recumbenteer
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Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in the "recumbenteer" journal:[<< Previous 10 entries]
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09:38 pm
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Bicycle Infrastructure is a feminist issue. Discuss.
If bikes provide "personal mobility services" with the competitive advantage of low Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- do they do a better job servicing the travel patterns typically made by men than the trips typically made by women?
If so, are there social forces at play constructing some types of travel (e.g. "grocery shopping trips" and "riding with children") as "women's work" - and does this affect the way these trips are value against other trips (e.g. "journey to work" trips) - does this influence how bicycle infrastructure decisions are made?
- Is the current focus on "racy", "XTeme MTB", and "Fixie" bikes and relative marginalization of cargo bikes simply an oversight or is symptomatic of a bigger (capitalist? patriarchal?) problem where expensive "boys toys" are valued over utility cycling to meet genuine social needs?
As environmentalists and feminists....
- Is it valuable to call attention to gender differences in travel patterns, the different requirements each trip has for a vehicle that provides "personal mobility services" - and the different bicycle infrastructure requirements needed for each "personal mobility service" vehicle?
- is it valuable to challenge the gendered nature of travel patterns in the modern city? Does the current division of labour (with associated travel requirements) make it more difficult for some women to participate in environmentally sustainable travel? - If so, would a more equitable division of travel responsibilities result result in greater commitment to address the issues faced by female cyclists every day?
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10:38 am
[Link] | I've changed my mind about facebook. Its too useful a tool to allow mere privacy concerns to stop me from using it.
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07:53 am
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Ride to work day - Success
Well, I was really worried today was going to be a dud. All the signs were there - I got sick in the organising / promotion phase - the weather the night before was truly feral and there were other people organising similar breakfasts nearby, which I thought might "poach" people from the event
My doubts were unfounded. Ride to Work day in the Coburg Mall was a success. Around 70 people turned up, nearly all of them completed rider surveys. No-one went hungry or had to wait to get served or generally turned up and had a crap time.
We had the retiring member for Brunswick turn up and informally chat to participants - we gave away copies of our new transport strategy, and lots of people were interested in finding out more about the upcoming bike strategy.
Members of the local Bicycle Users Group chatted with Council staff about a grant they recently won - and were making grand plans to get 600 of people who don't currently ride on bikes.
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11:53 am
[Link] | Lovely dinner gathering last night. Made octopus risotto (after working out that there were no vegetarians lurking in my dinner guests) - Was delish
- Baby octopus marinated overnight in ginger garlic lemon and soy
Then use the marinate and white wine to make a risotto with brown rice (adds a nutty flavour, less likely to go gluggy) Herbs from the garden, some tomatoes and a handful of cheese. Yum.
Then played cards - we have many board games but we settled on poker - played for funsies .
L had never played before, but by the end of it was sharking us all.
A good meal, good conversation, and a light hearted card game. A happy evening - must do it again.
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04:08 am
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Cocktail suggestions - The Martini-Henry
On this glorious spring day I read a history of the British empire drinking gin and tonics.
Which has got me thinking about a cocktail called the "Martini-Henry" (named after the rifle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini-Henry)
So would it be:
Gin
White rum
Dry Vermouth
Tonic Water
Bickfords Lime cordial
- served in a Martini glass with a slice of lime.
(an imperial twist on the classic martini)
or
Gin (or Pimms)
Dark rum
Iced tea
Brown sugar syrup
- served over ice in a Tom Collins glass with a slice of lime and cucumber
(a homage to the trade goods of empire).
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06:46 am
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Goodbye Facebook
You can delete your Facebook account - but you have to leave it dormant for a fortnight before they'll actually delete it. Log in just once in that period and they'll revive it.
I'm giving my account the flick. I don't use it much, and I do most of my on-line socialising via mailing lists anyway.
A Facebook account with your own name is way too public. The semi-anonymity of a handle is so much better.
The only thing I got out of Facebook was a running update of what's happening in the Western Lands (and most of that self-promotion from an up-and-coming journo).
My bike nerd email still works. I've got the skype for the rellies. I may yet go back to the Book of Face monolith - but for now I think I'll return to old LJ.
Is there anyone still active hear? - Or is It all full of cross-posted twitter / facebook / whatever content?
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08:00 pm
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Problem space - Voting
I need to do some public consultation for work.
I need to get a list of things to do, then I need to get people to vote on the most important items on the list.
This seems to me to be something we could use teh interwebs for.
My preferred tool would allow me to send a URL in an email with some way of making sure people only vote once.
On the voting web page users get a simplified version of a "budgeting" process.
They get 100 (points, dollars whatever) to spend between a predetermined list of projects. Easy items cost 1 point, harder items might cost 20 or more points. Users "spend" their 100 points, and submit the form.
The user is then shown a 'leader board' of the most popular projects.
We, as organisers get a report of the 'leader board'.
Is this sort of thing hard / expensive?
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04:16 pm
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The world's first solar powered nation
The Vatican is going solar powered. Not only will it become the world's first country to meet all of its electricity needs, the 100MW array they are installing will give them enough generating capacity to export to neighbouring Italy.
I think that's pretty exciting.
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09:20 am
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I got the call all renters fear
You know the one .... "The owner wants to sell the house".
So I'm now house hunting.
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08:53 pm
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A reflective stage
I did a lazy three day tour of the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsular over the weekend of 13-15 March.
It put me in a most reflective mood.
As a result of these reflections I've worked out that
- purchasing a property with my partner is something I don't yet feel comfortable with - and no amount of Rudd cash is going change that.
- I need go on an overseas holiday within three years (and this will involve a substantial reworking of my finances).
- I still have aspirations to go on another epic (3mth+) bike tour in the next five years.
- I am happy in my job and want to stay.
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