We Are Not So Removed

Photo caption: "President Bush surveys the damage from Hurricane Katrina while flying over New Orleans on his way to the White House after ending his summer vacation."

Dude, park the 747 and take some in-flight peanuts and Perrier to those poor people down there. You're their President, too, you know.

Along those lines, there's much going on in my brain about Hurricane Katrina, not the least is a deep sadness for those affected. Another thought is the inhumanity I've heard from folks about what happened, something like "if they choose to live there..." and "people die all the time." Generally, I hear that kind of selfishness from teenagers because they're self-involved by nature, though the exceptions shine brightly, but I'm seeimg this from "adults" on public forums and blogs. Has the mass media desensitized to us so much to the massive losses from nature or war? Millions have died on the African continent from starvation, plague, and civil wars over the last twenty years, not to mention the AIDS crisis. People are dying faster than they're being born in Russia and the former Soviet republics for many reasons, including the environmental disasters of the USSR (ex: Chernobyl). There are days I doubt we're evolving as a species.

This is a blog of one of Lara and Danielle's friends. She recently moved to New Orleans.

Speaking of the mass media...

Got a bike computer for Dollar and found I'm not nearly as fast as I thought I was. Going south on Mountain last night and only got up to 19 mph. My average speed from my last two rides, according to my bike journal, is about 10 miles per hour. Another eye opener is the distance: when I go from the house to work via the Carson Nugget, it's only 2.5 miles (what a dinky little town). The upside is now I'll be pushing myself harder, going longer distances, and burning more calories, which is good with the weather getting colder.

The computer itself is fascinating. In the old days, a bike speedometer was attached to a tire via a heavy-duty wire, which turned with the tire and manually updated an odometer and speedometer, pretty much like the one you find in a car. The modern bike computer has an LCD display attached to a tire sensor that monitor wheel rotations. You can remove the LCD display and stick in your pocket, whereas the old bike speedometer was permanently attached to the handlebars. This computer shows the time, current speed, max speed, average speed, temperature, trip time, and trip distance. It's a nifty little gadget and I think this is the model, though I didn't pay nearly that much for it.

There are more that a few supervisors who should have this on their desks as a warning to employees and potential employees.

Did you know there's a anti-rape condom? (Not for the weak of heart.)

The fantasy football web site is slowly coming together. We're going to have team pages and more detail about the season. Fun stuff.

This morning:
Distance: 2.50 miles.
Time: 00:15:13 (slooooow)