Asus EEE 1005HA review Pt 3

So far I've had the 1005HA for about a month and I am pleased with it after the initial power supply problem. The replacement power supply is holding up very well though sometimes I find that it and the netbook get pretty warm. I've left XP on the system though I am being careful with what sites I visit. I've tossed a bunch of my tools such as Groovy, IntelliJ (I'm real happy with the 8.1 IntelliJ editor on Linux and Windows - woo-hoo, 9.0 was just announced). The primary use of the netbook has been browsing the internet, reading my books, a little multimedia and light application use. Video is choppy but that happens on all my machines so it's probably an access problem (too much latency?). Over all I am very pleased with the unit. The battery really does last a long time (6+ hours) when put into the correct mode. Hopefully I won't need to have any service done in it as that seems to be Asus's weak point.

And life goes on ...

No, no one in my life has died but I've been very busy. In August I finished my BS degree and my employer has informed me that I need more which means a MS. Basically they want more of an engineering degree with 16 university level math credits, at least 8 science credits and a curriculum that has that as a pre-requisite. I'm looking at Pace University and NJIT. I like what I see with NJIT and I'll be attending a Graduate Open House there in a week. In addition to putting me in the whole for an addition $40K I need to get 8 additional math credits (Calc III and Statistics and 8 science credits to replace my college level course). I'll need to study for the Graduate Placement Exam which I should pass but I am nervous about. I may also need to review the GRE. Overall I am excited about learning.

I have been busy riding my bike. I've actually written several blog entries but I never posted them. The new Giant TCR Advanced frame is fantastic! I've slowed a bit because my ribs still hurt at various times. I think I cracked a few rib and maybe my shoulder. They really get sore with weather changes but are fine the rest of the time. I've been using my lighting system to get out and ride. It's fun riding at night but it's a bit hard to find low traffic areas to ride in.

Lastly, I've had my first experience with bad internet business service from Nostalgia Films (www.nostalgiafilms.com). I will never do any business with them ever again! Since October 31st I've attempted to contact them about an order I've placed. I have not received it and I have not received any reply to any of my emails (I've tried 3 different email addresses). They claimed to have filled the order pretty fast but that was the last I've heard from them. They use Yahoo Store to accept orders but I've been unable to issue a complaint to Yahoo Store also. So I won't be doing business with any more Yahoo Store businesses either (what good are they, they provide for reassurance). So if you are interested in doing business with Nostalgia Films I recommend you don't.

Crash! Owie!

Well now I've gone and done it, I crashed Wednesday night. Yes it was my fault. Basically what happened was I accelerated hard, looked back at traffic when I looked up my friend in front of me went left, I went right and rode into the path of a large I beam. I was probably doing 20 mph and somehow I walked away with only minor damage. The bike, on the other hand, cracked. That night I didn't notice the damage as it was hard to see and rode home 10 - 15 miles. But in the bright of day it was found. So it's now in the shop getting an estimate for the repairs. Oddly enough the front wheel sustained no damage (no cracks in the rim, spokes or hub), stayed true and the tired didn't burst. As for me, well I flipped off the bike (I went completely over the handle bars and did a flip). My helmet cracked and I'm surprised it didn't shatter as I hit the ground hard. I skid on my helmet and Camelbak of a brief distance and landed on my ... butt. :-) I compressed my chest pretty hard and was in a lot of pain. When I finally stopped I was in a great deal of pain. I took inventory of the damage (start at the toes and work your way up), waited a while for the adrenaline to subside and determined that I actually survived relatively unscathed. I'm one lucky rider! My sternum still hurts (sore when I sneeze), a few neck and back muscles are slightly sore, my knuckles are scabbed now (dang I'm a knuckle dragger :-/ ) and I did not sustain a concussion (I've had plenty and know what they feel like). Oh, I also shattered the screen on my cell phone, which was in my Camelbak. The ride back home was interesting my friend and I laughed a lot (which hurt like hell when he made me laugh too hard) but I was grateful to be alive!

Finally some nice weather!

It has been a rotten June and start to July! It's rain almost every day, many with thunderstorms. So finally this Saturday (July 4 20009) it was gorgeous (well it was windy but I'll take it anyway), sunny and mid-70's. We rode from Cranbury to Brielle. I was tired of visiting the Pine Barrens and we hadn't been down the shore this year. Technically we weren't down the shore yet as the shore traffic is dangerous once the summer season opens and we weren't going to play in that kind of traffic. Anyway, Mark and I decided to keep it short and not do a century as neither of us had been on the bike since the Longest Day ride (206.5 miles @ 17.5 mph avg). We also decided not to bust it like we usually try to do. When we hit the Manasquann rails-to-trails path it was full of tons of people (it's very popular). We had to be careful as there we lots of kids and dogs. There were several large groups of non-club cyclists who were all over the place. made the ride interesting but like I said we weren't busting it so no big deal. Our return ride was just as interesting the trail traffic was still busy as it was the first nice day in over a month and the 4th of July weekend. For Mark and myself we had to do battle with a head wind. Summer winds in NJ are generally out of the West when it's warm and this was no exception. The difference here was that it was quite strong. I probably should have gone to Ringo but I need to hit a bike shop and Brielle Cyclery is one of the best. Overall it was an excellent ride.

On the subject of Brielle Cyclery, I must say it's really is one of the best shops I've been to. I needed a new cluster as I had worn out the current one. I also thought I needed a new front ring as the chain was shot and I had ignored it since early June. I put the chain on two months earlier and I must have put on a lot more miles than I thought as I wore out a new chain and a rear tire (also put on with the chain). Anyway the gentleman from the shop took a look at my bike (outside) while the place was packed and busy. He told me just the chain and cluster would need replacing. He could have sold me the ring but told me I didn't need it. He said they probably last a lot longer than I thought. He was very polite and helpful. We spoke of the saddle as he's a Brooks user too. and the radical setup I have (nose down, handle bars lower than the nose). I told him it was very comfortable for me (yes it's weird). Brielle will be getting a lot more of my business in the future.

Leading up to the CJBC's Longest Day ride

The last few weeks have been interesting. Last year, around this time I was dealing with leg problems that were scary. I was pushing a pace of around 18.3 mph over 120 miles (a flat route). By about mile 110 I could no longer push up an over pass (South Jersey mountains ;-). I had no strength at all. I'm not talking about the lack of snap you may have towards the end of a long ride, I mean had nothing! At the start of the month I had a little scare on a century training ride when I managed to keep pace until mile 90. I had been off the bike for two weeks and played catch up just days before. This year my scare turned out to be rather minor. It was my diet, I bonked. Since then I've been pushing the pace and chasing cyclists late in our long rides (phew!).

Last week my friends (Gina and Mark) and I rode from Cranbury to Batsto then Tabernacle and home again. It was a nasty ride. Gina's tires were low for the first 40 miles so she was beat up. It was warm and windy. So windy that we had yellow/green fog (pollen) in the Barrens (great for making it difficult to breath). I was hot but we couldn't tell because of the wind and as usual it was humid in the Barrens. The Chatsworth to Batsto section (20 miles) was into a decent head wind. Then the ride back up Rt 206 from Hammington to Taberbacle was just plain nasty (too much traffic and high speed). The only good thing to come out of the ride was that we checked a good portion of the Longest Day route route, we determined that Rt 206 is no longer an option for this ride and that it was a great training ride. It was great for training because it was a ride from hell, we survived and we we experienced everything one would expect on the Longest Day ride. Oh and most importantly, we survived.