July 30, 2010
Ireland honeymoon post mortem, part 1
As I find time and motivation, I’ll post my thoughts about our honeymoon to Ireland. The first thing I would like to talk about is driving in Ireland. Take most of this tongue-in-cheek. The stories are true, and the driving was scary, but my tone is playful. We didn’t die or crash, and most drivers are actually quite friendly.
If you’re an American, I’m sure you’ve heard people marvel at the whole driving on the left thing. It’s really not that big of a deal. The basic rule is the same as it is here: if all the cars are coming at you, you’re going the wrong way. As long as you follow traffic, you’ll be fine. And when there is no traffic, you’ve got bigger problems, but I’ll get to that.
There are 5 basic kinds of situations you’ll find yourself driving in Ireland. First is driving in a city, such as Dublin. Let me say that it was perhaps the second worst decision I made to rent a car and drive in Dublin. Read this post to find out about my worst choice, flying with US Airways. If you are an American, avoid driving in Dublin at all costs, unless you love stress or want to kill yourself or others. It’s just not worth it. There are more buses than people, it seems, and they will take you where you want to go. There are twice as many cabs as buses, and they will take you places no one should go, I’m sure.
Why should you not drive? The lanes on all roads (except highways) are just wide enough to fit a typical compact car. The mirrors of your car will be over the paint marking out lanes. No joke. You will be passing cars close enough to count the hairs on the other drivers’ heads. It’s bad when you’re all going the same way. It’s worse when it’s narrow two lane roads. More on that in a bit.
Like I said, driving in the left lanes is no big deal. What really screws you up is that you’re sitting on the right side of the car. If you’ve always driven sitting on the left – for nearly 20 years in my case – then you’ve developed a feel for where the car is. You don’t even have to think about navigating narrow spaces, because you have an instinct for the size of the car. Sit on the the other side of the car, and throw all that out. You’re right back to being 16 again, and making stupid 16-year-old mistakes like hitting a curb (kerb in Ireland) with your front left tire (tyre in Ireland) at 30mph (roughly 48kmh in Ireland) and rupturing the sidewall of said tire. Yeah, that was me.
And let me just say it’s tough to get roadside assistance when you don’t know where you are in a town you’ve been in for all of 30 minutes and even the people walking by on the sidewalk can’t tell you what street you’re on. True story.
So, that’s city driving. If you decide to go touring, then you will face driving on highways between major urban areas. This is a pleasure. Wide lanes, and plenty of them. Pretty light traffic most of the time. As long as you’re not driving crazy fast, no one really cares how fast you go. I saw two police cars checking speed on highways in the two weeks we were in Ireland. I was speeding a bit both times, and neither decided to follow and pull me over. Nor did they pull over the people passing me. Go figure.
Once you get out of urban areas and off highways, you will come to the first of the truly exciting driving experiences: two lane rural roads. Remember those narrow lanes? Yeah…these roads are just barely wide enough for two cars and the paint to mark lanes. You know those pictures you’ve seen of Ireland with rolling grassy hills with stone fences marking out plots of land? They’re all true. What you don’t see is that those stone fences line almost all the country roads. Even better, the fences lurk like some slumbering beast in the foliage that covers almost everything. So you’re driving down this road at 80kmh – about 50mph, a little slower than the posted 100kmh (~62mph) because you are terrified – with cars coming the other way close enough to see the ear hairs of other drivers, and there’s this granite fence hiding somewhere in the bushes to your left. Is it 1 foot away? Five feet? Who knows? I guess that’s part of the fun.
It was at this point that I started to think that Irish drivers are crazy. Like I said, they drive 100kmh (or more) on these roads. The roads are curvy. They are usually wet, and often in bad condition. They pass within inches of your side mirrors, apparently oblivious of the violent and bloody death that awaits if they miscalculate by a just a smidge. If you are like me, you will start to edge off to the left a bit when cars are coming in the other lane. My rental, and many of the other rentals I saw, had marks in the finish from all the plants brushed against while trying to avoid certain doom. And just imagine how your passenger must feel with that blur of green smacking the window at 80-100kmh. But, hey, at least you have all your tires.
Then it gets worse. If you get into even more rural areas, you will find two lane roads with no paint marking the lanes. And since there is no paint, the roads are a little narrower. I guess the logic is that if you don’t have the paint on there, why waste the space? Ireland is a somewhat small island, after all. Because of this, you are even closer to oncoming traffic. As you might imagine, it becomes an even more sphincter-puckering experience. Probably the most vivid memory I have of the trip is driving down one of these roads lined by large, old trees. I’m coming down a hill and there’s a corner up ahead. And coming around that corner is a full-sized semi truck (white flat front cab, chromed grill, blue open sided trailer) too large for one lane. And it’s all in my lane, thanks to the curve. My car got real familiar with the foliage on the left side of the road at that point. I think I actually yelled out, incredulous, “Oh come on!” This is the point where I decided that no, the Irish aren’t just crazy. They simply do not fear death. And maybe they all secretly want to be rally car drivers.
In my opinion, those are the most frightening roads, though that’s not the end of what you will encounter. If you get way out there, say in The Burren on the west coast, you will encounter one lane rural roads. And the traffic goes in both directions. It’s generally not that bad, because most people tend to drive more slowly on these roads. Some locals might get up to 80-100kmh, but I found that to be rare. How do these roads work? If you encounter another car coming the other direction, one of you will have to pull of to the side to let the other person pass. One of you will be close to a spot with a little extra room between the road and the ubiquitous stacked stone fences and will pull off while the other car edges by, the driver waving and smiling grimly as if to say, “Yeah, this is effed up.” It’s a bit like when you are walking towards a person and you both try to step around each other, but you both keep stepping the same direction, until one of you just stands still and lets the other person pass.
At one point, I was climbing a hill, and another car (old yellow sedan, circa 1985) crested it just as I neared the top. He slammed on his brakes, because he was going about 80kmh. I can remember hearing Beth’s sharp intake of breath and thinking, “Well, it was a fun trip.” No crash, though, and we were able to get around each other. I believe it was this instance that made me think that it’s not that the Irish don’t fear death; they are actively seeking to die in a horrible car crash. It’s probably the economy and the 25% unemployment.
The actual act of driving can be pretty terrifying until you get used to it. After two weeks, I got a feel for the car, and was getting comfortable. Had we spent a month, I’d probably have been driving like a native. Going to fast in lanes that are too narrow, and drifting around curves in the country. Just kidding.
The one other peculiarity about the driving experience is that the Irish apparently hate signs. We Americans like our signs, and display them prominently, so they are easy to read from a good distance. In the city, when they decide to put the occasional sign up for a road, they put them on the sides of buildings. This means that you’ll be in the wrong lane, looking for that one road that will take you where you need to go, and you will pass it because you couldn’t see it until you were right on it. This leads to some interesting adventures driving all over town because the maps you have don’t quite match reality. In Dublin, at least. Like I said, don’t drive. Bus, cab, walk or bike if you know what’s good for you.
In the country, it’s a little worse. You’ll drive miles and miles out of your way because you were looking for route R-blah-blah-blah, and it wasn’t labeled. It’s not your fault, and it’s not your navigator’s fault. I have developed a hypothesis: in Ireland, the signs have their own gravity. They tend to attract each other and cluster up at odd places. So you’ll drive ten miles out of your way without seeing a single sign or landmark to come to a T-intersection with about 30 signs; none of which point to what you are looking for. I am not kidding. I will post a picture Beth took of one such occurrence.
The upshot: get a GPS and use it. Buy one as soon as you get there, or get one from your car rental company. Remember that the GPS you’re bringing from the states has US maps, not Ireland maps. Although you may be able to download them once you get there.
That’s all I really have to say about the driving, except that roundabouts are cool, and we should have more of them in the states. My advice if you’re going to drive in Ireland: don’t panic, breath deeply, and pack extra underwear.
Peace,
Brad
July 29, 2010
Open letter and complaint to US Airways
To US Airways Customer Service:
I’m writing this letter to let you know how your company screwed up, failed to serve your customers, ruined the beginning of my honeymoon, and lost me and probably others as customers. I hope that you will recognize your fault, and make amends. At this point, you would have to pay me to ever fly with you again. What follows is the story of the reason why.
I chose US Airways to fly my new wife and I to Ireland on our honeymoon. On July 12, we first flew on US Airways #451 from SLC to PHX. Fortunately, there were no problems on this first leg. However, we were delayed by about an hour on our next leg (US Airways #1206 from PHX to PHL), supposedly due to bad weather in Philadelphia reducing the flights in and out of PHL. Once we arrived at PHL, we sat on the tarmac for about an hour, again supposedly because the airport was shut down “due to weather”. The flight crew was unable to give us any information regarding making connections beyond telling us we should be fine since our next flight (US Airways #722 from PHL to DUB) left at 9:00pm. They could not tell us which gate we would need to be at, nor could they call ahead tell our connection we were there, but delayed. Their response was “everyone is delayed”.
Unfortunately, we didn’t pull into the gate until almost 9:00pm. Despite running across most of the airport, we didn’t get to our next gate until 5 minutes after they had closed the door, though the plane hadn’t pulled out. The lady at the gate didn’t offer any information until asked. We asked if we were late, and were told simply that they couldn’t open the door due to FAA regulations. We then asked what we should do, and were directed to the customer service desk.
This is when our experience went from bad to worse. Of course there was a long line since many people missed connections due to weather. Perhaps that couldn’t be helped. What could have been helped was your customer service representatives’ responses to the situation. While we were standing in line, a representative came through handing out cards with a phone number to call, claiming that they would be able to re-book flights for us, and there was no need to stand in line. This latter part was incorrect. I was lucky to get an agent on the phone quickly; within 5 minutes of the cards being handed out, the phone lines were all busy, and very few people were able to get rebooked on the phone.
I was also smart enough to keep standing in line. You customer service manager (Renee, as I recall) handed out contact information to a ‘distress’ hotel booking service. No vouchers or refunds were offered – not even cab fare – and when asked, Renee responded by claiming “we don’t control the weather”, which amounts to “it’s not our fault, so you’re out of luck.” No you don’t control the weather, but you do control your customer service response, and you failed in every respect to serve your customers well. In addition, Renee’s tone was short, and she did not respond with a smile or express any understanding of or concern for her customers’ feelings or problems. If that is her usual response, she should not be in customer service.
Once we got to the customer service desk, we discovered that your phone support had not correctly booked us on the next flight. Fortunately, the representative at the desk was able to correct the issue, or so we thought. He was far friendlier than Renee, smiling and apologizing for the long wait. He even congratulated us for staying in line, because the agent on the phone did not correctly handle the rebooking.
Because we got out of the line around 2am, and we didn’t trust anything that we’d been told by your representatives at that point, my wife and I decided to sleep at the airport. No husband should need to watch his new wife cry on the first night of their honeymoon. Your representatives’ general lack of support and understanding, the fact that the next available flight was 24 hours after our original booking, and the delays that led to this whole fiasco – some of which I am sure were your employees responsibility…to put it bluntly, you quite effectively ruined the first day of our honeymoon.
Our troubles didn’t end there. When we went to your ticketing desk to get our boarding passes the next day, there were still more troubles with our booking. Luckily your check-in desk staff came through and was able to get us on the flight. They were in fact the first of your employees to respond with understanding and empathy during this whole saga.
This one day delay also cost us money. It was obviously impossible for me to notify our hotel and car rental company in Ireland more than 24 hours before we were due to arrive, so we lost $100 on our room, and $30 on our car. I would like to be refunded for that loss, as it was caused by your delays.
Because I will no longer fly with you unless my life depends on it or I am paid to do it, I canceled our return booking with US Airways. I assumed that your ineptitude would cause us to be stranded somewhere, and wanted to avoid that. I would like a full refund of $1338 for those tickets. They weren’t used, and I’m sure you sold the seats to someone else.
In summary, if it is your intent to lose customers and make them despise you, keep doing what you’re doing. If your intent is to maintain customers and grow business, then you are failing miserably.
You now have an opportunity to make amends. What can you do to repair this relationship? Because your customer service is broken, and you have an opportunity to show me and everyone I tell this story to in person or through blogging, Facebook and Twitter that you do care about your customers and their satisfaction.
Sincerely,
Brad Ledbetter
June 11, 2010
Types of learning
I was listening to NPR’s OnPoint podcast today. The theme was the differences between Western free markets and Eastern style state directed “capitalism”. One of the guests noted that Chinese higher education systems are focused on rote memorization, while US higher education is not. In my experience, this is at the heart of the difference between Chinese and Western martial arts.
I’ve given a lot of thought to the differences in training in Chinese arts – where I started – and Western arts – which I study now. I have practiced various styles under three Chinese schools of martial arts. The traditional teachers focused on memorization of form as a method to learn core principles. I have heard it is much the same for learning any skill – calligraphy, cooking, etc.
More recently I have studied Western boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Krav Maga. In all of these cases, the core principles are taught along with individual techniques that implement them. There are no forms – sets of linked movements – in any of these styles. That I know of, at least.
The speaker on OnPoint was making the case that the Western style of learning led to more innovation. My own experience in martial arts seems to bear this out. All of the Chinese styles I have studied adhere fairly strictly to tradition and doing things the same way as they have always been done. The Western styles are constantly evolving, adding new techniques and getting rid of old ones as the world changes around them. Granted this may be a result of teachers more than style. Except in the case of Krav Maga – innovation is a core principle in that case.
Food for thought…
Peace,
Brad
April 30, 2010
Justice and Fairness
Now that I’ve gotten past my GMAT, I’ve got a little more free time on my hands, so I wanted to come back to some online musing on martial ethics. We’ll see if I can manage enough discipline to do it regularly.
One of the most common concepts I’ve seen in martial ethics is justice. It makes sense to me. Those who claim to righteous defenders of the weak and downtrodden would be very concerned about justice and fairness.
What is justice? I seems simple on the surface. Being “just” is being “fair” or equitable. Having partially listened to Plato’s Republic (ahem, audible.com), it seems to me justice is a complex topic. I think it depends a lot on your perspective. Some think that government provided health care is just, and others do not.
Is it fair that I have a well paying job, while other people are homeless? One could argue that I worked hard in school and my career to get to where I’m at. Or one could argue that because I have some level of success, I owe to the less fortunate to give some to them. A capitalist perspective would say that the market has decided that my experience and work output is valued at my salary and benefits, and it is therefore fair. A communist might say that everyone’s funds should be distributed as needed by the government to maintain fairness. The former values individual effort unequally, while the latter implies that everyone’s work is equal.
If you don’t think about these questions, and if you don’t doubt your conclusions, you probably should. In my mind, it is a great act of hubris to be certain you are right.
I already implied how justice fits into a martial ethics framework. Obviously, thinking about fairness temper’s the martial artist’s application of technique to a situation. It is not always wise, safe, or just to intervene, much less in a violent way. Even the best intentions can lead to the worst outcomes. Not to mention the very real danger of getting sued. At the same time, one with the ability to have a positive effect on the world would like to do something. I believe if you have the ability, you have the responsibility.
What is a martial artist to do? I find that a quote from the movie “Kung Fu” provides good guidance:
“Avoid rather than check.
Check rather than hurt.
Hurt rather than maim.
Maim rather than kill.
For all life is precious, nor can it ever be replaced.”
Peace,
Brad
P.S. To plug Audible once more, I hear that Michael J. Sandel’s book, Justice, is a good examination of the topic of justice. It’s on my wish list.
February 11, 2010
How to talk to your man, and other stupid Valentine’s advice.
This post was prompted by an article I read recently that I think I got linked to through Twitter. Articles of this nature aren’t new nor surprising. How many “what your man really wants” or “how to talk to your man” or “what is he really thinking” headlines do you see walking through the grocery checkout line? The thing that irks me about this type of advice is the underlying assumption that men and women are so different. In other words, the authors are stereotyping women and men both. If you are not offended by that, why not?
As a human male (last time I checked), I can tell you that my experience has been that I am looking for pretty much exactly the same thing in a relationship as the women I have dated. I want understanding, acceptance, respect and trust. I didn’t say love, becaue I honestly feel that those four things together are more important. Without them, there can be no love – they are all necessary, but perhaps not sufficiently fertile soil for love to grow. Gotta start somewhere, though.
It may be arrogant of me to assume that all men are like me in this regard. I doubt it. In my scant time in this life, this seems to be a universal truth amongst humans. Different people express it in different way. And not everyone realizes that’s what they’re looking for. But when you get to the core of it, I think that’s what motivates each spirit to seek out another.
There’s another, more subtle, assumption underlying advice articles: that you should do whatever it takes to keep your man, even to the point of conciously altering your behavior. Bullshit. The only reason to change, in my opinion, is because you want to be something different than what you are. Change for someone else is artificial, transient, and utterly transparent to anyone with a heart. Change because you want to be a better you (in your opinion) is real, lasting, and inspires respect and affection in those around you.
Given all that ranting, I have some concrete advice for anyone to talk to anyone else.
- Care for the person you are talking to.
- Recognize how they communicate as individual, not as an average member of some arbitrary group.
- Seek to understand the other person’s perspective. Don’t judge. Don’t compare it to your own point of view. Seek only understanding.
- Be honest. Be kind.
- Respect yourself and set clear boundaries.
- Don’t speak for anyone but yourself. Others shorthand this by saying, “Use ‘I’ statements.”
- Only share secrets you own, and are comfortable sharing. I.e. respect those who don’t want to speak for themselves.
You could reduce those points to one sentence, I think: “Love everyone, including yourself.” Hard, perhaps. But the hard things are the ones worth doing.
Peace,
Brad
P.S. There’s another thing that annoys me about this kind of advice article: the assumption that the relationship is man and woman. They completely ignore homosexual relationships. I understand marketing to a target audience. Nevertheless it’s myopic, and possibly offensive. Not being gay myself, I don’t want to speak for gay people, so I’ll shut up. But I’d be dishonest if I didn’t mention it.
January 25, 2010
Loyalty…to what?
One of the values one sees expressed fairly often by martial arts schools is that of loyalty. Loyalty to the school, the master, and even god and country. It’s in the Bushido code, and many modern martial codes of ethics trace their roots to Bushido.
I expect that the direction to be loyal to one’s school and teacher stems from times when letting the word out that you trained in martial arts could have lethal consequences for your schoolmates and teacher. Japan and China both have endured such periods in their histories. Inter-style rivalry is also a great motivator of loyalty. It’s so common – even today – that you see this as a plot to many martial arts films.
I imagine loyalty to school and teacher was expanded to loyalty to country via Confucian thought in China, and during Japan’s feudal period. After all, if you have the capacity to defend your country, do you not have the responsibility to do so? I argue that the responsibility to defend your nation is a corollary of citizenship, but that’s another post for another day.
In all honesty, I’ve been putting this post off for some time, precisely because I have a problem with loyalty as many define it. Really my difficulty is in trusting people. I’ve never really explored why, though I suspect the roots of it are at about five years old, when my parents divorced. In any case, my personal policy on the matter starts with TNO – “Trust No One.” It’s more complicated than that, of course, but that’s the starting point.
These codes of behavior demand loyalty with the implication that it is unquestioning loyalty. That’s one place where I draw the line. I consider myself loyal to Master Lu – I will uphold what he has taught me to the best of my ability until I am dead. I will not, however, blindly obey direction or follow teaching I consider ineffective for me. People are fallible, and thus must be doubted at all times. Yes, that includes me, sadly. So, when I found that I was no longer getting what I needed, I branched out to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga.
Rather than being loyal to people, I prefer being loyal to ideals. I do my best to live the ethics I have laid out so far – and there’s more to come. One might suspect that this would lead to disappointment. I have just stated that I am fallible, and so I fall short of these ideals. Rather than being disappointed, however, I am comforted at proof that I am still merely human. I note my missteps and hopefully do better next time. That, to me, is the core of martial training.
Peace,
Brad
January 19, 2010
Somebody please kill IE6
Microsoft announced today that it would be releasing an out-of-band update to address the security flaws that led to Google and others getting hacked recently. Good, but not good enough, as the flaw exists in IE8, too. I guess that’s to be expected.
TechCrunch commented on the news, and noted that there are many calling for Microsoft to kill off IE6. Oh please God, make it happen. As a web developer, IE (6 or otherwise) is the bane of my work life. It causes me no end of headaches. Somehow, IE finds ways to break even the simplest of layouts. Nevermind getting into “fancy” things like Javascript. All because Microsoft decided to go their own way instead of supporting standards.
Supposedly there are companies who’s solutions rely on IE6. Too bad. You’ve had years upon years to catch up with web standards. Now is the time to suffer for your laziness. Whoever you are. I’ve been suffering for the past 5+ years for Microsoft’s bullheadedness, now it’s your turn.
Peace,
Brad
January 12, 2010
Brad wants free grad school
Just a quick thought about potential renovations to education. I’ve been listening to “The World is Flat” (Amazon, Audible) . Author Thomas L. Friedman talks about the flattening of the world – how convergence of political, trade, cultural and technological advances are making our world smaller, or flatter. The real globalization, if you will. Friedman makes the case that we are falling behind our global competitors (China, India, Brazil, and others) in educating our children for the jobs and opportunities in the new flattened world. I agree, given my own experiences at NCSU.
Friedman offers a few options for changing our approach to education. I have one that will help me in particular, since I am applying to the MBA program at the University of Utah: offer full scholarships (tuition + room & board + meals) to those who complete a graduate degree of any kind. Note I said complete. Those who do not graduate in their selected program within the specified time frame (varies by degree, of course) will be obligated to pay back the scholarship plus interest. In essence, it reverts to a loan. I imagine this could be a joint federal and state program and funds could come from reallocation of budget and from existing scholarship and loan programs.
I believe that my idea would have several benefits. Some level of college education is expected these days. I feel that if a graduate degree is basically free, then you will get many more students going for more advanced degrees. This results in a more highly educated work force. A more highly educated work force is more able to compete for jobs at the global level. And, according to Friedman, more highly educated workers results in less competition for lower wage jobs, which puts upward pressure on wages for those jobs. You would, of course, have to do something about undocumented workers. Friedman offers some ideas on that front, as well, but I’ll let you read the book.
Anyway, just a selfish thought as I look forward to a lot of contract work and scrimping and saving to pay for grad school.
Peace,
Brad
January 8, 2010
Food and Health
I watched the documentary “Food, Inc.” last night. In short, it’s an examination of our food industrial complex in America, how it hurts us, and how it should changed and is (slowly) changing.
As an athlete, I understand at a deep level how important it is to eat good, high quality food. When I’m not suckered in by the fat and sugar of manufactured foods, I tend to shop around the outside edge of the grocery store and cook at home. I’ve also taken lately to greatly reducing my cow milk intake, and I eat vegetarian at least one day a week. As has been suggested by others.
Having been a business person, I understand how important it is to “own the inputs”. Controlling what comes in and taking responsibility for it is key in controlling quality of output. Given that the output is one’s health, food is possibly the input with the largest impact.
With those thoughts in mind, knowing that our farming industry is subsidized by our government (in foolish ways, I think), and believing that we need some form of government funded health care system in the United States, I offer this (probably absurd) suggestion: take all farm subsidies and plow them into a single payer nationalized health care system. The idea being that allowing food to compete fairly on a global scale should reduce prices and increase the quality of food, thus improving general health and reducing the need for health care.
Granted, there are many problems with this idea. For one, farm subsidies ($16 billion per year according to Wikipedia) pale in comparison to the $1 trillion dollars being talked about for current health care reform bills. You could shore up some of that because health care costs would be reduced in a single payer system.
For another, removing subsidies for crops would force them to compete on the global market which would reduce prices. Farmers who couldn’t innovate or otherwise lower costs would go out of business. Food prices on the shelves should go down. Although this doesn’t take into account any tariffs on imported agricultural and food products.
And there’s something to be said for the security of keeping as much food production in-country as possible. There’s also something to be said for making every country so interdependent that only the really stupid ones would go to war.
There are many other holes in my logic. But I think it’s a step in the right direction.
December 23, 2009
Why I Ride
What with the COP15 recently, and the lack of progress and leadership there, global climate change has been on my mind lately. Inevitably, thoughts of climate change makes me think of habitat stewardship. In turn, that leads me to consider my role in and responsibility to human habitat. The most obvious contribution I make to the cause is riding my bike most places I go. Or so it would seem.
Climate change is not why I ride. Not really. To me, helping to reduce negative impact on human habitat is a side benefit. A convenient reason to be a jerk to people who don’t “care as much about the environment.” It’s a bit of a joke, really.
No, I ride primarily for three reasons. First, I like it. Nothing more complex than that. It’s a pleasant experience most of the time. And when the weather doesn’t cooperate, it’s an ejoyable challenge. And I like challenge most of the time.
Second, it’s good exercise. On a good day, I put about 15 miles on my bike going from work to training, then from training to home. On a light day, I get 10-ish miles getting home. On a really good day, I get 20-30 miles just riding.
Third, I get a lot of time to listen to audiobooks. I have caught up on a lot of ‘reading’ since I started riding regularly. Lots of science-fiction, nearoplasticity news, physics, history and other books. Let this be an advertisement for audible.com and bit torrent.
So that’s it. Very little environmentalism to it. Still good reasons, though, and the results end up the same, I suppose. So I got that going for me.
Peace,
Brad
