Walk the Line

Wow...a whole month without blogging? What was I thinking? Oh, yes, I recall now...trying to get all that Christmas shopping done. It was a nice holiday, though. Couldn't have asked for more...good friends, good food, and family.
So this morning, January 1, 2007, I entered upon the third calendar year of exercise walking. I thought it might behoove me to check out downtown Alpharetta, since that is my official mailing address, and even though I've lived here twenty-odd years, I still don't know all of Alpharetta's nooks and crannies. I think I found many of them in just an hour or so, but I probably have more looking to do.
Since June of 2005, I've been walking regularly for exercise. I try to do two 5K (3.1 miles) walks per week. This may sound fairly easy, but when it's 98 degrees by 10:00 on an August morning, even walking can present its own challenges. You just have to remember to stretch, hydrate, and take it at your own pace, which may vary depending on the weather, your general health (or state of mind), and your personal schedule.
If you're looking for an easy way to exercise in the new year, walking is certainly a contender. You see your own neighborhood, and many new ones, from an entirely different point of view when you're "at street level", outside the confines of your automobile. I have found cafes, historic homes, discarded trinkets, freebies, and shortcuts. You can't beat walking -- and it's free!

Famous Highways of the Northeast

I just returned from a Thanksgiving road trip from Atlanta to Boston and back. It's a trip of over 2,200 miles, and many of my friends are in awe that we would even consider driving on a trip of this length. But for us, it's fun to get out and see the U.S.A. at street level. Besides, without such a voyage, how could I be in the know about what's happening between here and there? Consider the following (please excuse me if you're already aware of any of these facts):

• Dunkin' Donuts has a significantly increased presence in the Northeast, and the people get upset if you don't state your order immediately.
  
• Burger King has come to the New Jersey Turnpike. Fortunately, Nathan's is still there. T-shirt/cap souvenirs are $14.99, with no sales tax.
  
• Maryland charges tolls at random! Are there some signs missing or something?
  
• Iced tea does not appear to be popular north of Virginia.
  
• West Virginia has friendly people handing out free coffee at their rest areas.
  
• McDonald's in New England sells a delicious iced coffee marketed by Newman's Own.
  
• Coffee in general (even at Starbucks) appears to be weaker in the North than in the South. Is it the water?
  
• The Massachusetts Turnpike apparently has no enforced speed limits, but New York state still has a speed limit of 55 mph.
  
• Much of the entertaining graffiti on the Cross Bronx Expressway has been covered with brick red paint.
  
• The morning mist on the Shenandoah mountains in Virginia is a thing of beauty.
  
• Baseball caps appear to be even more popular in the North than in the South.
  
• The world's slowest fast food service can be found at the Arby's in Newburgh, New York.
  
• Many people on the Harvard campus wear black clothing. They seem quite serious.

If you don't take a good road trip now and then, how can you stay up on this stuff?

Bowling for Fashion

There are certain things that I love about living in Atlanta. Last Saturday night, we went bowling with a group of friends, although what I experienced would surely have to be categorized as something more than just "bowling". The old AMF alley on Savoy Drive (the frontage road for Atlanta's I-285 on its northern leg, close to North Peachtree Road) is no more. The building has been completely renovated, and in the process, the old alley has been transformed into a bowling alley/nightclub hybrid called "300 Atlanta". It is a truly unique and refreshing take on an age-old pastime.


To begin, the ever-present smell of stale cigarette smoke has been completely eradicated from the building. When you check in for a game, you are assigned a personal attendant, sporting a headset, who is there to remedy any scoring machine errors that you might encounter and to make sure you are being served your food and beverages. You can rent shoes and a ball, of course, but the shoes are delivered on a small conveyor belt from some hidden repository within the building, and there are sample bowling balls available to make sure that you are "fitted" for the correct ball.

A beautiful bar lines one wall, stocked with premium call brands, all tastefully lit from beneath by indirect lighting. Prompt, courteous bartenders serve up anything you want...the apple martinis looked splendid, even though I opted for a refreshing light beer. The crowd is a nice mix of urban, traditional, and emo.

At 9:00 or so, the real fun begins. Instead of the customary "cosmic bowling" offered at lanes throughout the country, this place has "extreme bowling". An array of special effects lighting accompanies the heavy hip-hop/rock soundtrack being pumped from the massive sound system. The place just comes alive, and it's more like being at a trendy intown club than a bowling alley.

This is not your father's bowling alley...this is an experience. Why am I thinking that there'll be more of these popping up? Oh, wait...they already are...in Texas, New York, and California!

If you'd like to see more about 300 Atlanta, check out its virtual tour.

See ya,
Rich =:)

Time for an Overhaul

As a person who has always been interested in politics (I remember watching the Kennedy-Nixon election when I was five years old), this year was a joy indeed! It seems that all over the country, mudslinging was in high gear...expensive TV ads, false claims, true claims, whatever...how can this not be entertaining? Except, of course, that we do have that little business of our country to run.

A number of my friends said that this year, they were tired of a Congress which does not appear to have accomplished its objectives. Actually, I'm sugar coating it; basically, they said they were tired of people who didn't do anything. It seems that for the last few years, once our representatives and senators have been elected, they rapidly lose interest. Add to this the fact that we are now so off-center with the rest of the world, and you have a recipe for true excitement down the road.

We need some smart people in Congress -- I hope we've elected them. We shall see.

"Paradigm Shift"

I believe it started in the Nineties, that decade of grunge, dotcoms, and the Dow. Now, here we are, surrounded by endless gizmos which are supposed to make our lives simpler, yet we appear to be more stressed than ever. Why is this? Is it the endless drill of checking to make sure that no critical messages have arrived, responding to those we have to, and deleting all the Viagra and penny stock ads that we receive on our Bluetooth-enabled PDA's while sitting in stop-and-go traffic? What is this we have created? This ain't Nirvana -- they were in the Nineties, if you recall.

I'm as much a gadget fan as anyone -- in fact, I've bought five iPods for the family since 2004. But iPods offer a pleasant distraction, not an intrusion, and they're not that difficult to operate. They really require very little attention other than the right-brain kind. What I'm more concerned about are those devices which inundate us with information, much of which requires left-brain attention -- you need this! -- are we late? -- get this thing ASAP! -- where are we on this? -- "24/7" -- can I get back to you? -- is this in my space? Oy, veh!

When I began working, the most common method of information dissemination in the office was the traditional memo. Writing a memo required thought, organization, then action. The action consisted of typing the thing up (or getting it typed up), then distributing it by hand to everyone's desk. If the info didn't appear in a memo, chances are it would be verbally communicated. Excuse my use of the term, but if ever we were in the midst of a paradigm shift, it is now. We have people sitting in adjacent cubes emailing each other. Truly, this is somewhat insane, or at the very least, wasteful of satellite hops.

But who am I to judge? I sit here checking my email, listening to my third generation iPod, and waiting for the next polyphonic ring tone to jolt me back into 2006. I guess it isn't all bad, as long as I can get up and walk once in a while.