Lowering Overhead

This is one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my neighborhood since I moved in! Big hooplah this morning from the Mayor and all the city big-wigs. This was a nasty old shopping center built back in the 60s. Hopefully this will be a grassy field by end of summer. WooHoo!

The bad news is this was a grocery store. And it was about 200 yards from my front door. Gone are the days I could run over to my own personal 'bottomless pantry' in the middle of making dinner to get that one ingredient I thought I had in house. This seems to be a trend about town lately. It concerns me that so many grocery stores are going under. Raw ingredients for prepping a healthy meal are becoming harder and harder to come by.

I'm sure they will be replacing this with a bank, even though the big push to go on line with all banking transactions. They sure are throwing up a bunch of brick and mortar. Or maybe a cleaners, in spite of the fact our world is becoming more and more casual. Surely they will throw in a fast food restaurant or two. Yeah, hamburgers and tacos instead of a home cooked meal. Now we're cookin'! .... well, no we're not.

Snap Out Of It

Ok, let's critique this image. Underexposed, blurry, crooked, and it doesn't follow the rule of thirds. Cluttered, no contrast between subject and background. Harsh lighting because it was probably shot at high noon on a sunny day. Power lines cutting through the sky. Not too bad for a seven year old kid.

From what I can remember, this is the first photograph I ever took. I can't remember much about the camera except it was blue, and square and plastic and used 120 film. My parents must have bought it for me.

Of course, not much has changed over the years. Color. Digital. New camera. I'm a lot taller and I weight a little more. Oh, and playground equipment like this is now outlawed. Check out that concrete ring around the perimeter just begging for a tooth to knock out!

Two Tired to Pedal

One of the best memories of my life was the day my Dad brought home my first bike. It was quite simple; a diamond frame, semi-pneumatic tires, no freewheel hub, no brakes (and no training wheels, btw). I clearly remember him helping me wobble down the driveway and crashing into the sidewalk. In an instant I was up and back on, feeling him gently guide me along the pavement. After a few moments I turned around to tell him I think I had the hang of it, only to notice he was one hundred yards back smiling as big as I was. I turned back around and headed into a new era of my life. I was four years old.

I can't tell you how many bikes I have owned since then. But I've always had at least one since that fateful day. Sometimes two or three. They have ranged from Stingrays to road bikes to bmx bikes to cruisers to mountain bikes. A bicycle means FREEDOM! Well... it used to.

I figure there are three kinds of cyclists in the world: Those that have to ride a bike (can't afford any other kind of transportation), those that become obsessed with riding a bike (the ones with all the spandex) and kids. Well, there is a forth kind- the grown-ups that ride the cruiser bikes they got at Wal Mart at 4 miles per hour through the neighborhood. But they only do that about once before they park it in the garage and use it to hang laundry on. So they don't count.

So for most of my life I happily fit into that 'kid' bracket. Even when I became an adult. Yeah, I would just hop on my ol' bike and tool around the neighborhood (faster than 4 mph), or hit some trail somewhere and disappear into the woods for a while. Then I got a more expensive bike. Then I got a helmet. Then I got some bike shorts. Then I got some gloves. Then I got a Camelbak. Then I got a real expensive bike. Then I got a flat ten miles from the trailhead, so then I got a pump and a patch kit and a bag to pack it in. Then I got an air shock and had to get a special pump for that. And then...

One day I decided it was time to go with 'clipless pedals'. And that's the day I crossed over into the 'obsessed with riding a bike' camp. All of a sudden I looked back and started paying attention to how much time it took me to get prepped for a ride. I looked around at how much real estate all my paraphernalia took up in the garage. I also started paying attention to how much my bike just stayed up on the ceiling in those little yellow hooks I bought at Home Depot.

So I think my next bike might just be a throwback to that little diamond frame clunker with the single speed, rubber pedals, and white handlebars. Then I can just run out to the garage and hop on any ol' time I want. After all, my Mom still thinks I'm four.

Is Fast Food for Oxymorons?

This sign has always fascinated me. McDonald's has always fascinated me. The food does not fascinate me. What really piques my interest is the franchise factor. Next time you go inside a MickeyD's, check out all the gadgets and gizmos they have all over the restaurant that FORCE employees and customers to do things the McDonald's way. I'm not saying this is bad. In fact, I think it's the best way to run any business of this magnitude. Or any business at all for that matter.

I first became aware of the franchise aspect of McDonald's back in the early 80s after I read The E Myth by Michael Gerber. BTW, I highly recommend this read if your job has anything to do with people. He spends a big chunk of the book discussing why you should run any business, no matter how big or small, as a franchise.

Now, in another lifetime I used to work at Jack-in-the-Box. In fact, I worked at the number 2 volume store in Texas. At one point I was the Friday night Grill Man. I prided myself in the fact that I could actually keep up with the onslaught of customers, yet all my hamburgers got the 'Secret Sauce' right in the middle of the patty, the pickles were evenly distributed, and the buns, meat, and condiments remained aligned even after the burger was securely wrapped with the correct side of the paper on the outside. And we never had to tell anyone to PARK IT!

Back to the Grind

Grand opening at the new skate park was last weekend- first day of Spring Break for all the local kids. I'll bet there were 350 people there. Being an old skateboarder, rollerblader and cyclist, I'm very supportive of this project. They tried to build these things when I was a teenager, but they were always made out of concrete and required huge investments of money, real estate and were staffed, making them very high maintenance. This thing just sits there. I don't think it even has hours. Very cool.

I had a funny experience as I was hanging out firing off some pics. When I was a kid, no one even dreamed of protective equipment. Helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards- nonexistent. I guess the dawning of the Litigious Era introduced all that. But, ya know, I survived childhood without all that crap. However, when I started riding bikes seriously and skating ramps, I wore ALL that stuff. I even wore HIP pads! I wore this not for the lawyers, but to protect my butt. Literally.

But I have become so accustomed to all the protections of society we have been blessed with, I found it surprising that only a handful of kids had helmets. Maybe 5 out of that crowd of 350 or so. Two sets of knee pads. NO wrist guards. In fact the sign on the entry gate says "Protective equipment recommended". I had to go back and remember my childhood where we didn't even wear shoes to race each other up and down the street on our Stingrays.

So all the kids are digging this new skate park. Sure, I saw a few kids get banged up. Scraped knees, busted butts, sore wrists. Lots of collisions. But no one left in an ambulance. I'm not saying going without equipment is a good idea. I'm just making an observation. At this point I would NEVER get out there in anything less than a Michelin Man suit. Of course, I've had about 3 concussions.