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Pac Tom update: June 2008
(07 Jun 2008 at 20:02) |
Blam! Three posts in two days, after there being only 2 total posts last month, because I like to keep you guys guessing about the probability distribution that determines whether a post will be deposited in this internet weblog at any given time. I know that these Pac Tom updates are pretty monotonous, but they can't be any worse than some bloggy "Today I ate eggs and Jenny said that Kevin kissed Ethel" stuff, so too bad for you.
Today I ran downtown to do cleanup, a trip that turned out being about 21 miles (it is hard to tell for sure since the GPS works very badly when there are tall buildings around and you are running through alleys and under bridges, and plus the GPS was just working badly today for reasons I can't scrute because it was 90°F and sunny which seems like would be pretty good for satellites). Actually downtown is the worst for Pac Tomming because it is far away and because of the GPS issues (and so I have to meticulously mark of the streets I've done, sometimes from memory) and there are lots of people and cars who think you are weird for running there and sweating on their alleys and under their bridges. And there are lots of highway interchanges and other basically off-limits deadly stuff. AND downtown has some of the worst public water fountain availability, the only ones I know of being at the Point State Park which is currently under reconstruction. Today I was a little lucky that the Three Rivers Arts festival was going on and they will sell you a cup of mostly ice lemonade for $5, which is exactly the amount of emergency currency I was carrying, and ice is solid water anyway which turns into liquid water pretty quickly at 90°F, which liquid is my heart's desire. But it was not enough! On my way back I drank out of someone's garden hose faucet hook-up in the Hill district and I wasn't even sorry. Now downtown is totally done and good riddance to it. I also finished up the Bluff today, which is the location of Duquesne University's campus. An unexpected discovery of this exploration is that Duquesne has a pretty interesting and nice campus, which you might never notice if you only see it from the Hockey stadium side. There are grassy areas and fountains and private drives and little tucked-away nooks with outdoors religious memorabilia like gated plaster statues of ladies clutching babies. Since it's on this huge hill there are lotsa cool views of downtown and the rivers and the penitentiary and lots of three-dimensional topography that you can go over or under (like skywalks and that tunnel that Ben Roethlisberger smashed his football head near). These people don't drink water, I think, because they have no outdoor water fountains. A new feature of my obsessive-compulsive mapping is that I'm now endarkinating each of the neighborhoods that I've carefully validated being completely done with, and will never visit again except maybe on the way somewhere else. These are: Downtown, Bluff, Glen Hazel, Regent Square, Highland Park, Morningside, Stanton Heights, and Upper Lawrenceville. Swisshelm Park, East Hills and Hazelwood are each less than 50 feet of road away from being done, but I missed some tiny street in each of them that I have to go back for. Glowing purple stuff is my todo list, since for some neighborhoods it's easier to mark the stuff I haven't done than the stuff I have.
Stats: 9 days, 22 hours, 40 minutes, 17 seconds. 1718.356 miles.
By the way, I shaved my beard by contractual obligation when the Penguins lost the Stanley Cup finals. Now I have a weird anti-tan where my beard was. |  |
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| i think i saw you running in oakland? |
| yes, pac-tom sighting! around 4:45, along fifth ave near the cathedral, maybe? on your way -- and ours -- towards downtown. |
| Hmm, 4:45 on 5th sounds right, but I was definitely headed uptown at that time, and feeling like death. |
ahyeh, you were going backwards :P
my car's air conditioning is kind of spotty, and that feels kind of hellish, but it's probably nothing compared to running 21 miles in 95 degrees with 80% humidity.. |
| I dunno, there's something about giving in to the heat that makes it less hellish, like when it's raining and you're like fuck it and you let yourself get completely soaked. You know? To me doing some strenuous stuff and sweating like crazy is the most effective way of dealing with really big heat. |
This looks both scary and amazing... btw, I am a promoter of your musical software creations! I have also had quite a bit of music out there in film, tv and general music release featuring certain plugins.... the kind that ski---kid-dd - - -
---Shok |
| Cool Shok, thanks for pushing our wares grassroots style! |
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