Neubau auf alter Karosse

Bonn: 25 Stadtbahnwagen werden modernisiert: Nach zweijähriger Konzeption Prototyp erstellt 

Fahrzeuge, deren Karosse schon über dreißig Jahre alt ist, werden modernisiert und dabei mit allen nunmehr modernen Funktionen ausgestattet: einteilige Frontscheibe, neue Sitze, Videoüberwachung der Innenräume, versetzbare Haltestangen, elektrische Türen, behindertengerechter Raum in der Fahrzeugmitte, Klimaanlage, neuer und energiesparender Antrieb. All das wird auf die alte Karosse gebaut! Fast wie ein komplett neues Fahrzeug, nur dass es natürlich nicht niederflur sein kann.

Die solcherart "zweiterstellten" Fahrzeuge sollen wieder eine Lebensdauer von fünfundzwanzig Jahren haben. Dann ist die Karosse fünfundfünfzig! Das muss ja wirklich eine excellente Qualität sein!

Betriebsplan NeiTech Würzburg-Erfurt

Hier ein paar Zahlen und Fakten zur Neigetechnik-Strecke Würzburg--Erfurt, welche vor kurzem den Betrieb aufnahm.
Ich fahre oft zwischen Grimmenthal und Erfurt. Auf diesem Teilabschnitt blieb die Fahrzeit der Bummelbahn/STB bei 1:28 (war früher 1:27) und der Regionalexpress/RE braucht nun nur noch 1:01 bzw. 1:03 (statt 1:18). Die kleineren Abweichungen sind durch die Betriebsführung bedingt, d.h. das Warten auf Gegenzüge zwecks Kreuzung. Dadurch sind die Fahrzeiten für beide Richtungen nicht die gleichen.
Generell ist der Fahrplan so gestaltet, dass der RE niemals einen langsameren Zug (STB, Unterfrankenshuttle, EIB) überholt. Die Langsameren Züge fahren alle mit entsprechend viel Abstand vorraus, welcher sich dann auf der Strecke lediglich verringert.
Zug-Angebot
Die Anzahl der fahrenden Züge ist weitgehend die gleiche geblieben. Eine RE-Direktverbindung zwischen Meiningen und Erfurt gibt es nur frühmorgens und spätabends, eingetaktet in den RE aus Würzburg.
Zug-Kreuzungen des RE
Interessant ist, wie sich die Betriebsführung verändert hat: früher traf der RE seinen Gegenzug in Schweinfurt, Grimmenthal, und Arnstadt; d.h. die Fahrzeit zwischen diesen Orten betrug immer jeweils etwas weniger als eine Stunde; die Gesamtfahrzeit Würzburg--Erfurt betrug 2:40. (0:30 Wü-Sw dann zwei Stunden bis Arn, dann 0:10 bis Ef.)
Nunmehr finden die Kreuzungen in Plaue, Bad Neustadt und Würzburg  statt. Das gib die Möglichkeit, den jeweils aus Erfurt ankommenden Zug, in Würzburg gleich nach Ankunft wenden zu lassen und wieder zurück nach Erfurt zu fahren. Allerdings sieht der Fahrplan dafür nur 0:03 Minuten vor, was mir doch etwas wenig erscheint. Die Fahrzeit Wü-Ef beträgt nunmehr 2:20/2:26. (Jeweils etwas unter eine Stunde von Wü bis Bad Neustadt und dann bis Plaue. Der Rest von dort bis Erfurt.)
Die Zugwende in Würzburg findet jeweil zur vollen geraden Stunde statt. Die in Bad Neustadt jeweils 0:03 vor der vollen ungeraden Stunde, und in Plaue ebenso 0:03 vor der vollen geraden Stunde. Zwischen Bad N. und Würzburg fährt der Zug also schneller nach Norden (etwas weniger als eine Stunde) als nach Süden (etwas mehr als eine Stunde). Dadurch ergibt sich ein Teil der Fahrzeitdifferenz zwischen den beiden Richtungen.
Anschlussverbindungen in Würzburg

In Würzburg is der RE von/nach Erfurt in den Taktknoten zur vollen, geraden Stunde eingebunden. Dieser enthält zur Abfahrt eine RB nach Gemünden/Schlüchtern, einen RE nach Bamberg, einen RE nach Bad Kissingen, und einen ICE nach München. Zu dieser Zeit kommen an: RB aus Gemünden/Lohr, RE aus Bamberg, RE aus Kissingen, ICE aus München.
Die beiden ICE sind auf Durchfahrt in Würzburg und es besteht nur Anschluss an/aus München, die andere Richtung wird jeweils knapp verpasst. (Das ist okay, da man von Erfurt/Nord-Osten kommend nicht unbedingt nach Norden/Nord-Westen weiter fahren muss, da gibt es bessere Verbindungen. Für den bayerischen Teil des RE gibt es ja auch noch eine Regionalbahn, mit der man andere Anschlüsse erreicht, als mit dem RE.)
Leider ist der eigentliche Taktzeitpunkt für ICE und einige andere Züge in Würzburg jeweils zu jeder halben Stunde. In diesen Knoten ist zweistündlich auch der RE aus Stuttgart eingebunden, so dass man für eine RE-Fahrt von Erfurt (oder Südthüringen, Bad Neustadt, ...) nach Stuttgart in der Hinrichtung 0:30 Minuten Anschlusszeit hat und in der Rückrichtung 1:30, was natürlich überhaupt nicht mehr attraktiv ist.
Anschlüsse in Plaue und Arnstadt
Die Regionalbahn/EIB Erfurt-Ilmenau hat ihre Kreuzung weiterhin auf dem zweigleisigen Abschnitt Arnstadt-Plaue. Eine Bahn aus Ilmenau trifft 0:16 Minuten vor der RE-Kreuzung in Plaue ein, und eine andere fährt 0:14 Minuten nach der RE-Kreuzung dort ab. Ein Umstieg von Ilmenau kommend auf den RE nach Erfurt und umgekehrt lohnt sich nicht, da sich die Züge unterwegs niemals überholen. Deswegen kann auch die Umsteigezeit in Plaue nicht besser gestaltet werden: die ca. 0:15 Vorsprung der Regionionalbahn sind nötig, damit der RE ihr nicht zu nahe kommt und langsamer fahren muss.
In Arnstadt haben die Züge von/nach Meiningen und Ilmenau eine gute Umsteige-Verbindung zu beiden Zügen nach Saalfeld (RB und RE), was stündliche Reisemöglichkeiten ergibt. Aus/nach Meiningen ist es leider nur zwei-stündlich gut (von/zum Saalfelder RE) und der andere Anschluss (zur RB) ist mit 0:36 bzw. 0:29 Minuten Wartezeit nur zufriedenstellend.
Der RE von/nach Würzburg hingegen verpasst jeweils nur knapp seinen Anschluss nach/von Saalfeld. Man wartet jeweils fast eine Stunde auf den nächsten Zug. (An-/Abfahrtsplan für Arnstadt Hbf als Google Spreadsheet.)

Ich könnte jetzt noch ein schönes Fahrplandiagramm zeichnen, auf dem man sieht, wo sich die STBs mit sich selbst und wo mit dem RE kreuzen, aber das wäre dann doch etwas zu viel der Mühen. Lassen wir es dabei und hoffen, dass diese schöne neue Infrastruktur lange in guten Zustand bleibt und auch weiterhin so gut (oder noch besser) genutzt werden wird. Selbst wenn die Ölspreisentwicklung zukünftig zu einer starken Nachfragesteigerung bei der Eisenbahn führt, wird der aktuelle Fahrplan wahrscheinlich noch lange erhalten bleiben, nur die Züge werden länger, denn mehr Verkehr auf dieser eingleisigen Strecke ist nicht leicht zu haben.

was ich für mein Land tun kann

Ich beteilige mich ja normalerweise nicht an öffentlichen Debatten und wenn ich mich doch mal einsetze, zum Beispiel für den nicht-motorisierten Verkehr, dann tue ich das durch Vorbild als guter Radfahrer, und indem ich anderen helfe, die auch gern Rad fahren wollen.

Bei Stuttgart 21 sieht es anders aus: hier steht ein meines Erachtens widersinniges Projekt kurz vor dem Baubeginn (man zahlt Milliarden, um einen Bahnhof kleiner und Nutzer-unfreundlicher zu machen), obwohl eine bessere Alternative schon zur Verfügung steht. Diese Alternative ist Kopfbahnhof 21, welche mit wesentlich geringeren Investitionen eine höhere Kapazität im Bahnhof herstellt (mehr Züge pro Tag) und einen höhreren Nutzerkomfort hat (alles auf einer Ebene, ohne Treppen, mehr Tageslicht). (K21 hat etwas längere Zugfahrzeiten als S21 für ICE's von Paris oder Frankfurt nach München, aber ich denke dass dieser Vorteil von S21 nicht groß genug ist und zu teuer erkauft.)

Ein jüngst veröffentlichtes Buch "15 Plädoyers gegen Stuttgart 21" ist eine Art, sich in dieser Diskussion zu engagieren. Und wieder ein Mal überlege ich, ob ich nicht auch mein Scherflein dazu beitragen kann. Persönliche Briefe schreiben vielleicht, an Abgeordnete oder andere Beteiligte. Zum Beispiel Unternehmer, die davon betroffen sind und nicht wissen, dass es auch für sie Nachteile hat. Wenn diese Personen sich dann an Entscheidungsträger wenden, hat das plötzlich Gewicht...

happiness and new year's resolution

I was pointed to this talk on TED, about Positive Psychology which researches how people can become more happy.

Here are the points that I remembered from it:

• studies have shown that the most happy people all have a steady romantic relationship and do socialise a lot. 
• studies have also shown that pleasure (like ice cream, a Porsche, sex, ...) does only provide a little happiness and we also get used to it, so it provides less happiness in the long term. 
• two other sources of happiness are "flow" and "meaning". Flow basically means engaging in rewarding activities; this is the happiness people who like their work are feeling. Meaning means accomplishing things that we think are high values, especially doing this for other people or the common good. (I think that's one reason relationships make happy: people often do things for their partner and that gives them already happiness points.)
• There's an experiment called "gratitude" (see the talk for details), which had amazing results and which I also should try at some time. But I am still to shy and have to train for it first.
  

Now how does this translate into my new year's resolutions:

1. socialise more
2. be a great boyfriend
3. do some good volunteering: 
• join the bike pirates
• volunteer more at the sailing club
• think about other things I could do in this area
4. and last: learn more about positive psychology and my own life goals and values and how to use to for life planning, time spending and happiness increasing

Remark: all those ways of spending my non-work time have to be seen in light of my previous post on productivity. I still have to think about how to derive more happiness from my work, but working closer together with other people is certainly one step.

high-intensity productivity

Most people will probably agree, that scientific research is a more mind-intensive activity than other jobs and that a researcher has probably less productive time per day available than most other people, may they do physical work or clerical work.
Once we have admitted to ourselves that we can only give the best to our research for two or three or maybe four hours a day; and once we have admitted that all this aimless internet-browsing, and facebook-scourging for the rest of the day is indeed useless, but can not be replaced by just being hard against ourselves and forcing ourselves to do more work. Once we gained that insight, we can grow on it and ask: what other useful activity could we do to fill the remaining eight hours of day? What activity can give us energy to work on research the next day? What activity keeps us happy, does not leave us with bad feelings about not working on research and at the same time does not consume our mind so much that it distracts us from research?
I have found that even such a simple pass-time as sailing can distract too much from research work, when I start thinking of sailing moves during lone moments at night, instead of my work.
As grad students we are TAing, attending presentations, discussing our work and theirs with others, organizing things, ...
Isn't it a big part of the problem of productivity to schedule those activities so that they become a useful time-filler for the time that's non-productive in research?

Nature in the City

Here's a nice bike ride:

• From UofT St. George to Craigleigh Gardens (3.3 km). Here is one way to get there using residential roads: (some alternative routes are on the next map)

View Larger Map

• Then up the Beltline Trail through the Moore Raving (2.8 km) and Mount Pleasant Cemetery (1.5 km, closed at night time!)

View Larger Map

• Finally, back downhill, using the city's bike itinerary 35, passing through residential areas and dumping you off right on St. George street. (4.6 km)

View Larger Map

This makes a little more than 13km in total, thereof 4.3 in complete wilderness and parks and the rest on quiet residential roads. Busy Yonge Street and Mount Pleasant Avenue are crossed grade free and carefree. It's pure pleasure!

Edit: Google Maps doesn't centre the embedded maps like I tell it to. But you can find the routes by zooming in and dragging the map around.

PhD advice

Ravin Balakrishnan of our department gave a talk on "How to succeed in Grad School". I think he's a very good presenter and certainly knows what he's talking about.
For my memory, I am noting his most notable points:

1. Your supervisor is not there to supervise you, but rather to give you advice. Therefore he should be called "advisor". Every PhD student can only be responsible himself for what he is doing. (Ravin instantly convinced me of this and I am now using the term "advisor" exclusively.)
   
2. Publish only in first-rate conferences. Second-rate is just not worth it.
3. The "related work" section in your paper is to pay respect to those people who are most likely reviewing the paper. This is not a dirty trick, since there is too much citable related work out there anyway; you are just making a smart selection.
4. Choose a risky research area. If it does not have possibility of failure, it is more likely to be development than research.

I have tried to evaluate my own research project according to its risk and I find that there is actually a lot of risk because I am claiming that my method will be able to do something which many people say is just not possible. (Namely, I am claiming that the grind-work of formal proof which others say has to be done automatically can in fact be done by humans and not be utterly boring. I am claiming that this actually trains humans and helps them also formally prove other things which computers can not (yet) automatically prove.)
But I have to admit, that I would probably not have the courage to pursue this risky road, were there not a safety line: no matter how well my little proof tool will fare in research, I think that it has relatively safe chances to be useful as a teaching tool. That's why I can sleep well at night. And still dream about and hope for some modest success as a researcher.

Zahnarzt, Teil 2

Eine gute Nachricht in Kurzform: Ende August/Anfang September war ich ja zum ersten Mal in Kanada beim Zahnarzt, extra den Termin so gelegt, dass ein Teil der Kosten ins alte Schuljahr fällt und ein anderer Teil ins neue. Ich musste ja die Rechnung selbst bezahlen (insgesamt 886$, also ca. 600€) und hatte erwartet, das Geld von zwei verschiedenen Versicherungen erstattet zu bekommen. Der erste Versicherung hat die Praxis direkt die Rechung geschickt und ich bekam nach jedem Termin jeweils einen Scheck in der Post. Für die zweite Versicherung musste ich ein Formular in der Personalabteilung der Uni ausfüllen (weil diese Versicherung mit als Lehrassistent gewährt wird) und habe nun zweieinhalb Monate später mich langsam gefragt, wie ich denn an dieses Teil des Geldes komme. Meine lieben Kommilitonen haben mir das gleich verraten: es kommt mit der Lohnzahlung für meine Lehrassistenzstunden. Habe ich mal den Lohnzettel herausgekramt, den ich ordentlicherweise aufgehoben hatte und siehe da: mitten im dichten Zahlenwald steht ein Betrag, der das Wort Zahn enhält. Und das Geld war schön längst auf meinem Konto.
Nun habe ich mir mal die Zeit genommen, alle Zahlen aufzurechnen, um zu sehen, ob ich wirklich alle Kosten erstattet bekam. Und siehe da, es war der Fall: 886$ auf den Cent genau. Beim nächsten Zahnarztbesuch, kann ich dann etwas beruhigter sein.

my first pun of the year

me: "My screwdriver is already looking forward to meet your computer."
room mate: "That sounds kind of scary."
me: "Don't worry. My screwdriver has never screwed up."

Emilia Galotti -- an intriguing experiment

We went to Stratfort, Ontario, last weekend to see a German-language performance of this classic play by Lessing. Stratfort is a really nice location to visit. With a beautiful little Downtown area where the building facades reminded me of a town in the Wild West.
The performance of Emilia Galotti was very unconventional. I think that the company has omitted ninety per cent of the play's text and replaced it by pure acting! And for the most part this actually went well! The play started with what I saw as a sort of overture without any lines spoken and it took about ten minutes to the first scene where the first lines were said.
I am really loving the idea of replacing so much text with nothing but acting, because in those classical plays it is very hard to concentrate on all those long and voluptuous monologues and dialogs anyway. I have to admit, that much of the original work from Lessing is lost, because acting alone does just not convey the same messages as text. For example my friend told me that the original play contains quite a bit of Enlightenment philosophy, of which obviously nothing was obvious in the acting.
However, seeing people act on stage opens up lots of room for imagination! And I think I had enough background knowledge to interprete a lot of things.
My favourite scene was when Gräfin Orsina kisses Marinelli to death. They play it so nicely in three stages which smoothly transform into each other: first Marinelli is surprised by the kiss and frozen, then he slowly thaws and engages in the kiss and finally, you can see you she gradually sucks out all the energy of him and he falls down like an empty, dead body. I don't know which is Lessing's story that was used for this scene, but seeing it is truly impressive and shows how powerful the Gräfin is and how weak Marinelli. Cool!
One thing I didn't like about the performance is the exaggeration of many things, like lines that were delivered way to fast to understand well, or sometimes yelling that was too loud and not justified in my opinion and finally some of the slow movements were so slow that they seemed like endless stills from the balcony seats that we had.
But overall I think that the company's experiment in a "minimal text" performance was successful and worth our visit. Nice, nice!

count-down to graduation (fingers crossed)

I have 34 more days to write my thesis. I haven't worked on it for a while because I studied so much Chinese. Now I will take my last class this Wednesday and then stop the classes. It just takes too much time and too much concentration away from my thesis. I will continue to practice at home and maybe with friends. Also, I started to make flash cards and I have to make more of them, with all the words that I have already learned but keep forgetting the tones. And I also need time to actually use the flash cards!
I have to get working!!

Stuttgart 21 vs Bundesrechnungshof -- es wird teurer

http://de.news.yahoo.com/17/20081103/tbs-teures-stuttgart21-a704da0.html

very interesting sailing story

With a catamaran on the Taiwanese ocean coast.

ET nach Hause fliegen

Heimat-Flüge zu buchen ist ja eine der lästigen Nebeneffekte des schönen Studentenlebens. Da fliegt das Geld schneller weg, als man kucken kann. Diesmal werde ich ein paar $$ sparen indem ich über die USA fliege. Die Reise wird dadurch ziemlich viel länger und ich hatte auch kaum Auswahlmöglichkeiten für mein Flugdatum. Aber immerhin war der Gesamtpreis geringer als $1000 kanadisch, so dass ich mit meiner Kreditkarte bezahlen konnte.
Ich werde also am 16. Dezember in Deutschland ankommen und am 4. Mai dort wieder abfliegen. Den Flug nach Taiwan von Januar bis April muss ich jetzt noch buchen! Aber das wird ja ab Frankfurt sein, also in Euro bezahlt werden. Noch viel zu tun, viel zu tun!

PS: Die Angelegenheit war so kompliziert, weil die deutschen Webseiten über die ich früher immer Flüge gebucht habe, nur Abflughäfen in Deutschland in der Suche haben. Deswegen musste ich erstmal wieder neue Flugsuch-Webseiten finden.
Ich hätte mir auch den ganzen Kram mit der Kreditkarten sparen können, wenn ich einen Flug mit der Lufthansa gebucht hätte. Das geht auch von Toronto und zurück und man kann mit deutscher Kreditkarten bezahlen. (Oder vielleicht sogar Bankeinzug, die Deutschen sind ja da modern!) Nunja, so habe ich eben eine kanadische Kreditkarte und die wird irgendwann auch mal nützlich sein!

October sailing

This post is for all the people who are thinking of going sailing in those windy days of autumn and wonder how that feels. Today the wind forecast was for 20 knots, so a couple people who are "flexible job-wise" met at our sailing club to go out. We had two sailors on the Nacra (catamaran), me on a Radial and another one on a Laser.
I was wearing a long wetsuit, a shirt, a sweater and heavy splash gear. I did not feel cold. However, the Nord-West wind was so gusty, that it was very hard to sail. The wind went from barely drifting to knocking-me-over in a snap. I was so lucky to stay dry on all my capsizes. Since other people were at the club, ready to save me if needed, I stayed out for a couple of short back-and-forth trips close to our docks. Fortunately, the big multihull-boats from the neighbouring club were mostly gone, so I had a clear playground. In some of the puffs, I would really go fast, hiking well and blasting over the flat water. I actually felt well in control of the boat and that was fun!
Worst thing for me was actually the bike ride home. I had to wear two jackets and my sailing gloves. I should have brought thicker biking gloves, since my hands were hurting all the time. And I had to ride against the wind.
I think that the weather got actually colder after noon, since my friend took his boat out later than me and couldn't stay out because his hands are freezing. The folks on the cat didn't stay long either. Came back in after their first capsize, noting that the Nacra is hard to righten in wind this strong.
Summary: it was a worthwhile experience for me and I think I will go again before the end of season. With more steady wind that's not blowing as hard, sailing should still be fun and not so cold either.

sail trim for beginners

The following holds for Albacores and Lasers unless specifically aimed at one of the two.

Generally:

1. Fine tuning of sails is not very important for pleasure sailing and even not very important in racing unless you are at the top of the fleet. Just make sure that every line is attached, especially the halyards should be well-secured, the outhaul should hold well and that's it.
2. The most important sail control are of course the sheets and before you think about tuning, make sure that you always sheet perfectly, watch your tell-tales and play the sheet to find the point where the sail draws best. Especially in light winds where the wind is coming from many different directions at different times, it's more important to catch that wind than to tune the boat.
   Also, depowering the boat in high winds is done first of all by letting out the sheets. Only when the sail starts backwinding a lot will the pleasure sailor need other means of depowering.
3. Most people see the boom-vang (or kicker) as a means of depowering the boat upwind, but that's actually only one of its job and maybe not the most important one. It is true that vang is only needed as the wind increases, but it is entirely false that vang is only needed upwind. And here's why: as the wind increases, it pushes the middle and upper half of the sail forward, thus lifting up the boom (especially when the sheet is not close-hauled!). This twist in the sail means that the upper part is let out far more than the lower part and consequently at least one the two parts is not drawing well (either the lower part is choked or, more likely, the upper part is spilling air). Since the twist of the sail changes with every little puff and maybe also with waves, this makes the boat very hard to control. It feels like you have to correct sheeting, steering and hiking all the time. Unstable. That's where the vang comes in: you pull the boom down until the top batten in the sail is parallel to the boom again, not twisted out at the leech. In this position the sail has optimal shape, draws perfectly (as long as you sheet it correctly, of course), the boat becomes stable again and you go actually faster than using no vang! That's one of the most important lessons I have learned this year!

Pleasure sailing in not too light to medium winds (Laser and Albacore):

1. (Albacore only) Before you even hoist the mainsail: make sure both sides of the rig tension are cleated and put enough tension to stop the shrouts from flapping loosely. This is important to hold the mast in place for raising the main and for sailing!
   Once you are out sailing upwind or on a reach, you can recheck if the leeward-shroud is still flapping and then tighten the rig tension. But be aware that the windward shrout bears all the tension from the mast and the power of the sails, so it is natural that the leeward shrout is rather loose and this should be left that way! Just make sure, it is not flapping.
2. (Albacore only) If you know what a mast-ram and prebend are, check that they are loose! Racers sometimes forget to undo them and that's not good for the boat.
   
3. Albacore: Set the outhaul with a little tension on it, cleat it, and forget about it.
   Laser: Set the outhaul so that the largest draft at the boom is about one hand deep (i.e. your hand between the boom and sail). Cleat it and forget about it.
4. On the Albacore many people don't even attach the cunningham. On the Laser you always want to attach it, so that the pulley system stays in place and does not fall off. But you don't put any tension on it. (Well, you could, but too much tension is definitely worse than none at all.)
5. Make sure the boom vang is cleated on both sides, but don't put any tension on it. Having tension on the vang can be a problem when letting out the sail for reaches and runs and can also lead to capsizes, so don't use it unless you need to and make sure you release it when you go to a lower point of sail (reach or run).

As you can see this is very easy and pleasure sailing in medium wind does not need any adjustments for point-of-sail, other than than sheeting your sails.
Another trick worth mentioning: raise your centerboard halfway when approaching the dock. This makes it safer in case you sail towards too shallow waters, and it also allows any weeds to run of the board instead of getting stuck in the boardcase when you raise it at standstill.

Pleasure sailing in winds above ten knots (Laser and Albacore):

1. First of all, with more wind, boat handling becomes more important: hike well, let the sail out, steer, all independently without one messing the other up! A Bronze class is a good way to train this, as is going out with an Old Salt in higher winds.
2. Second of all, you want some boom-vang upwind and on reaches as explained above. Make sure that the top batten is more-or-less parallel to the boom. As long as the wind is really high, it is okay to leave some vang on even on a run. You don't need to adjust it all the time. Rather play your sheets!
   
3. Third, if you are going upwind and have to let a lot of sheet out, even if hiking fully, it is time to depower the boat. Here's what I do:

• First of all, check that the rig tension is set as explained above, since you need more in higher winds. This is important to keep the boat together and resist the wind. (Yes, it also changes the shape of the mast, but that's another story and it's why you don't put on too much.)
  
• I assume that you already have some vang on to remove twist in your sail. Now you can put on more and look at which effect it has on your sail: the top half of the sail should become flatter and the mast bend slightly backwards. Removing draft in the top of the sail removes heeling moment and makes hiking easier. But don't overdo it: even with so much vang on, you still can't sheet your sail in all the way (and you don't need to in order to move forward and stay on course).
• When it gets more windy, you can also put some cunningham on to remove the wrinkles that you probably have at the luff of the sail (but don't put more, since it changes the shape of the sail).
• Also, you can tighten the outhaul which makes the bottom part of the sail flatter. But remember that the bottom part of the sail is more important in high winds, since it has less leverage to pull the boat over! As long as the wind is not too strong, don't put too much outhaul on. (Note: outhaul is much more effect on the Laser than on the Albacore!)
  
• As long as you don't overdo the depowering by flattening the sail, it might even make you go a little faster, since it reduces drag. Remember that you are sailing as close against the wind as you can get and it is obviously better to present the wind with less surface on which to push you backwards.
  

Vang versus sheet upwind (Laser and Albacore):

• Especially on a Laser you will notice that pulling your sheet in tight will also bring your boom down by a lot. If you don't have any vang set, you will see that the vang gets a lot of loose in it by pulling the sheet tight. In the Albacore this effect is less pronounced in medium to high winds with no vang on. Especially on a Laser you will notice how the shape of you sail changes just by trimming the sheet between close hauled and very tight (where the pulley on the boom almost touches the pulley on the transom). You can see that this bends your mast and flattens the upper half of the sail. But now, when you want to let the sheet out in a puff, this will first let the boom go up and then out, which is not quite what you want to depower. Therefore, as one rule to set your vang on the Laser: pull the sheet all the way in and then pull the vang just to take all the loose out. As a result, the vang will hold the boom down and you can use the sheet purely to let the sail out and pull it back in. As a nice side-effect, the boom-vang will prevent the transom-pully from lifting up from the hull.

Personally, I think that one would be quite good in racing trimming just those things and not more, as long as boat-handling, tactics (esp. the start) and strategy is right. Unfortunately, however, I am also am those tempted to tinker with all those controls all the time.

sailing plans

From fall 2006 to summer 2007 I obtained a German motor boat license and a cruising certificate for yachts on sea shore. I had no idea that I would not use this certificate at all this year and go into an entirely different direction. Yacht-sailing was made easy for me, because I had previous experience on dinghies. But when I joining the St. James Town Sailing Club, my first deed was to capsize the dinghy that I planned to be tested on and then volunteering to take a beginner's class all over.
This season I spent many, many days at the sailing club. In the beginning of the year I was often not even sailing, because I was not certified yet or the wind was too strong for me to try it. With Albacores, Lasers, Catamarans and many different kinds of races and other activities, the club really never gets boring and there's lots of things that I didn't try yet at all or want to do lots more next year. In order to do as many things as possible, being reasonably prepared for each one and still leaving some time for my work and studies, I want to make a coarse plan of all the things to do.

• First of all, I want to get certification as a sailing instructor. As far as I heard, the chances of getting a job the same season of getting the certification are pretty slim, but I still want to do it for the future. I think it's a more interesting job than TA'ing Computer Science and I also want to do some of the prerequisites anyway.

• Second, I will get the motor boat license (PCOC) and the Toronto Port license, which I need for being an instructor and also for helping out running races.

• Third, I will of course do the bronze IV course that our club will offer in May. I think that people who did this course have definitely become better sailors! (Also, it's a prereq. for being an instructor.)

• Forth, I want to crew as many races of the Friday Night series as possible and be an awesome crew for our awesome helms (and have it reflected in my final standings). I might skip one race to volunteer for the race committee on a Friday Night.

• Fifth, I want to learn my about boat repair and repair more of the damages that I make (haha! of course my goal for next season is not to make any damage) and also work more on general boat maintenance and evolution of rigging. In this spirit I will probably be Boat Captain of one of J-Town's Lasers.
  One thing I already planned for this season (and might still be doing, since Lasers race longer in Fall) is to check out how our friends the Waterrats rig their lasers and write a small J-Town Laser Rigging Manual, based on the photos that I already made, the new information gained from the rats and some modifications that I am currently trying out.
  

• Sixth, I want to become better in the Laser, so that I have more control when sailing the boat (and maybe not be last in some of the races), although I don't plan to race the Laser lots. It's more of a boat for going out and exploring sailing by myself. Excellent, for example for studying wind conditions and doing drills by myself.

• Seventh, I want to work out to get a little more strength in my back and shoulders. This is not just for sailing, since I should generally improve my posture to walk around more healthily and not hurt my back sitting in front of a computer all day.

• Eighth, I want to crew some races with my friend Tim Smith and especially sail the New Helms Regatta with him, where we will probably be quite competitive (even though I insist on helming some of those races).

• Ninth, I want to do some of the local regattas, crewing for one of the Old Salt helms or switch-up pairing with another new helm sailor. Especially the RCYC or OHCC regattas would be interesting since they are out on the lake!

• Tenth, I want to help out with at least one of races/regattas run by J-Town either as race committee or for the food part.

• Eleventh, I want to help organize the Amazing Race for Albacore White Sailors. Since it was so much fun and I can't participate as a competitor, I will be there as a "player of the house". Harr!

• Twelfth, I want to do a little bit of catamaran sailing, just enough to get certified as a skipper and go out from time to time to try out this kind of boat. The cat is wonderful for sailing a bit farther away from our small harbour, since it is fast enough to go there and back in almost no time.

• Thirteenth, and so far last, I want to take part in one out-of-town event such as the Ontario Champs, Canadians or East-Coast Championships. I wouldn't even mind leasing one of the funny east-coast Albacores for sailing it! I would like to crew this event for somebody more experienced and want to train my crewing and strategic skills next season, so I am no embarrassment for whoever takes me out. :-)

Wow, this list is longer than I thought it would be. But I think, it's easy to do by using time more efficiently. This year I spent quite a bit of time, reading and thinking about sailing and I hope I get more sailing next year, by being at the club at the right time for events or for good wind and being less hesitating!
I am looking forward to sail with friends I made this season, by myself, with other experienced sailors and also with new white sailors who will join the club next year.

formal wind-down

As the sailing season draws to an end, I want to reflect on a couple of things, first of all of course so I don't forget them until next season, but also to clear up my mind and see that everything I know is more or less consistent.
First of all, I'd like to mention some of my most remarkable racing results in temporal order:

1. Last place in the J-Town Laser Regatta. I think that Laser racing is quite a bit harder than the Albacore and even though I have improved a bit during the last weeks, I would probably still be last in any given Laser race. (Also of course, because most Laser racers sail their own boats and have lots more training.)
2. Seventh place in the New Helm's Albacore Regatta, helming/crewing with Tim Smith. This result is really good, given that many participants had lots of crewing experience in races and also more helming experience than we did. Even more remarkable is Jaclyn and Patrick's fifth place, since they also started racing only this year. Excellent!
3. Second place in the Amazing Race for Albacore White Sailors, helming/crewing with Marius from Westwood. This was not too hard, since only few people in the race had racing experience and we had an advantage from knowing all the marks and rigging our boat quickly, being the first boat on the water. (Starting gun was on land, with unrigged boat.) Even more interesting was that my friend Tim Smith and his partner Thomas (also from Westwood, I think), won the first place. That's a good omen for teaming up next year! And even more interesting is that our friend Jaclyn was crewing at the Canadian Championships at the time of our little White Sail race. That's also a good omen for having excellent competition in next year's season!
4. Second-to-last place in Klinger's Around the Island Race helming/crewing for Norm Woo. This was certainly one of the most fun events of the year, not only because it took us to waters we never sailed before! Since the race course goes all around the airplane landing water on the west side of Toronto Island, we are actually pretty close to Ontario place. Also we had wonderful wind and the right clothing for the little drizzle and rain that happened half-way through the race. I admit being a little disappoint with our bad placement (given that many other boats without or with only little racing experience were sailing), but we had so much fun and adventure that it completely made up for that. With one capsize and turtle and another almost capsize that took us ten minutes of bailing, we certainly learnt a lot on that day! It is a pity that my friend Anna could not make it that day and sail with me. :-(
5. Fifth crew overall in the Albacore Fall Series, crewing for Ken Yamasaki twice and Mary Neumann once (two races on each day, so it was four overall with Ken). This is a wonderful result and certainly most of this success is just from showing up, since only few people made it to all four races and had the chance to drop two of them. (Another one who always showed up was Lynn Pashley and she won the first place for crew overall. Congrats!) In my race with Mary I learned what happens when I forget to put the centerboard back down at the downwind mark. We drifted gently into another boat and did a very fast 720 which set us back from place 2 to 7. Thanks, Mary! Seven is still an excellent result and I hope that I have learned that lesson forever. :-)
6. Finally, one result that I am most proud of is Yesterday's placement with Ken Yamasaki in the two last Fall Series' races. In the first race, our main halyard came loose, the pole-line fell of and my hiking strap came uncleeted, with me almost falling out of the boat. We had to retie the halyard during the race and tie it around the horn cleat. Our pole came off, because Ken didn't tie it with a bowline to the jib; another lesson learnt, even for an Old Salt! We had lots of fun, flying our jib on runs and reaches by hand and in spite of all this came in 10th in the first race (where the halyard slipped) and third in the second race (still flying the jib by hand). This result is so wonderful for me, because it was for the first time that I ran most of the sail controls by myself, playing the vang in puffs without needing orders and retrimming the rig tension for every leg. My ability to do this is to large part due to Mary who explains all the trimming every time we race together. Also, sailing around the island the day before helped a lot, since I ran all the controls for Norm. I used to be a bit shy doing this in races, because I didn't want to distract the skipper, but now I have the confidence of doing the job without being asked. :-)

Expecially this last result is a wonderful ending for this season and an optimistic look-out to crewing next season's Friday Nights and crewing/helming a couple of races (and maybe regattas) with my friend Tim!

I actually started this because I wanted to write about next year's plans and about things that I learned about sail trim. So please look forward to my next two posts!

floss it! erste Erfahrungen mit Zahnseide

Hallo Leute und insbesondere liebe Mutti!

nachdem ich ja in meinen ersten Tagen, Wochen, und Monaten zumeist mit Kanada enttäuscht war, weil ich all die schlechten Sachen zuerst gesehen habe. Undichte Fenster und brüchige U-Bahn-Stationen....

Aber als positiv denkender Mensch soll man ja die guten Sachen beider Welten (Heimat und Ferne) verbinden. Hier also ein Bericht über eine Sache, die ich in Nordamerika gut finde. Oder zumindest mal ausprobieren möchte: Zahnseide. Haha, wie spanned, nicht war?

Also, beim letzten Zahnarztbesuch, der ja sehr teuer war, bekam ich eine Rolle Zahnseide geschenkt und einen Zahnseidenspannstab ("floss pick"). Heute habe es beides zum ersten Mal ausprobiert und dabei circa eine Stunde vor dem Spiegel verbracht. Ich denke, dass ich dabei ziemlich erfolgreich war: ich kann mit meinen Fingern und er Zahnseide die Zwischenräume bis zum vierten und fünften Zahn gut reinigen (obere und untere Zähne). Zwischen dem fünften und sechsten Zahn wird es etwas schwierig: unten, weil mir die Finger nass werden und dann die Zahnseide aus den Fingern rutscht; und oben ist es schwierig, weil die Zähne so weit hinten sind. Mit dem floss pick kann ich aber auch die Lücke 5/6 und die Lücke 6/7 prima reinigen. Nummer sieben ist ja jeweils mein letzter Zahn, weil die Weißheitszähne alle weg sind.

Zwischen manchen Zähnen habe ich auch ein paar Speisereste gefunden, so dass ich mein kleines Erfolgerlebnis beim Flossen hatte. Ha, ha! Mal schauen, wie schnell ich es beim nächsten Mal schaffe. Erstmal muss ich mir neue floss sticks kaufen, weil die sind nur zu einmal-Benutzung. Die Zahnseide hingegen sollte 'ne Weile reichen.

Mal schauen, wie lange ich das Flossing durchhalte. Leider ist ja der Erfolg des ganzen schwer messbar. Aber wir tun ja alle unser bestes, nicht war?

kanadische Zahnärtzte

Seit langem mal wieder ein Bericht auf Deutsch und über kanadisches Leben (und Leiden, in diesem Fall).

Wie ich gehört habe, funktioniert die medizinische Versorgung für Kanadier prinzipielle ähnlich wie in Deutschland: es gibt eine Pflichtversicherung und man kann sich damit kostenlos heilen lassen.

Für uns grad students, andererseits, gibt es eine spezielle Versicherung (genauer gesagt, sogar mehrere), welcher man Artzt-Rechnungen zu schicken kann und die dann (hoffentlich) einen Scheck zurück schickt. So komme ich in die Situation, dass ich vor jedem Artztbesuch erstmal anrufen muss und fragen, wieviel Geld ich wohl mitbringen muss. Bei meinen beiden Zahnartzt-Besuchen waren es jeweils ca. 350 Dollar (ca. 220€), dich ich vorher auf mein Giro-Konto überwiesen habe, damit ich es dann mit Karte bezahlen konnte.

Ansonsten war es beim Zahnartzt ganz ähnlich wie in Deutschland. Da ich zum ersten Mal dort war, hat die Ärtztin alles untersucht, drei Kavitäten gefunden und gleich Termine gemacht, um diese zu beseitigen. Dann bin ich in ein anderes Zimmer, um dort von der Zahnhygenikerin eine Reinigung zu bekommen. Ich glaube, das hatte ich auch schon einmal in Deutschland gemacht: es wird erst abgespült, dann kräftig am Zahnstein gekratzt und dann poliert und fluoridiert.
Dieses erst am Zahnfleisch herumstochern und dann an den Zähen herumkratzen (nachdem das Zahnfleisch schon etwas gereitzt ist), finde ich am unerträglichsten. Bohren und Löcher stopfen ist dagegen ein Kinderspiel.
Jetzt weiß ich auch, was mich bei meinem Besuch beim Erfurter Zahnartzt so gestört hat: dort hat die Assistentin ungefragt mit der Reinigung angefangen (d.h. wild herumgestochert und -gekratzt), bevor ich die Zahnärtztin überhaupt gesehen habe.
Naja, diesmal habe ich schon zwei von drei Löchern gestopft und auch für die erste Behandlung schon den Scheck zurück bekommen.
Allerdings zahlt meine erste Versicherung nur einen Teil jeder Zahnartzt-Rechnung und den andere Teil muss ich zu einer anderen Versicherung tragen. Ich glaube eine von beiden habe ich als Student und die andere als Lehrassistent. Ist schon kompliziert, scheint aber ganz gut zu funktionieren.

Thank you, Alex Upchurch!

So we had 15 knots of WSW wind tonight, dying down to some 6 to 10 NW (rough guess), just before another storm hit. (We were lucky: the rain started just when all sails were back in the locker.)
I thought, I could use today's race training to improve some of my high-wind skills. (For real pros, 15 knots is not that high, but for me it is still quite new terrain.) So I asked to be paired up with one of our experienced crews and that's were Alec comes in!
I had such a good time in this race training! My jib was always perfectly trimmed, my boat was flat, Alec moved so swiftly through the tacks! After sailing a lot with white sailors or even non-sailors, this was so wonderful! I could give all my attention to improve my steering and to find that perfect point of sheeting for the reach. Knowing that I have a thinking and swiftly acting crew, I spent most of my time looking up into the sail and experimenting to make it look right, get my ticklers flying and the boat maybe planing. It's really wonderful how fast those little Albacores are and how easy to sail when there's a great crew taking care of things. Alec, your are such a quite guy and I have surely annoyed you by chatting all the time, often just with myself. That's why I am writing this message in your honour.
Thank you, fellow sailors at J-Town. And thank you, Alex Upchurch!

tube change checklist

How to take the rear wheel out of my bike. The best way is actually to leave the wheel in and just patch the tube. This is the advantage of patches!
I really should try that first and only if I can't find the hole or if the tube needs to be replaced, should I take out the wheel.
Anyways, here's the checklist:

• take off rear part of chain guard
• put bike in first gear
• loosen the adjustment at the break lever
• take off the bolt holding the torque support for the brake
• loosen axle nuts and slide axle slightly forwards
  
• turn the gear plate on the hub as to get much loose in the cable, then twist the pin at the end of the cable so it comes out
• take off gear cable hull
  
• take off breaking cable from hub
• take off breaking cable hull from torque support
• slide chain off from wheel and finally take the wheel out
  

When putting it back together, use exactly the reverse order:

• put wheel in keeping the axle forward
• put on chain
• put in torque support bolt and nut, but do not yet tighten
• put on cable hulls and cables (remember, you need to turn the gear plate a lot to get enough loose in the cable to get the pin twisted and in)
• adjust chain tension and wheel straightness, then tighten the axle nuts
• tighten the torque support bolt
• readjust the the brake lever
• put chain support back on

I hope, next time I won't forget anything.

My puncture-proof tires

Just for the record: in the two and a half years and so many thousands of kilometres of riding my bike I never had a problem with the front tire or tube, but several flats on the rear. I think the old rear tire which I changed after two years (see other post) had one puncture at the end of its life-time and two or three flats without puncture before that.
Yesterday I had the first hole in a tube with my new rear tire. Maybe I should have thrown that old tube away with the tire. (I did so today.)
I should also check my pressure more often, since after a few weeks it is usually to low and causes too much wear-and-tear.
I think that the puncture protection of the Big Apple tires is quite good, although there might be better ones around. In any case, most of my flats don't seem to be puncture related. That's why the pressure is so important: to protect from the wear-and-tear flats.

Diary of a sailor

ROB KOCI'S 2008 Race Diary
thrilling! :-D

how I rig a Laser

I made some photos today of the new racing rigg that we recently installed on the remaining two Laser sail boats.
Here is a quick summary how I rig those boats. Fine-points of rigging are in the photo-descriptions. In my first year at the club, I thought Lasers were hard to rig, but now I think it's really easy and quickly to be done!

1. close the plug and the auto-bailer
2. put the two parts of the mast together and put the sail on
3. make sure the battens are in the sail and put the mast on the boat
4. secure the mast with the tie-down (go once around so the line crosses twice over the rig)
   
5. loop the aft end of the outhaul through the boom and the clue of the sail and tie it to the boom
   
6. bring the fore-end of the outhaul through the pulleys and pull it while plucking the boom onto the mast; secure by cleating the outhaul's handle into it's place
7. set up the tie-down at the clue of the sail (as to remind me of not forgetting this, I always leave the piece of line for this tied on the boom when I derig)
   
8. set up the cunningham
9. tie the loose end of the sheet to the aft-end of the hiking strap, make an additional eight-knot just behind the main block (some people also tie the sheet to the fore-end of the hiking-strap. when you do this, make sure to leave enough loose between the eightknot and the end-of-sheet, otherwise it's awkward to pull when the sheet's all out. currently I am trying a third variant: not tying the main sheet to anything in the cockpit, but having two eight-knots with a fair distance between them, so I always have something to pull on, even when the sheet's all out.)
   
10. bring the sheet through the block on deck and through the ones at the boom don't bring it down to the transom yet, just tie a figure-of-eight at the end
    
11. now I go change into sailing clothes and on my way back bring the life-jacket, rudder and centre-board
12. run the centre-board's tension cord through the little loops created by the mast tie-down and hook or tie them together; install rudder and tiller
13. check the plug and the auto-bailer again and put the boat afloat
14. put the centre-board and the rudder down
15. being at the transom already, pull the main sheet through the block on deck and tie it back to the boom
16. hook-on the boom-vang and secure it with the tension string that's already on the boom.
    
17. check all your lines again and sail off

Remember that this is only the check-list of things to go through, it doesn't say how to do all those things. Anybody who wants to do this for the first time, should get proper instruction first.

nice article about sailing in Taiwan

Tourism: Sailing Clubs Face Rough Seas
"One would think that on an island like Taiwan, a vibrant sailing culture would emerge. So far it hasn’t, but that doesn’t keep enthusiasts from doing what they love."

plus de vélos en ville, moins d'accidents ! / more cycling, less accidents!

article en La Croix, France

The article also reminds us, that safe cycling is a learned skill and rookies are more in danger.

One of the most important rules of the game: stay away from heavy vehicles (trucks and buses)!

• Don't pass a truck on its right side, better stay behind it.
• Don't let a truck pass you too tight. Always ride in the middle of the lane to keep safety margin for yourself.

Now that so many French cities have those fancy bike renting machines, educating new cyclists should be easy: explain the rules of safe biking in a sequence of cartoons and display the cartoons on the screen of those machines. A different cartoon for each time you rent out a bike. This will help keep people safe and reduce all accidents that can be avoided.

fastest way to J-Town

From Harbord and Spadina to Regatta Rd, Toronto, ON

via Queens Quay and Spadina: 8.4 km
via Queens Quay to Bay (then John and Beverley): 8.3 km
via Front Street to John (and Beverley): 7.9 km
via Parliament and Dundas (and Beverley): 7.9 km
(replacing parts of that by Sherbourne, Jarvis, and/or College doesn't change the distance)

So I am wasting 400 metres to ride on the nicer road. That seems totally fair to me.

funny triangle ride

From GradHouse to J-Town Sailing club: 8.5 km
from there to Eastern End of the Lakeshore bike path: 7.5 km
from there back to GradHouse: 11km


View Larger Map

Conclusion: Toronto's East end is not closer to J-Town than I am.

Cindy is getting in shape -- choosing a luggage rack now

After installing her fine Chipmonk-resembling fenders, I trued both her wheels. They were untrue buy less than a millimetre, but now they are even up to a quarter of a millimetre. The trueing stand rocks!
One time I also noticed that the headset was totally lose and I tightened and adjusted it. That's so many things now which I did to the bike!

I also decided that Cindy should get a rack, but no kick-stand, because standing on a kickstand is unstable anyways and a rack is good to protect the fenders when the bike leans somewhere. It generally makes the bike more robust.
I know that Cindy's owner would prefer a basket as luggage thingy, but I think it's better to mount such a thing indirectly to a rack instead of to the frame. Unfortunately I don't have a complete plan which basket to mount and which rack I consequently need. I will try to split the problem up, go for a good, stable rack first and then see what basket to get.

Unfortunately all the cheap racks have only one stay to connect to the frame below, which I find quite insufficient. Such a rack is less strong and also doesn't offer enough protection against luggage getting into the wheel from the side.

On the positive side, Cindy has all the frame mountings necessary for the fenders and the rack. I really hate that guy from CBN who told me to mount the rack against the seat post. That's such totally wrong thing to do! The seat post has to stay adjustable. Especially since Cindy's seat post has a built-in suspension, one can't mount anything to the suspended part.
Why are there so many bloody amateurs in this world?!

Cindy's owner is coming back soon and I am looking forward to hear her opinion and finish the repairs. I have to inquire my buddy from the sailing club where he got his cheap lights and bell. Those would finally make Cindy a perfect ride!

Stay tuned folks!

tear down those hoary relics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_spelling_reform

More on this topic to follow.

Chipmunk Cindy and the fender defender

Isn't it a sign of backwardness of the bicycle industry that one has to go to three different shops to get a pair of fenders and mount them? The first shop, Urbane Cyclist, sells me the fenders, but doesn't even know if it'll actually fit, so they borrow me some tools to try to mount them... I have to work in the street in front of the shop. It turns out that I need some extra bolts and they give them to me. But then I need even more bolts and working in the street really sucks, so I give up and take my fenders and extra bolts to the Bikechain workshop. But Bikechain is closed on Mondays, so it's one day of waiting and then the satisfying experience of having a proper work stand and all the extra bolts and washers that I need.
The only thing that Bikechain is lacking is a tapping tool, so I still have to go to another place to finish the last part of fender mounting. Bike Pirates is that place, but they are only open on Thursdays and Saturdays, so I am currently riding Cindy with a half-mounted fender.
Further updates soon!

Update: The situation is even worse than previously described. I waited two days for Bike Pirates to open only to hear that they don't have a tapping tool either. Then I immediately went to CBN (Community Bicycle Network) who had a tapping tool, but not of the right size. Their solution was to simply force the bolt in (something the people at Urbane Cyclist explicitly told me not to do). Bloody amateurs! I also inquired CBN about a rack and they told me to mount it against the seat-post although Cindy already has special mounting points for a rack in the frame. Now I really don't trust those people any more!

On the positive side, the fenders are completely mounted now and I hope that the forced bolt will never have to be taken off (e.g. when the fender is bent and has to be straightened).

Stay tuned for the story about the rack!

Fringe Reprise

My favourite Fringe shows were "Crude Love", "The Honeymoon Period is finally over" and "We is Blunderstruck". As I am writing this, those three are already on the way to perform in other Fringe Festivals around Canada.
However, some of the good shows will play again in Toronto from July 18 to July 27 in an event organized by the Diesel Playhouse and called "Best of the Fringe" . But since many of the best shows already have engagements elsewhere, this program would more accurately be called "Fringe left-overs". Or more neutrally: Fringe reprise.

PS: List of shows in the comments below. Thanks, Anonymous!

Fringe of Toronto Reviews

I am writing (at least a short) review for every piece I am seeing during the festival. Here's the list of all plays and show times. So you can watch pieces that I have made you curious about. By the way, here's the link to Eye Weekly's reviews.

Note: Some shows I like so much that I am planning to see them again towards the end of the festival. To friends of mine: please join me for any of those. You won't be disappointed. (I also want to see the Patron's Picks, if I can get tickets for them.)

Thursday, 3rd July: I am starting slowly with my first volunteering shift and only one show watched.

• "Crude Love": it's romantic, it's passionate, it's realistic and imaginative. I liked the play, the atmosphere and the acting. Very sensitive show.

Friday, 4rd July: no volunteer shift, much time to see shows.

• "Death to Dating": not as sensitive a show, but good acting and nice singing. For those who don't need their entertainment to be as profound.
• "We is Blunderstruck" hilarious gig on a sad occasion, hard rock performed by excellent actors and musicians. Except for the flute but that had to be in. 60 minutes of pure fun and excitement!
  
• "The Tricky Part": story of a catholic boy that has been sexually abused, written in first person perspective, read by another catholic. Personally, I found the acting quite superfluous because the words say it all. When the performer came on stage and said "Hi" with a big smile, I already knew he is going to preach to his audience. That's what happened, but it's still a very touching preaching, based on a real story.

Saturday, 5th of July: on this day I tried some shows which hadn't got any good reviews yet.

• "Cage without a key": dialogue turning in circles, story full of clichés, actors marching back and forth... but at least the whore was cute.
• "The Reservation": superb dance, but don't expect a story line
• "The Pharmaceutical Affair": for Tintin fans and people who can stand Tintin's insanely high-pitch voice. I liked the French parts though.
• "Sherlock Holmes and the First English Gentleman": very good play setting us back in the Victorian Age where our detective hero has to solve a case that links back to his own forgotten past. Excellent performance with thrilling story and wonderful acting.

Sunday, 6th of July: an early afternoon shift allowed me to see two shows to get the day started...

• "Mating Rituals of the Urban Cougar" one hour of songs and poems presented by a poet performer with a wonderful voice.
• "The Honeymoon Period is officially over": one woman plays a couple, their aunt and uncle, their cat and hamster and a long forgotten friend. Awesome show about the reality of relationships which is full of hilarious moments.
• "Silver and Stinky" must-see, of course, for serious cyclists. Also very good and sensitive play, a little melancholic, but not lacking joy. The actors fit very well into their roles.

Monday: my head is spinning; I need a break from this.

Tuesday: more break please

Wednesday: I had a shift, but didn't see any shows.

Thursday: with an appointment for a show I got started for the final rounds and then saw another one during my shift.

• "A mirror up to Nature": much text and a little hard for me to follow. the parts that I understood were very good. I loved his rendition of Shylock's famous monologue which he had introduced by telling the long story which apparently had Shakespeare inspired to the merchant of Venice. this was awesome!
  
• "The Spy": very nice one-man spy-story. I missed much of the British accent lines and also didn't get all of the mimic stories, but otherwise it was at least as fun as watching a James Bond movie.
  

Friday: no shows, just work and sailing.

Saturday:

• "Lupe: Undone" chatting with the audience about life and love in her bedroom and a dark alleyway. I loved how she integrated audience members into her show!
• I also saw "Blunderstruck" again.

Sunday:

• "Wild About Harry": I had expected a musical and all I got was a long sequence of songs that sounded all the same to me. But the friend I brought really liked it.
  

That's it now. The Fringe 2008 is over. Jack Sparrow goes back to sailing.

tuning and repairs of the bike provisionally named Cindy

In what desperate condition I found her: she had fallen from her rack, the handlebars had turned in the steering tube, the kick-stand was broken off, the dérailleur was bend from falling or some other nasty coming-too-close.

Here's what Matt from Bikechain and me did on the first day:

• remove the little steel piece on which the dérailleur is mounted and bend it back, closer to its original shape.
• reassemble the dérailleur and adjust: cable tension at the shifter (on the handlebars), low and high stop points
• tighten the handlebar cone and the handlebar tilt
  
• grease the axles for the V-breaks and the break cables; readjust the brake-springs and cable-tension
• remove the stub from the broken kick-stand

Here's what's still left to do:

• buy and install fenders (mounting holes seem to be there, although not much space between wheel and frame)
  
• readjust the wheels (which are slightly uneven)
• buy and install a rack (didn't see any mounting holes for that though :-(
• buy and install a new kick-stand
• lights -- that's a whole story by itself

so far, so good, Cindy.

buh Stuttgart 21, vivat Kopfbahnhof 21

Die Gegner von Stuttgart 21 haben eine wundervolle neue Webseite aufgebaut, auf der sie unter anderem auch eine wirklich gute Alternativ-Lösung präsentieren. Besonders interessant finde ich die geplante Streckenführung und Flughafenanbindung wie in dieser Präsentation zu sehen.

Hier noch mal eine kurze Erklärung warum 16 Kopf-Gleise (Status quo) besser sind als 8 Durchgangsgleise (Planung Stuttgart 21). An Durchgangsgleisen können Züge schneller ein- und ausfahren, sie müssen auch nicht wenden. ABER:

• wenn weniger Gleise zur Verfügung stehen, müssen Züge auch schneller abfahren, sie können nicht mehr auf andere Züge warten und man kann auch eine Pufferzeiten zum Ausgleich von Verspätungen einbauen.
• wenn Züge gleichzeitig auf verschiedenen Gleisen im Bahnhof stehen, kann man von jedem Zug in jeden anderen umsteigen. wenn die Züge aber nacheinander auf dem selben Gleis kommen, kann man nur in eine Richtung umsteigen
• weniger Bahnsteige bieten weniger Platz zum Warten auf dem Bahnsteig; gleichzeitig halten die Züge aber kürzer so dass man nicht erst bei Einfahrt des Zuges auf den Bahnsteig gehen kann
• im Kopfbahnhof kann man Züge nach Ankunft einfach stehen lassen, bis sie in dieselbe Richtung wieder zurück fahren. Fahrgäste können in dieser Zeit bereits einsteigen und es sich bequem machen, ohne erst auf dem Bahnsteig oder im Bahnhof zu warten.
  

In anderen Worten: "In einem Durchgangsbahnhof warten Menschen auf Züge; im Kopfbahnhof warten Züge auf Menschen!"

Bitte leitet diese gute Nachricht weiter, damit es sich die schwäbischen Politiker mit Stuttgart 21 nochmal überlegen.

"Bike There" with Google Maps

http://GoogleMapsBikeThere.org/
http://www.petitiononline.com/bikether/petition.html

bike spring tune-up

I finally installed my new rear tire after 2,000 km (estimated) life time of the previous one. the front tire is still in good shape. maybe the rear one wore done faster because I always rode with little air pressure? (also of course the rear tire has to bear 70% of my weight plus 100% of any luggage)

I also cleaned and regreased the chain - has been 18 months and one Torontonian winter since the last time.

pulling out the rear wheel is fast now, since I tuned the brake just right for this when I changed the patch last time.

Now let's hope that no further repair is needed this summer!

Update: cleaning the chain and rear cogwheel apparently got some dirt into the gear trigger, so that the gear hub worked really badly. I had to take it out and clean it, too. On that occasion, I also readjusted the headset and the rear axle (including regreasing of the bearing). Now the steering works noticeably better and the gears also work better than since before I started my spring repairs. Now Speedy and me are truly ready for summer!

ride for heart

the route:

and my ride photos on flickr (it's Toronto scenery mostly, since there's not much chance to shot picture down from the highway)

sailing acrobatics

Sail around the mark...Head first into the water...

and back in again...

Jack Sparrow vs. Disneyland

very interesting article and well-written, too.

suffering brings people together

Taiwan and China

great men behave like children, too

See this funny article about Jimmy Wales and his personal weakness(es).

Even worse things described on Danny Wool's blog! (Note, however: this is one person's point-of-view and might not reflect the absolute objective truth if ever there was such a thing.)

drink more tap water!

http://torontoist.com/2007/08/water_water_eve.php
quote: "Toronto's water is provided with 650 bacterial tests each month, while the testing practices of bottled water companies are self-regulating and fairly unknown."

torontoist did it for me

on a bike ride a few weeks ago I spotted this strange graffiti and almost made a note to myself to find out what's behind that number. Finally, I didn't do it, but today I found that the Torontoist did for me.

U-Bahn Eröffnung in Nürnberg am 14. Juni 2008

Germany's first fully automated subway will open in Nürnberg on 2008-06-14.
VAG Pressemeldung (deutsch)

Edit: as it turned out, the company was afraid about having a problematic start when too many people start using the system, so they already unofficially opened it Yesterday, 2008-05-05. Meldung des Bayr. Rundfunks (deutsch)

more on Transrapid

After the recent decision not to build the Transrapid in Munich, I did some reading on the topic and it seems that many countries in the world have considered of installing a Transrapid or some other Maglev train, but the technology has always lost. The Shanghai Transrapid is an exception, but it follows the rule in that it's planned extensions are highly debated already. It seems that there will not be a single new construction project in the next ten years and maybe not even in the next twenty years. (With the exception again, of the Chinese maybe building a short extension in Shanghai just to show the world that they now master the technology by themselves with less aid from Germany.)

So why did Maglev fail (so far)?
Well, I think it's because significantly more expensive than "classical" trains and it doesn't have as many advantages as thought.
Speed: TGV did test runs at roughly the same speed as Maglev trains. The only reason, why current high-speed trains don't go faster than 300 to 350 km/h is that energy cost becomes to high.
Power consumption: Maglev boasts it self with "zero friction movement" ignoring that at high speeds, air resistance causes most of the friction and this is exactly the same for wheel/rail as for Maglev trains. Only that the maglev train needs at lot of additional energy just to keep it afloat over it's track.
Noise: At low speeds Maglev is indeed less noisy, but at high speeds the same argument as for energy comes in: no advantage any more.
Maintenance: no friction, they say, means no wear and tear; and thus much of the system will be maintenance-free. On the other hand, however, Maglev has much more technology embedded in the tracks and is much more sensitive to fine-tuning of all it's sensors and actors. From experience in rail we know that steel rail tracks can indeed take a lot of traffic before they need to be maintained. (And when they don't get maintained, they can still take slower traffic and will give a more bumpy ride, while Maglev won't probably work at all until its 10mm gap is within required tolerance.)

Finally, also classical rail has evolved a lot since it was invented 150 years ago (maybe just 111 years for electric trains). Trains use still compatible overhead wires or third rails from 100 years ago and steam trains do still travel (for historic/touristic purposes) on tracks shared with Germany's high-speed trains, but the technology under the hood has evolved a lot: among other things power electronics allow more efficient traction and regenerative braking; locomotives are replaced with self-propelled carriages; and signalling and train control become automated just in the same way it is for Maglev trains.

The technology race is still going on and Maglev can still take over and/or find its niche... and I am sure this will happen before we reach the sci-fi epoch where everybody flies around in their cars...

bye, bye Transrapid

Munich doesn't want you any more / Hamburg-Berlin didn't want you / Rhein-Rhur didn't want you.
Maybe you'll get another chance as a means of Urban Transport. Or maybe, levitation is just a bad idea and we'll only retain the linear motor, as in SkyTrain or the Japanese Subway. Linear motors make for smaller trains and small makes for efficient!

PS: I just learned that the commercial Canadian and Japanese transit systems have the active part of their linear motor in the train (like JR-Maglev), while only the German Railcab (an academic prototype) has completely passive vehicles and the power is in the track (like Transrapid).

Deutsche Version der obigen Links: M-Bahn, SkyTrain, Linearmotor, Railcab

from the east end with a smile

Riding on Gerrard Street East, this evening, after having done a short ride through Toronto's east end, a street-car appeared behind me. On the way home he passed me seven times, but I still came in first at Huron and College.
The car had a very kind driver. When I let him pass the first time, he greeted me. And at the traffic light on University Avenue he opened his doors and talked to me. But even after he repeated himself I couldn't quite understand; so I just replied: "I can't understand you. But this is fun!".
I think he might have said "I take you from Coxwell to Spadina." or something like that.

Here's the trip:

View Larger Map

Hurray, comrades! The hunting season has started.

today's trip to The Beach

View Larger Map

bad patch

this week-end I had to patch my bike's rear tube (which means taking out the rear wheel, which means disconnecting brake and gear shift cable, and also cleaning it, before putting it back on, which is summed up a lot of work, taking long because I don't do it often).

cause for the trouble was that a tube patch which I had applied about one year earlier was breaking down. I think the patch was a gift in some cycling promotion event. it was a self-sticking one consisting of a thin transparent foil. bad stuff. in the ten years before, none of my regular patches ever broke down. so I just put on a classical patch and I am sure it will live longer than the tube will.

so here's the lesson that I want to share today: Don't use those thin self-sticking patches. Except if you want to change the tube soon anyway.

By the way, I found that my rear tire has lost almost all his tread ([de] Profil) and it also has a lot of little holes (although none punched through it seems). Maybe this is in part because I used to keep it on little pressure often times. maybe winter salt also played a rôle. But the front tire still seems ok (at least for the thread), so I ordered one new tire and will fit it after winter is over. together with the spring cleaning. yes! :-)

PS: I just found out, where I got that bad patch from. It came with my otherwise fabulous bike toolkit from Park Tool. There was another patch in the kit and I just threw it away so that this would not happen to me again. Ha!

today's trip

why shop at your closest supermarket if you can turn shopping into a long excursion in best weather? I rode my grocercies 17 km this afternoon...


View Larger Map

This time I wanted to ride through Victoria Park (parallel to the subway tracks), but again this path was not yet free from snow. Gotta get back some time.

Comparing this ride to Yesterdays, I find suburbia quite depressing: Eglington Avenue, for example is a quite lively place where even some people walk around (as opposed to driving through), but the street has minimum eight lanes, with parkings on either side this makes for 70 metres distance between opposing façades. This is almost the length of one block in downtown Toronto.
The lake-shore route was much nicer. Maybe next weekend the snow has thawed so that I can ride through some of the parks or ravines.

stranger than fiction

it is know that engineers, fascinated by what they are doing, work a lot more than they are paid for or even work without being paid at all.
but this story tops it by far: people working unpaid and illegally: happened at Apple Computer in 1993/94

Bicycling is fun

Today's trip along the lake shore

here in small:

View Larger Map

I couldn't ride on the actual bike paths on the lake shore because they were not cleaned from snow. But an eight-lane high-way is as good for me and my bike.

Skipper William Robertson - was aus der Freiheit der Meere geworden ist

Liebes Publikum,

nun ist es schon 18 Monate, zwei Winter und eine Segelsaison her, dass ich mein "Plan" für die Segelkarriere ausgearbeitet habe. Das Ziel, einmal selbst eine Jacht zu chartern und mit ein paar Kumpels (oder Familie) gen Horizont zu segeln, habe ich nicht erreicht, aber dafür vieles andere von dem ich hier berichten will, um anschließend meine Strategie für die nächste Saison darzulegen.

Ich habe mich im Herbst 2006 in die Obhut der Wassersportschule Nautic begeben und dort über den Winter einen SBF See und einen SKS-Kurs gemacht und die beiden Scheine erworben. Teil des SKS war ein Segeltörn im Sommer an dessen Ende die praktische Prüfung stattfand. In der Segelschule finden alle Theoriekurse in Herbst und Winter statt und den Rest des Jahres wird gesegelt. Ich fand die Schule so gut, dass ich im nächsten Jahr auch noch den Funkschein und den SSS gemacht hätte, aber dann bin ich ja nach Kanada entschwunden und werde meinen guten deutschen Segelschein so bald wahrscheinlich gar nicht benutzen können. Aber dazu später.

Für den SKS muss man nachweisen, dass man so-und-so-viele Seemeilen als "Mannschaft" auf einer Yacht gesegelt ist, wobei Mannschaft kein Vollzeit-Matrose sein muss, aber auch kein Hängematten-Pendler sein sollte. Einfach mal mit anpacken, das Steuer und die Leinen mal mit in die Hand nehmen, zuschauen wie Dinge gemacht werden. Die nötige Meilenzahl erreicht man in der Regel durch den Trainigs-/Prüfungstörn sowie einen weiteren Törn ("Meilentörn"), von deren Art die Wassersportschule natürlich auch verschiedene anbot, meistens in Kroatien, weil dort das Wetter besser ist und die Boote billiger sind. Die Prüfung hingegen fand an der Ostsee statt, damit der Prüfer nicht so weit fahren muss, für einen Tag Arbeit.

Ich wollte aber nicht beide Törns bei der selben Segelschule machen und so habe ich mir einen anderen Meilentörn gesucht. Die Wahl fiel auf eine Überführung vom IJsselmeer in Holland durch den Nord-Ostsee-Kanal nach Kiel. Das war schön günstig, etwas länger als eine Woche (beide Wochenenden waren Törn) und es war auf einem größeren Schiff als einer normalen Sportyacht. Die "Stella Maris" ist ein ehemaliger Gemüsefrachter; umgebaute Boote wie die Stella sind in Holland extrem beliebt, die Häfen sind voll davon, weil man auf so einem Boot auch größere Gruppen (in Stellas Fall: 15) prima gemütlich unterbringen kann und auch schön Platz an Deck hat. Die Fahrt auf der Stella war echt gemütlich, wir haben viele interessante Orte besichtigt (insbesondere Amsterdam) und auch sonst war viel Zeit, um an Deck herum zu lungern und Photos von allem und allen zu machen. Viel, viel Spaß und Freizeit.

Anders war da der SKS-Trainingstörn. Man ist die meiste Zeit mit dem Üben von Manövern beschäftigt, außerdem will natürlich jeder so viel wie möglich üben und für den einzelnen bleibt dann natürlich nicht so viel Zeit. Ich selbst hatte das wichtigste Manöver vorher schon mal mit einem Kumpel und 'ner Jolle auf 'nem Erfuter Tümpel geübt, so dass auf See andere Matrosen Vorrang vor mir hatten. Wir haben auch an ein paar sehr interessanten Orten angelegt, insbesondere Travemünde, wo der Großsegler "Passat" seine Altersruhe verbringt. Generell waren die Matrosen auf dem Törn aber nicht so ausgeh'-freudig sondern haben lieber Abends ein Bier an Bord getrunken oder für die Prüfung gelernt. Schöne Photos gab es trotzdem.

Nach diesen beiden Törns bekam ich also meinen SKS und kann jetzt offiziell eine Yacht chartern und mit Kumpels an der Küste (12 Seemeilen-Zone) entlang segeln. Gerne hätte ich im Anschluss noch den SSS gemacht, weil man damit erstens auf er ganzen Ostsee/Nordsee/Mittelmeer und weitere schippern darf und zweitens (innerhalb der 12-Meilenzone) auch als Skipper arbeiten darf! Mit einer einfachen SSS-Qualifikation bekommt man zwar noch nicht unbedingt Geld für's Segeln, aber viele Törn-Organisatoren stellen den Skipper frei von den Charter-Kosten und er übernimmt dafür die Verantwortung für's Boot. So kann man also immerhin schonmal kostenlosen Urlaub machen!

Da es Heute schon etwas spät ist, werde ich über das Segeln in Kanada ein anderes mal schreiben.

bis dahin, Mast- und Schotbruch!
Robbie

velo-power

Auszüge aus einer Mail an meinen Fahrrad-Konstrukteur und -Guru

Hallo Thomas,

habe zunächst erstmal eine gute Nachricht nachzuholen. Ich bin im vergangen August nach Toronto, Kanada, umgezogen und habe mein größtes Gepäckstück war mein kleines gelbes Fahrrad. Leider konnte ich aus Platzgründen die Körbe nicht mitbringen, aber das hole ich irgendwann oder bastle mir neue. (Zumindest Ortlieb-Quicklock-Schienen kann man hier für Geld kaufen.)

Das Fahrrad mitzubringen war ein riesige Hilfe am Anfang in der neuen Welt. Ohne mich mit U-Bahn und Bus-Tarifen und -Fahrplänen beschäftigen zu müssen, konnte ich gleich am ersten mit meinem Fahrrad zum Kaufhaus fahren und mir Bettzeug kaufen, so dass ich nach der langen Reise endlich schlafen konnte.
Toronto ist wie so ziemlich jede Großstadt bestens zum Radfahren geeignet: die Autos stehen alle im Stau und man kann zwischen ihnen hindurch fahren.

Übrigens habe ich schon vor langer Zeit Dein Blog (unterster Eintrag) gelesen über das Auto, welches ein Flugzeug ziehen kann. Ich denke, dass wir als Radfahrer uns von solchen Aktionen inspirieren lassen sollten, insbesondere Du als Rhein-Anlieger. Warum lädst Du nicht mal ein paar Freunde ein (und evtl. interessierte Kunden, die eines Deiner Velos fahren), nimmst ein paar stramme Taue und ziehst ein Schiff den Rhein hoch. Hundert Meter sollten reichen, um bei Wetten dass...? mitzumachen. Ich denke, wenn das Tau ein bisschen dehnbar ist, haben selbst Shimano-Naben im kleinsten Gang kein Problem mit so einer Last. (Man müsste mal anhand eines kleineren Bootes probieren, wieviel Kraft nötig ist und wie man am besten steuert.)
Was diese Leute können, schaffen wir mit moderner Technik doch ganz leicht, oder?

Schöne Grüße aus dem sonnigen, aber kalten Toronto,
Robert

PS: Wikipedia sagt über das Treideln am Rhein: "Durch die Trägheit des breiten Stromes reichten vielfach 7 bis 10 Mann oder 1 Pferd für Ladungen von 10 bis 15 Tonnen." Wie viele Velos sind das?