Lance Armstrong put on the Yellow Jersey today in the Tour De France. His U.S. Postal team had the best time in the Team Time Trials. Tyler Hamilton’s Phonak team came in second with an impressive time despite having only five riders left at the finish.

A controversial rule caps the time losses for each team. So even though USPS blew away Phonak’s actual time, Phonak’s loss will be capped at 20 seconds. No wonder Lance hates this rule.

Follow the Tour action at the Tour De France Blog, an unofficial blog that has more info than the real site.

Man, I wish I already had my satellite receiver and dish set up so I could watch all the action on the Outdoor Life Network.

Andrei Codrescu, one of my favorite authors, will be doing a reading at the Regular Bookshop in Durham tonight at 7PM. He’ll be reading his new book, Wakefield.

I loved his book Ay Cuba! and his NPR commentary is great, too.

(Man, I love alliteration).

I see my comments on the NCSU PSD website hack got me linked to from The Wolf Web. Welcome, y’all!

This case is the equivalent of spray-painting graffitti outside the borders of the Free Expression Tunnel. The campus police ought not to treat them as some kind of terrorists.

I hope the news updates us with the progress of their cases. I’d like to see the charges quietly dropped Perhaps some organized support for the kids is in order?

So Mike Krzyzewski will stay as coach of the Blue Devils. Can’t say I’m surprised. The only thing the NBA has going for it, coaching-wise, is money. NBA coaches are like NBA referees: only there for show.

The best quote came from a Duke student, before Coach K made his decision known: “Maybe my tuition will go down.” (With the “few things” done to Coach K’s contract, however, his tuition may in fact go up.)

Here’s to “Ratface” staying in the league. It wouldn’t be the same without ya!

I spent most of the day doing routine Windoze desktop maintenance for a Chapel Hill client. Not the best way to spend a day most others took as a holiday. I am bummed about missing the extra family time I could have had, but at this point I’ll take what work comes my way.

Finished the day with an unscheduled meeting of Beer Club. Not a bad way to end a day.

We’ve had a wonderful Independence Day. Started off with an early trip to the New Hope Valley Railway to ride the train.

There were many hundreds of people there today, so we were glad we showed up early (though 90 minutes early was a bit much). We took a seat in one of the caboose’s cupolas (pronounced “COO-poh-lahs) and had a fun time as the train took us down the track and back.

I also thought to bring my dual-band HT to listen to the club activity. A helpful volunteer gave me the frequency (160.425MHz) and soon I was listening to the chatter.

The train ride was all too short, and soon we were back at the “station.” It was fun enough that Hallie has asked to go “again” multiple times.

Then it was home for a nap before heading over to my folks’ house for a Fourth of July cookout. We all had a great time there, with hamburgers and peppermint ice cream to help celebrate. The best part was the short ride home: five minutes compared to 45 minutes to Garner. Vive la difference!

I’ve got contract work most of the day tomorrow. When you’re an independent consultant, you don’t get “paid holidays,” so any work is good work. I’m betting I’ll be done soon enough to enjoy some more home-time before returning to my contract work Tuesday.

Had an online visit from my former Netraverse coworker, Mike Maher. He just opened a toy company in Carrboro called Wootini.

Go check it out and tell him I sent ya.

We’re heading down to Bonsal, NC (south of Apex on U.S. 1) to ride the train at the New Hope Valley Railway. July 4th happens to be the first Sunday in the month – when the trains run – and as such they’ll be giving rides. A band is supposed to be there as well.

An open-air train ride seems like the perfect way to celebrate Independence Day. Hope to see you there!

I should also mention that midnight this morning came and went without the reference message being put on our old number. As Bellsouth promised me it would.

I had a rather short phone call with them this evening. When I mentioned “public utilites commission,” the tone of the call immediately changed. I sensed a greater sense of urgency on their part. We’ll see.

The rep told me my order was still being processed but should get completed today or tomorrow. We’ll see. By now I’ve stopped holding my breath.