Google Maps has a new button you can click on - now, you can find out how long it would take to walk to your destination. Is this a direct result of the crazy high gas prices? Maybe they should add a feature: how long it would take to drive there on under-inflated versus properly inflated tires.
I have no idea how long this feature has been in beta - I just noticed it today when I was planning my trip to San Jose (okay, so actually we're visiting Aptos, California. I keep saying Santa Cruz because nobody I know has heard of or can pronounce Aptos). Yes, you read that correctly: we are visiting Santa Cruz/Aptos by way of San Jose (which is a whole 40 miles from our ultimate destination), and I'm not sure if I blogged this already? We couldn't find a hotel room in Santa Cruz, Aptos, Watsonville, Cupertino, or Monterey (there were a few, but they were either of the Motel 6 variety, and as much as I love Tom Bodett [are you surprised?], I will never ever stay in a Motel 6 again, not after the hairy blanket episode; or they were $400/night. Gas prices seem to have plummeted a whole five cents, so what the hell, right? Anyway, so I was plotting my trip when I see the little "by car" or "walking" choice, and being a curious sort, I clicked on "walking."
It's 396 miles to San Jose from Long Beach, and would take about 5 days, 11 hours on foot to get there. Now, I don't know how many hours a day Google expects you to walk (blisters, bunions, what brand of sneaker, etc.), or what kind of pace that requires, but it seems kind of neat to have this type of data at your fingertips. For instance, it's 0.7 miles from my house to the nail salon, and would take 16 minutes. I should get up and go do that.
...
OK, so another thing I've been thinking about is this article I read in yesterday's LA Times about Michael Phelps. First of all, let's just get this out there: Michael Phelps and the other USA swimmers are all gods. Seriously. If I had known swimmers had those kinds of bodies when I was younger...! Well. My best years may be behind me, but still. His sure aren't. Anyway, the article in the Times said that because of the way some sports work, Michael Phelps can't count on making any money from his sport, unlike people like Kobe Bryant or whoever. (I could give more intelligent quotes from the article, but really, who cares?) And then the article went on to talk about Amanda Beard, a female Olympic swimmer who I guess used her popularity in swimming and decided to take a bunch of nude photos and work her way into the public consciousness based on her good looks and not just her swimming ability, and then the author stated that Michael Phelps just can't look forward to the same type of opportunities.
Now. Patrick's comment that Michael looks like McLovin' aside (and look, I'm no weirdo fan of beefcake: I don't have photos of Brad Pitt or Patrick Swayze in my cubicle at work), personally, I think Michael Phelps (and Jason Lezak and Cullen Jones, and the whole French team, yikes) is pretty damn hot. Somebody offer that guy some money to pose somewhere. Clothed or in a swimsuit or whatever, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one interested in him standing still.
Now I have to go drive to the salon, they're closing in 45 minutes. I don't want to waste any more time here.
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