Two or three weeks ago I wrote that I hate Caribana but I also wrote that I have enjoyed the event the past. I also shared a walking route that I could use to get there and back, without using the car. For saying that I hate Caribana I was called a hater, and then that person tried to have a fight, in private via DMs. I said I’m not interested in an argument.

Yesterday I went to a Ruby on Rails talkin Geneva. I headed to town early and had a walk from Cornavin to the UNHCR building before walking towards the WMO. I then turned towards the lake and headed to the parc. In the park I saw that people were in summer mode. Some were having barbecues whilst more were having siestas and more. Geneva has switched to summer mode. After passing by the Palais Wilson I headed back into the centre, towards Grottes, and that’s where I saw the Orchestre des Nation performing in the street.

For a few days I fled from the Caribana music festival because during this event it is impossible to sleep due to noise pollution. Switzerland, despite being so strict about other forms of noise pollution is lax about the noise pollution from music festivals. Most people plan holidays to flee it. I did too, but I still denounce it. Having said this I stayed in a small village half way up the Jura and was able to walk a short distance to recycle cardboard, cans and PET bottles.

Cycling around the Léman is a challenge that I could try with a group on Sunday. It would begin and end in Geneva. My maximum range so far is 180 kilometres, and a fast ride, for me, is twenty five kilometres per hour. The group set a goal of 27 kilometres per hour. Recently I have cycled with people at up to thirty kilometres per hour. That was on shorter rides.

I have a Mac Book Pro that is dormant at the moment. I retired it because it became slow and unreliable. It’s a 2016 Mac Book Pro. This was never a great machine. I bought it cheaply because my good machine was stolen. I replaced the battery a few years ago and I was going to do the same, until I saw that it was retired by Apple. Without updates I didn’t see much point in paying 200 CHF for a battery for a machine that will run Linux when I can get a machine for that price.

It often rains for the entire rain of Caribana and this makes me happy. It makes me happy because when I complained to them about their noise pollution two or three years ago they gave me a boiler plate answer instead of doing something about it. I am currently staying away from my home until Sunday morning because I know that to stay home would drive me nuts. From what I see the Caribana is an event with just 6000 patrons or so, and yet they play the music so loud that it is impossible for me to do anything without hearing it from 18:00 - 03:00 from Wednesday night to Sunday morning.

I see people. I see them say that they have given up on wearing fitness trackers and smartwatches because they hate the tyranny of the device. I have felt an intense dislike for Apple behaves in particular. At the same time I have been playing wit Sportstracker for eighteen years or so. My fitness tracking habit is old enough to drink and old enough to drive. This isn’t a post about drinking, or driving.

My definition of Mobilité Douce and the Swiss definition are quite different. For me Mobilité Douce is walking, hiking, cycling and other sports that require a certain dedication and desire to cover long distances. In contrast Switzerland seems to see Mobilité Douce as going from home to the shops, while leaving the car at home. The journeys seem to be short, and at a slower pace. When I walk and cycle into Nyon, almost every day, I am struck by the sight of people waiting to catch a bus to travel 400 meters or less.

Before Whatsapp was bought by Facebook it was a great platform for people to chat with family and friends. When Facebook bought Whatsapp, many people, including myself, migrated towards Signal to avoid remaining in the Facebook sphere of influence. Social groups, and their luddites remained on Whatsapp, so we had to revert to using Facebook owned Whatsapp. GoSocial takes this a step further. GoSocial is a community that has a facebook page that no one can chat on, and GoSocial town groups that no one can write within.

Yesterday’s moderate recovery ride was hard. It was hard because we were riding at up to thirty kilometres per hour for sustained periods of time. We were riding fast from Geneva, to Nyon, and then again from Nyon to Geneva. With a small group you can afford to push like this. Witha large group there is no way. I knew, when I saw that it was a moderate ride, that it would be slightly more challenging than an easy ride.