This past weekend I bought a new tea infuser! It’s working better then the ball and chain style one that I had before. Some of the selling points for this one was that it gives the tea more room to expand, thereby bringing out more flavor in the tea, also it’s easier to clean, it’s made from stainless steel, and the holes are so tiny that there isn’t grains at the bottom of my cup after I am done drinking. I find this one looks cool as well. I’d recommend it.

I very seriously considered getting this one though. This one is really cool looking, and really cleaver.

“Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won’t know for twenty years. And you may never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it’s what you create. And even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are only here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but it doesn’t really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope that something good will come along. Something to make you feel connected, something to make you feel whole, something to make you feel loved. And the truth is I feel so angry, and the truth is I feel so fucking sad, and the truth is I’ve felt so fucking hurt for so fucking long and for just as long I’ve been pretending I’m OK, just to get along, just for, I don’t know why, maybe because no one wants to hear about my misery, because they have their own. Well, fuck everybody. Amen”

“What was once before you – an exciting, mysterious future – is now behind you. Lived; understood; disappointing. You realize you are not special. You have struggled into existence, and are now slipping silently out of it. This is everyone’s experience. Every single one. The specifics hardly matter. Everyone’s everyone. So you are Adele, Hazel, Claire, Olive. You are Ellen. All her meager sadnesses are yours; all her loneliness; the gray, straw-like hair; her red raw hands. It’s yours. It is time for you to understand this.
Walk.
As the people who adore you stop adoring you; as they die; as they move on; as you shed them; as you shed your beauty; your youth; as the world forgets you; as you recognize your transience; as you begin to lose your characteristics one by one; as you learn there is no-one watching you, and there never was, you think only about driving – not coming from any place; not arriving any place. Just driving, counting off time. Now you are here, at 7:43. Now you are here, at 7:44. Now you are…
Gone.”

“My father died. They said his body was riddled with cancer and that he didn’t know, he went in because his finger hurt. They said he suffered horribly, and that he called out for me before he died. They said that he said he regretted his life. They said he said a lot of things, too many to recount, and they said it was the longest and the saddest deathbed speech any of them had ever heard.”

Google Voice lets you record different voice mail messages for different people.  Friends can have one, Family another, and work another, or you can make a separate voice mail message for each person who calls you.  Pretty sweet.   Also I can check my voice mail from anywhere, my phone, a pay phone, a work phone, or just listen to them by logging into google voice on the computer.

It even offers to listen and transcribe your voice mails for you, and will then send you them in an email or text message — though it’s not so hot at doing this yet, and it is still in a “beta” stage.

Transcribed as:
“Hey Justin, This is john just nothing terribly mailer whatever. So if you want to give me a call back. Belated Latifah alright. Talk to you Later. Bye Bye.”

They say they will improve this transcribing feature in the future, and I believe them.  Other features include…

• Call screening – Announce and screen callers
• Listen in – Listen before taking a call
• Block calls – Keep unwanted callers at bay
• SMS – Send, receive, and store SMS
• Place calls – Call free within the continental US and to Canada
• Taking calls – Answer on any of your phones
• Phone routing – Phones ring based on who calls
• Forwarding phones – Add phones and decide which ring

Most cellphones have some stipulation that incoming calls are free.  Well, when you want to make a call you have the option to have Google, call your phone and when you pick up, connect you with the person you want to call!  You can call anywhere in the US and Canada free, which includes conference calls, and three way calling.

I love that Google offers ALL OF THESE features for free, and it feels good to be able to stick it to phone companies like AT&T that really, charge you for every last feature they provide.  Google proves that this stuff costs almost nothing to implement and phone companies, STILL charge you for it.   These are the reasons I love Google, they offer TONS of high end super useful programs, features, and software, completely free of charge!

At this point because Google Voice is still in beta, it is by invitation only.  If you want you can go to the website:  www.google.com/voice and sign up today.  I waited maybe a month before I got my invitation.

I am sure that this will be an incredibly useful tool, once it is released.

Since then two of my friends purchased the Cateye HL-EL220 and in a side by side comparison appeared to be a bit brighter than my Quadrant.  I figured it is time for something new.  I began the day going to 3 local bike shops and checking out the selection of lights.  I was determined to buy the Cateye my friends had, when I saw the Flea on the shelf.  They had one set up on a display as well, and I was immediately shocked by the small size of the light.  It was unbelievably small.  Literally smaller in size, than my Cyclometer.

The design was amazingly simple and efficient; it resembled a miniaturized hood scoop on a mustang and looked badass, in an all black.  The brightness of this tiny light was just incredible.  I really expected it to be a bit dimmer than my Quadrant, but it was actually, BRIGHTER!

The size of this light and the amount of brightness they pack into it made it a great design in my book, and it immediately became a contender.

Traditionally the downside to small lights is the price and life of the battery inside it.  Watch batteries can be about $5 dollars a piece and don’t last as long as typical AA and AAA batteries.  But since it is rechargeable that isn’t a problem, and it comes with a charger.  The charger is even smaller than the light itself, and comes in a little rubber pouch.

The manual says you can charge the internal battery on the Flea using any alkaline, NiCad, or Lithium Ion battery (except 9V).  Depending on the battery you are using you can charge the Flea up to 30 times off of a single D cell battery!

That can be really handy especially since the charger is so small you can keep it in your bike pack, and literally recharge it in while on the trail during the day.

It’s also handy while traveling I don’t have to carry a large 4 battery charger with me, and have to carry a cigarette adapter with me as well.

I love that 1 tiny rechargeable lithium ion watch battery is all the weight you carry with the light.  My old Blackburn Quadrant uses 4 AA’s which makes it clunky and a bit in the way.  The Flea being so small and having no removable parts on it makes it feel more robust.  In the way solid state hardrives are more robust than their disc counterparts.  Being incredibly light weight, it doesn’t move around as you hit bumps in the road, or pot holes.

The Flea also uses a Velcro band to attach it to the bike which cuts weight even more, and won’t break over time, like plastic clips can.  The rubberized plastic strip on one side keeps it from sliding around once attached to the handlebars or seat post.

Now for the cons.  I had only 2 issues with this design.  First, the tail light is hard to point in the direction you want and has a tendency to point more at the ground than behind you do to the angle of the seat-post.  I would still recommend the Mars 3.0 tail ahead of the Flea, even though the Flea is brighter.  Second, it took about 4 hours to charge each light.  In the past I was ready to go in a half an hour, with a charger that charges 4 batteries at a time in just 15mins.   But if you’re smart and plan ahead this shouldn’t cause much of a problem.

All in all it is a great design, its extremely low profile, makes it remarkably portable and convenient,   It’s brightness rivals or beats, comparable AA or AAA powered LED lights.  I would highly recommend this light for people who bike at dawn or dusk, or who want the added visibility a light draws during the daytime.  However if you are a person who rides quickly, in or near blackout conditions, or off road, I would suggest something a little more powerful.
Purchased @ Local Bike Shop

Flea Headlight: $32.99
Flea Taillight: $32.99
Pair: $59.99