apple juice

According to sources in the White House, President Barack Obama has been uncharacteristically distant and withdrawn ever since last months two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

via Obama Depressed, Distant Since Battlestar Galactica Series Finale | The Onion – Americas Finest News Source.

Classic!

I’m waiting at Dunn Brothers while my new tires get installed at the Southwest Firestone.

I purchased the Bridgestone Ecopia EP100s for my Golf… after not really too much research 🙂

They are a brand-new tire developed (marketed) as a “green” option for tires. Since the Golf gets very good mileage, I thought, why not try to maximize that a bit with tires?

Think of Ecopia as a bold step forward. It’s an environmentally conscious tire designed to improve rolling resistance, which will help passenger cars achieve better gas mileage — without sacrificing the smooth, quiet ride or reliable wet handling you’ve come to expect from Bridgestone tires.

(says the marketing materials)

Barry at Southwest Firestone says that it’s the first set of Ecopia’s they’ve sold, so I’ll take your thanks in advance on being a guinea pig for a brand-new tire.

I’ll have to report back on how they actually perform, but I’m excited to take a good road trip and see what happens. I’m switching from a fairly high-performance tire (more sticky, less mpg) to this tire, so my expections may be a bit too high in terms of the cornering performance, for example.

But, the first time I drive up to the cabin and get a 50+mpg tank, I’ll be pretty happy! 🙂

The Brooklyn Bridge is an important front in the bike publicity war; it is a place where bikes are losing.

via A Modest Proposal – Bikers, Take the High Road – NYTimes.com.

Great article about biking in the city. And regarding the brooklyn bridge, I witnessed a number of near misses and one intentional shoulder-check as bikers sped past the walkers.

With $8 billion in the federal stimulus package devoted to high-speed rail projects, supporters of the long-planned high-speed train from Chicago to St. Paul are scrambling to prepare a proposal strong enough to grab some of that money.

via High-speed train from Chicago: Next stop, Minneapolis?.

It wasn’t clear to me if this was “High-Speed” as the US Government currently defines it… 89mph I think. Or if it was High Speed as the Japanese might define it.

Update: After reading the article a bit closer, it’s 110mph, as is the current government definition… it would be a 5 1/2 hour trip.

Either way, great news for traveling out of minneapolis/st. paul to chicago. And great news for rail around the country.

I’m just listening to the latest U2 album. I like U2, but…

I’ve just determined my least favorite rock song structure.

The Bridge.

Show me a good bridge, and I’ll show you ten others that leave you groaning.

Why? Why? Why?

Who’s thinking that it is a good idea?

Graduate school forces you to overinvest: It’s too high risk.

via Don’t try to dodge the recession with grad school | Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist.

This was an interesting article to read as I occaisionally entertain the thought…

Readability is a simple tool that makes reading on the Web more enjoyable…

Sold!

Readability – An Arc90 Lab Experiment.