To Facebook or Not To Facebook

... That is the question.  Mitch and I are apparently two of the last holdouts on Facebook.  Not that we haven't been pressured to join facebook by friends and family - we just haven't heard enough arguments to convince us be like Tiger and "Just do It" (mildly entertaining link to mildly offensive posters).

The arguments I've heard in the recent past:

1.  Everybody's doing it (i dont tend to assimilate well so this has no effect on me)

2.  Even my mom's on Facebook (because we all do what our moms do ?)

3.  You can reconnect with people you went to high school with (I didnt really like them then, why would I go out of my way to find them now?)

4.  I put pictures on Facebook but you can't see them (oh, whatever did we do to send pics to friends/family before Facebook?)

5.  You can keep up with what all of your friends are doing (I can barely keep track of what *I'm* doing!!)

6.  It's easier to communicate with people (this is not necessarily a good thing - I already abuse email and texting as a way to control conversations, Facebook would pretty much render me a shut-in since I could communicate with just about everyone without actually speaking to anyone)

7.  You already have a blog, what's the difference (a blog is more of a one way rant ... at least that's how I use it.  People can choose to read or not read, and I'm often surprised to find out that people actually DO read.  Much different than facebook in my view)

8.  You can stalk people to find out what they're up to (this argument actually holds some merit.  I'm just being honest!). 

9.  People will be able to find you on the web (because it takes too much effort to google me, where you'd find a zillion less-than-stellar race results, my profile on our CAWES website, my blog, my linked-in profile ....you get the point)


So the question remains... to Facebook or Not to Facebook.  I can't decide if I'm a holdout now because it's too much hassle, because I really don't have time to deal with it (I can barely keep up with my one-sided rant of a blog) or simply on principle.

This blog was specifically written to my friends and loved ones who think I'm being obtuse by not signing up. 

Mayhaps I am putting wayyy too much thought into this...

A weekend without Snow !!

Last weekend a few of us from the MABRA community attempted to escape the snow by heading south.  There were races happening in North Carolina and while I'm not quite race-ready, I love NC and couldn't pass up a reason to make the trip. I took Friday off, picked up a way-ward cyclist who needed a lift and made what turned out to be a long and difficult trip around the beltway to get south of town.  Left my place around 9am, picked up SuperDave around 1030 (thats how long it took me to get to Olney with a short stop in the middle for much-needed caffeine) and finally got south of DC around 1230.  Main highways were plowed for the most part but had what I've dubbed as "magic lanes".  You're rolling along with 4 lanes and out of the blue, the plow must've taken a coffee break or maybe ran out of gas, so the lane disappears without warning.  A little way down the road, the lane reappears.  Seeing as people have trouble driving with regular conditions, this created all kinds of havoc. 

trying to get out my neighborhood - piles of snow as tall as my car !

Finally south of DC, we rolled along at a pretty good clip.  As the "Welcome to North Carolina" sign came into view, Badger called to let me know that it was going to snow that night.  In North Carolina.  Seriously. Temps were unseasonably cold and just as predicted, Carrboro, NC got about 2" of snow.  That was nothing for us northerners seasoned with FEET of snow, but it nearly shut down the town since NC doesn't really get snow.  Unless I'm there, apparently.  The saturday race was cancelled so I enjoyed a good trainer session in the "man room" at Ken and Laura's place ... their garage is set up with race dvds, a projector and a large, white "screen" (sheetrock painted white), the better to suffer by.  That night, Badger and Merdhot arrived and as the second pitcher of margarita's started flowing, I knew there'd be no 8am racing from this household on Sunday.   As suspected, the Johnson household waited until it was warmer to do an impromptu race, which I imagine was much more enjoyable than the 22degree morning that the "real" race offered. 

this is how NC deals with snow

Local heavy-hitter Jen Rasmussen hit the deck and broke her arm during the womens race (this is rumor, I have not confirmed), so send her some luv and get well - tough way to start the race season but I know she'll be back in action sooner than later.

This past weekend was FINALLY a weekend without snow - Badger and I played it safe by doing a computrainer session at Conte's on Saturday morning.  A mildly entertaining adventure, complete with a flat tire on the trainer (that takes talent, doesn't it?).  The mechanics expressed their displeasure with my shifting issues so we agreed to rectify the problem after our team ride on Sunday.  The weather was fantastic and it was borderline surreal to actually be riding outdoors.  A few weekends stuck on a trainer reminds you how lucky we are when the weather cooperates.... More about the team ride will be posted on our team blog in the next day or so. After  the ride, a few of us visited Conte's to stock up on lime-green tires and tape, and to get my shifting issues rectified.  I'm pretty sure I drove just about everyone crazy during the ride. 

Plain-jane, Eeps and Grizzly at Conte's on Sunday.

Snowed In Solo

Friday morning I had an amusing conversation with our Fed-Ex guy - making small talk, I asked him if he was trying to beat the impending snow, he said no, he'd be out for a while, and what were my snow-in plans ?  .. no plans, really but that I'd probably do a blog about things to do when snowed in solo. He got sad-faced and assured me that I'd find the right one and not to give up by blogging.  It was funny because 1) I wasn't lamenting anything, 2) he assumed that if I'm blogging, I've given up and 3) I'm getting relationship advice from the fed-ex guy.  Sigh.

So, here's a rundown of what I've done in my severely single and snowed in solo condition: 

- (friday) work until 5:30, at which time driving conditions were crap  Nearly take out neighbor's car sliding into my parking spot, literally.

- take two shifts shoveling, one at 8pm, another at midnight.  Share shifts with my vampire neighbors - super great people, but I swear they never sleep. 

- between shoveling shifts, take a hike across the next neighborhood to watch a movie with a friend.  Didn't really think as far forward as the midnight hike home - where did I put those snow-shoes again ?

- sleep in, wait for breakfast in bed and remember that my cat, lacking opposable thumbs, won't rise to the occasion.

- peek out the window at my neighbors shoveling out ... bake apple granola muffins. This delays participation in the first morning shift of shoveling and also makes me a hero for bringing baked goods.  

- peek out the back window to find the source of the very loud scraping sound I heard at 2am ... since my heat was still working and the roof hadn't collapsed, I figured whatever it was, it could wait until after breakfast.  Source is another neighbor's tree that fell into my yard.  It missed my roof but landed on top of my HVAC unit.  It's sad to think my luck is changing for the better simply because the situation could have been worse.  

- finally join neighbor to continue sidewalk maintenance. Running out of places to put snow in our townhouse community, we throw it onto an absent-neighbor's yard.  He might get into his front door around June.

- receive updates from teammates - Badger has a tree or two down, one on her fence and roof.  Grizzly finished some intervals and was walking to her neighborhood salon for some self-indulgence.  Eeps was stuck on the trainer, watching and wondering who was going to win the 2007 tour.  JenCheng went out to make snow angels and a snow bike.  I dont know what a snow bike is, but I cant wait to see pics.

- watch as another neighbor tries to get his truck unstuck - guy thought he was going somewhere in 2ft (at that time) of snow. To his credit, he got about 100 yards before getting stuck.  Offer help and assure him that if he needed some kitty litter, his neighborhood cat lady has him covered. He just looks confused.

- debate doing my slave-driver workout for the day.  opt for an apple muffin and a nap instead.

- wake up to the sound of shovels.  Guilt forces me to get bundled up and help since I don't have any baked goods ready for bribes. 

- catch CNN's coverage of "Snowmegeddon" (their name, not mine).  They actually mention Elkridge on national news for having over 30" of snow, the most in the area (around 1pm).  I live in Elkridge/Arbutus.

- finally motivate to get on the bike.  Watch bad tv to encourage anger ... I ride stronger when I'm angry (note to competition:  not wise to make me angry in a race). 

- watch my neighbor's daughter's bf roll through on his 4-wheeler - it looks like too much fun.  Silently thank Badger for letting me keep the vespa in her garage, make mental note to thank her and Merdhot again.

- make some dinner, consider more baked goods and sit down to blog, thereby signaling to my fed-ex guy that I've officially given up.  

Next to the tree is my patio set - that's the umbrella half covered by snow

... and here's the lucky HVAC unit, still in tact !