Snakes in a yard

I was walking through the yard this weekend and I found this little guy. He/she was probably around 8" long, so practically large enough to kill me dead. Courageously I managed to touch it's tail without squealing like a girl, and then it balled up and got all bitchy with me. Feel free to pretend that we fought each other valiantly for a solid 30 minutes, though.

We both went our separate ways and a few minutes later I was walking through the garage mentally (and smugly) patting myself on the back for not freaking out about the snake and some rather large spiders I've seen lately. At the same moment, I opened the door leading out of the garage into our back yard and I caught a flash of something big and black on the step below the door. Of course, it was our gutter extender that I sat there when I mowed but my mind immediately jumped to "Snake! Huge Snake! You gone get eaten!"

The smug mental back patting stopped right there, seems that I have a ways to go yet.

On the bright side, last Friday was payday and our student loan debt counter is teetering on the brink of "giggling like a silly moron" levels: $3068.06 as of today.

Danny go bye bye

Tomorrow marks the day of babby's first airplane ride (that I don't jump out of)! I'm headed to the 2010 Filemaker Developer's Conference in sunny San Diego so I'm going to be out of the mix for a while. Nerd stuff, ahoy!

I recently posted on reddit (in the /r/bicycling subreddit) about .,_~the bike~_,. and received enough positive feedback that inspired me to get back to it. Unfortunately, with the trip and yesterday's rainy weather (for a change), I'll have to wait at least a little while longer. In any case, I got a lot of good info about my bike and bicycling in general which was very helpful.

A quick update on P90x: I've still been doing it. It was a little easier this week, I think. Last night was yoga-x which I'm growing to like alot, though I only lasted 45 minutes this time. Tonight I'm skipping as well to spend time with Amber, but I fully plan to pick it back up when I get back home.

Today is payday but thanks to quite a bit of up-front money needed for the trip (and paying the mortgage out of this check), the student loan balance only fell $300 to $4,552.27. Hoping to make a much larger dent on the 27th!

That's it for now, I may post some pictures of my trip as they come up.

Week 1 of P90X

With Amber's volleyball season starting and me not helping out this year, I thought it was a good time to find something to keep me busy for the next three months. I've been toying with the idea of doing P90x for a while, and I've finally run out of excuses.

Going into it, all I've heard about it is that it's pretty grueling for a home exercise routine. Each session is at least an hour long (6 days a week, no less), which is a fairly substantial amount of time in this lazy-man's opinion. On the other hand, I suck at working out on my own, so having someone tell me what to do would probably be the only way for me to keep honest.

The x in P90x is supposed to stand for extreme, I guess it sounded better than P90e. Its supposed to be an exercise routine for people in some sort of shape, which is surprisingly a category I fall into. There is a fitness test that you're supposed to do to see if it's the right workout for you, but of course I skipped that. How bad could it be?

The first few weeks are as follows:

• Day 1: Chest and back - Lot's of pushups and pullups. I can do pushups ok, but I've always been terrible at pullups.
• Day 2: Plyometrics - More like suckometrics, amirite? This is a cardio session with tons of jumping, squatting and lunging. An hour worth of your heart wanting to stop, basically. This was the toughest workout for me, by far.
• Day 3: Shoulders and arms - This wasn't very difficult for me, I expect I would get a lot more benefit if I were using free weights instead of resistance bands.
• Day 4: Yoga - I've always been intrigued by yoga, mostly in the train-wreck sort of way since I am extremely inflexible. I cheated really bad, I only did 30 minutes of this 90 (!!!) minute session. Partially because I was getting my ass kicked, but mostly because it was so freaking long and we were having company that night.
• Day 5: Legs and back - I don't remember this one all that much, did I black out? If this is the one with one-legged wall squats I hate it. More pullups this day as well.
• Day 6: Kenpo X - This is basically P90x tae-bo. It wasn't incredibly difficult and the hour did go pretty fast.

On the bright side I'm happy that I stuck to it and did indeed do a whole week of the program, however don't quite sing my praises yet. I found out I was supposed to be doing a separate ab routine 3 days a week after the main workouts, and I still haven't done one yet. My excuse at first was that I didn't know, and now my excuse is "Come on, I just worked out for an hour! I wanna be done!"

I've also completely ignored everything diet-wise in the program, actually you could say I've been (embarrassingly) eating even worse than before. I completely acknowledge that diet is probably the biggest part to getting and staying fit, but shit man, FOOD! I'm hoping that my diet can slowly start to match up with exercise and I can find a reasonable middle ground.

Overall I'm fairly pleased with the program even though the main trainer, Tony Horton is extremely annoying after just the first week (let alone having to watch the same stupid jokes over and over for the next 11 or so weeks). I don't remember ever being so sore for so long (my lower triceps hurt for 5 or 6 days), but there is that whole no pain no gain thing (no doubt made up by someone who was already in really good shape).

Unfortunately, it goes without saying that my bicycle riding will be taking a hit thanks to this new program. Doing 1-1.5 hour worth of exercise down in the basement leaves precious little time for eating up the miles on the road. I'm going to still try and throw some rides in there, but they will probably be few and far between.

The Great Debate: Diaries of a "Saver"

Having an interest in personal finance (obviously), I hang around a few websites focused on communities of people asking for and giving financial advice. To me, it seems there are two basic schools of thought for those who claim to be in the know about personal finance:

• Financially savvy - These are the people who live and die by the numbers. Interest rates, inflation, tax implications, cost-benefit analysis, liquidity and many other over-my-head words all factor into their carefully formed financial plans. The more financially savvy, the higher the smugness factor of their advice (and intolerance of other's advice). They typically embrace more risk in hopes of more reward. In my mind they all look like this:

• Savers - Savers are the boring cheapskates nobody likes. They never spend money, and if they do, it's to buy something boring and gross. Savers are low-risk and low-maintenance, they don't like to owe anyone money and are willing to take a cut in lifestyle to keep that. Thought by the financially savvy to be simpletons because they largely ignore the numbers, man! The numbers! Here is an artist's representation:

Obviously I took some liberties poking fun at both groups, but each represents one side of the spectrum. If we would consider the two on a numbered scale, with 1 representing the tightest of tightwads and 10 being the smuggest of internet financial planning emperors, I would consider myself a 3.

I'm a saver, and I think that works best for me. If nothing else I don't have to worry about stressing over money. Also, I don't have to deal with the hassle of learning the finer points of finance. I have the time, but I really don't care that much.

Even though it's in my nature to save, I do like to buy things. Or at least think about buying things. Not a day goes by without me yelling "Hey dear, look at this un-necessary item we don't need but I still want on craigslist, pretty good deal" while she rolls her eyes and nods patiently. The saver mentality wins out (thanks primarily to the lack of disposable income at the moment) and I go on living my life without a Red Bull mini fridge. I don't like owing anyone money so, in theory, all my future purchases will be with money already earned (and therefore risk-free - because they're already paid for).

In the end, I don't really care what everyone else considers themselves so long as they've thought about it and have, at least, a general plan regarding their finances. It's all about what you're comfortable with while weighing that against what your (realistic) financial goals are.

That said, this being somewhat of a debate, I'm going to represent the saver side and argue as to why I think it's the better approach when it comes to money.

Financially Savvy Point: Paying off your debts as quickly as possible is foolish, student loan and mortgage debts are good debts and typically are low-interest so there is no point in paying them off early. You'd be better investing the difference and having mad stacks in the future.

Counterpoint: I don't think any debts are good debts. The only thing debt is good for is establishing credit, which is only good for borrowing more money, which is only good for paying interest.

Debt equates to risk. If you lose your job and can't afford your mortgage or student loan payments (which aren't dischargeable in a bankruptcy, by the way) you can be in a world of crap if you don't have enough money saved to tread water long enough along until you can find work again. The more payments (risk) you have, the worse off you will be if you have an income crisis.

Financially Savvy Point: Hey broski, your student loan payments are locked in at 3.5%, I can make more than that doing xxxxxxxxx!

Counterpoint: Yea, maybe you can get a little ahead by doing some sort of investing but it's much harder these days (uncertain market, CDs/savings paying very little interest) to get any sort of guarantees. I'd argue that then I'd owe that much less money and that would minimize my risk, but again thats and obvious argument suited for people who are ugly and can't play sports good.

What you can't forget is factoring in your time and what it's worth to you. Let's say you took $5000 you could have applied to a student loan and did some short term investing (index fund maybe?) and it grew 8%, so after a year you'd make $400, which is effectively $225 more than you would have "made" by paying off your loan at 3.5%.

So great, you're $225 up! Sweet, brah. Oh wait, here comes the tax-man. He wants his cut. Quickly that $225 turns into $168.75. Is the time invested into picking a right fund/stocks/CD worth $168.75 to you? How about if you factor in the risk of the awful investment returns the past few years? To me it's a no-brainer. I decrease my debt, increase my net worth, with no risk and no time invested. You know, so I have more time to be ugly and bad at sports.

Financially Savvy Point: You're losing your liquidity by paying so much on your debts!

Counterpoint: This is a fairly moot point as any true saver is going to have some money socked away for emergencies, anyway. And these days, even the financially savvy can't have $50,000 in a money market account because the numbers dictate that your "return" is higher by paying your debts since money markets and CDs are paying next to nothing at the moment. Even a very low interest on a student loan is still going to be 3-5% so your effective return is still higher.

Financially Savvy Point: I got my new car/laptop/carpeting/bed at 0% interest, can you even comprehend the extent that I am gaming the system and sticking it to the man simultaneously? No, you cannot. It's FREE MONEY!

Counterpoint: This is where the bulk of my argument lies. Where the financial-savvy will see these opportunities as too good to pass up and/or justification to buy things they want, the savers will ignore the age-old "what will my payment be" and look at these items to decide whether or not they need them or just want them.

Car:

• Financially Savvy: Brand new Honda Accord with some bells and whistles (I mean you gotta, ZERO INTEREST HOLMES - FREE MONEY!) - $30,000 paid over 5 years. Pay no mind to instant depreciation of new cars, even one that holds it's value as well as an accord. They are instantly upside-down on their loan. At least they're not paying interest, I guess.
• Saver: I also like Honda Accords, but I think I'll buy one a couple years old with 30,000 miles and a few less bells and whistles on it and pay cash - $15,000 paid - hyper-depreciation is already bottomed out, the remainder of the depreciation will be fairly steady for the rest of the life of the car. Remember: Cars are a depreciating asset, why would you borrow money for something that loses value (quickly)?

Computer:

• Financially Savvy: Best buy is offering 0% for a year for computers over $800! I don't need one that fancy, but have I mentioned the free money?
• Saver: Eh, I only really do e-mail and web stuff at home anyway, I'll use my 4 year old computer until it dies.

Carpeting:

• Financially Savvy: Well, we wanted to redo the carpet at some point anyway, might as well do it with our lowes card! Thanks to my opportunistic new car and computer I miss a payment and now my butt hurts from accrued interest.
• Saver: Though this carpet is the bane of my existence I will allow it to crush my soul for a little while longer until I can find the best deal possible and save for it.

Ignoring the obvious risk of missing payments on these 1 year same as cash plans and retroactive interest out the wazzo, the savers will be better off in the end because they will (shockingly) spend less money on unnecessary items. Any potential ground gained by the financially savvy and their fancy numbers will be lost to opportunity and impulse buys when they come across a good deal. This will increase their risk, and it doesn't take anyone savvy at anything to acknowledge what a risk it is to make short term investments in our current market.

As a saver and a payer of debts, you are getting a guaranteed return by paying off your debts. Your blood pressure and net worth will thank you later!

Again, in the end, whatever way you go you'll benefit from being more involved in your finances. I get fairly annoyed being a saver and having that sound in any way bad. Are the theories and practices of a saver a bit un-refined? Sure, maybe, but slow and steady typically wins the race.

National Lampoons Renovo Vacation

Renovo: That little getaway famous for drugs and not being pronounced like it's spelled (Renova) hosted a great mini-vacation for us over the weekend with some friends at their hunting cabin. The best way to spend time up here is doing whatever the heck you want. I wasn't at home, so there were no chores for me to do. No lawn mowing or laundry or walls to paint, only the fun stuff.

Playing some wiffle ball? Check.

Video games with the fellas? Check.

Attempting some fun spud gun antics? Check.

Hilariously failing at spud gun shooting? Check.

Jumping/swinging off of tall things into water? Double Check.

Quoits? I think you get the picture.

Name game? Oh god, let's not talk about the name game.

Shooting a bow for the first time in my adult life? Ahyup.

This trip allowed me to cross some stuff off my to do list for the summer. We have a similar cliff/rock jump locally that I've been wanting to do, but I feel that this rock jump was an excellent substitute, and the rope swing was just an added bonus (though a bit more terrifying).

I came back a few pound heavier and I was hoping to improve my diet this week, but it hasn't been any better. We haven't been doing real well planning our meals which is really like a highway to the dieting danger zone (not unlike the highway to the danger zone, though less cool), and it definitely doesn't make anything better.

A few positives over the week, though. Playing quoits over the weekend motivated me enough to set up my own pits at home, I went for a bike ride this week (yea, only one, I know), and we made another dent in our student loans as of today (7/30/2010). The dent wasn't as substantial as I had hoped it would be, but the damage was done and it definitely won't buff out.

I see I took my sweet-old time writing this post and it's almost time for another weekend. Awww shucks.

Debt countdown balance as of 7/30/2010: $4,842.47

Dr. Bicyclelove, or How I Learned to Love the Riverwalk

As quick update on riding around my house, I went out again this past Tuesday and it was slightly less terrible. I tried to maximize my speeds downhill so I had less pedaling to do uphill. I'm probably the first person to ever think of this, I know. If you notice the image to the left you can click on it and read some notes that I made about the ride.

Looking at the elevation data on the graph, it seems pretty apparent that the GPS in my phone isn't quick enough to update the elevation accurately as I'm going fast (fortunately, this doesn't happen often). This is probably a problem with any GPS to a point, but this if the first time I noticed it. If you look at the left half of the graph, you'll notice that the elevation data is much smoother (faster). On the right, however, the elevation is much more defined. In theory, the elevation data should be a mirror image because it's the exact same route. Just goes to show as much as I love my phone, I can't rely too much on it for super-accurate GPS data.

This time, however, I wanted to talk about the Riverwalk that was constructed as part of the market street bridge project. The bad news is that I have to drive to get there (ok, ok, I suppose I could ride my bike - but I won't), but the good news is that it's very nice and relatively easy to ride on, depending on the IQ of the people you share the path with.

The route I rode on 7/13/2010 started and ended further east down the bike trail, closer to Montoursville (and Club Fred, the local strip joint!). I was going to do a shorter route but parking was an issue, and I could use the exercise.

So far I consider this trip to be my best, it was almost 9 miles and I kept my average speed up to almost 14mph. The whole route was pretty flat, and if it wasn't for having to slow for ignorant users of the path I could have probably had my average speed above 14mph, maybe closer to 15mph.

If you look at the graph, the last stretch of ride was flat and practically deserted road, so I tried to finish strong. I wasn't in the super-duper-racer tuck position but I was pedaling about as hard as I felt I could get away with, and it looks like I kept a solid 20mph for a half mile or so. In real cyclist terms that's probably not that much of an achievement, but again I felt like it was a good effort on my part.

After the ride on the 13th I was itching for another ride. The following Sunday, Amber had some shopping to do at Lowes and Walmart so I thought I would pick up the bike route there and ride the riverwalk loop and back.

I wasn't in any particular hurry so I wasn't trying to set any speed records, I was pretty pleased overall with my effort. 15 miles in 1:15 is fair for me, especially considering the foot traffic (average moving speed of 12.4mph). This was my first relatively long ride and aside from my wrists going numb I felt pretty good. I think I could comfortably go longer distance, assuming I could find a route long enough with few hills and little-traffic. My best bet is probably just to do a few extra loops of the riverwalk, but we'll see.

For some nice validation, Amber told me that she was happy I was getting some use out of the the bike. This weekend we're going to be away with some friends but I may take my mountain bike along if I'm feeling ambitious (i.e. not a chance).

Not surprisingly, I've found that I've been sleeping better on the nights that I've been biking (or exercising), and sleep has always an issue for me. I'm guessing my body never gets tired enough from sitting behind my desk all day - who knew this exercise stuff was actually useful!

Needs moar speeds

About a month ago, the time finally came for the first real test of my frug-cycle and, more importantly, the dude doing the pedaling. I planned to ride the "long walk" route Amber and I take when we're feeling not quite so lazy, basically down the road and back for a total of 3.4 miles. I thought it wouldn't take me too long and it would have been a nice break-in for me and the bike.

If there is any good news to come out of it, it's that the first half of the route is very easy, aaaannnnnd that's about it. The way back up is not enjoyable.

Referencing my Gearin' Up post from last week, I had my handy dandy nexus one with mytracks running to give me the breakdown of the trip. That is, assuming I could make it back home.

What I gained by going to the tall, skinny tires of a road bike and a lighter frame, I believe I lost (and then some) by having half the gears. I don't know much about elevation change and what "steep" truly is, but here are some numbers:

• The total distance of the trip was 3.40 miles, so 1.7 miles each way.
• Of that 1.7 miles, i would consider 1/2 of it to be "flat", and my definition of flat is something that I can comfortably pedal without wheezing. That leaves .85 miles of "hills".
• At the bottom and the top, the elevation is fairly consistant, the big elevation changes are in the middle. Over the .85 miles of hills, the total elevation change was 309 ft, which makes the average grade for that 6.5%.

Not knowing much about cycling I can't say if that's actually high, my estimates are off, or I'm just a big wussbag. To an out of shape 28 year old on a 10-speed, an average 6.5% grade over a mile felt damn near impossible. As a small victory, I didn't stop or get off the bike, though I did ride in circles for a bit before tackling the last big hill.

A few days later I tried the same route with similar results, still no stopping (except for my heart), and I still haven't stood up to pedal. Is that the key, or am I just that far out of shape? Please don't answer that. Below is the first trip, I don't think I captured a mytracks log for the second attempt.