Tuesday, October 21, 2008

What the Blog?

There are lots of blogs out there, active, dead, interesting, dull, profit motivated, just for fun, you name it, there's something for just about everyone. The way this blog started was, to use a tired cliche, the horse followed the cart. I built a Linux server to learn something about computers, I used it to handle all of our email services then I found it was also useful to backup the other computers in our home, keep documents on an ftp site, start experimenting with web pages and finally check out some blogging programs. Having a blog with nothing to write about is pretty useless so I started using it as a personal training log when I decided to racewalk the 2006 Los Angeles Marathon. I posted not only my daily training walks but also started posting some research whenever I injured myself. Eventually my posts started going in all sorts of different directions. At times I would post several articles and sometimes, like now, I keep to myself. However, things have been quite active around this household and it is about time that some of our experience gets documented.

The other day I made a list of some things that should get blogged on this site:
  • O.H.I. - Rosie and I went to Optimum Health Institute for a week. We only ate "live" food, we fasted for three days, we meditated, we juiced wheat grass, we put wheat grass juice up where the sun don't shine...
  • Neti Pot - About two years ago I listened to a broadcast on public radio about the benefits of nasal irrigation. It turned out that the Yogis in India have been doing it for years using a simple vessel called a Neti Pot. Since I started using a Neti Pot I have been sick only once for a few days while my colleagues at work were out of it for several weeks...
  • Fixed-Gear - Bicycles are back in style and at the top of the bike culture is the simplest of all, the fixed-gear. You don't need a high priced high-tech, carbon fiber, computer designed frame, that old abandoned rusty steel bike will do just fine. In fact, you're not in style unless you rescued your bike from the dumpster. When my brother was getting rid of the bike my father and I gave him when he graduated from  high school 30 years ago, I snapped it up and turned it into a fixie...
  • E-Bike - I'm becoming a hardcore bicycle commuter but when it gets late, the weather isn't cooperating, or if I'm tired and need a little help, an electric assist is welcome. I did some research and bought the parts to convert my old reliable commuter bike into something more than just a motorized bicycle or moped, at least by California law...
  • Riding the Bus in L.A. - There are buses all over Los Angeles, but trying to get from point A to point B isn't all that easy. My brother has been riding the bus for years but I'm a newcomer thanks to a program at work that issues bus passes to anyone that asks for one...
  • Downsizing - We own a house that has a detached two story garage. No, you can't park on the second story, in fact we never put a car in our garage. The upstairs was the previous owner's design studio which we turned into a comfortable apartment. What was missing was a kitchen and a living room. We decided to remodel with the intention of moving into the garage and rent out our house. That meant turning a huge storage space into a living space. Basically we have to downsize from our house to an apartment, even though that apartment happens to be a few steps away...
  • Home Server to Google - I've been a computer junkie for years but when it came time to decide what to get rid of when we started downsizing it was a no brain er, everything but our laptops had to go. Since we switched to Google we've enjoyed great up time and have most of our data and applications online and available to us anywhere in the world on any computer with a connection to the Internet and a browser...
  • Motorcycle School - Once we decided to become a one-car family I decided that it wouldn't hurt to keep my transportation options open. Then again it might be that I've always wanted my own Vespa...
  • Alternate Car Expo - This year I made it to the Alternate Car Expo in Santa Monica. Surprisingly, electric motor scooters and bicycles were included in this year's exhibits...
  • Toxic Jobs - My father worked most of his life and had a relatively short retirement. Maybe we should think about working less and playing longer. Part of my financial plan is to at least semi-retire at 55, that's just a little over a year away...
  • Walking - Last Sunday I volunteered to videotape a racewalking event where competitors walked around the track at Cal Tech for an hour then went to an after race party where the major attraction was to watch the video of themselves walking around a track for an hour. It might sound crazy but walking is the most accessible of exercises yet most people don't know how to get the most benefit out of walking...
Hopefully other people will find these articles as interesting as I do. After all, if a blog falls in the Forest and nobody hears it...