OK, so I already have my costume picked out for the year, but maybe you don't. I offer you these suggestions, some of which I'm kicking myself for not thinking of earlier.
1. Dress up in a cardboard box. When you walk into the party, release a balloon somewhere and ignore it for the rest of the evening. When people ask what you are: Balloon boy!
2. Dress as a possibly-pregnant-but can't-really-tell woman. like, extra 2 layers right above the belt. Have fun watching people puzzle over whether to ask or not.
more TBD as I think of them. suggestions welcome.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
What happened?
It's been 2 months since I posted, and 3 since I really actually posted. Here's sort of why.
As the more eagle-eyed among you might have noticed, I spend a lot of time picking on other people's bike choices. Like, a lot of time. Too much time, even. It was starting to progress from good natured observation of goofy shit toward being immediately critical of anything set up differently than how I would've done it. No idea why, but no good.
So, as shock therapy to myself, I decided to build a bike that made very little practical sense. I came across a nice aluminum/carbon road frame on ebay, bought a singlespeed kit and some bars for it, and built it up with things I had lying around. Behold: The fastest cruiser on the 2300 block!
It was good times, but short lived. Those who haven't managed to glaze over by now may notice that one of the crank arms, uh, fell off. That was a problem. Too bad really, because if it had lived the next step was to add some clip on TT bars. The bike is currently being stripped to make way for something else, but tolerance regained. Or, if stupid people start pissing me off again, I have a cheap crank-arm to huck at them.
As the more eagle-eyed among you might have noticed, I spend a lot of time picking on other people's bike choices. Like, a lot of time. Too much time, even. It was starting to progress from good natured observation of goofy shit toward being immediately critical of anything set up differently than how I would've done it. No idea why, but no good.
So, as shock therapy to myself, I decided to build a bike that made very little practical sense. I came across a nice aluminum/carbon road frame on ebay, bought a singlespeed kit and some bars for it, and built it up with things I had lying around. Behold: The fastest cruiser on the 2300 block!
It was good times, but short lived. Those who haven't managed to glaze over by now may notice that one of the crank arms, uh, fell off. That was a problem. Too bad really, because if it had lived the next step was to add some clip on TT bars. The bike is currently being stripped to make way for something else, but tolerance regained. Or, if stupid people start pissing me off again, I have a cheap crank-arm to huck at them.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Stuck in the Loop - Reruns!
It's time for another posting, although that's never really consistently meant that another posting was forthcoming. However, my phone is broken and I lost my camera so I have no way to relieve the tedium of my musings with pretty pictures of mildly stupid decisions. So instead I link again to my earlier postings on how to navigate traffic circles and other intersections, which to my dismay remain overly topical and under-utilized. Dang.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Hemmet?
Bike helmets are supposed to save your dome in the event of a crash. They give you a crush layer to lessen the sharp impact to your dome when everything goes fruit-shaped and you don't have time to sort out which way is up on your way down. Ask around and you'll soon find somebody who owes their present walking, talking status to their brain bucket. I'm for helmets. Ok enough positive preaching, now on to the hellfire and brimstone...
On the other hand, they're a bit of a hassle. You have to remember to have it with you, it's one more thing to manage when you get off the bike, they restrict air flow on a warm day, they mess up your ironic perm on the way to the show, and most of all they screw up your whole cool thing you got going on there. So yea, there are some downsides to helmets. I can see why maybe you don't want to wear one. Fine. I'm not your mother, and unless you happen to be one of the people I'm willing to nag about helmets because it would be a real drag to hang out with you as a vegetable, do what you want. Random internet people: This means you!
Doing what you want, however, should not include making up bullshit misinformation because you don't want to admit you don't wear a helmet for vanity reasons or whatever they may be. Instead we're getting things like this - people citing a one-man study claiming that motorists might give you more space if you don't wear a helmet.
You know that kid in elementary school that insisted that seatbelts were a stupid idea because without one you could be thrown free of the wreckage and land in a grassy field, presumably one populated by magical fairies distributing lollipops to lucky-ass car crash survivors? The helmet excuse guys are that kid. Same shit, post-puberty. What happened here was somebody decided first that they wanted (or didn't want) to do something, then went looking for ways to justify it. When the revolution comes, science will crush you.
If you don't want to wear one just say you don't want to wear one. Don't fill the internet with bullshit reasons and bad logic. Believe me, I can recognize that mess a mile away, I have a blog.
On the other hand, they're a bit of a hassle. You have to remember to have it with you, it's one more thing to manage when you get off the bike, they restrict air flow on a warm day, they mess up your ironic perm on the way to the show, and most of all they screw up your whole cool thing you got going on there. So yea, there are some downsides to helmets. I can see why maybe you don't want to wear one. Fine. I'm not your mother, and unless you happen to be one of the people I'm willing to nag about helmets because it would be a real drag to hang out with you as a vegetable, do what you want. Random internet people: This means you!
Doing what you want, however, should not include making up bullshit misinformation because you don't want to admit you don't wear a helmet for vanity reasons or whatever they may be. Instead we're getting things like this - people citing a one-man study claiming that motorists might give you more space if you don't wear a helmet.
You know that kid in elementary school that insisted that seatbelts were a stupid idea because without one you could be thrown free of the wreckage and land in a grassy field, presumably one populated by magical fairies distributing lollipops to lucky-ass car crash survivors? The helmet excuse guys are that kid. Same shit, post-puberty. What happened here was somebody decided first that they wanted (or didn't want) to do something, then went looking for ways to justify it. When the revolution comes, science will crush you.
If you don't want to wear one just say you don't want to wear one. Don't fill the internet with bullshit reasons and bad logic. Believe me, I can recognize that mess a mile away, I have a blog.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Energy Bill
The energy bill is out there floating around, attempting to institute cap and trade on the ability to emit the bad stuff and require higher efficiency and more renewable energy sources. From what I hear the big argument against it is that industry and energy companies will shift the costs on to the consumer. I'm no political kingpin, but....fucking duh? Did this surprise people? I feel like fools are just being combative because they feel they have to oppose something. Next stop, Limp Bizkit fandom.
It has to be paid for somehow. Doesn't it make the most sense to put a price on emissions and let the market do what the market does to work out what still makes sense? Pollute more, pay for it. Suddenly the cheapest way to do things becomes not the cheapest way to do things. Bam, cheap dirty industry is priced out by cleaner industry that was once more expensive. And fittingly, those end users who use the most power or those who use dirty energy will be the ones to pay more for it. Yes, it will cost more than it does currently, but y'all sure as heck weren't going to approve something bankrolled entirely by Uncle Sam, were you?
It has to be paid for somehow. Doesn't it make the most sense to put a price on emissions and let the market do what the market does to work out what still makes sense? Pollute more, pay for it. Suddenly the cheapest way to do things becomes not the cheapest way to do things. Bam, cheap dirty industry is priced out by cleaner industry that was once more expensive. And fittingly, those end users who use the most power or those who use dirty energy will be the ones to pay more for it. Yes, it will cost more than it does currently, but y'all sure as heck weren't going to approve something bankrolled entirely by Uncle Sam, were you?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
de-train
From time to time I labor under the idea that people from far away locales are reading this. I don't labor very hard, to be sure, which is just as well since I'm fairly certain my 3 readers (down 40%!) are all locals. Anyhow, its worth saying that our rail system in Northern California and the Bay area is fairly linear. Multi-linear, perhaps, but certainly falling well short of being a web or a network. If the New York area rail system resembles a box of uncooked noodles poured out on the counter, the Bay's rail is the crayola 12-crayon box lying in a heap. Odds are you can find something heading from vaguely your direction to vaguely the place you want to be, but unfortunately the difference between 'vague' and where you're actually going seems to be a minimum of 4 miles.
We do, on the other hand, have a growing traffic problem. San Francisco isn't NYC, but I've had the pleasure of commuting through the bay before and I don't know what to call it aside from a phrase involving a cluster. For both infrastructure logistics and green reasons, the train starts to look like an attractive alternative.
Here's what we expect the train to be: It should be a little slower than a fast car ride in no traffic, since it keeps stopping, but should be consistent, without worry of a traffic jam. You should be able to relax while you're riding the train, since you don't have to worry about steering the thing. And, of course, it should at least link up with something that can get you where you need to be.
The grossest failing of the train is it's lack of consistency. It weighs 500 tons, rides on a set of rails, and has a published schedule, and yet is still somehow subject to traffic. Amtrak, it seems, is not only burdened with the usual set of mechanical issues but also takes a back seat to freight traffic and track work on a routine basis. Some sort of delay occurs every second day or so, and several times a month the delays stretch into the hours, sometimes to the point of asking the passengers to switch to another train. And at that point the comfort of riding the train becomes the hope that you can make it 80 miles in under 3 hours, and that you won't be stuck standing on the platform for too long at 11pm waiting for the delayed replacement train.
West coast rail is nowhere near the East in scope, and it doesn't make sense to expand it unless more people are going to ride. The way things are looking though, I'll be keeping it out of my own plans.
6/29 Edit: Numbers are in, train ridership is down 13% this year. Bam. They responded by raising ticket prices. Bam?
We do, on the other hand, have a growing traffic problem. San Francisco isn't NYC, but I've had the pleasure of commuting through the bay before and I don't know what to call it aside from a phrase involving a cluster. For both infrastructure logistics and green reasons, the train starts to look like an attractive alternative.
Here's what we expect the train to be: It should be a little slower than a fast car ride in no traffic, since it keeps stopping, but should be consistent, without worry of a traffic jam. You should be able to relax while you're riding the train, since you don't have to worry about steering the thing. And, of course, it should at least link up with something that can get you where you need to be.
The grossest failing of the train is it's lack of consistency. It weighs 500 tons, rides on a set of rails, and has a published schedule, and yet is still somehow subject to traffic. Amtrak, it seems, is not only burdened with the usual set of mechanical issues but also takes a back seat to freight traffic and track work on a routine basis. Some sort of delay occurs every second day or so, and several times a month the delays stretch into the hours, sometimes to the point of asking the passengers to switch to another train. And at that point the comfort of riding the train becomes the hope that you can make it 80 miles in under 3 hours, and that you won't be stuck standing on the platform for too long at 11pm waiting for the delayed replacement train.
West coast rail is nowhere near the East in scope, and it doesn't make sense to expand it unless more people are going to ride. The way things are looking though, I'll be keeping it out of my own plans.
6/29 Edit: Numbers are in, train ridership is down 13% this year. Bam. They responded by raising ticket prices. Bam?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
