Skip to main content

Favorite Things: May 2018 Edition

New series of monthly (my intentions at least) things I'm really enjoying...

Ride Report

Ride Report is an app which uses your phone's location data to automatically keep track of your bike rides.  For each ride it asks you a simple survey "How was your ride."  After collecting enough survey data from rides Ride Report can generate a map showing the worst and best rides for a city.  Some cities are even using this data to make better transportation decisions.  

I'm not sure if this app will work at a smaller scale for a city like The Dalles, but the idea is very cool.  The more people the use it the more helpful it will be.  At this point I've only ever said my rides were great and being the only user in town this is very unscientific. I highly recommend using this app for fun and better city planning or at least better informed fellow cyclists.

Libby

Libby is an app which allows you to borrow ebooks through your local library.  For some reason it is much easier for me to get through a book quickly if I have it as an ebook on my phone.  Libby combines the convenience of ebooks with the price of the public library (AKA free).  The ereader itself has a different interface but is pretty comparable to Google Play Books and Kindle in my opinion.  

 There are a few drawbacks to getting your books this way however.  Popular new books have very long wait times.  If you place a hold on a hot new piece of fiction you might have to wait for six months plus.  Also, the duration of the loan is shorter than a normal book from the library.  Only 2 weeks.  So if you're like me and it takes you a while to work your way through a novel this might not always work for you or you'll have to be interrupted in the middle of your story (this happened to me while reading Carrie).  

 If you use a public library (or at least The Wasco County Library) and have a device to read ebooks Libby is wealth worth trying out.

Good Fruit Grower

This article and video interview of my cousin Nick Anderson reminds me of how blessed I was to grow up on a farm.  Having a family life that requires you to learn how to work and parents who teach you how to have fun doing it is one of the greatest gifts a child can have in my mind.  I can't really take my kids to work with me so this one of those virtues I'll have to pass on to my kids some other way.  



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 reading list

  Near the end of 2017 I did something I hope becomes an end of year tradition.  I planned out all the books I’m going to read in the next year.  I read some great books last year and I hope that having a plan will make this year even better. Why would I plan out a year of reading? Last year I was able to read a lot more than I have before.  However, there were still long periods throughout the year in which I wasn't reading anything, and some of what I read was just whatever was in front of me, not what I really wanted to read.  Like most things in life, I suspect, having a plan will help align what I do read with my goals.  There are several subjects I’m interested in, and didn’t read about.  There are authors I want to read more of, but haven’t made time to.  And modern fiction?  What is that?  (I  think I read one new book last year) I made a realization a few months back.  My pile of books I want to read is much tall...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to not dread running.

It’s warming up and the sun has been shining (kind of). You could almost say it was running season.  I have to admit however, at the when it first started warming up this year I was dreading starting to run.  Memories of last year's misery haunted me and I was seriously contemplating giving the whole thing up.  Ultimately I did give running one another shot. So how are things going this year? Pretty darn well actually. Better than ever even! This year I’ve earned PRs for every distance Strava keeps track of, I haven’t suffered any injuries and I’m genuinely enjoying myself. This is much better than last year. Last year I had a short and fairly miserable season, plagued with injuries. Last year I had  a few goals tied up with running . I wanted to run longer and faster than I ever had. I had really detailed goals for each week of the summer, how far I should be running and at what pace. I tried to make sure I never broke the  “10% rule”  adding too m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Life is Shot: Photo Journal #1

Some days you come home and there are just chicks in you laundry room...  But how can you say "no" to that face? Easter art by Lucy Easter outfit by mom   Jesse decided (on his own) it was time to stay the night at grandma's house.  He was pretty disappointed to find out it wasn't. Brace for impact during every elevator ride. Lucy has lost both of her top front teeth.  He bark is worse than her bite. Mystery of the month: Who is this green haired super saiyan? Short silly video: Lucy can ride her bike with no training wheels.  Kid's still love rolly pollies.  And Jesse is apparently a Chris Tomlin fan.
Post a Comment
Read more