Black Thorn

We went to the Black Thorn Pub on Friday night.
Pizza and beer.




And darts!





The Black Thorn is a little neighborhood dive bar with (inexplicably) the best pizza in town.

It's only a couple miles from my place, so it's easy to get to.

And Fantastic.

Really, I can think of few better ways to spend a Friday evening.

also, I've finally gotten the terrible chocolate smell off my hands.

unspeakably vile

I had to do something unspeakably vile today at work.
Awful.

Repackaging flavored coffee.
ghuah.
I was careful to not let any touch me.
I wore rubber gloves.
I packed up and threw out everything it touched.

I still smell like chocolate.
Probably, I will still smell like chocolate tomorrow.

Ghuahwar.

Do not support flavored coffee. Yuck.

Saturdays ride

Here's our ride from Saturday.



32 miles.
Good times.

Well this doesn't happen very often.

But it does sometimes.
I really want to make some armour.
I mean, look at this. It's fantastic. My tastes run a little more towards Italian export, but damn.






I'm not sure who made this, so I won't speculate.

To be perfectly clear -- I did NOT make this suit.

Chapter 5 Wherein Brian makes a prediction.

I noted yesterday that gas prices have gone up to ~2.00 a gallon.
This only shows that we're on our way to $4/gallon again this year.
Really, I'm not joking. I think that gas prices are going to go right back up to where they were last summer.

Start figuring out how to use your car less now.

My mileage for the week right now is under 20. I'll probably end up around 50.
I'm planning to have a zero mile week in the next month.

... I've said it here, so now hopefully I'll be obligated.

I miss camping

The weather could not be better today. Really, weather does not come nicer than this. I have been biking to work this week. Trying to get back into shape for some bike touring this summer.
In the meantime I want to go camping.
I've been looking through some old pictures.

Priceless

I saw a great movie last night!
It's called Priceless. The original title was apparently Hors de Prix.

It was fantastic! I highly reccomend it.

The most fantasticest drink

I had the most fantastic drink tonight.
A Sandinista. At the Upstairs Lounge.

It was great.

observing cyclists

With my job, (one of them) I have a chance to watch a busy interscetion, where I can see many cyclists toing and froing and zooming about &c. I've not been keeping scientific list, but I've been trying to keep an eye on what people are doing wrong or right. The breakdown is not really as I expected. it seems to be something like
people doing things right - ~35%
people in the right lane but not stopping etc - ~15%
People on sidewalks - ~35%
Bike salmon ~15%
That looks better than I thought it would. My sample may be skewed, as I'm only 2 blocks from Forest park. I may be getting some number of "recreational" cyclists who only really ride in the park.

The thing that bugs me is the obvious commuters. There are a fair number of folks with bike shop bikes and baskets &c. obviously commuters, obviously doing this a lot, who are on the sidewalk. (today I saw a salmon with panniers and fenders) I mean, they should know better. and recognize that they could get where they are going much faster out where they belong.

... Okay that was weird. I just saw the serious bike salmon riding the other way, this time he was in the correct lane. ... Weird.

Bike Salmon -- A rider (usually in the bike lane if there is one) riding on the left hand side of the street.

Sumer Is Icumen In

One of my favorite middle english poems.
It's about flatulent deer.

Also, I'm about ready to punch winter in the nose.

Spring!
Spring!
Spring!

It's like Hastur, you say it's name three times and it appears?

Ah, well. I wish spring would hurry up.