By reading this post, you certify that you are not Mike Phylliere, Claim Manager, MT State Fund

In a previous post, I alluded to reasons about logging in when you visit my blog.

In this post, I expound.

I think that part of the value of a blog is the ability to “write things you wouldn’t say.” I write unsavory, profane and inappropriate things on my blog as a matter of habit–to relieve some stress, or to amuse my friends. But–if you want to READ my obscenities–you’d better believe you need to be logged in with an account that I’ve verified.

Unfortunately, especially for bloggers who got started when these things were still “web logs” (see: before Google) … I think there was a sense of anonymity that may have been appropriate then, but certainly isn’t now. Nowadays, this sort of post has become a platitude–and new generations of bloggers know better than to divulge damaging details about themselves. But when 1) only four people in the world had blogs, and, 2) the only way to find those blogs is if you knew their URLs, I think a sense of anonymity was appropriate and justified.

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Me being called by the Ferraro’s guy (assuming that he found my phone number from my blog–which is the most likely scenario) is a great case-in-point, in re: 1) your mom’s on Facebook (I know, because my Mom is Facebook-friends with your mom), and, 2) the intarwebs is serious business!

In other words, the internet is no longer an anonymous haven for your unspoken thoughts–you’re accountable.

(Though, for an interesting counterpoint, read this article: Scene Stealer: The aXXo Files. I found the article particularly interesting because, yes, [by reading this, you certify that you are not an agent or employee of the MPAA] I’ve downloaded aXXo movies–for the exact reasons the article suggests: because aXXo is a brand-name associated with high quality products.)

[To be read aloud in a “historical narrator voice”]
When I started this blog, six long years ago, I recognized the need to separate content for my friends from content for my parents [/end narrator voice]. Take profane language, for example. Lord knows, I’m fond of it. And, lord knows, when I go home, I try awful hard not to be (you do it too!). That’s just the way of things. I just like to keep my image up with the ‘rents, ya know?

But the internet is also now a lifelong indexed, archived and searchable repository of my 22 young years of life. And yours, dear reader, too. Pardon my restatement of the obvious, but … your future employers will Google you. Your future boy/girlfriend will Facebook you. Your future political opponents will use pictures from your website to convince a nation that your youngest son, Trig, is actually your daughter’s. Serious business, no?

So I have this user account system, whereby I assign every registered user an appropriate access level. And you should like it, too. I’ve never posted a picture of a friend smoking marijuana–but supposing that I had, it would remain hidden. You never know when something like that might come back and bite a guy, right?

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“If the Ferraro’s guy can find my cell phone number,” I found myself thinking yesterday, “I wonder if I should be careful what I post, with respect to my Worker’s Comp claim manager.” Not that I’m doing anything wrong–I’m far from recovered, but that’s a topic for another night (ah HA! I’ve done it again! How can I just leave you HANGING like that? You’ll have to COME BACK! HA!). “It just might be unnecessarily complicating,” I reasoned, “for my claim manager to read my blog and discover that I’m skiing on the weekends.”

Well… what should arrive in the mail today, other than a letter from my WC claim manager! Addressed to my orthopedist, it stated, simply, that he’d received word that I’d been skiing at Bridger Bowl–and that he’d like my doctor to explain how this is medically possible. (It is, mind you!)

Now, I know you’re thinking that he must have read it on my blog! OMG! But … I’ve set you up! You’re WRONG! Instead, his letter indicated that he received word through the Montana Conservation Corps–which is easily explained: Donna was my crew-leader last season; Donna now works at Bridger and scans my ski pass every Saturday; Donna also just started working with MCC again.

But, on the other hand, I don’t think it will be too long before worker’s comp claim managers are checking Facebook, subscribing to Twitter feeds, and reading blogs–to check up on their cases.

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This post will now self-destruct.

Ferraro’s Fine Italian Stalkers

It might prove to be a great irony if my History capstone course turns out to be the low point in my career as a student in the MSU history department. Not my performance–but rather, the worst class I’ve taken.

Last week, my classmate Whitney had to physically restrain me from clawing my eyes out.

This week, I resorted to 6th grade tactics. For two-and-a-half dragging hours, I bored holes into my desk using a dull protractor. And my teeth.

Next week … perhaps illegal hallucinogenic drugs might be just the thing.

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Nice day, today. High in the upper forties. Think it breached fifty, yesterday. Warm and sunny … and it puts me in quite a mood. Let me tell you. Not. A. Happy. Camper. No sir.

It’s been weeks since we’ve had snow. And what’s left is all just … melting away.

I’ve hardly felt the urge to use my ski pass. Groomed runs and icy bowls just don’t quite do it for me like they used to (back in the days when I didn’t know there was such a thing as powder … and when there weren’t any green runs down the bowls, so I didn’t want to ski them anyway).

I’M SICK AND TIRED OF SUNSHINE! GOD DAMNIT! SUN, SUN, GO AWAY! COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY! (See: Summer. It’s not your time yet. Don’t be so impatient!)

And the days are getting longer. Which is weird … because I don’t remember them ever getting short. And it’s a little weird, yes, that I’m disappointed that the days are getting longer. Normally I’m excited. It’s just that … I don’t feel like Winter has really come yet?

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Well, now that you ask, I have been thinking of moving to Alaska. For a while now. Hrm…

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Speaking of which … not really, but… there seems to be a problem with staying logged in on my site. I should really fix that but … sorting through pages of poorly written PHP to troubleshoot an intermittent error … sounds only slightly more scintillating than skiing down sheets of ice.

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And, logging in is important. But first, a funny story about that…

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So, a week ago, Chris and I went out to this fancy Italian restaurant called Ferarro’s for the first time. Everyone knows that their food is overpriced, and not very good, but we went anyway–willing, by this point, to pay quite a premium to try a new restaurant.

And … expecting a mediocre dining experience, we were thoroughly disappointed. It was, without a doubt, the worst dining experience I’ve had in Bozeman.

So I got home, and created a Yelp! account (I have the app on my iPhone, and decided that it’s useful), and ragged on Ferraro’s. You can read the review on Yelp! here.

That’s not interesting. What’s interesting is that, a few days later, I received a phone call from the manager of Ferraro’s–Mike Something.

This was strange for two reasons.

First, his manner was strange. He told me that he’d noticed I’d posted a review online, and that Ferraro’s had “clearly dropped the ball.” He wanted to invite me down to the restaurant to try Ferraro’s again. But really, seems to me, what he really wanted was to coerce me into changing me review.

He mentioned something about bad reviews being bad for business… and mentioned twice that “we’ve been here fifteen years! We must be doing something right!”

The second weird thing is that … he called me. At 10:00 am. On my cell phone.

It’s weird because my cell phone number (which is new, by the by) isn’t available on Yelp! or Menuism, where I posted reviews. I can only assume that he saw my user name (markegge), Googled for Mark Egge, found my blog, and gave me a call.

Hrm.

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Yup. Well, I’ve gone on too long already. More, another day!

Quiet, quiet down she said, speaking to the back of his head.

Today was my Dad’s 60th birthday. That’s a little weird… I mean, my Dad’s 60, right? You wouldn’t know it though–he’s busy right now training for his next marathon and next summer’s backpacking trip in the Wind River Range.

The Academy Award nominations were announced yesterday… And, as another blogger phased it, Batman’s pissed. Huh. I expect that Heath Ledger will get Best Supporting Actor… And that Milk will pick up a bunch of awards. I mean… it was a solid movie, but, more than that, it’s the sort of movie that the Academy likes to play up. Same reason why Brokeback Mountain picked up so many awards. I see strong Best Picture potential in Milk.

Well, I’ve tried it now… and can safely say that trying to post from my iPhone is just plain obnoxious. The little tap “keyboard” is sufficient for 160 character SMS messages… but certainly nothing meaningful. When it comes to typing, the Blackberry has a clear advantage, it would seem.

Well, enough. I need to be up at 4:30 am tomorrow to go ski with the dam. Yay for having a season pass and starting ski days at 2:00 pm!

Bikes and Stop Signs

A Montana state representative from Missoula has introduced a bill (HB 68) that would remove the requirement that bicyclists come to a full and complete stop at stop signs–making Montana communities more bike friendly.

Newwest.net has the full scoop, here

If you’re a Montana cyclist, please contact your representative and ask him/her to support House Bill 68.

Go to http://leg.mt.gov/css/find%20a%20legislator.asp to find your legislator, and go to http://leg.mt.gov/css/Sessions/61st/roster.asp?HouseID=1&SessionID=94 to get his/her email address.

The email I sent to JP Pomnichowski (D – HD 63) is included below:

Representative Pomnichowski,

Hello! My name is Mark Egge, and I’m an MSU student, living in your district.

I’m writing to encourage you to support House Bill 68, introduced by Rep. Robin Hamilton, which would allow bicyclists to treat stop signs like yield signs (at present, cyclists are, like their car counterparts, required to come to a complete stop at every stop sign).

I must admit, I was surprised to learn that, in Montana, bicyclists are required to stop at stop signs–something I learned one night, my freshmen year, while biking from campus to Safeway. The officer was unsympathetic, and seemingly unmoved by my incredulity that I had just been pulled over on a bicycle for riding through a stop sign at an empty intersection.

I wasn’t excited about the $135 fine I was instructed to pay, but the moving violation on my DMV record was the real rub.

In any case. All personal feelings aside, it seems only sensible that cyclists be allowed to roll through stop signs. First, cyclists like myself are constantly on the lookout for other traffic. When I bike, I never assume that a driver sees me, unless we make eye contact. Second, stopping at stop signs on a bike is a real pain–especially on a road bike with clips, instead of pedals.

At MSU, I study economics. Economists like to think of traffic signals as institutions that assign property rights–specifically, who has the right to be in an intersection at a given time. If there’s an accident, it’s easy to figure out who’s at fault–that is, who committed the property-rights violation–and, assuming insurance and the like, the other party can be made whole. But with a bicyclist, there’s really no question of defending property rights and making the other person whole. The cyclist is always going to look out for his/her own safety and protection. This suggests that stop signs are likely not necessary in the case of bicyclists.

I’m sorry to ramble on. Please support HB 68, which will make it easier to bike, facilitating fitter, greener, less congested Montana communities.

Thank you for your consideration and your service,
-Mark

With any luck, by the time I’m healed up enough to ride my bike again … I won’t have to come to a complete stop at every stop sign!