Fixpert

Best visual explanation I’ve ever seen of how car engines work.

Pizza. That’s my dog’s name.

A recent discussion via Basecamp messages with some compadres led to a sudden realization for me, an epiphany if you will. Coffee is the common thread that binds the two disparate elements in my life: cycling and computers.

I have always felt that these two pastimes were in direct opposition to each other. One is pulling me outdoors, telling me to get outside and hop on the bike. The other is posting me up for hours or days indoors with no sunlight or physical activity whatsoever. And I always thought it was strange that I was so deeply committed to two specializations that are so different. But, now I realize that coffee is the magic that brings it all together.

Cyclists have a reputation for being coffee fiends, sipping espresso in spandex in the pre-ride dawn. And, computer nerds — programmers in particular — have long had a love affair with coffee. Exhibit A: the object oriented programming language, Java.

Thanks to coffee, I realize that cycling and computers are actually healthy compliments to one another. As long as I am sure to maintain a balance between the two, and manage to get a cup of coffee in between somewhere, I am happy.

Sugar pie honey bunch…you know that I love you. I can’t help myse-e-elf, it’s Duncan Hines and nobody else. Doo doo doo-doo.

This post is about much more than just Duncan Hines. It’s about the rampant co-opting of classic songs for commercial use.

We’re rolling back the prices, all over the place, so…put on a happy face

Ok, maybe that was never a song I used to rock out to, but still — it saddens me that I can’t seem to find the original words in my head anymore. I think Motown was particularly hard-hit by this phenomenon, and lately it seems that classic rock has invaded the American car commercials. I guess they’re trying to “get the lead out” of their sinking industry, he he he.

I miss the days of jingles written just for a product:

Z-z-z-zips! Zips are a lot of fun, what you do in Zips almost can’t be done.

…that’s freakin’ timeless. I’m particularly bothered by the 25 second commercial that aims to turbo-manipulate: to quickly get in, tug at the heart-strings, and get out. If a Mylanta ad can bring you to your knees in a few seconds, I think your problems go beyond heartburn. More on that later. Peace out.

Pizza was picked up as a stray, so I don’t know for sure what kind of dog he is. I’ve been told that he looks just like a whippet from the neck down, including his brindel coat. After hearing this, I did a bit of research on the breed. Whippets are apparently the fastest animal of that size on the planet. They can get up to 35 mph in a few seconds. This would explain a few things as far as Pizza is concerned.

It’s tough to tire him out, he won’t even pant after you take him out on a 3 mile run. The best exercise he gets is either chasing us on mountain bikes — long fast descents down mountains — or letting him chase deer. Luckily, I sort of live in the woods, and there is a large trail network behind my house. Until recently, we would let Pizza out into the woods and if he disappeared for 30 minutes after some deer, he would always return to the back door of our house happy and exhausted — no big deal.

But, last week Pizza caught a deer! Pizza is not a large dog, he’s 45 lbs. and the adolescent deer certainly outsized him. Poor Jim was there to see this whole thing go down (I was not). It was 30 minutes or so of Pizza chasing the deer down, tackling him, biting him a bit, then the deer would run away and Pizza would chase him down again. This went on until the deer was exhausted and either gave up or tried to play dead. Eventually, Jim was able to grab Pizza and tie him up, and when he returned to check on the deer it was gone, so presumably it was ok. Bambi lives on.

We’re still reeling, and we don’t really know what to make of this. Our dog is fast enough to catch deer! I’ve only had retrievers in the past, they generally enjoy chasing squirrels but are not terribly fast, and will even back off sometimes if they have the opportunity to catch something. So, we’re still looking for ways to run Pizza and tire him out, but maybe without putting Bambi at risk — anyone know how to exercise faster breeds like Greyhounds or Whippets?