Biking And Other Accomplishments
I've started biking again; mainly because I hate the bus "service" in this city, but also just because it's fun and good for me. I've already improved quite a bit since I started up again. The first time I rode to work, it took me about 40 minutes, give or take. These days, it takes about 25 minutes. Getting home took about 40 minutes when I first started. Now it takes me 31. My average MPH has risen from about 12 to about 14.5. Also, something I've never been able to measure in western PA, I can comfortably maintain a speed of about 17 to 18 MPH on flat ground.
That last statistic is one I found out today. I finally rode along the river trails: first, the one that goes from downtown to some parking lot near Greenfield / South Oakland, then across the Hot Metal Bridge to the one that follows the river on the South Side. In about three hours of riding (about 3:45 of total time outside), I covered 42 miles today. I only stopped to get my bearings or to wait for traffic to clear.
All in all, it was a good ride. For about the last eight miles, I started getting saddle sore and for the last five miles I was firmly up against "the wall". I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow, but it was a damn good ride.
I've also started playing through the Megaman Zero series. I must say: fucking good... but tricky. I say tricky instead of hard or difficult because it's not that hard of a game; in fact, it's quite easy. The only problem is not screwing up. Tricky, not hard. I'm going to be playing them for quite some time. I finished the first one not too long ago... with an overall B rank. Not bad, considering the fact that the last stage has you fighting nearly all of the bosses in the game... again (easy)... and one of the trickiest final bosses I've ever faced. If you screw up, you have to fight them all over again... if you want a good ending rank, that is.
The second game is much more difficult, though. In order to get the "EX Skills", you have to reach the stage boss with an A or S rank... which basically means you need to finish the stage with an A or S rank, too... if you want to get the EX Skill from the NEXT boss. Oi. Luckily, I managed to eke out an S rank on the intro stage... a good start. Now I just have to completely master every subsequent stage...
Ironically, considering the title of this entry, I'm feeling like a bit of a failure. I looked up some of my old crushes... and one of them is a Brown alumnus and now works as an investment banker in New York City. The other (I only looked up two) graduated from Pitt and is now attending USC and is making a film. And then there's me: still looking for a job that pays... spending more than he makes... and not writing nearly as much as he should be. The real bugger though... all the progress I make with my bike and whatever else in my life... doesn't pay a damn thing. Nobody cares that I can go 18 miles per hour on flat ground for more than two hours straight. That doesn't make you any money. All that energy and time and stuff... and IF I got a full time, big-paying job... I'd probably have to stop biking as much as I do now. Oh well. I'll just keep on going, I guess...
This is going to be a lean summer... in more ways than one.
Oh, and Wong Kar-Wai got me hooked on California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas. That man makes such wonderful movies... Darn you, Chunking Express!
That last statistic is one I found out today. I finally rode along the river trails: first, the one that goes from downtown to some parking lot near Greenfield / South Oakland, then across the Hot Metal Bridge to the one that follows the river on the South Side. In about three hours of riding (about 3:45 of total time outside), I covered 42 miles today. I only stopped to get my bearings or to wait for traffic to clear.
All in all, it was a good ride. For about the last eight miles, I started getting saddle sore and for the last five miles I was firmly up against "the wall". I'm probably going to be sore tomorrow, but it was a damn good ride.
I've also started playing through the Megaman Zero series. I must say: fucking good... but tricky. I say tricky instead of hard or difficult because it's not that hard of a game; in fact, it's quite easy. The only problem is not screwing up. Tricky, not hard. I'm going to be playing them for quite some time. I finished the first one not too long ago... with an overall B rank. Not bad, considering the fact that the last stage has you fighting nearly all of the bosses in the game... again (easy)... and one of the trickiest final bosses I've ever faced. If you screw up, you have to fight them all over again... if you want a good ending rank, that is.
The second game is much more difficult, though. In order to get the "EX Skills", you have to reach the stage boss with an A or S rank... which basically means you need to finish the stage with an A or S rank, too... if you want to get the EX Skill from the NEXT boss. Oi. Luckily, I managed to eke out an S rank on the intro stage... a good start. Now I just have to completely master every subsequent stage...
Ironically, considering the title of this entry, I'm feeling like a bit of a failure. I looked up some of my old crushes... and one of them is a Brown alumnus and now works as an investment banker in New York City. The other (I only looked up two) graduated from Pitt and is now attending USC and is making a film. And then there's me: still looking for a job that pays... spending more than he makes... and not writing nearly as much as he should be. The real bugger though... all the progress I make with my bike and whatever else in my life... doesn't pay a damn thing. Nobody cares that I can go 18 miles per hour on flat ground for more than two hours straight. That doesn't make you any money. All that energy and time and stuff... and IF I got a full time, big-paying job... I'd probably have to stop biking as much as I do now. Oh well. I'll just keep on going, I guess...
This is going to be a lean summer... in more ways than one.
Oh, and Wong Kar-Wai got me hooked on California Dreamin' by The Mamas and the Papas. That man makes such wonderful movies... Darn you, Chunking Express!