This what I am doing now...

Eating at a eating place...

Storm Troopers

Yo... Its all about storm troopers...

Front of the shifter

Its cocked all funny to the side... Its supposed to really ergonomic...

Jared gets arrested by the gaurd at sram

For trying to steal the new shifters..

Sram

Jared says the little lever does both shifts... Short throw for one way long throw for the other

Grand Master Flash

I am still in vegas...

Utopia eyewear

Jared likes these glasses

Jared is the leader

Ergomo had a watts test

The winner gets an ergomo... Jared is leading and he is clowning the other competitors

Duffs shoes

Buy duffs shoes... Says jared....

Saul's shoe

This it.. Sauls rocket 7...

Ergomo

Body paint for clothes...

I am at the show

The first person I saw was slover in the parking deck...

Soon to be banned from UCI Cyclocross competition

http://www.bikeforest.com/tread/index.php

Their own (carefully thought out) sales pitch says it all:
" Have you ever wished you could get a quality treadmill workout with paying expensive gym prices?"
-and-
"Imagine running through evergreen forests or strolling down country roads. All of this is possible thanks to the rugged design and all terrain tires on the revolutionary Treadmill Bike."

Well thank god for that, how would I have ever strolled down country roads without it?

americans love chaos

i am listening to TO THE POINT on kcrw right now... they are talking about he hurricanes and disaster preparedness.. this french-american guy is talking about how we all love chaos and its a part of our collective modus operandi... he talks about how it effects our processes and the way in which we solve problems.. and how to account for this in our disaster planning... i couldnt agree more with some of this guys points...

as soon as it available i will post the link the the show...

here it is... the show is entitled "Did America Need Katrina to Get Ready for Rita?"...

my wife ordered direct tv...

let the brain rot begin...

the empire RULES!!!...

YES!!!

more from the ubersite

go now... and be sure to check out the science project...

come on jackie... love me long time...

NPR : Some See Opportunity in New Orleans Real Estate

NPR : Some See Opportunity in New Orleans Real Estate

you wanna sell your house for MORE?!... and what is this business of price gouging in open market realestate?... bill.. where are you at?

calearth

i have linked to them befoer but its time to do it again...

calearth.org

my neighbor built a little one... its really cool inside even when its 110 degrees... these things are really labor intensive.. but cheap to build... i would have to rent a concrete punp if i was doing this.. much easier...

question...

erik -

i have a question regarding riding etiquette. it absolutely drives me
nuts when i'm out training, whether it's easy or hard, and another
cyclist decides to latch on unannounced. you know the guy, he's doing
20mph and you pass at 22mph. he sprints to catch your wheel and
doesn't say a word.

now don't get me wrong, i train with groups sometimes, but when i'm
alone, it's always for a reason. i don't like the influence of an
unknown person when i'm doing a tempo ride or doing an easy spin. and
quite frankly, i don't trust that hairy-legged joe recreational rider
is not going to overlap my wheel and take me down.

if i'm riding hard, i can normally just up the pace slowly until they
can't hang on. if it's a recovery day, i stop pedalling. both options
have often resulted in insults and curses. almost always they result
in a very manly 25mph sprint, which lasts 1 block, and i end up passing
them again.

should road riders know better than to sit on someone's wheel without
announcing, asking, etc? or am i a dick? i'd be interested to see
what others on your website have to say.

michael

more huricane rants

on the ubersite.. the ubersite is pretty fun.. browse around...

more ofoto fun!...

correctly identify all of the people in this photo and win a great prize!

Technology Corner

All this talk about Palm Pilots and Treos and such has my inner geek all riled up. One question people always ask me is "I'm a poor starving cyclist - how can I afford all this stuff?"

Well, one way is to become acquainted with TechBargains - probably the top constantly-updated Technology shopping blog on the planet. Need memory? Need a Treo? Need a hard drive? Or how about a Roomba? TechBargains has the latest bargains, discounts, rebates, coupons, and other discounts on everything TECH.

Will Saunders SPIKE it?

We all know E-Rok like teh track....

Here's an interesting little press relase...

The Spike Pro Track team, consisting of eight of America’s top male and female track cyclists, will target the USA Cycling National Track Series, USA Cycling National Track Championships, USA Cycling World Cup Qualifier events and select World Cup Track events, according to team director Bill Ramsay.

So the question now is who's available to fill out the roster spots. Erik, polish up that resume!

the louisianna (sp kirk?) atty gen was making some noise about a law suit against insurance companies to make them cover flood damage as a part of their home owners policies... and i guess the big time tobacco guy lawyer is in on it too...i cant get over what BS that is since every home owner knows that home owner's insurance doesnt cover flood damage at all and you have to get a separate policy to cover it from fema... in fact NO private insurance company will cover flood damage the only place you can get it is from fema... its not in the fine print either... its right up front...

besides bankrupting insurance companies who shouldnt have to cover a flood anyway, its just jacked up because it wasnt a part of the deal anyway.. and all those people who took the risk are crying now becaue they got caught out... shit.. you live in a city surrounded by water, below sea level, in an area where hurricanes are common and you dont have flood insurance?... duh... it might be expensive.. but thats the way it goes.. i bet now its going to get even more expensive for those people...

so.. yeah.. it seems like its all nice to extend a helping hand to people in need.. blah blah blah... but to force insurers to pay for something that is known to not be covered in the policy really covers the asses of all of the rich property owners who spent that money on fast cars and gifts for their mistresses rather than on taking care of business... in the areas worst affected by the floods the home ownership rate is in the low 20%... if i remeber right.. i will have to check... the atty gen is looking out for his golf buddies and cash contributors on this one...

its crazy...

people always want a free ride and they never want to take any responsibility... and those people are usually thought to be poor black folks.. but really the big free ride goes to the top tax brackets... and to sue insurers like this is a big fat brazen attempt to dodge responsibility and place the burden on somebody else...

it will be interesting to see how far a suit goes in the courts... protecting greedy losers who want to be big time realestate investors but dont want to pay for flood insurance to protect that investment because they would make less money... they took a big risk by not buying insurance.. and by not self-insuring... and they lost.. thats the game... get over it...

i am going to go look at a copy of my insurance...

for the little home owner it sucks for sure.. and for the guys who owned a few little properties it sucks.. but hey... what can you do?... there is risk in any business... and you assume that risk wether you know it exists or not...

cool knife block you can rip-off yourself

i recoomend waxing or oiling the wood rather than a varnish...

you can get wood skewers cheaper...

here it is...

streaming radio for treo 650

if you have a treo 650 you can get streaming radio on it!... i can plug my treo into my car stereo and have free internet radio from shoutcast.. beter than paying for XM...

here is the link... you have to register with the site, they dont ask you for any personal info except an e mail address... and after that its pretty easy...

ok...

i am taking a hiatus from my site till the show... all of you who are in the "team" feel free to post some posts in the mean time... i have a lot of work to do around my marriage and my new house... and all of my available computer time will be spent on myspace... ok?...

i have to go see if someone wants to be my freind...

and i have to go commune with all the "hot" people...

so the next posts will not be by me...

Welcome to Yankee Barn Homes

Welcome to Yankee Barn Homes

Training with f#$*ing Anger...

Training with f#$*ing Anger...

myspace...

what the hell is up with myspace?... is it the new hot thing or what?... i gotta get a myspace... its on...

a few interesting search phrases bringing people to my site...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

esperanto!

UEA.ORG: English version another made up language!..

a brief history...

Esperanto was created on the idealistic hope of breaking down barriers across cultures and providing a neutral and easily learnable common language for the world. Indeed, many Esperanto enthusiasts still share this hope and have formed a number of international societies to meet and correspond with people around the world. It is estimated that there are approximately 2 million speakers of Esperanto, although an accurate count is hard to come by. Compared to the dreams of Zamenhof, the present number of Esperantists, whatever it might be, is very small. However, that Esperantists have created an international linguistic community whose numbers equal the population of a small country is an unprecedented achievement. These Esperantists learned their new language, often on their own, and use it to maintain contacts with their fellows throughout the world.

jon hamblen

jon hamblen is a good friend of mine... and i am going to do an interview with him right now... he was mentioned in the letters section of velonews (vis-a-vis dany pate) as a guy who was hyped up so much and came to nothing at all... jon is a good guy and an asset to the sport in my opinion... a true talented and motivated guy that hasnt forgotten that the whole point is to have fun.. he is a man of the people.. he never had that disease that was going around at the time where pro riders had to think their job was so so serious that they couldn't be cool guys and easy going... "coolness" is back and i think that people expect cycling to be less corporate than years ago... so its time to bring back jon hamblen to a pro team...

ES: jon... you are unprofessional...

JH: So, I'm unprofessional.


ES: no.. i mean you arent pro right now.. un-professional... but you were with navigators after you had a standout year and were Velonews Amateur of the Year... second at elite nats for the first of about 20 times, but that was back when there were still good amateurs... so i mean to say that you are professional.. you train and race diligently and you are well respected by the fans.. but you are a Cat.1...

JH: I have heard back from several directors (not directly) that and I am unprofessional and not motivated.


ES: really? well i would say that maybe you are in fact a little bit not motivated...

JH: Not motivated?... OK. I spent the last five seasons riding for teams that failed or for a little team, not getting paid or barely getting paid to race. Don't get me wrong my "little" team, Fior di Frutta is awesome, they do everything they can for me. Though, If I didn't have motivation to do this, I would've surely quit by now and started working a regular job (or a job that pays more, like stripping on the internet).


ES: sorry dude... i didn't really mean that.. ok.. you are motivated... so clearly you dont do it for the money.. you are like a SOUL biker... but if money is an issue then why dont you just quit and get that job stripping on the internet?... i know a guy who did that.. it was called "webcam dating" i think... it was weird.. i think you heard of that guy...

JH: The problem is I love racing my bike. I can't quit and don't want to quit. I don't train like I used to in the late 90's but that is because I get overtrained and anemic easily. I still put in one 6-8 hr hard day a week (when I am riding hard May-Aug) but I don't try to do that day after day anymore. It made me fast for about two years and then I sucked in 2000, really sucked. It's always in the back of my head and bothers the hell out of me.


ES: That was when you were pro.. how was that year?

JH: it was the worst year ever. I couldn't even ride 2 hrs without stopping to eat a Clif bar (then calling for a ride home). Now I train less and it hasn't slowed me down. I may not have gotten faster than I was 6 years ago but at least I'm not slower.

ES: you may be stronger.. i dont know... but i think you are WAY smarter.. that's the part that makes guys good.. knowing the job... everybody is strong when you are at a high level... what makes the difference is that you are smarter... so how is your training these days?

JH:Training is just different now. I also started racing cyclocross which effects my early season road racing. Yeah, Page, McCormack, Trebon, etc can get it together for the early season after racing cross but they're just better than me. I have to take a break, stop training and travelling for awhile after the cross season, to recover. It takes me until Apr or May to start riding well again.

ES: i dont think those guys are better than you... they have their downtimes too... and they arent particularly present in march... but i can see where motivation is hard to muster after a tough winter...

JH: Bascially, motivation is not an issue. I probably need to train less and raceless but train harder and race better when it counts to the PRO managers (early season races out west, you know, the ones VeloNews cares about).

ES: so ok.. you are motivated

JH: Motivated. I'd say so.


ES: you are "unprofessional" too...

JH: Unprofessional. Sure, I have fun screw around at races. I moon people, make dumb comments to and about all the racers, and wear my shorts really low now and then (it's still funny to me). But, I know when it's time to shut up and race (usually). I also am willing to talk to people, in fact I'd rather talk to your average bike dork than any PRO.

ES: yeah?

JH: It's nice to talk to people who are extra excited about bikes and racing, not jaded and bitter.

ES: a lot of guys are not really open to hanging out with fans... but i am and so are a lot of guys that i know... i'll hang out with anyone who has a good vibe going...

JH: I don't like most PRO's, they are a ridiculous bunch of egomaniacs (well, not all of them, just a few, but their heads are so big it seems like they take up the whole peloton). And, if you asked most people that really know me, they'd tell you "Yeah, Jon hates everybody, some more than others, but he's a good guy and really nice to most people." Well, that may not be the best way for them to put it but probably is how they'd put it. I'm cool with everyone, until they act up, I hate jerks.

ES: and you put them on a cray website...

JH; And, yeah, I have ridiculous websites but they are mostly about my friends, they love that crap. Now and then make fun of the jerks too, honestly, it just feels good giving them back what they deserve. I love writing all that funny crap. Hell, some people even like reading that funny crap. I mean, crap, it's a joke. For crap's sake... Apparently you can't be funny and race on a big team. I'm not talking about that rude, mean, frat boy cut down, only barely joking humor that some Gord's, I mean, PRO's have. I mean real funny, making an ass of yourself funny. I only use that rude humor with my friends and enemys, they usually know which they are.

ES: i think there isnt a lot you can do about any of that... if i were big time you could be on my team and we could have jason allen and just race and have a good time like we did in WS.. we could even have the blickems in our team too...

JH:Maybe I am just in the wrong sport. BMX or downhill might've been a better fit, those guys can still have fun at the top level. Too bad I suck at both of those sports and they are full of elitist assholes (just kidding downhillers, you guys rule! I love stunt biking and mullets, seriously). Or, if I had just gotten into motorcycle racing earlier, Nicky Hayden has the life, but it's too late to do it now.

ES: well, back to being unprofessional... maybe you should be 'profesional' now... i mean its all marketing.. you gotta sell the sponsor products... give it a shot because i have been talking to corbett and i think i am about to get you on healthnet...

JH: Unprofessional, well, it depends on what you mean by professional. I bet a few people have bought Time pedals and Cannondales because of me, and I think there are some people who think I'm funny, and there are probably people somewhere that I have inspired to race/ride/watch races (even my chubby buddy Mike Jones races PRO now).

Enough about me. How about that Jeff Corbett? Did I ever tell you about the
time that guy... well, that not's PRO.

The World: September 9, 2005

The World: September 9, 2005 scroll down for the globalism interview...

globish!

a simplified version of english so people can understand eachother good where english is a central language... sciences and business maybe... the official site..

books i am working on...

since i am getting married i am keyed into a whole new area of need in people's lives... i am writing a self-help book for women everywhere... here is a list of the chapters... as you can see it will be quite comprehensive!...

Silence, the Final Frontier: Where No Woman Has Gone Before.
The Undiscovered Side of Banking: Making Deposits.
Parties: Going Without New Outfits.
Man Management: Discover How Minor Household Chores Can Wait Until After the Game.
Bathroom Etiquette I: Men Need Space in the Bathroom Cabinet Too.
Bathroom Etiquette II: His Razor Is His.
Valuation: Just Because It's Not Important to You ...
Communication Skills I: Tears-The Last Resort, Not the First.
Communication Skills II: Thinking Before Speaking.
Communication Skills III: Getting What You Want, Without Nagging.
Driving a Car Safely: A Skill You CAN Acquire.
Party Etiquette: Drinking Your Fair Share.
Telephone Skills: How to Hang Up.
Introduction to Parking.
Advanced Parking: Reversing Into A Space.
Overcoming Anal Retentive Behavior: Leaving the Towels on the Floor.
Water retention: Fact or Fat.
Cooking I: Bringing Back Bacon, Eggs and Butter.
Cooking II: Bran and Tofu are Not For Human Consumption.
Cooking III: How Not to Inflict Your Diets on Other People.
Compliments: Accepting Them Gracefully.
Dancing: Why Men Don't Like To.
Classic Clothing: Wearing Outfits You Already Have.
Household Dust: A Harmless Natural Occurrence Only Women Notice.
Integrating Your Laundry: Washing It All Together.
Ballet: For Women Only.
Oil and Gas: Your Car Needs Both.
Appreciating the Humor of the Three Stooges.
Do These Jeans Make Me Look Fat? Why Men Lie.
TV Remotes: For Men Only.

from zac-

Yes Erik,

I agree with Jackson. I want you to do more research on cheap Holmes. In fact I think there should be a weekly cheap Holmes feature.

Can you start with Sherlock Holmes that guy was totally cheap always looking to Watson to foot the bill. Maybe next week we can talk about John Holmes, you know that guy had to be cheap he spent all his money on cocaine, heroin and mustache wax. Finally I would like to know more about that cheap bastard supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

This will be great.

Zac

Fwd: Dude, I want sposnorship.

-----Original Message-----

From: "Jackson Stewart" <-email withheld out of deference to jackson and his privacy requsts>
Subj: Dude, I want sposnorship.
Date: Tue Sep 13, 2005 14:50
Size: 2K
To: <erik@eriksaunders.com>

Yeah, well I got a few things on my mind that I need to convey your way since there is no more anonymous posting.

1. Congratualtions. I didn't know your getting married but, then again I guess I would advertise that if I wanted to still keep the chicks looking at my site.

2. Have a good move. I guess now I can't just hop in the car, drive 9 hours, and leave a flaming bag of shit on your door step anymore. I guess I will have to make it a point when ever I am in the NC area next year.

3. I want sponsorship for the 3 weeks off I am going to take. I don't know if you can throw in one of those lame erok water bags but, if you can I would appreciate it. Its allways nice to have a portable bidet around.

4. Your site sucks now! You notice how your not getting 100+ posts anymore. That's cuz you suckified your site with the members only sensored bull.

5. I like the housing section of your site. You need to keep doing more research on cheap holmes and cheap land. Not only that but, also you should do more on land alone so that poor cyclists can learn where to invest. You need to research more holmes and land in areas that will show thequickestgrowth inthe investment. For example where should the poor cyclist move, that is affordable but booming, and what house should they put on that land that won't fall down or won't loose value like a motorhome?

6. I don't like you, never have, never will.

Jackson

More advice...

Erik, Keep up the good work on the site... enjoying it. I've enjoyed the relationship advice for a while now.. glad to see you're interested in "coaching" some guys like me to becoming a great player... Need Help... I feel like I'm in Purgatory.. I just grad. from college, finally at 23; so no more seeing 100's of young hotties every day. But I'm not in a career either.. so the "career women" don't apply. Should I be "that guy" that's the old ass still trying to get w/ college girls.. or move on to something else? Where to look now? Thanks man

my response:

first of all you arent old... I am 30 and college chicks dig me... I am not old... A lady will decide if you are interesting or not based on a number of things... So dont count yourself out because of stupid things like age... YOU ARENT OLD...

You should make yourself available to all women that you see... If you are the type of guy to go to a certain place then you should feel like you are there for all of the women in the joint... Somehow you have to have something in common with all the ladies there no matter who theyare or where the came from simply because you chose the same spot right?... Its not much... But its something...

You have to see women in the day right?... Unless you stay at home... But there a beautuful women everywhere... So i know you have opportunities...

You have to be confident... Something that i notice with young guys is that your "confidence" is only bravado to make up for your poor self-image... One of the ways this is manifested is in your pickyness with women... If you are a guy who is constantly saying that some nice girl isnt "hot" enough then you might be suffering from low self-esteem youself... You need a chick to be so hot so that you can feel beautiful yourself... If this is you then forget being successful with the ladies... You will not likely ever be able to display that true confidence that a mature man has.. And thats what women find irrisistable.... You wont ever see the beauty and sexuality that every woman has because you wont see that in yourself...

All the most successful cassanovas that i have known were all men who appreciated the beauty of all women... They were so confident and centered that didnt ask anything of their partners but to be their beautiful selves... And i have heard some of these guys say "i dont really need a lady to fit any particular notion of hottness because i am hot enough for the both of us"... And thats really true for a confident guy who enjoys his own sexuality...

the key to meeting women and having them like you is to be comfortable in your skin and to be confident... And this comes with maturity... Which comes with age... Which means all women are more likely to choose this type of guy who is strong and centered and he is most likely older...

Ex: you are sitting at the bar and see a girl you like walk by and you "say "sit down here and order yourself a drink"... And she sits right on your lap and orders herself a drink... That works... Because she was open to a confident guy... and she wanted a free drink... but hey... She is on you lap...

So- you arent old and you cant care about how it looks to anyone...

You should make yourself open to be chosen by any women that you come into contact with... It doesnt matter if she has such and such a job or not...

Confidence and comfort with your own being...

Stop thinking you are there to "get with" a lady... Thats desparate... You are out to be chosen by a lady because of the manly and attractive qualities that you display... You go out and you do your thing... And they will notice... Sometimes you have to say a few words to get some attention but then its back to doing your thing and NOT trying to do the desparate "get with"...

it doesnt always happen right away... a woman will notice you and what it takes is for her to notice you over time... thats why you need to frequent the same places at the same times... a lady will see you once.. then see you again.. and she may watch you for weeks before you even know she knows you exist... this happens at school, at work, church, bars, clubs, grocery stores... EVERYWHERE women meet men... you need to give a woman ample opportunity to see you over a period of time...

in france, i went to the same bar few times a week at the same times.. and i got to know everyone... and i met a lot of girls there.. they had seen me... they knew people that had met me.. and they saw me making freinds and hanging out with everyone and being a popular guy... thats how it goes...

old saul met a cute girl because he was open to meeting every girl he came into contact with.. and he is confident and funny... it works...

conceptual homes

my team mate as a junior isaac ward is an architect and builder.. this is his first house... i randomly ran into his dad at rest stop in maryland.. and then i got in touch with him and he came out to captech...

conceptualhomes.com

being that i am moving

i was looking around for info on my options and i came up with this:

 

it pretty well sums up my feelings about all the options that i explored... i have decided to sell all my crap and buy all new crap...

 

 

Moving Cross-Country: A Consideration of Options That All Suck.

As someone who has moved twenty billion times in the last two months, I have some advice that perhaps you will find useful. A cross-country move is a big money hole, but perhaps you can save a few bucks by reading this article that you are reading right now. There is a secret super-saver tip at the end that no one knows about that could save you up to a thousand dollars or maybe not but no one knows about it but I can't say anything about right now because then you won't read the rest of this article, it's about a little-known package delivery service run by the government subsidized by you, the American taxpayer unless you are foreign.

If you're moving out of an apartment, remember this simple mnemonic: Your Landlord Will Destroy You (YLWDY). The "return" of your security deposit is dependent on your ability to avoid psychological landmines the landlord has had years to hone to a razor-sharp edge even though with a landmine you really don't need to sharpen it, it pretty much has the same killing power as a non-sharpened or "dull" landmine unless there's spikes or the like on the outside, then those could be sharpened, I guess. During our last move, the landlord approached us all buddy-buddy like, and indicated that we should just leave stuff in the apartment that might "come in handy" for her cousin who was moving into her first apartment. But then, on the last day, suddenly the tune has changed and there will be substantial penalties if we leave anything in the apartment (parenthetical tip: to get rid of stuff fast, take photos of it and post it in the laundry room or set it on fire). The landlord's itemized list of charges represented bold new avenues in fiction -- the lowest charge being twenty dollars for an "inoperative" keycard that had been used faithfully every day for years. To sum up: give yourself massive breathing space for moving and cleaning your apartment. Take photos for the ensuing small claims court visit. Landlords in Arizona (at the very least) save you the hassle of trying to rescue your deposit by creating the magical "non-refundable" deposit oxymoron. You may have the unique opportunity to kiss $100+ goodbye when you move into your new AZ apartment. It's like Japan's "key money" that is paid at the same time, but at least the Japanese don't call a sleazy payoff a "deposit.".

Now that everything has been moved out of your apartment AND YOU CLEANED IT AND DON'T FORGET TO USE TOOTHPASTE AS SPACKLING BECAUSE THE ROACHES LIKE TOOTHPASTE THAT WILL SHOW THEM -- SHOW THEM ALL!!!!, how are you going to get your stuff to your new home? Well, I can tell you about several ways that you probably already know about, and one AMAZING way that works if you don't have furniture. STAY TUNED!

U-Haul
You could rent a moving truck. U-Haul offers many fine trucks that are not. Fine. From my experiences with U-Haul trucks, I give those suckers a wide berth when I see one in traffic and I weep silently for the driver. Also, a friend rented one, I helped move the stuff and for some reason bees really liked the truck and when we returned the truck the owner wanted to charge my friend for the orange juice that had been spilled in the back of the truck by the previous renter because we totally didn't have orange juice -- remember, we were puzzled by the bees. Their customer service is also atrocious, you can wait a half-hour just to buy boxes. This is all that U-Haul is good for -- buying boxes. They have a wide selection if you can't get free ones. If you do eventually decide that my mewling isn't going to stop you from U-Haulin', let me quickly mention that the gas gauge indicator on many U-Haul trucks is upside-down. Empty is at the top, Full is at the bottom. One of my friends was fooled by this incident so he ended up paying to completely fill up an empty tank that was reported near "full" when he checked out the truck. I almost fell for the same scam a year earlier. When I caught it, the guy said "oh." That's what they teach them to say in the U-Haul Academy when their bullshit is discovered. "Oh." Do you understand the implications of this? They're scamming you through spurious graphic design. That's how desperate this company is, the scamming is in their hardware. GOD. That should be their logo, the upside-down fuel gauge. [Send me photos of this if you're unlucky enough to get a chance, I'd appreciate it.] Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.

Budget
You want your truck at 9am. You made a reservation. You show up at 9am. "We don't know where the truck is." They have lost contact with the truck, which was supposed to be returned to them the day before. Finally at noon they have the truck, but it will take two hours for them to "clean and inspect" the truck and they will call you and then it's 3:30pm and you call them and they say the truck was ready at 1:30pm and they couldn't call because it was so busy. The truck is given to you without a back license plate -- this is apparently not part of the inspection. The full ashtrays are apparently not part of the cleaning (you are charged if you leave the ashtrays full on returning the truck). The truck also has something called an "exhaust brake" which is in the same spot as the windshield wipers on the steering column stalk and if you activate that (say, when it starts raining) and the exhaust brake is unhappy (most likely) it will try to warn you by emitting a hair-raising beeping sound that fills the cab. Normally a warning light goes on at the same time so you can figure out what the screeching is all about. Normally. Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.

Cheap-ass movers
Tricky price breaks -- reasonable for n pounds, ridiculously high for n+50 pounds. Do you know how much all your stuff weighs? I sure don't, and I'm not even you. Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.

Rent-A-Semitruck
I don't know what they call this -- there are several companies that do this -- you pack your stuff in a shipping crate, then it's loaded onto a semi, then the semi goes and picks up some other shipping crates, then it spends a month in New York City on vacation or something, then there's the threatened lawsuit, then your stuff is finally delivered. True story. Avoid.
Free candy in the office: no.

UPS
God, why does anyone use this company? The last time I had something delivered, the driver dropped it from waist-high onto the metal step and we both watched the foam peanuts dribbling out of the package or at least one of us did. You know, just try to at least create the illusion of a company that actually isn't brain-damaged. The last time I moved, I was able to push some computer equipment through them during a strike just before the new insanely-padded "shipping wall" requirements, and only one thing was trashed ... a new record! Instead of paying their drivers and throwers a decent wage or even slowing down the line, their profit margin depends on airborne packages, crammed packages, and you have to pay more for their incompetence. What's their slogan again? "The Big Brown?" SYSTEMIC FAILURE.
Free candy in the office: no.

Fed Ex Ground
Haven't had a problem with these folks, though they need to get their invoicing system fixed. First you get the bottom copy, then they put a sticker on that, then another sticker, then a sticker on top of that, then a separate receipt, then stapled to another form, and then a cup of coffee is taped to that and then everything is attached to your muffler with a coat hanger. This service might be a good way to move your lighter items that can't be used as packing material, like for example large airy three-dimensional confectionery statues. Shaped like an Emmy^®? It is your choice, you are the artist! [throws up hands in air]
Free candy in the office: no.

United States Postal Service
Packages are delayed. Packages are lost. Do they have a package destruction service? I do not know -- I shipped a 78rpm record through the mail with the message/address written on it using a cow-marking pen and they were nice enough to deliver it to the addressee after (A) putting the pieces back together momentarily to suss out the address (B) throwing everything in a bag with an apology. Puzzles for all my government friends! Also, the Jeeps are cute ... someone should make an independent documentary film about the planning that goes into the purchasing of a USPS Jeep followed by the actual purchasing of said Jeep. I mean, another movie. Anyway, I used to have a P.O. Box that one or more of the postal workers used to pick through to find free CDs and other promo crap, so you know I'm tight with these idiots. You probably have your own USPS horror story, so I'll let you ruminate on that. Ruminate.
Free candy in the office: no.

Amtrak Express
This is it, my friends, the real, actual reason I sat down to write about moving cross-country in the first place. You can ship packages by train and the cost is very attractive. To ship thirty-three 10-ream paper boxes 2500 miles, it cost me $285 (1998 dollar figures; as a comparison, I shipped four boxes directly to my new house via UPS using the "maximize delay/damage" rate and this cost $134 -- these packages had insurance on them, I don't know why I bothered, trying beating a claim out of UPS sometime). I dropped all of the boxes off at the Dearborn Michigan station, and I arranged for a local shipping company, Cal-Pack, to pick up the boxes in Oakland California and deliver them twenty miles South right into the garage (an additional $40 or so). In Dearborn, they wrapped all of my packages together to form one big pallet -- you might want to see if you can be there during the palletization so you can take advantage of the insulative properties of the pallet's "core."

Recently, Amtrak has cut the number of stations that feature this service, so you'll have to call them to see if your move is feasible (800 377 6914). They're not anxious to ship entire houses through this system (there's only so much room on their baggage cars), but if you're determined, you can do it over time. You will definitely want to chat them up if you have a lot of stuff to move -- there is "regular express" (REX) stations which can accept packages up to 75lbs and "heavy express" (HEX) stations which can accept packages up to 100lbs and pallets/skids up to 1000lbs (for dimensions and weights, check the weights and measures page).

Though this probably won't happen to you, one of the less-informed members of the Dearborn station handed me a pamphlet with guidelines on what could be packed in checked baggage, which is not the same as Amtrak Express packages.

The 800 number indicates that they do not ship "automobiles, furniture, engines, appliances, artwork, motorized vehicles" but that they do ship "books, clothing, musical instruments, bicycles, motorcycles, and mopeds."

If you're really smooth, you'll somehow paste multiple copies of the waybill onto your packages along with your contact information so someone doesn't remove the only copy on your pallet.

Someone recently broke down the price of Amtrak Express and found it comparable to Fed Ex Home. You should probably do the same, because I'm too lazy. Lastly, remember, this is a government service, so it has the potential to be 20% less efficient than anything else. Except UPS. Check it, yo: Amtrak Package Express
Free candy in the office: no.

If you're going to rent anything from anyone, take tons of digital photos of every little ding and discoloration, distant shots, close-up shots, arty shots with gauze draped over the vehicle, "boudoir" photography, etc. Whatever keeps your ass away from their infinite little scamfests. Prediction: The guy who sends you on your way is sweetness and light personified, the guy who receives you miles/days later will be a gruff turd. Be ready, do your homework, search for your chosen rental company with the words "[rental company] sucks" on your favorite search engine, etc. Good luck, and I ain't helping you move, I don't care how much pizza you're offering.

ok...

i am going to be a shining beacon to all married guys... you can have your cake.. and eat it too... and eat her cake as well... and i will explain to you how...  as my life progresses i am sure that i will be taking the road less traveled in my marriage... i will do it all differently.. MARRIAGE WILL NOT CHANGE ME... I WILL NOT SETTLE DOWN...

 

let me ask you this question:

 

your future wife in a few days is having her best friend and her kid come to stay at your house... he is a toddler and your house is FAR from child-proof... you are working on big outdoor projects for your wedding reception to be held shortly and you dont really have time to do the little childproofing projects... what do you do when your future wife in a couple days tells you all these things you have to do in the day while she is at work when you already have your plate full of hard outside projects (like fence building) and you get seriously bad vibed by her when she comes home and you didn't do a single thing that she asked for?

 

tell me... what do you do?...

new feature

i have invited "not mike jones" to make posts to the site... so we will be hearing from "not mike jones" every now and again...

 

 

ive just not got a lot to say... i dont ever really say much really about my personal life on my site... i just use it to pretend that i am a fun single guy... but its not true at all... i am really getting married this saturday... if being single just means that you arent married then i have a week left of that...

i had a great bachelor party with the guys on Saturday in santa barbara... some of you guys from LA didn't make it.. it was short notice and i forgive you.. but you missed some good fun...

so.. its all over... not that i ever actually did anything fun anyway... i didn't ever live the mike jones lifestyle... even though i always wanted to.. i didn't even ever live the p-lo lifestyle... what can you say?... maybe i always knew that it was harder work than it seems... i never have been a fan of hard work that didnt involve pedaling a bike...

so... yeah... now i am going to be a married guy...

i know women.. i am guy who would be a great coach even though he was never a great player himself... so i am going to bring back the romance advice... it was really popular... but i am not really wanting to give relationship advice... i will only give advice to singe people... i want to help young players have the career that i never had... so e mail me

ok then... now this is a team blog only... losers...

ok...

for hose of you who dont really want to reg and get your own blog.. you can still e mail me and i might put up your mail if its funny... like i used to do...

ok...

now only registered users can comment on my site...

dont like it?... go post on RBR if you want to...

i could go yet one step farther if i have to... dont make me do it...

you just have to know when the party is over...

some of you guys are like bad children that come to play with my kids and i cant spank you because your stupid parents would call the cops and have cps take my kids... but i can tell you not to come to my house if you cant learn how to act..

i hope

that usa cycling will have to finally organize a national tier when more than 15 teams apply for continental status... there can only be 15 teams by the rules and so some teams will be turned away... we may lose a few teams but also we may pick up a few as well... so maybe we will have to wait a year to see my dream... right now we have 14 teams...

 

continental teams should have the right to participate in all NRC races... and national teams should have the right to at least participate in all the NRC races in their region...

 

i am going to think this up and write it out...

this site rocks

affordable-solar.com...

if you own a home in the desert there is no reason why you shouldnt have solar and wind generated electricity... its free and plentiful...

more speifically-

www.affordable-solar.com/affordablesolar/sowi.html

http://www.affordable-solar.com/affordablesolar/my10wasy.html

this is a cool new link...

you can change mpg into L/100k in case you want to better understand the feul economy of european cars...

this site has also a lot of cool articles about really cool stuff in the world...

pege.org

SAUL is number 2 in l'Avenir...

he and teammate brad wiggins rode to the line together... wiggins outsprinted saul in the end... but saul comes away with the climber's jersey...

uh.. yeah...

yeah.. ok...

yeah...

yeah...

i am bored with my blog

i'm going to go on a vacation for a while...

jackie's website

http://jacksonstewart.com/ is his website...

oh my god...

57 comments?... do you know how long it would take me to read 57 comments?... get lives folks...i realize that some of you are having a real good time though.. so for you guys i say keep it up.. even when its at my expense.. that's fine with me...

Sfgp

Didnt go so so well... A mechanical put me out on lap 2...

i got a mavic bike and it had toe clips and straps... So yeah... I just rode that to the feed zone... And changed clothes...

and then i just hung out...

i managed to get off a "creed you suck" right in his face as he rode by off the front... And then i heckled him some more every time he went by... That'll teach him to put me on his website....

Treo 650...

dave zabriskie

he had a wacky thing on his wrist at the race.. read his website to find out why...
also you can read this:

DZ: Thor what does it feel like to have the coolest name in the peleton?

TH: I didn’t know it was a cool name.

DZ: Trust me it is.

TH: O.k. then. It feels pretty cool then.

DZ: Thanks for the interview.

Bright sunny day... Smog over LA

Psp to Lax

Over LA

shell toes

i am on the quest to find some shell toe cycling shoes...

why do people hate starbucks so much?

they pay good... they give you benefits at 20hrs... 401k.. you cant beat it in the fast food industry...

 

you cant get that working for the indy shop...

 

i go to starbucks because they give a good deal to the workers in my opinion.. and its the kind of business that i want to support...

 

no ammount of coffee snobbery would make me want to go buy coffee someplace that doesn't give the barrista guys as good a deal...

 

 

eriksaunders.com sponsorship for 06

does your team or club need equipment sponsorship for 06?... or for the upcomming cross season?... i got your back... frames, parts, wheels, complete bikes, tires, tubes... i got you... e mail me

when asked if he would like to stand out in temecula wagging a sign in front of a development of million dollar tract homes Bill replied:

Yeah, one that said "If you lived within 3 miles of your office, you'd have been home 2 hours ago with an extra 20 bucks in your pocket--LOSER"
"Call 1-800-Forclose"
We should print bumper stickers: "forclose now, ask me how!"

socially responsible investing

some freinds work really hard on this site.. check it out... a great resource...

the worlds best bra

i made it myself and i gave it to my babe to model it for this great photo