Workin’ with a friend

04. October 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, good things, gratitude, karma, nostalgia, sidetracks, smiles, thoughts, work

There’s always been something good about putting in an honest day’s physical labor that I’ve loved.  I can’t say whether it’s the feeling of complete exhaustion at the end of the day, the full night sleep that follows, or just the smell of sweat and dirt running off my head in the shower that makes it so great.  But I can say this, one thing that makes it better is when you are working with an old friend on a project.

I spent the day with my good friend Schwingman today.  We built a deck on his new addition.  It wasn’t especially huge, but it wasn’t a small undertaking either.  It took us the better part of 5 hours, with a break for lunch and two extra trips to 84 Lumber.  As I drove home, I had a great feeling of satisfaction, knowing I’d spent the day with a great friend from college and that we’d accomplished a lot.  Schwingman and his family were happy for sure, and knowing that I’d helped made me feel really good.

Stats…

10. September 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: geek, good things, gratitude, karma, mr. grey, nostalgia, smiles, thoughts

As of today:

  • This is the most viewed post on my blog.
  • This is the second most viewed post on my blog.

I find it incredibly interesting that on an almost daily basis one of these two posts has been found by someone randomly with a search engine. There must be more relevant results out there to search terms such as “Sleep Study” or “Poor Sleep” or “The Importance of Giving Back”…And yet, some search engine has my blog high enough on its list for these terms that people happen to stumble upon steady.org.

Another interesting thing is that almost no one has commented on either of these posts. Now, both of them are about my life and my interpretation of reality, but it’s interesting to me that of the two most popular destinations on steady.org, only one has comments (and those are between myself and my brother).

At any rate, Steady.org was brought to you today by the number 3 (it’s a Magic number).

Why I’ve Abandoned Facebook (at least for a while)

02. September 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: daily life, facebook, karma, struggles, time

I joined Facebook a little over a year ago and was immediately enthralled with the site. It was fantastic to reconnect with old friends…some of whom I’d not talked to in quite some time. My network of friends has exploded, somewhere over 250 people are in my list and, yes, most of them are actually people whom I truly consider friends. Facebook has been a lot of fun, a lot of fun, maybe too much fun…

And that’s what it comes down to. I’m spending too much time on Facebook. It’s become a consuming habit. I feel the constant need to check it, and update my status. And well, this really is a problem because it has taken over parts of my life.

I don’t need to live my life out online. (Well, maybe I do, why else would I write this here blog)…I guess I don’t need to live it out online in multiple outlets. To anyone who feels disappointed that I’m not on Facebook at this point in time, trust me, its not because of you. There were no “bad” experiences I had with anyone on Facebook that drove me to deactivate my account. It’s simply a personal choice that I’m going to try to make.

If you didn’t get my details down from Facebook before I disconnected (heaven knows I didn’t take everyone’s email out of FB) feel free to contact my via email or via the contact link on this blog.

Open Letter to Mayor Dixon

11. August 2009 · 3 comments · Categories: Baltimore, cycling, daily life, death, good things, hope, injury, karma, maryland, struggles, television, thoughts, tragedy

To: mayor@baltimorecity.gov

Mayor Dixon,

I would like to thank you for your comments to WJZ regarding the Baltimore City Department of Transportation’s stated intentions of removing the city’s first Ghost Bike. I was glad to see you come out in support of the Ghost Bike memorial that was put in place on Sunday night by many of the community’s local cyclists.

As you know, the hit and run accident resulting in Mr. Yates’ death on August 4th 2009 has galvanized the cycling community statewide. While I am no longer a resident of Baltimore City, I was born in the city and have lived in and around the city my entire life. I have seen a great transform over the last 30 years as Baltimore has become a cleaner, safer, more family oriented city. I consider Baltimore my home town, as do so many Marylanders. I am writing to let you know that your leadership will help to influence attitudes about cycling across the state.

Every cyclist knows that there are inherent risks to riding on the road, and we accept those risks. Many cyclists do their best to ride in a manner that is both safe for themselves and for the others on the road. Still, according to the State Highway Administrations website seven cyclists die on the roads of Maryland annually. In addition over 650 cyclists are severely injured in accidents. These statistics are highly disturbing in large part because many of these accidents are preventable.

It is my opinion that the average motorist is not as aware of cyclists as they should be, as evidenced by comments posted on the news articles on baltimoresun.com. The truth is that Maryland law treats bicycles as any other vehicle. With a few exceptions, bicycles are allow on all public roads in the state by law. In addition it is incumbent upon cyclist to follow all traffic laws while riding on the road.

Our state highways are littered with roadside memorials put there by families and friends in remembrance of loved ones who died in motor vehicle crashes. From what I can tell, The State Highway Administration makes no effort to remove these memorials. The Ghost Bike project is intended to raise public awareness of the fact that a living and breathing person died while riding a bike in a manner similar to these roadside memorials.

I am respectfully requesting that you continue to give your full support to the cycling community by ensuring that the Department of Transportation does not remove the Ghost Bike memorial that was put in place on Sunday. Thank you for your continued support of the cycling community.

–

Best Regards

Damien <surname removed>

Another 20 down

05. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: cycling, daily life, entertainment, exercise, family, frustration, good things, injury, karma, smiles, thoughts

Last year (2008), I started cycling in the spring and set a goal for myself of 500 miles to a new bike.  I got about 126 miles into the goal and my knees were really bugging me.  I stopped riding.

Last spring I started going to the gym and after a minor setback, I got back to it in June.  I started riding my bike again on July 18th.  After a few rides I asked Mrs. TKD what the goal was to the new bike.  She said 1000 miles.

Well, I’ve got 850 miles to go after today.  And I really want to get there this time.

I’m riding my Specialized RockHopper with a suspension fork and 1.9 slicks.  Today I was cruising through a neighborhood near the Severn river and having a great time going down a hill – I’d forgotten how HUGE the uphill was.  I got totally crushed by this hill.  It’s got to be like 125 foot change in elevation in a quarter mile.  As I was pumping up the hill, I could feel all my power transferring to the suspension fork as I bobbed up and down.

But, on the bright side, only 850 more miles (mostly flat I’m thinking) until I’ve earned the right to buy a new bike…

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