Turtle Rescue Squad

Across the (other) Sea

2010-09-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

So I have been in in Seoul for almost a month now. Things have been under control - for the most part. It has been great to get a start on learning the language and finding a few interesting parts of the city. Another big thing has been finding a place to live. And, yesterday I moved into a new apartment. It is still pretty bare, but I thought I'd throw up a few photos:

8 Days

2010-03-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

Wednesday: 4:20am alarms are always fun. The first leg of my adventure was to Livingston - about 20km outside of Edinburgh. Stared at light bulbs for 2 days. Return last flight on Thursday.

Sunday: Making 8:30am train to Hereford, which is next to Wales, didn't quite happen, but I caught the next one. Stared at light bulbs for a day and half. Returned in time for a late dinner on Monday.

Wednesday: Another 4:20 alarm to make the first flight to Milan. Got to attend the EU conference on Demand Response. Return last flight on Thursday, which was delayed by 90 minutes.

It is a shame the weather wasn't a bit better around Lago Maggiore. The conference room had a descent view.

I wish I could have had more time to take in these areas, but these on-the-ground experiences and opportunities are making the MBA really worthwhile.

2010 Winter Games

2010-02-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

The commercial-free BBC coverage of the Winter Games has been outstanding so far. I've been able to watch all of the men's individual nordic combined and the men's 10k sprint biathlon without any interruptions. It is too bad that that the UK commentators are pretty useless.

I have a bunch of other stuff to post at some point. Let's see if I can get it up sometime soon.

I miss Brazil....

2009-10-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

... largely because I'm kind of hungry for some steak.

Fall

2009-10-27T16:50:00.001-07:00

So I guess it shouldn't be a surprise, but fall is here. Like every other year, the leaves are starting to change colors, yet it is still a beautiful sight.

today I went the long way to school and took a few pictures as I walked through Hyde Park.

(That is the horse path on the left of the sidewalk.)

As the weather has gotten a bit colder, the parks haven't been quite as busy. Today the sun was out and so where lots of people.

Richmond Park

2009-10-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

With a lighter class schedule this fall, I've found a few more free mornings to ride my bike than last year. While the parks around London can be super busy bordering on unpleasant during a nice weekend, mid-week they feel well utilized but a bit more spacious. Today was a nice day to be in the park.

This morning it was cold enough to see your breath as I rode the 25 minutes across town to Richmond Park. It was a good reminder that despite the sunny skies Fall is on the way.

Once in the park, it is easy to forget that you are still inside a major city.

At other times you feel the proximity of city. Seeing the large herd of deer (the website claims there are over 600 in the park) living a comfortable life in the shadow of tall buildings is still a bit strange.

Not Dead Yet

2009-10-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been a while….

I’m back in London and am getting prepared for another semester of classes; although, this time around I’m doing a few things differently.

Last year I spent most of my time riding in parks and never ventured much into the country side. It isn’t that it never happened, but it just wasn’t part of the plan.

The last two weeks, I’ve joined a group that rides out of the city and have gotten in 4+ hours on the bike, none of which was doing laps around a park. This has been great. It also helps that the weather has been amazing both days.

View from the top of Box Hill,

which is a bit nicer than the view out of my study room

Two Stories Related to Bikes

2009-06-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday Evening.

I ventured over to Smithfield Market for the Nocturne Series Event: http://www.nocturneseries.com/smithfield/

It was pretty classic crit racing with a flat, spectator friendly course. I showed up in time for the folding bike race and then stuck around for the main event. My best guess is that there were 5,000ish people watching. The elite race was pretty small with maybe 50 starters and narrowed down to a field of 20 with half of the race to go. A single Катюша (Katyusha) rider was the only europro, and he was marked pretty well by the British teams. Overall, the racing was pretty lively and nothing stayed away. It was a good show, and I had fun listening to the very British centric commentary.

Sunday Morning

The forecast was for rain, so I wasn't planning on riding. But when I awoke the sun was out, and I quickly made plans to head across town to Richmond Park. About an 90 minutes in started raining. About 93 minutes in I got a flat. I had everything I needed with me, and quickly changed to tube and hit it with a CO2. It was still raining, but I was good to go. I decided to head for home but about 10 minutes later, yup, the front wheel was again flat. This time I had no clue what to do, but decided I would just walk till I saw a cab, then grab a ride to the nearest bike shop. At least it had stopped raining. After walking across the intersection, towards a road more likely to have an available cab, I saw a car with two bikes on the roof. I made a "hey, I need help" gesture, and the driver lowered the window.

After a very brief conversation while trying to avoid blocking too much traffic, my bike was on the roof and we were headed to a bike shop. This was amazing. I was cold and wet with a flat tire and 30 seconds ago had no idea what exactly I was going to do about it. Turns out the father and son, who was maybe 12, were riding a few laps of the park and packed it up once it started raining. The son is in a Hilltopper-like program for riding a bit outside of London. We had a great conversation while being stuck in traffic. They live a block from a Cyclopedia shop (http://www.cyclopediauk.com/), so it wasn't too far out of their way. The father also wouldn't let me leave without taking a spare old tire just in case there was a large gash (there actually was). Though if his basement looked anything like what we had at S. Taylor, this was a rare opportunity to meaningfully cull his collection.

Once at the shop, the guy working the counter was really helpful; this was a first for me in London. They didn't have long stem tubes, so I ended up patching the tube while standing in the store's showroom. He even gave me some rags. I bought a few bars and gels to avoid just buying the 2GBP patch kit, but will certainly be back to buy more substantial items when I need them.

Anyway, the sun was back out, and I peacefully rolled a couple laps of Regent's Park before heading home. After the last few weeks of being stuck in the school bubble, I really needed to be reminded of the kindness and generosity of people.

Live Music

2009-05-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

Last week I made it out of my business school bubble to see two live music shows.

Telepathe was at 93 Feet East around Shoreditch earlier in the week.

Then, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart played on Friday at The Lexington.

Telepathe's two members played on an intentionally poorly lit stage without much more than 5 words spoken to the crowd the whole set. It also wasn't mixed very well, with the vocals getting lost under the beat. The singles are pretty solid, but I think there is some room to improve the live set.

Conversely, The Pain's one album doesn't come close to capturing the energy of their live set. It was one of those shows where it was clear that the band was having fun, which fed the crowd, and reinforcing cycle just grew.

Field Trip

2009-04-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a field trip to Italy. The school picked up return tickets to Milan and we visited a helicopter manufacturing plant in Varese on Friday. After the official business was complete, about half of the traveled north to Lake Como for the rest the weekend. It was of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever been too. The pictures don’t quite do it justice, as the clouds hide some of the snow covered mountains that the eye could see in the background.

The planned 4 hour hike on Saturday got extended to a little over 6।5 hours as it took us longer to find the actual trail than planned, but it was entirely worth it. Even though some snow at near the top made it impossible to make it all the way to the summit, the views along the way were spectacular.

More Photos

2009-04-19T14:12:00.001-07:00

India

2009-03-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

A few photos from India......

London

2009-03-14T17:40:00.001-07:00

I decided to take a slightly different route to the grocery store last week and ended up on an old, narrow brick road. About halfway down the block I saw the following blue sign:

I live less than half a mile from it and had no idea this was here. Maybe it is part of the reason that I can count on seeing a Bentley three or four times a day as I walk around the neighborhood.

I often I forget about all of the history in London, and it is the little things that remind me. Another perfect example was while I was getting fitted for a suit. On the wall was a small plaque stating that this was the former site of the Royal Geographical Society and photo from 1874 showing Dr. David Livingstone's memorial in the map room prior to the interment at Westminister Abby.

Snow?!?

2009-02-02T10:40:00.001-08:00

It snowed. The news and locals are claiming that it was the largest snow storm in 18 years. My best guess is that we have less than 6in (15cm). Large portions of the public transit system were shut down, stores did not open, and classrooms were about half empty. I felt at home looking out the window in the first week of February and seeing a bit of snow.

Unfortunately the ground is really wet underneath, so the thought of skiing in a local park isn't all that appealing. Well, that, and I don't have any skis.

In other news, The Financial Times placed LBS (in a tie with Wharton) at the top of the table in the 2009 Global MBA Rankings. This shows the strength of the brand here in Europe, and hopefully it will lead to some additional recognition in the North American press.

Suiting Up

2009-01-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

Today was the first weekday since my return to London that I didn't have to put on a suit and tie. I think at day 3 (maybe day 2) I started my longest running series of consecutive days in a suit.

All last week, and continuing into this week, was Milk Round. I can't get a clear story as to the origin of the name, but it consists of begging big fancy companies for jobs over snacks and drinks. Although not all of the conversations were boring and tedious, that was kind of the general trend.

In other news, I think it is relevant to mention that I haven't even seen a turtle in at least 12 fortnights.

Bike Dust

2009-01-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

So I hadn't ridden my bike in a while:

I'm not sure how well it came out in the photo, but I recently found a more than noticeable layer of dust had settled on the saddle. Sunday, which was an unseasonably sunny day here in London, was my first ride in well over a month. I just had time to ride laps around Regent's Park, but it was great to get back on two wheels and remind myself how to drive a bike.

Without an indoor trainer I'm at the will of the weather and my ever increasingly packed schedule to find times to ride, and the two rarely align. Although my bike hasn't yet transitioned into solely part of my bedroom's decor, I'm not too excited about the prospect of having to dust it from time to time.

Rough Trade

2009-01-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I wandered into Notting Hill to meet a friend for coffee and took a bit of time to explore the Portobello Road Market. The outdoor street market was full of stands selling your standard market goods: veggies, fish, bread, used books, antique jewelry, or knee-high boots.

After buying a loaf of wholemeal bread, I spotted Rough Trade.

The ground floor was split evenly between vinyl and CDs. In the basement was a huge collection of vinyl that I didn't take the time to properly explore. All of the titles were sorted into some 25+ genres such as, Dubstep, Post Rock, Ed Banger, Warp Skam Rephlex, and others that I had no idea existed. My personal favorite was:

You can also see a bit of the sticker in the bottom of the picture that has a description of the album. Every title in the store has a similar sticker that contains an undecipherable set of obscure band and genre references to either entice or confuse the buyer. In my case, I just picked up the BPB album in the picture and have been enjoying the live versions of some of my old favorites.

Welcome to Durango

2008-12-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

After a wonderful holiday and getting to spend some quality time with family and friends, I packed two pairs of gloves and headed west to the state where beer flows like wine.

The nordic center got two feet of snow in the last 48 hours so the track was a bit soft, but the views were amazing.

What's This?

2008-12-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

I'm home visiting friends and family for the holidays, and people are asking about the whole not blogging thing. Right, well, I'm not going to make excuses; I just haven't updated this thing in a while.

I'll just mention a couple highlights of the last few months.

Fall in London was really lovely.

(View from my building's roof)

Once November rolled around, it started to rain and get a little bit muddy.

Then in December, a bunch of us from school decided to run around London singing Christmas carols in Santa suits.

Bike Lane

2008-08-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe it is just me, but I’m constantly shaking my head at bike lane signs here. They are pretty much the same vintage all through this side of the city. Each one has its own bit of erroneous character, which suggests that they were painted by hand, a classic sign of British efficiency.

Temporary Residence #3 – School Hotel

2008-08-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, it has been a while, but it has been hard work getting settled into London. I now have a UK bank account with pounds in it and a mobile phone with a funny number. I have made two successful attempts at riding my bike on the wrong side of the road. And after hours of walking around, I have a much better feel for the neighborhoods around the school.

Being based out of the school for the first few days made everything a little bit simpler. I knew it was only short term when I booked it, but I wish I could have stayed until my flat search was completed. It was a nice room, and the student rate was more than fair.

In other news, watching the Olympics from a British perspective has been quite lovely. The coverage I've watched has been on the BBC, which means that it is pretty much commercial free – try that NBC. It also means that I was able to watch all 200 laps of the men’s Madison with no interruptions. Additionally, the medal tables are sorted by number of golds, rather than total number of medals won, to bump the UK up a few places.

Metro Stations

2008-07-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

For a while I have had plans to document the different metro stations that I have been visiting on a regular basis, as each of them is unique and the diversity is makes it something worth trying to share.

At the one of the stations I pulled out my camera at, a uniformed man walked toward me not looking too happy. He had me to pull out my camera back out so he could watch me delete the photos that I had just taken. Even though it was a true militsiya, more a traffic cop type, the experience of getting yelled at in a foreign language by someone in a uniform was somewhat unpleasant.

Apparently you can’t take pictures in the metro stations; and upon a much closer inspection, there are very small no camera pictures near the entrance of the stations. I wouldn’t have seen the sign unless I was looking for it. As with everything else, the Wiki on the metro is pretty good and has a few photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Metro

I did manage to take a few photos though:

General Trip Update

2008-07-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

So at this point, my trip to Russia is half way over. I feel like I’ve done enough of the touristy things that I thing that the trip can be called a success on that front. I’ve been to churches, museums, parks, and done a fair bit of just plain walking around. Using the metro has become second nature. I’ve successfully negotiated calling a car from the street and actually got to where I needed to be. As I write this, I’m sitting at a local bar just waiting for a few friends to show up. I’m starting to feel a little bit less like tourist (as long as I keep my mouth shut).

I do have a few things remaining on the must do list. The first is to go back to the Hermitage and go through a few of the exhibits that I missed the first time though. I fundamentally like the idea of going to a ballet while I’m here, but I’m not sure if I can pull it off. The thought of going alone isn’t appealing, and I also don’t want to have to pay an arm and a leg. We’ll see how it goes. A trip to a Russian banya was moved to the tentative list; kind of like the foot massage in China, this one could backfire quickly if I’m not careful.

From the original wish, I’ve been able to pull a few of them off, but others are proving harder. I went to a Zenith football match and made it to Peterhof. A friend and I have found an alternative art exhibit that we’d like to visit, which I’m looking forward to. I’ve seen some live music at a few local bars, but none of it is something that I would listen to on my own. And regardless of how much vodka I drink, it seems that I’m still not able to pull it off without a wrenching expression on my face.

Temporary Residence #2 – St. Petersburg, Russia

2008-07-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

A homestay was arranged for me by the language school for me while I am here in St. Petersburg. The flat has two bedrooms, kitchen, toilet, and shower.

Kitchen

The homestay package includes breakfast and dinner every day, which has been a great opportunity to eat some home cooked Russian meals.

My Bedroom

The TV is key as I can watch the tour live on Eurosport with Russian commentary. I understand way less than 25% of it, but I’ve convinced myself that it is good practice.

Toilet and Shower

Having separate rooms for the toilet and shower/sink is pretty standard in Russia.

Second Bedroom

The door is all I’ve ever seen of the mysterious second room. I often hear a television on the other side of the wall, so I assume that there is one over there. Other than that, I’ve got no clue. Given that the styling of the bathroom and coffee mugs has strong Egyptian influences, maybe she has a full scale sarcophagus in there. (This aside may have been somewhat influenced by a visit to the Hermitage’s Egyptian arts exhibit.)

Random Photos

2008-07-16T03:16:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from St. Petersburg that I'm fond of:

Public Transportation in St. Petersburg

2008-07-14T03:10:00.000-07:00

While I am here in St. Petersburg, I am relying solely on public transportation to get around. Luckily the family I’m staying with lives about a 5 minute walk from a metro station, so I don’t have to think too hard about how I’m going to get into the city everyday. But if the metro wasn’t so convenient, I would have several other options to choose from.

I’ll start off with the metro, which is incidentally the only one that I actually have experience with at this point. All of my experiences with the metro have been positive, with the exception of trying to by a 40 ride pass from the lady behind the ticket window. The cars are clean, the trains run on time, the passengers are courteous, and the stations all have a unique character that I want write more about later.

From some of the suburbs that are outside the reach of metro there is an above ground train that has a dedicated right of way.

Above all of major streets in St. Petersburg are cables for powering electric busses and trolley cars. I think that the buses and the trolleys use different sets of wires, which further complicates things, but I can’t be sure. This also explains why so many of the pictures I have taken include several sets of wires spanning directly in front of the subject.

Normal city buses are also around. They have standard stops, which seem to be nothing special.

In addition to the standard buses, the marshrutka are something between the size of a passenger van and a short bus. They follow a documented route, but you have flag them down to get on and make a request at your stop to get off. I think this is somewhat similar to the Community Circulators that have started showing up in Cleveland, but some of the routes cover a much larger area.

Commute to Language School

2008-07-11T04:09:00.000-07:00

I took a few pictures to document my commute from the apartment to school.

Head down the stairs from the second floor

Walk down the alley to Проспект Большевиков

To the metro station

The Проспект Большевиков station

Down the escalator. You might not be able to see the bottom of it from the picture, and it takes about two minutes to ride down.

Out the Лиговский Проспект station, it is a short walk to school.

Temporary Residence #1 - Island Pond, VT

2008-07-08T03:41:00.000-07:00

After the adventure race, the team went up to Island Pond for a recovery week. The beautiful surroundings made it a great place to setup shop for some low key water skiing, mountain biking and moose stalking. As it worked out, the last full day we were there was Independence Day, and the town put on a fireworks display to send us off.

The thing that hit me most from the trip was the level of community that I observed. As we drove around town and the surrounding area, honks and waves were exchanged with almost every passer-by. Neighbors would come by to share drinks and stories by the nightly bonfire with a hand wave or shout of invitation. A friend blindly offered his daughter’s outdoor playhouse for use on a parade float and even participated in the excruciating painful process of its relocation onto the trailer. When the movie rental shop (also a gas station and grocery) didn’t have the title we were looking for, a quick phone call was made and the movie was borrowed from a neighbor, but we could leave only after being given a tour of their gorgeous home.

The mix of full-time residents, summer cottage owners and weekend transplants has created something here that I truly admire. While it is clearly not an urban setting where you can walk to everything one needs (the nearest traffic signal is about a 45 minute drive away), I never got the stranded feeling I often get in much less rural settings. The local businesses might not be as efficient or well stocked as a Walmart, but if you have a question there is someone who knows the answer behind the counter. Even without traffic signals or stop signs, traffic yields to pedestrians crossing the street in town. This was all so different from all the neighborhoods I’ve lived in recently, and it just seemed so natural and sincere.

A special thanks to my hosts for the week. If it wasn’t clear already, I had a wonderful time.

Cradle of Liberty 24 Hour Adventure Race

2008-07-07T22:46:00.000-07:00

I really don’t want to write too much on this. It was fun, but not nearly as euphoric as the first AR we did last fall. The length and mentally demanding style of these events will always be a huge rush and great personal challenge, so I’m sure we will work out the details to start another one sometime soon.

Mission Statement

2008-06-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

On hot summer days, a turtle may wander into the center of a roadway, only to find that during their journey to the other side, the road surface has become too warm for them to continue. With no other options, they turtle-up and instantly become immobile. With no outside assistance, every oncoming vehicle, possibly for hours on end, will be an immediate threat to their wellbeing.

To help give these turtles a hope for the future, several members of the community have banded together to form the Turtle Rescue Squad (TRS). This collection of athletically active individuals often find themselves sharing the roadway with turtles in need and have agreed to put the health and safety of the local turtle population ahead of their personal workout requirements.

My goal with this blog is to document our future turtle rescue operations as well as share some of my personal day-to-day activities in between.