Photographing the Arroyo Seco Bike Path

May 10, 2005 by Eric Richardson

Yesterday, riding home from work, I took it a little slower and stopped to take pictures on the Arroyo Seco Bike Path. When I first wanted to ride the path I had no idea where exactly it started or ended, and even when I found it a lack of marking made me unsure I was in the right place. Hopefully someone in my situation will see these pictures and have a littler clearer idea what they're looking for.

The path starts (on the north) back behind a park (Arroyo Seco Park?) off Marmion Way just east of the river and the 110. It ends in Ernest E Debs Park. There's one other access point in the middle. Nothing's marked, so just look for a ramp down into the riverbed.

A Good Bit of Biking

May 10, 2005 by Eric Richardson

I didn't put too much thought into the idea that summer meant working full-time and therefore meant back to back bike ride days. I'm sure in a couple weeks this won't be an issue, but on day two I can say that my legs are pretty tired.

They better get over it fast, though, 'cause Sunday is the LA River Ride and as of right now I plan on doing the 45 mile ride from Griffith Park to Long Beach (plus a couple miles here and there). Of course it's also a ten mile ride from my apartment to the starting line, so added all up that makes it a 65 mile ride -- perhaps more like 55 if I take the Red Line over to North Hollywood and come at it that way. That, plus riding in to work and back four days should give me a week total of around 135 - 145 miles. I know that's not a lot when it comes to serious bikers, but it's a good bit on my beat up urban mountain bike.

A Little Campaign Note

May 09, 2005 by Eric Richardson

Interesting to see this statement in a Daily News article on the upcoming Mayoral election:

Both had busy Sundays, with Hahn visiting churches in South Los Angeles - accompanied by his mother, Ramona, and sister, Councilwoman Janice Hahn - as well as meeting with seniors at the Jewish Home for the Aging in Reseda.

Hahn was actually at Bel Air Presbyterian for the 11am service. He arrived around 11:20 and was brought up front. Pastor Brewer then asked him a couple questions about how Christians should pray for their mayor and what he appreciated about his mother. They stayed until just before the closing song. A few weeks ago Hahn had been to the 9am service, but hadn't been able to make the 11am then. A few months ago Sherriff Baca came to answer the same question about praying for leaders.

A Wet and Slow Ride

May 09, 2005 by Eric Richardson

I hopped on my bike today after checking the weather report. It said it would be fairly cool, so I put a long-sleeve on and a t-shirt on top. Of course then it turned out to be misting rain in Pasadena, so I got a little wet. Oh well.

What really annoyed me, though, was the Gold Line. I got onto the train to find that they were doing construction work installing a fence on the LA River bridge. All week trains are going to be running every twenty minutes from 9am to 3pm. Apparently, "work can only be safely accomplished during daytime hours." Perhaps they had notice on the trains at the end of last week, but I last rode a week ago so I don't know. I got there today twelve minutes after the last train had departed, so I only had to wait eight.

Another oddity -- We pulled into the Heritage Square/Arroyo Station and came to a stop. It seemed to be a little longer than normal, and then I noticed that the operator was coming (I was in the rear car). He came in the front door, walked along the car, walked out the back door, and then walked back to the front of the train and we started back off (after a little jerky stop still along the platform).

A pair of fare inspectors got on the train at Union Station and rode to Memorial Park without checking anyone's tickets. At Memorial Park they started talking to another pair of inspectors that were at the station. I never saw any fares inspected.

Fun With Code

May 07, 2005 by Eric Richardson

I spent all day working on an enormous rabbit trail I got sucked down with eThreads. It all started yesterday, when I decided I really needed to get my act together and get category support working in eThreads. I got working on that, and then got an idea in my head that I wanted to do something that seemed simple and nifty, but didn't work right when I implemented it. So what do I do? Of course I don't say "Oh that was dumb, let's just do it the old reliable way." No. Instead, I say, "Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if I entirely redefined this huge piece of how eThreads works?"

And now, 14 hours or so of coding later, I just checked a 4000+ line diff into revision control. My crazy idea works, but something's leaking a good bit of memory and I have no idea if I've put speed holes in my hood or just shot my speed (extra points if you know the Simpsons reference).

On the plus side, none of the new components show up near the top of my initial profiling, so I think that's a good sign.

Caught Up in Old Sounds

May 07, 2005 by Eric Richardson

I don't know quite what to make of this, but I am absolutely caught up in the Danielson Famile right now. It's not like they're new to me or anything -- my first mention of them here was way back in 2001 and I had bought albums of theirs in the '90s. But I don't think I've ever quite been as big of a fan of the sound as I am right now. And they've put out albums in the last couple years... I need to find those. Perhaps a trip to Amoeba is in order tomorrow.

Done and Done

May 06, 2005 by Eric Richardson

So to celebrate finishing up for the summer yesterday I... went to the grocery store. I hadn't been there in a while, and had been doing way too much eating out. The complete barrenness of my cupboards was reflected in the total cost: $130. Vons claims that without the club card it would have been almost $200. In any case, I now have food. This morning I ate Crackling Oat Bran, which I swear I haven't had in over a decade.

Von's also had New York strip for $3.99/lb, so I now have some steaks to be grilling up on the roof.

Only A Little Over Six Hours

May 05, 2005 by Eric Richardson

In only a little over six hours I'll be done with my two remaining finals, ready or not (and the answer is most likely not).

First up, at 11am, is my class on Public Service in an Urban Setting. I get to answer questions about different motivation theories that cause people to volunteer, and what the role of volunteers is in the community.

Second, at 2pm, is Earthquakes. It's mostly multiple choice, which is good for my process-of-elimination brain.

And then, by 3:30 or so I'm done... for the summer. But that's beyond the scope of what I care about right now.

Quiet...

May 02, 2005 by Eric Richardson

I've been quiet around here over the last few days for a reason. It's finals time. One tomorrow, one Wednesday, two Thursday, and then I'm done for the summer. I'm ready (for it to be over, not for the finals).

(Errr... I guess "tomorrow" is today.)