Monthly Archive for May, 2009

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Ride and Ride Again

Published on May 22, 2009 in bike by risu. Closed

After a long Friday at work and a hot commute home, the last thing I wanted to do was sit inside and vegetate in a sweltering house, so I geared up and went for an easy spin. After yesterday’s Tantalus ride, I wasn’t out for a grunt. Wispy high-altitude clouds far overhead scalloped like the feathers on a Barred dove and titanium gray skies out over the bay hinted at the approaching weather front forecast to bring instability and rain tomorrow. Hope the weather is good for a Sunday ride…

D = 12.12 km (7.53-miles), Vavr = 16.3 km/h (10.1-mph), Vmax = 41.5 km/h (25.8-mph), T = 45-minutes

Swine Flew

Published on May 21, 2009 in bike by risu. Closed

I was powered by a pork adobo plate lunch up Tantalus on Thursday. I was working solo, so I had to turn in an hour of overtime in order to get everything done. I told Ckucke I would be late and that they should roll out without me and I would meet up with them at the top, but after I got changed and drove over, I was only about fifteen minutes late, so they waited for me (thanks, guys!). After working late, I really needed this ride to blow off some steam. The start was nice and slow and the weather impeccable. Ckucke took the lead right away. By the end of the houses, he already had a good lead on us. By the top of Euco, Root and Kevyn had pulled ahead of me, and Ckucke was out of sight! I had run out of Amino Vital after last weekend, so I was only running on Cytomax. The Cytomax kept the burn down, but I did notice a definite deficit in my fast-twitch muscle fibers. Every time I stood to sprint a steeper section, I dropped further behind instead of catching up: I had to be satisfied with sitting and grunting through the climbs. I felt really “draggy”. I did manage to reel the pack in by the very top and turned in a 39-minute ascent. Continue reading ‘Swine Flew’

Dance of Dook

Published on May 20, 2009 in bike by risu. Closed

Chris had penned in Saturday on his family dry-erase board, so he was good to go for a ride. We were going to ride somewhere, rain or shine – it was decided. Rainy weather on Friday made us a little apprehensive, even for our Ditch fallback, but dawn broke on Saturday morning with blue skies and tradewinds. As we converged on Wailuna, Ckucke called me to say that he and JT were at the park already, but he had forgotten his hydration pack at home, so they were heading back to get it. Chris and Kevyn were already there when I pulled up. The park was full up with soccer mom vans, so we parked along the street. Root arrived, and we waited in the shade for Ckucke and JT to return. Continue reading ‘Dance of Dook’

Beer Is Good – Hokkaido Beer Pirkawakka Pilsner Jibiiru

Published on May 20, 2009 in Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

pirika_pilsner_frontpirika_pilsner_colorThis Pils from Hokkaido Beer Pirkawakka brewery in Chitose, South of Sapporo, has the distinct bitter flavor common to the variety. The aroma is richly malty. There is a mild flowery aroma from the hopping, but no sweet taste. If you enjoy a good bitter Pils, then you will like this one. It is the most bitter Japanese jibiiru I have tasted to date. The color is a medium amber. The initial flavor is clean and malty, and the finish crisp. The malt and bitter both fade evenly in the aftertaste. The carbonation is moderate. Although richly flavored, this is an easily drinkable, refreshing Pils. This is the best Pils from Japan that I have tried! It is not unlike a Lowenbrau or Wernesgruner with more flavor. If you like your Pils a little less bitter, try the Otaru Beer Pilsner jibiiru. Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Hokkaido Beer Pirkawakka Pilsner Jibiiru’

Pentax

Published on May 20, 2009 in SUAR by taro. Closed

Dang it! Pentax has released two weather resistant SLR lenses that are inexpensive. Wonder if any other company will follow suit? Doubt it since no other company has a relatively inexpensive DSLR camera body that is weather resistant. That’s been one of my wishes for the Canon xxD line of cameras, weather resistance. The additional fuzzy ‘seals’ on the battery and CF doors is a joke, although Canon makes no claims about those.

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I Don’t Want!

Published on May 20, 2009 in rant and SUAR by risu. Closed

Kuso! I spilled my Pils! F!

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He’s a Demon for Chrissakes!

Published on May 18, 2009 in anime, Culture, rant and SUAR by risu. Closed

Saw a semi-homeless Taurus wagon today with a SD Inuyasha sticker on the rear windscreen above diecuts that read: “It’s not what man thinks, but what God says that matters”. You realize that the little character you think is so cute/macho/dreamy/etc. IS AN EFFING DEMON, right? You realize that this “annie may” character was created from ideas from a non-Christian culture, and the mere suggestion of his existence is tantamount to blasphemy in your religion, right? How does that sit in your stomach now? From the junk level inside the car, this is not a young person – probably one of the scary, obsessive, older fangirls that creep me out when I go to anime conventions. Probably Costco-sized too… Yeah, I went there.

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J the Human Brake

Published on May 17, 2009 in car by taro. Closed

Brake in the metal working sense. The current FX came to me with the spare tire well filled in with a sub woofer tub. The hold down spindle was chopped out and the tub hammered out. p1010299The plan to restore the brackets for the spare has been idle in my brain for a long time, then working on J’s door handles inspired me and I finally decided to tackle the job. My plan was also to properly relocate the battery in the well, instead of the hacked cracked plastic box bolted to the speaker board (which is no longer there). Just after noon, J got to my house just as I got home from picking up some supplies. I explained what I had in mind to him and we started taking a close look and making measurements. J suggested instead of my idea of cutting out a large piece of the bottom of the well, to just take the center spindle bracket and weld it into the existing FX’s well and leave the bashed out well as it is. Less work. That’s the nice thing about having more than one brain looking at a problem, alternate views and ideas. The idea looks like it will work, and instead of trying to find space to relocate the jack bracket, if I flip the spare over, there’s a nice spice within the spare that I could just use a strap. Continue reading ‘J the Human Brake’

Stay off the Streets!

Published on May 15, 2009 in car, rant and SUAR by risu. Closed

I thought back-up sensors on a Mini Cooper was bad. Today at Costco HK I saw a new Mazda CX-7 with FRONT sensors! If you can’t see what’s effing in front of you, YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN’T BE DRIVING!

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Friday

Published on May 15, 2009 in rant and SUAR by risu. Closed

Forget “TGIF”! I’m thinking “TBIIAS” (Too Bad It Isn’t Already Saturday). Yes, my glass is half empty.

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