Hello, friends!
If you remember, I went on a bit of a hiatus over December and January. It was because I was traveling quite a bit and away from Sulu and CoMo as a whole. When I finally did return home, I turned on the Rolla (my car) and was very dismayed to find that the battery was on its way out. Or, at least I thought it was on its way out.
See, when I turned on the car, I noticed that the dashboard lights looked dim. Instead of being bright an happy, they looked like they were a little dingy and struggling to keep everything lit. The car didn't have any trouble turning over, which was a good thing, but I was already lamenting the cost for a new battery, or perhaps something worse.
I am writing about that experience today because just today I realized that nothing is wrong with the Rolla at all. I was on my way to bible study when I started the car and it hit me. Everything looked just right. But how could that be? I figured it out. Really, it's all relative!
While I was on my hiatus, I was in California with my parents, driving around their much newer cars with fancy digital displays. When I got back to the Rolla, it wasn't a matter of the Rolla battery dying, it was just how the Rolla has always been. Relative to the newer cars the lights look dim and weak, but after a while, they begin to look normal.
All this was a reminder that the Rolla is no spring chicken. It has 258,000 miles and still going strong, but it isn't going to last forever. That's one more good reason to keep penny peddling. Every day that I bike instead of drive is a day that I get to keep the Rolla from meeting its end. Hooray!
Stats:
Places traveled since my last post: Rec, Plasma, Post office, home, campus, Subway, home, Noodles, home, Plasma, campus, bank, campus, home (oy!)
Distance traveled: 13.2 miles ($1.17)
Meters: Campus 9 hours ($9.00) + Downtown 4 hours ($2.40)
Total: $12.57
Grand Total: $115.60
Left to Save: $459.03
Happy Biking!
~Adam
The story of a guy trying to rationalize the money he spent on his bike and other random thoughts.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Turning Two into Twenty...
Hello, friends!
Confession, I have never lived in a city with a spectacular public transportation system. In Orange County, everything was far too spread out to be useful. In Saint Louis they have the Metro, which is great for going to the airport, but not too much else. In Columbia, the busses run, but not for very long, and not to anywhere west of downtown. That is one of the reasons why I love biking so much. I can go pretty much anywhere on Sulu. There is one downside to biking instead of driving. It sometimes takes me a touch longer to get places. Sometimes that touch longer can lead to a big difference.
Yesterday I had to head up to Staples to make some copies so I could bring them to campus. It was a simple, 5 minute job. All I needed was 20 copies of a flyer on cardstock then cut into quarters. Simple enough, right? Since I would be heading straight to campus from Staples for a meeting, it made sense for me to bike there then bike straight to Mizzou. All said and done, it's probably about 2 minutes faster to drive than to bike, which is usually worth it.
EXCEPT, when getting there two minutes later means you end up BEHIND the guy with the really long order instead of BEFORE him. Oy.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not faulting the guy for having a large and complicated order. He got there before I did and he had every right to ask for his photos to be copied on a certain type of paper. It is not wrong for him to have multiple sheets that needed to be copied in different quantities. Please understand that he did nothing wrong. Nor did the gal behind the desk. She was attentive to the customer and making sure she got the order right. Everyone did exactly as they should have done.
But understanding the situation doesn't mean I get to cut in line. So, as a 5 minute job turned into 20 minutes of waiting for a 5 minute job, I started to freak out a bit. Should I say something? No, I don't want to be THAT guy, right? Do I go without the copies so I can make it to my meeting on time? No, I need those copies to give to students so they can promote our upcoming event. I was stuck.
Fear not, dear reader. I eventually got my copies done and my student was very gracious in my being late (I texted her beforehand) so everything worked out ok. It just made me think about how two minutes can turn into twenty. It's like missing the subway or bus (here's the public transportation tie in. I'll bet you were wondering what that first paragraph had to do with anything, right?). Another one will come along soon enough, so there's no need to worry. But, it'll be a bit, so a small miscalculation leads to big(ger) ramifications.
Stats:
Places traveled: Staples, Campus, Home, Campus, Downtown, and back Home
Distance traveled: 10.5 miles ($.88)
Meters: Campus 4 hours ($4.00) + Downtown 2 hours ($1.20) + Campus 1 hour ($1.00)
Total: $8.08
Grand Total: $103.03
Left to Save: $471.60
Happy Biking!
~Adam
Confession, I have never lived in a city with a spectacular public transportation system. In Orange County, everything was far too spread out to be useful. In Saint Louis they have the Metro, which is great for going to the airport, but not too much else. In Columbia, the busses run, but not for very long, and not to anywhere west of downtown. That is one of the reasons why I love biking so much. I can go pretty much anywhere on Sulu. There is one downside to biking instead of driving. It sometimes takes me a touch longer to get places. Sometimes that touch longer can lead to a big difference.
Yesterday I had to head up to Staples to make some copies so I could bring them to campus. It was a simple, 5 minute job. All I needed was 20 copies of a flyer on cardstock then cut into quarters. Simple enough, right? Since I would be heading straight to campus from Staples for a meeting, it made sense for me to bike there then bike straight to Mizzou. All said and done, it's probably about 2 minutes faster to drive than to bike, which is usually worth it.
EXCEPT, when getting there two minutes later means you end up BEHIND the guy with the really long order instead of BEFORE him. Oy.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not faulting the guy for having a large and complicated order. He got there before I did and he had every right to ask for his photos to be copied on a certain type of paper. It is not wrong for him to have multiple sheets that needed to be copied in different quantities. Please understand that he did nothing wrong. Nor did the gal behind the desk. She was attentive to the customer and making sure she got the order right. Everyone did exactly as they should have done.
But understanding the situation doesn't mean I get to cut in line. So, as a 5 minute job turned into 20 minutes of waiting for a 5 minute job, I started to freak out a bit. Should I say something? No, I don't want to be THAT guy, right? Do I go without the copies so I can make it to my meeting on time? No, I need those copies to give to students so they can promote our upcoming event. I was stuck.
Fear not, dear reader. I eventually got my copies done and my student was very gracious in my being late (I texted her beforehand) so everything worked out ok. It just made me think about how two minutes can turn into twenty. It's like missing the subway or bus (here's the public transportation tie in. I'll bet you were wondering what that first paragraph had to do with anything, right?). Another one will come along soon enough, so there's no need to worry. But, it'll be a bit, so a small miscalculation leads to big(ger) ramifications.
Stats:
Places traveled: Staples, Campus, Home, Campus, Downtown, and back Home
Distance traveled: 10.5 miles ($.88)
Meters: Campus 4 hours ($4.00) + Downtown 2 hours ($1.20) + Campus 1 hour ($1.00)
Total: $8.08
Grand Total: $103.03
Left to Save: $471.60
Happy Biking!
~Adam
Thursday, January 19, 2012
If you give a bike a fender...
Hello, friends!
First of all, it is GREAT to be back and riding again. While I was traveling the world (ok, so it was Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and California) I very much missed riding my bike as well as blogging about it! I'm sure you, my faithful 10 readers are glad to see me back too. (Here's hoping 10 isn't too generous). =0).
Do y'all remember the children's book, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? I can't say that it was one of my favorites (that would be reserved for "I'll Love You Forever") but it's a solid kids book. The basic premise is that this kid gives a mouse a cookie, which leads to the mouse wanting milk, then something else, then something else, until it leads to this big ordeal that was much bigger than just a cookie. Honestly, whenever I read the book I got a little bit miffed at the mouse because I thought he was being greedy and also at the kid because he was being pushed around by a mouse.
Anyway, I think the moral of the story is about incidentals. Nothing is ever just what you think it is. It is sort of like the second part of Murphy's Law: everything will cost more and take longer.
The reason I started thinking about this is because I broke down and bought the fenders for my bike. The weather is great now, but I know it will be turning nasty at some point and I'd like to keep myself clean. I figured $30 was worth not being ridiculed by students for muddy clothes.
I took Sulu down to Josh at Walt's, my friendly neighborhood bike shop and he did a great job putting the fenders on. He was a little backed up when I dropped it off so I picked it up the next day on my way to something else.
Here's where it starts to get into mouse-cookie territory. I toss my bike into the back seat of my car like I normally do, but now the fender sticks out so the car door won't shut comfortably! I do a little adjusting, eventually get it in there, slam the door, and I'm on my way. Later, I take the bike out to go for a ride, but the fender was bent by the car door! Thankfully, it was an easy fix, but now I have a situation.
What I really should do is get a bike rack for my car so I can transport the bike without messing up the fender. But if I get the bike rack then I need to get more gas because the wind resistance caused by having a bike hanging off my trunk will hurt my fuel efficiency. And so the story goes...
You see where this is going right? I'm sure it's not as bad as it seems, but right now I am a bit perplexed. Here's hoping I don't end up with too many more steps in this conundrum.
Stats:
Places traveled: None
Meters: None
Cost of Fender: $32.19
Total: $32.19
Grand Total: $94.95
Left to save: $479.68
Happy Biking!
~Adam
First of all, it is GREAT to be back and riding again. While I was traveling the world (ok, so it was Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and California) I very much missed riding my bike as well as blogging about it! I'm sure you, my faithful 10 readers are glad to see me back too. (Here's hoping 10 isn't too generous). =0).
| Greedy mouse probably wants a bike too! |
Anyway, I think the moral of the story is about incidentals. Nothing is ever just what you think it is. It is sort of like the second part of Murphy's Law: everything will cost more and take longer.
The reason I started thinking about this is because I broke down and bought the fenders for my bike. The weather is great now, but I know it will be turning nasty at some point and I'd like to keep myself clean. I figured $30 was worth not being ridiculed by students for muddy clothes.
I took Sulu down to Josh at Walt's, my friendly neighborhood bike shop and he did a great job putting the fenders on. He was a little backed up when I dropped it off so I picked it up the next day on my way to something else.
Here's where it starts to get into mouse-cookie territory. I toss my bike into the back seat of my car like I normally do, but now the fender sticks out so the car door won't shut comfortably! I do a little adjusting, eventually get it in there, slam the door, and I'm on my way. Later, I take the bike out to go for a ride, but the fender was bent by the car door! Thankfully, it was an easy fix, but now I have a situation.
What I really should do is get a bike rack for my car so I can transport the bike without messing up the fender. But if I get the bike rack then I need to get more gas because the wind resistance caused by having a bike hanging off my trunk will hurt my fuel efficiency. And so the story goes...
You see where this is going right? I'm sure it's not as bad as it seems, but right now I am a bit perplexed. Here's hoping I don't end up with too many more steps in this conundrum.
Stats:
Places traveled: None
Meters: None
Cost of Fender: $32.19
Total: $32.19
Grand Total: $94.95
Left to save: $479.68
Happy Biking!
~Adam
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