a blurred glance at what I'm up to
Seasons Greetings from. . .
So the next blog series I wanted to start was "reasons I love Spokane." There are many reasons I enjoy living here and have been pondering how to order them. However, with our recent weather as an impetus to start the series now, I think I'll just start listing reasons in no particular order.
The other night at bedtime I read Yertle the Turtle to Sal. If you don't have kids or don't regularly read Dr. Seuss, it's the one where there's this turtle (Yertle) that is the ruler of a little swamp--"the king of all he sees." In his thirst for power he stacks his subjects so he can see farther and thereby expand his turtle kingdom. As the turtle tower grows and grows, the poor turtle at the bottom, Mack, sheepishly complains that his legs are tired. Yertle barks back that he has no right to speak to him, because he rules over all he sees--blah, blah, blah. Shortly thereafter, the pile of turtles comes crashing down when Mack, of all things, burps. He doesn't rebel, there's no revolution, natural bodily functions simply take over and a regime collapses.
I was struck by the overt political message of the story. This is, of course, no great revelation. The book has been around for years and the parallels to fascism are obvious and deliberate. Of course, being more of a Green Eggs and Ham and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish type of guy I hadn't read Yertle the Turtle in many years. As is my habit these days, I immediately started drilling holes in Geisel's analogy. Turtles are like a fascist regime? C'mon, it will never hold up. My dislike of analogies is not suspended, even for the good Dr. S. After a few minutes, as is also my habit these days, my mind wandered to something else.
Later I decided to do some super sleuthing on the internet. I love the internet--it has almost all the answers. It was clear that Seuss had some political agenda that I had never considered, and I found it necessary to learn more. Many of you have probably had a similar experience and may already know all about Dr. Seuss and his politics. If so, I apologize for recycling some information here.
Before writing children's books Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel, of course) was a left wing political cartoonist for PM magazine and ardent supporter of U.S. involvement in World War II (before Pearl Harbor, when intervention was highly controversial and a potentially stark change in U.S. foreign policy). Some of his caricatures of Emperor Hirohito and other Japanese remain controversial. Interesting. Considering the events that followed his views on WWII don't seem unreasonable, though at the time he was on the extreme left. I do wonder what he would say now about Japanese internment camps. Regardless, as I am no expert on the history of WW II or foreign policy then or now, my point is that Dr. Seuss had a life before writing children's book (though some accuse the current administration and many conservatives to be similarly "Rooseveltian", if that's a word, in their policies) and he had leftist leanings that he stuck to. It makes sense that his ideas would find their way into the books he later wrote, even if they were for children (which isn't unique to Dr. Seuss either--as there are even college courses about left wing politics in childrens' literature).
I also came across this blog entry by a concerned mother.
I found this even more interesting. Of course anyone with a heartbeat and a thread of cognitive function knows that "socialism" has gotten a lot of play in the media over the past few months (thankfully the election is over now and the sound bites have died down). I know when people say "socialism" I'm supposed to be scared, though I'm not entirely sure why. But arguing about socialism and taxes isn't what I'm getting at here.
What I really wanted to dwell on is the concerned mother's response to "Ten Apples Up on Top" and her answer for protecting her daughter from Dr. Seuss' "subliminal message that socialism is ok." Her answer: "I will stuff this book to the back of my daughter's book shelf and hope she forgets about it."
So again, let me state, I'm not an expert on foreign affairs, U.S. history, tax codes, or, in this last instance, effective parenting. However, I've grown extremely tired of unfounded and unsubstantiated fear being used as a marketing or political tool. So now conservatives need to be afraid of Dr. Seuss because he's a "socialist?" And, in fairness, as I want to be somewhat impartial here (because I don't really dig partisanship), leftists should be afraid of Dr. Seuss because he's pro-life?
In these situations I fall back on my mantra of serenity: "Whatever."
So last night I read a few books to Sal at bedtime. First we read "Ten apples up on top." He didn't even blink at the subtle ideological undertones. Then we read one of the post humous Dr. Seuss books (cobbled together from a partial manuscript with the help of others), "Hooray for Diffendoofer Day." It is the story of a silly school with all kinds of peculiar and interesting teachers, and a principal paralyzed with fear that the students may not be learning everything they need to pass an impending standardized assessment test. If they fail, their beloved school will be torn down and they will be transferred to the dull school in neighboring "Flobbertown." Though not a classic, it has the usual Seussian rhythm and feel, as well as a moral. Right before the exam Miss Bonkers, one of the more popular teachers in the school, offered words of encouragement:
Miss Bonkers rose, "Don't fret!" she said.
"You've learned the things you need
To pass that test and many more--
I'm certain you'll succeed.
We've taught you that the earth is round,
That red and white make pink,
And something else that matters more--
We've taught you how to think."
So, in the end, maybe the thing we should fear the most is that our children won't learn to think.
But before I close this post that has wandered into the world of politics, I thought I'd leave you with a photo that was forwarded to me yesterday by a friend of mine, with its included text. Can you guess what they're afraid of?
"Time Person of the Year"
You guessed it--smokers.
End Comment: Now that the sound bites have died down, I'm forgetting why I'm supposed to be afraid of this guy. I seem to remember something about being "elitist." I'm confused, where's his latte?
True to my new, expanded blog definition, I'm going to begin a new mini segment of blog observations. Not observations that are "bloggable", but rather observations about blogs that are "bloggable." Though these observations will be objective, the reader may at times sense a degree of sarcasm or subtle criticism. These subtleties are intentional and not meant to insult any one blogger.
With that said, here is my first observation:
I'm always hit with a sharp pang of sympathy when I find an old post that closes with a specific question, looking for input from readers, and no thoughtful readers have bothered to leave comments.
Has anyone else out there experienced the same?
Say what you will about partisan politics, I like living in a blue state--much better this time of year than a white or grey state. We'll see if this NOAA forecast actually materializes. I remain skeptical.
Lately I've been pondering the purpose of my blog. I've had the blogging blahs lately. For some reason l over think stupid little things I want to post, decide they're stupid, and post nothing. I've also had Veep stealing blog photos and content though, in fairness, I did it to her first.
Lately I've been bored. I suppose that is why I haven't posted much lately.
Just about one hour left (more like 1.5). So far, the case of the day goes to a textbook cam type femoral acetabular impingement. 3:20 pm from twitterberry
Afternoon injection done. It was a knee, used my beloved anterolateral approach. 2:25 pm from twitterberry
Ready to eat lunch and pull up the daily Bike Snob post. The tally for the morning: 7 knees, 4 shoulders, 2 hips, 1 ankle, 1 wrist, and a finger. Plus a batch of radiographs (one good case of gout). 12:14 pm from twitterberry
Quick shoulder injection, pain reduced. 8:42 am from twitterberry
Showered and clean, time to work. 7:50 am from twitterberry
I’m up, got my gear together and am off to work. 6:49 am from twitterberry
You get the picture (by the way, I don't have a theoretical balckberry, but if it's good enough for Lance. . . ). As a point of clarification, putting a needle in someone's shoulder or hip or knee may sound interesting, but after doing it a few hundred times it ain't.
I think the idea of Twitter would be more interesting if people's random thoughts were involuntarily captured. This, of course, would require more than the 140 or so characters that each twitter post is allowed to have. Maybe I would move a few spots up the "interesting spectrum" if some of my odd thoughts were "Twitterable" or, if you will, "thinkerable":
Sal is the Michael Jordan of pre-k art. 7:14 pm Nov 14 from thinkerberry
Schmoopie and Boofis are lucky they aren't lefty. I think left handed scissors are proof of discrimination in the public school system. We need more than just another left handed president (which is the real reason I voted for Obama), we need a left handed secretary of education. Or perhaps a lefty lobby. A grassroots effort would be even better, but with only 7-10% of the population being lefty, we'll need to reach across the aisle to our right handed friends and neighbors. 7:59 pm Nov 14 from Thinkerberry
I think I skipped teenage angst and now have middle age angst, but I'm not sure what that means. Perhaps an analogy would help: Middle age angst is like this stand of bare aspens in the middle of the woods. Hmmm. Perhaps an analogy won't help. I still don't know what it means. Analogies are stupid. 4:42 pm Nov 19 from Thinkerberry
Wow, that's a blurry picture. Cameraphone, you let me down. 4:43 pm Nov 19 from Thinkerberry
Hmm, I hope I don't catch any strange disease reassembling this deer skeleton. Three adjacent cervical vertebrae, cool. I wonder why the coyotes didnt eat these ribs. 2:19 pm Nov 18 from Thinkerberry
I think I should get a haircut. Or maybe I shouldn't since more hair could help me stay warmer with winter approaching. I get the impression Veep likes spiky hair and all my hair wants to do when it gets long is feather. Veep definitely doesn't like the feather. Maybe I was born too late. 1:25 pm Nov 18 from Thinkerberry
I like bagpipes with drums. I don't like bagpipes without drums. Marimbas and banjos are cool too. Folk festivals are fun. 12:21 pm Nov 8 from Thinkerberry
Hmmm. Well. I think I might have actually slipped a few spots.
I think I just need a new project to keep me busy and off the couch.
Lately I've been bored. I suppose that is why I haven't posted much lately.
Just about one hour left (more like 1.5). So far, the case of the day goes to a textbook cam type femoral acetabular impingement. 3:20 pm from twitterberry
Afternoon injection done. It was a knee, used my beloved anterolateral approach. 2:25 pm from twitterberry
Ready to eat lunch and pull up the daily Bike Snob post. The tally for the morning: 7 knees, 4 shoulders, 2 hips, 1 ankle, 1 wrist, and a finger. Plus a batch of radiographs (good case of gout). 12:14 pm from twitterberry
Quick shoulder injection, pain reduced. 8:42 am from twitterberry
Showered and clean, time to work. 7:50 am from twitterberry
I’m up, got my gear together and am off to work. 6:49 am from twitterberry
You get the picture. (by the way, I don't have a theoretical balckberry, but if it's good enough for Lance. . . )
Somehow I think the idea of Twitter would be more interesting if people's random thoughts were somehow captured. This, of course, would require more than the 140 or so characters each post is allowed to have. Maybe I would move a few spots up the "interesting spectrum" if some of my odd thoughts were Twitterable:
Thursday, 11/6/08 23:15. It's official. The weather is now cold and wet enough to justify riding the trainer in the basement. I knew it would come to this, I was just hoping that it would hold out until after my four day weekend.
1. As if you could "forget" to vote.
2. Now that I've voted, can we cancel the rest of the inane political coverage? (and move on to the inane coverage of election day?)
The only thing worse than going back to work after a week off is working two weeks straight after a week off. I was actually off for a total of 10 days, which is the longest period I haven't worked for nearly two years. And it was probably the longest "vacation" I've had in the last 5 years where I wasn't tasked with a do-it-yourself inter state move or other similar project. So staying at home with nothing really to do was a welcome proposition.
Fall is here.
A few weeks ago, anticipating some wet weather, I decided to slap some fenders on my Big Dummy. It seemed simple enough. I've mounted fenders before--but not on a Big Dummy. Little did I know this would turn into a three week project.
First, many bike shops don't stock the wider fenders that the 2.35" wide Big Apples I'm running demand. So I had my LBS order some silver SKS P65 full mount fenders. I don't exactly understand why, but after I was told they would arrive in two days, they didn't show up for nearly two weeks. However, LBS karma was with me and I only faced a few light drizzles over the interval.
After I finally picked up the fenders and brought them home, I started looking at the Big Dummy to figure out just how I was going to mount them. The Big Dummy frame and fork have literally about 50 braze-ons for all kinds of brakes and racks--and fenders. Rather than just making something up I decided to take some time and look around online to find out how other BD owners had opted to mount fenders. This took a few days since I hit a run of evening work meetings. Vic did this and Dylster did this. Both used Planet Bike fenders. I had PB fenders on my old commuter but figured I'd try something different since they wouldn't transfer onto the BD.
So the first free night I had, I mounted the front fender.
The front fork has eyelets for fenders at the ends of the drops as well as braze ons mid way up the fork. While tempting, the lower eyelets aren't compatible with disc brakes--the caliper gets in the way of the fender support. So I attached the supports to the upper braze on. I like this option because the supports ended up shorter and, I think, tighter and more stable.
The SKS fenders come with these little plastic mounts for some sort of quick release of the front fender supports. The piece below gets bolted onto the eyelet or braze on at the tapered end, and then the support clicks into the opposite flat end.
I tried using them, but with the tension the supports are under when the fender was properly aligned, the supports kept popping out. So I kept it simple and just screwed the supports directly onto the fork.
There is also a bracket that attaches to the fork crown. With the monster tire clearance of the fork, the fender sits off the tire more than I'd like, even when adjusted to its lowest level (best appreciated on the top photo). I could have figured out some way to extend this down, but decided to worry about that another time.
The second free night I had, I mounted the rear fender.
This one was a little tricky. I struggled with whether to run the fender supports along the inside or along the outside of the rounded part of the rear frame extension. I've seen it done both ways (see linked photos above). I ultimately decided that it didn't really matter and the bottom line was simply to make sure to apply tape to the frame so that where the support abuts the frame it won't get scratched up. Also, the eyelets for the rear fender supports were a few inches behind the dropouts, which was somewhat counter intuitive. I finally opted to run the fender supports outside of the frame, as you can see, since it subjectively required less bending of the support.
Securing the front part of the rear fender to the bridge behind the bottom bracket was fairly simple, requiring only a small bracket that sits flush with the fender and a single bolt.
What I didn't show was trimming the supports that extended beyond the outer edges of the fenders. The supports extended quite a bit beyond the fenders as a result of using the upper braze ons on the fork and the more posterior position of the eyelets for the rear fender. I probably dulled them badly, but just cranked on some cable cutters to do cut them. The fenders did come with these little plastic covers that fit in the brackets for the fender supports, covering the end of the support.
I didn't use these but could put them on later. After getting the curve of the fender just so, the last thing I wanted to do was loosen everything back up and have the supports pop out of the brackets.
Overall I'm pleased with how the fenders look and how solid they feel. I don't hear them rattle around like the Planet Bike fenders did on my old commuter. I like how tight the rear fender is along the tire and will have to come up with a way to lengthen the bracket along the front fender to get it to look the same.
There you have it. In the end, fenders are quite easy to mount on a BD, and they really look nice and natural. So now that they are on, I'm wondering how long it will stay dry. Maybe until later today?
Next up--setting up the indoor trainer (NOT for the BD).
