mytrilife

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

World Toilet Day - November 19

Don't forget!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Marx on Capitalism

Given our current economy... I found this interesting.....

Marxist Critique of Capitalism
1. Perfect capitalism has no monopolies, unions, government interference, special advantages for anyone. Just pure competition.

2. Each commodity sells at exactly its proper price (its value).

3. The value of a commodity is the labor (both direct and indirect) required to produce it (labor theory of value).

4. Capitalists (bourgeoisie) own the means of production (factories).

5. Bourgeoisie cannot raise prices above the value of a commodity because of the fierce competition.

6. Workers (proletariat) have only one commodity - labor.

7. Proletarians are free bargaining agents in the job market.

8. So far, every commodity, including labor, sells for its proper price and there seems to be no way to make a profit.

9. But, the value of labor is the labor required to produce it- i.e., the social labor needed to keep the worker alive. So, the proper price is a subsistence wage.

10. There can be profits if the means of production are efficient enough for the worker to produce more value than his subsistence wage. (For example, he needs $6.00/day to live and is paid $1.00/hour. Then if he works 10 hours/day, there is a profit potential of $4.00.)

11. The bourgeoisie have a monopoly after all - access to the means of production.

12. So, a worker who does not contract for a full day's labor (thus removing the profit base) does not get hired - assuming there are more workers than jobs (the "reserve army of the unemployed").

13. So, the bourgeoisie must exploit the proletariat or there is no profit.

14. The "extra" labor is surplus value.

15. The bourgeoisie will try to expand in order to increase profits.

16. Then more labor is needed, so wages tend to rise. But then surplus value (the profit base) tends to fall.

17. Marx rules out an increase in population as a means to restore the proper price of labor. (Malthus is "a libel on the human race.") the proletariat (who are, after all, the future ruling class) are too smart to breed themselves into oblivion.

18. The bourgeoisie instead expand by using labor saving machinery. So, some workers lose their jobs and join the "reserve army of the unemployed" which brings wages back to the subsistence level.

19. But, the bourgeoisie pays full price for the machinery. So, fewer workers means less profit.

20. Competition forces this process to continue, so the labor/production ratio falls until the profit base disappears.

21. Consumption dwindles as machines replace labor.

22. A "bust" occurs. Small firms go under. Goods are dumped on the market at below value.

23. Stronger capitalists get machinery at far below value. So, surplus value reappears and a "boom" begins.

24. Capitalism will proceed through boom/bust cycles. Competition for workers, higher wages, labor saving machinery, smaller profit base, still more competition, collapse, etc.

25. Each bust will be worse and gradually only a few large firms survive.

26. As monopolies emerge, the misery and exploitation of the masses increases until they revolt.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Soma Triathlon

This past weekend Naomi and I went down to Tempe, Arizona for the Soma triathlon. We wanted to get one last race in this season before bringing out the winter gear. I managed to get some free flights with my airmiles, although it meant flying in on Saturday and back again on Monday. That's ok, as Naomi's schedule is a not as flexible being a teacher, and I wasn't keen on missing that many days at work either.

About 5 weeks ago I casually mentioned to Paul Tichelaar that I was going to Tempe to do Soma 1/2, and he must have thought that was a good idea because he signed up too. My friends Frank and Tanya were coming down from Calgary too, so there would be a few of us Albertans on the starting line.

About 15 days out from race day I caught the nasty fly/virus/cold that is still making the rounds here. I spent most of the time lying on the couch or in bed, or at work making my co-workers go nuts with all my sniffling.

The week out Paul asked if I wanted to get together for a ride, so I said sure... I didn't care how bad I felt... I wanted to get my body moving again! We left at 10pm on Sunday morning... it was only 1C, but sunny. I wore all of my warmest cycling gear, and since Paul brought his aero helmet, I rushed back in and grabbed mine. Great idea! No vents keeps the head nice and warm!

Last Thursday I started to finally feel a bit better and was happy that I would be able to race.

Naomi caught the same virus about a week after me, and was still not feeling well when we boarded the plane in Edmonton. When we arrived in Phoenix, we had to drive directly to the site to get my package, and build my bike and check it in before 4pm. No time for a quick SBR.... I built my bike in the parkade about two blocks from the race site while Naomi slept in the car. After checking in at the hotel, Naomi went straight to bed (at 4pm), while I drove around the streets in search of a grocery store. We ended up eating TV dinners cooked in the microwave in our hotel room as the fast food joints were not in the least appealing.

The next morning, Naomi was still not 100%, and decided to keep sleeping. I gathered my things and headed off into the darkness to Tempe Town Lake. I arrived later than my usual, but transition was just starting to get busy. I sorted my gear, did a quick run warm-up, chatted with a few friends then wandered down to the start. After the Best of the US race went off I jumped into the water with the pro's (they started 1min ahead) to get in a good warm-up. The announcer was warning everyone the water was cold at 68F. Umm.. that's 20C, I found it very warm. However, USAT has a weak AG wetsuit cut-off of 25.5C!!! I don't think I would finish a half iron swim in a wetsuit in 25C water. Anyhoo...

The swim went ok, I caught a female pro before the first turn, and realized it was Tanya. She jumped on my feet as I went by. About that very time the sun fully rose and as we were swimming east, completely blinded me when sighting. I saw a buoy and after swimming about 50m towards it, realized I was waaaay inside the course. I popped my head out and saw the buoy I was supposed to be swimming towards and pointed it out to Tanya as well. Finally after rounding the turn buoys I was heading back west... and could not see a single buoy to mark the northern line of the swim course. Not the best marked swim!

The bike course... wow. More like a crit race.... it had 5 u-turns in each 30km lap. And in many parts of the course, it was no wider than a single lane, making passing and avoiding other racers a real adventure. Times were quite fast though... the course was flat, slightly short (about 3km?), and some drafting was hard to avoid. Most people I saw were making an effort to ride clean despite the congestion however. I really enjoyed this course, it was always interesting, and the surges and braking broke things up. The lack of training made the last 15km tough... and my neck started to stiffen up... I couldn't ride for very long in my bars.

Out onto the run, it was really starting to heat up... into the 90's. I LOVED IT. I started out slow though as my quads were threatening to cramp. I managed to get into a steady rhythm and cruised through my first lap. The second lap I was immensely joyful and calm and I crossed the finish line knowing I had done my best on the day.

After some chatting with Frank and Tanya, and some post-race food, I went back to the hotel to get Naomi. She was up, feeling good and was in dire need of some food! So a quick shower and off to Mill Avenue for some Japanese food. Mill Ave is full of excellent restaurants and only a couple of blocks from the race site. For those that don't know Tempe, it is also right in the middle of the ASU campus. The massive ASU football stadium dominates the skyline about 5-6 blocks away... a very impressive site... bigger than any stadium in the CFL!

After relaxing in some cool shade at the awards, Naomi and I set off in the car to do some exploring. We headed into downtown Pheonix.. was a beautiful city. Flat as flat can be, and endless grid streets but clean and nicely landscaped. We didn't stop much, except to grab a bit to eat at Jack in the Box! YUM! After a quick nap back at the hotel, we went back down to Mill Avenue to find a good place to eat. We ended up at La Bocca, I nice Italian eatery with stunning decor, and to top it off.. it was movie night. They dimmed the lights and started "Pan's Labryinth". From the 20mins we saw, it looks like an incredible movie.... we're going to rent it soon.

The next day we only had time for breakfast and some quick souvenir shopping, before we heading back to the airport to catch our flight. I must say, Enterprise car rental in PHX was AMAZING. Fast, friendly, efficient. Our Kia Rondo, although a "compact" class car was HUGE inside... great for people flying with bike boxes.

Overall, a great trip. I love Arizona and plan to return. There are some great deals on flights and accommodation there right now with the economic downturn... check it out!

Naomi posted our pics here:
Arizona 2008 Part 1
Arizona 2008 Part 2

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Bar swap?

I'm looking to build up my old Cervelo P3 as a road bike. Instead of retiring it, I want to swap the Oval A900 bars for some STI's and a drop bar setup. I'll maybe upgrade the cassette and rear derailleur to 10spd while I'm at it. If anyone is looking to trade for the bars for the parts I need... let me know... leave a comment or email me a greg at mytrilife dot calm.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Time to buy skis

It's official. Naomi's exchange to Australia ha been canceled. The visa issue holding up her Australian counterpart was apparently too much to overcome and she had to pull out. There is a 1 in a million chance of a teacher in Australia requesting a last minute exchange. Honestly, I'm not sure why any Australian would want to live in sub-arctic Edmonton.

So.... Naomi went out and bought some nice cross country skate skis! I'll probably pick up a ski package in the next couple of weeks as well. If you believe the Farmers almanac, we're going to get a long snowy winter. I'm now hoping for plenty of snow and mild temperatures.

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For almost the last two weeks I have been fighting a nasty virus/cold. A lot of people in Edmonton have caught it... so it's probably spread to wherever you are reading this. I finally felt good enough to attempt a swim on Thursday and a run on Friday... I felt like crap.. but at least I'm moving again. I'm hoping it clears soon, as Naomi and I are flying to Phoenix next weekend to compete in a triathlon.

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A couple weeks ago, I scored some free tickets for the Cheryl Crow show at Rexall Place. I'm not a huge Cheryl Crow fan, but free tickets.... why not? So, Naomi and got our errands done that night, skipping the opening act, and caught almost 2 hours of a really good show. Simple stage setup, but great sound, and entertaining.

Cheryl Crow likes to talk to the crowd a lot. I read a review of her Toronto show where she ranted about Oil and politics... well.. she had to tone that message down for the partisan Edmonton crowd! Bashing big oil would get you booed off the stage here! She also commented on the Oilers jerseys hung in the rafters, but I'm not sure if she knew that Messier and Gretzky haven't played for Edmonton for... ohh.... 20 years?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

How Naomi and I met

Ok, I know it's been almost two months since Naomi and I were married... but here's the story of how we met... as that's the question everyone likes to ask...

It all started last year, when one day I was bored and looking to kill some time. I did what triathletes do.. go hang out at the tri shop! It was a slow day at Element, and I ended up chatting with Cam for a while. I think I had been there for almost an hour and had finally decided to leave and find something else to do... when in walked Naomi.

Naomi was supposed to train that day, but was feeling burnt out from a long summer and the usual back to school blues. She drove to element instead to return a pair of sunglasses for warranty purposes. I stopped in my tracks as she entered the shop. I could do nothing but stare at her. We quickly struck an easy conversation.. talking about triathlon of course, but then progressing to life, work, etc. An hour later.. or was it longer(?).. we we're still standing in front of the Oakley display chatting!

However, I eventually had to head off. Knowing that the weather was going to be nice... I asked Naomi if she wanted to go for a ride with me the next day out in Strathcona county. She agreed, we exchanged numbers and a possible start time and I walked out of the store with a grin on my face. Little did I know the gossip inside the store when I left. "We're just going riding right?" "No, that's a date!" "Maybe he just wants to be friends?" "NO, IT's a DATE!" HA HA...something like that... I heard about this conversation a while later.

The next day we rode for three hours admiring the autumn colours in the county. The conversation was easy and relaxing, and even the silence was wonderful. I recall Naomi guessing my age in the twenties and her being MUCH relieved when I told her I was 33 (at that time). Although she looks much younger than her age, my guess of her age was much closer. I had done some mental math based on what she had told me about her education and work.

After the ride, we sat around and chatted, neither wanting to end the "date". After chatting for some time and that all important first kiss, we we're both starving for calories, and decided to get a quick meal. How's Wok Box for a romantic first dinner?

As I left her place that evening, I knew we had something very special. Actually... I knew right from the start in the shop that Naomi was the one. :-)

Monday, October 06, 2008

Kona Predictions...

While I carefully craft some other blog posts... I'll give my predictions for Kona...

Women - Chrissie Wellington
Barring a mechanical on the bike.. the race should be a cakewalk for her

Men - Steve Larsen
I like to pick on favorite and one dark horse... so Mr. Larsen gets my nod. He can bike with the best, and he's improved his swim/run. Can someone juggle a business, 5 kids, and training to win Hawaii? We'll see...