Overpass Experiences The Eric Wroolie Blog

Decked out in the Gear

In London you see a lot of guys with fold-up bikes.  They’re pretty cool.  Kind of like laptops for bikes I guess.  You can take them anywhere.

But nearly every guy I see with the folding bike is decked out in full cycling gear.  I don’t just mean the helmet (everyone should wear one).  I mean biking shirt, spandex trousers, shoes, etc.  They are obviously on their way to work and they are being healthy.  I have no problem with that.  But if you are going to ride a half a bike, shouldn’t you wear just the basics in clothing?

Before I bought my motorbike, I was looking to buy a scooter instead.  They look small and fun and easy to zip around in.  I’ve rented them in Hawaii and it was really nice to cruise around with the wind in my hair.  But helmets weren’t required there.  It was half a motorcycle, so it didn’t require a full motorcycle safety commitment.  In England there is a helmet law. When I saw that I would have to wear the full garb with a scooter that I would on a bike, I decided to get the full bike.  (I’m really glad I did, by the way.)  I guess I kind of think of fold-up bikes as the pedal equivalent of scooters.  I’ve never ridden one, so I’m in no way an authority.

I guess I’m guilty with this over-dressing when it comes to running.  Back in my early twenties, when I had little money, I can remember looking at special running shirts which removed sweat from your body and dedicated running shorts which fit the contours of your legs and marvelling at how expensive they were.  There was nothing wrong with my ratty-ass cotton t-shirts and shorts.  This high-tech gear didn’t help that much—the important thing was to get out on the road.  I used to snicker at people who wore that stuff and obviously didn’t run very often.  Now, I have a few running shirts and a couple pairs of those shorts.  I head out in the morning looking like an Olympic athlete in training – except for the belly of of course.  I don’t know how much the gear helps me.  It’s more for motivation than anything else.  Sometimes, that one thing that gets me out on the road is the chance to test out my new shorts or see how comfortable my new running shirt is.

Maybe that’s why the portable bikers wear it.  Because it was fun to shop for and it keeps them on their bikes.

#1 Commuter Tip: Sit next to the sleeping guy

I’ve mentioned this on a previous post but I’ll take some time to elaborate a bit here.

Every train commuter wants to sit with a vacant seat next to him.  Sometimes, that’s not possible.  So the next best thing is to sit next to someone who is sleeping.

Frequently, I get on a train and see loads of seats, but all of them next to someone.  If there is one seat available only, it’s a no-brainer—take it.  But when there are loads of seats, you got to choose.  Everyone watches you to see where you are going to sit.  No one wants you to take their prized vacant seat.  They try to use tricks like sitting in the aisle seat because you probably wouldn’t bother asking them to move so you can squeeze in there.  Other people put their bags on the vacant seat.

Here are some things to look for:

1.  Never sit next to the guy reading the paper.  He will be elbowing you every few minutes as he turns pages.  He’s probably snooty anyway.  When they announce a delay because of a signal failure, he’s the guy who will huff and puff the most.

2.  Avoid sitting next to someone in their early twenties.  They may not be on the phone now, but it’s coming out within the next 5-10 minutes.  I know very few people I can call at 7am on a weekday.  People in their twenties know loads.

3.  Avoid sitting next to a non-commuter.  They may try to strike a conversation with you.   You just want to listen to your iPod and get to work.

4.  Find a sleeping guy (there’s always at least one).  Sit next to him.

The sleeping guy is great.  He doesn’t care what’s going on.  He will occasional jolt up and look around to see what station we are stopping at, but then he will calm down and drift back off.

The sleeping guy doesn’t care what you are doing on your laptop.  As I type this, the guy next to me can care less.  There’s nothing worse than see the person sitting next to you watch what you are typing as you type it.

The sleeping guys doesn’t care that you sat next to him.  He doesn’t roll his eyes or huff as he moves his bag off your seat.  If you are careful, he may not even know you sat next to him at all.

Occasionally, you get a guy who snores.  This isn’t so bad.  People will look over at you and you try to sit up straight and alert so everyone knows it’s not you.  You can sometimes look back at them and sort nod your head sideways at the sleeping guy as if to say “it’s him” and they raise your shoulders as if to say “what can you do?”  No one expects you to wake the guy (unless that’s why they are looking at me).  I respect the sleeping guy too much to wake him.

So, that’s it.  My one and only commuter tip.  May it make your commutes as enjoyable as it makes mine.

Baseball Season is Here!

Baseball season starts tonight for the San Diego Padres.  The team is different.  No Hoffman.  No Greene.  Might not be much of a team this year (time will tell).  But still there is something about opening day which is very exciting—even from 8,000 miles away.

Following baseball gets easier every year.  I can remember when I worked a night shift at the Super 8 Motel in Missouri listening to the Padres play the Cardinals on the radio.  The only reason the Pads were on at all was because they were playing St. Louis—which was about 3 hours away.  I had to content myself with ESPN highlights for most games. A few years later, MLB.com started broadcasting the audio feeds on the internet and I listened to the 1998 Padres win the pennant over a 56k modem in the middle of the night for my first year in England.  Soon, with broadband came video.  I can now watch every game of the year—just as if I was living in SD—but who has the time?

As I write this, I’m playing with the MLB app for the iPhone on the train.  It was introduced last year, but this year it adds Gameday audio so I can listen to the phone just as if I was listening to a radio broadcast in the States.  It works well on 3G (well except for when I leave 3G areas on the train) so I’m listening sporadically to the home opener of the Indians at Rangers.  Padres Opening day doesn’t start until 1am.  I’m debating whether I want to set the alarm so I can watch it live.

When I first moved to England, watching baseball was one of the things I missed the most.  It was ubiquitous in the States, but you don’t realise it until you leave (like bubble gum).  Over there, you can turn on the TV and there is likely a game on somewhere.

There are some baseball broadcasts in England.  Channel 5 shows the ESPN feed on Sunday  and Wednesday nights in the wee hours of the morning.  Since it is ESPN and only twice a week, you only get the big teams—rarely the Padres.  This used to be how I watched baseball before broadband.  It wasn’t the same.  Because it was on in the middle of the night, you didn’t get the obligatory beer commercials—you get lonely men chat phone services (breathy voice: “Are you lonely? Would you like to meet young, fun, people? . . . “) which kind of takes the shine off the national past-time.

MLB.com has a great service which costs about $100 a season and you can watch any game over streaming media and all the games are archived for later viewing. Since most SD games are on in the middle of the night or early morning, I could wait for the archive to become available at watch it at a more convenient time, but it is not the same as watching live.  One season, I was convinced that the team did better when I wore a certain cap while watching.  If it was taped, I had no control over the game.

This morning I went to get coffee with friend at work.  He was telling about how great the Manchester United match was yesterday.  Apparently, it was very exciting in the last few minutes.  He asked if I saw it.  I told him I missed. The truth is I didn’t even know it was on.  This is a testament to my lack of assimilation, I guess.  I’ve tried—I really have.  I plan to take the kids to see Reading United play a match this year—hopefully to foster an appreciation for football like my parents gave me an appreciation for baseball.

UPDATED (a few hours later):

I'm up at 1am to watch the MLB.com feed I raved about earlier.  What a huge disappointment.  They launched a new Flash player which promised the moon but couldn't deliver.  It's supposed to have DVR-like ability and allow picture in picture, etc.  The high-def picture keeps freezing and then becomes completely unavailable.  Teething problems, probably.  The forum is full of them.  But this is opening day. 

Also, MLB.com thinks the ball game started at 1:05am (UK time), but that is actually in the fourth inning.  First 3 innings appear to be unavailable.

A very disappointing outing for the MLB video player.

The end of the world as we know it

I read last week's Time Magazine Essay, The End of Excess by Kurt Andersen, about the current recession (dubbed The Great Recession). We have no shortage of depressing news and commentary.  One phrase really stuck out.  "This is the end of the world as we've known it. But it isn't the end of the world." 

Then tonight I watched this very good video about the current state of the world:

We are living in interesting times.