Ridiculous technological failures + Rocking the Commute

So today, Friday the 13th, is International Winter Bike to Work Day. It was not as cold this morning as yesterday morning (21 degrees F), but nonetheless I practiced my Balaclava Substitute Wrap:



Of course, then my glasses started to fog up badly, so I let the scarf fall back down. Plus, I was too warmly dressed again - sweating by the time I reached work.

Today I rode in along the Antelope Creek Trail, which is a longer route but the sort of scenic experience that causes one to grin upon arrival instead of slouching along through traffic lights. I have to detour to the east to hop on the trail, and then ride along Vine St. to get in to campus, but it looks to be a worthwhile route.

scrottie and I tried to have a Skype date last night, which failed utterly. I got to see a blurry image of him for about 30 seconds total. We couldn't even connect via a voice call, so eventually I had to resort to tapping out textages on the smartphone. The tapping is somewhat easier and faster than the dumbphone (plus, texts can be longer and don't cost money), but my index finger gets tired after a while. I learned that the tiny "E" next to the cell signal indicates that my data connectivity is basically one step above nill. And even then its dropping in and out of connectivity. I think I'm going to have to go back to shopping for phone plans, as the TMobile coverage in this area is wretched. The UNL guest internet login lists the following set of carriers for the area: Alltel PCS, Alltel, AT&T, Bell South (Blackberry), Bell South Mobility, Bell South, Bell South SMS, Bell South Wireless, Cingular (GSM), Cingular (TDMA), Cingular Wireless, Cingular, MCI Phone, MCI, Metro PCS, Nextel, Sprint PCS, US Cellular, Verizon PCS, Verizon.

I still dislike Verizon. Any of you have thoughts on any of these other carriers?

Loneliness and solitude

At some point after my move to Texas, I read an article that distinguished between loneliness and solitude, the former a state of forced aloneness, the latter implying some level of appreciation for solo time. This was a revelatory distinction for me at the time, because the difference in the level of social activities between Arizona and Texas was great.

It makes me think of an incredible experience I had in Costa Rica, at a field site. I went off on a brief hike by myself because I wanted to explore the enchanting beauty of the place at my own pace. As I walked along a trail, eventually I observed some animal movements in the distance, and as I approached I discovered the activity was a pair of white armadillos, rooting around in the vegetation. I quietly watched them until they wandered further off into the forest.

When humans hike in groups, these sorts of animal encounters almost never happen, because groups of hiking humans wind up devoting noise and energy to the social group, even directing the attention of other group members to specific sights. The experience isn't necessarily better or worse, just different.

When I made the distinction in Texas, I realized, hey, all this extra anonymous free time could be really useful for getting a hell of a lot of reading done.  That helped tremendously to offset the feelings of loneliness I had been experiencing.

For some reason, I feel like I am relishing the alone time even more here than in Texas. It might be because I am anticipating a more intense work schedule. Who knows. Regardless, here's to quality solitude!