FAMU Way Extension

This is the front page of a City of Tallahassee document about a new road to be built south of Gaines.  It would have been nice to have this in place as an alternate route before messing up Gaines street.  One thing to notice (after you check out the paralleled donk & the red car with big rims and blackouts) is the double sidewalk and a nice wide bike lane that is separated from parked cars by the "door zone" painted with diagonal white lines.  I think this could become a preferred bike route.

100 Mile January

I decided about 10 days into January that I would try to run 100 miles this month.  I had noticed a high mileage beginning to the month.  I just passed my goal yesterday, sitting at 101.5 miles for the month.  I still have 5 days left.  I don't plan on running every day, but I am about to go out for a little jaunt now.

It's kind of funny that this stint followed a 2012 with only 481 miles.  Only 35.5 were in December.  I don't think I'll keep up this rate of mileage throughout the year, but it's been a nice project.  I feel good.

Socrates Sock

Update 1-27-13: Cam Carter has announced production delays.  There should be weekly updates here.

Original from 10-31-12:
So, there's a Kickstarter project to make amazingly durable socks.  I wanted to get in at the minimum level, but they had sold out, so I kicked in $65 to get 4 pair of socks & a handkerchief.  I've never backed a project on Kickstarter before, but I think it's a super cool website.  It's incredible what we can do with the internet these days.

I've been serious about socks since I bought my first pair of Sock Guy socks in undergrad, probably in 2003.  I used to wear plain white cotton socks.  The moisture wicking Sock Guy sock was my favorite until I wore it out.  I started picking up a pair or 2 of "technical" socks at a time and now they're what I wear almost exclusively.  The Socrates Sock looks to be so durable that it will last indefinitely.  I'm going to need some more business socks anyway so it was good to get these.  My good socks are all athletic style right now.  I'll wear them as a base layer underneath business socks to get the benefits of moisture wicking combined with a dual-layer effect.

Speaking of wearing socks out...In order to test the durability of the Socrates Sock, I'm planning on "barefoot" running in the Socrates Socks.  I might make a youtube video review detailing the damage done.  I have worn out quite a few pair of socks.  In fact, I quit buying Sock Guy socks because they seem to wear out faster than some other brands I've found.  Wearing out a pair of anything is a pretty good feeling for me though.  As long as it doesn't happen prematurely, I feel like I've got my money's worth out of the worn out item.  Let's hope I'll get that money's worth feeling from the Socrates Socks even before they wear out.

Pick #331

Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"

People are Awesome

Frugal February, Round 2

I'm doing Frugal February again this year.  You can read about the background here.  Last year I had seven rules to follow to eliminate my impulse spending.  This year I'm doing a bit of tweaking.  I will retain all the old rules and add some new ones.

New rules:
1.  I will try to drink mainly water to reduce my expenditure on drinks.
2.  I will try to eat fairly cheaply without letting my diet fall to crap.  Last year I did not limit myself on grocery expenditures and spent about $108 on food.  I'm pretty sure I can drop this to $90.  I might try to eat some food that's been on the shelf in my house for a while.
3.  I'm allowing expenditure on Valentine's day stuff, but nothing extravagant.  Definitely under $20.

CAVEAT:  I am exempt from these rules if I get a flyout.  A flyout is basically a day long interview/campus visit for a university that is interested in hiring me.  The exemption lasts from the day before I leave until the day after I return.  At my discretion I may make up for these days by extending these rules into March.
...and by the way, I realized that I have a multi-day teaching conference to attend in February that's a couple hundred miles away...I'm going to allow gas for that.

Pick #330

Trisha Yearwood - "She’s in Love with the Boy"