Honda / Acura Music Link for AuctionI just listed one of my Honda Music Links for auction on eBay, as discussed yesterday.
If you are interested in it but want to make me an offer outside of eBay, please do so. Otherwise, bidding starts at $1 and lasts for 7 days.
Specialized 2008 Rockhopper Disc w/ Forte FastCity ST/K TiresTwo more of the packages of bike stuff I’ve been waiting for arrived today, bearing the GPS mount, smooth tires (Forte FastCity ST/K), tubes (yes, including the wrong ones with Presta valves), Crank Brothers tool, tube patching kit, tire tool, and stuff like that.
With Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance arriving yesterday, I’d started giving it a read. It’s pretty good, although a bit more basic than I need. As the book says in the beginning, it’s really for someone who isn’t comfortable doing mechanical work yet and wants all the basics. Still, it’s nice to see the in depth descriptions of how certain bits of a bike are to be taken apart, info on lubricating and cleaning bits, exploded views of things, stuff like that. Oh, and the author’s nifty bits of amusing advice and warnings are good too.
I read through the section on installing tires (only three pages), then went ahead and put the new tires on my bike. They are some smooth road-ish tires which a friend of mine rather likes. Putting the new tires and tubes on was easier than I expected. Removing the rear wheel was a bit of a problem, as I either don’t know a good trick for getting the rear quick release around the derailer, or it really is just difficult. Regardless, it got done.
After the tires (and GPS mount) were fitted I decided to go for a test ride around the neighborhood, to see how the tires, GPS, and things like that all work out. The first thing I noticed was that the tires work great. At ~70psi things were nice and smooth, exactly how I wanted it to be on pavement. The tires have a maximum of 90psi or so, so this is well within a safe range. I would have liked to have gone farther, but I don’t have lights yet, so riding in public wouldn’t be legal. The neighborhood here also has streets and is relatively cut off, so I figured it was a good, safe area for playing around and trying out braking and such.
Next I noticed that the GPS kept crashing, leaving a single column of pixels on the screen, and the bike computer wasn’t registering revolutions. Some side of the road poking around showed that the GPS’ backlight interferes with the wireless bike computer. This shouldn’t be a problem, as I’ll rarely be using the backlight anyway, but it is a bit annoying. I also need to determine if the bike computer was somehow causing the GPS to crash. I had recently upgraded the firmware on the GPS and thrown some new (2008) maps into it so that could somehow be related, but… I’m not sure. I’ll have to poke with it more and see.
While riding around, the bike computer clocked a maximum speed of 23.7MPH, but as these bike tires are a bit smaller than the knobby ones, I think that may have been about 10% off. Still, I’m pretty happy with how much faster I was able to ride. After three (fast, for me) laps around my neighborhood I was pretty cold, which is to be expected when wearing a nice flow-through helmet and having no hair.
Either way, I’m pretty happy. I just have to wait for the bike frame pump to arrive and then I can figure out what bag to get, and maybe go riding some this weekend. If the weather holds out it’ll still be reasonably warm, and as long as the trails haven’t acquired more snow / ice, I’ll try and hit up some of the local paved trails and see how things go.
Hrm…
I’m very tempted to buy a USA Spec PA11-HON2y and an iPod touch.
The PA11-HON2y would be put in the car, replacing the custom interface I’d made, but using the same iPod holder. The iPod touch would then replace my iPod.
I could then sell the Honda Music Link(s) which I now have and my old iPod on eBay.
This would do a couple of things:
· Get a project off my back (REing the HML’s firmware) and I could abandon it without feeling wasteful.
· Get back some (most?) of the money spent on these projects.
· Put a better quality iPod interface in my car, with next/previous track support. My current setup is also somewhat susceptible to engine noise when the iPod is disconnected.
· Get me a portable data device for checking maps and such while traveling.
On the downside, it’d move me from a 30GB (which is plenty sufficient) iPod to a 16GB, which might be a little tight. Then again, I can wait until MacWorld to see if a 24GB or 32GB is announced.
It’d also be something new to do. Yay!
UPDATE: Hmm… I can get the PA11-HON2y for $119.95 with free shipping via eBay. It’d be best to tear the dash open only once, and that would give me time to remove the remaining cable(s) from the Honda Music Link while cabling this one in. Hmm…
Advance America on Opdyke in Auburn Hills, MIToday I had to go pick up a MoneyGram sent by a friend overseas. Near work I pretty much had three choices: Walmart, Advance America, or any number of gas stations and tobacco shops. Not wanting to walk out of a gas station or tobacco shop with a couple hundred dollars in my pocket, and not wanting to give Walmart any business (I presume they get a slight fee for MoneyGram transactions) I opted to go to the local loan shark, Advance America.
To start, if you don’t know about these places, take a look at Advance America’s Michigan Fee Schedule (PDF) for people who are taking out loans. It ranges from 332.19% APR on a $600 loan to 402.80% APR on a $100 loan. These places are just insane! Or, should I say that using such places is insane. Those fees are absolutely abusive. I’m really surprised it isn’t illegal. Thankfully I have no need to, and wasn’t getting, a loan from there.
Also, I really think (particularly being near Pontiac) that they regularly only see people getting loans, because the woman working behind the counter had no idea how to receive a MoneyGram. While coughing with what she said was a case of “walking pneumonia” she made a total of three calls asking people at other offices how to handle the transaction.
After about 20 minutes she had things sorted out, and I was to receive the money. I’m not sure if this is a special case for Advance America, but I was issued one money order for $100, and a second for the remaining balance. The first money order was then cashed in the office, while I had to take the other with me. As I was going to the bank to deposit everything immediately anyway this wasn’t much of a problem, but it still struck me as a bit odd.
Maybe I should have gone to Walmart instead, but at least now things are sorted out and the monies have been deposited into my account. Yay!
That right there shows why I couldn’t bike any trails in Rochester today. The Clinton River trail there was covered in around 3″ of slush and snow, making pedaling nearly impossible. So, I ended up riding from the parking lot just off of Letica Drive up to Parkdale, back down, around the eastern side of downtown Rochester for a while, up Letica Drive to Parkdale, down Parkdale to a little ways before Dequinder, then back.
It was foggy / misty from the warm air and cold, damp snow, but this was a bit pleasant. I do think that I may need fenders for my bike, though… There’s a good bit of wetness on the back of my jacket, and I had to periodically stop and clean off my glasses.
While it wasn’t very far, the hills in that area, the bits of snow that were still on the pavement, and the giant (1′ high, 3′ wide) banks of snow at each crosswalk made going a bit slow. I went a total of 5.76 miles, averaged 8.5 MPH, with a recorded maximum of 25.4 MPH (down a hill along Parkdale).
I imagine that once there isn’t snow on the ground and I have smoother tires, those numbers will change considerably. Also, I’ll be able to easily ride on dirt trails and whatnot too, once they aren’t coated with ice.
After returning home Danielle and I went for a ride around the neighborhood then down to a yet-to-be-completed (after ~3 years) neighborhood just down 22 Mile, closer to Hayes. Being on flat ground this was considerably more leisurely, covering 2.6 miles and averaging 7.3 MPH. Basically, we were riding around and just talking and stuff.
Also, here is a photo of cotton balls spilled in the parking lot of Meijer.
While riding bikes around my neighborhood, Danielle and I noticed a VCR/DVD player combination sitting at the side of the road. After getting back to my house we headed over there to pick it up.
In a pile was the following, from bottom up: Vizio 32″ LCD HDTV box, Samsung VCR/DVD player box listed as “HDTV Compatible”, a brand new looking Panasonic VCR/DVD player combo.
I checked in the Samsung box for the remote for the Panasonic device, but it (unfortunately) wasn’t there. I imagine the sort of folks who would just throw something like this out probably tossed the remote in a normal trash bag, amongst some rotted chicken or whatnot.
I was going to post a photo with this, but being unable to pick the best one (and being worried about squicking a few people) I figured I’d just link to them all:
Before and after spelunking for tonsillolith (and not finding any) I washed my hands and was reminded of how slowly the drain in my bathroom is draining. Finding it a bit clogged didn’t surprise me (it was slow and all), but the way in which it was clogged did.
For some reason, the pipe was at least 1/3 full of mold for its entire length, with the end near the the trap looking like grey, slimy female genitalia. Even more interesting to me is how the mold has strata, with what appears to be an original layer of thin black mildew, then a rich grey/white layer, and then a smooth, tough top beige layer.
Once removed from the pipe, the resulting pile of mold felt like soft unagi, and reminds me of canned fish.
I guess that’s what a bit over seven years of hand washings, teeth brushings, sink cleanings, and whatever else do to a pipe. I didn’t see any buildup in the pipe in the wall, although I imagine this is because the part before the wall was a slight uphill section before the wall, so there was likely standing water in the trap and this section of pipe for a while, allowing it to deposit all sorts of stuff over time.
Also, it did not have a smell. I intentionally, and repeatedly, smelled the mold. I couldn’t detect anything.
Anyway, to see the rest of the photos, they are here: Mold Clogging Bathroom Drain Pipe (photo gallery retired)
So, the Best of Bootie 2007 comp I hosted a mirror of and linked to yesterday? I had to remote it. My LJ post was linked to from elsewhere (sorry, can’t tell from where) and that was causing just a little too much bandwidth to be used.
If you still want this and know how to contact me directly, do so. Otherwise, please just grab it from the Bootie site.
I have just learned about a medical condition which affects me: Tonsillolith. Well, not so much as a condition, but something which can affect you.
And here I was thinking this was just “a bit of food that got stuck in the back of my throat”.
Interesting.
No, I don’t normally have bad breath, but every once in a while I’ll have a feeling like there is something caught in my throat, and removing a bit of what I thought was just food sorts it out.
Huh. Wow.
Also known as: Tonsil Stones
See Also:
http://www.actaitalica.it/issues/2004/5-04/mesolella2.pdf
http://ask.metafilter.com/39213/Small-stinky-whitish-balls-coming-out-of-my-throat
After talking to some friends, reading a bunch online, and asking this quite useful AskMeFi question, I ended up ordering the following bike stuff(s):
· Two Forté Fast City ST/K MTB Tires for times when I’ll only be riding on smooth pavement.
· One spare tube for my current tires, and a total of three tubes for the new tires. Unfortunately the three for the new tires were accidentally ordered with Presta valves. Whoops.
· Crank Brothers multi-17 Tool and Speed Lever
· Tube Patching Kit
· Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance
· Blackburn Shorty Mountain Bike Pump
· Mirrycle Incredibell Original Bicycle Bell (Black)
· Cateye CC-RD300W Strada Wireless Bicycle Computer
· SKS Airworx Floor Pump
I still need some gloves and a bag and lights. After all this stuff is here, then I can see what size bag I actually need, maybe fit a light to the bag, and possibly get some Scotchlite tape to make the bike a bit more visible as it gets near dusk.
I’ll probably also grab a second bottle and cage, just in case. After all, I really like water.
The forecast for this weekend is in the 40s – 50s, so hopefully I’ll be able to go ride around a bit.
Oh, and the problem with the order? The Amazon stuff is coming via USPS and DHL. The Performance Bike stuff is coming via UPS (I think). Some other stuff is coming via FedEx and FedEx ground. It’s a bit much to track, especially with the four Amazon items being delivered via three shipments. Guh.
