Category: Interests

Strangely enough, this is could be a combination of Academic and Professional with a bit of wood working, motorcycle riding and miscellaneous commentary threw in.

Categories
Interests

Why bikers wave.

I recently went on a motorcycle trip.  Nice trip down to South Carolina to visit a friend of mine.  480 miles from my house to his without incident, without problem, and with a whole bunch o’ wind and pavement beneath the tires.

It was a much needed vacation for me, some time alone to reflect and think.  It was also a nice start to what I believe will become a yearly ritual for me.  Be it for a week or an extended weekend, a long motorcycle ride each year seems to be in order. But that’s another story.

During my time in South Carolina, my friends wife saw a couple of motorcyclists do the customary hand out to the side “wave” as we were heading into Columbia, SC on the “slab” (4 lane divided highway).  At that point she asked “Why do they do that? They’re clear across the four lane!”.  At the time I didn’t have a good answer for her, but as I pondered the question during my ride home, I came up with a theory.

Biker’s wave because we all share a common interest.  Bikes.  We know that no matter what the other guy is riding, he enjoys the same joy of being on the open road on two wheels.  As you pass folks in cars, you have no idea what they might do for a living,  what they like on tv, what hobbies they might have.  All you know about that person is that they are heading to a destination in a car.

When you pass a biker, you know at least one thing.  They ride.  Now, you might meet that person in another situation and have nothing in common, but while you are on that bike, you share the road and a passion.  In fact, you might not even like that other person.  But, chances are, if you happen to be stopped along side the road, scratching your head and looking at your bike, they will stop.  They might not be able to help, but they will stop, because they share that common interest.

Of course, some don’t wave.  Maybe they’re shifting gears, didn’t see you or are just too afraid to let go of the handlebar.  Or, maybe, just maybe,  they don’t share that sense of brotherhood or their sense of brotherhood is only with those that ride the same kind of bike.  Those folks are the minority.

I hope that helps explain to those non-bikers out there why we wave.  In the mean time, keep the rubber side down and see ya’ll in the wind.

Categories
Interests

Identifying bear droppings.

As conversations tend to go around me (in some twisted and illogical pattern) we ended up with discussing bear scat.

Ah, now I remember, the conversation started with the camera mount I recently bought for my motorcycle.  I bought it with the intention of using it on my road trip this coming weekend.  After all, what better way to share your riding experience with other folks than with pictures.  Well, my coworker suggested that the camera would serve a dual purpose when I was going the “Daniel Boone National Forest” since they would be able to tell what happened to me when they found the camera in a pile of bear scat.

This of course reminded me of a joke which is really the purpose of this post.

=======
A wilderness guide is giving his charges some essential
information about hiking in the woods.
"When hiking, let the bears know you are coming by wearing
little bells on your clothing. Also, carry some pepper
spray just in case.
"It is also helpful to learn to recognize bear droppings or
scat.  Black bear scat is tubular and often contains the
remains of seeds, grass, and other plant matter.  Grizzly
bear scat contains little bells and smells like pepper spray."
=======
Categories
Academics Interests

Wikipedia

So, I was wasting some time reading this article about the Fibonacci Sequence.  Interesting enough I suppose, I’m not going to argue the validity of article.  However, as I was reading the comments I noticed that several people were referencing wikipedia as a source to validate their argument.

Now, I’m not a researcher, but I work with folks that their primary job is to help people with research.  And, I’m quite certain that every single one of them would be screaming “wikipedia is NOT a PRIMARY resource!””.

Come on folks, even the idea behind wikipedia should tell you that.  ANYONE, and by anyone, I mean anyone with internet access, can access and add to wikipedia.  Of course, there are people out there reading through perhaps checking the validity of what’s being posted, but really, there are limits to what can be checked.  Would it really be that hard to try to find an article from, oh, I don’t know, maybe an encyclopedia, that stated the origin of the Fibonacci Sequence?

I suppose the joke “of course it’s true, I saw it on TV” will soon be replaced with “of course it’s true, I read it on Wikipedia”.  And there starts the downward spiral….