hurmf.
So I got a new bicycle, to replace the mysteriously-stolen last one. (It's a Kona Lanai, which means nothing to me as I am not Bike Nerd Man.)
I think I liked the last one better.
The last one had up/down-lever shifters, and this one has the rotate-a-section-of-the-handlebar shifters, which I haven't had before. I'm not used to them, but I think I'll get used to them eventually.
But they made my wrists hurt. I usually rotate my handlebars up and forward a little bit, so that I'm holding the bars at right angles (my elbows are bent but my wrists aren't.) It looks like that will be somewhat harder to accomplish with these shifters. I'm also not crazy about having to basically let go of the grips in order to shift, it was definitely less disturbing to use a finger for that.
It has front shocks. Last time I got a bike, I had them replace the shocked fork with a solid fork (had to wait two weeks for them to order it), and they looked at me like I was crazy. But yeah, I should have done that again. I just fucking hate the feeling of riding with shocks. Boing boing boing boing boing boing boing boing boing boing boing boing boing, it drives me crazy. That's what flat tires feel like. I'm told I can probably tighten them enough that I won't notice, but maybe I should get a solid fork instead.
I also still need to get the quick-releases out of there. They didn't have the right kind of bolts to do that at the shop, and told me that for the wheels, I'd have to replace the whole blah blah which I have trouble accepting. I don't like quick-release anything, because there is (let me check, yes) zero chance of me ever taking off a wheel or carrying a seat around with me, so I prefer the security of a really tight bolt.
So I think all these things are fixable, but I guess I'm pickier about bikes than I thought I was. Maybe I am Bike Nerd Man after all.
Oh, and I kicked a dent into the fender panel of a red-light-running station wagon on my ride home. Yay me.
realdoll surgery!
OH THE HUMANITY
it's ok miss, I'm a doctor
Women pose naked at windows for 'mammogram by satellite'
Four Portuguese women stood topless at their windows because they thought they were getting a mammogram by satellite.
The women, who live in San Bartholomeu de Messines in the Algarve, were telephoned by a woman who claimed she was a doctor.
The Correio da Manha~ website reports she said the procedure was new and would not cost them anything.
When they called her back for the results of the alleged test, the hoaxer described her sexual desires to them.
The women were aged between 19 and 45. They have complained to the police.
One of them told the website: "I complained because the woman who called made us do a very shameful thing, and I am quite angry."
the bread and circuses just keep getting better
VA Schools Forge Ahead With National Motto
By Rosalind S. Helderman and Christina A. Samuels Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, June 28, 2002; Page B01
Even as a court ruled that it is illegal for schoolchildren to recite a Pledge of Allegiance that mentions God -- and then swiftly put an indefinite hold on that decision -- Virginia schools are preparing to quietly welcome Him into every foyer.
Starting Monday, every Virginia school will be required to hang a poster with the words "In God We Trust, the National Motto, enacted by Congress in 1956," in accordance with a law signed by Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) in May.
[ ... and so on, predictably ... ]
Lots of choice Thomas Jefferson quotes here: krasota
one nation, under a veil, indiviskable
Muslim woman to challenge ban on veil in driver's license photo(Someone on IRC said, "for religious reasons, I'd like to spray-paint the lens of your camera before you take my picture.")
June 27, 2002
ORLANDO, Florida. (AP) -- A judge ruled Thursday that a Muslim woman can pursue her legal fight to wear a veil for a driver's license photo, despite objections from the state that it jeopardizes public safety.
Judge Ted Coleman denied a state motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Sultaana Freeman, whose driver's license was revoked when she refused to replace her photograph with one showing her face unveiled.
<lj-cut text=" --More--(42%) ">
Freeman, 34, is suing to get her license back with a photo that hides most of her face, except her eyes, behind a veil known as a niqab.
Freeman wears the veil for religious reasons.
When Freeman applied for a Florida license last year after moving from Illinois, she had no problems getting a license wearing the veil, said her attorney, Howard Marks. It was only after the September 11 attacks that the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles told her to replace the photo, he said.
Jason Vail, an assistant state attorney, argued that having a face visible in a driver's license photo is a matter of public safety since criminals are often identified through such pictures.
"It doesn't target religion," Vail said of the requirement. "It targets everyone."
