in many ways, mechanical shifting is more reliable than the electronic equivalents - Di2 and AXS - due to the hardier nature of the components and the lack of reliance on batteries and phone apps.

Huh, TIL. It was my understanding that electronic shifting is more robust than mechanical. I wonder if reliability in this context is fault tolerance.

Ooooh, that Burley Hopper looks like it belongs in my trailer quiver!

I’m a total trailer junkie. I… uh, might have a problem. I had the Gen 1 Tern GSD S10. It can absolutely haul an adult, but the comfort is lacking. Improving passenger comfort on the longtail can seriously impact cargo volume capacity depending on your needs and bag configuration. I prefer a bakfiet or semi-recumbent tandem for hauling another person. Putting an adult on a bakfiet lowers the CoG and massively raises the CoG on a longtail. Added bonuses over a diamond tandem: nobody has to yell to be heard, everybody gets a view, and most semi-recumbents let the stoker coast. I had a Bilenky Viewpoint with an independent stoker drivetrain; the stoker could select their own gear ratio.

Here are some of the stupid things I’ve done with trailers and cargo bikes.

Making smashburgers for 20 hungry Juneteenth mountain bikers.

Thanksgiving dinner for 20 plus supplies for a 5-day vacation.

150 pounds of books? Sure!

Ya know… I used to be this binary in my thinking. For example, I naively opposed harm reduction measures, such as needle exchanges and safe injection sites. Aaaaand I’d like to congratulate drugs for winning the War on Drugs.

Yes, we need to fight for a better world, better candidates, and better leadership in all things. But JFC, stop fighting last year’s fight.

I too want 100% progressive governance. Just a little bit of history and psychology reading demonstrates what you’re doing right here, along with the intractability, is categorically NOT how we get there. Just like the Overton Window slowly shifted since the 70s to the fascist US shitshow we have today, we need to work to shift the window back.

InB4: yeah, history also generally indicates bloodshed is inevitable in these cases, so we’re kinda in uncharted territory.

I understand the sentiment. I agree with the justified contempt for the DNC and Democratic Party. Let’s light a candle rather than curse the darkness.

Gawd, I hate the UCI. The UCI’s fuckery holds back bicycling and innovation. Once in a while, the rules make sense for safety, e.g. aerobars banned for mass starts. But the rest of the time, they’re just pissing in the well.

A bakfiet will change your life for the better. An electric bakfiet is a huge bucket of “…and to think I hesitated.”

That said, I am seriously annoyed by the suspension forks. There is such a scant selection of 20" suspension forks; about the only fork I found worth owning is the Kind A3.0, which is $450USD MSRP. I have a Hase Pino which came with a terrible Spinner 300 fork. I can’t find a parts kit or even parts list for this stupid fork. In talking with the LBS Jedi, he said it’s basically a disposable unit. Something tells me that Urban Arrow did not spec a decent fork.

Also not a fan of Enviolo hubs. They eat up so much torque. I had a Tern GSD S10 with the Enviolo. Holy hell, that hub was a slog without the motor.

But whatever, I’m being a nitpicky curmudgeon… moar cargo bikes, moar better. Suspension, even crappy suspension, is a huge factor in getting people onto bikes. So whatever gets more people onto bikes is okeefine by me.

For anyone who would like more background on how this chart came to look this way, “Requiem for the American Dream” is free on YT: https://youtu.be/WEnv5I8Aq4I

Spoiler alert: this disparity is the result of a coordinated effort in response to an “overabundance of democracy.” Another great read on how we got here is “Evil Geniuses” by Kurt Anderson.

Source: I served for 20 years in the US military. When the 2003 Iraq War kicked off, a bunch of people joined the Reserves to say they were doing their part without actually having to do anything. They were shocked when we sent them to war first.

This is the intended effect of the Abrams Doctrine. After the abuse of presidential power that got the US into the Vietnam Conflict, Gen. Creighton Abrams wanted to make sure the entire country would feel the hit of the US’ bellicose nature and to put a check on presidents wielding military power. Of course, these good intentions always get warped and SecDef Laird’s Total Force Policy basically found a loophole for maintaining a larger fighting force that could be called up while playing Three Card Monty with the budgets.

The wallet crying hobby or the bike hobby? In my experience, the answer to both questions is “a decent bicycle.” :D

noticed that I would end up moving the camera enough for a visible “shake” effect in most pictures I took.

Whoa, yeah, that would absolutely rule out a TG. Was that occurring even with image stabilization turned on?

If you need waterproof, the Olympus TG series has long been my phone camera/de-Googling go-to. It ticks most of your requirements. I love its macro modes and it’s definitely pocketable. Also stands up to a lot of abuse and has a strong market for accessories,

Agreed. Just give me my 9-speed triple. <look at what they need to mimic a fraction of our power.jpg>

Bulletproof, inexpensive, simple, durable, reliable, broad compatibility, fault-tolerant, super wide range, easy to maintain, easy to adjust, and easy to find parts. Nothing else comes close.

Your point is spot-on. Fully agreed: modern dishwashers are way more energy- and water-efficient than manually washing dishes. Like at least an order of magnitude.

I personally struggle with this one for different reasons. Energy and water consumption are a very tight concern since I live on a sailboat. I can’t just crank the tap to get more water. Marine health is also a concern since, ya know, it’s all around me, and I eat some of these critters around my boat. Surfactants in detergent are deeply problematic in the environment and are not removed by most wastewater treatment. Moreover, surfactants impede wastewater treatment because of the emulsification interfere with aerobic treatment (Poland seems to be actively working on the problem). FWIW, manual dish detergent also has surfactants, especially SDS/SLS, so manual washing is not a panacea.

I don’t think there is a “right” answer to be had. But it sticks in my craw both ways.

Always, every time.
“Why do you want to work here?”

“Because you have an opening, and the pay looks commensurate for the responsibilities. So far, the role looks like a good mutual fit. But I’m going to need more details to ensure we’re good for each other.”

MOTHERFUCKER! Of all the people to make an early departure from this mortal coil, why the hell is it so many of our cherished artists? Yet the evil assholes who are actively wrecking the world somehow just keep living…

You’ll be missed Mr McCarthy. Thank you for many hundreds of hours of your sonic art.

May I suggest reading a history book? “Lies My Teacher Told Me” is excellent. “A People’s History of the United States” is also great. Or, maybe you would like to understand how you’ve been manipulated. Well, cool, maybe “Manufacturing Consent.”

One of the significant contradictions of democracy in the US is that it was largely shaped by various forms of illegal civil disobedience against entrenched power structures. Such civil disobedience is retrospectively seen as justified, committed by people who are retrospectively seen as heroes. But each successive generation is demanded to believe that any further civil disobedience is unreasonable.

Just a small selection of a long history of US civil disobedience:

• Boston Tea Party
• Great Railroad Strike
• Haymarket affair
• Battle of Blair Mountain - largest armed insurrection in America since the Civil War
• Selma to Montgomery Marches

There is a lot we get to take for granted from our comfortable, privileged perches built with the blood and tears of those who would perform civil disobedience.

Well, shit. I’ve been doing it all wrong. I thought this nylon belt tasted weird.

During famines, for example the Irish Potato Famine, people have resorted to making “soup” from belts and footwear. There are lots of other examples throughout history.

stone tablets

Right there with ya OP!

• Defender
• Tempest
• Rogue
• Gato
• MechWarrior 1

Rotor blades are quite robust. I used to fly RC helicopters and have hit myself (and other objects). Now, the turbines on the other hand… those are pretty sensitive. However the intakes on, say, a Bell 206 have convolutions and can easily be screened.

Thank you for this. My wife left about a week ago. It blindsided me, but I’m hindsight I could have seen it.

1. Happy to help
2. JFC, I’m sorry to hear what you’re going through, and I deeply empathize. I’m just some douchebag on the internet, but if you need a trained ear, please feel free to DM me.
3. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but a critical component is giving yourself grace and emotional space

Now I realize that if I don’t work on myself, I will bring all of my problems to any future relationship. I’m only at the very start of the journey, and every day is still painful – our relationship lasted 15 years, and that can’t be unwound quickly.

There is sense of closure and ability of growth in understanding the whys. Explicitly working to avoid carrying forward the injuries is a huge step. As you probably already read in Gottman: the best couple’s therapy is individual therapy. Empathy by way of anecdote: when I was reading Levine’s “Attached,” so many of the example conversations had me feeling like “Were y’all in the room when we were arguing?!”

I’m serious about the being a sounding board/ear. I hope you find inner peace sooner rather than later.