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This is my blogchalk:
United States, Massachusetts, Boston, Brighton, English, Ron, Male, Photography, Nudity.

Tom on what was his Schwinn Varsity

In Chicago justice is served with speed and accuracy - without assistance from police, lawyers or firearms.

Visiting the Registry of Motor Vehicles ("The Registry") in this Commonwealth is always an experience. Years ago it was a Stalinist experience dealing with them, but they reformed themselves so that now they have better lighting, and lots of electronic equipment with noises and flashing lights. More Krushchevian, I suppose.

Today I went there to get my motorcycle learner's permit. I go to the desk of the "Greeter" who does not greet me. I tell him my mission. He checks off a couple of blocks on a yellow form, hands it to me along with my customer number, never looking at me, and mumbles something I interpret as "Second floor." My understanding was correct. Up on the second floor there are no tables to fill out forms, so everyone is using the top edges of various partitions to write. I go to a desk whose function is not identified to ask what I'm supposed to do. She says to wait for my number to be called.

Back when the Registry first reformed itself they were reporting absolutely stunning service times. People were waiting an average of only 30 seconds, or something like that. One visit revealed how they did that. They held you at the "Greeter's" counter until someone was almost free, then they issued you your number. Voila! Thirty seconds later you'd be called!

Today my wait was predicted to be 23 minutes, and that was about right. I go to my designated window and had my lady the form. She types things. She writes things on my form. She says "So you want a duplicate license?" That was almost 2 years ago. No, I tell her I'm here for the motorcycle learner's permit. "Oh!" She crosses out all the marks she made on my form and restored all the marks that the "Greeter" had made.

On the back of all the Registry forms is the motor-voter stuff. It says I am required to complete it, so I check yes every time, afraid that if I check no, I might actually be de-registered. I also check Libertarian party affiliation. This has never been an issue before, but this lady flips over the form and asks if when I checked "Libertarian" did I really mean "Independent?" I was almost dumbfounded. How could she think that? The two words are not at all alike and the check boxes are on opposite sides of the page. I just said "No. Libertarian." And put my finger right on the mark. "Okay" she says, "some people just think that means Independent."

How totally weird and unlikely! I should think anyone who applied for a motorcycle license and checks Libertarian should also get a gun permit automatically.

Then my lady who is white and middle-aged points vaguely off to my left and says to go see the "last girl." I look and see no girls. No one under 30, except for one young person in the exam room taking a test. I'm sure she doesn't mean her, but might possibly mean the black woman who is not only the "last girl" down there, but the only Registry employee in that general direction.

I went and got in line for her. Her accent is west African, I think. I understand what little she has to say until she hands me back my form, waves her right arm and says...something. I ask her to repeat it. She had said "Four" by which she means "Go into the test room and find computer number four and take the test, then come back and see me." I suppose her economy of language should be admired.

I find computer number four easily, and I am pleased that next to me sits a shaved headed young man with a long goatee (as I am growing mine) who I have been admiring during my 23 minute expected wait. I imagine how nice we could look on a pair of matched motorcycles, smooth noggins sweating under our helmets, picking bugs out of each other's goatees. His only drawback is he must be a slow reader. He had a 5 minute lead over me, but I got my 14 answers correct well before he did.

All the questions were, of course, totally easy.

• Does marijuana use have any affect on driving?
1. Yes, it impairs night vision
2. No.
3. We just don't know enough to say.
4. It has an affect, but it doesn't impair driving skills.
• Is any safety equipment required on a motorcycle?
1. No.
2. Only at night.
3. Only if you are under 21.
4. Yes.

Lake Shore motorcycle clocked at 160 mph. Something to consider for my next trip to Chicago.

"...many asserted that the storage industry was about to hit the physical limit for higher capacities." Experts make this assertion every couple of years and every couple of years they are proven wrong by IBM once again. This new technology (called "Pixie Dust") means we are on the way to 400 GB desktops at a lower cost per gig than we pay now! Already my gigantic 76 GB IBM hard drive looks laughably undersized.

Buy your very own Tu-144 LL! (That would be the Soviet supersonic passenger aircraft, in case you forgot.)

www.jebus-is-lord.com

An article in the DM Register that answers a question I've wondered about: How often do they wash bedspreads in hotels? The answer: not too often.

More Air Glide pics

• The Air Glide's seat
• The right brake lever and shifters
• My view across the handlebars

Hi!

I liked that about the microwave ovens very much, and I just feel that I must add something about it. This is a very interesting experiment but I certainly hope that you will never get in position to try it. :-)

I'm from Yugoslavia and I supposed that you know very well what was happening here a year ago. Well I have some friends from the army and they learned me the new application for microwave ovens. It is not widely known that the regular microwave ovens use the same wavelength as most of the air-defense radar. So what we did was (it is no longer classified :-) only adjusting the regular microwave to work with it's door opened somewhere under the open sky. I'm not sure, but we were probably using just long cables connected with standard 220V~ output as a power supplies. And what was happening: if that bastard pilot (no offense to you since I can see that you are from The Netherlands :-) doesn't have a visual contact he can only say that radar is tracking him. So he launches the anti-radar missile and - he wastes a several hundred thousand $ missile for a price of one microwave oven. We literally used hundreds of such decoys - often planting tens of decoys with one REAL radar. And if the pilot is lucky enough to hit the actual radar, then everything is O.K. for him. But there are much bigger chances that he will hit a decoy instead, and after that he gets what he deserves from the actual radar.

That's the story. What do you say? A total new application for an MW oven! :-)

Best regards,
Mladen Mijatovic
mladja@sezampro.yu

"To prevent from strench." After all, no one wants to be bothered by strench.

Convert standard window documents to html or pdf for free.

The resolution creating the official donut of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

"Why Asparagus Makes Your Pee Stink"
by Hannah Holmes

"This is of no practical importance," the urologist tells me. "It wasn't part of my training. It's something we contemplated over pizza and beer." When I admit that I have actually timed the arrival of the distinctive odor in my pee after eating asparagus (about 15 minutes), the good doctor suggests, facetiously, that my groundbreaking research might lead to a tenure-track position at a fine university.

It is a sadly neglected field. But I'm not the first to ask. In 1891 a scientist named "Nencki" had so very little to do that he convinced four guys to eat seven kilograms of asparagus (that's about three and a half pounds each). He collected the pertinent pee, worked some medieval magic on it, and concluded that the smell was due to a metabolite called methanethiol.

So there you go. Nencki claimed that as your body metabolizes asparagus, it produces this smelly chemical, which your discriminating kidneys see fit to dump into the bladder. This probably doesn't qualify as red-hot science, but it's warm enough to spark differing opinions. In 1975 a chemist from California claimed in Science that gas chromatography had fingered a different culprit: S-Methyl Thioesters, to be precise. No methanethiol. Then there's the 1980 reference in the British Medical Journal that simply refers to "metabolites." Another asparagus scholar favors "six sulfur-containing compounds." I'm voting for methanethiol, partly because the guy who did the gas chromatography left no forwarding address, and partly because the methanethiol entry in my aging Merck Index of chemicals is so interesting.

Methanethiol is composed mostly of sulfur with a splash of hydrogen, plus some carbon, a brew famous for its effect in rotten eggs, cabbages and paper mills. Convincing, no? Merck also notes the asparagus connection and, most intriguing, warns that methanethiol may be a narcotic in high concentrations. Now if you're scowling at your screen and muttering, "My pee doesn't smell like asparagus," first ask yourself if you eat asparagus.

Even if you do but lack the smell, you're still OK. In fact the fabulously funny book, The ReSearch Guide to Body Fluids (by Paul Spinrad, Juno Books, N.Y., 1994), says just 22 percent of survey respondents experience asparagus pee.

Early investigators thought genetics had divided the world into stinkers and nonstinkers. That was until 1980, when three researchers had the presence of mind to wave pee from the nonstinkers under the noses of the stinkers.

Lo and behold, the problem proved to be one not of producing the stinky pee but of being able to sniff it out.

If you've been deprived of this gift, don't give up hope. To increase the concentration of methanethiol molecules available to your snoot, you could either intentionally dehydrate yourself before you dine (this is unhealthful); or pee into a cup and sniff that. Or eat three and a half pounds of asparagus for lunch.

And if you experience a narcotic effect, you could be looking at a tenure-track position at a fine university.

1,579 blatant scofflaws in Glendale, California will now feel the majesty of the law as their front yard fences are swept away in the name of...uh, in the name of conformity? or sump'n.

L.A. driver's forum where the subjects are SUVs, Road Rage, Ask The Mechanic, Carpool Partners, and (get this) Share L.A. Shortcuts. Wow. Can you imagine a forum to share Boston shortcuts? The police would monitor it. As soon as a new shortcut was announced, the crews would be out to drop a jersey barrier across it.

Here is something from the Road Rage forum. I personally have encountered about 1000 guys like this in the very few times I've been on the L.A. freeways. The sad thing is that he doesn't scare me because despite all his bluster, he still drives a helluva lot better than a Boston driver. The replies were mostly humorless, stiff things. A few people seemed to catch on.

Hi, I am the A** Hole!!! by AleerK

Let me start by saying that I am a 19-year-old kid that drives a Honda Civic. I do speed, zoom around slow a*s idiots who have lost the gas pedal. I change lanes constantly, I talk on my cell pone, I smoke and drink my coffee and eat, sometimes all at once. Oh yeah, I have that loud a*s sound system that makes you American made piece of SH*T shake. SUV Drivers get a clue, when you don move more then 60 on the 5 at 2 am, and insist on doing it right next to an 18-wheeler, yeah I will cut you off, blink my brights and give you the finger. People who talgate me, go for it, when you do run in to my ass I will make sure my lawyer cleans out you insurance compnay. By the way I have that USC plate frame, cus I got there. If you are unable to think fast enopugh to change lanes and talk on your cell, consider taking the MTA, you do not need to drive anyhow. Oh, and ladies, I am sorry, but as much of an a** as I may be, looking directly at your pasander and talking to them for 1 min at a time will also get you cut off, I don't want to be anywhere near you whne you realize that the car in front of you I going about 50 miles an hour slower then you, and you are 10 feet away. I hate speed limits, sorry old folks but the ones of us who can react at 90 should be allowed to drive that fast. I drive 80 miles a day, spend at least3 hours in the car, so let me go fast I am tired of women and old farts who go 50 where they should go 70.

If you see my '99 silver civic coming your way, get out of MY lane, ( almost forgot I don't own the road), by the way almost forgot there are about million silver civics that all look the same…

oops

Here a southern Californian admits eastern drivers are more fearsome, more intimidating.

SoCal Drivers by SUVx2Dave

LOL...I'll agree you see lots of 'close' driving...but the 30 car pile ups are rare..more like 5 cars. I'll take a SoCal driver over any eastern driver though...I stay far away from any car with an out of state eastern state plate! They really don't know how to drive ..and sure the heck don't know where they're going!! Left turn from far right lane? No problem..I've got an out of state plate!

Another interesting post:

When I use my turn signal by rudymoore
get out of the way! When I use my turn signal, I'm comin' over. I don't care whether or not you want me to come over. I'll give you a good 2 or three blinks and that's it. If you speed up to not let me over, be prepared to brake.

Nothing makes me more happy that to cut off some idiot who won't let me over. I get a special kick when they get pissed off and wave their arms in the air screaming obsceneties! Hahaha, I just laugh at them! :)

An entire Christian school in Brea, California, gets the information they need to decide if they have strong stomachs or will just become vegetarians.

Strawberry glut feared! And we look forward to lower prices on strawberry-fueled cycling.

The City of Berkeley is considering delivering all city mail by bicycle. The real hang up is that contracting with a private firm (the cyclist coop) to do work that city workers can do (in vehicles burning fossil fuels) violates city policy. "...said Fran David, Berkeley's finance director. 'At this point, the only other option would be making city employees ride bikes, and I don't see how we could do that.'" Oh no, of course not. Not that. No one is suggesting that. City employees. Bicycles. Can't happen. Better to die of lung cancer (or heart disease, take your pick) in a hospital with no electricity. Yeah, that sounds nice.

Brazil may adopt the tactics of Quebec or France and outlaw the use of foreign language terms. How could our longtime, warm-blooded, bosom friends take such an attitude? "'Why should Brazilians have to feel embarrassed in their own country because they can't pronounce these names?' said Mr. Rebelo, a member of the Communist Party of Brazil." There you have it. The bill has already passed the lower house and is now pending action in the Senate. Even so "stores have begun taking down signs that advertise a 'sale' or '20 percent off' and replacing them with others announcing a 'liquidação.'"

"To Brazilians a shower stall is a 'box,' a billboard is an 'outdoors,' to go jogging is to 'cooper' (after a doctor who introduced it here), a razor blade is a 'gilete' and the steroid-fueled weight lifters who pick fights in nightclubs are 'pit boys.'"

Mr. Rebelo is graciously willing to grant an exception for "futebol, gol and pênalti."

The NY Times article on the census report showing that the number of people living in traditional, nuclear families (two opposite sex married adults with at least one child) have dropped below 25%. On NPR this morning they were annoyingly misreporting this as the number of people living in families. Period. Thus relegating the following to non-family status:

• single parent households,
• childless couples,
• gay couples with and without children,
• grandparents raising grandchildren
• unmarried opposite sex couples with children
• polygamists

Nice, but very, very late attack on Weston for blocking the Wayside bike trail.

Closeted gay people blamed for weakening the nation's public library system! We're right up there with Satanists, pregnant women, and guys who fix cars. Oh, the humanity!

South End panorama taken May 8 from Montgomery Street.

The Bose Wave/PC released today. $449.

There's been a lot of talk about Gore Vidal's article in Vanity Fair a couple of years ago. Read the article here.

Directions to gay beach at Lake Mead

I have been neglecting to mention that the Green Line has started running the Italian cars again, after a very long absence. Since January 2000, apparently. Here's a pic of one of the Italian ("Breda") cars.

Where do those old NY subway cars go?

Someone has leaked the entire Homosexual Agenda and it's out on the web now! This is good, this is so good! Courtesy of Betty Bowers at BASH (Baptists Are Saving Homosexuals).

When you have dinner guests, does your 8 year old boy climb out of his bunk-bed, slip into something sequined, and slink down the staircase regaling your guests with a heart-rending, coquettish version of "The Man Who Got Away" like a 4 foot, liquored-up Judy Garland? See BASH Kids

Not quite the wow factor of yesterday's site that included most Manhattan intersections, but more much more useful is SeatAdvisor.com which allows you to see what the view is like from any seat in many theaters and auditoriums throughout North America. There are a lot of gaps right now. Boston's Symphony Hall and Jordan Hall are missing, for example. There are no listings for Kansas or Missouri, but they promise that the Midland Theater is coming soon! In Iowa they have one theater in Des Moines, nothing for Hancher.

Possibly new cool thing from Bose coming on May 10.

Apparently Woody Harrelson is a libertarian. At least a small "l" one.

Dogs in elk. Quite literally. Probably only for strong stomachs.

Pretty amazing site with 3D panoramas of most of the intersections in Manhattan! I think this is really cool!

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen...or out of Kansas City, anyway.

Amish yoot: public drunkenness, wild parties, loud stereos. But they don't seem to be shooting each other. I was surprised at the little statistic buried in this article that in the 1940s up to 40% of the kids left the Amish community, while today that figure is down to only 10%!

Saturday's Ride Report
I headed out not too far behind schedule and got to the Cyclorama about 6:30. The weather was not as cool as it looked, and the sun was out. I was carrying two large panniers on the rear of the Air Glide and noticed right away that they shifted forward slightly as I rode. This is a problem for me only because I wear size 13 bike shoes. When the pannier is all the forward my right heel (only my right!) hits it on each pedal. It's only a tiny touch, just slightly bothersome, but it does prevent me from pedaling backwards, if I ever want to do that. I had this same problem carrying panniers on the Diamond Back and fixed it with little plumbing clamps screwed onto the rack. It wasn't a problem on the Cannondale either because the rack is higher, so the spring is stretched to a greater tension, or the rack may just sit a little further back.

The new Home Depot at the beginning of Long Pond Road just outside Plymouth is open now, so that's where I stopped. The helpful young plumbing attendant talked to me about his mountain bike and how happy he was with his Camelbak and how he sometimes commutes cross-country from Wareham, starting at 4:00 AM to get to work on time. He said during the recent very hot days he interrupted his rides home to jump into every pond and stream he came to. I forgot to ask if he did this with his shorts on or off.

Outside Home Depot a young man came up who said he had quite a collection of bikes but had never seen anything like the Air Glide. I mentioned a few of its finer attributes. This sort of thing is happening frequently with the Air Glide and I'm not going to mention every single occurence here, as it would get too tedious even for me. The lack of a seatpost is what seems to catch most people's eyes. People with more bike experience will stare a bit longer and maybe ask "What the hell?" I share only as much information as I think is desired. One husky young man in Wellesley admired it last week and said he thought he would bend the beam, so I told him it was titanium. He insisted that he would still bend it, but now he knew it would snap back when he got off. He claimed he was 230 lbs.

Down on the cape, in Yarmouthport, a man began inspecting the bike. I quickly realized he actually knew bikes, as he told me about an old 1973 Motobecane he had rescued. I answered his technical questions and he astounded me by pinning the price of the bike exactly, even though he had never heard of Bike Friday before!

Young boys eyes seem to be caught by the BMX-size wheels first. It hasn't happened yet, but I expect a kid on a BMX to ride along with me sometime and ask questions.

But to return to the ride itself: it was not yet 60° and I had a slight tailwind. Everything was routine all the way to checkpoint 1 in Halifax. A sand & gravel company is using that area to store material, so there was truck traffic in and out. Not too far after that a huge area has been stripped down to bare earth, almost as though they were going to build a superhighway, but there are no superhighways being built in Carver. May be a housing development or industrial park going in.

The shifting on the Air Glide is still a bit touchy, but this ride gave me plenty of opportunity to at least develop a good feel for the shifting. I can now tell with my hand if the shift isn't quite right and can nudge it a bit to get it to go. I think one more tiny adjustment coupled with attentive shifting will almost totally eliminate the chain jumping.

The clouds were coming in while I stopped at Home Depot so I put on my rain jacket, but that began to feel too warm, so I stopped at Myles Standish forest to take it back off.

No problems at Sagamore Bridge. Checkpoint 2 is full of flowers I've never seen before. The service road parallelling Route 6 is all nicely repaved to the Barnstable town line. What a relief! That road has had a hellish surface since the early 80s. I hope Barnstable gets around to paving its section soon.

On Route 6A in Barnstable at the Lothrop Hill cemetery I stopped to switch from my shoes to my Shimano sandals. I had just started to get a touch of foot pain and didn't want it to get worse. I kept my socks on. I think this is the first time I did that. Felt great. I may need to ride in sandals all the time. I think the only drawback may be lack of lateral support. Once I did a century in the sandals and afterwards my ankles were a bit tender.

The foliage at checkpoint 3 hadn't filled in (true everywhere along the route), but a little further up Setucket I saw a dirt road to the left leading into a town conservation area. I'd never noticed that before. I had sufficient obscurity there. The main problem with cool weather riding in early spring is finding bushes dense enough to duck into for a pee. Public restrooms are rare along the route.

It was along Setucket Road that the sky was completely clouded over and I got a few drops of rain, but nothing bothersome. It had gotten really cold, though, so I had my rain jacket on again.

A bit of the rail trail in Orleans (entering Orleans) has been repaved very nicely. The rail trail from Orleans into Wellfleet is completely unchanged. I stopped for a sandwich along here. Before this I had stopped in Plymouth and Yarmouthport to take on beverages and some crackers, but nothing substantial.

By the time I reached LeCount Hollow Road the sky was totally blue again. The weather hadn't come up much, but it was warm enough to doff the rain jacket. And so the view from Ocean View was fabulous! It was one of those days when the Atlantic was a rich, deep blue and the air was dry enough to see a sharp horizon. I stopped to get a couple of photos of the Air Glide.

From there during the quick descent into Wellfleet I noticed (again) the rich smell of flowers that will be missing when we come through in June. From Wellfleet through Truro, things are unchanged. When I got to the top of that last rise in Truro where all of Provincetown spreads out before me (just like the Emerald City) the sun had reached the ideal western angle so that the sea glimmered all around. I zipped into P-town and headed along Commercial Street to the Beaconlight. I had need of a good bush since somewhere in Truro, but those last 10 miles are all too civilized to find any decent stands of bushes, so when I got to the Beaconlight I hoped to be able to get into my room right quick.

This weekend in Provincetown was Cabaret Fest (along with Gays For Patsy), so just as I stepped into the Beaconlight the club singer and her pianist that they had retained for the weekend were just starting to lay into a good round of your standard cabaret tunes. Bob Derry came over and we chatted for a bit. The house staff seemed to be distracted making sure all the guests arrayed decoratively about were happily supplied with wine. Trying to get some attention I sat in the office chair in front of the business desk, thinking that my violation of their territory would tick them off. It didn't. When one of the houseboys came by (the new German one) I stood up to ask if I could check in. "Yes, yes," he said, "but just sit down and relax for now. Do you want some wine?" Thinking I might achieve success more quickly if I just went along I said yes to the wine. It took him forever to retrieve it from the kitchen. Meanwhile, you know, the cabaret singer is going right along. And she was good too, or this would have been hellish. One of the owners came by, so I thought I could at least get some business out of the way by asking him where I could put my bike. I had just left it leaning against the chimney. He said I could just leave it where it was. I prayed this was a misunderstanding, as the Air Glide is not going to just sit unlocked and unattended in full view, trusting to the honesty of a few thousand tourists to respect my property! But with the singer wailing away it was hard to have much of a conversation.

I drank two slugs of wine and waited. After a couple more tunes the German houseboy reappeared with my room card pointing out that all was in order and I didn't need to do anything at all! Here's my key! I pressed him on stowing the bike and suggested the garage. The driveway was so crowded I had to lift the bike over my head to get it to the garage. Then the houseboy grabbed my panniers and helmet and literally ran into the house and up the stairs. Suddenly speed and action were everything! In a nonce I was all better again.

Ken had apparently picked up some food poisoning at Gallerani's the night before and was abed recovering. The Beaconlight was so full (how full was it?) that they were staying in the tiny Minot room! I think my room had more square footage, but they did have a private bath.

Bob and I went out to dinner with new guy Paul, who had recently moved to the South End from Chicago. We talked a little bit about the finer aspects of Chicago (mostly IML). We all went to the new Ross's Grill which is in the new building that replaced the former movie house that burned down last year. The new place is all steel and concrete with a generous sprinkler system. It's not burning down again anytime soon. Ross's Grill is pretty nice, although I thought it was odd when I asked the bartender if they had any stout he tipped his head for a moment to think, finally saying "Well, we have Guinness?" Well, when you want stout, I guess Guinness will just have to do. I ate tuna, and the waitress apologized for her Indiana accent when I couldn't understand her pronunciation of "wasabi."

By the time we were done and back out on Commercial Street Ken had recovered enough to venture forth. He, Bob and Paul headed down to the Gays For Patsy dance in town hall, while I made my way home to get warm and rested at the Beaconlight. Along the way I noticed that the Ranch seemed to be doing business. I stopped in and Scott, the manager, told me last year's plans to sell the place fell through, so they were back at it for at least another season. I tried to make reservation for June, but they claimed a 3-night minimum, and I already have a 2-night reservation at the Watership, so I told him I'd wait and try again in June when they realize how desperate their situation will have become.

I slept pretty well that night marveling over how well I felt after the ride. My butt was not sore, and there was no problem with my right knee which had been tender after the ride to Milford earlier. I had no leg cramps, which had been a small problem after the last few rides. It can't all have been due to the favorable temps, and I don't like to give the bike equipment credit for a good or bad ride, so the only alternative is to admit I have trained adequately and know how to stay within my limits!

By the way, the odometer is reading about 5% high, claiming it was well over 130 miles to Provincetown. Got to adjust that.

Sunday morning after suffering with a couple of queens at the breakfast table (one an organist at 3 churches in the Newburyport area - my goodness, how he must flit about on a Sunday morning!). Then Bob, Ken, Paul and I set forth in their car to explore a couple of beaches (High Head and Herring Cove) around town. I forgot to try to get directions to Spaghetti beach. It was way too cold to go naked, but I would like to have been able to spread the info here.

Lunch was at the Lobster Pot (Caesar salad with crab and lobster salad), after which I proceeded to the high speed ferry departing from the Whydah's dock. The day was windy, so they warned us it might take 10 minutes longer than the scheduled 90 to reach Boston. Once we got out on the open water this double-hulled boat really bucked and yawed. I worried (unnecessarily, I knew) that the bikes, which are only lightly lashed on an open rear deck, would fly overboard during one of our wild tumbles. My second worry was seasickness. I just closed my eyes and let my head loll back and forth on the seat back. I felt a bit warm at one point, but did manage to survive with only a hint of quease, quite possibly due to the Caesar salad as much as to the wave action.

Upon arrival at Boston I found the bike salt encrusted, as I expected. The rear view mirror, which had fallen off just after crossing the open grate draw bridge at Malibu beach the day before, had fallen off again due to the "violent action" of the boat (as it was put by the German man whose blue Basso had been leaning on the Air Glide). Needed a new mirror anyway, as this one had been taken from the Cannondale and wasn't working perfectly.

It was very cold in Boston, but I didn't feel like taking the effort to pull out my long-fingered gloves and knit cap, so I just rode home cold. Put the Air Glide in the shower to wash it off. I've done that only once before and that was with the Diamondback after a day of riding it on salty snow-packed roads.

Today I got the "template" from Bike Friday. It's just a big piece of corrugated cardboard cut to match the interior of the suitcase, holes punched at the appropriate spots, and crude handwritten labels. Well, I suppose it will do. Wonder what it cost them to send via UPS? I cut open a flat corrugated cardboard container to find a folded piece of corrugated card inside. Weird.

Recently bought and finished viewing "Ayn Rand: A Sense Of Life." It's obviously made by or with the approval of the true Rand followers, as it features the Peikoffs and Binswanger. The Nathaniel Branden affair is dealt with quickly with a few quick snips by Leonard Peikoff. They make it sound like something that happened in the late 40s or early 50s. They make it sound like he disappeared well before the move to the Empire State Building.

But that's only a quibble. Overall, it's fairly interesting.

The Boston Philharmonic has their schedule out for next season. The program: Beethoven's Leonore Overture #3; Sibelius' Violin Concerto; Dvorak's New World Symphony; Bach's Cantata #150; Berg's Seven Early Songs; Brahms' Symphony #4; Mahler's Symphony #9; Ives' The Unanswered Question; Copland's Folksongs; Schwantner's New Morning For The World; and Holst's The Planets.

His Badge Said, 'Take Advantage of Me'
By Bob Levey
Washington Post
Wednesday, May 2, 2001; Page C11

"Well, at least I learned something," said the man from Iowa, across the long-distance wires. What he learned is that conventioneers in the capital of the free world had better play it smarter.

My caller is a high school principal from a town in central Iowa (name withheld at the man's request) "where the corn grows high and nothing awful ever happens," he told me.

But in Washington, D.C., one day last month, $35 worth of awful happened. To him.

Our man from Iowa was a delegate to an education convention at the Washington Hilton Hotel. On a Wednesday afternoon, about 4 p.m., it was time to go home.

He needed to get to Reagan National Airport. So he asked the doorman at the Hilton to summon a cab for him.

"I was still wearing my convention badge," Mr. Iowa told me. "You know, one of those plastic-covered thingies that you wear on your lapel. The one that says, 'Hi, my name is Joe.'

"I now know that this was about the stupidest thing a guy can do in Washington. It's like wearing a sign that says, 'Please Take Advantage of Me.' "

Mr. Iowa never got a good look at his cabdriver. But he sure got the business from him.

When the cab pulled up in front of the United Airlines drop-off point at National, the man from Iowa asked the cabby what he owed. "Thirty-five dollars," came the reply. The man paid in cash and included a $5 tip.

"It did seem like a lot of money for a 14-minute ride," the man from Iowa said. "But I know that things can cost a lot more than I'm used to on the East Coast."

Aboard his flight to Des Moines, the man from Iowa ran into a friend from back home who had been at the same convention. Our guy commented that cabs sure were expensive in D.C. nowadays.

The second man asked how much the man from Iowa had paid. Once he heard the bitter truth, the second man placed a sympathetic hand on the first man's shoulder and said, "Friend, I don't know how to tell you this, but you've just been taken."

Turns out the second man had also just come from the Washington Hilton by cab. His tab: $16.50.

The man from Iowa called me because former Washingtonians back home told him that Bob Levey would fix this if anyone could.

I told the poor fellow that I'm faster than a speeding bullet and can leap tall buildings in a single bound. But this one may be out of my reach, and anyone else's, too.

I gave the man from Iowa the phone number of the D.C. Taxicab Commission. But that's a blind alley looking for a place to happen, because the man from Iowa has no idea what the cheating cabby's name was, and no idea which company employs him.

"I guess I could tell you to chalk it up to experience," I offered, by way of consolation.

My guy chuckled softly (and ruefully). "Do me a favor," he said. "Write about this in your column so that other conventioneers don't get socked the way I did."

That's a favor I'm glad to do, Mr. Iowa. Here's another:

The subway goes directly to National Airport. It costs only about one-sixth of the legitimate cab fare. And it never overcharges.

Possible drive-thru weed dealerships in the Netherlands.

My order from Greentyre finally showed up yesterday. Three months to get a pair of tires, and then they send them to the wrong address. Once I put them on the Diamondback I'll let you know how they are.

92° F today. I guess it's safe to assume the snows of winter are behind us.

"A car full of lawyers turned over right in front of old man Jenkins' place. He comes out and buries them all. The sheriff asked old man Jenkins, `You sure they were all dead?'
"`Well,' says Jenkins. `Some said they weren't. But you know how them lawyers lie.'"
There are 13,395 lawyers in Kentucky.
Read it here.

"If possible, we would like to give garlic to North Korea as aid"

Good cartoons.

WONDERFUL weather today. Rode my bike (the Diamondback) in to work. Immediately after I got onto the Esplanade and was picking up speed in anticipation of clipping and harassing the runners there, an odd-looking bike began to emerge from the sunrise-dappled shade. What weird thing was this? An Air Glide! Black one, with rear rack. It was westbound, I east, so it went by too fast for any cries of recognition.

That's only the fourth Bike Friday I've ever seen in the flesh. The first was about 10 years ago on the sales floor at Belmont Wheelworks. The second was a Twosday, their tandem model, in Winchester a few years ago. The third one you know all too well.

TMI for some of you
As a participant in a study at Fenway Clinic today I got my first exam for Human Papilloma Virus. They insisted that the sensation would be comparable to a rectal thermometer (something lost in the mists of my memory). In fact, however, it was more like a rectal thermometer disguised as a dried out corn cob, which was then used to scrub the "area at risk" quite thoroughly. Yikes! I've yelled at guys for much less, but this was a lesbian nurse administering it so I remained cordial.

Yesterday I discovered that I had misplaced the archive file for March 4, 2001 - March 10, 2001. It is now back where it ought to be. You do know, don't you, that if you read to the bottom of this middle column you'll come to the link that takes you to the previous log. At the bottom of that log's middle column is a similar link to go to the previous one. I have suddenly thought maybe this isn't obvious to anyone but me, and maybe I should be adding Previous and Next buttons.

Article in today's Globe about Dan Pallotta. If that's expired, go here.

Amazingly Good Service at USPS
I use a P.O. box for my Amazon shipments (among other things). Whenever a package arrives I get a yellow slip in my box and then I stand in line to get the package. Yesterday it was the same. I waited through the long line. Then, when I was just second in line, one of the clerks waved me forward, calling me by name! I was so sure she must be waving to and calling someone else that I hesitated. She waved again and held up my packages from Amazon, her other hand out for my yellow slip! Somehow this clerk had linked my P.O. box number with my face and must have picked up my packages when she was back grabbing some for another customer. I was so astonished I think my face just fell to the floor. The clerk laughed.

The Singing Detective
Some years ago (late 80s, early 90s) WGBH (local PBS station) broadcast The Singing Detective, a BBC mystery. I, as usual, taped it to watch later. It was fascinating. Fascinating! Six hour long episodes. I think they showed one a week. Finally, I got down to the last fascinating episode (you know where this is going, right?) where all was being unraveled when the tape ran out literally 5 minutes before the end! By then it was too late to catch one of the odd-hour rebroadcasts on WGBX, but not big deal, right? WGBH re-broadcasts everything. "Am I wrong, or am I wrong?"

I was wrong. Years passed by, and for some reason this excellent program was never on WGBH's plate again. Then finally word filters up to me from the internet that the show is available on VHS. So I actually ordered it. I don't buy TV shows, but this one has been eating at me for so long. And now I have it, and I'm halfway through it. Fascinating! Did I tell you that? And when I get to the end I'm going to tell it to you and spoil everything!

Stars Michael Gambon as The Singing Detective, Philip Marlow.

An article in the LA Times about the terribly short supply of librarians.

A bill to discourage harassment, bullying and intimidation in Washington state is stopped by the Christian Coalition of Washington who are defending the rights granted them by their Prince Of Peace to harass, bully and intimidate homosexuals.

Christian Pastor Ray Borlase of the Moreton Christian Assembly explains how his Son Of God, who raised Lazarus from the dead, has sent foot and mouth disease to the United Kingdom in order to punish its tolerance of homosexuals, or, to be specific, high school age homosexuals. No explanation on why foot and mouth occurs outside the UK, nor why they were not punished for tolerating high school age lesbianism. The lord works in mysterious ways, eh?

A little web searching has indeed turned up both Christian and Moslem prayers for peace, although one may consider them unsatisfying because they fail to address the need to bully, intimidate and harass homosexuals (young ones) for bringing foot and mouth disease to Britain.

A menu of a whole bunch of prayers for peace here. I think most of these are represented at the Gandhi statue in Sherborn. The Christian one was there, but I didn't notice the Moslem one. Will look more closely next time.

An article in the Washington Post about the crappy White House website. Yes, it's understandable that it will take time to get it set up, but what can possibly excuse a phrase like "electronic email address?" And unclickable email addresses on this page?

Pioneer 10 is still transmitting! We who are middle aged will remember this is the one launched during our childhood that bore the golden plates that in addition to spreading the word of Moroni, will provide a guide for invading alien hordes to find our home planet. Even so, I drop my jaw in astonishment that this thing is still working and we are able to detect an EIGHT WATT signal from it! It is over 10 lighthours from Earth.

Microsoft assistance versus the Psychic Friends Network...guess who comes up short?

Been to the Mustard Museum?

Article here about a slang dictionary created by high school students in Berkeley.

Cat in a spinning hot dryer for 10 minutes! Don't worry. It lived. It's okay, if lack of a tail is okay.

I've added a Google search box over in the lefthand column. I hope it works better than that generic bit of crap that was there before.

The oak tree gets it with 101,146 votes. But in fifth place are "Other Writeins" with 26,920 votes. I presume virtually all of those are for the black walnut.

A new plane in the works at Boeing. It has a potential range of 10,000 nautical miles! Pushed to its maximum, leaving from New York it could reach everywhere except the southern and western areas of Australia. Sydney would be just in range. Leaving from London, the entire world is within range. Direct flights to Sydney from New York or London are not possible with today's planes. New York - Sydney would take about 18 hours.

Bike lanes possible all way across bay
Caltrans offers Bay Bridge options
Benjamin Pimentel, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, May 1, 2001

San Francisco --
To the delight of bicyclists, Caltrans said yesterday that it could build bike lanes across the entire Bay Bridge, from Oakland to San Francisco. Already planned for the bridge's new eastern span, bicycle and pedestrian lanes could be added to the western span for between $160 and $380 million, lower than earlier estimates, according to a new report.

"We weren't sure if it could be done or not," said Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss. "There was a grassroots push to examine the possibility of a bike lane on the west span. Now, we know it can be done."

Bicyclists would get from one end of the bridge to the other, a route of about five miles, via a bike path on Treasure Island that would avoid the tunnel on Yerba Buena Island.

The more expensive plan calls for replacing the concrete upper deck of the western span with lightweight steel that would support separate bike and pedestrian lanes on each side of the bridge.

In that option, the new lanes would be consistent with the style of the suspension span and resemble the bike and pedestrian lanes on the Golden Gate Bridge, Weiss said.

In the less-expensive option, bike and pedestrian lanes would be affixed to outside of the existing deck, appearing as an added feature to the bridge. "Either the bike lanes would look as though they were built at the same time as the bridge or look like they were clearly added and have their own architectural integrity," Weiss said.

Both options would be able to handle lightweight electric Caltrans maintenance vehicles, allowing work crews to do maintenance and repair work without having to close traffic lanes on the bridge. Robert Raburn, chairman of the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, applauded the report and Caltrans' efforts in finding a way to create bike lanes on the bridge.

"There was a lot of skepticism, but nobody said this was impossible," said Raburn, whose bicycle group and others lobbied Caltrans to find a way to build the lanes.

But money could be a problem, transportation officials said, given the competition for transportation funds and the ever-growing tab for the new span from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island, which has ballooned to $2.7 billion. State officials had already committed about $50 million to build a bike lane on the north side of the new eastern span, which Caltrans plans to build because of concerns that the old span may not withstand a major earthquake. Building bike lanes on the western span was in doubt for years. Caltrans had said building lanes there could cost as much as $500 million and present engineering problems, Weiss said.

He said Caltrans and the U.S. Coast Guard were concerned that adding bike lanes would weigh down the suspension span and pose risks to ships passing underneath. But he said using lightweight steel and pulling the bridge up by its cables would solve the problem.

Caltrans will hold a public hearing tomorrow to explain the options for bike lanes.

The lanes would compete with other transportation projects for limited bridge toll revenue, including the new eastern Bay Bridge span that is already $1 billion over cost estimates, said Rod McMillan, manager of bridge and highway operations for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The regional commission hopes to decide which projects to finance first by the fall, McMillan added.

Raburn said a bike route across the Bay Bridge would make the Bay Area an even more attractive place.

"It would be incredibly popular," he said. "It would draw visitors to the Bay Area to ride this thing and have a new perspective on the San Francisco Bay."

Caltrans will present details of the bike lane plans tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the state Public Utilities Commission building at 505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco

And if all that doesn't satisfy you, here's a 14-foot pink poodle in (where else?) Baltimore.