iWorks, McPhee, motorcycle rear-brake problem, 'Wholphin'
(posted from home)
(This post covers 8 – 14 December, 2009)

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Monday, 14 December -

I spent the morning on the web. That afternoon I rode the Concours over to the motorcycle shop to drop it off for the rear-brake repair and inspection. But I had forgotten these guys are closed on Monday's so it was a complete waste of time.
Around 1430 I headed out for my six-miler, today on a cloudy and airy 50-degree day. The warm temp is in front of an approaching cold front but it made for a pleasant walk.
One of the things I don't like about winter is having to leave for my walk by 1430-1500 to get home before dark.
That evening we watched more Lost-5 eps.

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Sunday, 13 December-

Today I drove to Cburg and spent the afternoon with Maypo, working on estate-related paperwork. LOTsa fun!
On the drive down and back I enjoyed listening to Bill Moyer podcasts. I'm really going to miss the Journal, whether the visual version on Friday nights or the podcast version from iTunes.
No walk today. Even if I had stayed home, I probably wouldn't have walked given today's sleet and rain and needing to rest my legs a bit after a week of six milers.

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Saturday, 12 December-

After reading a few articles about this week's changes to Facebook security, I reviewed my security settings in detail. I was surprised to learn (from the articles) that Facebook's default setting of 'Everyone' doesn't mean “Everyone on Facebook”, it means “Everyone on the Internet” since this setting opens any info you protect at this level to internet search engines and to anyone with a theory on what I want to buy. No thanks, Facebook.
I also talked with my brothers via Skype and reviewed some estate paperwork.
I walked-six on a very cold and windy afternoon but I was comfy.
That evening we watched four episodes of Lost Season Five on Netflix Instant Movies.

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Friday, 11 December-

After my morning web-patrol the weather seemed too nice to stay home. I rode the Concours to town for a coffee and Times, then ran a few errands. I also found the Concours has a rear-brake problem. The rear brake isn't releasing properly after application. The bike felt sluggish and I noticed at an intersection that I didn't need to apply to brakes to keep the bike from rolling backward on the gentle hill. At my next stop I felt the brake rotors and found the rear rotor extra-hot. The piston in the caliper is apparently hung up. I was able to get the brake to release and then cautiously drove home using only the front brake.
I walked-six that afternoon then we finished the 'Long Way Down' disk (#2) that evening.

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Thursday, 10 December-

I finished up the bills and spent the rest of the morning on the web. After my six-miler we watched three eps of 'Long Way Down', disk two. I had started this series about a motorcycling adventure tour while Labashi was away, figuring I'd have it done before her returen. But it was easy for her to pick up in mid-series given it's a simple premise--- Charley and Ewan are riding their bikes through Africa.

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Wednesday, 9 December -

Today was a bill-paying day. This was mostly just a matter of writing checks for things like vehicle registrations and medical co-pays, etc which had stacked up while Labashi was away for two weeks.
After I finished that I installed iWorks on the Mac. I bought iWorks 09 very cheaply during Cyber Monday sales. This is another of those 'get some experience' things. I don't currently have a heavy-duty need for the word processor, the spreadsheet, or the presentation products but want to have the capabilities available and to explore the capabilities of the products. I was impressed by the sample files I saw for these apps at the Apple Store in Lancaster.
I walked-six late in the day, then we watched most of 'Wholphin, Issue 1' from Netflix. This is a DVD of short films-- the kind that don't make it to commercial distribution. We were a bit put off by this collection. With no explanation of what we're looking at, this collection gives the impression of elitism. You apparently have to be an insider to know what's going on. I can't recommend it.

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Tuesday, 8 December -

I spent much of the day researching motorcycle insurance and long term health care insurance (somehow those two don't seem to go together, do they?). I'm a bit miffed with my motorcycle insurance company for selling a towing benefit which turns out to be just refunding up to $50 of my costs. If I were to break down I'd still have to find someone to respond. I swear they used to also do the dispatch. So, time to look for someone who does.
That afternoon I walked-six. My walks are taking about and hour and forty-five minutes now.
I keep forgetting to write down what book I'm reading but currently it's 'Best Travel Writing of 2004' from my bookshelf. This is one of those books I started but for some reason lost interest (I can tell by where the folded page is). I'm so glad I re-started this one. It has a fantastic piece by John McPhee wherein he travels cross country with a chemical-tank trucker. McPhee is my all-time favorite writer of non-fiction and he doesn't disappoint in this piece.

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