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

[RichTheRoadie]

Oh, and almost 18wks on from my car accident, the car is *still* not fixed. FFS.

[Tom]

The billboard on the way to the office reminded me. Some advertisements. I saw one on TV for the Microsoft Cloud, apparently somebody is using it for computational biology studying mosquito DNA.

"Some day we can even prevent disease outbreaks before they even start." Really. I want to see you prevent them after they start, that'd be something.

"Time Warner is now Spectrum. It's a new day." No, it's a new name. Shut up and sit down.

[Matthew Strongin]

Seasonal allergies. The worst I can remember. My nose, sinuses and palate all actually hurt. I'm running like a faucet, sneezing explosively every 10-15 minutes, it's even beating up my lungs and I feel vaguely sick. If I hadn't had a vendor on site who flew in all the way from Oregon to work with us for three days this week I don't think I'd have gotten out of bed. Needless to say I had just gotten my fitness back on the bike after the last interruption so another break wasn't planned.

Do you use anything like Zyrtec or Flonase? Those two, in my case, are the difference between what feels like a perpetual sinus infection and just minor congestion from time to time.

And as a grump, I almost got run off the road twice this morning by texting drivers, both of which with small children in the backseat. I get that you don't care about my life, but you may want to take some care with your child's. Buncha asshats.

[bigbill]

Driving to work, I saw a guy pass a stopped school bus (with red flashing), then down the road I saw him passing people in a school zone next to my son's high school. I could see some kind of logos on the doors and wanted to chase him down to see them, but then I'd be him.

In other related sad news of the week, last night I had a good talk with my 17 year old about Steve Tilford's death. When I read the account of the accident, a bit of panic set in with me. I had never taught my son what to do after an accident. We talked through what he should do if he's in a motor vehicle crash including either staying in the car until EMS arrives, or if he gets out to move away from the road and scene and wait for EMS.

[guido]

My allergies are bad this year too. Seems to have transitioned smoothly from the perma-cold... Zertec limits it to 20 minutes of sustained sneezing each morning and evening, a nasty post nasal drip that leads to coughing and my eyes feel like they have been sanded... Maybe I should try the Flonase again...

[davids]

It's raining again.

[seanile]

im having a bit of an issue with road rage while bike commuting to work, and i'm not okay with it.
if anyone can offer any tips for staying calm while commuting through a city, i'm all ears...

[EightySixer]

It's raining again.

the built in barometer that is my artificial hip has been freaking out. rain, rain go away.

[marley]

im having a bit of an issue with road rage while bike commuting to work, and i'm not okay with it.
if anyone can offer any tips for staying calm while commuting through a city, i'm all ears...

on a serious note - remain calm and enjoy your ride - take the long way to work - it helps if you have a commuters mind set slow and steady - took me 10 yrs to figure this out.

[guido]

It's raining again.

So much better than "It's snowing again"...

[davids]

So much better than "It's snowing again"...

Hey. It's grump day.

[bigbill]

im having a bit of an issue with road rage while bike commuting to work, and i'm not okay with it.
if anyone can offer any tips for staying calm while commuting through a city, i'm all ears...

I commuted for years in a bunch of different places. My worse was Norfolk, VA. Road rage stuff all the time but one day I realized it was partially my fault for leaving myself open to it. I was riding to the far right in traffic, cars where squeezing by despite the state laws. I added additional taillights to my commuter, got a yellow reflective vest, and rode far enough out into the lane that drivers weren't tempted to squeeze through. I might get honked at, but the honker was in another lane passing me. You might do these things already, but it was a game changer for me. A few years later I was commuting on Oahu, similar dynamics and results.

[doomridesout]

Even good news in politics has the backstop that when you replace the worst offenders intent on destroying and obstructing the operation of government (Bannon pushed off NSC, Nunes recused from Russia inquiry), you go back to the regular players who just want to make it work for their special interests at the expense of the people (Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell) and a petulant rich kid draft dodger tasked with negotiating North Korea and Syria who doesn't want to do the work.

My landlord says they never approved us having a dog, despite us declaring him on the application and being a core condition of why we moved. I'll sign the addendum and pay the deposit, but you can take this sudden conditional approval and shove it.

[xjoex]

im having a bit of an issue with road rage while bike commuting to work, and i'm not okay with it.
if anyone can offer any tips for staying calm while commuting through a city, i'm all ears...

You probably already do this, but the best thing you can do is wear baggy shorts and a t-shirt so you look like Joe Sixpack. In fact wear a bruins jersey and I bet they'll make more room for you :)

[xjoex]

Two things: One of our bartack machines is not working right... the thing has been a pain since we bought it. But it's in Moab and there is no one locally who will look at it. I'll have to rent a trailer and bring it back to Denver where we bought it.

The next is cyclists who think this hobby of ours is so serious. I was in the desert a few miles from the trailhead. Four people came up in matching team kits while we were taking off layers. We said "hi". They kept their heads down and did not smile or acknowledge us. Come on, you aren't saving the world, from the sponsor on the kit you are obviously not paying the bills by cycling and from the kit I now will not buy anything from that company. Lighten up people.


-Joe

[randonneur]

Starting in on this whole machining hobby. It's a money sink hole and (or because) I don't know much about anything yet. Ordered some stuff in from the UK to go with my er32 collets. They arrived today and they don't fit. It turns out my collets are in fact not er32, but syoz25. I didn't know such a thing even existed.

[Tom]

Chapter Two on the seasonal allergies. Still have them. I can't breathe. I seriously think I might have pneumonia again. My ears sound like when you're swimming under water and when I turn my head it's a little like the good old days. I get dizzy and the walls start breathing.

[bigbill]

Umpiring youth baseball last night. I was the plate umpire and I was getting annoyed that the scoreboard was constantly wrong. I turned to the scorekeeper and saw 5 people sitting in the box distracting him. I cleared the box and played on. A few minutes later a local league guy ordered me over to talk to him. I refused because I'd have to have my back to a pitcher warming up so I said he could walk over to me about ten feet away. He told me I had to come to him or I'd never umpire out there again. I said "deal, I'm calling you on that". The league calls me because they have gaps in their schedule, I could give a shit if I umpire. I'm supposed to be out there again tomorrow, should be interesting.

[monadnocky]

The flu is no joke.

[EightySixer]

I bought three new pairs of nice slim/trim fit out of my budget khakis for work in November.

They fit and looked great when I bought them.

Queue weekly training consistency since January.

Twelve weeks later they're getting looser in the waist and my quads and calves are trying to bust out of them.

Okay maybe not quite a grump, turning into a hassle to get them on and becoming uncomfortable to walk around in...

but them quads though :)