$2033. First round success!! and small coffee failure.

Yes! YES!

So much relief. Beat the deadline $2033 before the March 21^st/ $2000 mark. Much thanks again to everyone who has given. Wow.

Final totals on the change counting from neighborhood panic attack: $149. Wow again. I live in a pretty great neighborhood. Thanks!

Mr. and Mrs. Moses. Thanks for generosity always: home cooked dinners, astronauts, abundant entertainment, aussie bites, hair straigheners, and grad schools advice ( “Don’t be a doink”). Thanks so much for your donation. You guys are fantastic.

Za, well aware that she is actually the best. And you are. Well done.

Za’s Mom and Dad (Pattie and Willie G) Thanks so so much. I love you and the farm and will be back to sit in your kitchen. Za told me you are helping me out even more, I can’t thank you enough.

Mom and Dad. Thanks for donating, even when you don’t know you are. Ha. Just kidding… sort of.

Rizwan. Good Job. Timely + extra. Youre awesome.

Cathy and John. Thanks neighbors!! Act like neighbors even when you aren’t neighbors. Thanks so much!

Uncle P and Aunt Martha. Thanks so much. Even after reading my obnoxiously sarcastic letter. I really appreciate it. Thanks again. Family = love.

More thanks to Alan. Awesome bike advice and potential gear borrowing! Thanks thanks!

Ok confession. It is my birthday, so I bought a coffee—a fancy one. I thought after abstaining I would perhaps find it gross or not care for it as much. nope. It was delicious.

Many dogs and lots of quarters.

Thanks Susan!! I am pretty sure we have met on two occasions. Really that makes you that much more awesome. Thanks so much.

Cat. I love you. I have already mentioned this before, but you are great.

Darren. Thanks again. Sorry for confusing you with flattery. Also thank you for not letting me burn down the house. It is much appreciated.

Barbara/ entire Williams clan. Thanks so much. I miss you and Rolling Green and Willy.

The deadline is approaching near, so I may have started getting a little anxious about the whole matter. So tonight I put on my bike gear, covered an oatmeal container with a bike and build brochure and went out knocking on possibly ever door in the neighborhood. So amazing !! Some people were so incredibly generous. I got two checks, a number of bills and lots and lots of change, 2 nails, 3 screws, and a tack. I haven’t counted it out yet, but the whole event was pretty awesome.

So I personally get to thank those who straight up wrote me checks even when I was asking for change:
Thuon, you and all roommates plus 6 (possibly 7?) dogs are really amazing and funny. Thanks!
Adriana and housemates—thanks for inviting me in, for the water, for great conversation and for your amazing generosity. You guys are great.

Also this one lady gave me her quarter collection. Wow, state quarter collection. Not even kidding. And some people didn’t even really wait for me to explain what I was doing. I got through “Hi, I am raising money for Bike and Build…” and they would bolt upstairs and bring down their change jar
and dump it in. I mean I was really really impressed.

Here is yet un-fixed hover disk. Also a goal.

$1300 Well Done; and Additional Indecision

my only shot of Tucson. And now that it is in picture form, admittantly not that exciting. But pleasant nonetheless.

Thanks to the Devlin family. I have been trying to usurp Bridget’s place for a long time now. I love you all.

Uncle Mike and Aunt Jane, many many thanks. I promise to make more family correspondence that doesn’t have to do with money or Amy’s boyfriends. Promise.

Alan and Trish!! Thank thanks so very much! You guys are great! Alan, I am writing soon to ask for biking tips.

Olivia, thanks so much. It means a lot, especially when you don’t even know a person. Really appreciate it.


I have reached $1300. I need $2000 by March 21st. It will be close, but I have got to make it work.

I haven’t been updating because I haven’t been biking. It seemed wrong. I am on a little graduate school tour. I am currently in a hotel in Pasadena visiting Caltech. Just before this, Tucson for U of Arizona, and weekend or two before that U of Washington.
My final visit is U of Minnesota and then that is that, and I will have to decide. Umm. Not sure as of now. Pretty serious indecision at the moment.

Bunnies don't eat ketchup.

I talked to Scott Shapiro ( B&B group leader) yesterday, bemoaning the cold and the all the excitement of cycling that is lost to a stationary bike. Ah! but lo and behold, today a balmy 50 F, so in lieu of more pressing matters of schooling I decided to fit in an short ride. The Virginia Tech cycling club has a pretty nice website with different routes that are bike friendly or relatively so--essentially a low density of those large trucks with 4 rear wheels and lights on top. Also they include these neat and clever elevation profiles, which I have labeled to summarize the trip. The portion of ride under "Torture" is Harding Rd., which intersects on the way up roads such as "Bunny Trail" and "Happy Hallow." I started to think as I climbed whether I should turn off one of those. Surely Bunny Trail Rd. would be less steep and generally more happy. And if I got tired, I am sure a large group of soft rabbits would gently carry me the rest of the way home anyway.
Also on this ride I found a deflated Hover Disk. And, yes, I attached it to my bike and took it home. I plan on repairing it so that it may fly once more. Although, all in all, the garbage in Blacksburg is much less and exciting or diverse then the litter surrounding Greenbelt, Md where I was this fall-- a surprising number of wigs, bags of bread (specifically baguettes), boxes of bananas, and on one occasion an unopened box ring pops. More than once I thought I had pedaled far beyond the reaches of civilization and would hit a ketchup packet at 20mph. Incredibly pleasant.

Thanksgiving, hydration, and polo sans ponies

I think I will start a tradition of shameless thanking at the beginning of each entry.

Many thanks to the following:

Claudia and Margie, who despite having only met me a number of times, most often at Panera Bread, are both amazing and donated, even knowing that I am the daughter of Miss Manners. That says a lot.

Karen, even though as a child I trespassed on her yard, probably killed plants and wildlife. And she even sent me back my stamped envelope. Thanks so much!

Stephanie, who also took it upon herself to entertain my homeless brother for several days’ time. She is amazing. Congratulations if you have even just ever met her acquaintance.

Sam. Provider of the Lotus road bike, which truly started it all. Not very good at Scrabble but has a myriad of other good qualities, like being an awesome swim coach even to those who don’t swim anymore

Aunt Ruth. You’re the best. See you at the end in San Diego! We can discuss the trip over dinner and muffins.

Ms Cindy and Mr. Don, who also so generously supply their basement, chocolate beverages, backyard, and a little bit of their sanity every time we all come over. Thanks for everything!

So at this point I am at $995. yes yes yes!

I need $2000 by March 21^st and $4000 by May.

Update on self trickery: It has thus far earned me $12 from myself ( oh, new total $1007), and also obviously all the immediate health benefits from avoiding coffee as well like: the grogginess, the irritability, and the inability to function in a normal social setting before 10am.

Actually for the most part I have been fine. I have started employing other methods to keep me awake anyway such as always needing to go to the bathroom from drinking so much water all the time.

Real updates:

Next Virginia Tech Chapter of Habitat for Humanity build March 15th.
http://www.habitat.org.vt.edu/portal.html

Biking/training has been semi-productive. Home to class to home is about 5 miles, and when you forget your books, its 10. yea. Fun.
Otherwise it has been too ungodly cold to take on any serious rides as of yet. I have been mostly swimming, playing water polo, or trying a stationary bike.

Speaking of water polo. Championships @ James Madison University April 12-13^th

Worth mentioning because I have good faith that we are going to be awesome.

Shameless thanking and healthier caffeine free lifestyle

Let us all bask in the amazing awesomeness of Miss Laurie and Mr. Mike along with Auntie Paula and Greg, being my first donors. Truly amazing and great. It has even inspired me to write what is sure to become this self-consuming blog, which, case in point, has thus far kept me from finishing my homework for tomorrow.

I have developed a scheme in which to improve my overall health as well as earn me some much needed funds.

--A scheme is obviously necessary because apparently I can’t just choose to be healthier, or just give of my own free will. That would be ridiculous.

I have calculated (well, not actually calculated, more like a brief mental estimate. Putting real numbers on this would be far too depressing) the large sums of money I must spend on coffee on a week to week basis. It’s just way too much. Then if you factor in the other warm, often breakfast-associated beverages that I consume throughout the day… tea, hot chocolate, the absurdity grows.

Anyway, the plan/self-trickery goes as this: strong coffee desire comes, pull out the money, put in self-trickery jar, drink a glass of water. I am hoping that the warm feeling I will get inside from helping others will replace the actual physical, cold, rather unpleasant feeling of drinking the curiously metallic-tasting water from any number of water fountains scattered about campus.

So if all goes according to plan, I will solely rely on the energizing good feelings, which come from charity and proper hydration to keep awake in class tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes.