The Scent of Semi-Retirement
I realized on Sunday that I might need to consider chilling out a little bit on the getting in shape and enjoying the outdoors front. That was the day when I did a trail run out in Forest Park with housemate Natalie, pooch Taxi, and Natalie's friend Chelsea. Reports vary — Natalie thinks we ran twelve or thirteen miles, I calculated it to be more around ten or eleven — but I spent approximately an hour and forty five minutes running at least ten miles in the woods. Then, when we got back to the car, I got a voicemail from Dan suggesting we do the Council Crest bike ride, which has one climbing to the highest point in Portland. The weather was relatively nice and I still had energy, so after an hour break wherein I got home, ate a quick lunch, and changed clothes he and I did that lovely route together. And the thing is, despite a bit of rubber leg on the last major uphill, I kept up just fine. Barely felt like I had gone running that day at all. It is only a thousand feet of elevation gain and barely 14 miles roundtrip, but it was always a nice challenging bike ride before this point.
In the last two weeks days I have done three hikes (Mt. Defiance, Rock of Ages, and Oneoata), three trail runs in Forest Park, four city runs, two bike rides, and two trips to the Reed Sports Center. Considering my relatively idle life beforehand, that is quite a change. Then, there is the fact my laundry habits have doubled from the stinky clothes and I have somehow lost five pounds in two weeks. And, I have just bought two more pairs of trail running shoes as I think my current pair will poison anyone within two feet if I do not give them more airing out time.
Not exactly troubled, as I kind of like the idea of being in amazing shape again. Just do not want to turn into one of those über-outdoor people who are just a tad too obsessive for my tastes and do not seem capable of actually relaxing and having fun. I think I should just take at least a couple days off per week and do another kind of activity. Funny, when I just typed that out a little voice in my head suggested, "how about kayaking?"
...
With the above in mind, I spent today starting a little coding project. Well, perhaps 'little' is not quite the best word as if it is completed it will be quite a large codebase. More of the line of thought that it is an a little venture I can dabble in occasionally to keep my coding and thinking chops in existence. Originally, I was going to use CodeIgniter to built it as this new project is a PHP application, but honestly there are things about CodeIgniter's approach that have never sat well with me.
The curse of being an experienced developer in a language is that you always have your own crazy, albeit absolutely perfect, ideas about how a piece of code should be written. If a framework interferes with that in any way, you get annoyed and cranky. When you are coding, you want it to flow as if the logic is an extension of how your mind works. Tools should help me, not get in the way of how I think and progress in a project. This is why there are so many darn PHP frameworks to choose from, I suppose. With that in mind, I am starting completely from scratch and trying out a few new ideas.
Like any intelligent PHP coder, though, I really like many of CodeIgniter's libraries (heck, might have helped write a few of them) so I intend to use a smattering of them, if I can. Also, I might bring over the entirety of the Active Record system too as I see no reason to write my own. Ah, the joys of OSS.
...
Friends should not ask for my honest opinion about their partners, if they really do not want to hear it. So I do not find them remotely interesting or think we two should hang out together as friends. That's not to say they are not a really great person that you have a connection with and should continue to date. I find plenty of people boring and not altogether worth my time, it is NOT a judgement on your relationship with them. And I am certainly not the kind of person willing to try and push this phrase out my lips: "They seem nice..."
And they especially should not keep on asking if I keep on changing the subject.
...
As I have moved back to PDX permanently, I spent a while on the phone yesterday changing my car insurance back from Maine to Oregon. Progressive has always gotten excellent marks on their customer service with me. Never been on hold, the representative has always been knowledgeable and friendly, and everything is done correctly. The operators have never tried to push any additional services on me either.
When I switched though, it seems I automatically was enrolled in their TripSense program. Basically, a small device is plugged into my car's On-Board-Diagnostic (OBDII) port and it records data like mileage, speed, acceleration habits, and braking. On a periodic basis, I connect the device to my computer, review the data, and I can upload it to Progressive for them to evaluate. Just for participating, I receive 5% of my car insurance rate and depending on my driving habits, I could get 25% off the next time my insurance is renewed in six months.
On some level, I am a bit concerned about them having any information about my driving habits. On the other hand, you only give them this information voluntarily (after you review it) and there is no way they can track where you have been driving as there is no GPS system involved, contrary to a few erroneous internet forums. Their privacy policy says the data will not be shared with anyone and that it will never be used to raise my rates. Also, it seems entirely rational to me that car insurance rates, which are already partially based on your driving record from the DMV, should also include more concrete information like speeding, severe stops, and the amount one drives.
My car insurance rates are already low as my car is ten years old, I have had no accidents, and they give me a discount for being with them for years now. The amount I realistically would save, even with the possible 25% rate off, would only cover going out to eat twice. Not a huge incentive. Also, their privacy policy could change at any time and I doubt any serious legal request for that information would be ignored.
I am still debating canceling the TripSense tomorrow, but I might just let my car try it and see what the data shows in six months. There is apparently a software developer kit out there for the device, so I could potentially have a great deal of fun investigating what information it is gathering from the car.
Oh, and here is a NY Times article about pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) insurance.
In the last two weeks days I have done three hikes (Mt. Defiance, Rock of Ages, and Oneoata), three trail runs in Forest Park, four city runs, two bike rides, and two trips to the Reed Sports Center. Considering my relatively idle life beforehand, that is quite a change. Then, there is the fact my laundry habits have doubled from the stinky clothes and I have somehow lost five pounds in two weeks. And, I have just bought two more pairs of trail running shoes as I think my current pair will poison anyone within two feet if I do not give them more airing out time.
Not exactly troubled, as I kind of like the idea of being in amazing shape again. Just do not want to turn into one of those über-outdoor people who are just a tad too obsessive for my tastes and do not seem capable of actually relaxing and having fun. I think I should just take at least a couple days off per week and do another kind of activity. Funny, when I just typed that out a little voice in my head suggested, "how about kayaking?"
...
With the above in mind, I spent today starting a little coding project. Well, perhaps 'little' is not quite the best word as if it is completed it will be quite a large codebase. More of the line of thought that it is an a little venture I can dabble in occasionally to keep my coding and thinking chops in existence. Originally, I was going to use CodeIgniter to built it as this new project is a PHP application, but honestly there are things about CodeIgniter's approach that have never sat well with me.
The curse of being an experienced developer in a language is that you always have your own crazy, albeit absolutely perfect, ideas about how a piece of code should be written. If a framework interferes with that in any way, you get annoyed and cranky. When you are coding, you want it to flow as if the logic is an extension of how your mind works. Tools should help me, not get in the way of how I think and progress in a project. This is why there are so many darn PHP frameworks to choose from, I suppose. With that in mind, I am starting completely from scratch and trying out a few new ideas.
Like any intelligent PHP coder, though, I really like many of CodeIgniter's libraries (heck, might have helped write a few of them) so I intend to use a smattering of them, if I can. Also, I might bring over the entirety of the Active Record system too as I see no reason to write my own. Ah, the joys of OSS.
...
Friends should not ask for my honest opinion about their partners, if they really do not want to hear it. So I do not find them remotely interesting or think we two should hang out together as friends. That's not to say they are not a really great person that you have a connection with and should continue to date. I find plenty of people boring and not altogether worth my time, it is NOT a judgement on your relationship with them. And I am certainly not the kind of person willing to try and push this phrase out my lips: "They seem nice..."
And they especially should not keep on asking if I keep on changing the subject.
...
As I have moved back to PDX permanently, I spent a while on the phone yesterday changing my car insurance back from Maine to Oregon. Progressive has always gotten excellent marks on their customer service with me. Never been on hold, the representative has always been knowledgeable and friendly, and everything is done correctly. The operators have never tried to push any additional services on me either.
When I switched though, it seems I automatically was enrolled in their TripSense program. Basically, a small device is plugged into my car's On-Board-Diagnostic (OBDII) port and it records data like mileage, speed, acceleration habits, and braking. On a periodic basis, I connect the device to my computer, review the data, and I can upload it to Progressive for them to evaluate. Just for participating, I receive 5% of my car insurance rate and depending on my driving habits, I could get 25% off the next time my insurance is renewed in six months.
On some level, I am a bit concerned about them having any information about my driving habits. On the other hand, you only give them this information voluntarily (after you review it) and there is no way they can track where you have been driving as there is no GPS system involved, contrary to a few erroneous internet forums. Their privacy policy says the data will not be shared with anyone and that it will never be used to raise my rates. Also, it seems entirely rational to me that car insurance rates, which are already partially based on your driving record from the DMV, should also include more concrete information like speeding, severe stops, and the amount one drives.
My car insurance rates are already low as my car is ten years old, I have had no accidents, and they give me a discount for being with them for years now. The amount I realistically would save, even with the possible 25% rate off, would only cover going out to eat twice. Not a huge incentive. Also, their privacy policy could change at any time and I doubt any serious legal request for that information would be ignored.
I am still debating canceling the TripSense tomorrow, but I might just let my car try it and see what the data shows in six months. There is apparently a software developer kit out there for the device, so I could potentially have a great deal of fun investigating what information it is gathering from the car.
Oh, and here is a NY Times article about pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) insurance.
– Tuesday, 2008 May 13 @ 4:40 PM | 2 Comments -