Max's Miscellaneous Musings

Today, I bring you a YouTube that is actually worth the 1 minute and 39 seconds of your life it will take to view it.  "As seen on TV - A tribute to doing it wrong"

:lol:

Enjoy!

It's been a while since I've written a Max's Guide To Cycling For N00bs.  I've been a little unmotivated.  But all that has changed, because the seasons, they are-a changin'.  But frankly, not fast enough for me.  In short, IT'S COLD!  I'm cold!  Riding in the cold sucks!

With that in mind, it seems that I need to write a MGTCFN with a winter theme.  How do we survive the cold?  How do we get out there and ride when it's below whatever your "cold" threshold might happen to be?  The reality is that my definition of cold, and your definition of cold will always differ.  Even if we live in the same place!  Some people feel the cold more than others.

The first (and obvious) answer is to wear warm clothes.  But on a bicycle, clothing choices make a difference.  You want clothing that is lightweight, doesn't drag in the wind, allows your body to move comfortably, and doesn't impede your ability to control the bike itself.  You want clothing that can easily and quickly be removed when you do eventually warm up.  You want clothing that breathes, so that your perspiration doesn't catch in the clothing and make you cold.  In short, you want bicycle-specific clothing.  Don't fall into the trap of wearing heavy winter clothing, unless you want to look like this guy:

 

So let's start with the basics.  Some people don't feel the cold.  For those people, their winter wardrobe differs from their summer wardrobe purely in aesthetics.  They're happy to wear a short-sleeved jersey and nicks.  These people are freaks and should be culled from the herd at the earliest opportunity.  Do not mate with one of these people.  Do we really want a generation of freaks who can't feel the cold?  Oh wait, hang on.. hmm.

Anyway.  For the rest of us, we need to start covering up the exposed body parts.  The consensus within the cycling community is that a layered approach is best.  Several thin layers are better than a single thick layer.  This allows the rider to adjust their clothing in response to changing conditions.

Base Layers

"Base layer" is a fancy word for "undergarment".  It's something you wear underneath everything else in an effort to keep your core warm.  The choice to wear a base layer is obviously a personal one.  In warmer climates, a base layer in winter is not necessary.  In cooler/cold/arctic climates, it's a good idea.  A good base layer is thin, light, made of breathable material, and sits close to the skin.  Look for words like "thermal", "lightwave", "heatwave","merino", and "breathable".  I bought one of these from Ground Effect just recently, and it's made the world of difference.

 

Doesn't look like much, does it?  But that thin Merino undershirt keeps me warm without overheating.  I've never felt so comfortable on a cold morning's ride.

Base layers are also available for the lower body:

In cold conditions, base layers make the world of difference.

Arm and leg warmers

I'm going to assume that you already have a summer riding wardrobe, and that you're looking to augment it for winter riding.  So the following assumes you're wearing a summer jersey and nicks.

You'll want to cover the exposed parts of your body.  A good start is arm warmers:

Arm warmers come in many designs, and you don't have to stick to basic black if that's not your thing.  Perhaps you'd like to show off some tattoos, without the pain, effort and expense (not to mention permanence) of actually getting a tattoo?

Or you'd like to support your favourite charity?

 

Whatever your fashion predilections, there's plenty of arm warmer designs out there.  But really, the number one priority in arm warmer selection should be warmth.  There's no use looking pretty if you're sitting on the side of the road, unable to ride your bike because your arms have frozen off.

When shopping for arm warmers, look at the description of the material.  Lycra arm warmers are good for sun protection and a little basic wind protection, but that's about it.  They won't keep you warm in the depths of winter.  Look for warmers made out of "Roubaix" or "Super Roubaix".  These have a somewhat fleecy inner that is quite thin yet still keeps you warm.  Anything with "thermal" in the description will also keep you toasty.  Arm warmers should fit snugly without being overly tight.  Look for warmers that have decent grippers.  These will prevent the warmers from slipping down and exposing your upper arms to the cold.  If you ride in low-light conditions, make a point of selecting arm warmers that have reflective piping on them.  I personally like to wear my arm warmers so that they go over the sleeve of a short-sleeve jersey.  This ensures a good seal between the two and prevents wind from going up the jersey sleeve.

I can already hear people asking the inevitable question:  Why arm warmers?  Why not just wear a long-sleeved jersey?  For most of us, the act of riding will, in fact, raise our body temperature.  We'll start feeling warm.. dare I say it, even hot.  Arm warmers can be rolled down, or removed entirely.  They give you flexibility.  Too warm?  Roll them down.  Still too warm?  Take them off altogether, and stash them in a jersey pocket or your backpack or panniers.

What's that?  Even with arm warmers, you're still too cold?  Fine, let's talk about long-sleeved jerseys and jackets.

Long-sleeved jerseys

Long-sleeved jerseys come in the same lightweight material as short-sleeved summer jerseys.  They also come in thermal varieties.  Your choice will depend on just how cold you are.  Long-sleeved jerseys made of summer material won't give you much more protection than, well, a summer jersey.  The cuffs are generally not tapered or elasticised, so you will get wind up the sleeves.  And, when you do finally warm up, you won't get much joy from rolling the sleeves up, because they'll fall down, or bunch up uncomfortably.  That said, a long-sleeved jersey might be the perfect fit for you if you ride in a cool (not cold) climate that doesn't warm up during the day.

 

Long-sleeved winter  jerseys are made of material that's actually designed to keep you warm.  Look for words like "Roubaix", "Micro-fleece", "Wind foil", "Merino" and "thermal".

Note the elasticised cuffs, the tall collar (to keep your neck warm), the long zipper, and the fleecy material.  Look for jerseys that are longer at the back than at the front.  This will prevent the jersey from riding up and exposing your lower back (not to mention plumber butt) to the cold.  Some winter jerseys have thumb loops at the bottom of the sleeves.  This helps keep the sleeve down around your wrist.

A short-sleeve jersey plus arm warmers will give a good middle ground between a long-sleeve summer jersey, and a long-sleeve winter jersey.

For some of us, the winter cold is made worse by windchill.  Either the wind is blowing all on its own (thanks, Mother Nature!!!) or you're riding at a quick enough clip to generate windchill.  I know there are times I've been on a ride where the biggest challenge has been dealing with cold wind.  It can feel like it's cutting right through you.  Jerseys and undershirts do come in windproof varieties, and if you live in a windy area, it's definitely worth the investment.  But sometimes that wind is actually welcome - like when you've worked up a sweat and you need to cool down.  So where's the middle ground?

Jackets and vests

There is a whole plethora of jackets and vests out there.  Some are designed for light rainfall/spitting.  Some are designed to protect against wind by adding a windproof layer at the front.  Some are designed to survive torrential rainfall.  You need to find something that is fit for your purpose.  There is no point buying a rain jacket if your challenge is just a bit of wind.  Similarly, a spray jacket won't be any good to you if you're dealing with a monsoon.  Because we're using a layered approach, let's limit this discussion to vests and light spray jackets.

Vests are great because they cover your chest, they're light, and they're great windbreaks.  Given the choice, I'll wear a vest instead of a jacket any day.  Vests typically offer protection from the wind at the front of the garment, whilst having a mesh or lighter weight material at the back.  This allows heat to dissipate.  Look for a vest that has a full zip, an elasticised waist and a tall collar, as well as a zipped pocket or storage area.  Many vests also offer some protection from rain, but bear in mind that a mesh-backed vest will be of limited use in this regard.  Cheaper vests will be heavy and bulky, and won't be especially breathable.  More expensive vests will be made of very lightweight material that allows heat to dissipate.  Lightweight vests can also be removed and folded up for stowage inside a jersey pocket.

Vests come in many colours and styles.  I have a personal preference for hi-viz vests, because the vast majority of my "cold" riding also happens to be "dark" riding.

Jackets

If you're doing it tough even with the base layer, summer jersey, arm warmers and vest, it might be time to move to a jacket.  As I mentioned before, some jackets are designed to cope with heavy rainfall.

These jackets are designed to keep water out, whilst also letting your perspiration escape.  Look for something with a hood (removable is nice), elasticised cuffs, storm flap over the zipper, thumb loops and a long back.  Some jackets also have vents under the armpits to allow windflow in to cool you.  This is a good thing, because unless you live in the arctic, you are going to get hot in one of these.  Airflow is good!

Some jackets are designed to act as windbreakers, with a little water resistance.  These are good for cold, dry climates.  They are generally made of lighter material than rain jackets, and often convert into vests by having removable sleeves:

Again, the cheaper the jacket, the less ventilation you'll get.  Pooling of perspiration within a cheap jacket is very unpleasant and can make you much colder than if you hadn't worn the jacket at all.

 

Phew.

Are you still with me?  It's been a loooooong read, but I hope you're still there.  Let's move on to the lower body.

 

Leg warmers

Much of the advice about arm warmers also applies to leg warmers.  Good leg warmers will have zippers at the bottom of the leg to allow for easy removal.  They'll have decent grippers at the top to prevent them from falling.  And they'll have reflective piping.  Wear leg warmers under the leg of your nicks.  When shopping for leg warmers, look for the words "Roubaix", "Windstop", "thermal" and the like.

 

If summer nicks are too cold to protect your upper legs and groin, consider wearing a base layer underneath, or possibly a second pair of nicks.  If you find that you never remove your leg warmers on cold rides, you might consider simply getting long nicks.

Again, look for something made of Roubaix material, thermal material and something that's windproof.  Make sure they have long zips at the back to make it easy to put them on and take them off.  And don't forget the reflective piping.

 

Head/face protection

If you're like me, you're a weenie who hates the cold.  Even fully layered up, I'll get cold if I'm not wearing something to protect my head, face and ears from the wind.  For those of you living in very cold environments, a balaclava could be the solution:

Bear in mind that a thick balaclava will also prevent heat from escaping through your helmet's vents.  This can be a double-edged sword.  If you live in the arctic, it'll be welcome.  But if you don't, you'll find yourself overheating despite the cold conditions.

I'm a big fan of neck rolls, or Buffs:

Yes, it's just a giant tube of fabric, but it's very versatile.  You can wear it as a neck roll, a face mask, a balaclava.. whatever.  I like it because it can be worn as a "topless" balaclava, allowing my head to breathe:

 

Hands and feet

Finally, let us not forget the extremities.

Long-fingered gloves are an obvious choice when dealing with the cold.  For cool climates, it is sufficient to have a thin glove with full fingers (as opposed to cut-off mitts).  Eliminating the windchill is all these gloves need to do:

You might sometimes see these described as "summer" gloves.  The term "summer" should be interpreted to mean "thin".  I find that a summer glove is good down to about 12 degrees C.  Below that, and I move to a heavier glove, something with wind-resistant material, and maybe some fleece lining.  If you're lucky, they'll offer rain protection as well:

When shopping for winter gloves, fit is important.  You need to be able to operate your bike's gears and brakes without the glove interfering with your movement.  That means your fingers need to reach the end of the glove's fingers.  Look for a glove that has a reinforced palm and grippy material on the thumb and first two fingers.  This will allow you to use the bike's gears and brakes without impediment.  Also look for an elasticised cuff that covers your wrist.  This will act as a seal to prevent the cold from getting in.

Some people wear an additional liner glove.  This works really well in cold climates.  I've also seen people wear latex gloves (the sort a doctor or CSI tech might use) to offer additional protection in rainy conditions.

Finally, let's talk about protecting your feet.  If your shoes have any sort of ventilation, you'll find that this lets cold air in.  Riding with cold feet can be very uncomfortable, and can turn an otherwise pleasant ride into an endurance event.

The first step is to find some decent socks.  I like thin cotton athletic socks, as these allow my feet to breathe.  Some people prefer thermal socks, or thick woolen socks.  There are cycle-specific socks out there, but my personal opinion is that there is not much difference between these and regular socks.  Except, perhaps, the price tag.  Wear whatever works for you.

On cold, windy or rainy days, I wear bootees, or overshoes.  These shoe covers slip over the shoe, and have a zip at the back:

I actually own a set of the ones shown above.  The outer is a water-resistant synthetic, and the inner is thinly lined with a fleece material.  I've worn these in torrential rain, and they were good for about three hours before they finally gave up and let water in.  When shopping for shoe covers, look for a long zipper at the back, velcro under the sole, heat-sealed seams, and reflective material on the back and sides.  Bootees come in all sorts of materials.  Some are lycra (mostly decorative, little protection), some are like the Sugoi bootee above, some are made of neoprene for hard-core rain and/or cold.

If it's just your toes that are cold, perhaps toe covers are a better option:

If the weather is just too cold for either of these, consider a winter-specific shoe:

 

So now you're decked out from head to toe, the only thing left to do is go out and ride!  You just better hope your bike doesn't look like this when you head off:

Some time ago, I wrote a post called Big Brother is watching, in which I commented on an article that described how the Dalai Lama's email server was hacked.  It pointed the finger at the Chinese government, and I made some sarcastic comment about how Big Brother is Chinese.  Well, I might've been on to something, because lo and behold, in my inbox today, I found this:

 

Comment: http://www.maxxxie.net/blog1.php/2009/03/29/big-brother-is-watching#c194

Blog: Max's Musing

Post: Big brother is watching...

Author: Sourcing from China (IP: 124.14.200.69, 124.14.200.69)

Email: thesourcing@gmail.com

Url:

Hi, interesting post. I have been thinking about this topic,so thanks for posting. I’ll probably be coming back to your blog for more interflow with you this Topic.<br />

 

The author is from CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And he's reading my blog!!!!!111!1!1!!!  AND he's been thinking about this topic!!!111!1!!!!  And he wants more "interflow" with me on this topic!!!111!1!!!1eleven!11!!

What I'm taking from this is:

1. Big Brother really is watching (he probably Googled himself to find my blog in the first place).  Calling himself "Sourcing from China" is his attempt at anonymity.  I mean, if your name was actually Big Brother (or Jesus Christ, or Elvis Presley), you wouldn't sign your real name, would you?  But BB (I can call him that, cos we're friends now), it's OK.  I know who you are.  Your secret is safe with me.
2. BB really is Chinese (his IP address confirms it).  I feel somewhat vindicated.  I mean, declaring that Big Brother was in fact the Chinese government was a pretty big call, especially since I based my conclusions entirely on that news article.  Others may have ridiculed me for making such a big call, but who's laughing now, huh????
3. He likes my blog so much, he's secretly honoured.  To be fair, I was probably the only decent hit in the Google search.  Let's face it, if my name was Big Brother and I Googled myself, I'd be grateful to find anything that doesn't make reference to the book or that TV show.  His parents might've just as well called him John Smith for all the useful search results he'd get.  Actually, he'd've been better off as John Smith.  A Google of "big brother" returns 82.5 million hits.  A Google of "john smith" returns 79.3 million hits.  I reckon BB is cursing his parents right now.  He could, of course, change his name to Esmeralda Shucker, which returns a mere 496 hits.  And lemme tell you, those are some quality hits.  He'd have no trouble separating the vanity hits from the chaff.
4. He finds me attractive.  Never in my entire online life (really, it might as well be my entire actual life) has anyone suggested they might like to have interflow with me.  I'll admit, I'm a little scared and a little nervous.  I've never done interflow before, but it sounds interesting.  And hey, if the Chinese are doing it, it can't be too bad, right?  I mean, these are the same people who invented spring rolls!  And sweet and sour pork!  And gunpowder!  And Chinese water torture!  Oh.. hang on.. perhaps interflow with a stranger is not such a good idea.  Especially one who Googles themselves.

 

I saw this pic on the net somewhere and loved it.  It appealed to my nerdy word game sense of humour.  Puntastic!

 

This picture is pertinent as I have been tent-shopping.  Specifically, I've been shopping for a tent to take to CQ.  Long-time admirers will recall that I participated in Cycle Queensland last year, and had a terrific time!

This year, we're doing it all again, except for one notable difference.  We did not secure an Easy Campese [PDF] tent.  So we are fending for ourselves this year.  Mum usually declines to participate altogether if she can't get an Easy Campese tent.  But I convinced her it'd be fine, and as a sweetener, I told her I'd do all the tent setup and tear-down.  I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  Time will tell.  Mum basically wanted an Easy Campese tent, but those things are huge, heavy, bulky and I talked sense into her.

Anyway, all of this is to tell you, dear loyal readers, that I have been tent-shopping.  Tent technology has changed a great deal since my Cadet days.  Back then, I used to throw up a hootch, scoot under it, and sleep in the world's warmest sleeping bag.  Water was never a problem, since the hootch was watertight as a fish's arse.  The alternative was to carry a tent, and back then, tents were either a) wonderfully warm, waterproof and exceptionally heavy or b) waterlogged, cold misery, but easy to carry.

I'm not sure if this has changed much, but what I can tell you is that they are now much easier to erect than they were back in the day.  Long story short, we settled upon a Coleman Lakeside 3:

One for each of us.  Yes, you heard that right.  We are each having a 3-person tent to ourselves.  This will give us much more room inside, as well as privacy and basically a place to escape from it all.  You'll note the tent has a vestibule-like area in the front.  Funnily enough, it is a vestibule.  The plan is to stash the bike in here overnight, rather than leave it exposed to the elements (and thieves).  It's also a place to leave grotty shoes and the like so dirt doesn't get traipsed into the sleeping area.

So that is one less thing to think about for CQ.  I plan to take one of the tents out of the box on the weekend and try it out in the back yard.  If I can survive a horrid winter's night in it, without wussing out and running back inside to sit in front of the heater, it'll be fine for CQ.

A buddy of mine sent me the following question on FaceBook. I wrote him a long answer and decided I might as well put it on my blog, so here it all is:

 

How does your country view same sex marriage? I know you refer to your love as your wife...is that a legal thing like the country recognizes your union or is it more of a personal thig? Here in the US it is not recognized (lame) so couples must just take part in a "Promise" type ceremony that does not carry any real weight as far as benefits and taxes and such. I mean for christ sake its 2010! I think we are getting close though there has a been a really serious push as of late to legalize and recognize the marriage and to allow the spouse on to insurance and such.

My answer was pretty long, so settle down for a long one:

 

The short answer is that Australian government is in denial about its GBLT population.  It refuses to recognise gay relationships as "real" or "serious" or any other term that implies legitimacy.  Get yourself a cuppa mate, because this is going to be a long reply!

There's been somewhat of a coup in the government's leadership this week; the Prime Minister was ousted in favour of the deputy PM, who happens to be a woman.  This is the first time we've had a woman PM, and although women's libbers everywhere are screaming victory, I see it as a hollow one.  Our country still can't get its head around putting a woman in charge by electing her (rather than having her win by default when the elected leader gets kicked out).  We (collectively) are still being held back by antiquated ideals.  Finland just recently included gay relationships in the definition of marriage.  The very first person to take advantage of it was the country's Prime Minister!  Imagine that!  A PM (a woman who was presumably elected to the role unlike our current PM) being the first lesbian in her country to be legally married!  Talk about leading by example.  Australia needs to get its head out of the sand.

The nation's capital, Canberra, is located in a small section of land known as the Australian Capital Territory.  The ACT's only purpose in life is to house the government's buildings and a whole bunch of federal departments.  It is some irony, then, that the ACT is the only state/territory in the country to formally recognise same-sex unions.  Even then, it can't bring itself to call it "marriage".

I think that the concept of marriage as an institution whose sole purpose is to create and raise children is long outdated.  This country, as a whole, needs to recognise the growing shift (even within the heterosexual community) away from settling down in your 20s, having 2.5 kids, buying a house etc etc.  These are concepts that even straight people are starting to reject.  More and more straight couples are quite happy being together without the formality of a marriage.  However, they still have implied rights that gay couples do not.

Why then, is the gay community pushing for a change in the definition of marriage?  There are many answers to this question, so I will only give you my personal ones:

1.  Legitimacy.  My relationship with MaxBabe is no less real than the relationship between the husband and wife living next door to us.

2.  Recognition.  We (the world) need to stop being in denial about this.  Gay relationships are a fact of life.

3.  Formal/legal recognition.  This bit is important.  Once a straight couple are married, each member of that marriage has rights.  If a husband becomes sick, his wife is entitled to be at his side in the hospital.  She can make decisions for him if becomes unable to make them eg a comatose situation.  There's a famous case in the US where a lesbian was comatose after a car accident, and despite (previously) making clear to her partner that she did not want to be kept alive through artificial means, her partner had no right to demand that.  The comatose woman's parents had absolute rights, the partner had none, and she was kept alive for over a year.  A complete vegetable who, because of her sexuality, was robbed of her dignity in her final moments.  I've had personal experience with a hospital that couldn't cope with the concept that I'm MaxBabe's partner.  Being denied access to your sick partner by some narrow-minded bureaucrat is a terrifically stressful and disempowering experience.

4.  In the same vein; when one of us eventually dies, the other does not automatically have rights over inheritance, property etc.  Even wills can be challenged by homophobic family members.

5.  Kids.  The fact is every lesbian and her dog seems to be breeding today.  What happens if Mum dies, and the partner and 2.5 kids are left behind?  I'll tell you what happens!  Mum's family steps in and tries to separate the 2.5 kids from Other Mum because she's not a blood relative!  This sort of thing would not be tolerated if it were a heterosexual step-parent relationship, particularly if the step-parent was in that role from day one of the kids' lives.

6.  Entitlements such as pensions, taxes etc.. all the legal and financial stuff that straight couples take for granted.  Sometimes the lack of recognition actually works in our favour.  Years ago, when I was out of work and taking dole money from the government, my partner was in the same boat.  If we'd been legally recognised, the government would've given us (total) approx 2/3 of the money we actually received.  Why?  Because couples get less than 2 x singles.  Since the government saw us as 2 x singles, we got 2 x dole instead of 1.7 x dole.  Great, huh!  But more often than not, the lack of recognition works against us.

Mate, I could go on forever and still not fully articulate why I think the concept of marriage needs to include gay couples.

As to why I call her my wife, it's pretty simple.  The term "wife" implies long-term commitment.  Girlfriend is wishy-washy.  Lover suggests a purely sexual relationship.  Partner is OK, but I still prefer wife.  It removes all ambiguity about who she is to me, or how serious our relationship is.  And my greatest hope is that by using the term as frequently as possible, people will start to regard it as normal usage, not something odd or anti-establishment

Much has happened in the last month, including a great deal of work and travel for me.  I might write about those things sometime in the future.

What's really on my mind at the moment is the very sad and untimely passing of MaxBabe's brother, Mark.  He died on the 11th of June, aged 49.  Coincidentally, the 11th of June also happens to be our anniversary (this one was our seventh, yay us).  I've already decided that MaxBabe and I need to break up and get back together so that our anniversary can fall on a different date.

Anyway.. Mark.  He'd been ill for some time; Diabetes, some sort of chronic arthritis-related condition, and a few other things.  It wasn't a surprise that he would die young, but still.. nobody expects to get that phone call.  Nobody thinks to themselves when they wake up in the morning, "Hey, today's the day I lose my brother".  Even though it's expected, it's still a surprise, a shock.

MaxBabe is the youngest of nine kids.  Her parents are in their late seventies/early eighties.  Her siblings have kids of their own, and some have grandchildren.  As a result, their family is huge.  So many people have been touched and affected by Mark's death.  Over two hundred and thirty people attended the funeral service.  We know that 230 people signed the guest book, and we also know that there were people there who didn't sign it.  So the actual number of attendees is unknown, but still.. 230+.  Wow.

I only met Mark once, but he struck me as a nice guy.  It was clear he loved MaxBabe and vice versa.  Though they didn't speak much, or see each other often, they cared.  MaxBabe is, of course, now regretting how little they saw each other.  She remarked to me last night that it hasn't really sunk in that she'll never see him again.

The family is coping remarkably well.  There are so many of them, and they are so warm and affectionate to each other, there's a terrific support system in place.  I wonder, however, how each individual will cope once they've returned home to their normal lives.  MaxBabe's been a bit teary.  I know one of her sisters is in the same boat.  I guess each of them will come to a point of acceptance at their own pace.

For my own part, I've been somewhat teary too.  Although I didn't know Mark especially well, I'm sad about his death, and about the impact it has had on his family (by definition, my family).  It's also caused me to be somewhat introspective, to think about my own mortality and about the mortality of those I care about.  What if MaxBabe died tomorrow?  My parents?  Grandparents, cousins, aunt, uncle?  What about the rest of MaxBabe's siblings (seven left, and assuming they die somewhat in order of birth, MaxBabe will have to suffer another seven similar tragedies)?

It's all terrifically sad. 

There is much more to be said about this, but that's all I want to say right now.

You'll recall that I recently posted about how my site is now 95% operational, but that visitors to http://www.maxxxie.net/ were being redirected to a page that didn't exist.  It turns out that "visitors", plural, wasn't quite right.  It was "visitor", singular, ie ME, that was getting the redirect.  Not realising this, I logged a ticket with the new provider and asked them if they had any ideas.  I thought it was some wierd-arse htaccess or httpd.conf thing that needed to be touched.

Imagine my surprise when they wrote back and said they had absolutely no problems accessing the site!  Imagine my shame at not using my troubleshooting skills, when I opened IE and discovered it connected to the page just fine, thanks very much!

What I should've done:  tried it in IE.  Tried it on a VM.  Asked someone else what happened when they tried it.

Lesson learned.

Having determined the browser was the problem, I was left with the prospect of having to delete the entire cache/history to resolve it.  I didn't want to do that, and with a bit of googling, stumbled across this thread: http://x10hosting.com/forums/free-hosting/111095-how-stop-old-redirection-firefox.html.

The CacheViewer FF addon allowed me to selectively delete the cached files for http://www.maxxxie.net and hey, presto!  Now it works just fine, and I'm a happy camper.

Many thanks to the support dude at HostMonster who pointed out to me that everything worked just fine for him.  Without this piece of knowledge I would never have fixed this problem. 

Now, as you can imagine, there is much to post about since I have not been able to update my blog in about a month.  However, there is so much to post about, that I don't have time to do it right now.  Stay tuned.  Or, if you enjoy jokes, How do you keep an idiot in suspense?  I'll tell you later. 

So.. those of you who keep up with this blog will have noticed a) a lack of new items in RSS feeds; b) no cross-posted LJ posts; and c) you couldn't access the web site directly.

That's because some script kiddy caned the server this site was hosted on and we took it down because we didn't have time to deal with remediation and reinstating the service.  I've moved the site to another server for now, and it is mostly functional.  There's some hiccup with some HTTP redirection going on, so visitors to http://www.maxxxie.net/ will see some error messages.  You'll need to visit http://www.maxxxie.net/index.php to get to the functional blog.  I'll fix that up later.

Also, because my last file backup was a few months old, new photos I uploaded aren't present, so there's a few broken IMG links here and there.  Deal with it.  I'll upload the relevant files later.  For now, the blog is 95% functional, and hopefully the script kiddies have moved on.

It's been a while since I've posted a blog entry.  To be honest, there's not been much to write about.  So here is my life in bullet points, in no particular order:

• The snakes have been out and about on the bike paths lately.  The most recent incident involved a snake that was standing up in the middle of the path.  Kind of like a twig that's bent into a right angle.  Except, not a twig.  The cyclist in front of me tried to avoid it, but ran over its tail.  It short forward (towards me), then whipped around and went off the path and climbed up a tree.  Bloody snakes, it scared the crap outta me.  It looked kinda like this, except smaller and without a wall:

 

• Work's been insanely busy and tiring.  There are a couple people at work who are giving me the shits, bigtime, and I feel the only solution is for them to leave or for me to leave.  I'm doing my best to make sure either a) they leave or b) they lift their game.  I'm tired of carrying other people in my team.

• I've been doing a lot of work with virtual machines lately in an effort to get myself up to speed with Win2k8.  My PC wasn't up to the task, so I got myself a new box.  An Intel i7 with 8GB of RAM and a souped-up video card.  It's coping quite well with the rigors of multiple concurrent VMs.  Did I mention it presents eight cores to the OS?

• 8GB of RAM means an x64 OS, so I've got Win7 x64 Pro on the new box.  So far I haven't found any problems with drivers or software that doesn't like x64.  My challenges have actually been more around Win7's user access control BS that, even though I'm logged in as an administrator, questions or even prevents me from doing administrative things.  Sometimes, installers look like they've successfully installed a program, only to find that when you run it, half the damn files are missing.  That has been a source of great frustration.

• I haven't been riding as much as I'd like.  It's very cold in the mornings and it saps my motivation.  This means I haven't ridden to work in over a month.  I'm a pussy and should just suck it up and ride.  To that end, I have packed my clothes and other bits and pieces to take to work today, in preparation for riding to work tomorrow.  It could be much worse.  At least my bike's not like this:

• I've done a few rides with BikerChick, and they've been fun.  She's good to ride with - we're at about the same level of proficiency, she doesn't want to blab on and on while we're riding, but she's not silent either, she doesn't drop me like a rock, and on those occasions that we do get separated, she stops and waits for me (or vice versa).  It's good.

• Facebookland - there was a reunion organised for former members of the QAIRTC/2WG AAFC.  I was very enthusiastic about this until I realised that none of my Cadet buddies would be there, so it'd be a bunch of strangers in a loud pub talking about people and events I wasn't a part of.  So after a great deal of anticipation, I ended up not going.

• I've been watching a great deal of Star Trek.  I'm catching up on Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Some of the episodes are really cheesy, but they're mostly fun.  The good part is that I can skip the episodes I don't want to watch (yay, DVD).

There's really not much else to report.  Best I get myself organised for work.

 

Hotel guests pedal for their power.  The gist of it is that guests are encouraged to pedal a stationary bicycle, which in turn tops up the hotel's power banks.  As an incentive, the hotel offers free food to guests who generate 100 watt hours of power.

It ticks the boxes, really:

1. Cheaper operating costs for the hotel
2. Green mentality
3. Encourages hotel guests to exercise (let's face it, business travel is the worst for weight gain)
4. Gives guests a bit of a freebie

I think it's a great idea!