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Now seems to be the time of:
Amount of recycled content in one's product = How amazingly cool you are
I would say I agree with this in a lot of circumstances but I believe many are being untrue in their efforts. Well, they are trying right, or maybe no one really cares.
There is a big motor vehicle company out there that I saw on the news boasting its use of soy for the foam in their seats. Paraphrasing....so we created this foam, taking all the chemicals out and using soy, but then the car smelled like popcorn so we put some chemicals in to get rid of the smell. Seems like they are back where they started, but no, what they didn't mention is the millions that the soy product will save them. What it amounts to - Same chemically treated seats that are soy based and a "better" image for the auto company.
What really made me start writing about this was......
The other day I got off my bike trainer trying to recover from a brutal little workout eventually resorting to laying on my living room floor. We have these extremely dated dining chairs which, thanks to my mother-in-law and her friend have been reupholstered to look at least 10 or 20 years better than their 1970's origination. I noticed a label on the underside of each chair shown below. Notice the bold lettering - Boasting all new materia
Original1970's dining chairs manufacturer = Not so amazingly cool
Saturday, the lady and I went to the local aquarium. I feel like I am spelling that wrong but its right. I think aqua-rium and that's just not right. Anyway, wow, what a cheesy place. I thought it was cool to see the different kinds of fish but the experience did seem cheapened by the Disney-esque presence of fake scenery, caricature "artists", and other money making mazes. Bottom line, it was cool to see but I am glad we didn't pay.
I often underestimate and overlook how fun bowling is. Its been a really long time but we went last night with my bro and his lady friend. Another thing to note...Bowling alleys have really transformed in Colorado since the smoking ban took place. In fact, the renovation of the one off Arapahoe in South Denver has quite the "fireplace lounge".....snazzy.
Yesterday was a perfect day for a bike ride. So nice in fact, that a friend and I decided to be ambitious. We split from work early and rode up to Ward from Boulder. It's a little over 20 miles each way so definitely my longest ride of this year. It started off wonderful but about a half an hour from the top it started to snow.
At times have this problem where if I have a task stuck in my head, it will be accomplished even if it means significant pain. I guess this is good sometimes but maybe not so good other times. We made it to the top and by this time the snow was coming down hard and sticking to the road.
The descent:
Wow this is pretty cold and this snow is kinda sketchy.
Shooting pains in the hands
Nice, my hands and feet are numb now - less pain yet less controllability
Yiyyyy, I am really shaking a lot....I hope I don't shake myself right off this chariot
I think it might be getting warmer...maybe
Yess, uphill, I have never loved uphill so much
A lot of other clouded thoughts...
And 40+ miles later we were back in Boulder.
3 hours later, I begin to thaw.
Pretty killer album...if your in to that sort of thing.
Gas $111 a barrel.
Solution? Build more hybrid cars?
While this is nice and would benefit...its not the solution. What people fail to realize is that it is our horribly inefficient buildings that are sucking energy and polluting way more than the accumulating cars on the street.
I was flipping through the channels the other night and stopped at the Broomfield City Council discussing the new Hyatt Summerfield Suites project. What an absolute mockery of building green! The council asked the architects what kind of green practices they would be using. The architect's reply was along the lines of , we will incorporate it in our operations. This equals, we will have a recycling bin out back. Are you kidding me? He would have been better off being honest.....we are not doing anything! Companies like Hyatt should be setting a standard in the hotel industry and cities like Broomfield should hold them to it.
Demo-ing a bike is much like renting a car. There is always this curiosity of what the actual limits are and because it is not one's own, one usually has no problems pushing those limits sometimes often compromising the rental. I am slightly in the market for a new mountain bike after selling my old one over a year ago. I don't believe I can go another season without making visits to the single track regions of Colorado. Sooo, the next step after deciding that I actually need one is trying some out and see how they ride. Overall I was really pleased with the Trek EX8. It handled nicely even in the muddiest of situations and had a comfortable stance. Although I would have been happier with a larger frame size which was unavailable I was still pleased. Overall, this bike, the larger one, has the high potential of being in my near future.
So, I watched the movie last night and read the book almost two years ago. The opinions out there about McCandless, his motives and the validity of it all are endless, some quite entertaining. I always thought it was a little off but also had a sense of admiration too. The idea of leaving a monetarily privileged yet somewhat broken family life to find oneself or to find what makes one really happy is admirable. The approach maybe not well thought out....But if the approach were thought out I don't know if the motive would actually be accomplished. Nevertheless, the story is about a belated progression from boyhood to manhood.
I think of my boyhood and my constant drive to experience the wild, whether it was the natural wild or the synthetic. I think I can safely say that this drive is apparent in many boys as they progress. There is always that point though where you have been away for some time and find yourself wanting to go home or wanting to reconnect. McCandless, although quite the supertramp, had a network of people who he connected with, shared experiences with and befriended. He got to his final destination, witnessed maybe the most amazing scenery of his life and experienced the most amazing feelings but soon realized he was alone. He had no connections with the very thing he thought he couldn't live with. He writes "happiness is only real when shared" and shortly passes on, unable to pursue it further. Extremist? I'd say so. But a reminder of the importance of balance? I believe so.
I kind of have this thing for the Nuggets and oh what a win this evening against Phoenix. But really.... interviews with Kenyon Martin are almost more entertaining than the actual games. Have you heard? I tried counting how many times he says "nomesayn" in a given interview and I'm always distracted by how utterly smooth he is regardless of this reoccurring connector phrase. A conjunction I think they call it. Yes, nomesayn is a conjunction or maybe its a.....I don't know some other grammatastical linkage of one sentence with another. Honestly though, the charisma is dripping off that player....I mean playa'. You don't think so? Okay that's you.
At the same time the Nuggets are thoroughly frustrating me. I just don't understand how good they can be one day and how bad they can be another. How can they blow a game against the Rockets and blow out the Suns. Oh and how can they get completely destroyed by the Celtics first and do work on them the next time around. I know it happens across the league but I really think its a little more extreme here in the mile high city. Okay fine, I will be happy with tonight and look forward to things going off on Friday.
