A Costly Oops, The Face of UMR and Lending a Hand
My life sorta-kinda feels like it's back to boring and I'm happy about that. I could do with an extended period of this.
Facebook got very heavy and contentious last week after the school shooting in Oregon. So much so that it felt like the place to not be.
Everywhere I looked there were heated arguments for and against gun control. I have my opinions but I got a strong sense that I wouldn't be changing anybody else's.
The only gun I've ever owned was a Winchester 30-30 Model 94 that I got when I was around 15 years old. I purchased it so I could go deer hunting with my brother-in-law, Jerry. Truth be told, I never wanted to kill a deer. I only wanted to spend time with Jerry.
I used to enjoy shooting it at the gun range the few times we went there.
I can still recall the feeling I got pulling the trigger: the sound, the kick, and the smell of gunpowder. It was fun and I wouldn't want to deny that enjoyment to others. Nor do I think most reasonable people (including Obama) want to take that away, either. We're only hoping for some reasonable measures to be taken so that there's more accountability for gun sales and background checks. As the argument has been made, there's so much worry about terrorism in this country but it's not terrorism that ails us. See the graphic to the right.
I messed up the rear rim on my Shaman, and this one's gonna hurt. The tires I'm using allow for 36 psi but typically I'm down in the 8-10 psi range. For the St Paul Bike Classic a few weeks ago I inflated them to 30 psi knowing I'd be on pavement the entire way and the higher pressure would give me less rolling resistance. It was shortly after I did this that I noticed what appeared to be a flaw in about a 3-inch area of the outer rim. I took my bike into the shop a few days ago to have it looked at. Shawn asked how much pressure I was running and I told him. He showed me in small letters where it states on the rim not to exceed 15 psi. Oops! Like I said, this one's gonna hurt, to the tune of around $500. And that photo in the last link is zoomed in on the valve stem. I honestly never saw that writing as it's actually quite tiny.
Sarma is out of stock of the rim I need but expects to have them within a couple weeks. Shawn has given me the go-ahead to ride it as is but to keep an eye on it.
Rachel is enjoying her new job working for the University of Minnesota at Rochester as an Admissions Representative. She started a couple weeks ago and just finished her first road trip which took her to St Cloud, Alexandria, Morris, Monticello and some other cities in the area.
She visited high schools that were having college informational fairs and set up her table with assorted UMR info. Her job was to answer questions and promote the university. It took just a short while to find her stride as she got her talking points down and connected with the students. She said she had fun getting to know the other college reps working alongside her. And, she got to use UMR's car!
She'll be on the road quite a lot in the months to come. "Per diem" is now a part of her vocabulary.
I went with Tammy and her mother on my first volunteering experience since retiring. This will be a weekly thing for me as I tag along and help with the craft projects Tammy puts together. (I'll blog in more detail about what she's been up to in a future piece.) Today's project involved helping residents of an assisted living facility make a pumpkin out of materials we provided. It was a lot of fun helping out and chatting with the ladies. We had a few tables of residents to work with totaling close to 15 in all.
Tammy is busy upstairs as I write this, working on next week's project. I'm looking forward to it!
I had planned to load my Shaman onto my car last Sunday and drive to the Lyndale Ave trailhead to begin my ride but decided instead to make an afternoon of it and leave my car garaged.
It was a great afternoon to be out riding!
Facebook got very heavy and contentious last week after the school shooting in Oregon. So much so that it felt like the place to not be.
Everywhere I looked there were heated arguments for and against gun control. I have my opinions but I got a strong sense that I wouldn't be changing anybody else's.The only gun I've ever owned was a Winchester 30-30 Model 94 that I got when I was around 15 years old. I purchased it so I could go deer hunting with my brother-in-law, Jerry. Truth be told, I never wanted to kill a deer. I only wanted to spend time with Jerry.
I used to enjoy shooting it at the gun range the few times we went there.
I can still recall the feeling I got pulling the trigger: the sound, the kick, and the smell of gunpowder. It was fun and I wouldn't want to deny that enjoyment to others. Nor do I think most reasonable people (including Obama) want to take that away, either. We're only hoping for some reasonable measures to be taken so that there's more accountability for gun sales and background checks. As the argument has been made, there's so much worry about terrorism in this country but it's not terrorism that ails us. See the graphic to the right.I messed up the rear rim on my Shaman, and this one's gonna hurt. The tires I'm using allow for 36 psi but typically I'm down in the 8-10 psi range. For the St Paul Bike Classic a few weeks ago I inflated them to 30 psi knowing I'd be on pavement the entire way and the higher pressure would give me less rolling resistance. It was shortly after I did this that I noticed what appeared to be a flaw in about a 3-inch area of the outer rim. I took my bike into the shop a few days ago to have it looked at. Shawn asked how much pressure I was running and I told him. He showed me in small letters where it states on the rim not to exceed 15 psi. Oops! Like I said, this one's gonna hurt, to the tune of around $500. And that photo in the last link is zoomed in on the valve stem. I honestly never saw that writing as it's actually quite tiny.
Sarma is out of stock of the rim I need but expects to have them within a couple weeks. Shawn has given me the go-ahead to ride it as is but to keep an eye on it.
Rachel is enjoying her new job working for the University of Minnesota at Rochester as an Admissions Representative. She started a couple weeks ago and just finished her first road trip which took her to St Cloud, Alexandria, Morris, Monticello and some other cities in the area.
She visited high schools that were having college informational fairs and set up her table with assorted UMR info. Her job was to answer questions and promote the university. It took just a short while to find her stride as she got her talking points down and connected with the students. She said she had fun getting to know the other college reps working alongside her. And, she got to use UMR's car!
She'll be on the road quite a lot in the months to come. "Per diem" is now a part of her vocabulary.
I went with Tammy and her mother on my first volunteering experience since retiring. This will be a weekly thing for me as I tag along and help with the craft projects Tammy puts together. (I'll blog in more detail about what she's been up to in a future piece.) Today's project involved helping residents of an assisted living facility make a pumpkin out of materials we provided. It was a lot of fun helping out and chatting with the ladies. We had a few tables of residents to work with totaling close to 15 in all.
Tammy is busy upstairs as I write this, working on next week's project. I'm looking forward to it!
I had planned to load my Shaman onto my car last Sunday and drive to the Lyndale Ave trailhead to begin my ride but decided instead to make an afternoon of it and leave my car garaged.
It was a great afternoon to be out riding!
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