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

[steve garro]

My neck won't turn.
- Garro.

[maunahaole]

Moto is still in the shop going on three weeks. Gave it to him before I left for vacation. They called tuesday to say done on tuesday, maybe. Never heard back tuesday. Called yesterday, no call back, went down there, bike is on the rack. Told that it would be done today. Not holding my breath.

[chasea]

Attacks on Abu Gharib leave dead police and 500- FIVE FUCKING HUNDRED- missing detainees, and the media is focusing on an inbred national pet named George.

[maunahaole]

Moto delivered by shop owner last night at 9pm. Work was not cheap, but I noticed that he did a bunch of little stuff that was not on the invoice. Runs great. Grump released before bedtime.

[boxerboxer]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck those stupid new Lays flavors and fuck me for lacking the discipline not to buy all 3 and eat most of them. The flavors are ok, but putting a whole bag in my body, not so much.

[robin3mj]

People who want to high five you after a run or a bike ride. Way to go- you just exercised.

[Matthew Strongin]

Just moved into a great new house. The one where we sacrificed a lot because it's where we plan to live for a very, very long time. Plus it was completely move in ready and pristine. Since moving in, I've replaced the AC, the roof is under construction now, and the process is damaging other things, the garage won't work, part of the stove won't work. I'm sinking money into fixing the perfect house. I could have bought a fixer-upper. Once everything is working I'm sure I'll be happy, but now I'm just living in fear of what will break next. Makes me grumpy.

[zetroc]

this: Newly exposed NSA tool, XKeyscore, sees ‘nearly everything we do online’ | Naked Security

[roseyscot]

Dear PMC Challenge(d) Brett from Needham,

1. Please either pull up your shorts, or down your jersey. Either way, just figure out how to hide that lower back hair that is blowing in the breeze and making everyone else behind you want to throw up
2. You don't need to ride with your giant PMC nametag on your seatpack. The event is not until this weekend
3. You are riding a $3000 carbon Specialized. You can afford to buy some water bottles that fit into the cages instead of the funny shaped one with a straw from Wholefoods that is sticking halfway out of the cage and will likey fall out when you hit a bump on these shitty Boston roads
4. Just because we are stopped at a light and both on bikes does not mean I want to chat with you. A simple hello is sufficient

[davids]

Dear PMC Challenge(d) Brett from Needham,

1. Please either pull up your shorts, or down your jersey. Either way, just figure out how to hide that lower back hair that is blowing in the breeze and making everyone else behind you want to throw up
2. You don't need to ride with your giant PMC nametag on your seatpack. The event is not until this weekend
3. You are riding a $3000 carbon Specialized. You can afford to buy some water bottles that fit into the cages instead of the funny shaped one with a straw from Wholefoods that is sticking halfway out of the cage and will likey fall out when you hit a bump on these shitty Boston roads
4. Just because we are stopped at a light and both on bikes does not mean I want to chat with you. A simple hello is sufficient

#2 - I have seen way, way too many people with their stupid PMC nametags on their seatbags year round.

[Tom]

#2 - I have seen way, way too many people with their stupid PMC nametags on their seatbags year round.

That's what that must have been the other day... I saw a guy riding with a big plastic name tag on the back of his seatbag and I wanted to tell him to take it off before it cut his shorts off because every pedal rev it caught the shorts with its outside edge.

[monadnocky]

cue sheldon

"In the past few years, there has been a proliferation of pledge rides or "bike-a-thons," in which cylclists help to raise money for charitable causes by asking their friends and neighbors to contribute a small sum for each mile they ride in an organized event. This approach has been used by many charitable groups, and even by the League of American Bicyclists, in it's Pedal For Power program.

Conventional wisdom is that this is a win-win situation, encouraging cycling while simultaneously raising money for worthy causes.

I would submit that this conventional wisdom is wrong, that these pledge rides are bad for cycling, and that they should not be encouraged by the League.

"Bike-a-thons" grew out of "walk-a-thons." The idea of walk-a-thons is that the participants demonstrate their concern for the selected cause by undergoing the painful ordeal of a long walk, with the understanding that each mile they walk will enlarge the contribution given by the donors who they have signed up. The donors, in turn, get to feel that their contribution has been "earned" by the suffering of the participant who has sacrificed time and comfort for the sake of the cause.

The problem with translating the "walk-a-thon" into the "bike-a-thon" is the application of the concepts of "sacrifice" and "suffering" from walking to cycling. Cycling shouldn't be seen as a painful ordeal; cycling is fun! Could you imagine a "Cine-thon" where participants asked for pledges based on how many movies they watched? How about an "Ice-Cream-a-thon," in which people would give contributions based on how many ice cream cones you ate?

Altough "thons" do get people out on their bikes, and maybe even bring some people into cycling in a serious way, I believe that they send a message that cycling is a painful, unpleasant chore that you should do because it is good for you, or because it benefits some charitable organization. Too many well-meaning people sign up for a long pledge ride without an adequate mileage base, with substandard cycling skills and equipment. These people will "learn" that bicycling is about pain and exhaustion, saddle sores and sunburn, aching knees and stiff necks.

An experience like this can turn a potential cyclist off for life. They may still ride an occasional pledge ride, as a masochistic exercise in self denial, or because of dedication to the cause, or because they are so proud of surviving the ordeal. They will likely never discover the simple joy of going for a nice bike ride and not coming home a physical wreck.

The people who run most "thons" are good people, with good intentions. However, they have an agenda which does not necessarily include promotion of bicycling. While their use of bicyclists may promote a noble cause, the end does not justify the means."

I do not necessarily agree or disagree, just share the inherent grumpiness.

[robin3mj]

That's what that must have been the other day... I saw a guy riding with a big plastic name tag on the back of his seatbag and I wanted to tell him to take it off before it cut his shorts off because every pedal rev it caught the shorts with its outside edge.

Even better are the people who tape those charity ride numbers to their top tube, and leave it on for weeks (months?) despite the fact that their rear brake cable is, taped to the top tube.

[Nierman]

A week of double workload before a week of vacation before returning to a week of double catch-up workload. The math is off.

Something's missing!

[aaronv]

I was talked into joining up for one 'thon (what we do for our loved ones) and for that fact alone I should be doing push-ups. The image that stuck in my mind was the pack of middle-aged guys in their personal peloton weaving in and out of all the very novice and wobbly riders screaming things like "Watch your fucking line Gary" to each other. It's never a ride, always a race. Never again.

[roseyscot]

cue sheldon

"In the past few years, there has been a proliferation of pledge rides or "bike-a-thons," in which cylclists help to raise money for charitable causes by asking their friends and neighbors to contribute a small sum for each mile they ride in an organized event. This approach has been used by many charitable groups, and even by the League of American Bicyclists, in it's Pedal For Power program.

Conventional wisdom is that this is a win-win situation, encouraging cycling while simultaneously raising money for worthy causes.

I would submit that this conventional wisdom is wrong, that these pledge rides are bad for cycling, and that they should not be encouraged by the League.

"Bike-a-thons" grew out of "walk-a-thons." The idea of walk-a-thons is that the participants demonstrate their concern for the selected cause by undergoing the painful ordeal of a long walk, with the understanding that each mile they walk will enlarge the contribution given by the donors who they have signed up. The donors, in turn, get to feel that their contribution has been "earned" by the suffering of the participant who has sacrificed time and comfort for the sake of the cause.

The problem with translating the "walk-a-thon" into the "bike-a-thon" is the application of the concepts of "sacrifice" and "suffering" from walking to cycling. Cycling shouldn't be seen as a painful ordeal; cycling is fun! Could you imagine a "Cine-thon" where participants asked for pledges based on how many movies they watched? How about an "Ice-Cream-a-thon," in which people would give contributions based on how many ice cream cones you ate?

Altough "thons" do get people out on their bikes, and maybe even bring some people into cycling in a serious way, I believe that they send a message that cycling is a painful, unpleasant chore that you should do because it is good for you, or because it benefits some charitable organization. Too many well-meaning people sign up for a long pledge ride without an adequate mileage base, with substandard cycling skills and equipment. These people will "learn" that bicycling is about pain and exhaustion, saddle sores and sunburn, aching knees and stiff necks.

An experience like this can turn a potential cyclist off for life. They may still ride an occasional pledge ride, as a masochistic exercise in self denial, or because of dedication to the cause, or because they are so proud of surviving the ordeal. They will likely never discover the simple joy of going for a nice bike ride and not coming home a physical wreck.

The people who run most "thons" are good people, with good intentions. However, they have an agenda which does not necessarily include promotion of bicycling. While their use of bicyclists may promote a noble cause, the end does not justify the means."

I do not necessarily agree or disagree, just share the inherent grumpiness.

You know how much the promoter of the PMC makes annually (salary)? A hell of a lot more than I do. Good intentions my ass. It's a business to him, and while participants believe they are raising all the money for cancer research, he's pocketing well over a quarter million as salary. That's some bullshit right there.

[David Tollefson]

Today is my payday. Reason to celebrate, no?

No, actually.

I've filed to have my child support re-computed -- my ex now has a good-paying job which she did not have when it was originally computed (and if she were the good Christian she purports to be, she would have requested to have it recomputed herself), it's been over 8 years, and my daughter is now 12...

On the 18th, I got a call from the DSHS office, asking a few questions. In that conversation, they said that they now require all payments to be made as paycheck garnishments rather than direct withdrawals from a bank account (which has been NO problem for over 8 years with NO late payments of any kind). I said, okay, if that's the way it has to be, just be sure to turn off the auto-withdrawal.

Okay, you can see where this is going...

Today, not only was the garnishment from my paycheck made (plus a fee, thankyouverymuch), but they ALSO took the automatic withdrawal from my bank account. Oh, yeah, I can make a call and have it refunded in a few days... And now I've sent in the THIRD request to have the auto-withdrawal turned off (which something in their system says is not a recurring thing).

We'll see what's what on the 15th when the next auto-withdrawal is supposed to not happen.

[Heronseye]

My grump this week is co-workers that can seem to retain what you showed (taught) them last week for the third time. I have no problem helping people, but please take notes if you are forgetful. I'm starting to avoid people because I don't want, or have the time, to explain things for the Nth time. Grump 2, which seems to be quite common, the IT department at work. Many folks there are making 100K+ a year and are disengaged and get upset when they have to close their fantasy-football browser tab to answer questions. The questions are because things always seem to be done half-way and I have to explain what needs to be done for something to work properly, my perceived "non-technical" self should not have to do this.

[xjoex]

I was at my local coffee shop last week and a handful of pro's came through during the 30 minutes I was there. One American pro came through in his full team kit and a fan asked "Excuse me, do you mind if a take a picture?". To which the pro replied "No, not now. Maybe later." Effectively telling the fan to stuff it.

That is shitty, fans are why you get paid to ride a bicycle. If you don't want to be noticed don't ride your team bike in full team kit and show up at a cycling coffee shop. Obviously this pro never sat in a cubicle or they'd do anything they could to keep riding for a job!

Ted King showed up, he was cool, he introduced himself to everyone in site and was laughing and making small talk with all. Total pro!

-Joe

[Jaq]

It's Thursday already?

Shit.