new stuff
Sat May 2 22:30:16 EDT 2015
It's been a busy day.
I worked late last night, covering the shift for the evening guy. After that I found email from my NYC recumbent dealer (who for some reason won't use my work email) telling me the new bike was ready. There were a couple of emails Thursday telling me the bike had arrived earlier than expected and asking how I wanted the brakes set up. (That would have been answered sooner if the message had been copied to my work email.) I've got next Friday off, and plans to be in NYC next weekend. Getting to NYC this weekend was not foreseen. anniemal is out of town for the weekend, and the dog isn't, so I can't go to NY. Although if I could somehow pick up the bike ... Monday? ... I could go to NC instead of NYC next weekend. Checking on Mom's house is long overdue.
Yesterday was my brother's birthday. His wife (Erin#2, not Pennsic Erin#3) arranged a little dinner out at Red Lobster. It was a nice evening.
I spent much of the afternoon in Home Depot looking for repurposeable hardware that might work for mounting those huge flashers on my bike - on the rack of the current bike, or on the seat (and/or rack) of the new bike. I've got some electrical fixtures and clamps that might work. I may venture out to Ayers Hardware to look for more possibilities. There's always cool stuff there. The staff may take it as a challenge to find something useful.
The lawn is looking tufty again, but the mower (with its new batteries) is charged up again. There wasn't time left for it today, but probably tomorrow.
The Cascade Bicycle Club (Seattle, WA) has been running an annual Bike Month Challenge. Last year we had 6 people signed up (which is a pretty sad turnout). Between them there were 4 different spellings of our organization's name (did consolidate down to 3) which made it hard to track our feeble progress. (If I recall correctly, I rode as much as everyone else together. ☹)
This year I seem to be the only person signed up (so far), and I wasn't able to set the organization name when I enrolled (dead link). I heard back from the challenge's support staff this morning and I've set an organization name (different from last year's 3). If any others sign up, and they are unable to create an organization, with any luck they'll find the existing organization (dead link) and use it and we'll be consistent. Maybe they'll also join the "team" (Team SEC) I created. Last year we had a team with 2 members. The minimum sizes for the organization and the team are both 4, so I guess neither really counts at this point - I'm the only one so far. (The team logo from our jersey looks great, though.)
Sunday 10:07
There are lots of bikes going by today. 75°F/24°C
Sunday 18:06
I mowed the lawn - it already seems to be needing it weekly. ☹
I biked to Ayers Hardware. I found the P-clamps in the right size for the tubing of the rack on the current bike (the Vision R40). The clamps I got at Home Depot yesterday are way too big. I think I can mount a monster flasher to this rack with just a pair of these clamps. I don't know whether this same approach will fit the Grasshopper's rack.
I got a couple of 1/8" wire rope clips - they look remarkably like U-bolts, which would do a nice job of fastening a flat metal plate to a rack, and that would provide another mounting surface for the light. This alternate approach might be what I need for the next bike. These clips turn out to be too small for the Vision's rack, so I might need to exchange them. (Or they may fit the Grasshopper's rack - if that's a workable mount.)
I took a wander around Ayer's since they usually have cool stuff. What I spotted were sunglasses to go over eyeglasses. I've been wanting a new pair for a couple of years, since I'm using a pair that's taped together. Ayer's isn't usually the cheapest place, but these were $7, and I'd been declining to pay $30+ for similar that I'd seen in stores. I wear them when I'm biking and driving, and I don't care a bit about styling. Heck, over-glasses sunglasses are a geriatric standard.
I had trouble finding my U-lock before I left for the store. I've been using the bike only for commutes to work, and I haven't been locking it at work. We're in a garage, that requires a badge for access; in a cage, that requires a badge for access, with a video camera on the only route in to/out of the cage. Assuming they keep logs of badge swipes and videos, it shouldn't be hard to know who took any particular bike out of a cage. (And mine is the only recumbent there these days.) The people who bike to work (or keep a bike based there for riding around DC) don't seem to be the social strata that steal bikes (although I will be locking the new bike). I eventually found the lock, dusty, on a high shelf.
Further updates on the new bike - the dealer's busy Saturday May/9, and he doesn't usually work Sundays, so he's suggesting Friday May/8. I think that will work, but I need to check with my host, elissaanne. Trying to get there tomorrow (Monday May/4) can't even be persued yet. Anniemal will probably be back tonight, but there's no reason she couldn't stay away another night. When she left Friday morning there was no reason she had to be back Sunday night.
Sunday 19:52
I tried installing the big flasher on the Vision's rack with P-Clamps. The rack has a center platform that's about 1/4" (0.635cm) too wide for the spacing of the screws on the back of light. ☹
I've removed the rest of the 12-volt lighting system from the Vision. The batteries died a couple of months ago, and it didn't seem worth replacing them; I won't be wiring up the new bike. So now I've removed the (remaining) front halogen, rear incandescent, switchbox, and wiring. The bike has lost a lot of clutter.
When I bought the big red lights from Home Depot, the newer version with the utility light was cheaper than other places were selling the old version without. The price has gone up about $4 since I bought it. (Or is this one of those sites where the prices are higher on the weekend? I saw that happen when I was camera shopping....)
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/737910.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
It's been a busy day.
I worked late last night, covering the shift for the evening guy. After that I found email from my NYC recumbent dealer (who for some reason won't use my work email) telling me the new bike was ready. There were a couple of emails Thursday telling me the bike had arrived earlier than expected and asking how I wanted the brakes set up. (That would have been answered sooner if the message had been copied to my work email.) I've got next Friday off, and plans to be in NYC next weekend. Getting to NYC this weekend was not foreseen. anniemal is out of town for the weekend, and the dog isn't, so I can't go to NY. Although if I could somehow pick up the bike ... Monday? ... I could go to NC instead of NYC next weekend. Checking on Mom's house is long overdue.
Yesterday was my brother's birthday. His wife (Erin#2, not Pennsic Erin#3) arranged a little dinner out at Red Lobster. It was a nice evening.
I spent much of the afternoon in Home Depot looking for repurposeable hardware that might work for mounting those huge flashers on my bike - on the rack of the current bike, or on the seat (and/or rack) of the new bike. I've got some electrical fixtures and clamps that might work. I may venture out to Ayers Hardware to look for more possibilities. There's always cool stuff there. The staff may take it as a challenge to find something useful.
The lawn is looking tufty again, but the mower (with its new batteries) is charged up again. There wasn't time left for it today, but probably tomorrow.
The Cascade Bicycle Club (Seattle, WA) has been running an annual Bike Month Challenge. Last year we had 6 people signed up (which is a pretty sad turnout). Between them there were 4 different spellings of our organization's name (did consolidate down to 3) which made it hard to track our feeble progress. (If I recall correctly, I rode as much as everyone else together. ☹)
This year I seem to be the only person signed up (so far), and I wasn't able to set the organization name when I enrolled (dead link). I heard back from the challenge's support staff this morning and I've set an organization name (different from last year's 3). If any others sign up, and they are unable to create an organization, with any luck they'll find the existing organization (dead link) and use it and we'll be consistent. Maybe they'll also join the "team" (Team SEC) I created. Last year we had a team with 2 members. The minimum sizes for the organization and the team are both 4, so I guess neither really counts at this point - I'm the only one so far. (The team logo from our jersey looks great, though.)
Sunday 10:07
There are lots of bikes going by today. 75°F/24°C
Sunday 18:06
I mowed the lawn - it already seems to be needing it weekly. ☹
I biked to Ayers Hardware. I found the P-clamps in the right size for the tubing of the rack on the current bike (the Vision R40). The clamps I got at Home Depot yesterday are way too big. I think I can mount a monster flasher to this rack with just a pair of these clamps. I don't know whether this same approach will fit the Grasshopper's rack.
I got a couple of 1/8" wire rope clips - they look remarkably like U-bolts, which would do a nice job of fastening a flat metal plate to a rack, and that would provide another mounting surface for the light. This alternate approach might be what I need for the next bike. These clips turn out to be too small for the Vision's rack, so I might need to exchange them. (Or they may fit the Grasshopper's rack - if that's a workable mount.)
I took a wander around Ayer's since they usually have cool stuff. What I spotted were sunglasses to go over eyeglasses. I've been wanting a new pair for a couple of years, since I'm using a pair that's taped together. Ayer's isn't usually the cheapest place, but these were $7, and I'd been declining to pay $30+ for similar that I'd seen in stores. I wear them when I'm biking and driving, and I don't care a bit about styling. Heck, over-glasses sunglasses are a geriatric standard.
I had trouble finding my U-lock before I left for the store. I've been using the bike only for commutes to work, and I haven't been locking it at work. We're in a garage, that requires a badge for access; in a cage, that requires a badge for access, with a video camera on the only route in to/out of the cage. Assuming they keep logs of badge swipes and videos, it shouldn't be hard to know who took any particular bike out of a cage. (And mine is the only recumbent there these days.) The people who bike to work (or keep a bike based there for riding around DC) don't seem to be the social strata that steal bikes (although I will be locking the new bike). I eventually found the lock, dusty, on a high shelf.
Further updates on the new bike - the dealer's busy Saturday May/9, and he doesn't usually work Sundays, so he's suggesting Friday May/8. I think that will work, but I need to check with my host, elissaanne. Trying to get there tomorrow (Monday May/4) can't even be persued yet. Anniemal will probably be back tonight, but there's no reason she couldn't stay away another night. When she left Friday morning there was no reason she had to be back Sunday night.
Sunday 19:52
I tried installing the big flasher on the Vision's rack with P-Clamps. The rack has a center platform that's about 1/4" (0.635cm) too wide for the spacing of the screws on the back of light. ☹
I've removed the rest of the 12-volt lighting system from the Vision. The batteries died a couple of months ago, and it didn't seem worth replacing them; I won't be wiring up the new bike. So now I've removed the (remaining) front halogen, rear incandescent, switchbox, and wiring. The bike has lost a lot of clutter.
When I bought the big red lights from Home Depot, the newer version with the utility light was cheaper than other places were selling the old version without. The price has gone up about $4 since I bought it. (Or is this one of those sites where the prices are higher on the weekend? I saw that happen when I was camera shopping....)
[This entry was originally posted as https://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/737910.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]