New York August NYC Meet-Up 2021

pyeh said:
Happy Birthday for tomorrow then, Cal.
I do love your Letters from America.
Click to expand...

P,

In February I should be getting an IPAD. Keep a lookout for www.LazySlackerCalvin.com a lifestyle online magazine.

The domain name came from our friend Devil Christian.

As things distill, I'm learning that my hoarding tendencies from the scars of knowing poverty, also make me into a rather clever environmentalist because I tend to recycle things. An example is these clear plastic egg cartons. In the basement is a stack about a foot tall. Originally I was saving them to outfit the garage which will house my 300B tube HiFi and guitar amp collection to recreate an anachronic chamber of sorts, but I think some of them will be siphoned off to be used as micro greenhouses for starting seedlings.

Anyways Lazy-Slacker is my lifestyle, and I say, "I never knew anyone that had a complicated life that was truly happy."

Kinda funny how women never listen to men. For an artist, time is the most valuable resource, and you can't really rush art without compromising your creativity. It takes time to distill ideas, time to flush them out, and time to work out clever solutions to problems. I told "Maggie" that she has enough money and does not need to work because she is financially secure.

Online it was recommended by writers that rather than get a MFA it would be better to use the money to travel and write. Again, "The most valuable asset to an artist is time."

On yesterday's walk, Maggie has a lengthy phone call with another friend who is an influencer discussing all their problems with their agents. At a certain point income eventually has diminished returns because of taxes and even Medicare premiums. I hear her bitch and moan all the time about how she feels like she is being gouged.

But then her friend says, " If you are financially secure, then why not quit working and just write if you want to become a writer."

You should know that she has a book contract and complained how the advance which came in 2021 is killing her because of the tax increase. She has till October 31st to actually write the book. If it were me I would want to work without distractions to do a good job, as muli-tasking and distractions should be avoided, but this is me, a Lazy-Slacker.

So my hope is that Maggie listens to her friend, because she does not listen to me.

I only need a few things to feel enriched and happy. I want my friends to really know me and who I am: I don't need 750K followers; I only need a few friends. My hobbies will be cycling, photography, fine art B&W printing and bookmaking of limited editions, gardening, and becoming a solo musician.

If you take note, I don't need an audience, a group, or any social gathering. I'm pretty much happiest when alone. I say pretty much I'm somewhat anti-social, and I enjoy and embrace my artistic solitude.

I find society and the outside world, outside the bubble I live in to be morally bankrupt, unsustainable, and crazy. In the world of theater (I was a performance artist, a diva, and a drama queen for about a decade) so I know about the concept of a "safe-place." I withdraw because the world is not so safe.

So expect more of my ranting at LazySlackerCalvin...

Calvin the Lazy-Slacker
 
Pete,

Also another rant...

I'm Cantonese (Southern China). I read in the New York Times about past pandemics from an anthropological perspective. Did you know that Southeast Asia was once inhabited by aboriginal peoples that genetically are the same as from New Zealand and Australia?

Not dissimilar to Covid: history repeated whereas a development of farming, migration and domestication of animals that Southern Chinese migrated to places like Vietnam, Laos, and Burma starting a pandemic that made the indigenous people extinct.

In past history disease jumped from animals to humans promoted by agriculture and domestication of animals.

It was suggested that a pandemic could have caused the extinction of Neanderthals in Europe.

Cal
 
Cal,

Glad to see that you have continued to post after your retirement, I was afraid that you were just using RFF as 'filler' to keep your self awake at work.

Sounds like things are coming together at the house.

Joe
 
First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY,Cal !!!!!!!!

I kind of understand what you mean about fame. When I was in high school in the 1970's, there was always someone (oddly, it was generally a female) yammering about wanting to be rich and famous. I'd far rather be rich, and nobody know about it. If you become rich and famous, you'll have people pestering you to donate $$ or just generally pestering you or family and friends wanting "loans" (and they will never pay you back !)

I think I've told you that if I ever hit the lottery for a big prize, I'm moving to Las Vegas and dropping out of sight. I'd form an LLC and put the house and cars in it's name to stop people from searching for me by name. Also, if I have a house phone, I've found out you can get an unlisted number listed in a phony name. After dealing with a BS lawsuit brought by my insane middle sister and my two spoiled nieces for the last 5 years, I'm not too big on family anymore. I speak to my baby sister and two of my cousins and that's about it.

I think you have the right idea-just go off and do your own thing and generally ignore the rest of the world

Please tell Maggie I was sorry to hear about her mother-it's never easy to lose a parent.
 
jszokoli said:
Cal,

Glad to see that you have continued to post after your retirement, I was afraid that you were just using RFF as 'filler' to keep your self awake at work.

Sounds like things are coming together at the house.

Joe
Click to expand...

Joe,

You are correct that I used RFF to keep me awake at my mucho boring day job.

I'm in love with my house. It is mighty cute, and I like that is a bit odd like me. LOL.

Can you imagine a Victorian-style house that is mucho small and stuccoed? Kinda ghetto in a way, but that is my style. Basically, we bought a house that no one loved.

The work on the house is slow and steady. Some days I hammer and get a lot done, but some days I will just work on organizing my bike mess. The mustache bars are back on the steel IBIS again.

I'm waiting on tires, tubes, chains, and a lot of other small parts.

I'm excited to get the steel IBIS set up as a low gear 3x1 using an 11-speed XTR front derailleur that shifts violently. I think I can use just three gears to ride the light blue trail also known as "The Rambler." Switchbacks follow the contours of the terrain and the trail is not too rocky. If I have to I will add a Judy SL I have laying around, but I need to buy a stem/bar combo that gives me mucho rise. Back in the day the geometry used "high-rise" stems.

Incoming are a bunch of Sun Ringle "Envey" rims that are bombproof 24 inch 36-hole welded rims made for BMX. They are wide so I think I can go tubeless. I will use these rims to get XTR rear wheels built so I can have 1x11 and 2x11 capabilities on my two IBIS's along with suspension since now I own two Judy's with coil springs.

I think my Ti IBIS will be a great 1x11-2x11 XTR bike with a tricked out Judy that had the elastomers replaced with coil springs.

Today we ordered a new retro-style bathroom sink, a kitchen sink, and a commuter/urban bike for "Maggie." to exercise her.

Blue Mountain Preserve is really awesome, and to have 1500 acres 3-4 blocks away along with Depew Park (200 acres) that adjoins Blue Mountain Preserve has a lot to offer. Mucho rock gardens, so I might have to convert the steel IBIS back into a 30-inch gear full-blown Trials bike with a bash guard. Last year didn't have the time to explore...

I'm really relaxed and happy-happy. 2022 will be a great year.

Cal
 
MrFujicaman said:
First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY,Cal !!!!!!!!

I kind of understand what you mean about fame. When I was in high school in the 1970's, there was always someone (oddly, it was generally a female) yammering about wanting to be rich and famous. I'd far rather be rich, and nobody know about it. If you become rich and famous, you'll have people pestering you to donate $$ or just generally pestering you or family and friends wanting "loans" (and they will never pay you back !)

I think I've told you that if I ever hit the lottery for a big prize, I'm moving to Las Vegas and dropping out of sight. I'd form an LLC and put the house and cars in it's name to stop people from searching for me by name. Also, if I have a house phone, I've found out you can get an unlisted number listed in a phony name. After dealing with a BS lawsuit brought by my insane middle sister and my two spoiled nieces for the last 5 years, I'm not too big on family anymore. I speak to my baby sister and two of my cousins and that's about it.

I think you have the right idea-just go off and do your own thing and generally ignore the rest of the world

Please tell Maggie I was sorry to hear about her mother-it's never easy to lose a parent.
Click to expand...

MFM,

Pretty much I grew up on my own since 13, but along the way, I have had many people kinda adopt me as if I was a stray.

Since I'm a Drama Queen I feel like Blanch in "A Streetcar Named Desire" because I have always counted on the kindness of strangers. Oddly my sister never saw the play or movie and did not understand the context that a perfect stranger would be and could be kinder than a member of my own family.

The past 3 months have been hellish. It seems for people with neurological decay go through a slow shutdown as they prepare to die, where dying is a process and is kinda textbook.

This was new to me. Both my parents died of heart failure. My dad, a poor illegal immigrant who was illiterate lived to be 94, so it is a pretty good bet that I will live past 100.

At this point, it is all about staying active, not wasting any money, and building out for "one and done" meaning buying and building the good stuff so that decades out it will retain value.

I think the Paul Smith tux you convinced me to purchase will fit me decades out because I will remain a skinny bitch. LOL.

It is a lot like being back in High School and wondering what I might do over the next 40-45 years or so, but this time I'm in a position of power and not so helpless. I'm taking charge to have and maintain a high quality of life.

Cal
 
Nokton48 said:
Happy Birthday Cal !

-Devil Dan
Click to expand...

Devil Dan,

Life is really opening up. I'm sure 2022 will be great for me, meanwhile, the world is a mess.

I had a pretty low-key day today. Feels good to be relaxed. Back to the dog work chipping and stripping the kitchen floor. What a trophy to rescue a quarter-sawn heart pine floor though. THe whole first floor will be heart pine. I'm glad the house is small and modest because a bigger house would be a burden. You know me: I'm a lazy-slacker.

Cal
 
Yesterday we were supposed to attend a vigil for a close friend's mother who died, but because "Maggie's" brother and sister got Covid from their mom's funeral we decides to continue to isolate ourselves and remained at home.

I had a really great day and completed the steel IBIS build into a 3x1. The concept of this bike was to build it out as a heavy-duty truck/Jeep for "Rock Gardening" in Blue Mountain Preserve. I was not a weight weenie with this bike and used heavy wheels with straight 16 gauge spokes and brass nipples, I used butyl rubber tubes, and the front tire is a massive 2.35 Schwable Hans Damph that has massive side knobs.

Then add the mucho heavy Ti mustache handlebar. I suspect that the bike weighs about 25 pounds even though the gearing has been streamlined down to only 3 gears. The brand new freewheel is a gigantic 20T made by White Industries. The concept was to use a trick Paul's Components chain tensioner so that I could use a 42/32/22 set of chainrings for UBER low gearing for climbing and technical sections of Blue Mountain.

I expect that the rocky section will basically break and trash a lightweight bike, but a lot of riding skills can be developed by riding slow and having limited gears to help. Lots of obsessive thinking went into this bike. Not sure if I want to add a spare Rock Shox Judy SL with a 1-inch steerer because it would require a new stem/bar for an Aheadset rendering my vintage Ti high-rise stem that was the design back-in-the-day.

I await Maggie's bike delivery. I saved $200.00 because I will assemble the bike. They had a list of local bike shops that could perform the task. Isn't it great to have the time to save money? Time is money takes on new meaning, and now I have a new sense of relaxed affluence and lack of stress. I'm never in a rush anymore, and to me, this s truly living.

A Rock Shox Judy XC that has been overhauled and upgraded by SRP should be delivered today. We live in an age of shortages, so I'm looking into stockpiling parts in a speculative manner. Although the Judy line was discontinued in 2001 and came out in 1995 it still is being supported by a strong aftermarket. Also, it is retro-cool, kinda like restoring an old car or pickup truck in the case of my steel IBIS. I validate what I'm doing as recycling, and not only that it utilizes my stockpiles in a clever manner as a resource.

So in a way, I have regressed into when I was just a kid where I live a life of daydreams and play. At the age of now 64 I'm still immature, and it is as if I never grew up.

Overnight it snowed about 6 inches. Unlike Bucannon, Montrose, and Verplanck the City of Peekskill does a great job in plowing. It is said that because Indian Point, the nuclear power plant, is shut down that they suffer a budgetary shortfall. Also because Peekskill is a city proper I have a sewer connection, while these small towns have cesspools. I'm in a more snug location, but I have the rural vibe because I'm on the fringe of the city.

Today we have to go to Maggie's eye doctor. She has Cat-R-ACT surgery scheduled and booked, but this is to go over forms as prep.

Cal
 
So in a way, I have regressed into when I was just a kid where I live a life of daydreams and play. At the age of now 64 I'm still immature, and it is as if I never grew up. Cal (QUOTE)

Ever notice kids don't get heart attacks from stress? Go daydream and play-you've earned it.

Just remember this quote from me: The day you quit dreaming, thinking designing and building things is the day you start to die inside. Go dream and design and build crazy bikes-it will keep you young.

Mr. Fujicaman
 
MrFujicaman said:
So in a way, I have regressed into when I was just a kid where I live a life of daydreams and play. At the age of now 64 I'm still immature, and it is as if I never grew up. Cal (QUOTE)

Ever notice kids don't get heart attacks from stress? Go daydream and play-you've earned it.

Just remember this quote from me: The day you quit dreaming, thinking designing and building things is the day you start to die inside. Go dream and design and build crazy bikes-it will keep you young.

Mr. Fujicaman
Click to expand...

MFM,

Wednesday "Maggie's" commuter bike arrives and I have to assemble it.

Pretty much I have to build a slow bike to ride with her. Now I'm thinking of making the Ti Basso mountain bike into a 2x1 two-speed so I don't have many gears to give me a mechanical advantage Still should be pretty fast though because the wheels and bike weigh so little.

I think I will go for a short ride to settle in the stell IBIS and see how it does.

The lazy-slacker way to clean a bike is to ride in snow BTW.

I think I will buy some 2.0 fat slicks for the Newsboy and that mustache bar might have to be reinstated on the Ti Basso Newsboy just because of the retro styling.

Cal
 
Had to shorten the chain by two links, I discovered, after my field test.

I found out that the new Shimano 12-speed requires a "Micro-Spline" hub, and I don't think the gearing is an advantage on my retro old mountain bikes with smaller wheels. I'm happy with 11-speeds. Also the new 12-speed has the same cable pull as an 11-speed, so a new 12-speed shifter will retrofit and work with my 11-speed.

This is good to know because I need to order another shifter and some 11-42 cassettes for a third bike. I'm building a stockpile of bike parts.

Surprise news: "Maggie's" daughter is prego. Don't tell the 7-year-old granddaughter yet. LOL. She wants a sibling badly.

So it's a good thing I'm retired, and kids are cool.

Life is kinda funny and full of surprises.

Cal
 
MrFujicaman said:
And down the road, you'll be putting the kid's bikes together and riding with them.
Click to expand...

MFM,

I was thinking this also. I also wonder another girl; or a boy.

I was lucky and found a set of 26-inch rim brake Mavic wheels that are very fresh. Not so happy about the price, but rim brake mountain bike wheels are getting rare and scarce. These new Maviv CrossMax wheels will allow me to go tubeless so I can run low tire pressure for traction and cush, but they also have the advantage of low rolling resistance. It seems like the retro Ti Basso frame (Litespeed) of polished titanium (looks like chrome shiny) can fit 2.35 wide Schwable Hans Damph tires which are kinda aggressive with side knobs and squarish shoulders. Pretty much I'm building a somewhat fat-tire bike.

The old retro wheelset I'll utilize to create a 2x1 two speed with slicks for that "Newsboy" look. The thing about titanium is that the ride is somewhat dampened because the ti is like a spring, but it is almost as light as aluminum. Some say the ride quality is of a steel bike, but livelier. Anyways I love how titanium dampens shock and smooths out the rough.

So the Ti Basso is a convertible bike from fat-tie to skinny slicks. With slicks like 1.35 wide Kojaks (bald) the newsboy will likely weigh under 20 pounds. The Ti frame has oversized tubing for stiffness. This frame was repaired by Litespeed, the original frame had undersized tubing and flexed a lot. I grew to love the lively springy feel, but the flex cause a hairline crack in a weld on the headtube. I got the frame back with a replaced front triangle, but now with oversized tubes. Don't know if my repaired frame is a natural "one-off," but I like to think it is so. Never saw another one like mine.

BTW this Ti Basso was among the very first Ti bikes, when the only makers were Merlin and Litespeed.

Anyways I'm locked into retro bikes with rim brakes. My bikes are so old that they are pre-V-brake. The steel IBIS even has a rear u-brake. I grew up with bikes that were light in weight (I'm a weight weenie) that you can throw around and can accelerate rapidly. 29'ers is a very different style of riding. The geometry and angles on a 29'er are kinda relaxed when compared to my two IBIS's that have steep angles and short wheelbase for climbing, acceleration, and violent handling. My old retro mountain bikes are more akin to BMX. Also know that on a mountain bike I tend to stand a lot, and I tend to stretch chains because I ride a bike like it's a Stairmaster.

I guess I miss my old Jeep Scrambler with a Corvette engine because in a ways the steel IBIS I built out as if it was a four-wheel-drive pickup truck made for rock crawling. This bike is a bit porky because I built it for heavy-duty and to be bomb-proof. Funny thing is I can call it my "slow-bike." LOL.

Also, I'm finding that bikes got a lot more expensive. Yesterday I bought a carbon fiber handlebar for $203.00. I also bought a boutique CNC'ed Paul's Componernts "Box-Car Stem" (90mm with a 15-degree rise) to tweak the Ti IBIS cockpit. Been looking at $300.00 platform pedals that weigh almost nothing.

I'm pretty sure the Ti Basso will draw lots of attention because it is still loaded with dated boutique parts from back in the day over thirty years ago. The coolest thing is that even with the revolutionary developments and changes that my old bikes are still very cool.

11-speed is enough for my old retro bikes because they don't weigh that much, and the tires and wheel sizes are smaller. The bigger wheels of a 29'er with huge fat tires can benefit from a12 speed.

The steel IBIS likely weighs about 25 pounds as a 3x1, but the Ti Basso Mountain might weigh about 22-23 pounds as a 1x11 with fat 2.3 inch wide tires. 29'ers are porky and even carbon fiber 29'ers are around 30 or more pounds. To me a 29'er might be like driving a tractor-tailer on the trail.

Today biking is even crazier. I can see though that the retro-biker might be the craziest.

Yesterday and today I completed stripping the kitchen floor as far as I can go. To do the rest of the floor demo I need the radiator removed and the cabinets with the sink. Time to start tearing down the kitchen ceiling next.

Cal
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
New York Annual NYC Camera Beauty Contest 2026 (early 2026)
Replies
14
Views
537
Calzone
C
C
New York Saturday June 21st 2:00 PM Meet-Up
Replies
5
Views
287
Calzone
C
C
New York October NYC Meet-Up
2 3 4
Replies
72
Views
6K
Calzone
C
C
New York August 2022 Meet-Up
7 8 9
Replies
171
Views
10K
Calzone
C
C
New York September 2022 NYC Meet-Up
8 9 10
Replies
192
Views
10K
Calzone
C
Back
Top Bottom