Saturday, May 31, 2008

OK ESN:0-7385141

Life is good.
ESN:0-7385141
Latitude:35.1663
Longitude:-80.8745
Nearest Location:not known
Distance:not known
Time:05/31/2008 18:42:32 (US/Eastern)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=35.1663,-80.8745&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Monday, May 26, 2008

30.2.1.1

I've been trying to conjure up an official title for my trip, but everything I thought of was too cliché or in a language I couldn't speak properly. So, the heck with letters, I'm going to use numbers to describe this event. And, better yet, I'll even make it look like an IP address. So here it is, "30.2.1.1", 30 years old, 2 wheels, 1 man, 1 goal (to reach the Pacific Ocean). Freakin' brilliant if you ask me.

Speaking of technology, I think I'm taking enough electronics with me to communicate with one of the Mars rovers:

1. Main GPS
2. Backup GPS
3. Laptop
4. Smartphone
5. SPOT
6. Good camera
7. Crappy camera
8. USB thumb drive
9. A spider web of cables
10. And a quarry full of batteries

And speaking of SPOT, the last post was from SPOT himself. I could explain it all, but I think if you click the link above, you'll figure out what it is pretty quickly.

I managed to write a little javascript to extract the GPS coordinates and display them graphically in Google Maps above. So if there's anyone out there who gives a hoot, you'll know where I sent my last OK signal.

There's a ton of other technical stuff I'd like to do for this trip, namely:

1. Helmetcam
2. Write software to make blogging easier for my laptop
3. Write software for my smartphone

But keeping a full time job and doing all of this at the same time is challenging...and I'm habitually lazy...so go figure the outcome. Now, my primary focus is on:

1. Bike Maintenance
2. Good directions
3. Water
4. Shelter

...you know, minor details. A few more purchases and I should be close to ready:

1. Oil cooler (still hasn't been put into production for my bike)
2. Main outerwear
3. Warm weather gloves (since I already lost mine)
4. SD card for smartphone
5. Rear turn signals
6. Tires for 1st phase of trip

...and a couple more things to do:

1. Debug brake light
2. Find camping spots and mark them
3. Finish roll chart cutting

So, yeah, I think I'm behind schedule at this point, ain't got time to blog I don't reckon... will post more later.