June 2009
Duzer Doz America
Friday afternoon at work, I heard that some of my cycling friends got together with Ryan Van Duzer, a guy who was riding a cruiser across America. Yes, he's riding a 3-speed cruiser pulling a trailer all the way across the country. I heard that people were getting together with Ryan on Friday night so I headed out. Everyone met at Boulders on Broadway, our favorite bike-friendly bar in Tempe.
I really enjoyed meeting Ryan and his friend, Matt, who are both from Boulder, Colorado. Matt lives in Scottsdale and was giving Ryan a place to stay when he turned his route south to avoid mountains. Exchanging heat for mountains? Not sure if that's a fair trade, but if anyone can do this ride on a cruiser, it's Ryan. Plus, he makes it interesting for all of us to watch and hear about. Check out the videos on his site - they're very entertaining.
Ryan is extremely full of energy and just good fun to be around. He's a great advocate for riding bikes! He's also raising money for a Boulder bike cooperative, Community Cycles. The local bike community had a great turnout with 20 to 30 people coming over the course of the night. Conversation was great and I enjoyed meeting a few new people. Especially, Susan Kayler, a lawyer who is the photo radar queen of the Internet (ie the #1 search result on Google).
On Saturday night, I got a late night instant message telling me that a group of people were going to ride with Ryan out of Phoenix. Chris and I decided we'd join the group ride. We got up really early in the morning and met up at the Bike Saviours co-op. The ride was 25 miles from Tempe to just outside Chandler and 25 miles back. It was hot, hot, hot as summer in Phoenix typically is. However, it felt good to do a long ride again and to hang out with good people.
Best wishes to Ryan Van Duzer on his ride across America! Glad we could be a tiny part of it.
Check out Ryan Van Duzer on the web:
RyanVanDuzer.com
New Belgium's Duzer Across America
Duzer on Twitter
Duzer's Cruiser on Flickr
Last Weekend: 6/19 - 6/21
It was another great weekend.
Friday night - Chris had to work so I stopped by Practical Art on my way home. Got to chat with the owner as she was leaving for the day. We had a quick conversation about marketing, specifically on the Internet, and the goal for bringing more people in the door. Then I hung out with Chris for a little while. It was a quiet night and there were only a few customers while I was there.
They have a bunch of new items that I just love so I took some pictures. If you're looking for the perfect gift or just want something new for yourself, I highly suggest stopping by Practical Art on Central just 1 block north of Camelback in Phoenix.
Saturday - Chris had the day off so we took full advantage and clean out the garage. We spent ALL day doing this. It was a lot of work but SO worth it. I can finally get to the washing machine and dryer again! Everything is organized and in its place. Hopefully Chris will be able to get some good woodworking done now the garage is under control. (And I'll start doing laundry again.)
Sunday - I typically talk with my family on Sunday so I spent the morning on Skype with my sisters. It's so great to be able to video chat and see each other in person. I love getting to see my niece and nephew too. On Sunday, my 9-month-old niece was waving and clapping at me. SO CUTE!
Around 10am Chris and I met up with Casey and Debbie for brunch at Scramble. It was really great hanging out and getting to know another couple better. I met Casey at the Bike to Work Day event and we've been trying to get everyone together since. Turns out we all have a lot in common - bikes, dogs, art, music, etc. So we'll definitely be getting together again.
Later in the afternoon, I got to spend time with B which was great. I hadn't seen her in about 3 months. It was wonderful to catch up. I was struck by how much she's matured in just a short while. She's 16 and definitely growing up. I'm really thankful she's in my life.
Ford Drive Experience
Ford Motor Company gave me a Ford Escape Hybrid to drive for a week. Before I got the car, I spent some time thinking about Ford.
- Old Impressions
- In high school, Brian had a red Ford Escort. I hated that car. To me, it was a very, very ugly car. Plus, it always felt junky. Naturally, I never told my friend this, but I always thought it. As far as I know, my friend never had any problems with his car so maybe it wasn't as junky as I thought. Being a typical high schooler, he ragged on that car a bit.
- In college, I was designated driver one weekend and drove a friend's Ford Explorer. The overwhelming experience was that the vehicle was incredibly under-powered.
- More Recent Impressions
- Ford is currently more financially stable than the other major US car makers. Ford has not taken any loans or bailout money from the government. (That get them big points in my book.)
- Keesha drives a Ford Thunderbird and she loves it. Keesha is planning to get a new car in the next year and is planning on buying another Ford.
- Preston drives a Ford Ranger. He dislikes it and doesn't plan on buying another Ford.
My first impressions of the Ford Escape Hybrid:
BIG - This vehicle is a lot larger than my Civic. Of course, it's an SUV! It took me awhile to get comfortable driving something so large. The first couple days I felt like I drove like a grandma.
ELECTRIC vs. GAS - When I first drove the car, I would become disappointed every time the gas-powered engine would come on. I felt really satisfied when the electric engine was powering the car. I had read that people needed to drive hybrids a bit more conservatively in order to get the full benefit. So I tried to only accelerate slowly. Though I felt like I failed whenever the gas engine kicked in. It was fairly obvious that I couldn't completely control what the car was doing.
NEW - To me, the interior was very nice. Of course, it was new! And comparing a new interior with the beat up, 10 year-old interior of my Civic, isn't really a comparison at all.
Reading the Manual
The first night I had the car, I read the manual. I definitely have not read a car manual since I first bought my car ten years ago. I was impressed with how this one was easy to read and immediately answered my big questions.
- What I learned from the manual:
- How to drive a hybrid - I shouldn't try too hard to control when the car switched from electric to gas-powered engine. The manual clearly communicated that the engineers made the car to be as efficient as possible. It said the driver didn't need to change their driving habits.
- A/C Settings - The air conditioning has an extra button - the "econ" button. When the economy button is on, the a/c will run more efficiently and is compatible with the electric engine. However, the a/c might not get as cool as quickly as it would if the gas engine was powering it. We were lucky to have a fairly cool week in Arizona the week that I had the hybrid. So I never had a problem with the economy a/c setting.
- Folding the back seats down - One of the advantages of an SUV is the cargo capacity. The back seats fold down to make one large platform. The manual showed that you had to take the headrests off the seats before you could fold the seats down. This struck me as weird, but after doing it myself, I realized it wasn't a big deal. The headrests fit nicely under the front seats and the back seats fold down well. This feels like a little bit of an extra step, but I imagine the designers were just trying to make as much room as possible.
After the first day of driving, I tried to not make any quick judgments about the car. However, if someone had asked me at the time what I thought, I'd summarize it into two things. One: the car is just too big. Two: I wanted the electric motor to be on more often than it was...preferably all the time.
#Ford #FordDrive
Comments
OpenRain's Online Business Platform
I'm very lucky to be working with a great group of people at OpenRain. This job change has been really good for me as my new position is allowing me to stretch my "muscles." I'm a project manager for OpenRain, but I'm also helping with customer relations, marketing, process, sales, etc. It's really fun to be able to give input and help in many different areas.
Case in point, I've recently made a video about OpenRain's new product. Well, "new" is relative...it's been around since January. It's called the Online Business Platform (OBP for short). It's a way for small businesses to easily manage a website & leverage best practices for marketing online. I'm really proud of what my team has done with this product! I'm thrilled to be a part of it and look forward to seeing how helpful it is for our customers.
But tonight, I'm especially proud of the video. It's my first such attempt and I'm pleased with the final product. I'm thanking my lucky stars for a great team, a cool opportunity to learn new stuff, and a very exciting future of this product.
A special thanks to Chris for being very patient while I worked extra hours to get this video complete!
Comments
Ford Test Drive
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Social Media Group to inquire if I'd like to test drive a Ford Hybrid and blog about it. I thought it would be a great opportunity so I signed up. Today, two lovely ladies, Carrie and Denise, from Page One Automotive dropped off the car I get to borrow for a week. It's a Ford Escape Hybrid.
#Ford #FordDrive
Comments
Weekend in Pictures
Another great weekend, I'm lucky to have so much fun.
Thursday: Chris' birthday! Ladies ride followed by dinner at Boulders. We celebrated Chris' birthday. Tons of fun!
Friday: Gorgeous sunset on the way home from work.
Rode bikes with Chris downtown. Went to the Death Pedal premier but missed the movie (totally my fault for requiring food beforehand...timing fail). Hung out with bike friends and watch the most hilarious raffle ever. Terrance throws a great party.
Saturday: Lunch with Ryan turned into an afternoon of drinking. It's been way too long since I've wasted an entire day by just drinking. It was SO much fun.
Ryan & I met up with our significant others for dinner at Nine O Five (formerly Fate) in downtown. I crashed immediately after getting home. Drinking all day is a lot of work!
Sunday: Chris dreamt about biscuits and gravy so he made some when he woke up. Yum! We played with the dogs and picked up the house. I Skyped with my sisters, which was great! I'm glad they're both doing so well. My niece and nephew are the cutest!
We tried to see Up in 3D but it was sold out. (My movie mojo was off this weekend.) We came home and got productive instead. I'm reading the final book in the Twilight series. Chris worked on our router. (Yeah for tech support!) We finished with dinner and the movie, Noise.
Happy Birthday, Chris
My best friend, my husband, turns 32 today. I'm so happy to get to celebrate these moments with him. I hope it's a very happy birthday!
Socks & Sandals!
Look who was caught this morning with socks and sandals.
Comments
1st Anniversary
Chris and I celebrated our first anniversary this weekend. It's hard to believe that this time last year we got married. In some ways it feels like a long and in other ways it feels very short.
We spent a wonderful weekend together in Jerome, Clarkdale, and Cottonwood, Arizona. Three small towns just a couple hours north of Phoenix. The weather was lovely - a lot cooler than the Valley and there was even some rain. We explored Jerome, an old mining town. We ate good food at Nic's in Cottonwood. We rode our bikes all throughout Dead Horse Ranch State Park.
I loved the bed and breakfast in Clarkdale Chris picked out for us. The Flying Eagle Country B&B was excellent. It was a lovely house and wonderfully decorated. Patricia was a wonderful host! The breakfast was amazing - french toast with cinnamon apples. She even made smoothies for us to toast our anniversary. We will definitely go back and recommend it to others!
The weekend was a wonderful chance for us to just celebrate being together. We reflected on the last year. We reminisced about our relationship when it first started. I talked about how lucky I am to have Chris. (Really, really lucky!)
View the entire set of pictures.
about erica
- Blogging since 2001
- Thirty-four years old
- Married to Chris Altman
- Lives in Phoenix, Arizona
The Small
Soldiers' faces before, during and after serving in Afghanistan
Lovely music video of a family's version of Everything Counts by Depeche Mode.
Reminder to myself to read this article.
"There is no law in France, it turns out, against the improvement of clocks."
Love the storage ideas for sheets, wrapping paper, & spray bottles.
Interesting article from Matt Haughey about a poorly run project on Kickstarter so others can avoid the same mistakes.
My friend, Jay Frosting, is doing an improvised comedy podcast with fake guests. Check it out!
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