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Product Reviews: My New Toys!

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So, if you know me at all, you know where I am employed, and how I make my living. But for those who are living in the dark regarding those details of my life, let me fill you in. I am employed as a mechanic and service representative for a local bicycle shop here in Bloomington, IL. We do sell and service the products I review here. However, my employers are blissfully unaware that I am doing product reviews on these items which I have purchased for myself, with one exception. It’s also worth mentioning that I’m a life-long roadie, I’ve never gotten into riding off pavement. My idea of a perfect ride would have miles of clear, unbroken, smooth tarmac. But now, I just may have expanded my cycling horizons. What brought this all about was my elder daughter moving to central Michigan a few years ago. When we go there to visit, I’d often bring a road bike with me, and get a couple morning rides in there. But invariably, I would run into roads where the pavement would abruptly come to an e
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Forgive Me

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Forgive Me, Corona, For I Have Sinned Social distancing...Isolation...Separation...Quarantine. Call it what you will. It’s not terribly enjoyable. I know some people are better at it than I am, and there are others who are less adept. Hopefully, in the big picture, enough of us are doing enough isolating to rein in the spread of Covid19. We do fine at home, just me and my wife, and Dante and Eddie (our dogs)...alone together. She still works full time remotely, so her work life continues as before, but the commute is shorter. I still have to go in to the bike shop to do my work, can’t really adjust that derailleur from home. The shop owners are doing an amazing job of keeping me isolated from the public. (A fact that benefits all.) Before I can even touch a bicycle, that bike has to be allowed in through locked doors, and sterilized with disinfectants before moving the bike back to my work area. Whether I’m fixing a flat, or doing a complete three-hour overhaul, I need not wor
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When We Get Back to Normal...

When We Get Back To Normal… An innocent enough phrase, for a less-than-innocent phase. A phrase I’ve used in the past, “When we get back to Normal…” sometimes relating to returning from a vacation (since I live in Normal, IL), listing all the chores that I’d need to get going. Sometimes relating to a need to return to a state of normalcy from an upheaval. It’s never seemed quite so monumental as it does now. In fact, it seems to have evolved to a slightly different wording: “IF we get back to normal…” Ominous. It seems that our entire planet, our civilization, our lifestyle, has been taken hostage by a microscopic entity referred to as Covid-19 or the Coronavirus. Every facet of our lives has been affected; from work, to socializing, to how we spend our leisure time. We’ve been directed (wisely, I believe) to work from home if possible, to keep six feet away from others when out, to not touch our faces (I never realized how often I do this!), to wash our hands frequently,
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HAPPY NEW YEAR?

HAPPY NEW YEAR ? 7:23 am 01. Jan. 2020 I slowly wake, stumble out of my New Year’s Eve slumber, ostensibly to greet a new year. But, honestly, what is truly new here? Other than a new page of the calendar, what is different? Am I different? Is the world a different place? Are you different? Other than the fact that this planet has once again passed a set point (a rather arbitrary, man-made point) in its orbit around its sun, nothing I can see is different. The number assigned to this new year means little, this particular planet has been running laps around this particular star for many many more than 2020 years. So why should I celebrate our passing this point in space?  I look in the mirror and see the same me. Despite the promise of a fresh start in this brand-new year, It’s still the same gray-haired, wrinkled, smartass I remember from yesterday looking back from the bathroom mirror. No different than I was twenty-four hours earlier in the waning hours of 2019. No differen
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Customer Service

Customer Service In today’s world, we all hear the many horror stories. “I was on hold for 37 minutes and got disconnected.” “I couldn’t even understand the person on the other end.” “I am in the right, but  my claim was denied!” ...etc. I think I’ll relate to you my recent interactions with two different corporations for just one transaction. My aging cell phone is in need of replacement. (Is about two years really the lifespan of these necessary-for-today’s-world marvels?) (This planned obsolescence may need a discussion in the future!) When I got this, it was one of the era’s “flagship” phones. Samsung S7. It served me well, but near the end it repetitively was telling me I was dangerously low on memory. (The phone, not me. My memory is an entirely different thing, and if I remember to, I may write about that failing!) The last two or three months I would periodically have to choose which apps I could most do without, and delete them to gain a few precious mb of memory. I
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2018 Fixie Century

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CHAPTER ONE The Ride One of my very few cycling goals this year was a fixed-gear century. I’ve had this particular fixie for almost two years, and it’s time to break the three-digit barrier. Oh, I suppose I ought to define a couple terms here for some of my readers: Fixed-gear (aka fixie): A peculiar subset of road bicycles. Has only one gear, as opposed to as many as 22 gears on some others. It also has no coasting mechanism, so whenever the bike is moving, the pedals are turning. This all means that when riding this bike, I cannot shift to a different gear to match my pedaling speed to the bike’s speed, nor can I stop pedaling and rest. I can only increase or decrease my pedaling speed, which does limit my high speeds as well as my low speeds. Century: Many bike ride distances are given names relating to the ride’s distance. In this case, a century denotes a ride of 100 (or more) miles. By strict definition, 99.99 miles is NOT a century, but that’s a subject for another blo
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MATH IS HARD

Math Is Hard A few days ago, my lovely wife and I were out to dinner with good friends. We chose one of our favorite places, with good food and drinks. Our timing was perhaps less-than-ideal (Friday evening at 5:30), but we got one of the last open tables, and our drinks came quickly as we perused the menu. Food was ordered, and we all sat around the table catching up, sharing recent tales from our lives. All laughs and smiles. Our server was attentive, checking on our drinks regularly, bringing fresh when needed. She apologized that our dinner was taking so long. “I’m so sorry for your wait, but the kitchen is backed up. Your food should be going in soon. I’ll take 10% off of your food bill because of the delay.” To be honest, we didn’t find the wait excessively lengthy, especially for peak dining hours on a Friday, but 10% off? Sure! Our meals came, and lived up to our expectations, as they always do at this particular establishment. We dined, chatted, laughed, and enjoy
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