Water sports

So the Austin newspaper goes looking for extravagant water users in this drought summer and finds that the top of the list is - Lance Armstrong.

"A total of 222,900 gallons of water was used at Armstrong's home, according to the most recent city records available. That's about what 26 average Austin households use in a month."

To his credit, he 'fessed up and said he'd fix it - and that he's noticed the bills had been a little high.

Oh, come now, Lance: surely you don't mind a $1,603 monthly water tab.

Like a lot of guys who come into money, he hired an architect and a designer to build him a home. And, as in almost every other similar case, it's ugly and inefficient. You can GIS for some photos. I've never understood edifice rex but it's his money.

ObRelief: At least it's not oceanfront.

Why the intratubes was invented

So this guy has a hobby of collecting old 78 records. He decides he'd like to share this music so he builds a home studio, of sorts, and converts them to mp3s. He then builds a simple website to house them.

Excellent

About 4,000 so far and more to come.

You can view his system at Wired.

Bill Monroe. Merle Travis. Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, the Duke, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman. And forgotten wonders like Spade Cooley. All with scratches and pops intact.

Yes. It's hot.

At this time of year people are always asking why I continue to ride in the heat. Honestly, I'd rather ride in hot weather than cold weather but I suppose that's a personal thing. Unless you are laboring up a climb you are making a pretty good breeze for yourself.

I've also lived in the South for all my years and find the heat to be comfortable. We didn't have AC in the house until I was 13 so the "three shower day" is old news.

The only thing about summer riding I don't like is the bugs. Having something rattling around the vents of your helmet is unpleasant and distracting. Having a mouthful of gnats is an experience I'd rather skip.

One thing I have learned - unless the ride is two hours or more you really don't need to put $5 worth of energy drinks in your water bottles. Eat a banana beforehand and just carry plain water if you are just going to do a quick 20 miles after work. Drinking a quart of some majickal elixir only helps you fulfill the old adage of Americans having the richest urine in the world.