Tangent's Tangents

Fixed RSS Feed

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:05:42 +0000

The KaceyGreen.com RSS feed was broken for a while, I fixed it and you can find it here: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/kaceygreen

What up Internet?

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:40:58 +0000

For those of you not following me on Facebook or twitter ( @GCustom ) I have been on a kick not to waste my youth. So each week, usually on a Friday I’ll make sure I have some sort of adventure, no matter how small or mundane it may see to either myself or outsiders.

This week I completed part two of my private adventure from last week, several people in my real life know more about this, but it really isn’t exciting for anyone but me.

Last weekend a customer recommended that I try out Gotham Bagels, so today I did that, and they are delicious! We may have to have a bagel-off for the official bagel of the Hybrid Club (including seeing which of the two local NY bagel shops is the most green savvy).

I think I’ll put the rest of the adventures here in my journal instead of on Facebook, there is better formatting here and I don’t have to worry about how to work the pictures, or force people to sign up for a service.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Computer issues

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:59:26 +0000

This really sucks, HP has had my computer since Friday the 27th and I have no real status updates from them other than the fact that they have received the system. It took them 6 days just to get the box I was to send the computer in, to me. I called in a warranty claim because my HP Tablet PC was having two issues. The first was that the system would periodically think that the pen was constantly clicking in random parts of the lower right hand corner of the screen when in laptop mode and plugged into AC power (not running off the battery). The other issue was that the wireless communications module failed. Wi-Fi was completely gone but Bluetooth would work most of the time.

How long does it take to replace a wireless card and a motherboard? Argh!

The frustrating part is that I am only really setup for blog posting from the tablet and the main reason for switching from the laptop to the tablet other than the touch screen and pen was the smaller size and weight. I’ve switched back the 17 incher and I’ve left the desktop as my unmoving Live Mesh repository and of course my Media Center (TV & PVR really)

I could set the laptop up to handle posting comfortably but by the time its finally configured just the way I like the tablet will be back according to the overly pessimistic date they gave me as the latest date, March 9th. The ticket was submitted February 19th. That is 18 days without my main system and a comfortable setup.

Have you ever been frustrated by a computer malfunction where the computer didn’t blow up and eat all your data at the same time? (Yes, I made backups just in case)

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Travelers

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:28:48 +0000

Image by: Wyscan

This morning I had a Silverado 1500 that either knew how to work a traffic jam, or had been caught behind me before and knew the drill.

He kept back about 4 to 10 car lengths depending on what the flow in front of me was doing, and I kept 2 to 10 car lengths between the cars in front of me. The two of us and everyone behind us were travelling 20-45 mph through the jam and people were able to merge in and out of our lane with ease. The folks in the left two lanes were travelling if you can call it that 1 to 5 mph stop and go.

The enemy of a traffic jam is open space, getting on the bumper of the car in front of you will make it impossible for people to merge in and out of your lane smoothly and will make the jam stronger each time someone has to force their way in and will slow everyone behind the merge down, if you are in a jam moving at less than 1 mile per hour this could halve the speed. On the other hand if people are letting every other car into the flow smoothly the average speed will raise once the blockage is cleared, and during the blocked period speed will remain smooth as long as people drive courteously.

The empty space I leave will spread throughout the jam and eventually break it up just a bit. The reason this works is because people are allowed to move freely and not feel the need to make crazy maneuvers that interrupt the flow of traffic in adjacent lanes causing slowing.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Only 50.5 MPG today :(

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:21:22 +0000

12/08/2008 - Today I had a big seven mile view of this:

Yes that is 10 MPH showing on the speedometer and yes that is partially melted ice at the edge of the driver’s side wiper’s range. I tried my best to practice traffic smoothing, basically adjusting your speed so that you don’t come to a stop in a traffic jam, I experienced moderate success and only had to stop 4 times in the whole seven miles, each stop less than ten seconds in duration. I had forgotten to compensate for the cold engine’s higher idle speed, and didn’t anticipate the amount of people jumping off of each onramp.

The ride home was much less eventful, I sold two cars today and the second was pretty much at closing time, so I got off at ~2230 (10:30pm) and got home after 2300 (11pm). I managed 58.1 mpg much lower than the low 60s scores I’d been achieving lately.

Winter is my favorite season but I’ve come to realize I only really like it because of the lazy winter afternoons where I can lay on the carpet and enjoy a good book while basking in a sunbeam. Good thing tomorrow is a day off, we’ll see if I manage to catch up on any of my reading.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

9 tenths of a cent per gallon

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:02:24 +0000

Continuing my posts about fuel stations today

Nearly every fuel station charges us a stupidity tax. Why must we pay an extra penny for every gallon we buy? The industry is not fooling anyone and the practice is so engrained in our culture we do not even mention the .009 when we discuss gas prices we just mention the numbers in the larger print on the signs. I know there are reasons for why things are the way we see them today.

I know this sick twisted tradition dates back to when a penny was worth something significant on its own in the 1920s. Eighty-Eight years later, we do not receive any savings off this practice. Let’s get into the 21st century here; the stock market did it with their switch to decimals from fractions. The other argument is the federal gas tax is currently 18.4 cents on every gallon, my sales tax on all other goods is often fractional too, say 6.5% or 7.xx% whatever when everything gets totaled up the final price is rounded up one penny. Gas purchases can be computed the same way, say the gas tax is half a percent; it really comes out that low at current prices. Multiply my whole tank by the .5% tax and round up to the nearest penny, I would even vote for a tax increase if it were actually going to improving the road system, maintaining the roads and improving congestion.

This has to stop, just because we have done something since the 1920s does not make it the best way to do things. There was a CITGO station in Gainesville that regularly didn't charge the "we're sticking it to you because we can fee" whenever they were not charging the extra penny I would fill up even if I didn't need to, to support the practice (rewarding good behavior they were .009 cheaper than the Shell station next door). The only reason I stopped shopping them was their lack of top tier certification at the time.

Am I going to write my congressional representative or do anything about it? No unless enough of you want to, not a fight I am getting into by myself. I will just going to stop using gasoline eventually and switch to a battery electric vehicle.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Positions available

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:47:21 +0000

I have needed to make this post for some time now. FLhybrid.com needs a local event coordinator, and a volunteer editor. Midlands Hybrid can use an assistant event coordinator and a volunteer editor as well. Please send your information via the Contact us page at GRLT.com

When planning some of the recent events for the Midlands Hybrid Club I realized that the physical distance between the Florida club and myself has made regular events difficult for me to orchestrate from South Carolina without hiring someone. I want the Florida club to have the same opportunities as the South Carolina Club, what I'm looking for is someone energetic and enthusiastic who can handle the stresses of building awareness through events such as gatherings and fundraisers. I can still do major functions and remote based gatherings with everything as it is. When going over the short-term goals for the Midlands club and after a particularly hard-hitting question from a reporter at The Gainesville Sun, I want to make sure all the clean personal transportation clubs to have the same opportunities available so that national events are not out of reach.

Kacey Green
for the GCustom clean personal transportation clubs
“Promoting the spread of clean personal transportation technology.”

Smoking ban in Columbia bars possible

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:43:52 +0000

This is great news; I am tired of spending a night out on the town with friends and coworkers and coming back with my clothes, and car reeking of cigarette smoke. I understand this limits the freedoms of the smokers, but it does protect my personal space, I don't arrive home feeling guilty for hanging out because now it will take days to get the smoke smell out of my car and my jacket. Some of my friends and coworkers are smokers but they are quite responsible and only smoke in designated smoking areas, I am sympathetic to their potential increased burden and elated at my new potential freedom.

The State | 04/19/2008 | Smoking ban in Columbia bars possible

Councilman E.W. Cromartie, one of the four council members who voted to exempt bars from the city’s smoking ban, is having second thoughts about the issue. “I think we may have to look at that again,” Cromartie said. “It has been some time since the last time we voted.” Only one council member would have to change his or her vote for the issue to be reconsidered. The change comes after hearing complaints from restaurant and bar owners. Andy Yogherty, owner of the Publick House on Devine Street, pleaded with council members earlier this week to change their minds. He said excluding bars penalizes businesses, like his, that have both a restaurant and a bar. If there is to be a smoking ban, he said, it should be enforced across the board. Yogherty apparently struck a chord with Cromartie.

What do you think?

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Changes waiting in the wings

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:53:48 +0000

Anyone who remembers the start of my personal blog here should remember why I started it; this weblog was a test-bed for the new version of the content management system "Tech with a twist of lime!" is running, that version went gold months ago and has even has a pair of stability releases. So coming up you will see this site's functionality morph to a more fully featured platform much like the one at GRLT. After the tests are complete they will roll to the Midlands Hybrid Club site, once that site is ready for Saturday's soft launch this site will go back to being my personal blog but able to handle anything I might throw at it. Next up is the upgrade of GRLT and the splitting of the tech and hybrid sides of the sites, long overdue.

Back to that history lesson, I had a test mule but it bore my name, only at this point did I see the point of a personal blog (for myself anyway, I’ve been reading personal blogs for years). I got really into posting and found my balance, then work got in the way and I stopped posting altogether. After becoming a workaholic yet again, I found a pseudo-balance for work/personal life and now I am back baby!

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Fresh new song!

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:38:16 +0000

I was listening to "I love to move in here" off Moby's new album

this morning on my way to my staff meeting. This song has a great beat and a nice rap session and some great bass lines, it really caught me by surprise. I listened to it about five times today and cranked up the volume in the Prius. The lyrics were easy to learn and I don't anticipate this one playing itself out quickly, unless XM channel 26 picks it up in their rotation. XM 26 is the station the radio is set to at work. The fresh new song and the cool breeze combined to put me in a great mood for the day ahead. Listen to "I love to move in here" and let me know what you think.

Update: After writing my mini-review of this track I found a place to download it for free and a review of the whole album here: http://mainstreamisntsobad.blogspot.com/2008/03/last-night-with-moby.html

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Technorati Tags: music,moby,new songs

Fighting the Flab VI

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 03:02:22 +0000

Today I walked another route slightly longer than my normal route, and it wiped me out. I worked up a thin glisten of sweat, even with the cooler weather and the constant breeze; my legs feel like they can’t support my weight right now. Tonight was done at a faster pace for about seventy-five percent of the “workout”. Tomorrow I close at work so I’ll need to make a greater effort to take care of fighting the flab before it gets hot, or time for work rolls around.

Day off, 2007.9.19

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 03:30:42 +0000

Today was my highly anticipated day off, I missed the opportunity to exercise in the daylight, but I completed a task that has been on my task list since the month after I took delivery of my Prius. Today’s walk was several times longer than usual and the first half went at a brisk pace, the second half I was exploring and went at the usual pace. Tomorrow is tentatively light strength training day, we’ll see what happens then. I did not get quite as much done as expected because there were unexpected errands all day, and about 14:30, the Prius project started to materialize. I will provide more details at “Tech with a twist of lime!” tomorrow after some field-testing.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Fighting the Flab V

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:01:32 +0000

Today I skipped my walk because I had been jogging everywhere at work today and when I arrived back home, I was too tired for more exercise. Other than that, I’ve nothing to report. Thankfully, tomorrow is a day off, I will attempt to get some exercise during the daylight hours and see how I like that at this point in my life; I find that the nighttime exercises are quite comfortable.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Status

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:46:12 +0000

I've been running at full-throttle since 06:45 Eastern, I don't have the energy for two full posts now, there will be a brief write-up on today's trip at GRLT. I did fight the flab today with a walk on a different route and running with crazy energy and enthusiasm. Tonight I will sleep soundly.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Fighting the Flab IV

bb@grlt.com (Kacey Green) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:47:29 +0000

Today’s walk was awesome, the fall temperatures were amazingly comfortable. The cool, soft, autumn breeze was just enough to keep my temperatures down and I did not feel like a grungy caveman after arriving back home, I had a thin layer of perspiration and felt the effects of a light workout but without ending up feeling disgusting. I did get some of the light strength training in, with a bonus, today I helped several customers with their luggage but they were all flying with bricks, their heavy belongings were my free bonus strength training! At “Tech with a twist of lime!”, I will discuss my upcoming business trip. I think Tuesday, I close at work, and this enables me to have the morning off to write some more substantial content for both websites.

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Tangent's Tangents

Fixed RSS Feed

What up Internet?

Computer issues

Travelers

Only 50.5 MPG today :(

9 tenths of a cent per gallon

Positions available

Kacey Green for the GCustom clean personal transportation clubs “Promoting the spread of clean personal transportation technology.”

Smoking ban in Columbia bars possible

Kacey Green KaceyGreen.com "This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Changes waiting in the wings

Kacey Green KaceyGreen.com "This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Fresh new song!

Fighting the Flab VI

Day off, 2007.9.19

Fighting the Flab V

Status

Fighting the Flab IV

Kacey Green
for the GCustom clean personal transportation clubs
“Promoting the spread of clean personal transportation technology.”

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."

Kacey Green
KaceyGreen.com
"This post brought to you by Tangent's randomly firing synapses."