Charlie's Incidentals

The day after Christmas, and we've been snowed in for over a week now! Some snow is melting, but then it freezes overnight. This picture out my front door shows the snowy ruts in the road pretty well.. they're pretty deep, and lots of cars and trucks have been getting stuck in the street

Also, my new car (2009 335i sport) should be in California right now. It was supposed to arrive in a port north of LA on the 24th, which means I should have it in about 10 days. It's been too long without it. I did dig up some pictures, though. The first is a screenshot from a video I took at a rest stop in Austria. The second is a picture taken with my iPhone outside our hotel in Dolo, Italy (about 30 miles west of Venice).

The most snow I've seen in Portland in nearly 8 years (holy cow that's the longest I've ever lived in a single place). These pictures are poor - I took them with my phone.

Picture 1: My driveway; friend's car buried.
Picture 2: Back yard water feature thingy, with about a foot of snow on it.



And about 3 hours later, the car:







Two days later, and about another foot of snow.







From NASA: "Rare Snow Covers Portland:"

Being snowed in, it's about time I write about my recent trip. Everyone keeps asking me the same questions, so here it is:


1) In many countries there are no speed limits.
2) Regardless, it's safer to drive there.
3) Yes, France and Switzerland are very much like the US, and it's no fun to drive there.

So, the point I keep reiterating is that it's safer to drive in Germany, Austria, Italy, etc... even though there is no speed limit on the freeways. Why? Simply because people drive better. They know that the left lane will be moving very quickly, so nobody changes lanes without looking carefully. Then, they get out of the left lane when they are done passing. That's supposed to happen in the US (most states) as well, but it's not enforced and seeing two cars traveling side-by-side blocking the flow of traffic is quite common. People don't feel any sense of urgency to get out of the way, probably because they don't think people in the left lane have a right to go faster.

In summary, people are much better drivers because they learn to be courteous (which breeds safety). At first glance it may seem insane to let people drive 100+ MPH (in some cases 150+) whenever they want, but upon closer inspection it is done in a very safe manner, allowing traffic to flow better and people to get where they are going much quicker. It's driving utopia - even in Italy, where people are admittedly more aggressive.

People take more personal responsibility than in the US, and accordingly the laws are much stricter. If you're caught without snow tires/chains in the snow, you're a moron and are fined heavily. Drunk driving is serious, and always results in the loss of your license. Drinking a beer, as long as you aren't drunk, is generally fine. You must have a first aid kit in your car - everywhere. These things make sense, and provide the foundation for people to have more freedom than in the US. Things only become chaotic if you let them. The sad part is that in the US, we all suffer because the majority of the population is retarded, and the laws are put in place to protect them.

A dilemma, of the motorcycle variety: do I want to keep my R6 sportbike? If I do, then getting a dual-sport will take longer.

The question at hand is really, "which is more useful?" Well the R6 is useful for commuting (sort of) and taking short day trips around OR/WA mountains. And going to the track. But that's about it. I can do all of that, sans the track riding, and do it more comfortably on a dual-sport. It won't be as quick in the curves, but it'll still be just as fun (pushing any bike to the limits takes the same amount of skill, and therefore is just as fun.. it's just not as fast).

The advantages of getting a dual-sport sooner (and selling the R6) are that I can afford to outfit it properly for long trips and off-road excursions. If I keep the R6, I won't be able to get everything I want.

Given that my new BMW 335i is tons of fun on twisty roads, I could just take that to the mountains when I feel like a "spirited" ride. So perhaps I don't need a sportbike any more.

A dual-sport means I can ride to Alaska or the Panama Canal. Keeping the sportbike means I get to have fun every other weekend in the summer. A dual-sport means I can commute to work on it easier, even when it gets cold.

Ok, 2007 R6 for sale this spring.

This was one of the first videos we shot. We ran into traffic and speed limits, but it's still an interesting video I guess.

I can't decide if I want to upload videos to picasaweb, my gallery2 instance, or just embed flash here.

In the interest of getting at least one video out (the one everyone wants to see), I'll just put it here for now. Sorry this video is so bumpy.

This was in Austria. I do have another video of Germany, east of Munich, but we ran into traffic and speed limits, so it's not as cool. We hit 155 MPH in this one

Also, my book Network Ninja is officially published now. Yay!

It will show up on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble within 4-6 weeks.

It can be purchased at lulu.com right now, though. The Table of Contents and a description can also be found there.

Actually, both OmniTraining and my new book (almost). I'm awaiting the preview copy of the book to arrive, and then I'm sure there will be edits. The goal is to have it completed by the end of July, 2008.

OmniTraining site: http://omnitraining.net
Network Ninja book site: http://omnitraining.net/networkninja

Just got back from an Alaska cruise (it was great, by the way), and as my girlfriend Michelle is going through the pictures, she discovers something quite strange.

For some strange reason, I took many pictures of ice floating in the ocean. It was neat to see, as I have only been in the ocean where the weather is more temperate.

So this image, an innocent looking piece of ice, was taken:


Notice the dark colored ice. It looks just like dirty ice that we've been seeing.

Applying Photoshop's "auto levels" to this image revealed a much more gruesome scene:


"What the hell?" you might ask. Yes, indeed.

It's up, but still a work-in-progress.

http://charlierides.com