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Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"
- Thread starter B-string
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Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
- 10,779
- 40,469
- Disclosures
- Mesa Boogie beta product tester and player support
...not sure, I think I fell asleep while playing solitaire....I got a little mixed up and was waiting for another player to take a turn as I recall...but I'm sharp as a tack now, and well rested...
No, just seems like it sometimes.
Actually, I've been playing around with gear mods and not sitting in front of the computer all evening. Trying to get my body ready for cycling season too. That seems to get more difficult every year.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,079
- 46,050
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
What snow chains do you use on your bike?.
That is a thing, but studs seem to be more popular around here. The Ultimate Guide to Winter Bike Tires and Studded Tires
I always wanted to get a screw kit for the knobbies on my dirt bike.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,079
- 46,050
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Ice racing those things looks so gnarly, but I'm a geezer and I need a nice sedate sit-down ride.
I quit riding in the winter a long time ago. Besides the mess it makes of the bike, my body isn't up it. The non-optimum circulation in my hands and feet means that if it's below 40F, I'm good for about 1/2 hour before it stops being fun. After 32+ years of mountain biking, the cumulative injuries have left me busted up to the point that another serious crash could easily end my riding for good. Combine that with snow and ice and increased likelihood of falling, and I'm just not willing to take those risks anymore. That's why my road riding is mostly on a recumbent trike. That and they're a blast to ride. Like putting a recliner on a go kart!
Being a GOF, I did put screws into the soles of some boots for when the ice storms come. I could run on ice with these and not slip. Not gonna test the limits of traction though.
I don't wear 'em in the house though. THAT would be dangerous (if my wife caught me).
Being a GOF, I did put screws into the soles of some boots for when the ice storms come. I could run on ice with these and not slip. Not gonna test the limits of traction though.
I don't wear 'em in the house though. THAT would be dangerous (if my wife caught me).
I don't expect that anybody will know what I'm talking about, but I'm feeling all warm & fuzzy 'cuz I just spent a couple hours stripping down my old '91 Merlin titanium mountain bike to the point of starting to detail it. I'm going to clean it up, make it look like new (one of the benefits of titanium) and reassemble it with some of the old, but still serviceable parts and some newer parts, as kind of a sleeper road cruiser.
It's funny how you can feel real affection for something that's just a hunk of metal. That bike means a lot to me 'cuz it was the one big thing I bought just for me with some of the money my dad left us when he died suddenly in '86, so I've always kind of associated it with him on an emotional level. He was an engineer and craftsman and the one who taught me most about how things work, both on a technical, practical level, and by example, how things work in life. Just by being with him when I was growing up, I absorbed his appreciation for good craftsmanship and real, rather than flashy, appearance based quality. Damn, I miss him still. I wish I had realized how much he meant to me and had told him that before he was gone, but I like to think that in his own quiet, understated way, he knew. Now I gotta go wipe my eyes and blow my nose...
Even though he never saw that bike, I have it because of him, and know that on many levels he chose it for me and with me. It's just a bunch of metal tubes welded together, but it was done with the kind of attention and craftsmanship that he taught me to appreciate. He'd admire the combination of technical mastery and simple elegance that it represents. Like I said, you may not know what (thing) I'm talking about, but I bet you know what I'm talkin' about. Just cleaning up that hunk of nicely made metal reminded me to whom I owe all the good parts of me.
Thanks you guys, for indulging my moment of unmanly sentimentality.
Now get the #$%& off my lawn, dammit!
It's funny how you can feel real affection for something that's just a hunk of metal. That bike means a lot to me 'cuz it was the one big thing I bought just for me with some of the money my dad left us when he died suddenly in '86, so I've always kind of associated it with him on an emotional level. He was an engineer and craftsman and the one who taught me most about how things work, both on a technical, practical level, and by example, how things work in life. Just by being with him when I was growing up, I absorbed his appreciation for good craftsmanship and real, rather than flashy, appearance based quality. Damn, I miss him still. I wish I had realized how much he meant to me and had told him that before he was gone, but I like to think that in his own quiet, understated way, he knew. Now I gotta go wipe my eyes and blow my nose...
Even though he never saw that bike, I have it because of him, and know that on many levels he chose it for me and with me. It's just a bunch of metal tubes welded together, but it was done with the kind of attention and craftsmanship that he taught me to appreciate. He'd admire the combination of technical mastery and simple elegance that it represents. Like I said, you may not know what (thing) I'm talking about, but I bet you know what I'm talkin' about. Just cleaning up that hunk of nicely made metal reminded me to whom I owe all the good parts of me.
Thanks you guys, for indulging my moment of unmanly sentimentality.
Now get the #$%& off my lawn, dammit!
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,062
- 5
- 221,106
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Al Kraft
Supporting Member
- May 2, 2016
- 10,779
- 40,469
- Disclosures
- Mesa Boogie beta product tester and player support
Many of my most valued possessions are mundane things that were part of everyday life for my parents and grandparents...and if they were stolen, the paper the police report would be written on would have a higher cash value.
AMEN!
I struggle with what to do with some of my treasures from the past. We have no children and I don't see any love or respect for these things after we move to the Philippines and are eventually dead and buried. I have wonderful furniture from my dear mothers side of the family, which is quite historical. My father's side might be more interesting to you. I have a desk that belonged my great-grandfather who was a Civil war vet, but the exciting stuff comes from my grandfather, a Danish blacksmith immigrant. I've got an absolutely beautiful 3" shell casing that he hammered away at on in his spare time on a WW1 submarine. It's a relief carving done by hammer and punch with sea creatures and a mermaid (yes, with titties, Fly Navy!), and USN spelled out of fish. That's probably the most interesting and invaluable thing, but there are so many others. I'm wearing his ring, stainless with a copper anvil. So many other amazing things sit about. My dad told me his dad saved a sub and was promoted for it. I never heard the whole story until we buried my dad in Iowa, alongside my mother's parents. There I met for the first time I remember) his first cousin who tole me the story:
My grandfather had enlisted as all good and able bodied men did when a World War broke out. I guess he was a regular deck hand or a boatswain mate, no stripes, E-1. Assigned to submarine duty, and their 16" propeller shaft broke, and she sat on the bottom of the sea. The Skipper asked if anyone could know how to repair the shaft, and my grandfather spoke up and said, "With the help of some men, I think I can." The skipper replied you have the help of any man on this ship including myself. He somehow repaired the shaft and they surfaced and returned to shore. He was then promoted to Petty Officer First Class Blacksmith, and ran a shore based metal shop.
This is why I stand on this sacred ground. Had he failed in his mission, I would not be.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,062
- 5
- 221,106
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Trench/folk art has a huge following among military collectors. Some very stunning pieces of art came out of WW1 and WW2
No doubt that casing (and all the parts I have to make it back into a floor lamp) are worth a fortune. Probably more than the other relics combined, excepting the noisy ones we don't mention here. Well, I'll say flint makes the flash in he pan for the early one
Great story. I served in the Navy from '74-'79. I volunteered for sub duty but they wouldn't take me. Too tall and eyesight too poor without glasses. So I spent my Navy career as a sonar technician. My Job? Finding and blowing up submarines!
Damn, BigUg, you were a handsome young man. I'll bet you had many happy "ports." I was right behind you, VC-5 Philippines 82-88. Were you on P-3's?
Sadly she was decommissioned soon after your service, the same as my squadron. You were on the East coast your entire service? Quick read looks like she was on the West coast. then East during your service...
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