Get Your Grump on Thursdays - Was (What's chapping my @ss today?)

[Lionel]

There is one place to go in Amsterdam and that is an Italian restraurant, called la angeletto in the centeurbaum. Tiny place, so get there early, don't sit on the wrong side or order something special or ask for an extra knife because you will be ignored until you leave or make friends with a local who you get you re-instated. The food is inversely related to the potenial rudeness. And the fellas take their time. If you sit down at 6p good chance you will leave around 10:30 if you do it right. The risotto nero is mana. Best part late in the even the chef grabs the gut string and places sheet music on the of the deli display where squid and snapper and argula are displayed and begins to play while the crusty papa waiter sings opera, out of tune, red faced, neck vein popping, "Maria, Maria, Maria".

This is my last meal place

Thanks but all evenings are booked with customer dinners.....

[joosttx]

Thanks but all evenings are booked with customer dinners.....

ik niet blij
no such thing as a free lunch or dinner for that matter.

[Saab2000]

My roll-aboard suitcase needed new wheels. I had them installed a couple weeks ago. I should have just bought them and done it myself. It was done wrong. One of the wheel bearings is shot because it was installed incorrectly. So I go to a local skateboard shop and they put in new bearings. For free no less. I proceed to throw out a two spacer parts I wasn't thinking about at the time but which are essential to proper installation. They're gone.

Now I need to find probably new wheels and hopefully they come with those parts.

100% my fault. I should have done this myself in the first place. Rage. These suitcases are our life on the road and when they don't work right it really sucks.

[joosttx]

Nobel Peace Prize winners starting wars......

[edoz]

My girlfriend bought a suspension bike. I don't blame her for wanting some squish, but I hate that there's a Specialized in the house now. I fucking hate it.

[monadnocky]

My girlfriend bought a suspension bike. I don't blame her for wanting some squish, but I hate that there's a Specialized in the house now. I fucking hate it.

I have one in my house too (for mrs. monadnocky). We can start a support group, k?

My grump: teen dies in auto accident, media reports on how "grief counselors" are being sent to the school. You know, because mental health workers (or paraprofessionals, or whoever these "grief counselors" are) can magically wash away the reality of awful emotions.

[Mr B]

Decide to ride to IKEA Brooklyn, situated in the bicycle-friendly 'hood of Red Hook.
As I'm about to lock my bike to railings near the entrance, I clock this sign.



Righty-o, we've got our own space! Let's use it!



Jesus H. Christ. Where the hell did they FIND these things? Dredged up from the East River? Designed when everyone rode 20" wheels?
Literally useless, as illustrated by my need to lock my bike to it side-on.
I've left them a note on Facebook, but judging by the appalling state of the store and the 30-deep queues at the checkouts (I was only buying two small items so I gave up and left empty-handed), they probably won't get around to reading it until January.

[Bobqzz]

That I can tell no difference in Bushes pre-Afghanistan/Iraq invasion speeches and Obama's egregious pack of lies from last night. He stood in front of an audience of billions and started with "Isis is not Islamic" and no one calls him on it. That , of course, the least of it. Shit is straight out of 1984

[mainemike]

There are no heroes in politics anymore, gone is the will to serve. Take care of yer own backyard, fuck everything else, we haven't the time. Soooooo sick of bullshit. None of it means jack when yer doing mach 2 on yer favorite bike on yer favorite hill. Anything else is tertiary at best.

[progetto]

That guy Laurie Towner is from my home town, he comes in the shop occasionally, nice guy. Nate Young, 1966 world surfing champion also lives here, but he's a bit of a nob. We have some pretty good surf in the area and all the young groms wag school to go surfing when the conditions are right.

Today's grump is not exclusive to to today, it's an oldie getting older, getting worse. I watched this clip again, and there are many others like it that I love, and w/the awe comes the regret at never having learned to surf like this, committed to it, rolled the dice. I can catch a wave, this isn't that. It's like skiing, I've been at it since I was three, raced, I rip, I'm very good, but again, I never made it my life and went beyond, out into the nether regions of the big mountain free-ski lunatics that I admire and envy. That all or nothing mindset. blah blah blah - There is nothing like the Ocean, just nothing I've encountered yet, that holds the attention, thrills, calms and excites, and scares the shit right out of you, all w/in a matter of seconds. Anyway - this is great.

[Tom]

Mice in the kitchen cupboards again. I have a choice - spring traps that whack them over the head and then they crawl off into a crevice to die and stink, or sticky traps that leave me looking into their eyes as I hit them over the head with a hammer. Why can't the little bastards house train themselves and hold off from chewing at the cabinets trying to come out through the doors?

[Jonathan]

My mother in law is still here. I can't type what's really on my mind since it could be incriminating if she doesn't make it.

The good news is that I'm certain my wife was adopted.

[Mark Kelly]

<snip> the 30-deep queues at the checkouts (I was only buying two small items so I gave up and left empty-handed),.

At the local supermarket today, two kids on the checkouts, queues a mile long. No, I won't use self-serve.

Fuck it, I have better things to do. Upended my shopping on the floor and walked.

[znfdl]

Now that my problem children employees are no longer at my agency, HR is dragging their feet on advertising the openings. I am literally drowning in work.

[daniel22]

My girlfriend bought a suspension bike. I don't blame her for wanting some squish, but I hate that there's a Specialized in the house now. I fucking hate it.

You need to buy some electrical tape in a color that matches the bike. Cover up the "iz" in Specialized. Then you have "Special ed". Trust me, you'll feel better. I did.

[Justin@BlackOakVelo]

Mice in the kitchen cupboards again. I have a choice - spring traps that whack them over the head and then they crawl off into a crevice to die and stink, or sticky traps that leave me looking into their eyes as I hit them over the head with a hammer. Why can't the little bastards house train themselves and hold off from chewing at the cabinets trying to come out through the doors?

Get a cat

[Lionel]

F*ck Air France

[lbarber]

You need to buy some electrical tape in a color that matches the bike. Cover up the "iz" in Specialized. Then you have "Special ed". Trust me, you'll feel better. I did.

I may or may not have ridden a Stumpjumper for a season with this particular modification.

[Matthew Strongin]

Ever wake up so tired that your eyes hurt which only serves to make it impossible to go back to sleep? That's me. Every day this week. I'm delirious and most likely not making sense in any of my 8 hours of daily meetings.

Bonus: Work stuff I won't post online that leaves me feeling like I'm beating back wolves with a flyswatter.

[David Tollefson]

I had a Special-Ed Allez Epic BITD.

My grump(s):
* I painted a disc brake 'cross fork on Sunday. Rattle can, but did the whole 3 coats of primer and 2 top coats of red gloss. Looked pretty good. On Monday I remembered the cable guides.
* Finished my wife's bike last week, built up enough for her to ride and get the last fit-pieces dialed in (grip width, bar height). She hasn't ridden it yet...