Month: July 2009

Fox 32 F100 RLC Fork and Tools

Published July 22, 2009

Not long ago I secured purchase of a new fork for my bike, a slightly-used 2008 Fox Racing Shox 32 F100 RLC air spring fork. This should be quite an upgrade from the RockShox Dart 3 coil spring fork that came on my bike. Since I am going to have the steering bits of the bike apart, I also decided to replace the headset at the same time. After some reserach I went with a Cane Creek S-3, which is just one below their very well regarded extra-sealed S-8. The only difference between the two is the bearings, where the S-3 has steel bearings which are slightly harder than the S-8’s stainless bearings. Also acquired (and shown above) are some Price Point-brand carbon fiber headset spacers, purchased just in case they were needed.

In order to install all these parts some rather specialized tool are needed. I’d been contemplating fashioning them out of PVC pipe, threaded rod, nuts, and washers, but a friend offered to loan me his bike tools, so I took him up on the offer. As a result I’ve got a nice selection of American-made Park Tool-brand bicycle tools here. Specifically, I was loaned a HHP-2 Bearing Cup Press, CRS-1 Crown Race Setting System, CRP-1 Universal Crown Race Puller, and RT-1 Head Cup Remover.

With all of these tools I should have no problem removing the old head cups, popping off the old crown race, seating the new race, and seating the new head cups. I’m just going to wait on doing it until after Saturday’s bike race, as it would be unwise to change such a crucial part of a bike around right before needing to depend on it.

If you’re interested, here’s a few more photos of this bike stuff:

· Cane Creek S3 Headset and Price Point-brand carbon fiber headset spacers. (Note the terribly ugly logos.)
· Slight damage to the left leg of the slightly-used F100RLC fork.
· Slight scuff on the right leg of the new fork.

Leave a Comment

Bob’s Pickle Pops: A Tasting / Review

Published July 22, 2009

After hearing about Bob’s Pickle Pops somewhere online I decided that I had to try them and ordered up a 14-pack, half regular and have with jalapeño. Being pouches of frozen pickle (gherkin, in the UK) slurry I would alternate between expecting them to be surprisingly good (ala deep fried pickles), or a terrible bastardization like Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer.

Less than a week after ordering, the tightly-packed Priority Mail box of Pickle Pops this weekend so in the freezer went two sample pieces. Today I felt that I was ready to give them a try; ready to deal with any potential sour stomach that may arise.

Due to the high salt content, these popsicles don’t freeze as solidly as other similarly packaged fruit / sugar products, so much that the first just-out-of-the-freezer bite has the same flaky, icy texture of an almost-melted Fla-Vor-Ice. Having grown up regularly eating these cheap, extra sweet frozen ice treats I was also expecting something a bit sweet, even though I should have known better. Being mostly salty, eating my way through them, I was repeatedly reminded of trying to eat a Vero Mango chili powder coated mango sucker / lollipop brought back to me from Mexico. Try as I might, I just couldn’t find myself enjoying it. The flavor was not bad, and it did not disgust me, but I simply could not enjoy it. It was exactly like eating a large pouch of frozen, lower quality pickle relish.

I want to say something else and perhaps better about the Jalapeño version, but it really wasn’t that much different. Sure, there was a bit of pickled chili flavor, and maybe a few more solids, but that’s really about it. It may have been a bit spicy, but not enough for me to tell. I did also try them with a glass of cheap fizzy yellow beer (Trader Joe’s Simple Times Lager, more on this later) because I figured the two may go well, and while it didn’t hurt, it really didn’t make the pickle pops any better.

All said, if you are the type of person who really, really likes pickles, or maybe the sort who enjoys salty Mexican-type candy, you may want to order some of these and give them a try. Or, if you are handed one by a friend, definitely try it for a new and interesting experience. However, if you are hoping that freezing will somehow transform standard pickles into a magical, surprising, and wonderful snack, you may want to pass these by.

(I must admit, I do feel a bit bad saying that I don’t like these after watching this clip from the Food Network show Unwrapped featuring Bob’s Pickle Pops, but I really don’t think I like these.

Also, it’s pretty obvious why the name was changed from Pickle Sickle. I can see the visual pairing of the -LE at the end of the logo that they were going for, but the name both sounds offputting and is not properly pronouncable in the subtitle of “POPSICKLES”. Pop-Sick-Les?)

1 Comment

M-59 Construction Information / Excellent MDOT Customer Service

Published July 22, 2009

Earlier this week I noticed that electronic traffic information signs have been placed along M-59 on my route home from work. The signs are a bit vague, indicating that construction is to begin sometime around the end of July, but not saying anything more. I also noticed that some utility poles were being moved outwards from the highway, so that got me thinking that perhaps M-59 is finally being widened.

(For those that aren’t familiar with this area, M-59 narrows from three lanes to two, then widens back to three a few miles later. This bottleneck is essentially leftovers from a much earlier version of the highway, because while both ends expanded, the middle section hadn’t been touched for a while. This obviously leads to an almost-daily backup.)

To find out what was going on I consulted the websites for the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and both the the Macomb County and Oakland County Road Commissions. None of these websites had the info, so to the phone I went. A few calls and transfers made yesterday afternoon left me at the voicemail box of Steve Stramsak, a Traffic and Safety Engineer with MDOT, where I left a message asking about the road and leaving my email address.

This morning I received a very nice, detailed response, explaining exactly what is happening with the road:

7 Comments

Tasty, Tasty Breakfast / Brunch

Published July 18, 2009

Since Danielle joined a local CSA we’ve been getting a lot of vegetables and eggs. I wanted to use some up this morning and also have some nice food, so I (mostly) made what’s seen above.

First was small redskin potatoes, onion, garlic scapes, eggs, rosemary, and garlic fried in oil and butter with salt and pepper. Everything but the eggs were fried together until the potatoes were cooked, with occasional scraping of burt bits off the bottom of the pan for extra flavor. The eggs were scrambled, poured over the cooked potatoes and veggies, and allowed to cook. This was then topped with harissa from Zingerman’s 20th Anniversary Tasting.

I also put together some salads using last week’s lettuce and croutons that I’d made a few nights ago, and Danielle sliced some fresh fennel bulb over it. The croutons were cubed stale bread, fried up in a pan with particularly good olive oil, rosemary, oregano, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic. The dressing is Organicville Foods’ Sun Dried Tomato & Garlic Organic Vinaigrette.

As a beverage I had some Meijer-brand with-pulp orange juice mixed 50/50 with carbonated water. I love this as it’s sweet and slightly fizzy, but not as heavy as a full glass of straight juice. The carbonic acid also adds a nice bite. Per usual, Danielle ate her food with a big glass of milk.

Leave a Comment

How To Draw a Confusing Diagram

Published July 15, 2009

This document, House-Democrats-Health-Plan.pdf (mirrored from the original link at docs.house.gov), is a shining example of not to make an informational graphic. Or, more specifically, how to intentionally make a confusing graphic to show the “other side” as convoluted and “bureaucratic”.

Note that items are intentionally not grouped requiring long, overlapping arrows to connect them. Lots of shapes and sizes and colors are used, there is no established flow, and all manner of niggling details are included. (Federal Mandates for Website Design, Defense Dept. up top, etc.)

Leave a Comment

Collapsed Bathroom Rugs

Published July 15, 2009

After cleaning the bathroom this evening I tossed the rugs in the washer to clean them up. Unfortunately, as I went to put them in the dryer I found that the wash cycle had done them in. Ah well. I guess 7.5 years (just about the amount of time since I’d moved in) is a good life for them.

This also meant that I had to remove many, many, many handfuls of shredded rubber backing and nylon thread from the bottom of the washer. There was also a bunch of rubber and nylon in the laundry tub, so I hope that the pump isn’t too clogged. As all the water had drained I’m guessing it’s okay, but it won’t hurt to pay extra attention on the next load.

Now to find a good deal on some new rugs…

2 Comments

Stupid Forgetful Self

Published July 14, 2009

After work today I intended to head out to Novi’s Lakeshore Park and ride the Tree Farm. This didn’t happen.

First, I forgot my CamelBak at home this morning, so at lunch I ran home to both get it let Afie out to use the bathroom. However, when at home I got called into some work stuff which required my immediate attention and necessitated not going back to the office before the end of the day. I thought that this would be okay, because I could just leave from there, with all my biking stuff in the trunk of the car, and head out to Novi. So, I did.

However, once I reached the I-696 / I-96 junction, which is basically Novi, I realized that my bike shorts were in my laptop bag, sitting on one of the benches in the lab. Whoops. I’d brought them in this morning to make changing easier in the afternoon, throwing a huge wrench into the trip to Novi. After calling a friend to ask where I might be able to buy another pair in that area and coming up empty, I just turned around and headed back to work. Now, here I am.

I think I’ll end up just going to Stony Creek or something after I leave here, just so I can ride around for a bit and relax. I’m really disappointed, because I was looking forward to riding the Tree Farm, especially as I’m (likely) going to be in a race there a week from Saturday.

Ah well.

Leave a Comment

Fruit Of The Neighborhood

Published July 12, 2009

Right next to my condo is a large, empty field, most of which I believe to be owned by a local church. While walking Afie in a remote part of said field this evening I came across a rather large stand of blackberry plants with about 1/3 – 1/4 of the berries ripe.

After taking Afie home, grabbing a bowl, and getting to picking I ended up with just under half a pound of berries. These are really, really wonderful. Sitting here eating them tastes just like summer up north at my grandparents cottage / house after returning from the berry patches at the edge of the woods, just a mile or so down the road.

Oh, and the cost? Some time, ten (or so) mosquito bites, slightly scratched arms and legs, and a few berry stains on my hands. Thankfully no ticks were involved, despite the walk through tall grass and it being a warm July day.

I think I’ll eat maybe half of them now, then save the rest for breakfast tomorrow. I’ll likely leave them unwashed as well, just because.

Leave a Comment

Highland Wore Me Out

Published July 12, 2009

On Kristi’s suggestion, her, Erik, and I headed out to Highland Recreation Area to ride the mountain bike trails there. So, we did, hitting all four loops. (See map here.)

I’m thinking that I really like this trail, although it was mentally draining to ride. Almost the entire route is twisty narrow single track with lots of stair step-like descents over roots, and technical climbs around, over, and between rocks and roots. This is the sort of trail where you have to carefully plan when to wipe sweat or drink from a CamelBak, as there seems to be something new around every corner and absolute attention is crucial.

After riding we went to El Patio on M-59 in Waterford for Mexican food, and it was quite good. As we were just on the outskirts of Pontiac it’s not hard to find good Mexican, but this was a particularly nice mixture of proper Mexican stuff and American-Mexican. Dessert was a Oreo Blizzard.

Upon returning home I’d intended to wash my car, but I kept nodding off while getting ready to do so. I guess Highland wore me out, so the car washing will have to wait a day or three.

Leave a Comment

Moblog Photos: Rubble, Pain Enterprises, Spicy Cheese Balls

Published July 8, 2009

I’ve been doing a lot of bike riding lately, and not much else. Here’s some photos taken with my phone which are related:

· Rubble just off of the Paint Creek Trail along the Paint Creek, near the Clarkston Road intersection.
· Reading The Confusion outside of Rochester Mills while waiting for some friends after a bike ride.
· Spicy Cheese Balls from the bar near Novi’s Lakeshore Park, after riding the Tree Farm.

And, here’s a photo that isn’t related to biking:

· Pain Enterprises truck, going down the road.

So, guess what’s happening tonight. Yes, more riding. Tonight is Stony Creek, and if tomorrow goes as intended I’ll be at Bald Mountain and Addison Oaks then. Friday… Likely no biking and getting stuff done around the house.

Leave a Comment