Concussiony

Argh. Some of the symptoms are back today. Actually they've been back
here and there since they started getting better, especially when I
sleep to little or otherwise put my brain under stress. Thinking I
might skip training tomorrow and go to bed early to boot. Maybe even
avoid training altogether until after New Zealand.

My kingdom for iPhone games

There's one very obvious place where the lack of real native third
party apps is painful and the Ajax-as-API argument falls completely
apart: on the subway. Let's just hope that the rumors of EA and/or
nintendo being tapped to produce games are true. I'd also love to see
an ebook reader. Bonus points for selling ebook through iTunes.

Passages

There's a brief section of track on my train ride home where the EDGE
connection almost aproaches "fast". Almost. It's in the more working
class section of the peninsula. Presumably there are fewer dataplan
users about around there. It's interesting.

T-minus two days till the start of east coast trip. Trial run of my
racing legs let weekend at Lafayette went alright. Not a whole lot of
power on that course, but then it never was a very good one for me.
Such a smoother line through the hairpin every single time compared to
my previous races there on lower categories. No comparison. So that's
good. Now, can I win the clam race? I think it's still theoretically
possible... Luck is going to play a pretty big part in it. Mostly I
just want to do better than last year. And to put on a good show for
the friends and family present.

Man, riding in the extra-bouncy top section of the train does *not*
make this keyboard any easier.

On the train

The bart train this time. On the way to the lovely town of lafayette
for a bike race. This race to be the proving ground for if I'm doing
well enough yet to really race. I plan on sitting near the back for
most of it. Well, we'll see what darren and eric want to do otherwise.
They're both good sprinters but I think I'm theonly one among us with
a good uphill kick. That does shit-all though of I don't have the
stones to be up in the top 10 in the last lap on this course.

I got a good cat-call on the way to the Bart this morning. It's been a
while (xtine excluded).

Metaphorical though of the weekend: do the little fish that eat food
out of shark's teeth feel greatful that they're getting more to eat
than if they were just skulking around the ocean or do they resent the
disparity in power and wealth that exists? What if the two fish had
grown from similarly-sized eggs? Compare and contrast this with the
relationship between first-world powers and developing-world
manufacturing centers. Or something like that. I need a stronger
metaphors.

Cheers

Dump

Appologies to anyone actually reading this, as yet again i have
basically nothing to say. That said, my typing continues to improve.
The other day I attempted, with mild success, to takenotes on my phone
in a meeting. It was more of a presentation and fairly content-sparse
which made things a bit easier. Things keeping me from typing faster:
a) sometimes I miss a tap, so the wrong numbers of mashes are
registered, defeating the correction mechanism. I also somettimes mash
out of order with my left and write thumbs, with the same effect. B)
straying off of the keypad itself. I end up with random return
characters or compound, incorrected mashes when I miss the space. I
think I'll get better at those eventually.

Life events: it was Christines last day of work today, a tearful,
bittersweet event.

Next week is the clam race. I'm excited and a little scared. Don't
want to embarrass myself with the folks watching. Still debating
whether to mention my concussion to them. I hate making them worry
about me. I can hear my mom's worried-but-biting-her-tongue sigh as I
type this.

For the last three days I've done the exact same two hour ride for my
training. Same route. Same time train to the start point. Same random
girl on the train I swear I either knew from college or highschool but
don't talk to. Its been comforting slipping into a routine like that.
I can let my mind wander. I can compare how yesterday felt versus
today. I can fine-tune my calorie intake. It also helps that each
successive day's interval was easier than the last. It also gave me a
chance to fall back into a groove with my compliant-but-whippy Ti
litespeed and enjoy that bike more, rather than curse its lack of
responsiveness.

Okay. One more stop. Then home. Then, shortly, bed. Then up at 6:45
like I've been all week to go riding again. Cheers.

Killing time

On the train. What's new... Concussion is getting better. I'd rate it
at around 98% better. Maybe more. Finally wrote my coach and told him
about it. His response was more worried than I expected. Kind of
heartwarming.

I think I have to work this weekend which stinks. I'd sort of planned
to make Sunday my first race back. I guess my beard can grow a little
longer. xtine will like that. I'm letting the full neck-beard grow
this time, for now anyway. Anyway, weekend work fairly sucks. I'll
just try to get there and back somewhat early so it will be more like
a very quiet and relaxed weekday.

Then next week its off to the clam race. That should be fun.
Especially with company in tow. Its probably more appropriate that
clam be my first race back as its a fairly calm and safe race. Just
need to kick as much ass as possible and make it home okay.

Testing..

Trying the email gateway.

iphone day two

I'm getting better at the keyboard. Noticed what seems to be a bug, too. Sometimes the error correction suggestion feature just goes away. I wonder how common this is. It might explain some of the pain that certain people are having learning the system. Moving out of the current text field and then back in seams to solve it in safari, at least. When things are working I find that I can almost touch type, if that's possible in a system with no tactile feedback.

Its funny sometimes how fast your body slips back into out of shape mode. I found myself sort of racing a dude on the way home from the train last night and though I beat him handily, my lungs threatened to explode after got home. Actually they still hurt today. Silly lungs.

Today was not nearly as unproductive as yesterday, my first iPhone day. I got about as much done, but I was able to leave a good deal earlier. Biggest time-suck today: setting up photo syncing. I now have the last 3 years of my photos on this sexy little slab, separated into smart albums by time period. Ask for a slideshow sometime.

Yep, pretty exciting here in xton-land. Just stay tuned. Once I've mastered this keyboard I may start writing more than filler and the contents of my dinner (rissoto and stuffed mushroom, thanks). I swear.

got an iPhone.

so why not blog more again? My old crappy hand-built system is no good for the phony so I'll be using the blog o matic for the time being. I don't promise a great deal of quality content but I do expect to improve my speed on this here magic keyboard.

Life status right now: decent. Recovering. I've spent the last week and a bit living in the fog of a concussion. Not at all fun. I was mostly funcional at work but not at all happy to be there. I didn't feel good at all about biking in any sort of demanding situation.

but now my head is mainly screwed on straight, my iPhone is activated and happy, and most everything is right with the world.

And yes, this phone rocks so hard. It is most every bit as good as I'd hoped.