Busy, for all the wrong reasons. Additionally, I need to post to Atlanta Metblogs some time today.
REI Is Like A Candy Store For Me
Last night I went in to REI to pick up a pedal wrench — which as it turns out I may not need.
I roamed and roamed, looking and drooling at so, many, things — backpacking tent, four-season therma rest, new pedals, camping gear. About the only things that I didn’t scan, mostly for fear of buying them, were shoes and clothing — although I did buy a new pair of cycling socks because they were on clearance.
I seriously could have stayed in there for hours, dreaming of a commitment-free life, traveling the countryside.
Pedal Me This, Batman
Well, I was able to accomplish 25% of my bike repair needs last night. The first pedal came off the mountain bike with effort, but nothing monumental. And then the figurative wheels came off the axles. No matter how much torque I applied to other pedals they didn’t budge.
Righty, tighty. Lefty, loosey.
I kept repeating as the sweat rolled off my nose.
I took out a hammer and tried hitting the end of the wrench to apply greater torque.
I broke out the Liquid Wrench type oils which guarantee to help unstick stuck parts. FAIL.
I even tried turning in the “wrong” direction to see if I was wrong about which way to turn, or to miraculously break the impenetrable bond which has been created.
It’s nights like these which make me shake my head in disgust. I really feel like a man-failure on occasion.
ITP Flickr Pic
Scraped another one from the midtown photo stroll from a few weeks ago
Seriously, I need to shoot something soon.
RealiTV : Top Cheffus Interruptus
Oh Mother Nature, what a fickle bitch you can be. If there is one thing that I dislike about satellite television, knowing well and good that it also pays my bills, is that weather can disrupt its service. Combine last night’s heavy thunderstorms with my tenuous satellite tv installation (don’t ask, it’s not worth reinstalling for me) and I wound up missing the last half of last night’s Top Chef. Dangen!
Luckily for me I was able to keep up with some of the goings on through the use of Twitter friends, and I can watch the recording which I had set up at work. Crisis averted.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – not bad
Current Music – listening to last night’s Top Chef since I didn’t get to see the end last night
Website Of The Day – I’m not sure that Recipe Puppy is the best URL or UI for this recipe service, but the concept is great.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – nothing
Morning Weigh-In – didn’t get on the scale
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~12.5 miles, Wheel Mileage – 175 miles
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 15 (15)
Vegetarian Days – 0, Carnivorous Days – 26
Marta Rides – 0
August Goals
– Not get fired from my job
– Restart work on house, actually making progress this time
2009 Goals
– Reduce my weight to 190 pounds (today’s weight was 199.5 pounds)
– Completely read the book 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die
РEarn at least $150 through photography sales in order to cover the cost for the renewal of the Jalape̱o Beach SmugMug account I opened the other day.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C (iPhone development) and Ruby on Rails (Black Sheep web page concept)
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Righty, tighty. Lefty, loosey applies to just about all bolts with the exception of pedals. Your left pedal is backwards. The way I always remember it is with the wrench on the pedal and handle pointing up, always turn the wrench towards the rear of the bike. That way your right pedal is loosened left and and your left pedal is loosened right. Clear as mud?
Bob, it’s clearly been too many years since I built bicycles at Toys ‘R’ Us. 😉
I was trying to remove the right pedal of my road bike using the threading of the right pedal that I was able to get off the mountain bike as a guide.
I’ll be trying again tonight using your information. Worst case scenario will be bringing both rides down to the Day Spa on Saturday.
Regardless I will be pleased to return the unused, $25 wrench that I picked up at REI last night.
Oh, and congrats for getting out of REI for under $100. I can just drive past REI and $100 falls out of my pocket. I love that place!
Bob, it was veerrrry difficult to stay under $100, especially with the cost of the items that I was looking at.
Here’s a funny story that I just recalled. One of the items purchased was a chocolate Lara Bar. It was about 7pm and the woman cashier asked me “Is this going to be your dinner?” To which I sheepishly answered “Yes.” She replied “Well, make sure you have water with it, these can be dry.” HAHAHA. It was the entirety of my dinner until I broke down and ate a Clif Bar at about 10:30pm.
I think I’m the only one in the universe that doesn’t really shop at REI. Everything I look at just seems over priced.
That is funny that the casher asked you if that was your dinner. I think I would have had to make up some stupid answer to that.
Overpriced, yes. However, a small amount of that comes back to you when you are a co-op member. If you shop smartly you can save as well. The “ugly” bike socks I bought on clearance were $3.93 when the originally sold for $10.
I was so taken by surprise that I couldn’t even think of a lie before I answered her.
And a missed opportunity to ask her what her dinner plans were? Duh!
Your Toys-r-us bikes probably didn’t hold the right is right-left is left theory. Cheap bikes generally don’t that I recall. And real French threads don’t (speaking as a former Gitane owner).
Barb, I think REI’s clothing is a little on the high side, so you have to wait around for the sales, but the technical clothing is impossible to find anywhere else, so sometimes you just bite the bullet.
-FP
technical clothing, hmmmm…… besides bike gear (and I have a connection for that) I don’t think I “know” what that is 😉
Paul – I didn’t know that about pedals, but I don’t know much about bikes because I chose not to know.
Clearly my lack of affectionate adjective and use of “woman” instead of “girl” should have indicated a lack of interest on my part. 😉
It’s been more than 20 years since I worked at a TRU so I have no recollection how the pedals threaded.
If there was a brick and mortar REI Outlet, you would always know where to find me. I swear I check out the site once a day. It is about the only place I got to get running socks (like I care they are last years model?) and cheap running shorts. Plus I have an REI Visa so I get an additonal 5% back on everything at REI (even clearance).
My bike is now in the capable hand of Service, hopefully there is no major damage and I’ll be back on the road (with the bike, not just laying there like roadkill) soon. I’d love to ride out to Stone Mountain with you sometime.