Tue - July 29, 2008
One Hundred Miles of Scootering
Here's an update on my Xootr
experience
I wrote last fall about becoming
a Xootr scooter commuter. By my rough calculation, I've now
travelled just over 100 miles with this two-wheeled conveyance, so it seems a
good time to post an update.
I've really been quite happy with the scooter. Since mid-April, I've used it to get to work once or twice a week. The trips have been generally pleasant, as the scooter glides nicely and really zips down hills. I often walk it up the steeper hills, especially in warm weather. I've learned that a stiff headwind can also be a significant obstacle, but of course a tailwind is just as likely, so I can't complain.
I've acquired two important new accessories for the scooter. The first was a new bike helmet to replace the rather old one I dusted off for scooter use last fall. The second was a backpack. For a while, I continued to carry a shoulder bag, but it had some tendency to flop around when I was kicking. Janice told me how happy she was with her new North Face Recon II backpack, so I investigated the selection at REI and chose one of the same model. It has been great for commuting (either by scooter or car), and also worked nicely as my carry-on for a recent business trip.
After trying out my scooter, Peg got one for herself, and we've done some recreational scootering together. We also used them to go to the local Independence Day fireworks, about two and half miles from home. This worked great, as we avoided getting our car tangled up in usual the post-fireworks traffic jam. Of course, there was also a post-fireworks crush of pedestrians, but we simply carried our scooters by their shoulder straps for a few minutes until the crowd thinned out. Then we unfolded the scooters, put on our LED headlamps, and scootered carefully down the darkened trails.
While a hundred miles may sound like a lot of scootering, it's been generally less than ten miles a week. I'd like to be using the scooter a bit more often. Three things account for most of the days I drive to work: weather (especially rain or threat of rain), time constraints, and errands more practical by car. We are now in a somewhat drier period, so I hope to leave the car at home more often.
Overall, I'd highly recommend a scooter as a way to shave some time off trips you might do on foot. It's certainly good for a short commute, a trip to a bus stop, some neighborhood errands, or just some fun around town. I have no real experience with other brands, but I've been very happy with my Xootr.
I've really been quite happy with the scooter. Since mid-April, I've used it to get to work once or twice a week. The trips have been generally pleasant, as the scooter glides nicely and really zips down hills. I often walk it up the steeper hills, especially in warm weather. I've learned that a stiff headwind can also be a significant obstacle, but of course a tailwind is just as likely, so I can't complain.
I've acquired two important new accessories for the scooter. The first was a new bike helmet to replace the rather old one I dusted off for scooter use last fall. The second was a backpack. For a while, I continued to carry a shoulder bag, but it had some tendency to flop around when I was kicking. Janice told me how happy she was with her new North Face Recon II backpack, so I investigated the selection at REI and chose one of the same model. It has been great for commuting (either by scooter or car), and also worked nicely as my carry-on for a recent business trip.
After trying out my scooter, Peg got one for herself, and we've done some recreational scootering together. We also used them to go to the local Independence Day fireworks, about two and half miles from home. This worked great, as we avoided getting our car tangled up in usual the post-fireworks traffic jam. Of course, there was also a post-fireworks crush of pedestrians, but we simply carried our scooters by their shoulder straps for a few minutes until the crowd thinned out. Then we unfolded the scooters, put on our LED headlamps, and scootered carefully down the darkened trails.
While a hundred miles may sound like a lot of scootering, it's been generally less than ten miles a week. I'd like to be using the scooter a bit more often. Three things account for most of the days I drive to work: weather (especially rain or threat of rain), time constraints, and errands more practical by car. We are now in a somewhat drier period, so I hope to leave the car at home more often.
Overall, I'd highly recommend a scooter as a way to shave some time off trips you might do on foot. It's certainly good for a short commute, a trip to a bus stop, some neighborhood errands, or just some fun around town. I have no real experience with other brands, but I've been very happy with my Xootr.
Posted at 08:14 PM Read More
Sun - November 18, 2007
Commuting Scooter
This isn't about George Bush and Lewis
Libby. It's about getting to work on two small wheels.
I have a rather short commute to work, roughly two
and a quarter miles. I usually drive, but it's short enough that I've walked it
many times, even in the winter, mainly to get some exercise while assuaging
enviro-guilt. But the hike takes nearly 40 minutes, while driving takes only
about ten (or more accurately, driving typically takes about five minutes, and
the walk from my car to my desk takes nearly five more). So time constraints
have been a big factor keeping me from walking to work very
often.
A couple years ago I started thinking about using a kick scooter to get to work. It would be faster than walking, but would still provide some exercise. Of course, a bicycle wouId be faster still, but I didn't think a two-mile bicycle ride would really be much exercise at all. Also, I imagined I could fold up a scooter and bring it right into the office, while a bike would have to be locked up outside.
I looked at a few Razor-like scooters from time to time, but I wasn't impressed with them. Then a few weeks ago my employer had a small energy fair at work, with a give-away of compact-fluorescent lights and several other conservation exhibits. Leaning against one table was a nicely-machined scooter that looked sturdier than others I'd seen. There wasn't anyone there to talk to, but a single page of information identified this device as a Xootr brand scooter. I did some research and found prices around $200, with overwhelmingly positive reviews.
I knew there was some risk that my commuting idea might not work out. Maybe the scooter wouldn't be so great after all. Maybe the hills here would make things impractically difficult. Maybe Minnesota weather would too often interfere. Maybe I'd be too lazy to use it often. Maybe a scooter just isn't an appropriate vehicle for a sleep-disordered klutz who's pushing 60. But before long, I set aside my doubts and ordered a Xootr (the Mg model, with magnesium deck).
Now, it was early November when I got the scooter, so daylight hours were already quite limited here in the subarctic latitudes. With sunset before 5:00 p.m., I had to shift my working hours a bit to be able to scooter home before dusk, and I had to leave the house by about 7:30 a.m., more than half an hour earlier than has been my recent practice. But I managed to get the early start last Monday to make my first scooter commute. I also made the trip by scooter on Tuesday and Thursday. (On Wednesday I drove because of other errands, and on Friday I just didn't get going promptly, ended up driving again, and took care of a couple more errands.)
The scooter trip really is fun -- especially downhill, of course. The interesting thing is that the commute seems to be mostly downhill both ways -- if I take different routes to and from work. Especially on the home-bound route, there are long downhill stretches, and just one major uphill part (a steep, unpaved, brushy path cutting through a park). In both directions, the steepest uphill parts are easier to do walking (or even carrying) the scooter, rather than kicking. The trip has been averaging about 25 minutes each way, a good compromise between driving and walking.
The reactions I get from people are also fun. There are few pedestrians in my suburban neighborhood this time of year, but the ones I've encountered mostly just smile nicely, as if pretending they think I'm sane. Drivers have been at least as accommodating as they usually are for pedestrians, though I've been a bit concerned about being a distraction. I'm sure that when I'm coasting, many people just assume the scooter is somehow motorized.
Despite temperatures in the 30s and 40s, I've had more trouble keeping cool than keeping warm, so I'll need to pace myself a bit better, and remember not to overdress. I really don't think cold temperatures alone will often prevent me from using the scooter, but I won't be trying it when there is ice or snow on the pavement, which could be any day now. Daylight limitations will also get worse before they get better, with sunset less than 9 hours after sunrise by the fifth of December. The daylight situation will improve in January, and the temperatures will improve in February, so precipitation should be the main concern by March. I'm hoping that in any month, I'll be able to scooter at least as often as I've been blogging!
A couple years ago I started thinking about using a kick scooter to get to work. It would be faster than walking, but would still provide some exercise. Of course, a bicycle wouId be faster still, but I didn't think a two-mile bicycle ride would really be much exercise at all. Also, I imagined I could fold up a scooter and bring it right into the office, while a bike would have to be locked up outside.
I looked at a few Razor-like scooters from time to time, but I wasn't impressed with them. Then a few weeks ago my employer had a small energy fair at work, with a give-away of compact-fluorescent lights and several other conservation exhibits. Leaning against one table was a nicely-machined scooter that looked sturdier than others I'd seen. There wasn't anyone there to talk to, but a single page of information identified this device as a Xootr brand scooter. I did some research and found prices around $200, with overwhelmingly positive reviews.
I knew there was some risk that my commuting idea might not work out. Maybe the scooter wouldn't be so great after all. Maybe the hills here would make things impractically difficult. Maybe Minnesota weather would too often interfere. Maybe I'd be too lazy to use it often. Maybe a scooter just isn't an appropriate vehicle for a sleep-disordered klutz who's pushing 60. But before long, I set aside my doubts and ordered a Xootr (the Mg model, with magnesium deck).
Now, it was early November when I got the scooter, so daylight hours were already quite limited here in the subarctic latitudes. With sunset before 5:00 p.m., I had to shift my working hours a bit to be able to scooter home before dusk, and I had to leave the house by about 7:30 a.m., more than half an hour earlier than has been my recent practice. But I managed to get the early start last Monday to make my first scooter commute. I also made the trip by scooter on Tuesday and Thursday. (On Wednesday I drove because of other errands, and on Friday I just didn't get going promptly, ended up driving again, and took care of a couple more errands.)
The scooter trip really is fun -- especially downhill, of course. The interesting thing is that the commute seems to be mostly downhill both ways -- if I take different routes to and from work. Especially on the home-bound route, there are long downhill stretches, and just one major uphill part (a steep, unpaved, brushy path cutting through a park). In both directions, the steepest uphill parts are easier to do walking (or even carrying) the scooter, rather than kicking. The trip has been averaging about 25 minutes each way, a good compromise between driving and walking.
The reactions I get from people are also fun. There are few pedestrians in my suburban neighborhood this time of year, but the ones I've encountered mostly just smile nicely, as if pretending they think I'm sane. Drivers have been at least as accommodating as they usually are for pedestrians, though I've been a bit concerned about being a distraction. I'm sure that when I'm coasting, many people just assume the scooter is somehow motorized.
Despite temperatures in the 30s and 40s, I've had more trouble keeping cool than keeping warm, so I'll need to pace myself a bit better, and remember not to overdress. I really don't think cold temperatures alone will often prevent me from using the scooter, but I won't be trying it when there is ice or snow on the pavement, which could be any day now. Daylight limitations will also get worse before they get better, with sunset less than 9 hours after sunrise by the fifth of December. The daylight situation will improve in January, and the temperatures will improve in February, so precipitation should be the main concern by March. I'm hoping that in any month, I'll be able to scooter at least as often as I've been blogging!
Posted at 02:38 PM Read More
Wed - March 7, 2007
A Device for Monitoring Energy Consumption
At the risk of sounding like paid
advertising, here's a helpful gadget.
I've been concerned about energy conservation for a
long time--especially in recent years as the problem of global warming has
become more evident. If you want to reduce energy consumption, it helps to have
some idea how much energy is being used by various appliances and other
gadgets.
In some cases, it's pretty easy to understand how much energy gets used. If you leave a 60-watt light bulb on for an hour, it will use about 60 watt-hours of electricity. But what about your refrigerator? Because its compressor cycles on and off, its hard to know how much energy it consumes over a period of time. How much power does the TV use when it's "off" (actually on standby, waiting for a signal from the remote control)? And what about all those warm little AC adapters that power so many devices all over the house?
Some weeks ago I bought the device shown below to help answer some of those questions. It's a model P4400 "Kill A Watt" electricity usage monitor from P3 International. It's available from many sources, including Amazon, for about $20 to $25.
Using it is pretty simple. You plug it into an outlet, and plug the device you want to monitor into it. It immediately starts monitoring the energy used, and also keeps track of how long it has been connected.
The buttons under the display screen change the display mode, so you can see values such as voltage, current, power, and frequency as well as the energy used and how long it's been monitoring.
This gadget certainly has some limitations. It's strictly for 120 volt circuits, so it doesn't help with some of the biggest energy hogs that run on 220 volts. It also can do nothing for things that are permanently wired, such as most ceiling fans and light fixtures. You can use it on switched outlets, but its timer and total energy values will be reset when the power is shut off. The precision of its displays is limited, so it doesn't provide much information regarding things that use less than a few watts. Nevertheless, it's a helpful tool for checking a wide range of household devices.
Once I've gathered some more data, I'll report some of what I find. If you have an interest in some particular kind of appliance or other device, let me know, and I'll try to provide some information.
In some cases, it's pretty easy to understand how much energy gets used. If you leave a 60-watt light bulb on for an hour, it will use about 60 watt-hours of electricity. But what about your refrigerator? Because its compressor cycles on and off, its hard to know how much energy it consumes over a period of time. How much power does the TV use when it's "off" (actually on standby, waiting for a signal from the remote control)? And what about all those warm little AC adapters that power so many devices all over the house?
Some weeks ago I bought the device shown below to help answer some of those questions. It's a model P4400 "Kill A Watt" electricity usage monitor from P3 International. It's available from many sources, including Amazon, for about $20 to $25.
Using it is pretty simple. You plug it into an outlet, and plug the device you want to monitor into it. It immediately starts monitoring the energy used, and also keeps track of how long it has been connected.
The buttons under the display screen change the display mode, so you can see values such as voltage, current, power, and frequency as well as the energy used and how long it's been monitoring.
This gadget certainly has some limitations. It's strictly for 120 volt circuits, so it doesn't help with some of the biggest energy hogs that run on 220 volts. It also can do nothing for things that are permanently wired, such as most ceiling fans and light fixtures. You can use it on switched outlets, but its timer and total energy values will be reset when the power is shut off. The precision of its displays is limited, so it doesn't provide much information regarding things that use less than a few watts. Nevertheless, it's a helpful tool for checking a wide range of household devices.
Once I've gathered some more data, I'll report some of what I find. If you have an interest in some particular kind of appliance or other device, let me know, and I'll try to provide some information.
Posted at 08:29 PM Read More
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Published On: Jul 29, 2008 08:18 PM
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Published On: Jul 29, 2008 08:18 PM