busted knuckle?
Seeking some lazyweb medical advice, if anyone has had experience with injured hands. During the 12-hour race early this month, i had a near-crash during which the handlebars bashed my right hand pretty good from the outside of the knuckles (as if i were punching the bar, my hand came off momentarily). My whole hand was normally sore for a day or two, but the middle finger knuckle at the base of my finger still hurts, and it’s been almost a month. I have full range of motion and grip, but it sometimes still hurts to touch my palm with that finger. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to do other than splint it, but i don’t think normal activity is hurting it. Time for an x-ray? Or just a slow-healing thing? I hate having a middle finger out of commission so long…
Voting Republican Will Kill You!
Continuing (or rather, starting) my long-standing (uh… unprecedented) tradition of featuring original research by respected members of the scientific community, i present the following startling analysis by a top-notch statistician (and good friend) from the University of Minnesota:
Voting Republican Will Kill You!
Tracy L Bergemann PhD
August 28, 2008
Assistant Professor
University of Minnesota
(click for big version)Many factors contribute to the extent of the human life span. Could it be that political persuasion is one of them? In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control released the average life expectancy for each state in the US. These estimates are in the boxplot above, split by states that voted for George W Bush or John Kerry in the 2004 election. The median life expectancy is 77.9 years in states that voted for Kerry and 75.8 years in states that voted for Bush. This trend continues when one splits life expectancy by gender. The median female life expectancy is 80.2 in states that voted for Kerry and 78.5 years in states that voted for Bush. The median male life expectancy is 75.1 in states that voted for Kerry and 73.05 years in states that voted for Bush.
You might want to think very carefully about that vote in a couple of months…
Minnehaha Bags small saddlebag
I’ve been using one of these for the past couple of weeks, and thought i’d post a couple of notes about it. The Minnehaha Bags website has background info, but basically it’s a new brand from the guys who make the Banjo Brothers bags. This new line is built with cotton canvas and leather, with plated metal buckles, similar in style to some other traditional bicycle saddlebags over the years.
I’ve used a Carradice bag for the last 4 years or so, and the Minnehaha versions follow a good tradition in this sense. The designs and materials are durable and look good over time. The materials on the Minnehaha are a little lighter-weight than on a comparable Carradice, and the canvas is not waxed, as Carradice does, but there are other bag makers that also use untreated canvas, so i don’t think this is a drawback. You can easily treat the canvas with something like Nikwax for improved water repellence, and for any of these bags you’d use a leather treatment to help preserve the straps and trim. I use a waterproof inner bag for any cargo that needs to stay dry, so the lack of coating isn’t an issue. You’re better off with an inner bag anyway, because with any of these bags a large or oddly-shaped load can create water-inviting gaps no matter the material. The workmanship on the bag is excellent; neat seams and well-centered rivets. The canvas is black and the straps a very light natural tan. I expect the canvas to fade and the leather to darken over time, which should continue to look good.
Blah blah blah… On to the photos! First, rear view.
The attachment system is designed for a standard saddle without rear loops, so no need for a Brooks, this straps right to the rails. The bag will sway some with a heavy load (like only carrying a u-lock), but i didn’t find it to be a problem. I did later change the upper strap so the buckle is inside the bag, as that allowed me to cinch the strap a bit tighter. There’s a plastic upper sheet to hold the bag’s shape, it works well and is unobtrusive.
The reflective straps came with the bag, unattached, so i just looped them around where they’d flap in the breeze. There is a horizontal strap that could accommodate multiple blinkie lights if you were so inclined, and they should actually stay in a useful position when the bag is reasonably full, but would probably flop down if mostly empty. The top closure strap is not sewn down across the whole lid, so you could easily use it to hold down a wet jacket on the outside of the bag.
From the front - slim profile, no worries about thighs touching it while pedaling, if you don’t like that sort of thing.
The lower attachment point is flexible across a range of frame sizes and saddle heights. I chose a lower mount to hold the bag more steady, and the lower strap was just long enough to go around the seatstays.
Here’s what i had in the bag that day; t-shirt, leftovers for lunch and 2 large apples. Not pictured are the u-lock, and the spare tube and tools in the inner pouch. This is a pretty typical summertime commuting load for me, though a little light on the lunch. If you carry more gear or need to change clothes after your ride, you’ll want a larger bag or to keep clothes at work.
In summary; a very nice option for a small saddlebag for light commuting loads or long day trips to the country. The materials are a little thinner/lighter than comparable British bags or the old Rivendell Baggins line, but they don’t feel flimsy or cheap. If anything, for those who care about weight, the weight of these bags should compare favorably to the sort of overbuilt rack trunk bags that are around of similar capacity, and these easily beat them on style points alone. It’s a good-looking and useful bag nice enough to complement any bike.
(Disclaimer: no kickbacks on the bag for me, i don’t have a stake in how well they sell, but this was a production sample that came to the shop i work at that i’m getting to try out for free.)
omg gywo
The unbeatably hilarious comic is now an animated series:
Now change your pants and move on to the rest of the series.
(via truetone)
popcorn
i’m keeping my cell phone outta my pants from now on
Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes
link from my dad
a theory on the increasing cost of living
I was at a gathering recently chatting with a friend who has an interesting theory on our increasing cost of living, gas prices, medical expenses, etc. This friend has worked as an actuarial, so he’s not just a smart guy, he’s spent a little time looking at these sorts of numbers. It’s no secret that over the last couple of decades medical expenses have been rising at a faster rate than both inflation and wages. The theory is that it’s the medical expenses that are the true measure of where our economy should be, and that wages and inflation have been artificially kept low.
Our fuel prices have been kept low through government policy and subsidy for years, and now we’re feeling a more direct version of the market forces at work there. The historically artificially low fuel prices have also kept the price of food and goods artificially low, since fuel cost for production and transportation contribute directly to the cost of those items. As a way to keep price of goods down, the recent trends have been for manufacturers to export production to cheaper factories overseas, which also contributes to the continued low prices. Lots of jobs have moved overseas, from manufacturing to customer service, but one of the few things that cannot be outsourced is health care. There are undoubtedly supplies manufactured overseas, but the people and infrastructure must all be here.
The idea is that despite the somewhat inflated cost of health care due to insurance premiums and the (arguably) overuse of expensive technology, that the cost of health care is more in line with what everything should cost nowadays, if the various subsidies were removed. Wages would also be higher, though we’d be dealing with inflation so we wouldn’t necessarily be any better off, but the inflation of the economy as a whole would be more balanced. I’m no economist, but it doesn’t seem like a policy of managing the economy just to maintain a specific inflation number that sounds good on the campaign trail is necessarily the best way to go.
Kenk FTW!
Igor Kenk, champion bike thief. He ran a bike shop in Toronto, but he was also apparently stealing bikes and stashing them away in his warehouse, home, and the shop itself. 2,865 bicycles… and i thought i had too many.
Oddly enough, the police and many bicyclists were aware that Mr. Kenk’s little shop, the Bicycle Clinic, appeared to be a black hole that consumed stolen bicycles.
On the plus side, at least they were organized. Hopefully a LOT of people get their bikes back.
dear kind sir in the midnight blue Nissan Sentra
Yes, i thumped your car today, and you totally fucking deserved it. State law says you should leave 3 feet of clearance when passing a cyclist, but i’ll eat my shorts if you gave me more than a foot. So yes, i beat the end of that light you skated through, i waited through another light, then i thumped your car when i passed you back. Happily, you caught me again and told me that i’m awesome, which is cool and all, but i can’t in all honesty return the favor. Perhaps i should have offered to explain the situation in more detail, but the truth is, you didn’t seem receptive to rational conversation, and i have better things to do (like blog this! or shovel shit! or [your repulsive idea here]). Next time you try to kill a cyclist by squeezing through traffic, it might be something less forgiving than my flat hand hitting the roof and window of your car. Have a nice day!
upkeep
i tend to let the creeping charlie be
while pulling the tall weeds by twos and by threes
with so many others demanding my hands
and no time to deal with the uncovered land
it’s doing a job that few could withstand
so i stretch and i sigh and finally allow
maybe it’ll let the creeping charlie be
for now