Jake's Journal. Woo hoo.

Burning is stupid.

2009-09-06T20:57:00.002-05:00

You know, i just realized something. Burning is stupid. I mean, burning anything. For instance, smoking is stupid. It releases carcinogens. This applies to the cooking method as well. Grilling, too. Oh and that thing called the INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. Stupid. 20% efficient. Bah. Not to mention the fact that that is where alot of our electricity comes from, is stuff being burned. STUPID. Hydro ! Wind ! Solar ! WHY IS THIS VERY SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY NOT BEING USED ?!?!!?!? There are like six parts to a frigging wind turbine ! This crap is SO MUCH SIMPLER than a frickin oil plant, why the crap do we not build them up, one by one, and dump the old stupid crap, one by one ? Agh... Smokers, Grillers, and STUPID POLITICAL CRAP IS THE SHIT I DO NOT UNDERSTAND BECAUSE OF MY ASPERGER'S !!! I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THIS STUPID SHIT !!!

They say it's because it is newer technology, and hasn't been proven, and it needs to mature, and this and that and the other. IT IS SIMPLE. IT IS EASY. MANY MANY ELECTRIC MOTORS AND GENERATORS EXIST. It does not matter if this technology (say wind) is newer than oil or coal. IT IS SIMPLER. IT CAN BE MASS PRODUCED !!! SHIT !!! IT MAKES JOBS, NOT TAKES THEM !!! Do you realize, coal and oil plants use STEAM, for craps' sake ? STEAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When i first began learning of the superiority of electric motors/generators over internal combustion, i thought to myself "Well gee, the big power plants must be made in such a way that they are as efficient as possible, right ?" Well sure, BUUUUT...
1) A hydro/wind plant converts motion directly to electricity at something like a 90% efficiency rate.
2) A gasoline engine is about 15-20% efficient at converting the power in gasoline to motion.
3) A gasoline generator could be about 25% efficient at converting the power in gasoline to electricity.
4) A coal plant BURNS COAL to HEAT WATER. Steam. As we all know, if you fill a balloon with air and squeeze it, it will give for a bit, then pop. As that balloon gives for a bit, the air in it is actually increasing in density, reducing in volume. In the context of a power plant, as the steam is introduced to a load, it does the same thing. This is basically the only thing keeping it from being 99% efficient. It pulls it down to 35-50% efficiency.

Now then, what is a power plant DOING ? It is burning coal, to make steam (a powerful breeze) move a frickin electric generator. SCREW THAT.

PUT THE GENERATOR IN THE BREEZE THAT GOD GAVE US YOU TARD, AND YOU WILL GET 90% EFFICIENT. Or underwater. That "breeze" is even more powerful.

Anyway yeah, burning shit is for retards.

Dang old stuff...

2009-08-19T12:56:00.003-05:00

Anyone else want to napalm toaster strudel commercials ? Especially the latest ones, with the two cutesy-tootsie girl actors and their cutesy tootsie facial expressions regarding the ORGASMIC flavor of the toaster strudel ? It's not that i dislike toaster strudels... but their advertising is quite slanderous. Between the two, i find that the strudels tend to be soggy more often than not (even when toasted, rather than nuked), and that there's really no wrong way to do a poptart. Oh and there are generic poptarts.

I have to (well, get to...) go to work in 28 minutes. My shift doesn't actually start for two hours, but i have to be there a half hour early, it takes a half hour to get there, and i'm giving myself a half hour to be safe. I'm stressin... because i don't know *exactly* the work i'm going to be doing, and therefore cannot be confident in my first day performance. I have a general idea, but that's not enough. Additionally, their policy is "Exposed body piercings must be removed or covered with tape or a bandage." I've worked at a place with this exact policy before, and they made no requirement of me, because my plugs are such that noting can "catch" on them, and they cannot simply fall out. It's not a big deal to me, as long as it's not a big deal to them. Then again, walking around with tape on my ears won't be fun. But i'll do it if they want me to. I'm bringing 3 kinds with me. Plus bandages.

OK OK i gotta take off now.

Get it ! Got It ? Good... ?

2009-08-18T15:48:00.004-05:00

Well, I've filled out the W4 and direct deposit, and gotten my security and time-badges. That means i have the job. For now. I hope they don't back out... I honestly don't think they will. I had two interviews with them. They didn't seem phased at the idea of me leaving OTC without notice for my epilepsy, as well they shouldn't have. They seemed equally unconcerned about me leaving Premier because my truck broke down. That, combined with my having given OTC a one week notice before i quit the first time, and that they hired me back, so i must have been on good terms.

Alot of crap. 99% true, but alot of crap, too.

That said, It's 25 miles away, and there may be some fiddling with my piercings to be done. I'm not sure what days i'll be working, or how many hours a week. I find that out in a few hours. The pay will start at 8.85 and could go up to about 13. I'll take it ! :)

Yeah... No go.

2009-08-18T03:08:00.002-05:00

I didn't get the Hy Vee job. My backup plan, seems to have helped, at the very least. I redid my Resume and made a cover-letter. Woo woo. That, and pursued some "alternative job listing" websites... careerlink and omaha.com just weren't cutting it anymore. I'd applied with a certain staffing agency before, but they just said "meh, you quit your last job." Well, they held a recruitment thing today, so i went in and impressed them. Most individuals had poor/inapplicable work history. Most had criminal backgrounds. I have 2-3 years experience (6 year work history) and no crimes. I was the 2nd best dressed of the crowd. One of 2 with a resume/coverletter. I was the only one who had *all* needed documents. I'm going back in tomorrow to (hopefully) fill out the rest of the paperwork, pick a job, and start. Annnnnyways, there's nothing to say i get there, and they just toss me out on my bum for the same reason they did last time. But i feel better about this situation than the last.

Job Update, Random Rant

2009-08-08T02:18:00.003-05:00

I'm pretty sure i have the job. I've talked to the "hiring manager" twice now, and the "shift manager" once. They both appear to want me. According to the hiring manager at our "interview"
(his words) he would have hired me on the spot if he could have. However, the decision is not entirely his, and he has no access to any of the HR... um... Resources. And the HR lady is on vacation. Soooo... that means i need to call the HR lady on Monday (unless someone else gets ahold of me first). I feel good about this job. Here's why:

It is a medium sized store, i'd be working with about 15 people. (too few means drama, too many means politics... 15 is a good medium...)
It is right across the street from our apartment. This would save oodles of gas money.
It pays as much to start as Target did when i quit.
I will be getting oodles of hours to start, as they are behind in their stocking.
They KNOW about my school goals NOW.
Probably more... I'll think about it tomorrow.

Nevertheless, i haven't gotten the call yet. I have an understandably eggs-in-the-basket feeling right now. I haven't done much as far as job-search goes since my interview there. I know exactly what it is i will do if i don't get this one though. That is, if i don't go whacko and splatter my brains.

Now then, on to the rant. It's a lame one. I'd like stuff to go back to how it was... 5 weekdays and 2 on the weekend. Ya know ? Have stuff open on the weekdays, closed on the weekends. OK, have grocery stores and gas stations open on weekends. MAYBE restaurants. BUT THATS IT.

OR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EVERYTHING OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK.

ONE OF THE TWO.

All of this grey area crap is annoying. Too much of this monday-saturday, or one set of hours for m-f, another for saturday, another for sunday. GOD ITS ANNOYING. Yeah business as usual. Mmhmm suuuure. Screw that. I say, do it old school or just be open 7 days a week, same hours, one of the 2.

That and the whole "You can't buy beer from 2am-6am" thing. THAT IS MY TIME. I'm writing this at 3am, ok ? Think about it. If i get up at 4pm, and go to bed at 8am (approx), that puts 2-6am cleanly at the end of my night. I mean, i'd like to be sipping a beer right now, and slip into bed in an hour or so. But i don't have any. OK, what now ? Grape juice ? Yeah, that's gonna get me a bit drowsy. Oh ok warm milk then. Freakin commies. Yeah sure, go buy the sh*t before 2am uhhuh ok. WHY SHOULD I JFNJFGNJK-ING HAVE TO ?!?!?!??

One more thing and im done. How do you spell grey ? I've always spelled it with an e. Always will. Shoot me.

Pray for me !

2009-08-05T00:51:00.001-05:00

I think i just got a job. If you read this, pray for me. I need this job.

Work crap, Zenni Optical.

2009-04-04T19:08:00.002-05:00

life has been odd lately. my responsibilities with the house/budget and whatnot have been paying off... but my work has thrown me a curveball i could never have seen coming. long story short, basically, my job description has changed, and now includes me doing things i would never have signed up to do. It's only one day a week, starting next week, but JEEEEEEEZE give a guy a little notice will ya. Oh and, no training. Just gonna have to jump in and go.

That, and i got a couple new pair of glasses, finally.

For $52. Including shipping. With no insurance. Here's the site: Zenni Optical.

I got #3481 and #3142, with no lens coatings on either as my first purchase. They say polycarbonate is relatively poor as far as visual acuity goes, but after seeing out of extremely scratched up plastic lenses for a couple of years, these lenses are better. I have noticed a bit of distortion out of the smaller lenses, i think that's partly due to where the lens is in relation to my eyes. if i position them differently, all is good. My Rx is barely different than my last, and as such, i can toss these on and see just that bit better without any adjustment period or anything.

I selected the two frames i did to gain as much possible information about zenni's quality, as well as my own sizing and likes/dislikes, all while spending as little as possible and assuming that the order would suck and i'd never buy from them again.

#3481 is a nice rimless frame with stainless "parts" and plastic temple arms. It's a bit narrow on me, although wider than my old frame (126mm.) I got this because it was a sunshade model, and that would make it useful as a frame if i did not like the rimless look. I also got it as a backup frame, being very close to my original frame size. I will be using them primarily as driving glasses, as the temple arms are a bit short for everyday wear, and the magnets for the sunshade will not hold under medium to strong winds outdoors.

#3142 is an excellent bendable titanium frame. It is VERY light compared to my old frame, and very comfortable. The hinges do not need to open "out" - alas, they do not need to - the titanium flexes for you, to gently keep the frame in place. i LOVE this frame. This, sadly, is the one that gives me a bit of distortion. It is either related to how it sits on my face (with my eyes centered 1/4 from the top of the lens) or perhaps stray light whatnot. I can't describe it, but every time i try and figure out what is causing the distortion, i notice there is a light source behind me causing a reflection in the lens, or any other light source making "halos" on the lens. I will purchase the AR with my next set, and see if this fixes things.

Overall, i do CERTAINLY recommend Zenni Optical. As long as you:

Read their returns policy and realize that even if one in three frames is screwed up, it is still TOTALLY worth it.
Read the frame descriptions carefully. They describe their frames to a "T" and you can't tell just by looking what is what all the time. For instance, not all of their "Bendable Titanium" Frames have bendable bridges. It's all in the text.

My shipping time: 12 business days, 14 shipping days, or 16 calendar days. Whichever way you wanna look at it. :)

Any questions ? I'll answer them.

gah im bored

2009-03-20T00:32:00.002-05:00

i made a purchase at zenni optical a couple days ago... i haven't had my eyes checked in a couple years, and now that i have the insurance, i did it. Then i learned about zenni optical. I read some good things, and some bad. Ultimately, the price speaks for itself. I will see whether they work out for me... Within a couple weeks.

Last 2 months of uni practice

2009-03-11T13:03:00.003-05:00

hello all... it's been a while since i've posted about my unicycle adventures. it's not that i've been slacking... on the contrary, i've had something like six uni-adventures since i last posted. the first three (amounting to an hour total) were rather uneventful and discouraging.

On february 10, i tried mounting the 24 (with proportionately longer cranks), and had no trouble. Since then, though, i've begun to more or less re-learn mounting. I think i should have stuck it out on the 20. Ultimately, though, i enjoy the 24 more so i said screw it. My first attempt on the 24 after the 10th failed miserably. I succeeded maybe twice in the period of 30 minutes. This, mind you, was with my sore feet/knees from my new position at work. I've tried with shorter cranks with no success. I figured the lower torque might help static mounting. But no.

The last three practice sessions were discouraging as well. I put the 20" back on... Still nothing. I need to give it a break and let my body get used to my new job. In the meantime, i will take what opporitunities i can to ride my b*ke. I'll still toy with the uni casually, but i can't be serious about it again until my body adjusts to work. I'll step up my stretches and begin taking my glucosamine/chondroitin/msm combo again to help things along, too.

15.25 practice
395 money

BLAH !!!

2009-03-07T21:39:00.002-06:00

Life is soooooo weird right now. Not bad weird or good weird: just suddenly different. I've got a uni-post in the works documenting the past month's worth of unistuff, but that's tomorrow. The good news is, i've been trying to change departments at work. The position i used to be in was in order packaging, and it was in a VERY large packaging center (the warehouse i work in is one of the biggest in the US, like top 5 or something). The particular part of the building i'm in is about 3 stories high, with a CRAPLOAD of halogen lights waaaay up there. Who knows why they've lit it like this. It's very orange, and very innefficient. Getting to the point... Beneath these yellow-orange halogen lamps are about 20 ceilingfan-style fans. I say ceilingfan-style because they are enormous. some are about 15-20 feet across, some are about 30. Each fan must have 10-20 halogen lamps above it. Standing in this area, you will most likely take 10-20 minutes to adjust to the funky lighting, and then think little of it. That's YOU ! REMEMBER PUNKS...

I HAVE EPILEPSY.

Surrounded by cyclic flickering lights at every angle... It was getting bad. But a couple weeks ago, i got transferred. So now i'm back to doing something i have 2 years experience in, and this is coming right about the same time that the cut in hours is coming to an end. So my checks will stop being 300-something and be closer to the good old fashioned 5 to 600. That's after 225 for insurance is taken out mind you.

So work is great, for once. Money is still piss-poor. However, the tax situation is working itself out. I should have enough cash scrimmaged up by the 10th to pay for it, thanks to my bigger checks. After that, i will KICK THE CRAP OUT OF MY FREIURFHUfzigzrnfkgRKENGINEJ-ing CREDIT CARDS.

So things are going good, right ?

i don't know. It could just be a bit of fatigue due to the sudden extra-butt-busting at work, but i'm just feeling very CRAPPY lately. I can't freemount for crap anymore. It could be unrelated, but my knees, ankles and feet are sore from work. I don't know if one thing has to do with the next, and i wouldn't be worried if there weren't an emotional element to it. Blah, i guess i just overthink stuff. I have to be done now though... i just needed to get this out...

30 minutes of fun, and some other things...

2009-02-10T13:32:00.001-06:00

I did 30 minutes today on the 20" in my apartment parking lot. I did very well with the mounting, however having come back to familiar territory and riding, i got to realize something strange. My range has not extended very much, at least not on the flat. I'm pretty sure the loooong run i've done at the park a few times is close to double the longest run i've done here at home, but there are a few major things at play there at the park:

1) Smoother terrain, less paranoia
2) Downhill
3) I do well on sidewalks...
It helps me pay attention to the right things.

Once i realized i was getting on my uni 2/3 of the time without much struggle i decided i'd up the wheel back to the 24". I gave that a spin for a while, and it wasn't too bad at all. I did a few long stretches, and headed off to work.

Another thing i realized when trying freemounting after those few weeks of bad weather, i did unlearn something. I was getting the feel of a true static mount on the 21st of last month. That and pedaling out of it with poor foot placement. Those two things have been lacking lately :-/. Oh well, i was getting kinda bored doing the same things over and over on the 20. I've noticed a couple things help my learning progress: Change in practice routine, and a couple days off. Taking time off is what caused this unlearning, so i figured a change in routine would be wise. Location had already been changed, so this would be a perfect excuse to swap the wheel out, right ?
----------------
The other thing -

On a personal level, things have been rough lately money-wise... Obviously. This, in turn causes additional stresses at home. Which causes a whole list of things:

1) Insomnia
2) Depression
3) Drinking
4) Lack of motivation
5) Seizures

All of these things are inter-related. Mind you, when i say drinking, i do not mean to say that i am an alcoholic. I have a seizure disorder for which i take medicine. In times of stress, my seizures are more frequent, so i take more medicine. The more frequent my seizures are, the worse the insomnia gets. Which means i would drink more frequently to help get to sleep. The additional medicine plus the additional alcohol is hard on my liver. My depression and lack of motivation are caused solely by my lack of ability to do anything to advance myself from my current life-rut. I have no way of moving forward, and that causes me to be hesitant to involve myself in other essential parts of my life.

However, i am currently either going through an early-life crisis or i have figured out a way to stop the viscous cycle. No more liver damage, drinking, insomnia... And although this "miracle cure" is not going to make me rich, and therefore it won't alleviate all of my life's problems, it should certainly help with a lot of other things that cause my disappointment with my life as it is now.

What is this miracle cure, you ask ? Well it is not one thing. It is sort of a ritual. A method of self-discipline. Imagine this: If you did not have the self-discipline to vacuum your carpet every day (even though for some reason you *really* wanted to), but you do have the self-control to not eat a pint of ben&jerry's every night... EARN the ben&jerry's you know ? Give yourself an excuse to munch the ben&jerrys by vacuuming the floor. That's the gist of it.

Alright i'm done babbling... and my fish tank just sneezed, so i'm gonna go look at that...

13.25 practice
395 money

I love this weather

2009-02-06T13:34:00.000-06:00

Well i did another 15 minutes today. I traversed to the top of the hill, and about 15 feet past the crest on the flat. Turned around and rode halfway around the track. My god this rocks. I know i could be going so much farther on the 24, but NOT UNTIL I CAN FREEMOUNT 100% dammit. So basically today was much like yesterday, only a bit better. I'll be uni-ing this weekend too, so my knees will be killing me next week. :)

12.75 practice
395 money

Not like riding a bike AT ALL

2009-02-05T13:27:00.002-06:00

funny thing about unicycling... it seems you get better the more you don't do it. It's been over 2 weeks now, right, and i did GREAT today. I'm now able to go uphill. Period. Just like that. I couldn't do it before, and now i can. That, and i did the same "super-long run" as i did last time, only i did it farther and multiple times. Improved freemounting, improved distance, hills... omg i feel super. Oh and i did all this in 15 minutes.

12.5 practice
395 money

Weather permitting...

2009-01-21T02:03:00.002-06:00

I was able to do another half hour today. Mostly freemounting, which i am getting much more comfortable with. A bit of "distance" riding too, though. Mostly just because i was not a wussy this time. Just not afraid of dabs of snow or ice here and there, and not afraid to try and pedal out of a mount i didn't think was going to work. I'd venture to say i had something like a 25% success ratio with my mounting, although things shifted a bit since my last practice. Before, i'd rarely get my foot in the right spot, backpedal a bit, and GO. Read that again, and you'll see there are three parts to it: Foot on pedal, backpedal (or gain balance), Go. This time, there were only TWO things to worry about. Foot on pedal, (Backpedal and Go). The last two steps are congealing themselves. I even found myself taking off static-style, without backpedaling. There were many examples of pedaling out of a mount successfully even with my foot poorly placed. It was thrilling.

I went for one particularly long venture, too. I started by freemounting in the middle of a downhill slope, going down the hill which is closely followed by a right-turn. After the right turn, it flattens out a bit for 40 meters or so. and THEN... a fairly sharp LEFT turn followed by a STEEP grade down, of about 20 meters. I got down it ! Then, where it levels off, i hit a rock and UPD'ed :). I'm on my 20", folks, what can i say ! I'd say this is the longest non-straight-line i've uni-ed in yet, and i know i could do much more on the 24. I'm going to be getting a b*ke too, soonish, to help up my endurance. I'll do like 30min uni, 30min bike, 30min uni. It will rock anus. I'm out........................

12.25 practice
395 money

im not dead...

2009-01-17T20:32:00.001-06:00

the weather's just been crap. although to be fair, i've *felt* quite dead over the last few days. but i won't go into that.

slackorama

2009-01-06T16:39:00.000-06:00

1/6

30 minutes working on freemount - 20 %
30 minutes applying mounting skills, trying for distance etc

not much to say other than it's been cold and i've been sore :)

11.75 hours practice
395 spent

Secret Life of the American Teenager

2009-01-04T00:50:00.004-06:00

Grr. It's so sad... Secret Life of the American Teenager... My initial reaction to the mere title of the show pisses me off. I mean, speak for yourself, you brainless bimbo sluts. NOT ALL AMERICAN TEENAGERS ARE SCREWING AROUND AT 15. The title of the show, along with it's plot, implies that american teenagers are secret at 15. Make sense ?

I figured others would react similarly... But then i found a crapload of fan sites. Sad. So sad. This show is only going to support those kids who are screwing around as teens. It's retarded.

Our society is growing stupider and sluttier by the minute. I can't even share all of my opinions on this, because, sad as it is, the majority would be offended by it. That is to say, the majority of us are affected by seemingly small, innocent things that, when you REALLY think about it, are stupid. Here are some of the more controversial issues, without insinuating opinion or bias, as examples:

Smoking.
Abortion/Pro-Choice/etc.
Drugs/Alcohol.
Guns.
Politics such as Insurance, FDA conspiracies, what have you.
How to raise kids.
Religion.

Those are all biggies. There are others...

Here are my pet peeves:

Grammar - Your language. Than vs. Then. "My boat is bigger then your boat." - For instance.

Vanity - Lately style has expanded to outright sluttiness. Just my opinion though.

Those who know me best realize i am a very opinionated person, and i guess i could just call myself a modern individual with old-fashioned values. I hate politics otherwise i'd use some other words to describe my views. I won't go into it all now, but some day i will post a spreadsheet of things i Love/Like/Dislike/Hate. Notice no room for neutral.

And to quote a great man - Groucho Marx:

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

whee

2009-01-01T21:54:00.001-06:00

1/1/09

Did 30 minutes or so today... practicing mounting (15% success, roughly) and turning at the park. Probably going to do it there from now on... when i can. Smooth, curvy trail on the one hand (with varying degrees of uphill and downhill to practice on).... And then flat level tennis court for me to use when needed. Good stuff. So i'll be working on a few things for a while:

Mounting
Keeping WOS and "in the zone"
Turning
- sometime soon i'll start on Uni-In-Front dismount

Time spent: 10.75 Hours
Money Spent: 395

last ride of the year

2008-12-31T21:03:00.001-06:00

12/31/08

YAY. i feel like a real man now. Buaha. I freemounted today after about 30 minutes of exercises, and about 10-15 tries. Super. I'm doing a rollback mount for now, and as i get more and more comfy with it, i'll work my way into the static mount. Now that i can freemount, i'm going to make sure i can do it about 20% of the time, and start going to the park to use the track/trail thingy they have there to get my endurance/distance up. The lot at my apartment is a bit too much to deal with to master Weight-On-Seat concepts. oh and i'm doing stretches to help my knees too.

time spent: 10.25 hours
money spent: 395

TURNING ?

2008-12-29T13:21:00.000-06:00

122808

hrm, i spent 1.25 hours today messing around much like yesterday (on the 24). I swapped out the pedals though and had different/better luck as could be expected. My pinned pedals are wider. I had good luck going up hills. I'd do 200m stints uphill, about 150 downhill. My uphill was better because my cadence is consistent. With downhill though, i let myself fly when i could but the fast cadence would kill me (6" cranks)... Then when rough terrain came, i'd power through it but getting back in a groove was not an option.
I'm handling the rough terrain well enough that i'm tempted to put shorter cranks on... but....

I practiced controlled turns. I can do some sorta tight turns... hah... like a 2m radius... IF my surroundings call for it. But turning around in the parking lot merely because i want to ? No way. I made 1/5 left turns, on about a 20m radius. And 0/5 right turns. All of these being 180's that i'm able to ride out of. Not good. Oh well though, this was a first try. I'm certain practicing all of this on the 20 will help. If i have problems on the 20 with the 5's i'll put the 6's on the 20 and the 5's on the 24 to see what that's like for speed-riding.

The killer gooch symptoms combined with sore knees/legs are telling me to take it easy-ish for a couple days. That and i'll be putting the 20" wheel back on to practice turning and mounting so that i can do more than just practice, ya know ?

time spent - 9.75 hours
$ spent - 395

yayers

2008-12-28T11:06:00.000-06:00

just did the 24 last night for a half hour. Had the slick pedals on, which i don't like much. They're too narrow, and some psychological stuff too. Went 200m (According to the computer - seemed like more) several times, and i'll need to be setting my next goal. The night's "step forward" was weight-in-seat. I was able to FLY for the first time, just by leaving my weight in the seat and letting it happen. In the past, it'd been very easy for me to feel out of control, purely from the extra speed acquired by doing it right. But that changed last night. I forced myself to just GO. Still feels scary, but i know i'm in control. What keeps screwing me over now though is foot placement. Ordered some quick release post clamps...

Money Spent - 385
Time Spent - 8.5 hours
Avg Dist - 75m
Max Dist - 200m

Mmmmmmmmmmmkay

2008-12-26T22:14:00.002-06:00

Well then... I did some clever stuff today. Had the 20 and the 24 out, just like yesterday. But this time, it was SUPER nice out. I also moved my car to the corner of the lot so instead of starting from the middle of the lot and working my way to the end, i'd be working from one end of the lot to the other. That's probably about 350m or so. The max i did today (i think) was about 190m, though. Not bad though... I mean yesterday, i was doing 50-100, with a max of about 120. Today was 80-150 with a max of 190... Could've had a bit to do with the terrain, but who cares, i'll still do better tomorrow, ya know ? I also did some vids to review which should be cool. Welp i'm gonna keep this one simple i think... Might do some more riding later on... I'm bored as hell and night riding is fun.

But for now the totals:
8 hours practice
345 spent

once again...

2008-12-25T22:09:00.000-06:00

12/25
MMkay... It's a better day today... not much snow on the lot, and a bit warmer to boot. Went 100m on the 24 today. Several times. One direction is limited to 100m-ish by the size of the lot, the other was psuedo-limited by a combo of fatigue and a load of slush (aka mental block). The lot-limited direction is the same direction that i was originally going - the uneven, downhill, left sloping one. I powered through the slope with hardly any problem today for some reason, and decided that since i was having less problem going straight, i'd try turning. It worked. So i turned and went around the lot to the end of it in that direction. Several times. Mind you, it's a right turn. My tendency is to the left, as is the lot's slope. YAY !

The other direction is uphill, ever so slightly. It's a lot more flat, however there is still more snow over there, as well as more onlookers. But i was still able to go a good 100m. Also went 50m+ well over half of my tries. Fewer short runs this time, but i had myself needing to really push the wheel to get going. That could have just been the uphill runs, i'm not sure. I think a part of the problem i was having last night was not side-to-side balance or speed, but rather Q-Factor/foot placement. I was at the point on the 20 (with the 6" cranks anyhoo) that i didnt need to worry so much about foot placement... but on the 24, i guess i'm not there yet.

Tossed on the 20" after the initial hour on the 24 and had a good time on it. It was cool to be able to push myself through stuff i would not have attempted on the 20, had i not first done it on the 24. Large patches of ice were the only thing i couldn't find myself to try. Tiny bump -> UPD -> break ass... didn't sound too appealing to me. I was able to get a 100m run in on it... it was super.

TIME SPENT: 7.25
MONEY SPENT: 345

THIS WAS POSTED ON THE 26th, HOWEVER IT DOCUMENTS THE 25TH AS MY INTERNET WAS DOWN. YAY.

testing... 1...2...3... anyone out there ?

2008-12-24T22:04:00.000-06:00

12/24
'nets been down a while. It's been wicked cold too... I've had an hour of practice over the last few days on the 20" with 5" cranks. This has been on eneven, slightly snowy terrain (however it is reasonable, and a good representation of the sidewalks). As such, i've been having only so-so progress. Also, i've found out that my distance estimations have been way off. The farthest i've gone has been about 75m. Those trips, however, have been cut short not by UPDs, but by the length of my parking lot. I've been having one problem in particular over this last hour of practice... The lot slants to the left, so when i start trying to correct i find i sometimes have to compensate a WHOLE LOT for the slant. If i correct it by momentarily putting weight on the pedals and slowing down a bit, using my hips to get the wheel straight and starting over, i'm fine. However, i've been trying to keep my weight on the seat. In order to go straight while keeping the weight on the seat, i'm moving my hips, upper body, arms, etc in whatever ways i need to in order to correct. Let's say i point my hips to the right. That will correct the direction, sure. But then i have to keep riding like that. If i make an attempt to "sync up" my upper and lower body, i find i will be traveling in yet another direction and start all over, or worse yet, UPD. If i do not attempt to sync up my body, riding is akward and lopsided... and i soon upd. Needless to say, i certainly need to practice these things on more flat ground. I'm also gonna toss the 24" on and see how it acts on the odd terrain.

later on - got in 30 min on the 24" ... and i gotta say, i love unicycling. I was certainly more comfortable on top of the 24/6 combo than the 20/5... ALTHOUGH, i had shorter runs - 40m or so tops. The same problem described above [pointing my hips (or whatever) away from the direction i'm tending, then finding i need to maintain that position even after my direction is corrected] was much more frequent, and i think it might have to do with either my side to side balance, or my speed. Weight on seat, anyone ?

Overall, it's sad to say that aside from the 1.5 hour experience i've gotten these last few days, i haven't seen any measurable advances. I'm going 50-75 m more often, but still have my share of false starts and short runs.

TIME SPENT: 5.75
MONEY SPENT: 345
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dang

2008-12-22T15:40:00.003-06:00

Tried my shorter cranks today... a few times anyways. Only went like 5-20 feet though... Don't feel the same control at all. I'm going to adjust my seat and whatnot, and i hope that'll do it. I'm not going to be pessimistic about it right now, because i'm not trying it on level terrain. If i were able to try it on flat terrain i'd know a whole lot more than i do right now. I'll keep trying though, and i know i will get better opporitunities over the next week, which is supposed to be quite decent out, albeit a tad windy.