Commute week of 14 Jan 2008

8 rides in total, i.e. rode each way 4 days.
Didn't ride Tuesday due to icy conditions (no rain).
Total commute distance 68.8 mi (111 km)

Total for the year 154.8mi (249 km).
Got rained upon on 0 rides, i.e. 0%.
Total rainy rides for the year: 3 out of 18 actual rides; 3 out of 20 possible rides.

Commute week of 07 Jan 2008

10 rides in total, i.e. rode each way every day.
Total commute distance 86 mi (138 km).
Got rained upon on 3 rides, i.e. 30%.
Total rainy rides for the year: 3 out of 10 actual rides; 3 out of 10 possible rides.

US on Canadian torture list

And that's where they belong until they close down Gitmo. Canada rocks!

Plane crash in Heathrow = no terrorism

A plane lands short of the runway in Heathrow Airport.  Nobody gets hurt badly, fortunately.  The police is quick to issue a statement saying that the incident was not terror-related.  Now, who in their right minds would ever think that a crash-landing was caused by terrorists?  People, shit happens, stuff break down now and then.  Learn it, live with it, get over it. 

Life is great and terrorism is virtually a non-issue for national and personal security, in my view. Although now that I live in Seattle rather than in Denmark, Canada or the UK (countries where I used to live), I realise that people here generally think otherwise about this issue...

But they have no reason to: In the US about 42,000 people die every year in traffic accidents.  That's roughly equivalent to a half-loaded Boeing 737 crashing every single day. In Canada and the UK it's 3000-3500 traffic deaths every year.  Chances are much, much higher that you'll die as the victim of a traffic accident rather than from terrorism.  While we're at it: In the US the number of deaths due to traffic accidents has decreased 17% since the late 70's. In the UK and Canada the decrease was 45-50%...

Commuting...

Having moved from the UK to Seattle, US I have decided to try to live in the US without owning a car. I lived in the UK for almost 3 years without one and that worked out just fine; even lost 20-30 pounds in the process (weight, not money!). My bicycle commute is below; an 8.6 mi (13.8 km) trip each way. The first 1/3 of a mile or so is on a road, the rest of the distance is on bike lanes or bike paths, which makes it super-easy to get to work.

The wetness of Seattle weather in the winter is exaggerated. Commuting on a daily basis; 40-50 minutes each way (actual riding time depending on mood, wind and choice of bicycle) gets me wet approximately 30% of the time I spend on the road. I expect it to be less in the summer. So really, no big deal at all.