The Buffmeister's Chronicles

Alcohol backpacking stove with continuously variable simmer control...

2012-02-13T09:49:00.006-05:00

The latest in a long line of prototypes.
Maybe the most difficult stove to make so far, it's especially difficult achieving the accuracy of construction that this application of simmering control demands.
Each spoke leg/simmer control/pot stand support screws out (from a baseline that is the end of the spoke being level with the bottom of the larger can)eight full turns. This gives a degree of simmer from 100% down to 0%. Additionally, a simmer ring can be placed on top of the stove.
The stove permits fast swapping of the inner 3 ounce can for other cans with different hole configurations punched into them, giving a tremendous variation of heat output.
The only real drawback to this design is that the simmer control needs to be done with the larger can/spokes not hot. Otherwise, you'd need heat-resistant gloves to turn the very hot spoke ends. In other words, the degree of simmer has to be set before the stove is lit. I am currently working on a design that will permit real-time adjustment, even with the stove roaring.

Four different stoves. All using cat food cans.

Wood-Gas stove...

2012-02-11T14:06:00.004-05:00

A clone of the Bushwhacker, with a small add-on to enable flame control. Made out of a quart paint can, a 29 ounce tomato can, some hardware cloth, and a 19 ounce Progresso Soup can for the fire container.
The flame control ring has holes in it which exactly match the vent holes in the paint can. Turn the paint can a small amount and the holes are either exposed or closed, or somewhat in between.
Everything nests within the paint can for storage, including the pot support.

Backpacking baking attachment...

2012-02-10T16:14:00.002-05:00

I found locally the perfect bowl that fits exactly/perfectly inside my MSR 1.1 litre pot ( thus will fit anything larger too), and constructed a air-gap spacer for the bottom out of a spoke (it's actually a very short tripod).
The greatest thing too, is that the inner bowl is a very useful size for backpacking in its own right: it's 5.375 inches in diameter by 2.5 inches deep, with a small lip, and a very small lower radius between the wall and the base. This makes it useful as a soup/cereal bowl, or to have a side dish in. The bottom is flat, so it'll sit on any stove well if used by itself, and the gauge of it is exactly the same as my MSR pot, and it's stainless!!!
I decided to drill it around the rim for 2 reasons:
1...the holes allow a little more airflow, and thus temperature equalization.
2...in 2 of the holes I screwed small screws and nuts. As the pot is such a perfect fit, it's nice to have something to hold on to to extract the baked goodies afterwards.

Modular Alcohol stove, with simmer adjustment...

2012-02-06T10:30:00.003-05:00

Been fiddling around making lightweight alcohol stoves lately. It's become a consuming addiction.
Anyway, the latest creation is a stove made principally from a Friskies can, and in to the modular base you can insert a variety of Fancy Feast cans, which can give various burn properties based on the hole configurations punched into them.
Priming plate is built in, though the stove needs very little priming.
Lastly, I devised a way of minimizing or maximizing the air flow to the stove by way of a simple twist of the Friskies can relative to the base. This gives a steady simmer when closed, full blast when open.
One can also use a variety of simmer plates on the top of the stove too, giving even more granular flame control.
Weight is 35 gram. Boils a pint of 55 degree water in about 4 minutes 20 secs in my basement with no wind. Flame is very uniform and even, burns clear on both high and simmer.

Latest home made stove....

2012-02-03T17:25:00.001-05:00

With simmer attachment. Weighs 35 gram.

Home made alcohol stove and stand

2012-01-30T15:51:00.001-05:00

Been developing a home made alcohol stove lately. Made from old cans and a little secret sauce. Boils a pint in about 4.5 mins in my basement, using Heet or denatured alcohol. The stand is built in, but I show it with a stand I made for my Trangia and other home made stoves. Droppers are from RiteAid.

Trackstand...

2012-01-09T16:29:00.001-05:00

Some skill required !!!

87 Ritchey Commando...

2011-12-26T09:45:00.002-05:00

All XT and Ritchey Logic, Specialized tires and rims.

Oh shit!!!...

2011-10-07T17:54:00.001-04:00

So, I had honed the blades on my Leatherman Wave multi-tool to within an inch of their lives, so shaving sharp, and was using it today to cut the weather stripping in our doors to length.
The tool dropped, point first into/through the fleshy part of my left hand, from about a foot or two.
It stuck there momentarily as blood started pumping out a shade of red I had forgotten existed. Time does compress in those circumstances.
Just time for an "Oh Shit!!!" before I rushed to the nearest sink and ran it under cold water.
A butterfly stitch later (knew there was a reason I bought them 10 years ago and brought them across country with me) and all is well, but it's a very strange feeling watching a blade go into one's hand, and vital fluids pump out.
Luckily it missed the tendon of my left index finger by half an inch ;-)

Neat idea...

2011-08-29T11:38:00.000-04:00

Somehow, this appeals to me.

Final prototype...

2011-08-18T14:26:00.003-04:00

Here are 2 pics of my final prototype iPod Touch stand. Made from a single 14 gauge stainless steel bicycle spoke, and a couple of short lengths of shrink-wrap tubing. The angle it holds the 4th generation iPod Touch varies from 43 to 75 degrees, and because I carefully balanced the whole pivoting feature, it stays in position anywhere between those two extremes.
Also in the pictures is the stylus I made for my Jornada 728, an Ebay purchase that was missing its stylus. It's made of tubes of Brass, Aluminum and Copper, with a handmade stylus point from acrylic. It's quite a bit heftier than the plastic original. Nice!

Nice knife...

2011-08-18T11:32:00.002-04:00

Crocodile Dundee would be proud to own this knife.
The image came from a post on the EDC Forums, where an owner had gutted a Victorinox Swiss Army knife, then buffed and polished it beyond belief, and then reassembled it with a bunch of polished titanium hardware, liners, toothpick and tweezers.
It's a work of art.

The new travel rig...

2011-08-18T11:03:00.002-04:00

Here's a couple of pics of my iPod Touch resting on a stand that I made recently from an old bicycle spoke. In front of it is the Apple bluetooth keyboard that I just bought (2nd hand, but looks unused) from a member of the Ars Technica Classifieds.

Here's a breakdown of the weights of the components in the system:
iPod................................3.56oz
Stand...............................0.3oz
Charging cable and power adapter....2.0oz
Keyboard...........................11.4oz

Total..............................17.46oz

It would be hard to find any system that offers such capability, good looks, and such a low combined weight. Bear in mind, that an iPad alone weighs 21.3oz, and then you would be typing on a sub-optimal virtual keyboard.

A few things to note.
1...Apple says that the Bluetooth Keyboard has a minimum system requirement of "an iPad". Whatever that means, rest assured that it pairs with, and works with, an iPod perfectly.
2...Almost all of the special function buttons on the top row of the keyboard work perfectly with the iPod. Just a couple don't work, and that's because the iPod simply doesn't have the equivalent function built-in.
3...Pairing is almost instantaneous, there is also zero lag time between a key press and the result appearing on the screen.
4...There is an "eject button" on the keyboard (the top right button on the keyboard). This is essentially a toggle between the Bluetooth keyboard, and the on-screen iPod Touch keyboard.
5...I built the stand with the ability to change the screen angle. This is useful when setting it up for optimum viewing, whether typing, or watching video.

What's on my iPod...

2011-08-15T17:07:00.002-04:00

Here's what's in my playlist in the "Podcaster" app on my iPod Touch, 4th generation:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/cnet/conversations
http://cravepodcast.cnettv.com/
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/cnet/digitalcityvideo
http://rss.cnn.com/services/podcasting/fareedzakaria/rss.xml
http://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio
http://feeds.feedburner.com/hypercritical
http://revision3.com/lifehacker/feed/MP4-hd30
http://leo.am/podcasts/mbw/
http://feeds.feedburner.com/motr
http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/wgbh/nova-video
http://www.hbo.com/podcasts/billmaher/podcast.xml
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TEDTalks_video
http://revision3.com/tekzilla/feed/quicktime-small?subshow=false
http://feeds.feedburner.com/cnet/applebyte
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thetalkshow
http://feeds.feedburner.com/tii
http://twit.tv/node/8741/feed
http://feeds.feedburner.com/atd/mossberg/video-feed
http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/weta/washingtonweek-video
http://leoville.tv/podcasts/ww.xml

Try a few, there are some excellent podcasts there.

iPod Touch or iPhone stand...

2011-08-11T18:16:00.002-04:00

I had a few spokes from a bicycle wheel I had disassembled, and thought I would try making a stand for my iPod Touch.
After a couple of tries, I came up with this. Note that it allows for viewing at two different angles.
Simple, easy, and uses recyled materials: what's not to like?

Erin's cat....

2011-08-05T10:01:00.001-04:00

My friend Erin shared this pic with me. It's one huge cat.

Bread...

2011-08-03T11:22:00.002-04:00

This was in the window of Albermarle Baking Company on Main St, Charlottesville, VA, this morning. Photo courtesy of Kervin.

Pocket-sized PC tips

2011-07-30T13:47:00.001-04:00

On most of my HPCs, the best-working Google site is google.com/dirhp

Computer progress...

2011-07-30T13:03:00.002-04:00

Just a few shots to show how computers have changed a little over the years.
In the background is a shot of the Dell Precision I use every day, it has a 15 inch screen, with great resolution (1920 by 1200 I think).
Sitting in front of it is a Jornada 728 that I picked up on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. It is displaying the HPCFactor website in glorious 640 by 240 resolution on the Opera browser!!!
When I got the Jornada, the stylus was MIA. Rather than buy a replacement, in all its plasticky glory, I made a replacement from Aluminum, Brass and Copper tubing (all available at the hardware store). The tip is made from a small piece of acrylic that I "coned" and polished. It fits perfectly.

Appreciate the time we live in...

2011-07-29T06:45:00.001-04:00

It is just amazing how pervasive technology has become, whilst at the same time it is now ubiquitous and easy to take for granted.
Just think for a second the next time you type a search into Google, or watch a YouTube video about all of the amazing technical progress needed to make that all possible, and how fast it has all happened.
Just half a century ago we were all amazed at the first pocketable transistor radio or digital watch. Now I can type this blog on a 4 ounce iPod touch, connected via wifi to any website on earth.

firmware update

2011-07-23T11:50:00.001-04:00

http://www.netgate.com/info/miniPCI/Prism/Firmware/help.html

http://linux.junsun.net/intersil-prism/

Leatherman Micra toothpick modification...

2011-07-19T15:05:00.004-04:00

Like many on the EDC Forums, I decided my Micra would be perfect with a toothpick, so I spent 10 minutes modifying a "Plackers". I used a small blade, and a finish file.
The toothpick is firmly secured by both ends inside the tweezer prongs, and can only be extracted when the tweezers are extended.

Nice campground

2011-07-05T10:31:00.001-04:00

Just a mile or so from P-Town

http://dunesedge.com/?dunes-edge.com

So, take...

2011-05-26T17:45:00.000-04:00

...an iPod Touch, 4th gen. Sign up for a free account at ustream.com. Download and install the ustream app for the iPod. Stream live video anywhere you have a wifi connection.
Even if you don't have a live wifi connection, you can shoot the video and stream it when you are connected.
It's amazing how the barriers to doing this kind of stuff have fallen over the years.

Bridge Winners

2011-05-24T20:31:00.000-04:00

One of the best Bridge blogging sites out there. Check it out:
Bridge Winners

Amazing blog...

2011-05-19T15:36:00.004-04:00

Took these two pics from this blog
http://www.cracktwo.com/2010/08/siblings-of-famous-people-84-pics.html
You can find them under the "Girls with Freckles" section.......but be sure to check out some of the oher arresting images on the site.

ARNOVA 8 Android tablet...

2011-05-16T10:54:00.004-04:00

Just picked one up, they literally just came on the market with the capacitive screen. Previously they were resistive.
Anyway, build quality is impressive for an inexpensive tablet, however, with the original firmware the device was a little sluggish, scrolling was quite jerky, selection of screen items hit-or-miss, and worst: whenever the tablet put itself to sleep it froze. This required the reset button to be pressed, and then it would boot, but after that you'd still have to go through the screen calibration again before you could use it. As it's supposed to be "instant on", that's a definite downer.
Last night there was a firmware update posted on the Arnova site, so I installed it. It fixed, or really improved most issues, yet the tablet still requires the reset if it is allowed to sleep for more than about 30 minutes.
So I have 3 choices:
1...return it.
2...wait for a firmware fix that will cure the problem, or
3...try a hacked firmware from arctablet.
As it's such a new machine I am obviously loathe to try hacked firmware at this point, so I guess I will wait a while and see if Archos (Arnova is a brand of theirs) can come up with the fix.

Update: tried putting the tablet down for sleep, and connecting it to the power supply. It still blanks the screen after a minute of course, however, for the next hour or so, providing the unit remains plugged in, a press on the power button (or home screen button) wakes it up immediately. For about another half hour after that it'll still wake ....but now only using the power button. About another half hour after that, and it's back to needing the reset button pressed.
So, my guess is that something is happening during the different levels of sleep that the tablet is entering that eventually causes it to be unable to wake.

Last update: Returned it to the supplier. Archos seems to have a real history of never-quite-fixing-their-junk-yet-nevertheless-putting-it-out-on-the-market. Google reveals all.

Making me tired...

2011-05-02T22:28:00.001-04:00

Say no more.

Frankenbike...

2011-05-02T10:49:00.003-04:00

From Gizmodo...
This could be the ultimate "bike." If bikes running off two car batteries plus an electric power drill is considered a bike. The DIY badboy has a seat fashioned out of an office chair, eight wheels and three bike frames.

Bicycle wine storage...

2011-04-30T13:51:00.001-04:00

File it under the "just in case" category...

Wild ride...

2011-04-29T12:24:00.000-04:00

Sent to me by my friend Karl.

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Canoe building...

2011-04-04T20:52:00.006-04:00

Spent a very pleasant afternoon with Dave and Dave (2 boyhood friends), a few miles north of here. Their passion is building canoes and small wooden boats, and sometimes renovating old canoes.
I got to see some pictures of their work, and it's quite impressive. In a large barn there are about six canoes and small sailing boats that they have worked on, but all these pictures were taken in an adjacent workshop, where they were working on a canoe that was about half-built.
I'll let the photo's speak for themselves.

Bad hair day.....

2011-03-30T10:24:00.005-04:00

And one might think they could afford a trip to the hairdresser. Even a little mousse?

The Lost System of Jigger Johnson...

2011-02-23T08:50:00.000-05:00

JIGGER JOHNSON has been called the last of a colorful breed of loggers - - that race of men who cut a swath of timber from Maine to Oregon and yelled like crazed devils every spring when the drive was in and they were released from the savage woods for a few days to pound the bars. His life, and especially his death at age 65 in 1935, symbolized the end of an era. As writer Stewart Holbrook noted in his book on loggers, "Holy Old Mackinaw," "The professors would term Jigger’s brief story an epitome, and so it was. "In tribute to one of the 20th century's most colorful characters, the U.S. Forest Service’s Saco Ranger District on the Kancamagus Highway (Route 112) in Conway is featuring an exhibit on the late former USFS employee beginning in mid-January.The late Bob Monahan, who died in 1994 at age 86, was a former Dartmouth College forester and longtime friend of the Jigger. Monahan claimed that the nickname, "Jigger," could be attributed to Johnson’s small stature, as he was only five-foot-six, and never weighed more than 160 pounds. Monahan first met "the Jigger" in 1924 when Jigger was working for the Forest Service at the Carter Dome Fire Lookout and Monahan was an avidly hiking teenager. He recalled that the old logger’s physical strength was widely renowned throughout the logging camps of the North Country. "All of him was steel-spring muscle, except his head, which contained brains aplenty”; said Monahan, a founding member of the 1932 Mount Washington Observatory and a member of the summit crew that year. "Those who witnessed him in battle still recall his courage and ferocious attack — no matter the odds against him”. There, by the grace of God and assorted genes, walked a man among men. Monahan added that Johnson was the "roughest and finest character who ever set foot in the timberlands of the Northeast." Jigger himself said as much. Christened Albert Lewis Johnson at his birth in Fryeburg, Maine, in 1870, Jigger’s life and works were so grand that he existed part real, part myth. Although Jigger claimed that many of the tales were exaggerations of the truth, there is no denying that he was a unique individual who stood apart from his colleagues in an age of eccentric men. "I can run faster, jump higher, squat lower, move sideways quicker, and spit further than any son-of-a-bitch in camp," is the way Johnson used to put it upon his arrival at a new logging operation. Others might add that he was the greatest drinking man’s he-man, blessed with a stomach lined with boilerplate. Jigger was tough even at the usually tender age of 12, a fact, which he quickly proved during a mealtime scuffle with a grown man twice his size upon his arrival at a logging camp. Conversation at dinner was forbidden, a custom, which was challenged by a new group of loggers who arrived in camp with heavy hangovers, just in time for supper.When one of them insisted on talking loudly at the table, Jigger dutifully told him to shut up, prompting the elder man to jump the boy and push him to the floor where he pounded him. Jigger hugged the big drunk close, set his keen young teeth into an ear, and hung on. When some of the crew pried the pair apart, a good hunk of the ear remained in Jigger’s mouth. In honor of the young "cookee’s" grit and vigor, the crew passed around a hat and bought Jigger a fine new red woolen shirt and a full pound of B. & L. Black chewing tobacco. Jigger soon graduated from the cookhouse, and came up through the ranks - - "swamping roads," tending landing, and chopping, to emerge at 20 as a head chopper in charge of a camp on the Androscoggin River. According to the accounts of old loggers, he had few equals as a woodsman at a time when a man was judged by the smoothness of the scarf of his axe’s undercut. He could fell a tree uphill, downhill, with or against the wind, even so that upon falling it would drive a stake previously set in the ground. It was told that he would walk a felled spruce, barefoot, and kick off every knot from butt to top. Countless times, Monahan wrote, Johnson slept all night in snowdrifts, with apparently as much comfort as any bear. Without compass, pencil or paper, he’d cruise through 100 acres of mixed fir and spruce and come out with uncannily accurate estimates of the eventual cut. He even knew when it was going to rain, snow, or freeze at least 24 hours before it happened. From his first season as a head chopper, Jigger was as equally knowledgeable about men as he was of the weather and woods. Although he had a reputation as a slave driver of sorts, he could nevertheless walk into saloons in Berlin and North Stratford and recruit a crew of brawling lumberjacks to go with him to drive logs on the Nulhegan, a dangerous tributary of the Connecticut feared by most loggers in the North Country. (More likely than not, he often had to take on a few of them first, just to prove who was best man.)Despite his considerable fighting skills, Jigger’s taut body bore the marks left by the stellcalks of opponent’s logging boots, injuries which he referred to as his "logger’s smallpox." That his face was free from such marks was attributed to the fear in which men held Jigger’s teeth. Jigger was well into his 50s when the New England pulpwood industry went bad in the 1920s, forcing him to look for work. He found it as a fire lookout for the U.S. Forest Service, as they first placed him atop Mt. Chocorua, and later moved him to the summit of Carter Dome, the highest fire tower in the northeastern United States. It was at the latter location where the aging but still strong Jigger first met Monahan, who was then stationed as the caretaker of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Carter hut. It was to be the start of a mutually rewarding friendship between the feisty logger and impressionable young outdoors enthusiast.
Sometime in the fall of 1932 Jigger was trying to hitch a ride down to his favorite tavern in Portsmouth. Few cars passed him by in the great woods, but after two days of hitching, and sleeping overnight in a frozen ditch, a car driving Harold S. Vanderbilt to Bretton Woods kindly stopped. Jigger immediately struck Harold as a man with a keen mind, and Harold imparted in Jigger all he knew about the game of Contract Bridge, a game then in its infancy. Within a few months Jigger became adept enough at the game to win consistently, dazzling all with his card skills, his savage mountain brain tricking the clueless minds of seasoned players. But this was not enough for Jigger: he took the best parts of Vanderbilts’ pet system, the forcing club, and married it with super-light opening bids and dazzling psyches. “Presumed Fit” opening bids and even a “Forcing Pass” were part of his system, both uses of these bids pre-dating the “invention” of them decades later by others. He was unbeatable that summer of ’33. Sadly, Jigger’s lifestyle and alcohol consumption severely limited his tournament appearances for what was to be the rest of his life.
Jigger also made a good lookout — alert, competent, and conscientious as long as there was actual fire hazard in the woods, according to Monahan. But when rains soaked the forest, Monahan said, Jigger took to seeing bats, winged eels and other phenomena familiar to able bodied drinking men. Much as the Forest Service appreciated his extensive trail building and repair work in the mountains and congenial treatment of hikers, they had to let the old woodsman go. He next moved onto a similar fire lookout post in northern New England, working for a privately owned shooting preserve. Ever industrious, Jigger set up a small still atop his difficult to reach, Bald Mountain perch. He named it "Johnson’s Tin-Plated, Triple Worm, Little Giant Still. Following detection of the device and his subsequent discharge from the preserve owners service, Jigger took a job at a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp on Wild River near Gilead, Maine, in 1933. Hired as a LEM (Local Experienced Man) or handy man, Jigger owed his job in large part to Monahan, who, by that time, had graduated from Dartmouth, helped found the Mount Washington Weather Observatory, and was then hired as the superintendent of the CCC camp. The young, city-bred CCC men quickly came to respect Jigger as a woodsman without equal. Many who worked under his guidance said later that they never learned so much about the woods in a short period as they did from the old logger. But the CCC life was not for Jigger - - there were rules about shaving, bathing and clothing; there were study periods every night. It was all a far cry from his early days as a boss of 100 wild riverhogs. Finally, he could take it no more, and because of his periodical sprees, Monahan and the company doctor had to let him go with deep regret. Set free, Jigger took to trapping, making his headquarters in a cabin on Douglass Brook in Passaconaway which he later sold for $400 to Monahan and his wife, Alice, provided that he could still use it. Catching lynx and bobcats along his far-flung trap lines, Jigger also took mink, muskrat, weasel and fox, as well as the valuable fisher cat.Jigger’s life came to a tragic and churlish end on a cold winter day in March 1935. Having sold a big lynx only a day or two before and consequently in funds, he’d headed into Conway to celebrate with his drinking cronies while his bounty receipts lasted. Remembering that state law required daily visits to traps, and realizing that he was a day or two overdue, Jigger hired what he still called a horse-less carriage and a driver to take him to a point off the West Side in Passaconaway where he could take off on snowshoes for his trap line. Moving along all too fast, the car slithered off the icy road and sideswiped a telephone pole just as Jigger had opened the door to jump out. All of the old-time loggers attending his funeral remarked that it was a hell of a way for the Jigger to get sluiced, Stewart Holbrook noted. He was buried in a pauper’s grave at North Conway Cemetery, according to David Emerson of the Conway Historical Society. Largely through the urging of Monahan and other friends, the U.S. Forest Service honored the great woodsman by naming a campground located on the Kancamaugus (sic) Highway after Jigger. It’s one way of remembering a man and a way of life whose time has long passed.
During October of 1993, two friends, Neill Currie and Tony Melucci, were exploring the Lost River on the Cancamagus highway in New Hampshire. They were friends through their love of Bridge, and were out leaf-peeping. Scrabbling around the many rocky “man holes” in the Lost River, Tony chanced upon a small silver locket wedged into a crack in the rock. It looked like it had been there for many, many years. Back in the light of day, they opened the locket, and carefully unfolded the delicate parchment within. Their hands trembled when they realized what was before them: the fabled “Lost System of Jigger Johnson”, which had been lost for sixty years, was detailed for the young pair of fledgling players. It took them many months to grasp the full intricacies of “The System for the ages”, as Edgar Kaplan once called it reverently, but their addled brains finally worked out some of the arcane knowledge contained within that silver locket. Months later, when the two had finally eked out enough of Jiggers brilliance to play a dull version of it themselves, hacking in local Bridge Clubs, Neill would invariably make some bone-headed bid, costing the pair many matchpoints. Tony would sigh, and gently ask his friend “Now, what would Jigger have done?”
And thus, “The Lost System” lived on to fight another day.

Bike room...

2010-12-05T11:06:00.001-05:00

and goodie storage...

Rauber...

2010-11-03T16:44:00.004-04:00

Probably Reynolds 531 or similar, rides just like it. Beautiful heart-shaped cutouts in lugs. Paint-matched Silca framepump. Very nice ride, stable yet fast, takes up to a 700c x 35mm tire. Has "Greg Hindley" in tasteful gold script on toptube.

Babbage, before his time...

2010-10-18T12:19:00.001-04:00

A British technologist has started a non-profit campaign to eventually build a working copy of Charles Babbage's Enalytical Engine. Help him out:

One of fifty...

2009-12-03T12:13:00.003-05:00

I owned this bike since it was one month old in 1987. It's a Fuso MTB, made by Dave Moulton, who has since retired. There are a few more pics here. The first pic is not of my bike however, mine's a 22 inch frame. The paint job etc are identical though.

Don't try this at home...

2009-10-23T10:51:00.000-04:00

The Ultimate Faceplant - Watch more Funny Videos

Neat locking bicycle...

2009-10-23T10:48:00.001-04:00

Tony Pereira's Magical Locking Bicycle from j. dunn on Vimeo.

Too bad the wheels aren't protected !!

Rickshaw ride in New Delhi....

2009-10-23T10:36:00.000-04:00

This is exactly what it was like there last spring.

Scary downhill...

2009-10-23T10:33:00.002-04:00

Doesn't seem to be much chance of overtaking. Maybe it's just a time trial?

Woe to Vista...

2009-10-22T11:35:00.002-04:00

I have just one laptop with Windows Vista installed on it. As it was purchased a year after the launch of Vista, most of the weirdness and faults that give the Vista OS its unique "charm" had already been patched and fixed. I wouldn't say it offered many, or any advantages over XP, but it was on the machine, and it worked.
A couple of weeks ago I started noticing that some updates and patches for the OS (the ones that come down the Interweb pipe to the laptop on a semi-regular basis) were repeatedly failing to install. A little digging, and a lot of the failures were due to something called the .net framework failing, and also an update/service pack for the .net framework. A little googling revealed that several other people had exactly the same issue as me, and had tried all manner of fixes, including time with Microsoft's tech support, and had failed to resolve the issue. I was sure I wouldn't be added to the list of the severely frustrated. Little was I to know.
After trying the various fixes outlined by Microsoft MVP's on the web, nothing worked. So I called Microsoft's Tech support. Very nice "help" from people in Indonesia, and then later in India, but everything they tried failed miserably. I spent a total of two and a half hours on the phone with them, essentially for nothing.
The next day a chipper voice called me from Microsoft, asking whether the issue was resolved or not, and was a little perturbed when I told him the sorry state of affairs, and that I was just not interested in spending yet more time on the phone.
I suspect the only sure "cure" for this issue is a full reinstall of the OS, followed by interminable downloads of the hundreds of security patches, followed by a reinstallation of all the applications, user data and settings. In other words: hours and hours of work.
Meanwhile, I "hid" the offending .net framework update. At least it doesn't try to repeatedly keep failing to install itself any more. The laptop isn't optimally functional, but I will keep on using it till the day I HAVE TO reinstall everything.
Memo to Microsoft: this is unacceptable.

Ecology week...

2009-08-27T11:24:00.003-04:00

In the space for one car fit 42 Bromptons...and they are stacked just one deep. Imagine how many would fit if they were to keep stacking them to the height of the adjacent vehicles.

CamperBike...

2009-08-24T19:50:00.001-04:00

No idea how heavy this thing is, but it's a pretty neat concept.

Maratac and ITP EOS AAA flashlights

2009-08-19T14:53:00.003-04:00

These are maybe the two hottest little AAA flashlights right now. The one on the left is the Maratac AAA, which is made by ITP, who also make the black light on the right. Both are tiny pocket rockets, especially when run from 10440 Li-Ion cells.
Though they come from the same factory there are differences between them. My EOS has more output than the Maratac, and the EOS beam is also appreciably more concentrated (despite the EOS reflector having more pronounced Orange Peel). Reading comments at CandlePowerForums others experience the same, or opposite, so YMMV. Also, the threading is better and has a tighter tolerance on the Maratac.
I took the keyring nub off the end of my EOS today. I couldn't imagine carrying this little gem on my keyring anyway, getting it all scratched up. I can report that the anodization is very hard, and generously thick. I ended up using a dremel, a couple of grades of emery paper, then some Mothers Aluminum polish.
That little sucker gleams like a mirror now. Just have to remember never to get fingerprints on it, and to buff it regularly ;-)

Puppy Linux: v4.2 "Deep Thought"

2009-04-23T17:25:00.003-04:00

Just installed this to the hard drive of my relatively newish, though 5 years old Toughbook CF-18, after trying it out first as a "live CD".
Impressions: Fast, VERY full-featured, makes XP look so very bloated let alone Vista, and has a surprisingly slender learning curve....which is always nice for ex-Windows geeks like myself. There may be some issues with installing more complex hardware like Printers, Scanners, WebCams etc, but so far it has been almost all plug-and-play. Now, why can't Microsoft be so smart???
Get it, or read about it here Puppy Linux
Download it in a couple of minutes, burn the ISO to CD, then try it out live, before deciding whether to install it to the hard drive. Boy, the extra speed is so nice!! Did I ever mention that it is fast ;-)

Farewell to Bush #43.

2009-03-11T10:37:00.001-04:00

Nothing else to say, just watch....

Bridge System, CurriedFishRot's* ancestor...

2009-03-10T12:26:00.009-04:00

It involves the lightest opening bids allowed by the ACBL (8+ HCP, and 4+ card length), a forcing Club, a completely artificial 1D opening showing ANY shape at all (13-14 HCP), weak 2H and 2S on a puny 0-7 HCP and 5+ length, and a 2-suited over-calling system that stresses showing shape not HCP.
For the curious, here are more details:

Bridge Agreements: March 2011

-----------------------

1NT opening: 10-14 first 3 positions. In 4th seat: 14-17.
Stayman, red-suit transfers and Minor Suit Stayman over any 14+ HCP 1 or 2 NT opener, or after a 1 or 2 NT rebid after opening 1C.
We play "Touching Escapes" when a 10-14 NT gets doubled.
If it goes 1NT, pass, pass, double,....then Opener plays "Touching Escapes" himself.
Lebensol when necessary....isn't it always???
Forcing Stayman only applies after a 10-14NT.
If they overcall our 1NT with a *natural* 2C or 2D, then doubles by 3rd hand are negative.....and opener is expected to protect a pass by 3rd hand (which may include a search for penalties).

-----------------------

After our 1C opener(15+ HCP, any shape):

1NT response is either 9-10 or 17+ hcp, 2H is 11-12, 2S is 13-14, 2NT response shows 15-16. Clubs is always Stayman, all suit bids are natural and game-forcing.
If they overcall our 1C opener: our suit bids show 5-8 HCP and 5+ suit, NF. Double shows any 9+ HCP, GF. Cue bid shows 9+ HCP, GF, either asking for a stopper for NT, or showing no biddable length.
If they overcall our 1C opener: our 1NT shows 5-7 hcp with a stopper, our 2NT shows 8-9 hcp with a stopper, our 3NT shows 10-11 hcp with a stopper. Then 2C and 3C bids are always Stayman, suit bids are natural and forcing 1 round.

A 4C bid over 3NT shows ???
Suit bids over 3NT are to play??? or forcing 1 round???

A 4NT bid shows/asks what???

-------------------------

After our 1D opener(good 13-14 HCP, usually unbalanced when vul):
Simple 1NT rebid will show 3 card support for major when Vul.
2NT jump rebid shows 5+/5+ in minors.
Support doubles through 2H.
Negative freebids through 3D.
Responder game-forces over overcalls by first doubling then bidding a suit.
1D-2C, and 1D-2D are F1R+.
2NT response shows 11 hcp, no major.
New suits by responder are always F1R.
All jump responses are weak, except 1D-2H shows exactly 4 spades and 5 hearts, and a weak hand(if second hand doubles, it reverts to weak with 6 hearts)

--------------------------

After our 1H/1S openers (8-12 HCP, 4+ suit):
Support doubles through 2H.
Negative freebids through 3D.
Responder game-forces over overcalls by first doubling then bidding a suit.
All jump responses are weak.
New suits by responder are always F1R.
All major raises tend to be pre-emptive, but we are bidding opposite a known, tight-range opener.

1M-2C is artificial/natural, GF. Openers first rebid is natural. We need to discuss continuations.

1M-2D is ostensibly natural and F1R, but needs alerting as it may not be what most people would consider bidding 2D on, due to the nature of the 2C bid above.

1M-2NT is basically Jacoby. opener rebids to show a shortage, rebids 3M to show no shortage with a minimum, 3NT to show no shortage with a maximum.

-------------------------

Over our 2C opener, 8-12 with 5+ clubs, may have a 4 card major:
2D forces and asks.
2H and 2S are to play, as are all other suit bids.

-------------------------

Over our 2D opener, 8-12 with 5+ diamonds, may have a 4 card major:
2NT forces and asks.
2H and 2S are to play, as are all other suit bids.

------------------------

If we open an artificial bid: 1 Club, or 1 Diamond, then the subsequent first double by either opener or responder is NOT PENALTY. It is either a forcing noise, or for takeout.
If we open 1C and get a positive response, all doubles are penalty.
If we open 1NT (or 2NT ???), if they intervene and we double, then that is for penalty.
---------------------------------
After our 1D/H/S opening bid, double by them:
Redouble by us (3rd hand)shows cards. If followed with a new suit bid it is GF+.
-------------------------------
After our 2C or 2D opening bids, double by them:
Redouble is the only forcing noise.
All suit bids are natural, non-forcing.
-------------------------------.

CurriedFishRot is a system first played in 1989 by Steve Rothman, and Billy Fishbeck; devised by Neill Currie. It first employed a nebulous 1 club opener, a strong 1 diamond opener, 8-11 hcp 1M openers, and a 12-14 hcp 1NT opener. Since then, it has morphed a little into what you read above.

Barbara, just before leaving Chennai for Madurai

2009-02-28T07:04:00.002-05:00

Barbara is leaving Chennai in 2 days to travel to Madurai where she'll spend a couple of weeks in an Ashram. She sent me a couple of pics. It's getting hot there now (into the 90's), and VERY humid, she says.

More pics...

2009-02-24T10:14:00.003-05:00

From Barbara...

Letter from Barbara.

2009-02-24T09:43:00.002-05:00

I'm having an amazing time and have stayed healthy except for a bad cold the second week. Unfortunately Neill got very sick his last day and had to go to the hospital once he got home and then go to a parishioners house to be taken care of. Bad stomach virus.

I go to a different church every Sunday to preach and give greetings. The churches here can have a thousand families. The first time a helped with communion at the rail for over 500 people, my back felt like it would never straighten out. These big churches sometimes have an assistant pastor but sometimes not. This past Sunday I went gave greetings and did the communion at one church and then went with the pastor to two smaller churches that he goes to on a monthly basis for sacraments. Even the smaller churches were filled and overflowing, children sitting on mats in the front. It's wonderful to see all these enthusiastic Christians, many of them new converts; I understand that those who are like 4th generation Christians are no longer so active--what can we do to keep faith alive? After the 3 churches, we went to do a house blessing and had a big meal. I like the food and eat most of it; however, I can't get use to eating with my hands. I asked for a spoon and they had to go down the street looking for one. The next stop was a birthday service for a one year old. On the way I was asked to do the sermon--5 min. That's probably the area I've grown most in, letting the Spirit speak through me and I'm amazed at some of the things I come up with.

I'm working with several women's programs. They have a granny program where they give provisions monthly as well as counseling. Once they found out I was a Rev. many wanted me to pray for them. They stood in line kneeling at my feet. Most of them could not understand English but they knew I was praying. Some church services are in English but two of the three I've been at are in Tamil and so I have a translator. That language problem is the worst. Anyhow 4 of the grannies wanted to come see me the next day at the Bethany House where other womens programs happen. We had great fun together, individual prayers of course, translated conversations and ended with a group hug. We were more than an hour late meeting with them but they waited. Everything here except for church runs pretty late. Traffic is a big part of that reason.

I'm also teaching some of the self-help group how to crochet. I found a pattern for easy coin purses that I thought they might make and sell. It will take a lot of practice.

I'm also working with some children whose families live on the street. The diocese pays their tuition to religious school and provides daily study time from 4-6 so they can have a place for homework and some nutrition. I loved playing with them--did the hokey pokey. Anyhow I'll attach a few pictures of what I have described. I leave Chennai, my month long service project in one week and go on to a seminary in Madurai. The worst part has been loneliness in my living situation. 85% of the time I have been by myself in the Bishop's guest house. It's okay except for dinner time. They brought me food at first but now I go out to eat but there are only a few places close by.

All in all I'm glad I'm here. Love, Barbara

Barbara in Chennai still.

2009-02-24T09:29:00.004-05:00

It's her last week there. She took a side trip to Velore to visit one of the other Church Programs, but these pictures were all taken in Chennai. The one pic of her playing soccer without a ball with several children, is apparently her trying to teach them the Hokey Kokey (Hokey Pokey to Americans??).

Latest Pics from Barbara in Chennai

2009-02-14T07:19:00.003-05:00

Just got these from Barbara in Chennai via email. Here's her description of them:
"1) Pastor Barbara arriving in Chennai to start month of volunteering with Professor Cornelius, in charge of volunteers. 2) First Sunday, preached and shared in Eucharist at Holy Cross--conservative Anglican church. Shown with their Pastor. 3)Daycare children performing for volunteers in Bethany House, my main placement. 4) Pastor Barbara with some children and staff at Bethany House. 5) All dressed up with other volunteers at a celebration for Indian pastor that just received his DMin."

Just back....

2009-02-05T17:01:00.007-05:00

It took roughly 48 hours of mind-numbing plane journeys and mammoth layovers, but, I am back!!! I currently have terrible stomach cramps and gas, but here are a few pics from the last few days in Calcutta. In order: a small shrine by the river, a mix of the old and new (super modern bridge, with ancient fishing vessels on the bank), the towers of the bridge behind a public building often used for music and plays, and lastly, a video of a fairly typical street market scene in Calcutta. As usual, you can click on any of the pics to get a much larger rendering. Just click the play button to play the video. More videos have been uploaded to youtube. Just search for videos from luckybj2003

Varanasi last day

2009-01-27T22:32:00.003-05:00

Our last day here in Varanasi.
Writing this in possibly the nicest Internet Cafe we have seen.......anywhere in the World. Not only is the Cappucino excellent, but it's full of the local silks and fabrics to browse through and possibly buy. If the suitcases were no already bursting that is.
We board the overnight train to Calcutta at 4pm today, arriving there at 7am. So far the rail has been an easy way to travel, provided we have reserved seats.

Here's a link to someone elses video, showing a typical street scene here.

Varanasi, the holiest city in India.

2009-01-27T06:28:00.002-05:00

We've been here a couple of nights now. Both of us ate something a bit too delicious for our weak white stomachs last night, and paid for it this morning. I also had a really bad (lack-of-caffein-related) migraine, which has mostly fixed itself....but not without the aid of a thousand Mg of Ibuprofen and some drug-induced sleep.

It's taking so long to upload video's as the upload speeds are slow, so I may have to wait till I return to the USA before posting more video.

Here's two links to whet your appetite.
Link #1

Link #2

Erotic Temples at Khajuraho

2009-01-24T02:24:00.006-05:00

Spent the morning visiting the amazing Temple complex here at Khajuraho. Lots of them built around a thousand years ago, the guide said there were about 85 built in all, though many have fallen into misuse and disrepair since. Many of the temples are famous for their erotic carvings, inspiration for the Karma Sutra, which was to be written centuries later.
At times I had to shield Barbara's eyes from some of the more explicit work, scroll to the bottom of the linked page to find out what I mean.

Taj Mahal and The Red Fort in Agra

2009-01-23T09:26:00.005-05:00

Visited the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort today. Both are in Agra, both are large, impressive monuments with legends and history attached to them. Though having already seen the Taj in many pictures before, nothing prepared us for the magnificence of the building, its location, and the unbelievable condition it is still in....even after centuries of use. It's simply amazing, amazing!!
I also posted a video or two on youtube.com showing a couple of minutes worth of video of the Taj. Search youtube for videos from luckybj2003.

more delhi pics

2009-01-17T12:09:00.003-05:00

Delhi links

2009-01-17T00:00:00.003-05:00

Temples in Delhi

We have had some great food here, both at our hotel, and on the street. Sometimes in littles holes in the wall you wouldn't be caught dead in back in the USA.

Street life

Delhi

2009-01-16T23:26:00.003-05:00

Fascinating city. Seems like we have been here ages,yet it has been just a couple of days.
Here's a few snaps we took, nothing major. They are mostly pics of tombs and local sights, one pic of Barbara with our tour organizer taken in the hotel.

Delhi Pics and video

2009-01-16T07:29:00.003-05:00

The pics on the still camera proved unworthy, but there are video clips. Search youtube for videos from luckybj2003

Off to India in 2 weeks.

2008-12-30T13:31:00.002-05:00

Barbara finagled a grant from the Lilly Foundation that covers travel for her and her nearest and dearest (that includes me ;-) to India. In her case the travels will be for 3 months, in my case just for the first 3 weeks of that period.
We'll be in northern India, after she leaves me she'll be travelling down the east coast to southern India where she'll be visiting ashrams and doing a variety of spiritually-related stuff

It's nearly over.....

2008-12-02T16:51:00.000-05:00

Music.

2008-12-02T16:40:00.000-05:00

If you like Leonard Cohen, you'll probably love this.

Stumbleupon.com

2008-12-01T21:37:00.000-05:00

Had some time free today, and finally decided to explore the amazing resource that stumbleupon.com provides. Here's just a few images.

And now for something completely different....

2008-11-27T12:53:00.004-05:00

Not for the squeamish...

Now, THATS where the cell phone disappeared to...

First computer hard drive.

2008-11-24T21:38:00.000-05:00

September 4, 1956: The launch of the IBM 305 RAMAC

Ramac The first hard drive arrived in the 305 RAMAC, meaning that the computer could store data digitally. Not much data, though – the one-ton machine seen in an archive photograph being loaded into an aircraft on a forklift truck, could store a little less than 5MB of information. Thumb-sized USB drives will now store more than a thousand times that quantity of data.

- From the Times Archive, 1958: IBM announces the RAMAC’s first visit to the UK in 1958

Computing

2008-10-25T15:42:00.001-04:00

A pic of my three favorite computing devices.

The little guy on the left is a Nokia n810, which is sitting on the keyboard of a 15" HP laptop (that I used to make this entry), and the little guy on the right-hand side of the keyboard is my trusty Sharp Zaurus sl-c1000.

Ritchey Commando, circa 1987, Deore XT.

2008-10-25T15:18:00.001-04:00

Purchased from an ebay seller a few years ago. The photo's were very bad, the sellers feedback was perfect, I took a small chance that paid off. When I got the bike I couldn't believe the amazing, time capsule condition it was (still is) in !! All XT, except for a few nice Ritchey components.

circa 1991 Goat with night-sky camo, eclectic components.

2008-10-25T14:59:00.000-04:00

Built this as a tourer as soon as I had it made for me by the guys at Chico. It has done many thousands of miles. Sharp-eyed individuals may note that the 6 speed shifters actually drive 7 cogs on the rear, which are 6 speed spaced!! I custom made the 2 largest cogs on the Shimano Dura-Ace *freewheel* to achieve the effect. At one time I had a Quad Ring adapter up front as well, giving me a range from 16 through 46 up front, and 13 through 28 in the back. I actually needed that super low gear just once, when climbing a hill near Dartmoor, England. That was about 6 years ago, when doing the End to End, loaded touring.

Woodland Camo Goat, circa 1990. Eclectic component mix.

2008-10-25T14:52:00.000-04:00

Thought you might like to see some pics of my 1990 mountain Goat. Fall in New Hampshire today, all pics taken against my favorite tree in my back yard

Perfect gibberish......

2008-10-14T18:13:00.001-04:00

Finally, after an eight year run as Champion of the World at speaking perfect gibberish, #43 has finally met his match. Witness Palins' triple whammy. Who will be next to wear the crown (that surely no-one wants to wear)??

"It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where—where do they go?"

"I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people."

"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education, and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? ... My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School , you get extra credit for watching the debate."

Sad and ashamed.....

2008-05-04T11:33:00.002-04:00

Just a couple of reasons to be disgusted with what's happened (mainly) during the last administration.

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03EFDC1031F936A35755C0A9629C8B63&scp=1&sq=kristof+sean+baker&st=nyt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition_by_the_United_States

The Norman Chroniclers...

2008-04-14T17:17:00.000-04:00

I was walking around the lake today, multi-tasking by listening to a podcast: in this case an episode of the excellent "In our time" by Melvyn Bragg of BBC fame.
In this episode, Bragg was interviewing a group of British historians about the life and times of England during the 11th century. There were references to "Chroniclers", and the way they were described reminded me very much of todays Bloggers. The scale's not so grand of course, with respect to todays Bloggers, but you get the idea.

Vista SP1, great improvement.....

2008-03-20T14:55:00.000-04:00

I only have Vista (Home Premium) on one machine: a HP Athlon 64 laptop with 2GB RAM, and I have tweaked and prodded the OS to deliver the best performance possible. Truth be told, it was running very nicely, fast, and very stable, with no sundry Vista issues.
Anyway, I tracked down the download of SP1 and installed it today, then did my usual Registry cleanup and defrag (which I do after most software changes). Now the laptop is significantly faster!!
Only issue was that the sound driver got "forgotten" in the update, but that was a simple fix in the Device manager.
Kudo's to Microsoft, it's a significant improvement.

Ebay screws up.....

2008-01-31T10:05:00.000-05:00

Ebay used to be a success story. A part of Web folklore, if such a description can truly be meaningful.
It seems they have gone from being a company with meteoric growth and almost unlimited prospects, to now being a company in the dire position of ticking off their customer base: all the people who sell online with them.
Bear in mind that they make no money at all from Buyers, then read the article linked at the head of this post.

What's on your bicycle...

2007-07-02T22:31:00.000-04:00

Culled from the nether regions of the Internet for your viewing pleasure. Just when you think you've seen it all, or that bicycles are a mature/stagnant industry with no innovation, comes something that blows you away.

Thumbshifter renovation....

2007-06-19T08:57:00.001-04:00

So, way back in the day, when the Buffmeister was almost a young man, he worked as a mechanic. Riders would come in with bikes that they'd crashed, and often the casualty was a broken thumb-shifter. They usually broke at the weakest point, which is at the end of the plastic grip that one pushes with their thumb. Some people would have damage to the plastic cap that covers the internals, Shimano did sell replacement caps, but there were many varieties, two different "hands" of them, and few stores carried that part. Shimano only sold thumb-shifters in pairs, of course, and so customers would "donate" one perfectly good, and one broken thumb-shifter to me after replacing both. Pretty soon I had a small box of broken shifters, and I figured out a way of repairing them.
Here's the method I devised.
1...Where the shifter usually broke, flatten the aluminum square with a flat file.
2...Drill a blind hole into the remaining peg, not so far as you drill into the internals and totally bugger the shifter ;-(
3...Screw in a sheet metal screw of sufficient length that when fully in you have about one inch sticking out the thumb-shifter. Screw it in with permanent locktite or 5 minute epoxy on the threads.
4...Wait for it to set. Cut off the head of the screw. grind a point where the head was.
5...Drill a piece of dowel or exotic wood with a blind hole.
6...Fill the hole with epoxy and screw the dowel tightly on the screw. Fill all cracks, imperfections with epoxy.
7...Let it set, overnight.
8...Sand the dowel to shape, decorate/embellish to your liking. In the pic, mine are decorated with copper pipe, only problem is I spend more time buffing them than riding the bike.

Using the above method, I have never had a failure of a repaired thumb-shifter in two decades now.

Also, if the top cap is damaged, you can simply epoxy quarters onto the top, covering up the ugliness. Indian head coins look the coolest.

Lesser known thumb-shifter facts:
1...There's a hidden click at the end of the range. You can make 6 speed shifters work over 7 (six-speed-spaced) cogs, for example. Likewise a 7 speed thumbie will work over 8 cogs if they are spaced as a 7 speed. I often use the inner cog from a Ritchey 2x9 kit to give me a 33 tooth inner cog, with lower overall cassette width (less dish) than using a "standard" cog. Sometimes a small shim is needed for a clean shift.
2...You can adjust the firmness of the indexing: remove the shifter. From underneath unscrew the small #1 philips screw and pop off the top cap. The nut you see on top adjusts the tension(beware it's a left-hand thread: "unscrew" to increase tension). It indexes itself, so a couple of "clicks" is usually enough to change the setting.
3...You can disassemble and rebuild the thumb-shifters. Follow #2 as above, then back off that nut till the shifter internals come apart. Clean and re-lube, reassemble. I don't recommend this, all I have ever need to do in 20 years is flush with WD40, then dribble in some 30W oil, with no disassembly.

Altoids tin toolkit

2007-06-18T22:11:00.000-04:00

Here's the packed and unpacked versions of my Altoids tin toolkit. I carry a tube, patchkit and pump/CO2 as well.
Allen wrenches, a full run from 2 to 8mm.
Wrench Force wrench with 8mm and 10mm and caplifter.
2 tire levers, one has Duct tape wrapped around it.
A shimano wrench that fits 9mm, crank dustcaps, and chainring bolt rears.
WTB chaintool with bailingwire wrapped around handle.
Small half-round file.
Short length of hacksaw blade.
SeberTech M4 tool, pliers and wire cutters will cut 2mm brake cable, also has blade, bottle opener, tweezers, small file, phillips and straight screwdrivers.
3 Topeak dog-bone spoke wrenches cover all common sizes.
Presta to Schraeder valve adapter.
Shimano chain pin.
Master link for chain.
Spare chainlink.
Spare chainring bolt.
Spare waterbottle bolt and nut.
Spare cleat bolt.
A wet-nap to clean up with afterwards.

It's a tight fit, very little else could be packed inside the tin.

Extended tour toolkit

2007-05-29T11:05:00.000-04:00

This kit is used for longer trips, when I want to be able to fix almost anything short of headset or bottom bracket replacement. It's based on one of the modifiable small tackle boxes that fishermen use. Case costs about $1.50. Here's a pic of the closed case:

And here's a pic of it in its open state:

And this is what's in it:
From top right corner, clockwise...
2 tire levers, shortened, with duct tape.
Shortened ballpoint pen (marks puncture location on tube also).
Half-round file.
Craftsman ignition wrenches, 8, 9, 10mm.
3.5" adjustable wrench.
Piece of a hacksaw blade.
Allens: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.5, 2.
8mm to 6mm allen adapter.
Spare chain link.
Wrench Force 4-way spoke wrench.
Botle of chain lube (Eye drop containers are very useful for this purpose).
Lip Balm container filled with grease.
Matches sealed in plastic.
2 strips of double-sided tape.
Small Compass and Thermometer/Windchill gauge.
Emergency whistle.
2 tubes of patch glue.
Fiberfix emergency spoke.
Topeak chaintool.
SeberTech minipliers, wire cutters will cut 2mm brake cable, assorted blades, tweezers, file.
Assorted patches and sandpaper.

Not shown:
14mm socket, ground so the crescent wrench will fit it.
Assorted essential nuts, bolts and various spare parts....Chainring bolt, waterbottle bolt,cleat bolt, Rear derailleur pulley and bolt, chain masterlink.

I also have a small pack which contains:
1 full-length brake and derailleur cable.
A few zip ties.
Bailing wire.
Superglue.
Wetnap wipes.
A pair of latex gloves.
A small rag.
A few cable end caps.

Not enough tooltalk for you? Check out the Altoids tin toolkit.

Before and after.....

2007-04-14T23:18:00.000-04:00

This used to be a classic Guild 12 string guitar in almost immaculate condition.
Then I sold it on Ebay, and mailed it to its new owner in Florida. Seems someone in the USPS handled it rather carelessly, despite it being packing in its padded wooden case, and being covered in stickers proclaiming its fragility, and that it was plain to see I had it insured.
Still, ouch!!

It's not my job....

2007-04-14T23:12:00.000-04:00

Surely this wins some sort of reward? No, wait, it did: Winner of the 2006 "It's not my job contest".
A friend sent it to me via email.

People NOT to do business with.

2007-03-31T16:36:00.000-04:00

I won an auction for a new front hub on Ebay from icyclesusa.com When it came one could easily see that it wasn't new, had been laced into a wheel, and that the telltale marks of spoke pull were there for all to see.
No biggie, I wrote them an email. All I got was an automated reply stating that they never answered their email sent to them through Ebay, but to resend it through their actual site email. This I promptly did, but never heard from them.
Sooo, a month later I am attending to my general Ebay stuff and noticed I had never left feedback for that item, and that they had never left feedback for me either. So, I left them negative feedback for 2 reasons: not replying to my email, and for misrepresenting what they sold me. Closed case, or so I thought.
Until a couple of days later I got an email from Ebay saying icycles had left me negative feedback (claiming I had used defaming and negative language no less!!), and what did I want to do about it.
Simple I thought, I will just ask for it to be removed, as ebay suggested I could, as it was plainly retaliatory feedback, and unwarranted, and against the spirit of ebay's rules.
Wrong, ebay wouldn't let that happen, form email followed form email, but no satisfaction. Just left me scratching my head wondering what the point of the whole feedback system was if you couldn't really use it to express lousy service without getting slammed back.
The moral of the story: don't use ebay's feedback system. Take your frustrations out via a forum like this one instead!!! Oh, one last thing.....and don't buy anything from icyclesusa.com

Dylsexia made me do it......

2007-03-08T22:36:00.002-05:00

Absolutely no prizes for guessing who said all of these in 2005. I personally like #8 (though it also makes me cringe). Thanks to about.com for the quotes.

10) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground." --turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005

9) "I'm occasionally reading, I want you to know, in the second term." --Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

8) "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." --Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 22, 2005

7) "I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it's the mother in me." --Washington D.C., April 14, 2005

6) "Because the — all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers.
For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those — changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be — or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled." --explaining his plan to save Social Security, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005

5) "I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?" --in a note to to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a U.N. Security Council meeting, September 14, 2005 (View photo)

4) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do. First, we're going to save lives and stabilize the situation. And then we're going to help these communities rebuild. The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter) --touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005

3) "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." --Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005 (Listen to audio)

2) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." --to FEMA director Michael Brown, who resigned 10 days later amid criticism over his handling of the Hurricane Katrina debacle, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005 (Listen to audio)

1) "You work three jobs? … Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." --to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005 (Listen to audio)

Pick a letter at random.....

2007-03-08T22:36:00.001-05:00

Todays letter is J. Seems like a high proportion of all slang terms in England have something to do with sex.

And now for something completely different.

2007-03-08T22:36:00.000-05:00

I know you'll appreciate this diversion.

Relaxing the gentleman's way....

2007-03-03T12:15:00.000-05:00

With between one and two feet of snow on the ground, and with winter just over half finished, this is how I wish my summer to be.
By the way, this gentleman is relaxing in a Hennessy Hammock/Tent. If you'd like to get me one for my birthday, I would love the Explorer Deluxe, Asymetrical.

Technorati...

2007-02-26T20:04:00.000-05:00

Technorati...
It's a new word, and it basically means publicity. So, with that shameless plug, here's the required Blog entry to make everyone happy.
We all want our 15 minutes of fame, right?
Technorati Profile

Can you pronounce Singer ?

2007-01-28T14:24:00.000-05:00

I just got back from 8 days of general debauchery and
a certain merriment in Paris, where, I stopped at the
Alex Singer store. I was sort of prepared for the
store and what to expect, but nevertheless was quite
impressed. For those of you that haven't been there, I
have to say, that as a confirmed bike junkie and shop
connoisseur, the Alex Singer experience is like no
other. I remember walking through the west end of
London a couple of years ago, and bumped into the
window of a store that sold bespoke shotguns. Sold in
pairs, made to measure, engraved and buffed to a
certain sheen that only way too much time and skill
can achieve. Heirloom quality. Alex Singer's
storefront has that same essence.
I got there at their lunchtime. Those French know how
to structure working hours in my opinion: 9am to noon,
then 2 to 7pm. Never too many consecutive hours to
tire one out. I was reduced to pressing my nose
against the glass for a few minutes, gaping at the
subtly buffed chrome, paint and alloy adorning the
mostly 531 and 753 bicycles within. A sometimes
strange mixture of seemingly old-world frame set,
complete with box-lining and full chrome, but with a
spanking new Dura-Ace 10 speed kit on it. Lots of
shellacked bar tape, all honey brown, all with lots of
texture, made you want to reach out and feel it. Hand
made stems, heavily chromed and flawlessly polished,
with hidden binder. Time-warp displays of 60's style
panniers, clothing and accessories.

Time for a coffee before they opened, then I came back
to an empty store (it was Saturday even) and an
invitation to tour the back of the shop, sniff the
glue, pluck a few spokes, look like I sort of knew
what I was doing. Hanging from the beams were loads of
partially completed frames, lots of wheels, and a few
repair jobs. Seems like if you own a Singer, even if
it gets flattened by a truck, you still send it back
to see if it just might be salvageable. From stateside
even.
Back at the front of the showroom my eye was very
taken by a 61cm blue AS with exquisitely matching
paneled aluminum fenders. Drat, it's just my size,
just a little too difficult to rationalize YET another
bike, so I resisted manfully. Seems like no-one could
have ever really ridden it, since all the housings
were about 2" too short, quite a remediation when it's
Campy ergo, and shellacked in place.
So, I dawdled some more, eyes darting from bike to
bike, then wrenched myself back to reality. There's
always a next year, always a next bike, always...

It just doesn't get any weirder than this...

2006-10-21T12:39:00.000-04:00

Someone had this pic as part of their Signature on one of the Sharp Zaurus groups here on the net. I couldn't resist snagging it and showing it here. I presume the lizard is real ;-)

Early Rotrax

2006-10-19T15:44:00.000-04:00

Got this bike as a frame and forks from a member of the Classicrendezvous list a couple of years ago. Turns out that the company that made it were still in business back in Southampton, England (they have since closed). So, I call them up, and it took them about one minute to tell me that the bike had been made in February 1951, and that it must be one of the very first of its type, as they only actually started making them in January of that year.
It's in pretty good shape, especially for its age. An obvious repaint, I had to get the rear dropouts filled in with filler-weld as someone had over-zealously tightened the rear wheel too many times. It has that classic English look to it: reasonably ornate lugwork, lots of cutouts in the lugs too, really small diameter rear stays, and a nice spindly, well-raked fork. Mmmm...

It's been a while...

2006-10-19T15:26:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have been writing so little in the blog lately. Went to San Francisco for 2 weeks, found the best Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown, which happened to be close to where my friend lives, so got down there pretty frequently as the picture shows ;-)

Back in Nh now. Fall has been truly spectacular this year, that river road to Henniker is just beautiful!!

The Atascadero Escape Bike

2006-07-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

The Atascadero Escape Bike

One of the many highlights of the show is a bike built by an inmate at the Atascadero State Correctional Facility in the late 50's. Utilized as his escape vehicle, he fabricated the bike from materials found in the maintenance facility, it is speculated that the prisoner initially discovered the fenders and the rear wheel hub shell, motivating him to complete a bike.

The only true manufactured bicycle parts are the fenders and rear hub. The frame, wheels, and componentry were crafted from available scrap. The inmate's resourcefulness and remarkable ingenuity are exemplified by his inclusion of a suspension fork and saddle; hand hammered bent bars, and wheelset. The tires are made from a garden hose. According to local folklore, the fugitive fled the prison by riding the bike to San Jose. It is unknown why the escapee ended his trek at Faber's Cyclery of San Jose, either he needed parts to continue his escape, or was showing off his handy-work. The authorities soon discovered the whereabouts of the fugitive and a gun battle ensued in the backyard of Faber's Cyclery in San Jose amongst a large pile of bicycles. The police apprehended the escapee, leaving the escape bike abandoned in the pile. The history of this bicycle is still under investigation.

Blue suede shoes.

2006-07-20T09:04:00.000-04:00

When I see bicycles that have belonged to their owners a while, that have been modified to fit in with particular needs, have had fashion pecadillos thrust upon them, then it becomes easier to see that "that" bike must belong to "that" person.
Well, in this case, I am not sure if this was Elvis' personal steed, but at least it was inspired by him. And when you look at it, it really couldn't have belonged to anyone else, could it? "Course, in his latter years, I don't think Elvis did much biking.

Such a simple machine....

2006-07-20T08:59:00.000-04:00

One of the main reasons I love bicycles so much, is that they "can" be such pure, simple devices. No redundant systems, no extraneous weight. Then you see this. Was the builder tripping when it was built, and if so, on what?

Old Goat, new coat...

2006-05-27T17:14:00.000-04:00

Click on the pics for very high resolution images.
Decided to let a local powdercoater blast and finish my '85 Goat Candy-apple 2-stage finish. VERY happy with the results of the paint, also with all the work I put into buffing, cleaning and polishing all the parts. I just completed the rebuild, you know how it is when you can't wait to get something finished because it promises to be SO good.
So, the frame and forks are Candy-apple translucent, the bar, stem, barends, bottle cages are "Chrome" translucent. I hand polished the cranks and did my business on the thumbies (Wood and copper piping!!). All pics taken in our back yard immediately after finishing the build. Decals are repro's that I had a sign shop make for me. Wheels are a pair of WTB's that I scored on Ebay a few years ago, never used them till this build. All in all it's been a supremely satisfying experience.

Get outta there, before the mud sets hard!!

2006-03-04T14:48:00.000-05:00

I just hope he didn't bend that top-tube with a delicate body part before the crash.