Kendall Giles

Jesse Byock: Viking Age Iceland

I read this book prior to my trip to Iceland, and it really served to give me a good sense of the country, how it was settled, who settled it, and how the population grew over time. It also explained the desolation of the countryside - when you travel from the airport to Reykjavik, the land is like much like on the moon - treeless crags abound. The book explains how this came to be. In addition, the book gives a good background to the sagas and other adventures of the people of Iceland, and those who came to its shores.

NB: I saw this guy while in Iceland - how cool is that?

Technorati Tags: book, culture, living

I thought John Wesley's Top 5 Ways to Build a Wonderful Life were pretty good:

• Live Below Your Means
• Put Your Money to Work
• Educate Yourself
• Develop Lasting Personal Relationships
• Work Towards a Dream You're Passionate About

The scientists who died and are in heaven
decide to play hide-n-seek.

Unfortunately Einstein is the one who is it first...........
He is supposed to count up to 100...and
then start searching.....

Everyone starts hiding except Newton.........

Newton just draws a square of 1 meter and stands in
it right in front of Einstein.

Einstein's counting:
1,2,3......97,98,99.....100........ He opens his eyes
and finds Newton standing right in front of him........

Einstein says "Newton's out..Newton's out....."

Newton denies this and says "I am not out........I am not
Newton......"

All the scientists come out to see how he proves that
he is not Newton.

Newton says "I am standing in an area of 1 sq
meter..... That makes me Newton per square
meter...... Since one Newton per square meter is one
Pascal, I'm Pascal, Therefore Pascal is OUT.......!

Technorati Tags: academia, culture, living, science, travel

So for a period of time in the near future I will be working and doing research in a place where I will not have a car. This might not be so bad if it were not for the commute back and forth to the office.

So my solution, perhaps with my engineering background showing a bit too much, was to buy a folding bike.

The bike I chose: a Downtube Mini.

In theory:

wake up --> ride folding bike to office --> fold bike and carry into office --> work --> ride folding bike back to where I am staying --> fold bike and carry inside.

This way, I have convenient transportation, the bike won't be stolen by leaving it outside chained to some bike-rack, and, perhaps best/worst of all, I will be able to carry my bike with me on the airplane!

So here is the bike:

And here is the bike in my suitcase:

But, airports being what they are these days, hopefully I will not suffer the same fate as Stephen Orsak who, upon riding his bike from the Minneapolis St Paul International Airport, enjoined discussions with the police that did not end in his favor:

As I lay still on the pavement, Officer Wingate walked over to my glasses and smashed them into the ground with his boot. I was handcuffed, body searched and baggage searched. Reinforcements were called in, a total of (4) squad cars and a paramedic unit.

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Technorati Tags: academia, culture, job, living, travel, work

Well, at least using my experience with one trip, it works.

In my previous post, "In theory: how to survive when on travel without a car - the folding bike", I discussed this idea for staying in a city without a car. I showed a picture of the bike and a picture of the bike folded in a suitcase.

Here is a photo of the bike, unpacked from the suitcase, after a trip of 2,329 miles via airplane:

Technorati Tags: culture, living, travel

So, iPhones have been available for a couple of hours now on the East Coast, and in just a few minutes will be available on the West Coast. As expected, the demand is great, and there are lines.

Here is the situation on Westwood Avenue in Los Angeles, where there is a line in front of the AT&T store (limit 1 per customer):

Technorati Tags: culture, living, travel