Geeky Weekly

Expensive Car Month

July 25th, 2008 at 05:00pm July is a huge reminder about just how much money we spend on automobile transportation. The planets seem to align when insurance and registration for both of us come in at about the same time. This year I got the added joy of renewing my drivers license and smogging the RSX for the first time (I kid you not it took about 3 minutes for them to test it). All that on top of two car payments is a nice little sum of money vanishing in a short period of time. The monthly cost might not seem bad, but it all adds up to a significant portion of our income. I'm one step closer to my bike commute though. I bought locks, rear rack and trunk bag last night which means I might be ready to make the switch in a couple weeks. The Topeak rack and bag are pretty sweet since they have a slide on mechanism for easy installation and removal. Ordered from Tree Fort Bikes which had everything I wanted at very competitive prices. Still contemplating if I want to put fenders on.

Tagged with: bikes, cars, commute, personal finance
Posted under: Life Stuff

1 comment »

One year already

July 23rd, 2008 at 10:36pm Time flies when you're married and having fun. One year anniversary was yesterday and we had a nice dinner at Walt's Wharf in Seal Beach. The artichoke and Alaskan Halibut was delicious.

Tagged with: marriage
Posted under: Life Stuff

6 comments »

First long bike ride

July 20th, 2008 at 10:56am Yesterday, a group of us went down to the beach to surf and relax. I'm not big on surfing or laying on the sand waiting to inevitably get burned so I decided to ride down and meet everyone. I started out at the Wallace ranch and got on the San Gabriel River Trail at Imperial Hwy. The trail ends at the beach in Seal Beach so I made my way over to PCH for a hop over to Sunset Beach and rode through the parking lot to end up at the north end of Bolsa Chica. 20 miles total, 1:50 of actual pedal time with a few breaks along the way at Liberty Park, El Dorado and Seal Beach. It was probably the best workout I've had in 3 years and I'm not even sore today. If I had gone surfing or attempted to run a couple miles I'd be feeling the pain today. Cycling is probably my best bet to get in shape right now. I'm also pondering an attempt at the 100 Pushup Challenge.

Tagged with: bikes, exercise, ride
Posted under: Life Stuff

4 comments »

Shared: Detaching From Material Possessions a Sign of Emotional and Financial Maturity

July 18th, 2008 at 05:00pm Shared from Google Reader: Detaching From Material Possessions a Sign of Emotional and Financial Maturity Makes you think about all the "stuff" we have and do we really need it. If I start riding my bike to work I'm going to have a truck I'll drive occasionally on the weekend, but still pay a good chunk of change every month for it to sit there all week. Only 2 years left on the loan, but if I was starting a bike commute a year ago I'd probably be more serious about downgrading. The Blarg is clearing out his DVD collection which makes me think I could do some house cleaning myself.

Posted under: Money Stuff

1 comment »