CIA

So tonight while I was doing my Geography homework, I discovered two things. First of all, I discovered how much I love geography. It is so interesting to me, I might make it my profession. I'm not sure how I would do that but I will consider the options in the near future.

Second, I discovered that the CIA has an awesome website available with an immense amount of useful information. For example, if I want to know how many unpaved airports Kazakhstan has , I have that information at my fingertips. As you can see below, Kazakhstan has 32 unpaved airports. In fact, in total they have 99 airports as of 2009, which you can also see comes in #61 compared to the rest of the world. Honestly, who can deny the usefulness of this?

Seriously though, you can find loads of incredibly interesting information. For example, did you know that Russia is the world's leading export in both oil and natural gas? Did you know that the average person in Liechtenstein makes $122,100 a year? Compare that to the average $46,400 for the average United States citizen! Or compare that to the $200 per person average in Zimbabwe. Did you know that Oman spends 7.34% more of their GDP on their military than the United States? Hmm. Probably not. What if someone asks you what Northern Europe might look like from space? Well, you can show them this picture below, which you found on the site.

Now, if you're really in a pinch and need to know how many radio broadcast stations that Serbia has, you can find that they currently have 153 radio stations broadcasting. Incredible, isn't it? And you thought the CIA was keeping all that information classified... didn't you?

All this information and much, much more can be yours right here.

PS - I found all this information on CIA's "Factbook" website, NOT to be confused with the popular online social networking site "Facebook".

Biking

Let it be known that I love to ride my bicycle. This picture was taken on the way back from my relatively unplanned and definitely un-budgeted trip to Whistler, British Columbia this last August. I wish I had more pictures like this, of epic road trips to exotic places riding my bike. The truth is, I really wish I rode my bike more. I have concluded that there are three conclusive reasons for which I hardly ever ride my bike. I will list them now.

Reason #1:

Reason #2:

Reason #3:

Now, I have been thinking for quite some time now of what I could do to include more biking time in my life. I feel that all three of these things, school, work, and a girlfriend, are beneficial to my both short and long-term happiness, however, neither short nor long-term happiness can be achieved, in my opinion, without biking included. I would like to hear your suggestions as to what I might do to balance these three things and add a healthy amount of biking to the mix as well. I have yet to find a way, as school requires money, which requires me to work a hefty amount, which limits my time, which means the limited supply of free time I have is put towards quality time with my girlfriend. Basically, my conclusion has come to mostly one option: My girlfriend should ride bikes too.

We have a winner!!!

Well, Buddy, you've done it. You've officially motivated me to post something besides a 2 liner. Congratulations. I think hoorahs are in order. Hoorah. This update even included a picture. I think we should all be pleased. Seriously, now that I have a computer that sucks, but functions, I should be able to publish a post or two in the next few months. I hope you're all looking forward to that, and if you would like to see more, you surely better speak up now so I know you're following me. Come, join me. I'll give you cookies...

Update!!

Due to a recent outpooring of criticism on lack of updates on my blog (tigerclawdeluxe), I am updating this, for you. Hope you enjoyed it.

Copter

Today I reached what I believe to be one of the highest scores of all time on the flash copter game. The orange arrow indicates my score. I challenge you to beat it.

Pain Tolerance Test

Okay, so this post should've been posted approximately 3 weeks ago... however, I have been lazy and negligent. But here is a video of one of the pain tolerance tests we've been doing on Rob. We're pushing the limits to see how much tolerance to pain Rob really has. So far... the only conclusion I have drawn is that his pain tolerance is limitless.

Night Riding

Okay, poor picture quality. Let's just get that out of the way to avoid future comments. Regardless, about 3.5 years ago I purchased the Marwi Nightpro Extreme light system for riding my bike at night. Let's face it... most of us live busy lives... work, school, and bowling can take up a lot of time. My passion for biking has led me to understand that often times it is difficult to find the time for everything I would like to do, especially riding my bike, since it was entirely dependent on the light of the sun. Now, what really depressed me is that during the winter season when the sun is down by 5pm due to daylight savings I never had time to ride. Ever. I had heard about lighting systems for bikes and had always been skeptical of how well it would work. I couldn't imagine having a light that would light the trail enough for me to go 20-30 mph railing corners and hitting jumps. Well, after some research and after a talk to my good friend Brent Rodriguez... I decided I needed to invest in a lighting system. Brent's Dad was kind enough to get me a super deal (like $150 off) on the Nightpro Extreme. It may have been one of the best purchases of my life, as since then I've been able to ride when I want... and not when daylight savings and the sun want. I went for a ride tonight and it was excellent. Look, it's December, it's should be freezing, it gets dark at 5pm and I can still ride after work. Just get bundled up, strap on the Nightpro and point those handlebars downwards!! It's a whole different experience as well. I love it. As you can possibly see, I am lit up by the truck's headlight at the top of the "C", and my light is not even directly shinging at the camera at all, but still blinding it. It's a bright light. And it lasts up to 3.7 hours. Now that, my friends, is a good time. Happy trails!