n_maher

Left straight from work, not about to bring a video camera onto the island unless I want it to be my last day at work. I promise there will be videos.

Got the first MTB ride of the year in. Tons of fun, definitely need to get back in tune with the bike and work on bike handling but I was pleasantly surprised with my perceived level of fitness.

This!

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/spectacularly-yummy-audeze-lcd-2-and-lcd-3

Got home last night to test the freshly cleaned carb on the tractor. One pull, fired right up, yay! arriving soon in a post near you, Nate mowing the lawn. And sweet raise! I'd be psyched to get 2% this year, which seems unlikely given the budget shenanigans that continue to go on in Washington. Right now a 5% cut is what I'm looking at.

Just finished cleaning the carb on the power-flo vac system attached to the tractor which will hopefully allow me to commence my annual torture, pardon, mowing sessions to begin later this week/weekend. It would only run with the choke on but the fuel supply to the carb itself seemed good so I'm hopeful that there was something stuck in there and that I managed to get it out. The neighbors and my own kids would probably be nonplussed if I attempted to quantify the results right now.

I'm finally feeling well enough to ride again, now I just need time. Hopefully I can get out for a quick ride some night this week as it is finally light enough out after dinner to safely ride. Still not as warm as one would like for the middle of May but a far cry from the temps of a month ago.

I've actually started using more gears on the little ring, finally finding that spinning a higher rpm going up hills is working better.

I need to get back on the bike, life has really been getting in the way lately...

Better late than never, happy birthday!

Picked up a new-in-box soft top for the Jeep.

Happy Birthday, Ari!

Life is very much a "pick your poison" proposition so no, no one here is going to give you grief if you decide to do that. And most of us agree that at this point that this is pretty far from a headphone forum.

This. Been a long time. For those that don't remember the amp or have never seen it. This is half of it.

Vicki, Just take it easy and enjoy the ride. If there are idiots let them get out in front and ride your own ride. Try to have a good time, basically.

CJ, if you want the tubes tested you can shoot them up my way and I'll run them through the gamut and let you know what I find.

Great shot of Half Dome, Peter. And congrats, Crappy.

And of course, Jacob, I'm very glad to hear that things are looking up on the home front. In a very minor way having kids is like living with someone with a personality issue. My son was an effing mental case last night, screaming, hitting, just going berzerk after his bath. Tonight he was all hugs and kisses and "wuv u dad." It is taxing and I simply can't imagine the adult version. So hang in there bud and vent when necessary.

Oh a decidedly lighter note, the mid-life crisis mobile is pretty much set for now. Just have to tweak the spare tire mount to fit the 32 and pick up the new top this weekend.

Ari, If was being critical I'd pick the middle image as the weakest of the three. Maybe I'm missing something, the subject is great, but none of it seems particularly in focus or sharp. Maybe it's the compressed image that's mucking it up, or my tired eyes, but all of the edges look a little muddy. The other two, I'm not qualified to judge. I don't see any real technical faults with them so maybe it just came down to the judges personal preference for subject matter or any other of 900 reasons for a photograph to either strike a chord with someone or not. Overall your work is fantastic and you clearly have talent so don't get too down. Take the rejection, process it (and maybe like Gene suggested get some feedback) and then most importantly move on.

Ouch! One wonders at what point they'll institute some sort of head protection for pitchers. Years ago I watched something like this happen during a casual softball game and it freaked me out pretty good. It took the guy over a year to fully recover from the headaches, vertigo and he suffered permanent hearing damage to the ear that was struck by the ball.

A very Happy Birthday to you, Shelly!

Happy Birthday!

Jacob, I've got nothing to really offer other than whatever support typing provides. Hang in there, life is a roller coaster, and not always an enjoyable ride. It sounds like Emily needs help and that's kind of what you signed up for when you married her. If she's willing to accept help at this point then all you can do is try. If she gets to the point where she's no longer willing to accept help then it's time to reassess situation. Chris, maybe the LR4 is different but most "7 seat" SUVs are pretty damn uncomfortable for the rear passengers not to mentional that it kills 90% of the cargo space to get 7 in and then there's that whole getting in process to deal with. If a people hauler is what you need buy a Honda Odyssey and use the remaining 30K to buy something fun. I do not subscribe to the rule of 2 cars especially if one choice is made purely on function. You really do need something better equipped to tow the boat, right?

As my boss eloquently said today when I told him it was an '04, "Oh, so, like, not so nice that you won't feel bad if you ding it." My response, "Exactly." I don't know that I could stomach to use something like an LR4 the way that I hope to use the Jeep. I also definitely wanted something that could go at least partially topless (as pictured) in the summer time. That said, I've got a wicked soft spot for Rovers and the latest generation Disco/LR is supposed to be amazingly capable while very refined and reliable. Ultimately if this experiment goes well for a few years I'd like to step up to something like what Ian has, but would probably buy used (again) and not mod it as far as he did. There's no point in getting rid of the 2007 Camry that I use as my daily since it only gets about 15k a year on it when it sees primary driving duty and that'll obviously go down a bit now. I figure it's got another 100k in it or at least I hope it does without requiring major work but it does nothing for me as a vehicle which at the projected pace gives me a good 7-10yrs. Not sure I'll ride it for that long, but it's long paid for and very cheap to run.