Making time
March 22, 2021 Filed under Inspiration
It’s never too late to be who you might have been.
George Elliot
Life Advice From 1980’s Computer Magazines
February 8, 2021 Filed under Advice, Amused, Inspiration
30 years ago I saw this advice in the computing magazine that was delivered to our house each month:
I was already familiar with the game, and I knew it was right: When you’re playing Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony and you enter a fortress, the guards are easier to fight hand-to-hand.
I was intrigued by the counterintuitive feel of the advice. If you have a long sharp sword, and you’re good with it, wouldn’t that always be the best choice? Then I imagined trying to swing a sword in a narrow hallway. Perhaps something more intimate, and easier to control, was right after all.
For years after I read that silly, unremarkable sentence in that gaming magazine, it bubbled up randomly in different situations. I generalized the idea: When you enter a confined space, don’t waste effort trying to keep everything at arm’s length — especially people. Switch to something more intimate even if it’s less powerful. The trick is recognizing when you need to switch modes.
Recently I got ahold of a bunch of ancient issues of a defunct magazine called Family Computing, and fed them into a sheet-fed automatic scanner. Flicking through the pages, I found more pieces of worthy life advice. May they guide you on your journeys!
Very important to know when you’re a young person at a party, or when some jerk decides to pick on you!
Paths
January 22, 2021 Filed under Inspiration
It is up to us whether we subordinate ourselves to god, nature, or other persons.
A saying I made up, then printed out and taped over my desk, in high school
Fine weather to Woodward
November 28, 2020 Filed under Uncategorized
Ready for one more day of riding together!
The shapes and colors and textures of the grassland are enthralling.
Joyous late fall colors.
Growing quite a beard...
The closer you look, the more diversity you find, in plant and insect life.
Every time you roll onto the grass, you take a risk. There are incredibly sharp burrs scattered within, and a heavy bike will punch them right through regular tires.
Plenty of hay for the snacking.
Margaret calls this animal a "Tire-rim-asaurus Wrecks!"
Hisssssss!
Assembled 27 years ago and holding up well, apparently.
Thanks, Jim, for the roadside amusement.
I'm glad someone does. The town could use some help.
I wish I had time to visit every one of these cemeteries and lounge in the sunlight.
Curious critters.
Tagged for reference!
Cows in the sun.
Chomp chomp chomp chomp
A fox darting across the road. A truck slowed down for it.
If you try to attach a plow to me, I'll kick your face in!
They're coming up to greet me, in quite a hurry. They'll be disappointed: I have no snacks!
Critters outstanding in their field.
Just in case you're not already aware of the critters here.
I have never encountered a sign quite like this, anywhere else in the world.
Welcome to the tree ranch!
A gas refinery, I believe.
Only a few more miles to go today!
Five miles of no shoulder. Thanks, Oklahoma.
Pick a direction: More flat!
I don't know who set this up, but... Well played, my country friend.
So that's where all the boomers are!
You knows it!
Parked after a long but interesting day of riding.
All moved in!
Wrapping up in Shattuck
November 27, 2020 Filed under Uncategorized
I would have really liked to find the old family farmland and walk around on it — or at least known which parcel of land the farm used to be on, even if there was a warehouse or an industrial crop circle built over it now. But with only a few photos from 1981, the name “Pony Creek”, and an old topographical map, I couldn’t solve the mystery.
An old topographical map showing Pony Creek near Shattuck
My conversations with locals didn’t scare up any new information. My father and I poked gamely around in satellite view, trying to reconstruct the route he remembered driving out of Shattuck to get there, but he’d made the journey only once, 40 years ago. Nick and I would have to be satisfied with a general impression of the area.
This country has many layers.
And an amazing impression it was. The late autumn colors and the layered flatness of the terrain were very unlike our California home, and the wide open sky above that terrain seemed to command our attention in a way that the skies back home rarely did. Everything up there was bigger: Massive clouds, sprawling sunsets, driving winds, fat raindrops. And we were at the mercy of that sky. Whatever it brought, fair or foul – or maybe even apocalyptic – there was no place to hide from it.
Birds on the move.
In fact, even with headwinds punishing us for several days of the trip, we’d been pretty fortunate. We could have had to pedal through lashing rain, or hide indoors while lightning blasted around us and the highways flooded. The one time the wind really picked up to something nasty and was hurling debris, we happened to be riding in exactly the same direction and were swept along, more than doubling our speed for the entire day.
All we had in Shattuck was a little wind and a sprinkle of rain, and otherwise the days were clear and crisp. I even got to work outdoors!
Usually I wear a much bigger hat for working outdoors!
Lounging in the sun, in the otherwise empty motel parking lot, getting some work done.
Our plan was to spend a final day here, then cycle east to Woodward and hunker down for a few days until a U-Haul truck became available. Then we would throw in the bikes and zip down to Fort Worth, poke around there for a day, and then the trip would be officially over with the loading of Nick on the train back to Los Angeles. Originally I thought we would be able to get to Fort Worth entirely by pedaling, but work hours and extra rest days compelled a change. We got to Shattuck; that was the main thing!
One more day of crossing this amazing terrain by bike. Time to make the most of it.