Bike Wheel Paint Job

Tonight I endeavored to break down my front bicycle wheel, paint the spokes and rim, then reassemble it. Here are the steps, in a mini tutorial of how to disassemble and reassemble a bicycle wheel (and paint it if you desire):

headnote: make sure you take note of which pattern (36 spoke 4 cross, 3 cross, etc.) you have, or make a diagram of the pattern so you lace it back up right again. I had to undo a lot of my lacing to change patterns=pain in the neck

1.) Remove tire and tube from rim (use a tire lever to pry the first tire wall out of the rim, then move around the rim until it is fully loose, then pull out the tube and remove the tire the rest of the way).

2.) Using a screwdriver (on the outside) or spoke key/wrench (on the inside), loosen all the nipples--small metal pieces holding the spokes to the rim--and as you do this, unlace/untwist the spokes and slide them out of the hub.

3.) You should now have all your spokes in a pile and all the nipples in another pile (a small cup w/ lid is recommended so they don't go wandering away), and your rim and hub sitting by themselves. Thoroughly clean all parts (use water or solvents but make sure they are not harmful to the parts, and be careful with the hub interior parts) and dry them.

3.1) (Optional) If you are going to paint the spokes or any other part, do it now, but I would advise against painting any of the following: spoke threads, hub (so you don't interfere with its ability to function properly), braking surface of rim (I just masked this with short strips of scotch tape and it turned out OK, not great, but OK, if you paint it, your brakes will probably get really gummed up and not work too well), nipples (they look better as metal color plus could get messed up by paint pretty easily). To get a really good look, sand, prime, and multi-coat all painted surfaces and add a clearcoat for protection if you want it to last for a good long time (I did none of this and will probably have crap in not too long, but I'm ok with that).

4.) Reassemble. This step is fairly complicated but there are many good tutorials on youtube that will walk you through the process. The one made by biketube was the one I used and it was great until I found out that my spokes were made to be laced 4 cross and the video was for a 3 cross setup (each spokes will either cross 3 or 4 other spokes most likely, possibly less). You basically do it in four series, first the spokes on the left side (arbitrary which side that is) going in one direction, either clockwise or counterclockwise from the hub. Then the right side going in the same direction (CW or CCW) viewed from the side, as in, when you look at the wheel from the side all the spokes are either going out from the hub in a CW direction or they are all going in a CCW direction. then you pick a side and start going in the conflicting direction to the ones you already have in, and vise versa for the last series. There is a lot more to it, so watch the video or find a detailed tutorial.

5.) Tension, true, get back on the road. Enjoy your newly built/rebuilt/repainted wheel!

Toilet Failure

This morning, shortly after getting up, I discovered, the toilet was not wanting to flush. This upsetted me, naturally, so I opened it up and went in to investigate. The plastic piece opposite the handle had cracked and no longer lifted when the handle was pressed down. Major pain. Plastic is so hard to repair, I have already tried jury-rigging it with some tape and miscellaneous pieces, but to no avail. Maybe I'll just let it slide on out for a while since A.) I don't really want to buy the part or spend time working on it and B.) I only flush the toilet once or twice daily. Anyway, I'm going for a bike ride to the beach.

Edit: this toilet incident was the inspiration for the current blog title: "Delusions of Competency"

The sickest dream about Riots in L.A.

I had the craziest dream ever this morning. I got back late last night from Taco Tuesdays (still reality) and went to bed around 3. Wasn't sure if I would have work today but was hoping not and it turns out I don't. The dream unfolds like so:

The scene breaks and L.A. has just fallen into unrest (the reason for this still remains unclear, the government obviously did something bad, maybe the economy hit rock bottom?). People are all in the streets in a very restless manner. Tension is running high everywhere. I am not downtown but somewhere hilly (maybe it is not LA, but some big city anyway) and sirens are heard all around but no police are in sight. At some point, chaos breaks loose! People are yelling and breaking windows, starting to make and throw Molotov cocktails, seemingly at random but they are aimed at some general vicinity that we are all walking away from (military perhaps, but I don't remember them being in the dream). One man close to me I watch throw a cocktail made from a plastic bottle. which seems not prudent to me at the time, that goes bouncing down the road then explodes (I think) but when I look back at the man, some of the fuel has gotten on his shoulder and is ignited, and he is in a burning state of pain and panic. Then all hell breaks loose/shit hits the fan/etc. Parking garages start exploding in mushroom clouds (not sure how this was achieved by the rioters) and everyone is scared now, running for their lives, seeking refuge. Police can be seen darting through the streets, some in pursuit of mobsters (members of the crazy mob, not mafia), some with mobsters in pursuit of them. People are all in a frenzy at this point, many dead and injured are on the scene, children with blood all over them, walking around. Later, one store with old ladies is trying to sell what little they have at extortionate prices, I buy some honey (lots of energy). People I know come running up to me seeking help, or telling me someone is looking for me, to try to find someone else they know, or someone I know too. (side note: the first big explosions were off in the distance, could only see the plume and cloud, then they got closer till they were all around) Time progresses a certain amount, to find civilians broken up into two factions, the violent (revolutionary) and the peaceful (deemed anti-revolutionary by the former) which are at war, fighting, taking each other captive and setting up road blocks. Time progresses further to find events have seen sort of a lull, and then fireworks start shooting off in the distance. Everyone is silent for a few moments, then people start saying "thank god" and other celebratory exclamations, some are clapping, then someone shouts out to us (not sure after how long, or how news could travel so fast, but) the fireworks were not set off on purpose, it was an instantaneous reaction when the housing unit they were in was set on fire. At this point everyone decides to abandon the city. I am with a group of riders (bicycle) heading out on the freeway, and notice that the freeways are strangely free of cars, like they had been gridlocked first, then abandoned, then cleared, because abandoned cars were still to be found in some areas, just not most of the roadways. Not sure how far we get but this is basically the end of the core dream.

Wake up with adrenaline pumping, but heart rate not up, pseudo dream follows:

I am riding with a group again but this time just going past houses and wondering at the strange emptiness and abandoned state of all of them. It seems as though no one stayed home and no one came back home. Then I am in a strange half dream state where I feel conscious and am at a midnight ride and asking other people about the riots/dream/whatever, but no one knows what I am talking about. Dreams...what a trip man

After this dream, I had the following thoughts:

If there was some kind of catastrophic event that demanded escape or withdrawal from the city for a time or permanently, wouldn't the water be a great option? You could squat on a boat for a while, pretending to be the owner or not (the marinas would probably be pretty empty, unless other people had the same idea), probably many boats would be abandoned, and one might have the engine key on board, or could be hotwired (not like fuel would be found anywhere anyway). If need be, you could cast off and sail out into the ocean (probably one of the safest places to be in all end of days-type scenarios (barring asteroid event or other global meltdowns), bringing along a large supply of water (possibly difficult to procure--look for a boat with a reservoir already stocked), fully stocked fishing tackle supply (as main food option for extended stay), all weather clothes, as many batteries as you can find and battery powered radio, etc. Assuming the marinas are abandoned, boats are typically pretty easy to break into, especially with force, and most of the equipment you need should be on board, or you could at least find one boat that had it, then you could go out to sea and stay there for long periods of time in relative safety (unless there are zombie pirates, in which case, guns and ammo should also be brought). If/When you returned to land, your sails would be a beacon of hope to any survivors, but you would need a Geiger counter if a nuclear event had occurred, to test for harmful radiation (would be necessary on water also I suppose). Good thing I know how to sail, though.

Bangin' Banana Smoothie

Have a blender and want to make a delicious smoothie? This is great for any time of day--when you wake up, after exercising, after getting home from work, etc.

Ingredients:

1 Frozen banana (put some brown bananas in the freezer when the fruit flies start getting to them)
Other frozen fruit--berries work well, mangoes
4 large spoonfuls of yogurt (vanilla or strawberry work well)
4 or 5 ice cubes
~1 cup of milk

Put all ingredients except milk into a blender, then add the milk, which should pretty much just cover the rest of the ingredients, so you can eyeball that. Then blend until desired smoothness is reached (I prefer silky smooth, but some people might be looking for something a little more coarse).

Enjoy!

No Bake Cookie Recipe

A wicked simple cookie to make with very few ingredients and a breathtakingly delicious result:

No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 C butter (one stick)
2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C milk
1/2 C peanut butter
3 C oats

Melt butter in medium to large sauce pan. Add sugar and stir together with milk to form a grainy pool of sugary butter milk. Bring this mixture to a boil while stirring and once it boils, turn heat down slightly and continue to stir and let boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, then once it is mixed in evenly, add oats and stir until all coats are coated with batter. Drop in small globs on waxed paper or paper grocery bags and allow to cool for at least one hour until the cookies become solid and don't give upon nudging.

Be careful because you will be tempted to eat all of the cookies at once, but do not! Save them for special occasions like after a meal, when you come home, during a good TV show, or before going to bed. Also, give some to your friends and family if there are any left.