Shrugg

Why Johnny Can't Blog

2007-04-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

I have to face facts here. I just don't have the soul of a blogger. I feel as though I'm spending all this time ordering my thoughts for no good reason. Plus, it's all mostly negative. Basically it's me talking about what's wrong with stuff--with a little human interest thrown in here and there. And frankly, I just don't have the stomach for it, comments or no. So there'll probably be very few posts here at all.

I couldn't even imagine doing a humor site--making fun of ugly glasses, for example--so probably, I should hand off that domain to someone with the correct temperament for that. The fact is, that even if I strenuously disagree with someone’s politics--or choice of glasses, which are often one and the same--I actually don't like hurting people's feelings. The kind of joking I like to do--which is considerable--I prefer to do in the company of like-minded friends whose feelings I know I can't hurt in that way.

That being said, perhaps I could run a site that's about something I really like, or that I think is cute, or that I approve of, or that I'm impressed with, or that I feel needs recognition of some sort. Perhaps, there is something like that in the future.

I guess we'll see.

No More Comments!!!!!!!!

2006-12-22T02:07:00.000-08:00

I'm turning them off. The effort that is needed for reading them and answering them is too much for me. One aggravating post requires too much of my attention and wastes too much of my time trying to think of how to answer it. Even a thought provoking comment that warrants a deep and thoughtful response causes me to spend much more time than I want to spend. The rewards are few, as far as I can see. And really, since this blog is about what I think, first and foremost, what do I care about comments? I mean duh! Look at this!! This very post is being entered because of comments intruding in my life. Here I am having to take time out of my evening (instead of sleeping) to make this post, and change my settings back to the way they were, as well as removing all comments except for the few that belong here (because I made them, or because they were made by a member of this blog).

More on Atheism

2006-11-13T03:17:00.000-08:00

Thing is: It is my opinion that humans are hard-wired for religion. Because of that, an atheist has to be mindful of the “hole” left by no religion, and replace it with something constructive, instead of becoming some kind of secular humanist, commie moonbat. For me, it’s something like man-worship that fills the bill. You’d have to go to the Ayn Rand institute to find out what I mean by that, and I don’t feel like explaining it too much at this point. Suffice it to say that it is quite the opposite of the “love for mankind,” as the doctrine of “altruism” would require. Rather, it is the knowledge that men—individual men—will achieve great things, a belief in the rational if you will. Only the worst sort of category error could confuse the two.

More about the Bike

2006-11-12T23:31:00.000-08:00

Some Technical Data on the bike for JoeShmo:

Much was done to this bike to make it like it the way it is. Lots of messing around with gears (chainrings and rear clusters) most of which are found items. The bicycle hobby began during a period of under employment, but during a freelance computer job, a client gave me an old bike. One thing led to another and finally I ended up reformulating this one (pictured in previous posts)

It certainly kept me busy, and I know quite a bit about bikes now. Although my knowledge is more of the “bacon grease” variety rather than the “lithium grease” variety, if you get my meaning.

The Moonbat Arizona 9/11 Memorial

2006-09-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't believe this, but I'm linking to it because I think everyone needs to know about it, provided it's true.

So the State of Arizona decided they wanted to build a memorial for the 9/11 victims. Great idea right? Well this is the result when you have liberals deciding what to put on a memorial: (via Expresso Pundit)
More

I'm from Arizona, and I can't believe a normally conservative state has let something like this happen. It contains all manner of "Blame America First" references, not to mention very little about 9-11 itself or it's victims. It's a disgrace.

Here's another article that links from the above:

Shock and Awe
I visited the 9/11 memorial in Wesley Bolin Plaza Tuesday and I was stunned by what I saw.
Here's how the Governor describes the memorial.
According to governor spokeswoman Shilo Mitchell , Napolitano described the memorial as being " unique, bold, educational and unforgettable," she said. " The memorial uses the sun to articulate words and thoughts."
The memorial is an elevated flat ring with phrases cut through the metal. Throughout the day, the sun shines through the ring and phrases become visible on the side walk.
What kind of phrases? Politically correct phrases that bash America. That's what kind of phrases. The memorial looks like a MoveOn.org webpage.
Sure there is the usual timeline of events, but how about this little reminder of American aggression. (The stray Ds
Read more

Judging by the other news about the governor's crooked reelection campaingn, this is probably no surprise.

My reflections on 9/11

2006-09-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, my wife told me that a blog she frequents had put out a call for people to write about their experience on that day—a sort of Where was I on 9/ll sort of thing—and asked if I wanted to offer up a contribution myself. My first reaction and indeed the first words out of my mouth were, “I can’t do that!” Obviously, I overcame that initial reaction, but not before a lot of serious consideration.

The truth is I’m not like other people. I have a mild form of Autism known as Asperger Syndrome. Over the years I have come to terms with the fact that I am different; I have learned to mitigate it when necessary; but it is true nonetheless. The thoughts I have, and the emotions I experience, are far from the norm. I might feel deep emotion—even be moved to tears—at little more than the memory of a piece of music I love; I might not feel any emotion at all at a moment when every sane and normal person should; and I might find humor in something that hardly anybody finds funny at all. As you might imagine, this causes me a considerable amount of difficulty.

Regarding 9/11, I was so sure that my reactions at the time were not the norm—that they would be incomprehensible, perhaps even hurtful, to those who had lost so much or even to those who had experienced a more normal range of thoughts and emotions. So I firmly told my sweetheart that, while I’d help her with her account, I wouldn’t write one myself. I’m a good proofreader, particularly when it comes to making order out of chaos—another Asperger trait.

In fact my tendency toward pattern recognition is part of what this account is about, but I’m getting ahead of myself. After I got done helping my wife edit her own account and helping her post it, she asked me if she could read me some of the other posts. I said she could, and she began to read them. What I heard was very touching. Some of the writing was quite lovely as well, but pretty much what I expected—the normal range of emotions. So I had been right not to write and post my own account. Still, somewhere between five and ten such accounts, a strange feeling came over me: I started remembering that day in vivid detail and had a desire to write it down. I can’t explain what it was that came over me, but I suddenly thought that I had to get it all out.

I remember that I had been up late the night before writing some music and I was pretty deeply asleep. I recall that my wife came into the bedroom and asked me the strangest question: “If any more planes crash into buildings do you want me to wake you up?” I said no. (I’ll always say no to waking up though if I really have a choice.) Really, I thought I was dreaming anyway. Planes don’t crash into buildings over and over except in movies. A while later, I woke up and went into the living room where the rest of the family were watching the news. Buildings definitely were burning and collapsing. The first words I remember saying were: “So I guess I wasn’t dreaming, then.” I remember that some newscaster was talking about how “no one had any idea what or who” was behind the disaster. That’s when I started laughing. It was so obvious to me, that every time I heard a jet plane roar overhead I started yelling “Aaaahhhlaaahhalalalalalllaaaahhhhh!!!!!!” That was the main part I thought might hurt everyone’s feelings, but as I mentioned earlier, I often see humor in things no one else finds funny. And I thought it was hilarious that these talking heads were so completely clueless as to the very obvious cause. I knew we were under attack. I knew it was Muslim extremists. And I knew that you didn’t have to be the rainman to put that together. Of course as the hours passed, everyone came to realize what I knew in an instant; the talking heads could no longer deny it, even though it seemed like they, as usual, had to be dragged kicking and screaming toward the truth.

That day, I was never sad, angry or afraid. But I was and am an American. And I knew we had to do something serious or many more Americans would die. As time went on, I felt, as I still feel now, very positive about the steps that have been taken; but still, it doesn’t seem like enough. I love America and I don’t want Americans to suffer. I would prefer if it were not necessary to turn the entire Middle East into Glassistan, but I sometimes I fear that may be the only way to protect the civilized world. I also see that America and Americans may have become too civilized to fight this war as aggressively as necessary.

It’s often said that people with Asperger are detached—too detached to see the human cost of such extreme actions. But the truth is that I see these costs only too well—the cost of doing too much, and the infinitely greater cost of doing too little.

Disclaimer: “Teh Lamer Warning, Musicians Ahead”

2006-09-11T02:03:00.000-07:00

I said I'd warn you if I posted again and, you know, if I said I'd warn you I'd better do it 'cause words published cannot be ereased. Teh.

I didn't want to detract from the gravity of the following post with a snarky disclaimer. Consider yourself warned.

My Reflections on 9/11

2006-09-11T01:52:00.000-07:00

It was like watching the world around me awaken from a long sleep.

I'm a retired musician with a talent for death. I deal with those who are about to die. Not the family, not the long-term hospice patients, I deal with people who are on their way out the "door" and would find some company and comfort in music. Those first few days of 9/11 I was afraid that I was finally watching the death of Western Civilization - without time for music or reflection. I knew that the west couldn't continue to ignore the Islamist threat. Islam had already issued the required calls to convert but no one seemed to notice. They’d provoked us in incredible ways and yet the west kept going back to business as usual. It made me so angry! That morning the planes crashed and crashed, and people died and died, and still some folks didn't connect the dots. The shock was tremendous, not at the event taking place as much as in the complete surprise I saw in others. How could people not know? Hadn't these same terrorists tried to bring down these same buildings once before? Hadn’t they taken control of the embassy in Tehran? What about the USS Cole? For goodness sakes, the nineteen seventies were the decade of hijackings!

It’s no secret: I love Americans. I swore I’d marry one and I did. I love how cocky Americans are. I love the way they jump right in and get things done. I love that most of them still think there is a “right” way of doing things. I educated my daughter in a Lebanese/Armenian elementary school because I wanted her to have a strong, family oriented, and very Pro-American culture, as well as fluency in several languages. Looking at it now, it seems funny that I had to send her to an Armenian school to find an unabashedly pro-American environment in California. Spending several years in close association with the middle eastern branch of the Armenians gave us a front row seat when it came to learning about why they live in America and what the Middle East has to offer Christians and all other Non-Muslim cultures. The Armenians have strong feelings about the Turks! Jihad has been of concern to my family for well over 20 years.

For the first time since I was a child I saw people raising the American flag. They were everywhere! It didn’t matter what political party someone was from – massacring 3000 Americans on our own soil just wasn’t going to fly! Finally, people were asking the right questions: What was the Taliban? Why were the Wahabi Islamist sects blowing up Historical Trust sites and statues of Buddha? Why are we allowing the Saudis to fund schools here without making an issue about the racist, subversive, hateful things they were teaching? Really, they have a right to express their hate filled values, but we have a right to be aware of it, too. In fact, we have a responsibility to be aware of it. The mainstream media was still looking for “common ground” with the “Religion of Peace” but across the web people were educating themselves about Sharia law and reading the Qur’an and Hadith. People began to seek out translations of the media broadcasts from the Middle East and websites were formed to disseminate cultural information.

Maybe of primary importance to me was that I began to see regular people reflecting on the type of Multiculturalism touted on college campuses today. Sacred cows were indeed slaughtered. We, as a culture, began to question the values of those in the “intelligentsia”. They’d really been getting a free ride before. How had we become so self-loathing and soft that others weren’t afraid to challenge us to “convert or die”? The comprachicos—those who would deliberately mutilate the minds of our innocent children—were being exposed. The internet had made it possible for the average person to be informed to a level never before seen in history. It had made it much harder to keep whole populations in ignorance. There would never be another “Winter Soldier” where a few evil people besmirch the honor of a whole generation and leave our soldiers to return home to scorn and loathing -- to steal their reputations as decent men and leave them to pick up the pieces of their lives without the gratitude and support that they deserved.

America was awakening. The people killed in the World Trade Center that day were us: Regular Americans going about our daily lives. They weren’t soldiers but they have each bought and paid for a hero’s memorial with their life’s blood.

So, this is my very personal recollection about my feelings surrounding that fateful event. I have no connections with the people involved. I, like so many others, sat in front of the television set with my family and cried. It is hard to separate the 9/11 tragedy from other things that were happening in my life at that time. It was an unsettling and frightening period for me and I can't reflect on it without conjuring up all of the other feelings of loss and bewilderment that I was experiencing at the time. It was already a time of terrible loss and strong emotion. For that reason I know it will be a hard anniversary for me today. But, thank God, I won’t spend it alone having lost a loved one in that disaster.

I am thankful that my sweetheart is by my side. He provided the stability I needed when I was sure the world had gone mad. Today He will work on refining one of the fugues he is writing and I will be blessed to be able to spend the day here by his side. After many hours of immersion in the sound taking shape, after listening to it being played over and over and over -- the feelings of grief and sadness will ebb. Awash in the harmony and balance, despair will be held at bay - and I will consider, once again, how blessed I am to live here in America where I can choose the people with whom I share my life.

Teh Cray-zee Disclaimer post

2006-08-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

So, I got this message from my daughter who lives across the country from me,

“Whoa, Mom, what’s with the blog?!? Are you channeling Dad? Your word choices sound, um, odd. Are you ok? You really miss having kids at home, huh? We loved helping with the clock project but “Piglet Must Die!!!!” is a bit extreme coming from you. You are the one who wouldn’t let me call someone“snot” as a kid.”

Well, dear child, and other readers of this blog – I have a confession to make. I don’t actually write for this site. I wanted to be able to send sentimental notes to dv8 in the closed comment section. The only way I could seem to do that was to be added to the list of contributors for the site. I am such a Computer-Lamer that I couldn’t figure out how to do it any other way. So, I surprised my sweetheart and hopelessly muddled his blog setup at the same time! If I hit the wrong key I can even re-publish his earlier posts, link to all kinds of odd stuff, and probably bring down a small third-world nation. “I am Lamer, hear me whimper…”

The point is that I will probably not write to this blog again except for the aforementioned sweet notes to dv8. This is the only post of mine unless I get more curious about web works than is good for me. Then I will clearly mark said post with a disclaimer: “Lamer Warning, Musicians Ahead”

P.S. To those who find this site from my blogger profile, I don’t know anything about bicycles. I know a bunch of you are serious bike guys and dv8 uses terms like “Schram gear cluster” here, but it is another vast field of which I have no knowledge. Ask me about madrigals, voice coaching, harps, head injuries and music therapy, or R.A.Heinlien. Or, of course, ask me whether or not Frischface should be teaching in American schools.

P.P.S. Yes, I do miss having you kids at home. I prescribe another trip out here for both of you soon! Sooner!

Piglet Must Die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

All this fairly recent flap about whiney Muslims complaining about Piglet coffee cups in England caused me to buy this clock at Goodwill Industries. I had in mind what I wanted to do with the clock face, but alas, I have no artistic talent. Not long ago, Brandy, a talented artist did some much needed modifications with marker pen. Now reassembled, the clock resides in my kitchen.

Before putting the clock back together, I thought I'd scan it in and do a bit more digital doctoring to remove hidden lines that showed through the marker ink, bringing a couple of the numbers forward and a few other things like that. The result is below:

Now, the sword and turban were my idea. But from there, Brandy and her gang of co-conspirators got very creative, adding the black beard and marking Piglet's neck for decapitation!

By the way:

A Muslim goes into this bar, see, and the bartender... the bartender... he goes, um... (this is so great...) he goes: What'll you have? And, and and... the Muslim goes: BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's gonig on with blogger?

2006-08-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just don't get what's happening with the interface. It drives me nuts.

UPDATE:

Wordwrap! That's what it is. If you have something that can't wrap, like, a long URL or something then it pushes the side menu to the bottom of the page. Well, at least one mystery is solved

Shrugg: Piglet Must Die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

Shrugg: Piglet Must Die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the article from the London Daily Telegraph explaining it all

UPDATE:

I sent the following email to LGF and Gates of Vienna:

Piglet must die!!!
Well, it's a long story how it came to be, but back when Islamo-fascists and their dhimmi dupes in England were whining about Piglet, I started keeping a lookout for Pooh and Piglet clocks, and other such stuff--partially owing to the fact that my kitchen clock got broken accidentally by an exceptionally tall fellow some months ago. I have no artistic talent, but I had in mind a number of alterations that might be done with the appropriate characters. So, when I found this clock, I saw right away what had to be done. I stuck it up on my wall and waited for someone with a bit of artistic expertise to show up. My prayers were answered when my daughter brought two very artistically oriented friends along with her on a visit home. They enthusiastically undertook to modify the clock and even added a number of clever touches such as the dotted line and the beard on pooh. (I had originally pictured the sword and the turban only.
Anyway, it’s at http://www.shrugg.org if anyone is interested.
Keep up the great work!
dv8

The Blackberry is Gay!!!!

2006-07-04T03:08:00.000-07:00

What can I say? It's gayer than the Blueberry iMac!! Here's proof:

These days, PDAs, cell phones and other mobile devices are a dime a dozen. Every self-respecting gadget freak has got at least one, and we're devoted to our devices. It's almost to the level of fanaticism some of us profess for our hair-care products. You may be able to deal with a bathroom piled to the ceiling with styling products -- but shlep around too many toys at a time, and they start to wreak havoc with the clean lines of your clothes. Here's one solution: the new, improved BlackBerry.

http://www.gay.com/style/digital/?sernum=643

What else is there to say?

Something about Life:

2006-06-30T04:07:00.000-07:00

I'm doing something about extending it in my own small way.

http://folding.stanford.edu/certificate

You can see my progress there.

You can find out about it here:

http://folding.stanford.edu

This is just one small thing I can do. Still, there are some folks that are doing something more than that. For example, these people.

Progressive, the new “P”-word

2006-06-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

What about the P-word, anyway?

My question would be: “Progressive” toward what, comrade? Central planning?!?

Seriously, the reason the word “liberal” even means “democratic socialist” in America is because in the 1930s communists very deliberately co-opted the term. And now, like a plague of locusts, they have moved on to pervert another term.

I submit that socialism is neither liberal--a word which actually means something closer to “Libertarian”--nor progressive. To use a musical analogy, socialism is more like beating on skins and shaking beads and rattles than it is like Gentle Giant or Steve Vai or other progressive music. Progressive here meaning more complicated, deeper, more challenging, more thematically and texturally complex, more individualistic--in a nutshell, better.

Calling backward, evil ideas “progressive” is nothing more than the perversion of a word by a group of people who has no qualms about such perversion and has left a litter of perverted words behind them. These are the same people who call indoctrination “Critical Thinking,” a 19 year old ignoramus a “Mentor,” and a blind retard in a wheel chair an “honored citizen.” A more appropriate term, particularly given the failure of socialism all over the world, would be “Regressive.”

Juneteenth

2006-06-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

At least it's not a fake holiday--like Kwanzaa.

Ate a huge burger--absolutely huge.

Kazuo Ishiguro

2006-06-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

I hate him--his writing. Such a talent gone to waste in the service of evil. I can't even begin to elaborate.

No, wait, let me try. Beautiful writing. Ugly ideas. So ugly I could yak up 10 years of meals, not just the last few. Ugly stuff, and I'm sick of ugly stuff. Just so ugly.

I guess you could say that the Uber-theme of all his novels is that everything sucks.

State of Fear

2006-06-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

Oh, my Fxckin' ... Gawd!!!! It Raawwwkkks!!!!!

When that dude gets eaten, just picture Alec Baldwin, or Martin Sheen of the Film Actor's Guild (F. A. G.) It's just, like, a Team America moment!!!!!!!

I freakin' luuuved it!!

(Honestly, there are a number of cogent comments I have about it, but this is, um, my moment of Zen about it! More later perhaps!!!)

Bike Stuff

2006-05-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

Once again my bike is upside down. I'm forever trying to get it to shift better by messing with the derailleurs and the like. I got a cheap used Shimano front to see if it would do better than the crappy old SRAM I had, but I'm not seeing much improvement--a bit though, so that's good. I wish there was a front derailleur that was made to accommodate such a large gear spread.

Update:

My old SRAM worked better. I'm putting it back on. I'm thinking of creating my own derailleur--designing it to work with much wider gear spreads. One idea I had was to use a rear derailleur as a front one. That would look weird, but might work. Another idea is to create a rotating pusher. Maybe. Something like that might get the pusher closer to the chainrings. The SRAM worked the best, because it sunk down farther than the shimano, which must have been designed for a big road bike. Hard to say....

Barring all that, a middle chainring with some ramp ups, or kickups, or whatever they're called, might improve things. So I either find another 37 or 38T or file some kickups into the one I have now. Maybe I'll file one in and see if it works. If it does, I'll add three more.

The Self Referencing???

2006-05-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

Funny thing:

I've been wondering lately what makes an individual an individual. Because it's not any kind of trend following--that's for sure. It's when someone not only doesn't follow trends, but actually doesn't care about trends at all. It's when someone is concerned with their own life--their own business--not someone else's idea of what that life or business should be.

I'll tell you right now, if you wear some kind of ugly glasses, then it's probably not you.

And I hate to disappoint you, but if you have bits of metal stuck into your face, it's probably not you either.

All that kind of stuff is just more conformity. But, except for not actually defining yourself, but rather, being defined by others, you get all the emotional benefits of being an individual without the downside of actually being one. (Okay, so I'm being sarcastic)

Just once, I'd like to meet someone else who is self-referencing.

I'd like to meet you if:

You're a black guy who grew up in NE Portland that doesn't talk and dress like a bling-ass fucking gang retard. (And it doesn't count if you're black and grew up in Raleigh Hills and went to private school either. Because then you most likely dress, talk, think, and act like all the idiots there.)

Everyone in your family is a Democrat and you're a Republican.

All the kids in your school carry a backpack, but you carry a briefcase. I could give lots more examples, but it's late and I'll leave off with just these three. But you probably get the idea.

And for all three examples I gave, you don't care how much shit you get for not conforming to the group's--not to mention outsider's--idea of how you should fall into place.

I know you're out there in the general population, but I wonder what percent you comprise. One Percent? Surely less than that. I have sat in the food court at Lloyd Center for countless hours, and in all that time, I only saw one teenage black kid that wasn't wearing the "black kid" uniform. Unfortunately, he was wearing the white rocker kid uniform, so I'm not exactly sure if I'd call him an individual, but at least it's clear he chose to do what he liked instead of what every one else was doing--unless he came from a suburb where he's surrounded by white rocker kids.

Where are the unique individuals?

Almost nowhere; but, whoever you are, I'd like to meet you. I'm serious, I really would.

Atheism

2006-05-05T01:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm an atheist.

I didn't really plan it out that way, but that's the way it transpired. Atheism is not my religion, like it is with a lot of atheists. Some atheists are, like, communists--it's as though they can't believe in God and communism at the same time but have to believe one or the other. Communism and God are always in competition, it seems; which is funny, because there are a lot of similarities between communism and many religions.

I figure that humans are probably hard-wired for religion. That's why so-called atheists often believe in crazy statist economic schemes, pseudo-science, or other crazy shit: Nature abhors a vacuum. Leave a hole in your brain that is meant for a specific thing, and it fills up with whatever happens by.

Unlike many atheists, I don't feel the need to mock people who believe in God. In some ways, I wish I was one of them. It actually takes quite a lot of courage to be an atheist--to face life knowing that it all ends so soon, and there's nothing else after it--it just ends. I had a period of time when I did believe in God, and I remember how happy I was knowing I had a place in the universe, and that everything fit in. There I was: part of God's plan. I'd love to feel that way again, but I can't. I know it's not real. No more real than Santa Claus.

But I would never say that to a Christian friend of mine. I wouldn't even tell him I was an Atheist. I wouldn't want it on my head that he stopped believing in God. I'm only writing this on my blog because I'm feeling desperately lonely and don't know what else to do. No one in my life knows this about me--except my childhood sweetheart/best friend/girl I married.

One time, when I still believed in God, I had to fly somewhere. Now, I've gotta tell you, I hate flying. It scares the hell out of me. But on the return trip, I sat next to a Christian lady and her little boy. She was obviously afraid as well. Shortly before the plane took off, she looked at me and earnestly asked: "Will you pray with us?" I did, and I'm sure I looked braver than I was. In any case, she felt better, and so did I. If a similar thing happened now, I would do the exact same thing. It would be the kind and decent thing to do. I certainly wouldn't give the poor woman a lecture about "silly superstitions."

My message to atheists everywhere: Stop acting like such fucking pigs!!! Religions aren't just silly superstitions. I believe there exists enough evidence to suggest that we are hard-wired for them, so, true or not, there's a part of our brain that accepts and/or constructs them, and it takes quite a lot of effort to overcome something like that. And, when and if you do, what have you got? A pretty scary situation, really. Nothing to be all that thrilled about.

It takes more than a little integrity and courage to be an atheist. In truth, I'm not sure I have what it takes. I'm just not sure. Anyway, I would never tease, mock, denigrate or criticize someone for believing in God. Because in some ways, I wish I could go back. I really do.

But I can't.

My Bike:

2006-04-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

I've actually got quite a lot of time and effort invested in this bike of mine. I'm going to add a picture or two of it here when I take a couple and figure out how to upload them via the blogger interface. I'm going to modify this post and go into some serious detail about what I did and how I did it, but for now, I'll just put this placeholder post, and maybe one picture.

Update:

This bike of mine, is really a mid '80ies Raleigh ten speed that I got for free on craigslist. It had 27" road tires originally. First I put a more comfortable seat on it, then, I flipped the handlebars around. I like to ride sitting up straight, most often, so the handgrips still weren't high enough. I put an extension tube on, and got some more mountain bikeish handlebars. After that, I found a derelict bike (also free) it had Shimano shifters and SRAM mountain bike derailleurs, so I put them on my bike.

I got a triple front crank and finally got a seven speed rear cassette (actually, a freewheel) the rear goes from 11 to 34 and the front goes 54,38,26. This is quite a spread, so I had to modify my derailleurs to handle this. The rear, I added larger pulley wheels, and moved the bottom wheel down as far as it would go. For the front, I tried just about everything, but I finally had to get a longer one, which I haven't installed just yet. But even as it is, it rockets down the road fast and climbs steep hills with ease!!

The last thing I did, was convert it to a mountain bike. I was tired of getting so many flats, so I got 26" wheels and put some Bell Dirtster's on them. With slime-filled, puncture resistant tubes and anti flat strips around those, I'm much better equipped to pedal around without worrying about flats. When you convert a road bike to a mountain bike there are a few adjustments you have to make. First, your brakes won't fit anymore--they won't reach down to the rims. So, what you do is get some BMX brakes and put them on front and rear. And, for good measure, you get the long cantilever-style brake pads--even though they're not recommended for that type of brake, they really do work much better and they're more adjustable as well.

Most importantly, you have to take the fork out back and hit it a bit with a dead blow hammer, because you need to increase the forward rake on the fork a bit, otherwise the newly converted bike will tend to turn to either side. I figured out an equation for this. Where R=Rake in inches, d=wheel diameter, and Theta=head tube angle from the vertical. Actually it's not all that accurate, and only presents a sort of starting point, or minimum bend that the rake should be. There's no major pull to the side at that value, but not a strong centering force that you need in order to ride with no hands, for example.

Anyway, I'm stylin' now!!!

Wishlist Item.

2006-03-18T05:35:00.000-08:00

This is no big deal, but I've managed to get an item on my wish list.

The HP iPaq 6315 is mine!!! Thing is, it kinda sux, so I've added the T-Mobile MDA to my wishlist. It has Windows Mobile 5.0 on it. Hopefully it's more stable then this thing I'm using now. Maybe I'll be able to trade up soon.

McDonald's is my kind of place...

2006-02-18T06:24:00.000-08:00

What can I say but: "I'm lovin' it!"

Don't ask me why, but McDonald's is my fav. My balanced diet consists of at least one, and sometimes two, meals from Micky D.'s each an' every day. I generally follow Barry Sears's Zone Diet, although I don't regulate it as much as I might. But I'm fast approaching my target weight and body fat index, so...

Super size this, Morgan Spurlock, you suck-ass mo-fo!!!

Rockin' Rumsfeld!!!

2006-01-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

Face it, I'm just not a obsessive-compulsive blogger. Nor am I a conservative. But I have to comment on the latest Rumsfeld briefing: http://www.suntimes.com/output/iraq/rumsfeld25.html (this link is now dead) Read there for a brief description. Blah blah blah. But the REAL story is that Rumsfeld handles the immature cry-babies of the press with ease, and treats them like the spoiled brats they are. It's way beyond politics! Ya gotta love it!!

Am I a greenie?

2005-12-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

No, but I am a cheapskate.

This Christmas marks the third year that I made my own Christmas tree out of boughs from the two douglas firs that we planted in our back yard. And, one of those was even our second live Christmas tree--the first, a blue spruce, didn't survive the transplant.

Here's how I do it:

I Simply wait until just after Thanksgiving to prune the pine trees. I take the boughs of various sizes into the house and lash them together with jute twine. Then, I put it into a Christmas tree stand, put water in, and voila!! It costs me nothing and takes less time than going out to buy a tree. Plus, I'm the envy of greenie's everywhere, damn them!!!

The Tree from Christmas 2004

2004-12-25T00:44:00.000-08:00

Since I found this picture, I'll put it in here where it belongs. See the Christmas 2005 post for details.