The Beer Bike - Revived and Alive

After a painstakingly lengthy winter and an also seemingly harsh spring with our most recent nine consecutive days of rain and depression, the Beer Bike finally hit the trails on Saturday. Oh how beautiful he was after spending a month in the shop being tuned, polished, and greased to perfection. How handsome he looked mounted to the back of the Black Stallion. How stately he appeared covered in mud and grime...

I feel pleasantly relieved.

Mark Your Calendars

Adam, this goes especially to you. There is an upcoming meteor shower the weekend of Jeff and Angela's wedding. New England has great skies for such events, especially in the mountains...with the bears. Consider yourself forewarned...

Here is some information taken from skytour.com.

PERSEIDS (maximum August 12, 17h UT [10am PDT; 1pm EDT])
(radiant drift map from IMO)

Moon: First Quarter (minor interference)

Best viewing windows: Thursday evening into Friday morning, August 11/12, from 11pm until morning twilight gets too bright (4:30am or so). The best hours will be the morning ones. As a second option, Friday evening into Saturday morning, August 12/13, from 11pm until 4:30am. Rates may be fairly steady throughout the night.

Recommended for: Just about anyone in the northern temperate latitudes (but a dark-sky site helps a lot)!

The Perseids are definitely the most promising and accessible of this year's meteor showers. The shower has a very long duration, from about July 15 through August 25. Only on a few mornings around the August 12 peak does the shower become really prolific, however. From latitude 40 degrees N, the radiant is above the horizon as the sky starts to get dark. Rates are pretty low then, and this year the First Quarter Moon will be a bit of a deterrent to early observing. The Moon will set before midnight, however, and the Perseids should rule the rest of the night.

West Coast USA observers in particular should try to hit the Friday morning hours of August 12; expect 40-80 Perseids/hour from a truly dark site before morning twilight begins. The best place to observe the peak should actually be eastern Asia. East Coast observers may see rates in the lower part of that range. Friday night into Saturday morning should be productive as well, with peak rates over 40 Perseids/hour from dark sites and the East Coast favored at least slightly.

While these are the absolute best times to view the Perseids, the adjacent mornings (Thursday and Sunday) will also provide good rates (probably exceeding 20 Perseids/hour). View during the last couple of hours before morning twilight for best results. Die-hard observers can follow the stream's off-peak dates throughout early and mid-August without moonlight interference.

Perseids are fast meteors and tend to be fairly bright on average. An occasional fireball is seen, but these seem to depend on the luck of the draw. Perseids are by no means the only meteors visible; in the morning hours, sporadics and several minor showers combine to add ~10-15 meteors to the total. All of this assumes a dark site with the summer Milky Way blazing away. If you've got light pollution problems, both your Perseid and non-Perseid rates are going to be much, much lower. So, get out to a rural or remote site where you can enjoy the Perseids!

Crap in Your Own Can Part III

In keeping with the zesty topic at hand, my friend has submitted a solution to our problem. Thank you for the help, Brad. I'm already experiencing the freedom.

Crap in Your Own Can Part II

This morning I was in a fog. A late evening in Dover, NH consequently had me cruising down the hallway in a state of oblivion that nearly got the best of me. Quickly, I turned the corner to my bathroom to achieve a simple maneuver of reaching for a paper towel. Alas, I was abruptly met by a closed door. One that I almost planted my face upon; which, I am certain, would have made a cool noise. I did not shut it. Someone else did. And you better believe it was one of the guys. Only an hour into the day and he (whomever it may be) had already broken the quality freshness of the previously aired-out, virginesque women's bathroom.

Afraid to knock and hear a moan or something of the like, I spun on my heel and searched elsewhere for a napkin of sorts. On more than one ocassion I have agonizingly returned to my desk with a full bladder and awaited several minutes while allowing ventilation to sweep its glory throughout the hallway before rehashing the nerve to ascend it again.

What could possibly be enhancing the now obvious obsession? Really, why do they continue using my bathroom to relieve their colons? A number of thoughts have surfaced since asking myself this question.

1. Someone else may be occupying the men's room.
2. Toilet paper is well-stocked.
3. English is a second language to four of the five men. Perhaps "Women" translates to "poop here" in their native tongue.
4. Being 2 1/2 feet further down the hallway, there is that much less of a chance that someone will hear them taking care of business.
5. When standing at the toilet in their bathroom, they are facing West. In keeping with consistency, sitting on my toilet also allows them to face West.
6. My cotton blossom spray is more appealing than their blue raspberry spray.
7. Maybe they simply don't realize that I'm catching on.

I suppose I can deal as long as I don't have to use their's.

Crap in Your Own Can

As I have mentioned before, I am the only female at my workplace. Thankfully, there are two restrooms which are well labeled: Men and Women. I, being woman, choose to use the latter. Mainly because one glance in the other hole makes my skin crawl.

On occasion when I reach the door of my bathroom, I notice the door slightly shut, light and fan on and the toilet lid up. Three pinpointed evidences that the men are sneaking in a poop in my bathroom. Their potty is disgusting enough - keep it in there! Granted, it's cozy and warm in my toilet quarters, but seriously - I don't want their butt crumbs on my seat. They get to stand most of the time, but I always have to sit. I shouldn't have to hover in my own office, that's only supposed to happen in airports, restaurants, and dirty clubs.

So, for the love, back off boys!

It's a trip...

Thanks to the riveting technology of camera phones and on-the-cutting-edge progress of Blogger, you can now visit my new picture site, Travels with Lindy. The first picture is one of my haircut. It's not the greatest one, but it works for the time being. Make jokes if you must.

Halle Berry Hit My Head

I did it. For five years, my mother and aunt encouraged it. For three years, I have stared at the picture of Halle Berry. I have stared at my reflection. I have known that it would work, it would look just like hers, and it would be easy. But for some reason, I have turned down the option every time I have walked into Aunt Kathy's presence for a new cut. Finally, last night, she did it. With razor and hair in hand, I let her go to town and chop it all off! You should have seen the pile of dark curls on the floor. I knew I had a lot of hair, but really.

Last night I didn't have make up on, I was wearing a tshirt and jeans, so I looked like an emo band chick. A bass player, we decided. Today I am dressed for work and as one of my coworkers said, "you look like a high class career woman." I laughed at the high class part. I can fake it, but we all know...

Anyway, I already felt sassy, but now I look sassy. It's so easy to do, it disgusts me. Will post a picture on myspace when I have one.