Towel Day - May 25th

May 25th is officially "Towel Day" and I observed it quite fashionably I think, and color coordinated as well. It shared a more recognizable holiday this year since Memorial Day also fell on the 25th of the month this year.

You may ask yourself what would cause such a reserved and sane person to wear a towel such as this out in public. Let me quote the handbook, better known as "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

"A towel", it says, "is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
"More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

So, there you have it. Oh, yes. It is also to remember that hoopy Douglas Adams who was possibly the first to hitch the galaxy. Now there's a frood who knew where his towel was. So, on the 25th day of May each year, we join our fellow hitchhikers in mourning the loss of the man who really knows what "42" is all about.

Bicycling - the Unannounced Adventure in Exercise

I am working with the Varsity Scouts now and a couple of weeks ago it was announced that we (the boys and leaders) would be going on a 20 mile ride in South Mountain park to get in shape for an up-coming activity, a ride from the Flagstaff area to the Grand Canyon. I don't (didn't) own a bike but one of the boys had offered to let me borrow his brother's bike. Teenagers tend to loan out other people's stuff, often without their knowledge or permission. Therefore, I was hesitant and was suggesting that perhaps I shouldn't go since I was not going on the activity but Tyler, one of the other leaders, was saying, "Come on. It will be fun." He's 28 and in good shape, not that round isn't a good shape but 54 is not a good age for such a shape. This guy should be in sales because he finally talked me into it.

The following Wednesday everyone showed up with their bikes to be checked out. The "brother's bike" did not arrive but the boy showed up with his bike and it was reasonably nice. I began to have some hope that this would not be the end of life as I know it. Then his father, who is also participating in the activity, showed up with another brother's bike.

This bike had wheels out of alignment and a wobbly crank with bad bearings and all of the signs of a well used, teenager-owned bike. Now I was really concerned. That evening I mentioned to my wife that I was going to be dead meat. She must have had the same vision that I had - that I would be humiliated in front of all these kids. She stated in a very matter-of-fact manner, "We have to get you a bike." These are words that I thought I would never hear. This is the lady who makes me wear a T-shirt to Home Depot that reads, "Needs Supervision" so I won't spend too much. Okay, she saw half of her income going away because I would be lying in the trail having a heart attack. Be it as it may, the result was the same.

I had been shopping around for a bicycle for excercise already. I spoke to my neighbor, who rides much more extensively than I do and had gotten some advice from him. "Don't get a WalMart bike," was about the first thing out of his moth when I asked his advice. He suggested a place to make the purchase and "free maintenance for life" stuck in my brain.

I also questioned a couple who are about my age that also ride quite a bit but more for fun and exercise than for competition. They consider a nice before work ride something along the line of 25 miles. They also said something similar to the WalMart advice, suggested a couple of brand names, gave me some price ranges, told me where they had bought their bikes, etc.

The end result was that I went to Bikes Direct on Power and SR60. The gentleman there spent about 45 minutes with me and my wife showing us differnet bikes, finding out the type of riding that I was planning on doing and generally explaining the difference between the various quality levels on the same brand; in essence, why one bike was better than another and which one would probably fit me and my riding style the best.

The result is that a few days later I returned to Bikes Direct and bought a bike (Giant) and, with some subsequent trips, also purchased some needed equipment. I managed to survive the bike trip (it was only 10 miles) and have ridden several other trips with the boys and leaders for practice for the upcoming activity. I am beginning to enjoy having a bike to hop on to run over to my parents' house or somewhere close. I am beginning to also ride a few days just for fun and exercise. I believe that I may have found a way to curb my bordom with exercise (the walking kind) and found a way to have some fun while in the pusuit of where my belt buckle went.

Rent a Room for Free

I have been thinking that there may be a benefit to renting a room to someone for free. Well, not exactly free but for no money. The room (and maybe some meals) would be in exchange for work around the house and yard, in theory, leaving more time for doing the things that you want to do.

The questions are, what are the disadvantages, what are the advantages, and if you decide to be so adventuresome, how should you proceed in setting up such an arrangement?

What are the disadvantages?
Obviously you lose some privacy. No longer can you run to the laundry room in your skivies to freshen a load of clothing before getting dressed or let the dog out one last time before hopping into bed. It means jams and robes or whatever.

You could get a bad renter. It is possible to get a renter who either does not do the work or does poor quality work.

You could get a party person who invites "undesirables" into your home or has other bad habits that are unexpected.

You don't know the person. You could be renting to the next Jack the Ripper.

What are the advantages?
You have someone to assist with the work around the home. The value of this advantage is mostly determined by how much you detest doing house and/or yard work.

Someone is there when you are out of town, both to watch the house and to feed and water the pets. Since we have an ancient dog and two cats with our children all grown and (mostly) out of the house, this is becoming a more important advantage to us.

There is someone who can help with those "it takes more than one person to do this" jobs such as moving a dresser or pulling a stump out of the yard, building projects, etc.

You gain a new friend. Hopefully, if things go reasonably well, this will be the result of having someone in your home under these conditions.

How should I proceed in making such an arrangement to maximize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages?

Take care in advertising and selecting a candidate for such an offer. Be very selective in both your choice of advertising for such an offer. There are too many individuals who would look at this as an opportunity to take advantage of the situation without doing the work. Family may be an option if you know and trust the person and their work ethic but still get everything in writing (see below). Advertise at your church or synagogue. Advertise at the local university for a "grad student" - someone who will spend more time working and studying than partying.

Agree ahead of time on the house rules. What hours can be more noisy is one that could become very annoying if not brought up early in the relationship. Also the use of shared areas of the house such as family room, kitchen, piano playing should be worked out ahead of time. The use of the refrigerator and/or freezer and the rules about private foods and how to mark them as well as where to put them should be on the list of things to discuss early on in the agreement portion of the discussion. Bedroom visitors and times, if any, should also be determined early on and in writing.

Put everything in writing. This applies two-fold if the renter is a friend or family. You don't want to ruin friendships or relationships and so when things are not working out people are reluctant to do anything while their frustration and resentment grows. With the agreement in writing it is easier to remind a friend that the agreement was to do such and such. Having the agreement in writing also resolves disagreements because you both can always return to the agreement to determine whether the resolution was already one that was agreed upon.

Set up the agreement as a month-to-month arrangement. This is probably the most important part of all. Should anything go south in anyone's point of view all that needs to be said is, "Things don't seem to be working out so we are going to end our agreement at the end of the next month. Be sure to give sufficient notice for your renter to find a replacement abode.

Agree on the use of the house before hand. Indicate whether the television is allowed to be used along with the DVR and the hours of use if allowed. Also, agree on laundry days and use of soap as well as the equipment. Also, kitchen use and permissions as well as clean up expectaions should be noted.

Determine the number of hours to be exchanged. Five hours per week sounds about right to me.

Have the renter submit a weekly log. There needs to be a system for the renter being able to account for the work that they have done. A log seems to be a simple way to let the land lord know how the time was spent. If there are specific things that you would like to have done then a priority list may be appropriate in order to let the renter know what the time priorities are. It is usually best to allow a fair amount of flexibility in when the work gets done. Some people prefer to doa little across several days while others will want to do most of it in one day. Be flexible.

Now to sell it to the wife.

What do you think about renting for no money and the steps suggested here?