful protests to demonstrate that they're upset. On the other hand, I keep thinking that Occupy in general lacks focus, that it's not clear what they're worked up about, and they have no idea how they want to affect change - I feel like they're griping, without offering a solution. Krugman points out the same fault, though he's a bit less critical than I am.

On the other hand, the movement is definitely in it's infancy - perhaps they will coalesce, and local chapters will form messages, and push for local change. If that happens, I'll be very excited, but at this point, it's just a people saying things suck, and that we should fix them.

There's a part of me that feels like I should be sitting around saying "Get off my lawn", as this attitude makes me feel like a cynical curmudgeon.

I asked my friend Keith about this the other night, and he mentioned some commentator who said the Occupy movement would be ineffective at affecting real change until it turned to violence - either law enforcement using violence on protesters, or a citizen uprising. I don't agree 100% with this idea, but if violence ever enters the picture, the message will probably be accelerated very quickly - probably too quickly for anyone to really control the spin it goes into . . .

Speaking of the bike project, they've got a second volunteer orientation coming up for anyone interested. From the email that went out: "we have decided to conduct another Volunteer Orientation one week from today, Saturday October 15th, at 10am. We will be giving people a general overview of what we do here, going over the volunteer handbook, and talking about how volunteers can help."

Back in 2007, Nevada was at the bottom of Corporation for National and Community Service's Volunteering in America study. In 2008, Nevada moved up to 50 out of 51 (they include the District), and is still there as of the most recent study. I'm actually pretty impressed that CNCS has made the data so digestable on the Volunteering in America site. For example, it's really easy to compare Nevada to Montana, where I lived (and served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader) before moving to Reno. Interestingly, Nevadans appear to volunteer more time, but at a much lower per capita rate than Montanans (outnumbered by about 3:2).

So, related to the AmeriCorps stuff, I did meet two VISTA members at the Lincoln Lounge a few weeks ago - a nice reminder that there are still plenty of young, energetic idealists working to improve their world. One of them had left a professional career in downtown Chicago, so we babbled a bit about the midwest and the whole career change bit.

I've also started volunteering at the Reno Bike Project, a rad non-profit community bike shop. Their prices are generally better than the LBS, and volunteering there is a nice change from my professional career in front of a computer or my other main volunteering, which is maintaining the Montana Destination Imagination website. While some of my time there has been simple things like running the register or greeting folks, the part I've really enjoyed thus far has been actually working on bikes - while I may engineer and build complex systems at work and on websites, there's something about actually getting your hards covered in grease and working on bikes. Bikes are generally pretty simple, but working at the RBP has helped me to get more and more familiar with bikes. While I could figure out most of the things myself, their staff is incredible in that most of them are good teachers as well as mechanics, and are genuinely enthusiastic about bikes, to the point where it's infectious.

I had wandered in and out of the RBP for random parts and things before, but starting going a bit more in earnest when I was looking to replace my stolen bike. While I haven't yet found a bike there, I did pick up a bike off of Craigslist, and used the community workstations to true the wheel on my old Schwinn, as well as to replace the drop bars with some pursuit bars and bar end brake levers. Last weekend, I took the Schwinn in and replaced the straight bars and grip shifts with some drops and some friction shifters on the stem. I was hoping to find some bar end shifters, but didn't have any luck with that. I may bite the bullet and just order some, but I need to find a better stem first, as the current stem has some play in it (due to it having an adjustable angle), and puts me at a really awkward position while riding.

I've also got a rack I want to put on the bike, so it'll be a full on commuter . . . not sure I'm willing to commit to riding to work (mainly due to the time issue), but grocery trips and the like should be easier than with the messenger bag . . .

I've been slacking on the writing, but just wanted to write a quick bit about two of my friends who've knocked out some major accomplishments lately.

First off, Jesse qualified for and raced in the Leadville Traill 100 Mountain Bike Race. It's a ridiculous race, starting at over 10,000 feet, 12,612 feet of elevation gain, and just having crazy ups and downs. Jesse finished just over the 10 hour mark. Considering that he's relatively new to mountain biking, that's a pretty awesome accomplishment. As an aside, if you look at the results, there's a guy that was in the 70-79 year old category and finished in place 1259 - ahead of 18 others! I can't imagine doing this race today, much less in 40 years from now. That's amazing condition to be in at that age.

The other person who's impressed me lately is my friend Papu, owner of fourOsix, a super rad shop he started in Helena, Montana. I met Papu in '04 or '05 when I was serving as a VISTA and he was working at the local board shop. Took my brother in there to buy some boots, and I got my first setup there. In any case, he got recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change, and spoke about being an entrepreneur. I remember running into Papu one night while doing laundry at a little laundromat out on Custer. We chatted about life after college, and he was talking about how he was thinking about leaving Helena, and I used the metaphor about being a big fish in a small pond. Looks like staying worked out all right for him, and he totally made it work. I really like fourOsix, and I stop in there every time I'm back in Helena - I remember being surprised to see Moment Skis in there when I first went back after having moved to Reno, and loving how he's made the place into a community member with local shows and events, rather than just a retail estamblishment.

In any case, rad friends and rad accomplishments . . .

the moon is full as I leave my apartment on my bicycle,
its black exterior
matching the night

pedalling easily, leaving the glow of downtown behind me

darkness wraps around me, pierced by the flashing lights on my bike

hopscotching between the glow of the streetlamps

the night is quiet, my bike talking softly into the blackness
tires humming against the pavement,
a soft squeak from the worn hub,
and a mechanical whir emitted by the chain and cogs

riding into the darkness, escaping downtown,
pursued by my thoughts

my mind, refusing to shut down as I go up a long hill

thoughts chasing, even as I try to evade them, try to push them away

hoping to replace them with a simple cadence as I continue to pedal up the hill

losing momentum, my motivation fading fast as the thoughts overwhelm

turning around, bombing back down the hill, back into the lights of downtown . . .

back to my thoughts.