Cab Fare in France

I was in line at the airport (CDG) to buy a rail ticket (RER) and was standing next to a Texas couple on vacation.  They asked how much the cab fare would be from the airport to central Paris, and while I didn't know, I knew it wasn't cheap.  The ticket for taking the RER is 9,25 euro (use to be 7 something a few years back) each way.  So just under 40 euro for the couple round trip and it's about a 30min ride each way, barring any setbacks like the workers going on strike.

Well, I just had to take a cab in a small town near my work office and it was about 12 euro to go 4 km with no traffic.  The drive from CDG to central Paris is about 25km and 30 minutes with no traffic.  With traffic, it could be an hour.  Anyways, it looks like a cab ride from the airport to central Paris could cost about 50 euro each way.

Impromptu Gear for Viewing the Solar Eclipse

I was hanging outside with a group of friends during the solar eclipse. We were waiting for it to happen, so we were trying to use the cameras of our cell phones to try to look at it. That proved fruitless. However, there were four of us and therefore we had four pairs of sunglasses. Stacking up all the sunglasses together enabled us to check out the eclipse very very well. 3 sunglasses worked pretty well but it was still a bit bright, the 4th added just that extra amount of darkness to make viewing the eclipse better.

Sunblock Advised With Convertibles

It was a cloudy day out by the ocean, so I didn't think anything of it. But once into the canyons of Malibu, the sun was out and shining. I, however, totally forgot to wear any sunblock. I got a nice little farmers tan.

Solar Powered Parking Meter

I was walking around the U. of Michigan and a few of the parking meters are solar powered. That got me thinking, how are other meters powered? Well, I suppose it obvious through a power cable. It must just be a pain to run all that cable for all the meters.

The Bike is Just the Start

After you get the bike... well, then you need: pedals, shoes, shorts, jerseys, helmet, eye wear, tools, pump, saddle pack, spare tubes, bike computer, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting.

Vancouver Tap Water

The tap water in Vancouver tastes pretty good. It's very fresh as it comes right off the neighboring mountains. That also results in the water being very cold. Turn on the cold water faucet and your hands may just go numb.