Now that I'm unemployed it seems like everything is breaking down….not just my old body. Last week it was the microwave, and then the other day our freakin printer mysteriously stopped printing anything black! After attempting every fix known to man and the Internet, I finally gave up and went out to buy a new one. And I got a beauty at a great price! Brought it home, got it all set up and working, software installed on 2 computers, and all working wirelessly! I was quite pleased with myself, until just as a final check I tried to use the promised duplex printing. I had specifically asked if the printer would do this. Whoops! Yes it will do it….. with an attachment! And no, the attachment is not available. Frustrating!
Oh well. I decide it's going back, and so I go to remove the paper tray that I had to install, such that the whole thing will go back in the box. Well you know what? I used to consider myself a pretty smart guy. Not any longer! I spent a half hour trying to get the effin thing off, and in the end took box and printer back separately. They were good about giving me my money back, and the last I seen the guys at Staples they had the printer upside down, pulling and pushing and twisting, and I guarantee they won't get it apart without breaking something! That's why I gave up, because I didn't want to end up owning a brand new, broken printer!!
So with my inability to get our old printer working, and then the frustration of the paper tray dilemma, I wasn't feeling too confident when Roo asked me to try to figure out why her USB drives showed full, but with no files on them? But if it's one thing I am its stubborn, and so I gave it a go. After 10 minutes with no success she suggested that probably Odd John would know. "Well of course he'll know", I said. "But I'll be damned if I'm ready to ask him!!" If on top of my other failures I had to ask for help on this little thing I would have to kill myself. I figured it out!
So now I'm feeling just a wee bit more confident, and so I tackled a little bit of technology that absolutely amazes me the more I mess with it. Believe it or not, I parked my bicycle close to my computer, and then wirelessly downloaded the current level of appropriate firmware to my pedals. Isn't that freakin amazing? Downloading software to my bicycle!!
But that's just the beginning. The whole concept of these pedals amazes me. The accuracy is unbelievable. I have the luxury of my computrainer to measure them against, and although I had done a few quick tests, I decided today that I would do my entire workout pitting the new pedals against the trainer. I was very careful to calibrate both devices as per the manuals, and then set out on my 80 minute workout. The results? Identical!!
Realize that the trainer device is about 8" in diameter, weighs probably 7-8 pounds, and is plugged into the wall, and a computer. The pedals in comparison depend on a slender alloy spindle, connected to a very small pod, which sends data wirelessly to my 2" bike computer, all of which is powered by 2 watch batteries! Astounding!! Who gives a shit about a printer? Not me!
And to top my day off I had a pretty decent workout. I continue to focus on riding in the aero bars, and for the first time today I realized that I wasn't feeling much relief when I took my upright break. When I realized this it initially bothered me, but then it hit me! To my mind, there can be only one reason for it. I'm getting stronger down in the bars!!! I'm pretty sure that's it. Yup Yup!!
computrainer long intervals, 80 minutes
…and this one explains everything…
"The march of science and technology does not imply growing intellectual complexity in the lives of most people. It often means the opposite."---Thomas Sowell
Love
Peter
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