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SuperGerd! 90 Years Young and a Double Centurion (twice)

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In my " decade from across the dining room table " as a former Bike Friday customer evangelist, I met so many extraordinary cyclists and adventurers that made my modest job feel like the best job in the world. Newly-nonagenerian Gerd Rosenblatt, an acclaimed former UC Berkeley physics professor certainly hasn't let the passing decades get in the way of HIS  physics ( watch him tackle this hill at age 74.5 ). I had the pleasure of crossing the country with him on an 80-120 miles-a-day Route 66 trip with PACTOUR in 2006 . While I now grumble if the mileage creeps north of 50, he's just kept piling on his odometer. Below is his personal account of his most impressive feat to date: a double century (that's 200 miles folks) at the ripe young age of 90. Go Gerd!  JUMP TO:  5 QUICK QUESTIONS FOR GERD ROSENBLATT  Grand Tour Lowland Double Century Cycling Report – Gerd Rosenblatt – 90th Birthday Ride June 24, 2023 Background This is a report on the double century that I

Singapore on a Friday: Riding with Mark Mobius, Father of Emerging Markets

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The Galfromdownunder rides with the Man from All Over in Singapore First published 10/6/2009, with updates below STORY:  Mark Mobius on a Friday   (Internet archive - be a bit patient as it sputters and loads, some content preserved here) Singapore on a Friday (Internet Archive link - cross fingers it still works) MOVIE: Meeting Mark Mobius in Singapore   PHOTOS:  Photo Gallery   (Arrrgh, made with the now-defunct, Flash-driven JAlbum - guess I'll have to reformat the shots. Sorry). I've just landed in Singapore and hit the ground pedaling, meeting and riding with customers Mark Mobius ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Mobius ) and Richard Piliero from Franklin Templeton  (the "Gain from our Perspective" people). So who is Mark Mobius, and more importantly, what am I doing hanging out with the likes of  him? Mark is considered "The Father of Emerging Markets," credited with coining the phrase that refers to investing in "developing"

UPDATED: The Longest Line in NYC: Women for Hire Job Fair

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On becoming an accidental candidate at a job fair at the height of the 2009 recession UPDATED 2023 with additional intel.  Originally published: 2/25/2009.  Read an edited version of this post on Fastcompany We interrupt this program for a report from the cold, hard pavement outside your window. A jobseeking friend invited me to join her at a Women for Hire Career Fair  2009 at the Sheraton New York. Thinking it might provide a palpable insight into the current state of the nation for my FastCompany blog , I hastily printed out my resume as required (complete with a nice glaring typo - doh!) and jumped in a cab to make it by curtain call. Might I add, my color printer suddenly chose to malfunction that day, and printed out a resume striated in red, white and blue, like a glorious 8 1/2 x 11" American flag. No matter, it's a just a formality for my friend's benefit, right? On arriving at the entry cutoff time of 1.15pm - 45 minutes before the advertised closing time of 2pm

Ka-chingle bells: why we’re paying through Rudolph’s nose for a Xmas tree this year

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2020: The year a Xmas tree costs more than a NY cocktail... STICKER SHOCK isn’t something  the average New Yorker complains about day to day, let alone at Christmas.  As demonstrated by the fabled ”New York Meter” (a man ka-chinged his way around NYC to prove the cheapest day is spent holed up in a cinema watching back-to-back movies) everything is so hyper-inflated that a $16-not-$18 hamburger is considered a bargain.   But this year, what’s causing us to drop our $6 pumpkin-spice latte in the snow? The price of Christmas trees.    I’m not talking about the $6500 Rockefeller center lookalikes destined for cavernous corporate lobbies and Tribeca penthouses. I’m talking about the modest, 3-4-footer for the typical Manhattan studio or 1-bedroom apartment.  This kiddie size – still taller than a child who still believes in Santa - enables you to slide 3.5 gifts under it and hang more than a single  Charlie Brown red bauble without it falling on its tinseled tush.  And the Covid Christm