Ramblin' Man
This may be possibly the most "Journal-like" update in quite a while. For those of you who don't know, I'm out in Livermore, California for the summer, working at LLNL. I'd tell you what I'm working on, but then I'd have to kill you. Ok, not really - I'm working on source-to-source compilers. But that's not nearly as cool.
I'm staying in an amazingly barren apartment. It's unfurnished, and since I flew here, there's no furniture. I bought an airbed from Target, so I'm sitting on that while typing this. But, if you scan to the right a bit on the above map, you'll note the grayed area on the map; that's where I work. The proximity makes the apartment situation better. My roommate has a car, too, so I carpool in to work with him.
But I wanted a bit more freedom, and, since work is pretty close, I decided to buy a bike. I got me a Trek 7200FX from a local bike store. I haven't actually ridden it to work yet, but I ride it pretty much every day when I get back. It's awesomely fun. I needed to start doing this earlier; I by the time it's about 3 or 4 at the Lab, I start anticipating getting home so I can go for a ride. Crazy, huh?
I figure a lot of you have more experience with bikes and whatnot than I do (Eric and Arun - and Chethan, when you get back - I'm looking at you), so any tips about riding, stuff to do, stuff to get, etc. would be appreciated. So far, all I've got is the bike, a helmet, and a cheapy chain lock (there's not much risk of it's getting stolen at the lab, and otherwise it just sits in the apartment, so I'm not too worried). I shoot for riding maybe forty-five minutes to an hour a day (when it's not raining... stupid rain). But I don't ride all that fast. Would it be better to ride faster but for less time? Or should I ride for even more time than I am now? It's pretty flat around here, but my legs do get tired when going uphill. Hopefully with more time riding, that'll get better. Anyway, this is pretty much what I've been excited about for the past week or so, and I thought I'd share.
Oh, also, I'm leaving for India this weekend. Go me! I'll be back in three weeks or so. Maybe I'll get a chance to ramble on while I'm there, too (exciting, huh?). Take care, everyone!
View this post on my blog
I'm staying in an amazingly barren apartment. It's unfurnished, and since I flew here, there's no furniture. I bought an airbed from Target, so I'm sitting on that while typing this. But, if you scan to the right a bit on the above map, you'll note the grayed area on the map; that's where I work. The proximity makes the apartment situation better. My roommate has a car, too, so I carpool in to work with him.
But I wanted a bit more freedom, and, since work is pretty close, I decided to buy a bike. I got me a Trek 7200FX from a local bike store. I haven't actually ridden it to work yet, but I ride it pretty much every day when I get back. It's awesomely fun. I needed to start doing this earlier; I by the time it's about 3 or 4 at the Lab, I start anticipating getting home so I can go for a ride. Crazy, huh?
I figure a lot of you have more experience with bikes and whatnot than I do (Eric and Arun - and Chethan, when you get back - I'm looking at you), so any tips about riding, stuff to do, stuff to get, etc. would be appreciated. So far, all I've got is the bike, a helmet, and a cheapy chain lock (there's not much risk of it's getting stolen at the lab, and otherwise it just sits in the apartment, so I'm not too worried). I shoot for riding maybe forty-five minutes to an hour a day (when it's not raining... stupid rain). But I don't ride all that fast. Would it be better to ride faster but for less time? Or should I ride for even more time than I am now? It's pretty flat around here, but my legs do get tired when going uphill. Hopefully with more time riding, that'll get better. Anyway, this is pretty much what I've been excited about for the past week or so, and I thought I'd share.
Oh, also, I'm leaving for India this weekend. Go me! I'll be back in three weeks or so. Maybe I'll get a chance to ramble on while I'm there, too (exciting, huh?). Take care, everyone!
View this post on my blog