Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
“Generally, there is old science, which is official, and new science, which elderly men look upon with horror”.
When I got serious about biking again I quickly realized that I didn’t want to be downing Gatorade all the time. It’s got some funky ingredients and it is expensive. My cheap alternatives are as follows:
1 package kool aide
3/4 teaspoon Morton’s Lite Salt
5 tablespoons sugar (you can use a couple of tablespoons of maltodextrin and three tablespoons of sugar)
64 ounces of water
The first version of a homemade sports drink is as follows:
32 oz. Water
2 tablespoons Sugar
3/8 teaspoon Lite Salt
6 tablespoons Lemon Juice
The salt and potassium profile is pretty close to most sports drinks. This one has more potassium. If you need to avoid potassium then just use regular salt or buy a commercial sports drink.
In 2002 ebook sales were $7,337,000.00
In 2003 ebook sales were $19,772,000.00 up 169.5%
In 2004 ebook sales were $30,271,000.00 up 53.1%
In 2005 ebook sales were $43,832,000.00 up 44.8%
In 2006 ebook sales were $54,396,000.00 up 24.1%
In 2007 ebook sales were $67,233,000.00 up 23.6%
in 2008 ebook sales were $113,220,000.00 up 68.4%
With very capable readers on the market like the Sony 505 and the Kindle 2, I believe that this trend is only going to accelerate.
Conversations With American Writers proved to be an interesting and varied set of conversations with a number of well known and some less known American writers. I particulary enjoyed the conversations with Truman Capote, Susan Sontag, E.L. Doctorow, and Gore Vidal. This book was published in 1984 and I believe is now out of print. You should be able to find a used copy through Amazon.com or Abe.com. I very much enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about writers.
I have been using google docs more often as I have found that it is a wonderful writing tool. It also has basic collaborative tools and controls built in that make it an ideal platform to share drafts in order to get some outside editing done. Unlike Microsoft Word, google docs is not overly laden with features that are only useful some of the time. It’s a nice basic word processor platform that just gets the job done. I appreciate that you can now upload files into it as well.
The creator of the universe works in mysterious ways. But he uses a base ten counting system and likes round numbers.
- Scott Adams
I found this quote and thought I would pass it along:
No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading now, or surrender yourself to self-ignorance.
The quote comes from Atwood H. Townsend, professor New York University. I found the quote in an interesting book I’m reading by Steve Leeven called “The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life”. I came across the book when listening to an interview that he did with David Allen of Getting Things Done fame. Leeven is best known for being the guy who founded Levenger. If you don’t know what Levenger is then you need to check out levenger.com as I’m continually tempted by the products they offer.
I just finished a major project at work a few weeks ago and thought I would reward myself with a new watch. Lately, I have found that keeping all of the vintage automatics and manual wind watches in good running order is making the watchmaker wealthy and me less so. I have also found that I really like accurate watches. I guess I am slowing moving towards more high end quartz movements and less automatic or manual movements. With that in mind I set out to find a cool looking watch. As fate would have it I wasn’t overly impressed with the $1300 Oris I saw at Macy’s. It was a decent looking watch but it was only rated for 30 meters and for that price I could easily jump into an Omega, Citizen Chronomaster, or even a used Grand Seiko. Each would have a better depth rating and quite frankly be better watches. I also wasn’t in the mood to spend that much on a watch so I felt lucky when I noticed a Citizen Nighthawk for 50% off. Citizen just released a new version with eco-drive and syncing to the atomic clock. I like the looks on the older model better so a purchase was made.
Here’s a shot of the watch:
The watch is interesting in that it has a slide rule in the bezel and was designed for pilots. I once had a vague idea how to use a slide rule but those days are long past. My initial impressions of that watch is that it looks very nice. I’ve received a few compliments on it so far and look forward to wearing it more. It is pretty comfortable and seems to gain about 4 seconds a month. Not bad. My only concern is that the crystal is not sapphire and that the metal ring around the bezel is going to be prone to dings. I would have also liked a little better finishing on the case itself. Small things that most people won’t notice.
I’m going to be doing some camping this summer and picked up a Casio Pathfinder 1300G from Amazon. The 1300G came with two straps and I can easily put on a Zulu or Nato band. The watch is full of features. It is solar powered and syncs to the atomic clock (in Ft. Collins as well as four others around the world) every night automically. The other reason I purchased it is that it has a built in barometer, temperature, altitude, and a compass. Add to those features five alarms, a stopwatch, and a countdown timer. It also has a light.
The watch is by far the most technologically advanced quartz piece I have in my collection. I suspect it will get a lot of wrist time on trips and weekends.