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With temps in the high 50s and storms rolling through after mile 30 we decided that bit over 70 miles was the smart play. Despite 2-1/2hrs in heavy rain still was a great event for an even better cause.

Tomorrow is the day. Weather isn't looking great but we'll get it done regardless. Thanks again for all the support. #NFLO

One of my young coworkers has had a very hard time of late. His Father just quit as a parent and moved back to Ireland, where he's originally from. His son Arlo just graduated high school. He's a phenomenal worker, especially for one so young. He's just the kind of young man that's always positive and always very well mannered. We bonded over fishing at first. He loves my stories of commercial fishing in the Bering Sea. More recently he was told about my woodworking. He's seen several pictures and is fascinated and is wanting to learn. His former principal is Al and Claire's Sister in law, which Al and I have done many projects for. If you want to befriend me, showing an interest in woodworking is a surefire way to be successful. Almost a year ago, I made my own macaroni recipe and took it in for the Saturday crew. When Arlo took his first bite he had the biggest grin on his face. He has hinted several times that more macaroni would be appreciated. I've made it 5 or 6 times now. I think he may actually like it more than myself even. A few months back his Sister started working for Fairfax Lumber too. She's in the Nursery. She's as well mannered and as pleasant as her Brother, and adorable too. About a week ago Arlo asked if he could sit with me at lunch and get some advice. That's when he told me that his Father abandoned the family. I'm a good talker. I can talk your ear off. But this time I just listened. He just needed to vent, so that's what I let him do. I did give some advice, but mainly I just let him talk and let him express his anger. Something I've never seen out of him. There's not much I can actually do to ease his pain or make the situation better. He's going to go through several stages of grief and anger. ATM he's focusing on helping his Mother. She's shocked and in a financial crisis. He's working full time and taking fire fighter training (His dream for many years). So he's overwhelmed, but still focusing on helping Mom. He said she's been working all of the overtime she can get. So, one small thing that I could do was save her a night of cooking, and make Arlo's favorite meal. I told his Mom that I'd be cooking and delivering Saturday dinner. I made a giant batch of Macaroni, enough salad ingredients to last a week, two loafs of fresh baguette and a giant apple/berry pie from Costco. And topped it off with enough disposable dishes and lids to freeze/refrigerate all of the leftovers. He didn't know anything about it, but was very surprised when I dropped it all off. His ear to ear grin was worth any laborious prepping tasks. I've had several texts from Mom, Arlo and Sister Nina. Very sweet family and I'm feeling like I did a good deed. The pic is not the macaroni I took them, it's the leftover ingredients that I cooked up today. Lunches for the future.

E-bike is gonna be it for me. Who am I kidding? I’m like the bare minimum of cardio fitness to do these rides and these are the easiest 25 miles will ever be because flat farm roads. I did 50+ miles on the Diverge and I feel confident this is the right choice. I will say, I am not sure people are on about with these 1x front chain rings. Nice to have a bunch of climbing gears but I never felt like I had exactly the gear I wanted for the public roads. I'm certainly fit enough to ride a road bike around on these farm roads but I get the feel that if I go back to Marin the constant up-and-down will end me. Going faster than my power output would otherwise allow also has some appeal.

After the air disaster article linked in the reading thread where Rear Admiral Moffett doesn’t exactly come off well, decided to return today with Esmé to the Moffett Field Museum that’s five minutes from our house. Of course the museum is about the place, not the man the place is named after, and the emphasis is on the USS Macon, once docked here, not its sister ship the USS Akron, where Moffett and nearly the entire crew perished (twice those of Hindenburg), all in the pursuit of military rigid airship supremacy (20/20 of course on what was accomplished there), but sometimes strange how heroes are selected. Bonus: Tom Cruises. Still a great, volunteer-led tiny museum

This is what I would call - While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

because reasons. Crime Of The Century [2014 - HD Remaster] by Supertramp (1974) https://album.link/k0vjggjmxnb39 Example: RIP... you tramp...

A couple of pies for dinner with friends from across the street. One with Mexican chorizo, red onion, corn and jalapeño, over cheddar, mozzarella and topped with grated cotija, which was the clear winner. The other with pepperoni, shaved fennel, mushrooms, and fresh basil grown by the neighbors over mozzarella, which was tasty but more basic. Working with a shitty oven and a pizza stone instead of a pizza steel was a handicap, but it worked out fine.

I've been craving familiar music lately.

With the passage of Rick Davies, I am reminded of one of my favorite mashups of all time. Mashups are invariably novelty tracks, and many (most) of them try too hard and don't really gel properly. Once a great while, one comes along where the whole is is greater than the sum of its parts (like a really good remix.) In 2006, the artist Arty Fufkin combined Gnarls Barkley, Supertramp and Rockwell. It's been in my record back in one form ever since.

Today I installed the door jambs that I milled up, for the bathroom the Al and I built the vanity and doors for. Unfortunately the GC didn't listen to me, and built the door opening smaller than requested. It was already the size we wanted, but for some odd reason he filled in the opening a bit. Not the end of the world. I had already discovered this before building the jamb. However the finished doors will now have to be cut down. As I'm picky about symmetry, I'll need to take a little off of each side. It's not a lot. Maybe 3/16" to 1/4" on all sides. The height also needs a bit off, but we anticipated this. I'll only need to remove some at the top, as the bottom rails are taller, which looks better IMO. I don't want to install the casing or doors until the GC builds out the closet system. He's expressed to me that he'll be very careful, but why make it more difficult for him and nerve wracking for me?

Um, nipples?

James McMurtry and BettySoo 9/11/25 Bijou Theatre, Knoxville https://archive.org/details/betty-soo-20250911 https://archive.org/details/jamesmcmurtry20250911

Because I am impatient, I installed the iOS/ipad release candidates. After spending a day with them, I think two things: 1) Apple’s decision to re-write the entire design language is going to make this their most polarizing in a long time, 2) I think they nailed it. I was hesitant, but after a day I can't see ever wanting to go back.

What a jam - Video quality not the best, but sound quality is good. And three percussionists is what we all need. Highlight is also the keyboard player.

Thank you guys. Always much appreciated. Dang, I'm "getting" old 😜

Update: I misremembered a digit. It's 320W vs 240W, and 33% more power. The rest stays the same. Fucking pup (8-9 months?) fucking ate one of my 30$ Silca socks recently. I was NOT amused.

😁 This Is d-_-b !!!

You guys are probably right. You are definitely right that looping around the parking lot is maybe the most useless test case. The MY25 bikes are out of stock for new orders and the MY26s should be incoming soon. I have a little time to make up my mind. I’m gonna try and see if I can demo a nice road bike just to be sure.

Ninja vanish! 🥷 Body Talk by The Deele (1984) from Miami Vice:

Creo 2 he's looking at has the SL1.2 motor, which is 50% more than what we have. 360w vs 240W. It should be 10-100% assist stock across 10 levels where ours have 3 settings (Eco/Sport/Turbo) at 35/60/100% stock.

The Mavericks are annoying. The crocs are truly epic.

I had some fun on my first longer ride (22mi) but I haven’t felt so exposed cardio-wise in a long time. I think I’m on a bike one size too big so I’m going to try and see if the shop can swap me for a smaller one for tomorrow. My hands and shoulders are a little sore from having to stretch a little further than is comfortable to reach the hoods and drops. Very much leaning towards an e-bike so the assist will be there if i want it, but I’m going to try another 20-ish mile ride tomorrow and see how I feel. https://strava.app.link/G4g98I3TrWb

Silksong crashes Steam, Nintendo eShop on release day — highly anticipated indie video game took six years to arrive and is already one of the most played games ever on Steam. My (sainted, octogenarian) mother asked me about Silksong today. Its launch was so big that the type of news she listens to covered it.

I'm not sure Sen. John Kennedy has seen it either.

Yep, I’ve noticed output and filament boards match up to each other. Here is how it looks like on my screen, all output tubes side by side. Size 24 in x 12 in – huge. Question regarding jumbo socket – what socket do you have in mind? This from a French company might fit.?

Mission Accomplished

Fish N Chips Mini triple chocolate brownie Because what's better than being in a cozy pub, When it's raining outside.

Charlie Kirk officially dead. Dude was an inauthentic, dark money backed grifter. For years we made jokes about an entire generation being unsure of the exact size of his face. There's even a web widget based around it. He certainly did not deserve to be shot and killed. As for the rest of us, this bodes poorly for the future of our political landscape.

^^ I could not make it through a song. cued to the Mosh Pit and Desk Dive... seminal Tiny Desk moment. ... the entire set is fun...

Using all the oscillators.

IMO this is right up there with Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra's "Some Velvet Morning" and "Summer Wine" and Nick Cave/Kylie Minogue's "Where the Wild Roses Grow". Hearing her sing her part ultra high over his almost-talking drawl is the perfect representation of the siren call.

Omar El Akkad's One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. 'On October 25, 2023, after just three weeks of the bombardment of Gaza, Omar El Akkad put out a tweet: "One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this."' I don't know how the recent-ish three short, but very different, including author's backgrounds, Ta-Nehisi Coates', Peter Beinart's and now (in my reading order) Omar El Akkad's books are/will be taken, but this one hit hardest for me. Part of that may be being a parent/view towards the future. All certainly worth a read. May hit Finkelstein's next.

Happy Birthday, Jimmy Another, Best Birth Year Birthday 😉

I had one of the scenes with Tyres O'Flaherty raving to something as my ringtone for the longest time.

That's going to require a two very sharp thumbs up animated gif. Also, the song is really good. Impossible to follow that up, so good a time as any to post my latest obsession -- “It’s a song about wanting to disappear, as in completely vanish and not make a big deal about it,”. Very sombre/bleak/dark/morose. It has no video. https://www.frontview-magazine.be/en/news/skold-pop-the-smoke-new-single-by-swedish-industrial-rock-musician-out-1st-august-2025

Somewhere on this site there's a "here's a neat YouTube video I found" thread. I have no idea what it's called. I usually just post such things in Slow Forum. This video his a number of areas of interest of mine. Also, anamorphic lenses for for DSLR and mirrorless bodies are now widely available and remarkably cheap for what they are. There's even at least one autofocus anamorphic lens, which is some true "I'm living in the future" shit right there. Of course, it's only for goddamn Sony bodies. I swear, you'll see me buy a Hasselblad before a Sony. Watch me buy a Sony full frame body next year.

If you only rode the Creo around a parking lot or something, it isn't a realistic picture of using assist on a real ride. I thought I could cruise up to Stretch's place on my Turbo Vado SL peddling around the lot around the bike shop but didn't feel a anything like that after going up lesser hills. I don't know what assist level the Creo has but mine is only 2.5 X whereas lots of ebikes are much higher.

There was a roast chicken Followed by grilled pineapple, coconut yogurt, coconut and lime ice cream, with toasted coconut

Cervelo, without thinking. My gen Roubaix can't run wide enough tires, the newer ones can.

That's better...

My nickel - gravel gearing is fine. My Cervelo has a 40T front and 10/44 at the back. It's fine for 95% of everything and only leaves me slightly wanting plowing downhill (you run out of gear). Otherwise I don't sweat the fact that I probably ride it like a 6 speed instead of 12 speed. RE: E-assist, I'm biased. If you think it'll help you get out more, go for it, if you think you'll use it as a crutch and lean on it too much and not get the exercise benefit I think you're after than avoid the temptation.

Dea Matrona at Royal Albert Hall:

for Dusty

The gear sets on gravel bikes tend to be a bit shorter than on road bikes - you can upgrade them if you are making the bike do dual duty (and swap the mud tires for road tires).

That's the one I was assuming you would look at. Too much money but the S-Works Creo 2 looks sick.

This Alien show rocks. Show of the year for me so far. Easily.