n_maher

Before we miss another Peter's birthday, I'll do the honors. May your day be gloriously black. Or purple. Or perhaps both.

Continuing the theme of "fix shit yourself" I completed the two week journey that was bringing a Ryobi One+ battery back to life. It had sat (incorrectly) on a charger for too long and discharged itself to the point where it could no longer be charged. I suspected the batter was fine. Problem one - it has one effing torx safety screw so a quick shopping trip to Amazon for IFIXIT's smallest kit with the right bit and the chassis was opened. From there I could check the cells, see that none were shorted they just all had very low voltage. Problem two - how do you trick the charger into thinking the battery is ok? A few YouTube videos and some hacking of wire later and I was able to float the battery up to ~13V which was enough to get the charger to recognize it and fully recharge the battery. Sure, I spent $15 on the torx bit but I didn't put an otherwise functional battery in a land fill. I call that a win.

Well shit, happy belated birthday Peter.

Not today, but Thursday night, the northern lights made a return visit. Quite visible to the naked eye this time with pretty striking red and green hues across the whole night sky. Wild to see in southern New England. Today, replaced the rear brakes on the Volvo which my mechanic had said were "metal on metal". That was a slight exaggeration but the pads were down to the wear bars so it was time. The rotors actually looked pretty good (essentially no lip) but decided that it made sense to do them while I was in there since I already had the parts. I did not end up doing the fronts as they still have a good 1.5mm to the wear bar and the rotors look fine as well. I'll keep the parts on hand and plan on doing them next spring summer depending on how inspection goes in March.

Almost bought one, did a bunch of research, if I was going to it'd be a Primo. https://www.primogrill.com

Looks freakin' delicious, Steve.

Feels early, like three months or so, but happy birthday anyway, Wayne. 🎅

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, tall man! Haven't found an excuse to get down to ATL...yet.

Happy birthday!

Job done. Great day, some hurtful winds but survived.

Hydrating.

Sincere thanks again to everyone was able to offer support this year. Between you, family, and some other friends I successfully exceeded my fundraising goal again this year. I’m headed up to Vermont now and the ride is tomorrow. I’ll post some pictures at some point, but the weather is looking good and everyone is healthy so here’s hoping for a grade ride.

Likely the last long solo before the ride in two weeks, hammered pretty good but tried not to ruin myself given the activities planned for the rest of the day. Getting close to the fundraising goal now, thanks again largely to this group.

I haven't been online much this week but I'm glad you posted this, Steve. Some friends and I were having a discussion the other day on the anniversary of the suicide of another friend. Never underestimate the simply act of letting someone know that you see them and care.

Thanks, Ric, too kind (seriously). F&F finally starting to roll with a few donations last night and Andrew and Lily chipped in this morning. So we're now in striking distance of $2k and well on the way to meeting the goal of $2,500.

Disparage away, F&F are slower than molasses so far this year. Meanwhile, this place continues to carry the water for everyone else. #NFLO

Hell yeah!

Thanks to everyone that's been able to donate so far. I'm about 50% of my way to my fundraising goal with 2-1/2 weeks to go. Time to go prep to ride to work tomorrow.

@jose - good man.

I got the team hat logo designed and two prototypes of the hats made the other night. Pretty pleased with the results from the little laser. Maybe there will be d-_-b hats in the future.

Prototype complete.

Love you guys, thanks for the quick start. Time to head out for a training ride in the balmy 85F/85% humidity. 🥵

So it's that time of year once again where I call upon the incredible generosity and support of this community to help me raise money for the Kelly Brush Foundation. Nate's Donation Page This year is no different than years past, in early September my friends and I will gather in Middlebury, VT to join 800 or so riders for the event. We should have an even bigger team this year with my friend Paul returning from a two-year stint in Poland so it'll be fun to get the whole band back together that started participating in events nearly 20 years ago. For me this is the 13th year of active participation after a few early years of serving as an event photographer. Anyway, this year KBF is hoping to raise $1.5M to support individuals with spinal chord injuries to regain an active lifestyle which means I need to get my ass in gear and do my part. This organization and cause remains something near and dear to me as someone who takes the simple ability to get outdoors and do whatever I like, when I like, somewhat for granted. But each year, participating in this event helps refocus and recenter my appreciation for those that chose to not be limited by life-altering injuries, illness, etc. The foundation helps people discover adaptive sports and recreation, hosts camps to immerse people in sports and community, and most importantly, provides hundreds of grants per year to people that just want to return to the activities they love. So as you are able I'd very much appreciate your support. To sweeten the pot, every $100 donation will get a custom d-_-b laser engraved slate coaster shipped to the address of your choice. I'm producing the prototype today and will post a picture. Thanks in advance, Nate Last Year's Crew

Knucks, Agree on the RHD being an issue. I've often contemplated settling and buying one configured that way since they tend to be priced significantly lower than LHD models. Then I remember the counsel that I got from a Rover guy some 30+ years ago, RHD isn't worth it, regardless of the price.