With a head like a vulture and heart full of hornets

Some decent bike progress this week, with BBSTPS MkIII Evo becoming BBSTPS MkIII Evo Gran Sport with its new wheel (thank you Bryan), though it is a bit more involved than it should be. The Spooky is also getting ever closer to being a bicycle.

Jesse also did some Ultimate Stunting

I got my new receiver, and while it technically fits in my TV stand, it's a squeeze in, and given the heat generated by its operation, it would likely self-imolate, which despite the flames and music involved, would not count as a rock and roll way to go.

Making matters worse, my TV (which weighs 160 lbs) is causing the stand (rated to 143 lbs) to bow slightly, which doesn't seem a safety issue, though it does disrupt the minimalist flow with its adopted ornamental curvature. Sigh.

As though to prove last week's assertion that Newton has the worst drivers in the world, a few more examples presented themselves to be documented since then, though sadly the Bangle-butt 7 parked on the sidewalk across the street was gone by the time I was back with my camera. First, There was an Infiniti G35 in the perpendicular non-spot in front of the store.
In something of a deranged dueling banjos response, this Mazda was parked perpendicular to the building about half a store away from the front door. Presuming the inconvenience of two doors and three spots rendered useless had to have a reason, the owner of this car must have meant for this to be a dadaist effort, disrupting the established order of commercial parking lots. Lines will not hold them back.

This week's video is one of two women on a bicycle. I wonder if this is UCI sanctioned.



Now I know what people do when they have their bars set up like that.

It was infinitely late at night

I don't need to tell you, dear reader, that I have been delinquent in my blogging. As much of a cop out as it is, I'll again use the excuse that I've been very busy.

Lots has happened since the last post. Bryan and I went down to the Pan Mass Challenge to help out, and we were greeted by great sheets of rain and tasty free food, which is a peachy mix when you're in a building. There was a wood paneled Jeep Liberty on the way, which was heartwarming in its own way.

The next two days were very nice weather wise, and my brother and his wife and kids came out to town, which meant the whole family got to hang out together for the first time in a while.

As you can imagine given the amount of time that has passed since my last update, I have a considerable backlog of "fun stuff I seen™," some of which I'll cover here.

There was a flawless E28 BMW M5 in for inspection at the gas station nextdoor. Very cool (though Ronin did make the E34 M5 cooler).

We installed a $700 computer on a $700 bike (a hybrid to boot).

A Volvo with a Devo sticker, which I hope is referring to this, and not the school.

I saw what appears to be a warning about Gene Kelly in pictograms.

A bike by a the company that makes James Bond's gun (I assume).

Finally, an English bloke brought a fascinating English bike in to the shop for service at the shop. I presume this bike came out of the following equation. It is sadly neither as pleasant to ride as a Ridley, or presumably as pleasant to drink as a Fribble, but the Ribble is something special, a uniquely European take on generic bikesdirect style low-end road bikes. Check out the low end Campy and the steel steerer tube ITM fork.

Now that I'm back in Newton most days, I have the opportunity to witness some of the worst driving in the world. Here are some examples, which I assure you, are not doctored or set-up, people really park like this

This Saab is actually accomplishing a couple of tasks at once. While it's remarkably common for people to effectively barricade the stairs leading to the front door with their cars (note the red Prius), this Saab is blocking both the stairs and the handicapped ramp.

The stairblock maneuver is remarkably common on days when there are plentiful empty actual parking spots, I'm guessing DSM-IV has something to say on the matter.

Not pictured here is the 90° shuffle, in which the car is parked perpendicular to the actual spaces. When combined with the above maneuver (a degree of douchebagery usually reserved for BMW and Lexus SUVs), the stairs, the ramp, and additional spaces are rendered useless.

A less common practice is the "Lost at sea" where the vehicle is parked out of the way of everything, but to so great an extent that it's basically parked in the middle of traffic. I imagine it's something like a personal bubble, but relative in scale to a car.

For this week's video, it's some Tim and Eric (Awesome Show, Great Job), because not enough people watch this excellent show.