Month: September 2011

Biking to Work Along the River Charles

I have learned how to use the new Hubway public bikes in Boston and it’s a hoot!

Earlier, I posted that bikes were free for the first 30 minutes.  I have since learned that this is only true after the cost of membership, which is $80/year.  The alternative is to pay $5 a day for a membership, which is what I’ve done twice now.

I took the bus to Boston and brought my helmet.

I picked up a bike at the corner Arlington and Boylston Streets, popping in my credit card and following the prompts to get a code to unlock a bike.

Since you can’t ride through the Public Garden, I had to ride in traffic around the block, which was scary the first time.  Then I popped onto the Fieldler Footbridge, and onto the Esplanade!

All my life, it seems, I have admired and envied those lucky Bostonians who walk, run and bike along this glorious path along the Charles River.  Now I’m one of them!

I rode my little bike, complete with retro mechanical bell, along the water, over bridges, along the path.

I asked a walker to take my photo and she readily agreed.  Just as I was getting back on the bike and reflecting on just how geeky that was, another Hubway biker coming towards me flashed his iPhone and said “I’m going to ask her to take my picture, too!”

I took the BU footpath, just past Kenmore Square and rode a short way to my office, which has a Hubway bike stand right on the end of my street!

Unbelievably fun!

 

Crowdsource a JanesLessonsLearned Giveaway!

Let’s make something together!  Let’s celebrate posting over 500 lessons together!  I’m interested in giving away something with the link on it, and I’m thinking water bottle.

Let’s design it together!   If you help me, I’ll send you one!  Actually, if you ASK, I’ll send you one, but help me anyway!

What should be on it other than the web address?   Should we use the books image on the web version?  Some other image?

Let’s do this together!  Post here or send me a message!

Jane

Same Water, Just More Plastic

I learned another reason not to drink bottled water.

A few years ago, both Sally and Alexis taught me to rethink how I look at buying water encased in plastic when we live in a place with perfect water flowing from our taps.

Since then I’ve noted some places where bottled water makes sense: on a plane, at Fenway Park, at a concert.  Generally places where it would be difficult to bring and/or refill your own bottle with good cold water.

But on this day I saw what has to be the worst scenario for bottled water.   I was at my gym when the truck pulled up, delivering case after case of plastic bottles of water, each one designed to be used once and recycled (at best) or thrown away.

This time, I learned exactly where the water came from, from the company name on the truck.  It was bottled a half a mile away, using the exact same water source (our town water) that was in the cold bubbler next to the cooler holding the bottles!

And all this give me another idea… see the next post.

What did you think it meant?

Sally learned this:

“Op-ed does not mean “opinion-editorial” – it literally means it’s opposite the editorial page!”

She pointed out that Wikipedia says:
“An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page (though often mistaken for opinion-editorial), is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper’s editorial board. These are different from editorials, which are usually unsigned and written by editorial board members.”

I feel your pain, really I do.

I learned many many lessons over a few short weeks.

One of them is that I don’t have to assume the level of panic of another person.

But then Andy taught me that if you don’t acknowledge the panic of the other person, it can just increase their panic, and their need to get you to see the gravity of the situation.

It’s all in the genes…

From this great podcast from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which I watched live, I learned more about OncoMap,  a test that generates a detailed profile of tumor mutations that can be used to better diagnose disease and determine treatment options.

Dr. Garraway describes it all in very accessible terms, here!