Tank thirty-five

Total miles: 13253. Trip miles: 257.6. Gallons: 5.524. Price per gallon: $3.299.

Screen mileage: 47.5 mpg. Tank mileage: 46.6 mpg. Still on vacation...

Tank thirty-four

Total miles: 12995. Trip miles: 335.9. Gallons: 7.73. Price per gallon: $3.049.

Screen mileage: 49.5 mpg. Tank mileage: 43.5 mpg. On vacation.

A story about "Locked in the Cabinet"

Locked in the Cabinet

by Robert B. Reich

The book is great so far. I love Robert Reich’s self-deprecating humor. Here’s an excerpt from February 7, 1993. Reich, man of the people, has just closed the executive dining room. The well-meaning intent is that “This is a Democratic administration. We eat with the workers. We wait in line with the workers.” So there he is, standing on line to pay the cashier in the cafeteria, along with everyone else:

Ten minutes later, still standing in line, I feel my egalitarian zeal beginning to wane….

The line creeps forward. What if the President of the United States is trying to reach me? “I’m sorry, Mr. President, the Secretary can’t come to the phone right now. He’s in the cafeteria. Been waiting in the cashier line for twenty minutes.”

While on line, the woman in front of him strikes up a conversation with him, failing to recognize that he’s the new Secretary of Labor. Really fun stuff! I wish I’d been there.

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A story about "Locked in the Cabinet"

Locked in the Cabinet

by Robert B. Reich

I’m at a friend’s house, and picked up Robert Reich’s Locked in the Cabinet, buried amongst a ton of other books here. I enjoyed his book I’ll Be Short, so I’m giving this a try. Interesting, so far.

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Tank thirty-three

Total miles: 12659. Trip miles: 145.2. Gallons: 2.794. Price per gallon: $3.219.

Screen mileage: 47.5 mpg. Tank mileage: 52.0 mpg. Usual pump. A few short trips.

This was an unusual case, in that I filled up with more than half a tank of gas in the car, in preparation for a long drive. The tank mileage is better than the screen mileage, also unusual. I'm not sure, but the pump may have stopped early, before completely filling the tank.

I moved my home base yesterday, so I've said good-bye to the "usual pump." I'll have to seek out another one around my new temporary digs.

Tank thirty-two

Total miles: 12514. Trip miles: 393.6. Gallons: 8.030. Price per gallon: $3.179.

Screen mileage: 50.5 mpg. Tank mileage: 49.0 mpg. Usual pump. A few longer trips.

Tank thirty-one

Total miles: 12120. Trip miles: 317.9. Gallons: 7.428. Price per gallon: $3.029.

Screen mileage: 47.5 mpg. Tank mileage: 42.8 mpg. Used a different, full-service gas station this time. The guy topped it off, so more gas went in than usual, which probably caused the tank mileage to drop a bit.

A review of "Microserfs"

Microserfs

by Douglas Coupland

I found about the first hundred pages of Microserfs amusing, and then it was more of the same, and more of the same, and yet more of the same. I do not know what the entire middle of the book was for. Perhaps for character development; but the characters never struck me as anything more than cardboard (perhaps they were just too realistically boring). The twist at the end was good, but after being bored for a couple hundred pages, I was just glad to be done with this.

I probably would have actually enjoyed this book, with some heavy editing.

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200K+

Yay, finished another Holiday Challenge! I think this is the earliest I’ve ever finished it.

See more progress on: Complete the Concept2 Holiday Challenge

Tank thirty

Total miles: 11803. Trip miles: 284.3. Gallons: 6.458. Price per gallon: $3.199.

Screen mileage: 46.7 mpg. Tank mileage: 44.0 mpg. Filled the tank at the usual pump today. Temperatures have been pretty low, and most of my trips have been short, under 30 minutes.

I also took the car in for a wash. High time for that.

Over 75% done

I passed 150K in the Concept2 Holiday Challenge today… I’m in the home stretch now!

See more progress on: Complete the Concept2 Holiday Challenge

A review of "The Killer Angels"

The Killer Angels

by Michael Shaara

I picked up The Killer Angels while visiting Gettysburg, this fall. It is a fictionalization of the Battle of Gettysburg, and a good novel to read in conjunction with that visit. It is written well, and does a lot to make the battle more than a set of dry facts and numbers.

The novel focuses pretty narrowly on what happened during the battle, specifically, and only devotes a few pages to discussions about the cause of the war. I would have liked more attention to be given to that broader context. Other than that, no complaints.

I will add that I am somewhat leery of reading fictionalizations of historical events; without expertise, you don't know which part is fiction and which is fact. There are some negative reviews at Amazon claiming that Shaara played fast and loose with historical facts; but I don't see any such criticisms at wiki. On the plus side, wiki claims that the novel "has also been cited by Joss Whedon as the original inspiration for his science fiction/Western hybrid series Firefly."

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A review of "Gilmore Girls - The Complete First Season"

Gilmore Girls - The Complete First Season

Watching Gilmore Girls makes me want a do over of my childhood. Even the arguments are charming. The premise is highly unrealistic – it’s very convenient that this single mom has a set of wealthy parents that she can approach (albeit reluctantly) for favors. And I’m not really very keen on the cast of quirky supporting characters. But overall, it is enjoyable escapist fare for those of us who had a less-than-marvelous childhood and a bumpy educational experience. The scripting and delivery are both excellent! This is one of my favorite TV series.

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100K!

Two episodes of Gilmore Girls and 13K later, I’ve hit 100K – the halfway mark!

See more progress on: Complete the Concept2 Holiday Challenge

Tank twenty-nine

Total miles: 11518. Trip miles: 322.3. Gallons: 6.703. Price per gallon: $3.259.

Screen mileage: 49.3 mpg. Tank mileage: 48.1 mpg. Filled the tank at the usual pump today. I also put more air in the tires; they were low by 5 PSI in the front and 3 PSI in the back. No surprise. I haven't checked them in months, and the temperature was about 30 °F when I measured the pressure.

65K so far

I’m up to 65K today. Catching up fast after the slow start!

See more progress on: Complete the Concept2 Holiday Challenge

A review of "Protocols of Zion"

Protocols of Zion

I rented The Protocols of Zion because I like a good conspiracy theory, and I wanted to see what this one was about. I thought this would be an interesting exposition and debunking of a conspiracy theory. In that sense, it disappointed.

The movie doesn’t go into the history of the The Protocols, although the DVD extras do fill in the cracks there. This is not a documentary about that text per se; rather, it uses that text as a launching point to study the recent rise in anti-Semitism.

It’s a distressing film, even if you are already aware of the existence of such ignorant and hate-filled people as are interviewed here. Why do some people hold to such confused and unreasoning beliefs? It almost seems like a form of mental illness.

Given that the movie is so emotionally exhausting, is it worth watching? It is educational for anyone who is unaware of what is going on in the world. But if you are aware of these things, it may simply make you feel discouraged, helpless, and hopeless about human nature. In the DVD extras, in a Q&A session with the director, someone suggests that the movie lacks a suggestion about how to deal with these offensive ideologies. The questioner points to organizations like the Anti-Defamation League. Perhaps a better answer is to improve education, in the US and around the world, so that more emphasis is placed on critical thinking skills.

The DVD extras are worth going through. There’s a timeline for the “Protocols” which you can flip through, starting in 1903 and ending in 2005. This gives you some of the facts about the history of that text, which were missing in the documentary itself. There is also a good set of interviews, including one with Will Eisner, whose work I love.

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Why I gave up consuming "Casino Royale (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)"

Casino Royale (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

by Martin Campbell

I got bored. Not my kind of action movie. But then, I’m not a Bond fan.

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2007 Holiday Challenge

I did my first 10K today!

See more progress on: Complete the Concept2 Holiday Challenge

Tank twenty-eight

Total miles: 11196. Trip miles: 362.9. Gallons: 7.429. Price per gallon: $3.199.

Screen mileage: 50.0 mpg. Tank mileage: 48.8 mpg. The usual pump today. And yes, I really did buy the exact same amount of gas this time as I did last time - 7.429 gallons. Weird, but true!

I tanked up around noon and drove off to Sleeping Giant Park for my hike. When I drove back past the gas station about three hours later, the price per gallon had been raised by six cents, making me feel extra lucky.