Rex Hammock's RexBlog.com

On a recent day-long (two nights, one day) business trip to Washington, DC, I had a few hours between a late-morning meeting that ended with lunch, and an evening commitment. Rather than my typical routine in such a case (working in my hotel room), I decided to spend part of the afternoon seeing what it’s like to bike in a city that is trying to become a model for bike friendliness. Plus, I knew it was going to be a late night and afternoon exercise would help make it more enjoyable.

I was staying near Reagan National airport in Crystal City and was happy to discover that  within two blocks of my hotel, I had two options for renting a bike: Capital Bike Share and Revolution Cycles City Hub, Crystal City. If I were riding point-to-point (rather than an out-and-back) and wanted to drop off and pick up bikes along the way, I would have gone with Bike Share. My needs, and preference for the style of their bike option, led to City Hub. This turned out to be a great choice as I enjoyed chatting with the staff and picking up some helpful advice and a trail map. (Bike Share was a bit cheaper and I’m a fan of the concept, but it’s set up like a vending machine for picking up and checking in one of their fleet of bikes.)

I had a great ride, a very easy pace with a total distance of around 11 miles in all. Moreover, my ability to travel between the spots I wanted to stop and see — special exhibits at two different locations — was a snap and so much faster and easier than if I were in a car, cab or Metro.

Rather than tell you how to see DC via bike, I’ll point to the experts on that topic: On the website, BikeWashington.org, you’ll find information and links to everything you need.

Next time I’m staying in Crystal City, I may try out the 18-mile Mt. Vernon Bike Trail.

Sometimes, it’s the less than 140 character things that make you happy. @R is back.
That is all.
That, and “Have a nice day.”

I have written around 8,500 posts on this blog during that past decade.

I’ve rarely edited old posts and I’ve removed completely only 4-5 (that I can recall).

However, I’ve removed a couple from the previous two days because, in re-reading them, they seemed way more negative than I intended. (For those who need to see what I’m referring to, I’m sure Google cached them and they flow lots of places via RSS. Nothing worth searching for, however.)

While frustrated with several personal tech issues in the past couple of days. For instance, did I mention my iPhone’s camera stopped working? I’m not negative. I made a wonderful new friend among the employees at the Green Hills Apple Store yesterday because that camera stopped working.

Those posts just weren’t synching up with how I feel.

Heck, in Tennessee, the temperature has dropped 20 degrees from triple digits last week and my shrubs have been watered — naturally — during the past 48 hours.

My wife and I are celebrating our 30th-something (I know the actual “something” number) wedding anniversary next week. And we have two kids who made it safely and successfully through teenager-ness and, in a few months, college tuition. My dog, Feste, who is 14, is still healthy and Kate, who turned 5 this week, keeps Feste that way.

I’ll skip talking about great things at work, as that will become apparent in the coming weeks, as I blog more about it. Bottom line: It’s a great time at Hammock, also.

The list goes on and on.

So I’m not wanting to be negative.

Not about Twitter, Apple, my bicycle speedometer — or any technology, for that matter.

As my wife says to me often, “You must be glad to be living in a time with all this new stuff.” Yes, I am.

Twenty-five years ago today, I became a dad.

Not just that. I became the dad of a daughter.

There is nothing greater in the world than that. (Being the dad of a son comes extremely close, but daughters grow up to be adults who know how to communicate with dads on telephones on a regular basis.)

Last week when the physicists at CERN announced they had confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson or “god particle,” I was amused by the inability of anyone to explain exactly what it is, or isn’t. As I once read the Dan Brown novel, Angels and Demons, I am an expert on the topic.*

From the book, I recall the Higgs boson has something to do with being the field that holds everything in the world together. It’s everywhere there is nothing.

Okay, I’m not an expert. I have no idea what any of that means in terms of physics, but I know the feeling of discovering that thing which holds everything in the world together.

And 25 years ago, I held all 5 lbs, 8 ounces of her in my hands for the very first time.

 Correction: My wife informed me that our daughter weighed two more ounces than an earlier version included. 

*Okay, I didn’t actually read the book, but I saw Tom Hanks in that movie directed by Opie Taylor. If you like movies that feature people running around in tunnels for two hours, you should definitely check it out. 

If you follow me on Twitter, you will see this morning that my account is, well, obviously not me.

The hacker was very good and was able to temporarily take over several things of mine that I thought would enable me to prevent something like that from happening.

I secured those first.

I am sure the nice people at Twitter will take care of things soon.

If you know someone there who can help expedite things…