Out of the need to blow off some serious steam this semester, I registered for my first mountain bike race. The “Frozen Hog” will be run on Saturday morning. Being that it is my first race (well, first in a very long time), I’m a little nervous. Of course, I really am just racing for the fun of it all, not really to compete.
My shoulder still aches somewhat, but it’s getting stronger daily. I can finally pick the kids up again, but my shoulder pops very easily now; I’m hoping that will go away with time. Ryan and Randy will be racing with me. Though I’m sure they’ll thoroughly smoke me, I don’t think I’ll place dead last. Oh well, if I do, I can always blame my shoulder.
Links:
UtahMountainBiking.com, sponsors of the Frozen Hog
Okay, so the post is not about planning life in the city, but it is about planning for life in the city. Those of you who know me well enough, know that I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the world in which we live. Several people have even gone so far as to say I’m somewhat of a neo-hippie (though I think that’s a bit far).
We recycle, we do our best to consume less, we do our part. One of the things I hate most though, is driving. I won’t go into the reasons here, but frankly, it’s wasteful and (often) unnecessary. I understand that it’s often unavoidable, but I personally drive as little as possible. If you’ve ever seen the inversion in SLC, you know why it bothers me so bad. If you happen to live in a place where inversion doesn’t happen, it’s still bad. All the gunk goes into the air regardless, you’re just lucky enough not to have it coagulate.
Continue reading ‘Urban Planning’
I finally got to head out for my first ride since my accident today. Any hard riding was out of the question, so I was glad when Ryan said last night that we’d be going to wheeler farm. I took my bike out the night before last and spun around for a minute. I knew I could put weight on my shoulder, but the question was if I could pull with it. I found out quickly the answer to that question was no.
So, we spun about 8 miles or so today. I can tell the last month of relative inactivity has not done me any favors. Good thing we didn’t do any serious climbing today. Regardless, it felt SO good to get out and ride. Hopefully, with another two weeks, my shoulder will be back to normal. Time to start putting some weight on it. Oh, did I mention I can’t wait for spring?
About this time last year, I was looking at the pictures of Mason’s first birthday party. I was upset. They were dark, the colors were off, and I felt like our camera had ruined the memory of our son’s first birthday.
So, with some of the money from Christmas and school, we decided to get a new camera. I wanted something I would not have to worry about. I want to simply make great pictures, without too much headache. This in mind, I knew I was going to have to go to a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera.
I looked around, researched it all out, and finally settled on the Nikon D40. The D40 is a 6 Megapixel camera that comes with a 18-55mm kit lens that, according to many reviews, performs great. One of the drawbacks I knew about that the camera could blow out the highlights in certain situations. This actually has more to do with the lens/flash combination than anything. Knowing that a lot of the problem with my prior camera was the flash, I knew I’d have to be upgrading to an external flash, which I did in May of last year. More on that later.
Continue reading ‘The Nikon D40′
It’s Taken Over 100 Years
Fast forward over 100 years. Though race relations in this country are still NOT in a completely healthy state, we do live in a new world. Presidential hopeful Barak Obama is the first Afro-American to truly stand a chance at winning a major primary and, I believe, who may well end up in the white house. While it’s certainly a bit early, I have to say that I like what I’m hearing from Obama. Some close to me say school has turned me into a Democrat. I could argue that statement, but I digress. In fact, what school has done is turn me into an incredibly critical thinker. As I listen to the candidates, I hear very little I like. One person I do not like, is Mike Huckabee. I don’t care to have more of the same for another 4 years. Romney? Uh…regardless of my personal faith, I don’t think the LDS church is ready for one of its own to be president. Any “poor” decision he makes will reflect on the fact that he is mormon, not that he is human. Besides that, I believe Romney to be a flip-flopper. Clinton? Don’t even get me started.
All that being said, I haven’t made up my mind, but I think you can see where I’m leaning. Now, if I only lived in a swing state.
Links:
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