I decided to make something nummy. I have recipe book. I have ingredients. Let’s go! Somehow, the “cake brownie batter” looks like chocolate milk with flecks of pepper in it or something. I really don’t know what went wrong, except maybe the butter/margarine was too watery & runny? I should use real butter. So, to make the unholy concoction more cake-batter-like, I… well… I did things to it. Things I’m not proud of. It’s in the oven right now. I expect horrible results in 18 to 20 minutes.
In other news, you know how google’s newsfeed pairs hopefully-related photos with the summaries of news stories, sometimes with cute results? Well, here’s my giggle from yesterday. I suspect Alex may enjoy it.
Hey! Is that me, as a missionary in Mexico? No, wait. I wore white shirts.
This might (cross fingers) be my last day with little cat. His name might be Euphrates, because that’s what his new owner is calling him (so far). At some places in the video, you can see (a) the healing wound around his gumline, and (b) the one under his chin where he was (apparently ill-advisedly) sewn up the first time.
About 10 years ago, I met a guy at some kind of community festival or something in Columbus, OH. He was running an open-source software booth. He gave me a CD pre-loaded with Red Hat Linux. I never used the CD, but I’ve sort of followed the development of increasingly user-friendly (translate: n00b-friendly) Linux distributions since then. Recently (3 or 4 years back) I decided it was finally worth my while to take the plunge. Note that I still dilly-dallied for a while.
I have an older tower in the back office that I don’t use much, now that I have this spiffy laptop from work. It just got a 500GB second hard drive installed in it, back in May. Last night, I finally rolled up my sleeves and got to work. It turns out Ubuntu is now insanely easy to install. Easier than Windows, in my case. Lots easier. No hardware issues, everything detected perfectly (even the USB ports that are only recognized 1/4 of the time in XP were mounted automatically and with no issues).
The most jarringly pleasant difference from installing Windows was the absence of repeated phone calls to Microsoft’s Genuine Windows Validation Hotline, trying to explain that, no, I was not a skanky software pirate, selling unauthorized multi-terminal licenses of their precious product; I was simply trying to install said bleepenating product on my computer for the fifth time because it kept crashing during install, and would they please unlblock the software I just spent loads of money on and was trying to legally use. Continue reading →
Last week, I liberated an old Velo Sport from a neighbor’s yard. For Brad! For brad, I tell you! This week, I removed (almost) all the extra parts. No more shifters, rear derailleur, front derailleur, 6-speed Atom 77 freewheel, or very-long chain. Now it’s a nearly-respectable, very civilized single-speed bike.
Notes:
The mtb pedal clips are a little too deep, though joyously wide and tall
I still need to cut off the offending and extraneous outer chainring on the front (but I don’t have a dremel tool or angle grinder)
The seat is pretty cheesy; after riding one of those pressure-relieving seats for a couple of years, this one feels like a golf ball is constantly being shoved up my wazoo
The brakes are pretty awesome
The steel wheels and Maillard hubs are perhaps not the lightest, but I like them. They both need cleaning.
The beautiful aluminum sleeve in the center of the drop bars concealed a lousy steel bar under the tape. And the bar was not bilaterally symmetrical! Geez…
This bike needs a serious bath, and probably everything repacked and lubed
There is a definite clacking, possibly in the bottom bracket, with every pedal revolution; must diagnose and fix… someday
The chain that was on this was too skinny to fit over the BMX freewheel, so I got an inexpensive BMX chain
BMX chains don’t fit in regular chain tools
Anyhoo, I took it for its voyage of rebirth today, and that was fun. I went over to the Chedoke Golf Club and climbed the stairs, then rode along the ridge through the ritzy neighborhoods, then a bit on Bruce Trail, then back through Ancaster and down the mountain on Wilson St. Good ride. I like the bike.
First off, Alex loves muppets, as can be seen from this pic:
Secondly: Okay okay okay okay okay I totally want to make one of these! But, unlike the guy in the video, I will not be doing any experiments at borders near where I live. I can only imagine the body-cavity searches I’d have to endure before finally convincing them that this is not, in fact, any kind of weapon.
In other news, I am (as usual) extremely disapppointed in the willingness of the American public (including myself) to be manipulated by our leaders. Here are some highlights:
Obama capitulated on the FISA bill — which he previously promised to fight tooth and nail – and thereby actively participated in solidifying and legalizing the expansion of presidential powers, reduction of domestic freedoms, and criminal activities of this administration. I know I already blogged this, but I only have 3 readers anyway, and I hope they’ll forgive me for continuing to be pissed about this. I’m wondering if Obama-as-president would be an executive version of the disapointment that is Nancy Pelosi. You know, failing to do much of anything he said he’d do.
Not to be out-caputulated, the Supreme Court refused to hear environmental lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security about their little multi-billion-dollar border project down there. But there is still hope: Homeland Security isn’t just giving itself unconstitutional authority to ignore environmental law; it’s insisting it gets to ignore all the laws, precedents and human rights it feels are standing in the way of its effort to get the Border Fence constructed before someone figures out what a bad idea this is.
Despite Certoff’s claims (don’t get me started on that guy…) to the contrary, global terrorism is much, much worse since we began our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
There is another bike in our already-somewhat-small apartment. It’s a free bike that a lady nearby was giving away. It’s a 12-speed Velo Sport average-joe-grade road bike. The size is very nice for me and/or Brad, and everything works. I’m glad I didn’t take Brad’s bet last night, because I pumped up the tires and they’ve held 80 or so psi for several hours, now (I thought they would be punctured, but no). The frame has small bits of rust on it, not visible on casual inspection. There are nice little details, too, like Shimano quick releases on both wheels, lots of aluminum parts, those brake-release-thingies on the brakes, the gum hoods on the levers still intact. More details after the cut: Continue reading →
This took way too long, and isn’t as cool as I’d hoped, but it seems very functional. I’m pleased.
There’s not much room in my apartment… this is as good as this shot gets. This is exceedingly tall. I may have mis-estimated the height. It’s almost (but not quite) too tall for me, and I suspect Alex will have trouble with it :(. Oops.
So here’s what he looked like a few days ago, parked against a picturesque wall downtown. It wasn’t a photo shoot; just an opportunistic shot, so the rack is on, the bag is on, and the water bottle is there (but notice how it’s Lexan; 6.99 at Target!). Also notice those grips. They were made from an MTB tube, held on with duct tape. The bike now has black cork/rubber handlebar tape, with gel pads underneath. More bulky, not as well done, not as cute, but more comfy. And the reverse levers seem to work great. I screwed up the bar tape installation when I had to remove it and reinstall, after realizing I’d done some of the brake cable installation wrong :(. I hid my mistake fairly well, though. And notice that there is no actual cable to the rear brake. The housing is held in place (for now) on the top tube with adhesive tape.
My favorite parts? The awesome Sparrow 490 bars (they feel positively diminutive) and the tires (panaracers). It’s a sweet ride.
That there’s the bike. I’m tempted to call it “ox” or “moose” instead of “La Pulga” (which I’ve decided is its name, since that’s where I found it). I’m enjoying this bike quite a bit, which is good, since Mr. Bikey, my 2003 Xtc2, needs new bearings and a new race cup (sounds more personal than it is). [Note: I finally (!!!) got hold of someone from Giant customer service (I used the phone number 800-874-4268, and got transferred several times; it is HARD to find any contact info for the largest bike manufacturer in the world), and they told me a new headset is $40, ordered from my LBS. I'll probably do it, because they said there's no technical manual or specs available (unsaid: to me)] .
I am seriously considering going singlespeed on this, since there are no hills around here, and I mostly just commute (2 freakin’ miles) anyway. But I have no real complaints with the gears or the weight of the bike. I rarely shift (note where the shifters are), which removes most of the hassles of a geared bike, but it’s nice to shift down in a headwind or up on an open stretch.
~ my big huge extra-strength, UV-resistant tarp (turns out it’s a little *too* big) to cover my kayaks. I’ve already burned through 3 normal-sized tarps and a couple of old bedsheets. Man, the sun just kills things dead.
~ MR. BIKEY!!! He arrived this morning. He’s in pieces still, but both he and the box look undamaged. Sigh. His shipping has now cost me approximately as much as I will have spent (when I’m finished) on both Canada bike and La Pulga. Again with the lessons.
I am still waiting for…
~ BoxWave screen protectors for my PDA (old one is nearly worn out), my point-&-shoot digital camera, and the next item in this list. These screen protectors are expensive, but they last for years and perform amazingly.
~ my saved-up-for-8-months exercise-reward Canon Rebel Xti!!1! :D Friday it should arrive. And UPS doesn’t deliver on weekends, so I’m going home early to camp by the door. I’m sure there will be way too many pictures on here for a while after that.
dead dishwasher at the pulga where I found the bike
I just received this from the former owner of the bike (whose name, I think, will be Pulga or Pulguita or something; or Mr. Zippy; maybe):
You did a very nice thing to alert me of the situation. I had given that bike to my son several years ago. A few months ago they moved from one house in Dallas to another. They got rid of a lot of stuff they didn’t use anymore, including the bike. In fact they donated it to goodwill or something like it. The story of how it got to you, and so fast, would be an interesting one to follow.
Woo hoo!
In other news, I’m finally (like 10 years after I got it) outfitting my blue Prijon Yukon (which I call the Blue Pig). Putting in a heel pad, seat padding, and knee/thigh rests. Maybe some thigh braces later. Turns out the contact cement makes you get a headache. Maybe I didn’t ventilate the house enough.
So I am taking bike for spin around block, and he is roll very nice. ::eyebrow wiggle::
I pumped up the front tire, and it held 80 psi. Miracle for those cracked, crumbling, barely-there tires. Cross fingers. The rear was a mess, but I patched it twice, then removed the (not working) patches and did it again. It held air, too. I adjusted the brakes, put a little lube here and there, and went for a ride. Also I put some lubricant on the bike.
A 3 mile ride went off without a hitch, as they say. Enjoyable. The rear tire went flat a few minutes after the ride, though. Screw it. New tube. The old one was flaking away in hunks anyway, when I was roughening the patch area.
The bike fit is not bad (I raised the seat an inch or so), but the drop stem may have to go, and the drop bars will definitely be finding their way into the spare parts collection soon. Also these 6-inch-wide handlebars. It’s weird to feel my chest actually constricted while riding, from keeping my arms in far enough to rest on the hoods or the drops. Ugh.
Turns out the seatpost diameter is 27.2mm, so I think the old seatpost from Mr. Bikey will work. The one on there kind of suxxorz, even though it’s pretty light.
I’m doing this to take my mind off Alex. She left a few hours ago, and must be in the air even while I write. I had a rude shock a moment ago, when I realized that she will not be blogging in the other room when she reads this.
I live in three different worlds, it seems. There’s Canada world (which includes Alex), Texas-with-Alex world, and Texas-without-Alex world. More than Alex leaving, it seems like I just slid from one world into the other.
So I know how irresponsible it is and everything, but before you say anything, just try to imagine what it was like. There I was, out in the flea market all alone, walking along, and I had already been tempted by a $10 singlespeed Schwinn ladies’ cruiser just about Alex’s size, as well as cruelly mocked by any number of Murrays and Huffys that looked SO much better before I got close.
And you know I have never fully recovered from the Vera Horsman experience (even though that centurion was much better for her than it would have been for me). I been pining, you know?
So put yourself in my shoes. There you are, thirty meters away, jaded and longing for bikeness, and you see THIS:
zippy at a distance
What do you do? What do you do?
Me, I talked to the guy, and then talked some more. He wanted $65. I had $31. He wouldn’t let it go for that. I walked away. He said $50. I still walked away, because I only had $31. I went to an ATM and got $20 more, and brought it home. Continue reading →
A couple of nights ago, my friend Brad and I had a discussion. It got me thinking, as I often do, about mipatria (the United States), its role in the world, and its future on the international stage. This morning, while trying to find a citation for homicide rates as (lousy) indicators of overall crime rates, I ran into a 2005 article titled “The next 50 years: Unfolding trends,” in what appears to be a good peer-reviewed academic journal.
The article has a section titled “America’s Retreat.” He predicts the end of U.S. international dominance by about 2050, with clear signs starting a few decades ago, and becoming more apparent very soon. He cites a lot of economic indicators, such as national debt, increasingly weak currency, and huge (and increasing) trade imbalances. He has graphs (pretty ones) and apparently rigorous data analysis. Some nifty excerpts from the article, after the jump. Continue reading →
