Hello, Neglected Blog
March 14, 2008 by Eric Richardson
I end up writing enough over on blogdowntown that I just don't have a lot left in the typing department.
A few odds and ends worth mentioning:
I had sent back my Soma frame last month thanks to a crack. I picked the bike back up today, with a new frame (does that make it the same bicycle, or is the frame the heart of the bike?).
Last Saturday I played my first baseball game in six years, going 0-2 at the plate (ground ball to the 3rd baseman and a flyout to left-center) and splitting some time between left field and catching. Second game is tomorrow at 2pm.
Sunday afternoon Kathy and I are heading down to San Diego for a few days during her spring break.
More Baseball Updates
February 25, 2008 by Eric Richardson
Eric Richardson
Yesterday's tryouts got postponed a week thanks to rain, but I got in a good bit of baseball related activity this week. Wednesday I met up with Zach Behrens at the Sherman Oaks Castle Park cages, hitting several rounds and realizing that even batting is a workout when you haven't done it in a while.
Saturday, though, was the real workout. Will Campbell and I met up at 10am at the Fletcher entrance to the river path, and proceeded to ride up the river and then across the valley to Sherman Oaks, roughly a 21-mile one-way from Downtown. We hit at Castle Park, grabbed a bite to eat, and then threw the ball around at Sherman Oaks Van Nuys Park. Final step was biking back across the valley to North Hollywood, where I grabbed the subway and Will continued on his two wheels.
Biggest finding for me was that I seem to still be able to make a throw from home to second, though not with especially much on it at the moment.
Rescheduled tryouts are this upcoming Sunday, so I'll know more where I'm at then.
Getting Back to the Game
February 19, 2008 by Eric Richardson
Eric Richardson
Sunday I go out to do something I've been wanting to do for a long time: play baseball. That morning I'll be heading out to tryouts for the Los Angeles Baseball League, an adult league that plays at fields scattered around the area. I last played in the summer of 2002, so I've got five and a half years of neglect to shake off my arm and bat before seeing what's still there.
I'll be looking to play the Saturday wood bat league. The last time I played wood bat I couldn't get hits to save my life. I'm hoping a new time in a new part of the country will give my luck there a little shake. After all, back then it wasn't like I was always striking out -- it just seemed like every time I made a good connection it went straight into someone's glove.
I've also managed to talk fellow IAAL-MAF member Will Campbell into coming out to tryouts. He and I are playing to hit the batting cages this week and see where we stand.
Temporarily Fixed-less
February 19, 2008 by Eric Richardson
Eric Richardson
I had to drop my new bike off at the shop today. A crack had developed behind the seatpost, and spread along where the seatstay joins into the post. They'll ship the frame back up to Soma, who will presumably just send a new frame on back down.
This means that my Devinci, neglected since December, looks to get a little use over the next few weeks. I'm a little curious to see what it feels like to get back on a freewheel after riding fixed for a few months.
Feeling Slow? Check the Load
January 12, 2008 by Eric Richardson
My phone (an iPhone) has been feeling sluggish lately. It took until today for the light to turn on where I said "Why don't I open the terminal and check top?" Load was around 4, and it was instantly apparent the culprit:
12796 gnuchess 31.7% 7:12:55 2 31 109 1.36M 1.47M
12538 gnuchess 28.0% 6:46:13 2 30 109 1.36M 1.47M
12116 gnuchess 25.8% 7:02:24 2 30 109 1.36M 1.47M
Turns out that if the chess app crashed it was leaving a gnuchess instance running (and running hard, apparently) under the hood. A couple of those had built up and were choking out anything else trying to hit the CPU. A simple killall gnuchess and I'm feeling much better.