The Oracle of Apollo
Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

Wow. I got really good at blowing off days this month. Despite a few meh days and some skipped rides dealing with trying to figure out moving-related stuff, I can’t complain too much about August. It was the 12th month in a row over 500 miles. It wasn’t the fastest month to date, nor was it the longest, but it was a year since I started riding again after my crash — an anniversary I marked by meeting my mileage goal for the whole year.

I went on vacation earlier in the month and wasn’t able to ride for nearly a week. My long ride to date is still short of 64 miles and, hopefully, that’s something I’ll be able to remedy in September, after I get my butt moved.

August: 685.03 mi in 36:04:45 (19.0 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)

After going to work really early this morning (I arrived at 06:30), I rode all my miles in one kick after work. I needed to run to the bookstore during lunch (and the bank after work).

Summer has started to return recently and the temperature was around 90°F when I headed out for my ride at a quarter after five. Somehow, I scrambled up the false flat that is Valparaiso near my house over 25 mph. I stomped through Stanford’s campus, headed out over the Page Mill hump, and continued pounding southeastward toward Sunnyvale. When I arrived at my shop to replenish my waning water supply, my cyclometer’s average speed mode informed me that I was at 19.8 mph.

Shortly after I got back on the bike for the final 13 mile kick home, I noticed that I was reading an average at 20 miles an hour for the first time in over 3½ months. I lost a little of my zip against the wind as I huffed over the Page Mill hump again, but the Mango Clif shot at the crest put a little spring back in my step. As I completed my ride with a 25 mph swoop downhill toward my house, I just tried to hang on to my last ride of August.

I just posted my second-fastest day ever.

Today :   35.05 mi;   1:45:00 (20.0 mph avg; 34.5 mph max)
August:  685.03 mi;  36:04:45 (19.0 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)
2005  : 5246.51 mi; 279:31:25 (18.8 mph avg; 46.0 mph max)
Goal  : 5000.00 mi (246.51 mi over : 104.93% complete)

After skipping Monday because I spent too much time at the Apple store after work, I completed the rest of the week, except Saturday, in solid form. On Saturday, I scheduled an off day so I could deal with moving-related stuff. I still haven’t moved anything, so I guess there will be no ride next Saturday either.

23 Aug:  34.78 mi;  1:50:37 (18.9 mph avg; 29.0 mph max)
24 Aug:  35.08 mi;  1:49:20 (19.3 mph avg; 33.5 mph max)
25 Aug:  33.42 mi;  1:47:29 (19.4 mph avg; 32.5 mph max)
26 Aug:  35.87 mi;  1:53:26 (19.0 mph avg; 30.0 mph max)
Total : 140.57 mi;  7:20:52 (19.1 mph avg; 33.5 mph max)

Month so far:  579.81 mi.
2005 so far : 5141.29 mi (102.83% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   : complete - (141.29 mi over)

Google released Google Talk this morning. It uses your existing Google account for your Talk sign-on. It’s all on the Jabber protocol and works with any third party client that supports Jabber.

Yeah, I’m on. I’m apollolee, of course. Say hi, if you like.

I started off the week with a 31.72 mile day. Recalculating on Tuesday made me realize that it might just be possible for me to finish my entire year’s mileage goal on Saturday. So, I adjusted my weekdays to 33 miles and scheduled myself for a metric century on Saturday.

A couple of the commutes home this week were a little breezy, much windier than they’ve been lately. Also, for some reason, the temperature has plunged recently and afternoon commute temperatures have tended to be under 72° F. That’s about 15 degrees colder than it should be for this time of year.

On Saturday, I finished my ride 45 minutes after sundown with a blistering stomp and swoop around the block an extra time to complete my 5000th mile this year (and my first six-day week in a month). I feel so spectacular at having achieved my goal mileage for the year with four months left. For comparison, I rode 3,194.70 miles between late August and late December last year. I guess I’m gonna have to add some miles to my 2005 goal.

15 Aug:  31.72 mi;  1:40:01 (19.0 mph avg; 28.5 mph max)
16 Aug:  33.30 mi;  1:43:35 (19.3 mph avg; 34.5 mph max)
17 Aug:  33.20 mi;  1:44:15 (19.1 mph avg; 31.0 mph max)
18 Aug:  33.42 mi;  1:44:52 (19.1 mph avg; 30.0 mph max)
19 Aug:  33.18 mi;  1:44:45 (19.0 mph avg; 29.5 mph max)
20 Aug:  62.29 mi;  3:20:15 (18.7 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)
Total : 227.11 mi; 11:57:43 (19.0 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)

Month so far:  439.24 mi.
2005 so far : 5000.72 mi (100.01% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   : complete - (0.72 mi over)

After messing around in Sunnyvale for a little bit too long, I hit the road for my Saturday ride this afternoon at a little after 4, leaving me just under four hours to do a metric century before sunset. I climbed up to Portola Valley, replenished my water supply, and wasted 40 minutes chattering with another cyclist at Triangle Park. 50 miles to go in 2½ hours? Looks like I’m not making it home by sunset.

I stomped through Woodside and on up to Edgewood Road, pulled myself into the big ring for a nice 44 mph descent, and kept my spin up as I headed southeast toward Los Altos along Foothill Expressway. The sun finally set on me with about 12 miles left to go.

It was completely dark by the time I swooped around Laurel Street near my house for that last loop around the block to close out today’s metric century. The added bonus was that ¾ of a mile from my house, I completed my 5000th mile of 2005, which brings me past 100% of my goal mileage.

This day last year was my last day on the disabled list. Between getting back on the bike last year and the end of the year, I covered quite a few miles. Between that day and the end of this ride were 8,195.42 miles. Let’s see how many bonus miles I get this year.

Today:   62.29 mi;   3:20:15 (18.7 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)
Aug  :  439.24 mi;  23:17:10 (18.9 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)
2005 : 5000.72 mi; 266:43:50 (18.7 mph avg; 46.0 mph max)
Goal : 5000.00 mi (0.72 mi over : 100.01% complete)

After my long nap this afternoon, I decided to go up to Slide, an underground party off Cesar Chavez in San Francisco. Patrick and Gigi were there and it was the first time I got to hang out with them in a month. I arrived one minute before the cheap cover cutoff and hustled inside.

The music was decent and some elements of the crowd—particularly the dancefloor smokers—were really annoying. Most of the members of the crowd were getting down earnestly. After a while of hearing the music and jumping around like a dork, I just felt like going home. So, when the Canadians decided to split at 2, so did I. I don’t think I saw either headliner.

I was so ready to pull my 31.37 mile weekdays and 52.28 mile Saturday off this week. It started perfectly, although a little bit slowly. But, a nap on Saturday ran a little long after I was on the dancefloor Friday night until 4am. So much for that.

Riding next week may be slightly difficult on the weekend, since I’m supposed to begin moving to Sunnyvale on Saturday. I guess we’ll see. But, Saturday will mark the one-year anniversary of my ability to ride my bike again (after my crash). Let’s see what that year-to-date figure looks like.

08 Aug:  31.88 mi;  1:40:52 (19.0 mph avg; 31.0 mph max)
09 Aug:  31.69 mi;  1:41:06 (18.8 mph avg; 26.5 mph max)
10 Aug:  31.95 mi;  1:41:43 (18.8 mph avg; 30.5 mph max)
11 Aug:  31.95 mi;  1:41:26 (18.9 mph avg; 29.5 mph max)
12 Aug:  31.96 mi;  1:41:26 (18.9 mph avg; 27.0 mph max)
Total : 159.43 mi;  8:26:41 (18.9 mph avg; 31.0 mph max)

Month so far:  212.13 mi.
2005 so far : 4773.61 mi (95.47% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   :  226.39 mi (11.32 mi / wk avg)

I’d been looking forward to this party for a long time. Aqua Vitae at the Blue Cube was the party, but it was all about the headliner. Dubtribe Sound System’s last confirmed show in Northern California was absolutely not a party to be missed. A live set by Hesohi was icing on the cake.

Lakshmana came up from Santa Cruz and was already inside my house when I returned home on my bicycle. While there was some worry from Amanda about the fact we had not purchased tickets in advance, I was pretty confident we could get tickets at the door. So, the three of us headed up to the city and arrived shortly before 11. We walked straight through the door.

Hesohi was already ripping it up when we arrived. His laid-back grooves were infectious and the floor filled up quickly. It had probably been four years since I’d seen Hesohi live, so I particularly enjoyed his sound. If you haven’t heard him, I unreservedly recommend his live set from Imperial Dub (”Live in San Francisco”). I found lots of old friends from the Imperial Dub parties, including Angelica and Angie.

Dubtribe Sound System took the stage at just after one. They played through all of their well-known and some lesser-known songs with a passion that left the entire crowd breathless. The performance was spectacular, aside from a couple of technical glitches, with Sunshine belting out his lyrics with an excited passion that infected everyone on the dancefloor. Moonbeam’s beautiful voice added to the music and brought us to an entirely new level. What a great show—a perfect close to their Farewell tour.

Thank you, Sunshine and Moonbeam, for the years of great music and your friendship.

This week was mostly consumed by a vacation to Idaho, but I didn’t get on the bike on Thursday or Friday for a variety of reasons, including sleep deprivation and general travel fatigue. Also, my Palm refused to power up on Friday, eventually resetting. That lost me 2200 miles of cycling data, including coordinates and timings of odometer marks (even hundreds). Back up your data more than once every three months, kids.

Saturday was the day I remembered that I had taken seven rest days in a row. It was time to ride again. So, I headed up to Portola Valley and Woodside and down through Cupertino for a little over fifty miles.

After guzzling ten bottles of water in only three hours of riding, downing four Clif Shots, and eating an Odwalla bar, I completed my ride with an out-of-shape 18.3 mph average. A week out of the saddle takes quite a bit out of your stomp.

29 Jul:  52.70 mi;  2:52:46 (18.3 mph avg; 40.0 mph max)
Total :  52.70 mi;  2:52:46 (18.3 mph avg; 40.0 mph max)

Month so far:   52.70 mi.
2005 so far : 4614.18 mi (92.28% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   :  385.82 mi (12.45 mi / wk avg)

What a great visit.

On Monday, I went to pick up the kids (mine) from my ex-mother-in-law in Ontario, Oregon, a few miles from Grandma’s house. We ate lunch and returned to Payette to hang out. I brought an extra laptop, my retiring iBook, to give to them, so we worked on cleaning that off a little bit. After a while, my sister brought her three rambunctious daughters over to play. Wow, kids are loud.

On Tuesday, my Grandmother, my kids, and I jumped into my rental car and headed into the deep country of Eastern Oregon to go pick up my brother’s son so that all the cousins could hang out. My nieces showed up again after we’d returned home and, for the first time in a while, all six of the kids were raising hell in Grandma’s house. Six kids between 6 and 12 years old. They were really loud. I am really really old. Heh.

Tuesday night, my sister took her daughters over to their grandparents house and, of course, my daughter, who doesn’t get to see her cousins very often, wanted to go along and spend the night. So, I had the two boys (my son and my nephew) to hang out with. We played with the computers and ate pizza.

I pressed the boys into service on Wednesday, digging through my still-mostly-full storage box full of junk I left in Idaho 6½ years ago, when I moved to California. I started tossing books out while the boys loaded them into boxes. Before too much longer, we had five large boxes of books full. We loaded them into my rental car, headed to Grandma’s for a quick snack, and made a bee-line for the local public library.

I have two books out from Menlo Park’s library. I kept two books from Sunnyvale’s library overdue three months. I felt my soul needed to make amends (not really, but it sounds funny). In the years that I checked out books from Payette’s library, I never returned anything more than a week late. We were all afraid of the head librarian, who frequently was a substitute teacher at our school.

The two boys and I borrowed their furniture dolly and donated about 200 pounds of books on all kinds of subjects. There were weird astrology books (from when I was into that bullshit). There were language manuals in Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek (ancient and modern), Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish. There were old science fiction paperbacks, books about mythology, college textbooks, and all kinds of stuff. Hopefully, the library gets some good use out of it.

On Wednesday night, we bade farewell to my brother’s son and my friend, Jay, came over again as I finished up cleaning up my children’s new laptop. Jay and I worked on some music, him on the iBook, me on my PowerBook. Then, he started out a breakbeat track, handed the computer over to my son and said, “Okay, man. When I see you over Christmas, I want to hear what you’ve done with it. We’re collaborators now.”

Right on, Jay.

What a great visit with lots of kids, long conversations with Grandma about everything while the kids were tearing up the world outside, and lots of pizza. I’m looking forward to my Christmas trip.

While I was in Idaho, I tested out two pieces of new software—one I bought online and one I bought at Fry’s.

The first was Audio Hijack Pro from Rogue Amoeba, purveyors of audio software that you can’t talk about in airports. I got it to record a radio show, as well as tweak audio, grab samples from other sources, and maybe record some of my own stuff. So, the test case was an FM radio grab.

On KBSU, Boise State University’s public radio station, Arthur Balinger has hosted an ambient music show called “Edges” for so many years that he’d already been doing it for a while when I last lived in the area (in 1991). The show only airs on Tuesday nights and doesn’t broadcast over the internet. So, you kind of have to be there to hear it. I was about 58 miles (as the car drives) from KBSU’s tower (probably only 30something by air). I checked my feed to make sure I had good signal from Grandma’s stereo, jacked a line into the mic jack of my Powerbook, filtered out some static hiss, and set it to go.

Audio Hijack didn’t even hiccup. It snagged the stream perfectly and got the whole show. It was marvelous. The Low Pass Filter cleaned the sound up enough that I am confident now that I’ll be able to digitize and create CDs out of the tapes I recorded from that show almost 2 decades ago.

The other piece of software was PrintMusic from Finale. I bought it to install on my son’s iBook in order to teach him to transpose piano or violin music for his alto saxophone. So, in order to see if it would work on Tiger, I installed it on my PowerBook first. Okay, so I can’t really use the software without an Activation Code. That’s fine. I’ll call the 800 number (having no internet access in Idaho), register it, get an activation code, delete it from my machine, and install it on the iBook.

Oh, no, I won’t. I got the number, authorized it on the PowerBook, but when I attempted to install it on the iBook, the secondary code (whatever it was called) CHANGED. My new Authorization Code is no longer valid on the iBook. After attempting to edit some obscure files that contained the Sales Code (or whatever it was called), I failed to get it to authorize the iBook. Okay, Finale, here’s the thing. This is $50 software you are, ahem, trying to sell to educators, parents, and students. Not Silicon Valley professionals like me. Students. Kids. What the hell were you thinking?

Now, I have to come up with a solution that, hopefully, doesn’t involve me purchasing another copy of Finale. Because it wouldn’t work. Why? Because the Authorization Code is a combination of the serial number and the secondary code. Which is installed on the iBook already. Purchasing another copy would likely prove fruitless because deleting the old one wouldn’t remove the Preference in the library (which I failed to find) that has the number in it.

You make me want to find a crack for your wonderful software with the piece of shit registration system. I did my due diligence. I purchased the software at a store, like a good citizen. If you want your potential customers to download your softare illicitly, make sure you keep this system in place. It works well for families that have multiple computers or for kids who get new computers and have to call in to reregister the software each time they do. Then, they just jump on Limewire or BitTorrent and download your shit for free. I could understand if this was the procedure for Logic or ProTools at $1000 a pop. This is $50 software.

So, big ups to the folks at Rogue Amoeba for Audio Hijack Pro. You guys rock. And the big middle finger to MakeMusic. You guys suck ass.

After quickly skipping through airport security this afternoon, the flight to Boise was uneventful, except for the aborted landing attempt. I sat next to a precocious eight-year-old girl named Alyson, who was travelling by herself. What a smart kid.

I remembered the temperature being about 79° F when I walked on the tarmac at San José. It felt 30 degrees warmer on the tarmac at Boise. I found my luggage and headed for the rental car venue. Then, I bent over and took it right in the ass.

The price quoted online for my rental car was $11/day. So, that’s about $55 for five days, right? No. The first invoice was for $193. That’s the $65 ($55 plus an airport fee) plus an extra $128 in insurance and all kinds of other bullshit. You have to be kidding me. I told them to take the insurance off. That left that big chunk of “you’re not responsible for any damage to you car” insurance. Even then, the bill was almost $150. Holy shit. I better crash this damn rental car.

The car, a new Mitsubishi Lancer, was anemic, but got decent gas mileage. I’m glad I didn’t allow the woman behind the counter at Dollar to talk me into “upgrading” to the Chrysler 300. The Mitsubishi gets a little better gas mileage than my old beat up Cavalier. I jumped in the car, called Jay, mapped out the route to his house with the software on my PowerBook and went over to hang out.

Jay’s studio is much bigger than the last time I saw it, which was about five years ago (I think). He’s got a few more electronic toys, a decent set of speakers, and we could jack my PowerBook in and listen to how ridiculously horrible my music sounds on his speakers. He gave me lots of great tips about doing various things in Reason that I’d never thought of and hooked me up with some video tutorials. His music has steadily gotten more and more impressive.

After a while, we ate some of the most pathetic pizza slices ever constructed at a new place near the Walmart strip mall in Ontario, Oregon, inappropriately named “Primo’s”. Finally, after a little more messing around with music, it was time for me to head on over to Grandma’s house, where I’m staying until Thursday.

Grandma was, amazingly, still awake at 10:30 when I got to her house. We talked for a little while before it was time to crash. I think I finally fell asleep, after messing around with the new tutorials I got from Jay, at about midnight. What a long day.