there it is!

http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/RecoveryBill01-15-09.pdf

All one bazillion dollars of it. I don't think it's bad, but I wish they would spend some time on the damn thing. Oh, and Bush's package did more for cyclists than this one does!

Also, I broke my handlebars yesterday. Cracked and bent off right at the left side of the stem. Looking for another set of old drops to saw down, if anyone's got a 25.4mm clamp diameter set for sale, let me know.

just because we elected a black president doesn't make us enlightened.

"this whole rotten system has become so vicious and cruel that in order to sustain itself, it needs to destroy entire countries and profit from their reconstruction in order to survive - and that's not a system that changes every four years, it's a system that we have to break down, generation after generation after generation after generation after generation... Wake up."

-SGT Stanley Griggs
from Iraq

One of many problems that hasn't been solved by electing a handsome, charismatic president is the continued occupation of Iraq.

Not to mention, those of you who read the news will know that Obama signed off on unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan without any sort of agreement with the country's government.

It's been a week since his inauguration, and his signature killed 17 people. We certainly gave him a lot of power.

Is everybody really going to stand by and talk about Aretha Franklin's goofy hat while we pump another trillion dollars into a failed economy without coming up with solutions to make it work in the long term?

Know What You Owe

I don't remember if I mentioned it here, but awhile back I learned that I should never have owed about $375 to Dominion gas due to a bill that wildly overestimated the amount of gas I actually used during the months of November and December. I told a lot of people about it and realized a lot of people aren't aware that the gas companies usually estimate the amount you use, and you can only prevent that by reading your own meter and submitting the number.

$375 is a shitton of money, and frankly, I think it should be illegal to estimate my gas usage based on what some asshole used in the same apartment a year or more ago. Companies like Dominion need to get with the program and either get their personnel to read the meter every month, or do what electric companies have been doing for some time, and install digital meters that can be read from a distance, or even from an office location--the technology certainly exists. And if they're not going to do this, they need to be a little more transparent about the way they bill you. It's true that most likely, an actual reading would've be taken from my meter eventually and my account would've been credited as such. But that's no reason to lend a month's rent at 0% interest to the gas company in the middle of winter.

Feel free to distribute this to anyone you know who pays for gas heat, hot water, cooking, etc., and especially ask them to send their stories to the email address provided. If it's the economy is making us broke, the last thing we need is to be overcharged for having a warm home. I have this flyer in Word format and PDF also if you need it.

major improvements

Today, I replaced the fork on my bike with a much lighter, less heavy-duty Tange Cr-Mo fork that came off a mid-eighties Schwinn frame I just bought (for 20 bucks, bottom bracket and headset included too!):
Here's the old fork, a nice chrome piece also manufactured by Tange, but unfortunately made for 27 inch wheels.

And the finished product, in artistic black and white:

The biggest reason I did all this today is shown below. My brakes (and I know, the cable's frayed and there aren't even any washers on the pads, a big no-no, but it's a fixie, give me a break) work fine, at least as much as I need them to, with the old chrome fork. But if I'm not careful and let one of the arms on the caliper get loose, there's not a lot of clearance between the pads and the tire sidewall. I flatted a few weeks ago this way going down a hill. Coming to a safe stop on a 20% incline after that isn't a pleasant experience, but neither is patching a tube and putting electrical tape around a ripped tire for the ride home in ten degree weather.

You can tell from the photo that mounting those brakes on the right fork really gave me plenty of room to make good contact with the rim. I should've either done something like this or ordered long-reach brakes a long time ago, because the stopping power is incredible, even on my non-machined rims--enough to endo if I'm not careful. There are plenty of other benefits too, since I saved a significant amount of weight, made my frame clearances and wheelbase a lot tighter for more responsive handling, and now have eyelets on the front for when I choose to mount my full fenders.

Lesson learned: it's worth having the right tools for the job.

cold

Every winter, I coat the inside of my steel frame with an aerosol compound called Frame Saver. It's some kind of petroleum distillate that hardens into a gummy layer when exposed to the air, and it greatly protects against the road salt that is used in great excess in this city. Most of the time it's just overkill--the amount of salt they sling on the concrete from huge trucks--at least for my traction needs on the road. I've only broken out the studded tires a few times so far this winter, and really just because it's fun on occasion.

It's hard to keep momentum when there are carbide spikes sticking out of your wheels though, and exerting yourself really takes its toll on your energy reserves when starts to get below around 20 degrees--you're burning a hell of a lot of calories in the winter just to keep the blood in your fingers liquid. It's gonna be in the single digits this week, probably below zero for a day or two, and the snow is finally dry and powdery, not a frozen sheet that thaws to a disgusting saltwater slush in the daytime. I get excited thinking about moving to a city that has a real winter someday, with less freezing rain. But in any case, I have my narrow tires on with a little less pressure in the tubes than usual, and that does just fine. I'm also using my nicer set, a pair of Serfas Seca RS 23s that run about forty bucks apiece and are worth it for the flat protection, rolling resistance, and traction, instead of the rather flimsy ten-dollar hutchinsons.

Pictures to start happening again soon, the weather's about to get pretty intense and I'd like to get some photos of it. I found my cable, just need to buy some batteries, as my headlight's been eating them up. Really need to get a rechargable headlight.