Michael Ashby | mashby

November 11, 2003

Video Killed The Radio Star

The Buggles had the first video to play on MTV. The song was called Video Killed The Radio Star and it ushered in the MTV generation. With the release of the Tapwave Zodiac, my attention has returned to a favorite interest of mine – video on Palm OS devices. Since color first appeared with the Palm IIIc, putting pictures and video clips on my Palm has been something of a fascination with me. I may be acting a bit like George Costanza, but being able to combine passions can only make things better right? I love Palm OS and I love movies so why not combine them?

Currently, I have all the Matrix Revolutions TV and Theatrical trailers on my 256MB SD card on my Tungsten C. It’s been nice to be able to fire up a video clip and see a preview. It’s been like getting a mini-fix in anticipation of Revolutions release. In fact, I’ve watched all the clips so much that when I went to go see Mystic River, I mouthed all the words to the Revolutions preview. But there’s more to video clips than simply fixating on an upcoming movie. There’s a lot of applications that I can think of where having video on your Palm device can be handy.

November 11, 2003

Getting Worried

I didn’t cycle on Monday, which is my usual rest day, but I didn’t ride this morning either. Holly claims the alarm went off at 6:00am, but I never heard it. I naturally woke up at 7:00am and thought I could squeeze in a quick 10 mile ride, but when I went to grab my […]

November 9, 2003

Casa de Waffle

For the first time since I started riding again, I woke up before my alarm went off. Mind you I was groggy, but I anticipated the alarm and that must count for something. Of course I didn’t get up. I reset the alarm for another 30 minutes of sleep, but it’s a small step. I […]

November 8, 2003

PUG’d Out

I didn’t get to ride this morning. I was preparing for the NPUG meeting this morning and there simply wasn’t time. After the meeting I was exhausted, as usual, so when I made it home I ordered a pizza. With my fill of bread and cheese, I fell asleep watching Rush Hour. It was dark […]

November 7, 2003

Small Improvements

Mornings are still rough. I’m waking up earlier, but not near the time I need to if I’m going to get in a 20 mile ride. I got out the door about 7:30am this morning and figured I’d go the 20 mile loop and bail at the 15 mile point if it looked like time […]

November 7, 2003

Bicycle Touring: How To Prepare For Long Rides

Bicycle Touring: How To Prepare For Long Rides, by Steve Butterman Author: Steve Butterman
Edition: Paperback, 104 pages
Publisher: Wilderness Press; (October 1994)
ASIN: 0899971741
Category: Travel

I’ve always felt that you should never stop learning. Even if you feel that you’re an expert in a subject, I think you should still stay current and up-to-date, as well as read what others have to say on a subject. I’m no expert when it comes to bicycle touring, but I did do a 6 month tour of Europe from Ireland to Portugal once, so I do have a little experience. While preparing for a simple little jaunt down the Natchez Trace, I came across Steve Butterman’s book, Bicycle Touring: How To Prepare For Long Rides and decided to give it a read. I thought it might give me a few tips or tricks that I might find helpful. Surprisingly, the book did quite a bit more than that.

November 6, 2003

I’ve Got The Fever For The Flava Of A Mini

Ever since the Mini Cooper came out last year, I have been in pure car lust for this vehicle. They had me with their marketing when they launched a series of billboards and once I took a look at their website I knew I was a goner. I’ve always liked Euro-Styled vehicles and the Mini Cooper was the first production vehicle in the US that had this type of styling. When Holly and I test drove them on Labor Day 2002, I was hoping that it would drive poorly, or otherwise give a bad driving experience so that my love affair with the Mini would end. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I loved the feel and handling of the vehicle and if anything I was more in love. Since I was already in a 3 year lease at the time, it was easy to dismiss my lust for this car by simply telling myself I can’t have it. That worked before, but now that I’m at the end of my lease I’m having a hard time resisting this car.

Why do I feel that the Mini Cooper is a piece of forbidden fruit? Well, Holly purchased the New Volkswagon Beetle this year and that is a fairly small car. My lease vehicle has been a Jeep Cherokee, so that gave us a 4 door and hauling vehicle if we needed it. I don’t haul people, or cargo all that often, but it does happen. As much as I love the Mini, the first time I have to go to Home Depot and pick up a piece of plywood, I know that I’d kick myself knowing that I purchased another small car instead of a more practical car.

November 6, 2003

Bonus

I had a rare opportunity today – a chance to ride twice in one day. I had to turn in my Jeep Cherokee today to the leasing company and I needed a way back home. The only option I could come up with was to ride my bicycle back home. It turns out that the […]

November 6, 2003

A Nice Ten

5:00am came and went. So did 5:30am and 6:00am. At 6:30am I finally dragged my lazy butt out of bed. It took me a few minutes to find all my clothes, jacket, gloves, etc., but by 7:00am I was on the road. It was later than I would have liked, but I was riding come hell or high water. High water was possibly an option given that it was very overcast and the threat of rain was immanent.

Author / Michael Ashby