n_maher

The ride home was painful. Mother Nature decided that she gave no fucks about the forecast, which had called for strong but not insane winds shifting from WSW to NNE later in the day. When I left work at 4:15 for the 20 mile ride, it was ripping WSW at 19MPH with gusts up to 32MPH. By the time I got home the temps had dropped into the mid 40s and I was thanking the good lord that I remembered arm warmers.

Seriously, what the shit is that?

^^^ Yup, it was 55F at 5AM so I said fuck it and rode my bike to work only to be greeted with a winter storm warning (for Friday). It is 65 and sunny currently. Tonight it is supposed to drop to 19. This shit is bananas. B A N A N A S.

Sorry to hear about the loss of a family friend, Dan. Your closing paragraph is pretty much spot on, in my opinion. My fear/concern/not-sure-what-to-call-it is that I don’t know what it takes to just get people back to being reasonable? Maybe they were never reasonable but I didn’t see it because there was not single dividing line like Trump and COVID both have been? At this point I’m ready for half of America to try to convince me that the Ukraine just invaded Russia.

Happy birthday, Dan. Here’s to hoping you’re up to some roasting or paddling or whatever makes you happy today.

Yup, tried it three different ways recently for my Dad as he migrated to a new Macbook. Utter fucking failure.

It hit 50 today and with the full-squish back from repairs I decided once more, into the woods, was required. Studded tires were a must, with mixed conditions of glare ice and then surface mud. Huge fun.

Happy Birthday, Al!

That's certainly an option I'm evaluating, thanks. Problem is, I run a matched Stages power meter so if I convert to Shimano crank I have to give some thought to how much I care about continued power data.

😂 The rear shock just came back from being rebuilt on Friday and is not wearing the right shoes for winter duty at the moment. No reason I can't swap the studs on and likely will, but I was feeling lazy yesterday and just wanted to get out. Honestly, on the terrain out back, especially when snow/ice has smoothed things out a bit, the hardtail is great. But variety is the spice of life so the full-squish will make a triumphant return shortly.

At this point I mostly mix my own rubs, probably 90% of the time anyway. For pork: 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2T of salt, 1T each: black pepper, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder (I usually go light on the onion powder). Naaman will tell you, and I will agree, for beef (brisket and ribs anyway) equal parts salt and pepper is a good place start. Throughout the years I've lessened the amount of rub I use on briskets, a lot of commercial BBQ joints and YouTubers go way too heavy in my opinion. When I do use someone else's rub I like Meat Church's stuff.

1. Found out yesterday that the drive side crank arm on the Synapse is cracked. Frick. I guess the SISL2 cranks are known to do this, carry a special two year warranty as a result, and of course mine is 7 years old so that doesn't mean squat. Bike parts are, of course, out of stock everywhere because 2022 is a joy just like 2020 and 2021. 2. Coped with #1 the only way I know how and rode one of the other bikes. It was hovering in the low 30's and snowing lightly and was a perfect day for studded tires.

So life is good, no?

Happy Birthday, Colin!

Happy Birthday, Steve! Al wins the Internet for the day with that cake. And here's to hoping I did my admin job correctly and merged the two threads.

Where’s the love button? Seriously, I wish you nothing but success with this venture, Kerry. The amps look fantastic and I hope I get to hear one some day. I won’t be making the trek down to NYC, but look forward to the impressions even if it means wading through an endless thread somewhere else. 😁

What a difference a week makes. Today it was 55F and most of the snow is gone, so switched vehicles.

Cruise did a passable job at the attitude of Reacher but the book’s character is quite literally (and as depicted in the new TV series) larger than life. But he’s also an intellectual, something that the TV series hasn’t really shown yet and may not get to as it’s an incredibly complex character. The books are enjoyable easy reads with moderate suspense and compelling stories and characters. Nothing that’s going to change your life perspective or anything like that, but firmly planted in the entertaining category. In a similar vein, I wish someone would take a stab at a series about the Virgil Flowers stories. They seem pretty much ready-made for adaptation with enough CSI-like elements to attract that crowd but enough to set them apart based on the characters roots/motivation. I’d watch the heck out of that too.

I don't often find myself in this thread, but for whatever reason wandered this way today. Condolences to all of you that have lost a loved one recently. As Todd said, some times the right thing is hard and for me, whenever a pet passes, I try to remember just how much better a life it had being with one of you than it would have in some other circumstance.

^^^ Art is not required to make sense.

I started watching Reacher over the weekend after reading a couple of favorable (but not great) reviews online. Two episodes in and I’d rate it exactly the kind of mindless entertainment that I look for a lot of the time. It’s a far better take on the character than the abysmal Tom Cruise based films, so in that regard it’s light years better. I also enjoy that they’re adapting one novel per season, which seems like the right balance of action/pace considering how complex the stories are (not overly so, but not great condensed into a 2hr time slot).

Happy Birthday, Jeff. May all your truck orders come early, and may your lumber supplies organize themselves this year.

After 3" of basically sleet the other day the only good thing to come out of it was absolutely epic winter MTB conditions (driveway is a sheet of ice). Went out for 2hrs with the local crew and simply couldn't stop smiling.

Using some of last week's brisket, I'm attempting Texas-style brisket chili for the first time in the new dutch oven. I added some sausage as well because multiple animals make for better chili, in my opinion. Meat/Onion/Garlic Phase Tomatoes and seasoning added. Now just a matter of letting it simmer for 6 or 7 hours and some cast-iron-skillet cornbread will be made later.

Do you feel better now?