Calzone
Gear Whore #1
"Maggie" has some video interview in Long Island City later today. Her agent says it is somehow prestigious to be in this top one hundred list.
Cal
Cal
New York August NYC Meet-Up
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Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Sunday went to the Leica Store in SoHo with "Maggie" to get the firmware updated on "her" CL.
Evdently Maggie also was overthinking and over complicating the WiFi to her phone.
While these matters were being addressed, I was shown a 75mm Noctilux that I mounted on my SL with a M-T mount adapter. Only E67 and nicely balanced on my SL. Nice focus snap, even without magnification. At F1.2 the DOF is mucho shallow. Very pretty rendering. A $13K lens.
I was impressed. Pretty remarkable lens.
Cal
Evdently Maggie also was overthinking and over complicating the WiFi to her phone.
While these matters were being addressed, I was shown a 75mm Noctilux that I mounted on my SL with a M-T mount adapter. Only E67 and nicely balanced on my SL. Nice focus snap, even without magnification. At F1.2 the DOF is mucho shallow. Very pretty rendering. A $13K lens.
I was impressed. Pretty remarkable lens.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
So here at work I have a broken Cyclotron. You should know that the major cause of death of Cyclotron Engineers is electrocution, and on my machine there are currents as high as 500 amps and voltages as high as 50 kilovolts.
When my cyclotron is operating it uses over 80 kilowatts of energy, and that is comparable to 80 thousand people blow drying their hair at the same time.
So what makes my job interesting is not necessarily the danger from electricity, but more so with working with my boss who reminds me of the cartoon character "Mister Magoo" who is a source of confusion and chaos.
Cal
When my cyclotron is operating it uses over 80 kilowatts of energy, and that is comparable to 80 thousand people blow drying their hair at the same time.
So what makes my job interesting is not necessarily the danger from electricity, but more so with working with my boss who reminds me of the cartoon character "Mister Magoo" who is a source of confusion and chaos.
Cal
NY_Dan
Well-known
Prest_400
Multiformat
Been quite out of the loop lately, guess it's good to spend most of the time active and outdoors!
Take care around and don't get forcibly retired through other means.
Funny enough, when I grew up, watched Cartoon Network and they aired many classic cartoons like the Jetsons, Flintstones, whacky races, etc... But I've been cracking up with Mr Magoo whom I didn't know about!
Cal you should gather up all the stories, I see the old threads get archived or deleted, these deserve posterity.
Take care around and don't get forcibly retired through other means.
Funny enough, when I grew up, watched Cartoon Network and they aired many classic cartoons like the Jetsons, Flintstones, whacky races, etc... But I've been cracking up with Mr Magoo whom I didn't know about!
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Dan,
From retired PhD I remarkably found out that there are only 1,000 Cyclotrons in the world.
Also more backstory on my boss is that his English is almost as poor as my dad's, and know that my dad was an illiterate illegal Chinese immigrant. My father use to scream and yell at me all the time, just like my boss. LOL.
Way back when, I use to work at Grumman, and they had this bank of one farad capacitors that could hold 60 kilojoules worth of energy. The idea of this machine called "Magnaform" was discharge this huge bank of caps into a coil and the EMF (electrical magnetic force) would shape a big cone of aluminum into a thrust reverser for an airplane.
Pretty much this sound of an explosion would be made every time this machine would be fired.
One day at work, another boss who was like Mister Magoo, asked me to hand him the grounding wand. He took it from my left hand before I could connect the grounding clamp which was in my right hand. Luckily when he started grounding out the caps they were already discharged, otherwise he likely would of killed me. I would of gotten "French Fried."
There have been a few times where I could of gotten killed via industrial accidents. There are plenty of Mister Magoo's out there.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jorde,
Mister Magoo is this old guy who is nearly blind. The intro of the show has him driving his car wreaking havoc and causing all these accidents and pile-ups. What makes it funny is he always gets away undamaged.
The relationships presented also are imbalanced and totally one sided. Mister Magoo always has his way. The funniest is that Mister Magoo is clueless and totally unaware that he is the problem
Pretty much it is about having a one sided relationship in every encounter.
Cal
jszokoli
Well-known
Cal,
I've read this thread end to end and can't see if a date was picked?
Joe
I've read this thread end to end and can't see if a date was picked?
Joe
Range-rover
Veteran
Jim Backus (if spelled correctly) did the voice.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Joe,
I have not picked a date. Oh-well.
How about someone like you picking the Sunday?
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I'm at work waiting for a Cryo Pump to hit 20 degrees Kelvin. Yesterday we found a water leak coming from the filament.
Waiting...
Cal
Waiting...
Cal
I was wondering why you were posting on a Saturday. I hope it comes quickly.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
We just hit 30 degrees Kelvin. Pretty much a helium compressor freezes a cold head and matter (atoms) are frozen onto the cold head. In perhaps the next 15 minutes we will have good vacuum.
Next is burn in the filament a bit, ramp up the machine, and develop a tune to accelerate some protons.
I should be getting out of here around lunchtime.
Cal
jwlee
Established
http://www.allthingsclipart.com/images_01c/mr.magoo.01.jpg
http://www.allthingsclipart.com/images_01c/mr.magoo.03.jpg
Did you know?... Mr. Magoo is a comic cartoon character that was created in 1949. Mr. Magoo is a wealthy, retired man who gets into a lot of comic situations because of his extreme nearsightedness. Jim Backus, who was later on Gilligan's Island, was the voice for Mr. Magoo. Mr. Magoo won 2 oscars.
-John
http://www.allthingsclipart.com/images_01c/mr.magoo.03.jpg
Did you know?... Mr. Magoo is a comic cartoon character that was created in 1949. Mr. Magoo is a wealthy, retired man who gets into a lot of comic situations because of his extreme nearsightedness. Jim Backus, who was later on Gilligan's Island, was the voice for Mr. Magoo. Mr. Magoo won 2 oscars.
-John
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Today is "Bonus Vacation" since "Mister Magoo" is using some comp time and I'm alone at work.
I brought my laptop to work on some files.
Lately I have been concentrating on maxing out my Ti IBIS. Took advantage of some summer sales to order new carbon fiber Mini BMX bars, some new chain rings to minimize and downsize my drivetrain, and a front deraileur to make an unconventional two-speed with only two gears: fast; and faster.
This Ti IBIS will weigh less than 17 1/2 pounds with road slicks set up as an urban bike. Lately I have been doing interval training using the tall single speed to climb the "Harlem Hills" in the northern end of Central Park.
The steel IBIS I re-made into a trials bike sporting a Middleburn Trials Guard that has a tiny 20 tooth chainring with a 16T rear cog. This bike is built in a heavy duty manor and is not built to be lightweight. The gearing is 30 gear inches and pretty much is a true wheelie gear. The tall bottom bracket and short wheelbase supports climbing obsticals, and for doing tricks that involve hopping around on a bike.
On EBAY I notice that some of the stuff that was readily available two years ago is now gone. I'm glad that I stockpiled and used the plastic card with the magic numbers when I did. The hard to find 24 inch tires I stockpiled, and the slicks I now use are no longer made, and I'm glad that I had the wisdom to stockpile some. The single brake lever that Sy-Moe- tain-E-Us-Lee controls both front and rear brakes at the same time is no longer available.
On the camera side of things I have maxed out my kit. If I won the lottery pretty much things stand pat, no need to upgrade, and pretty much I own already what I would want if I won. This is true with bikes, cameras, guitars, and amplifiers. Any more is just being greedy.
So if I won the lottery I think the new Audi RS5 would be a cool "old man's" car. I like that it has 4 doors and the rear seat folds down so I can load in my bikes, guitars and amps. What I love is the 444 horsepower and 440 foot pounds of torque. Reminds me of my old Saab 900 which was a four door hatchback.
The design of the car is optimized for accelerating coming out of a turn, and is not the best for coming into a turn fast. Kinda like riding one of my IBIS's when mountain biking, built for acceleration and climbing.
"Maggie" found some time to catch up. Dropped off 4 garbage bags of designer clothes to good will. There are 4 clothes racks full of clothing to be donated to "Housing Works" as part of their annual benefit program where they invite certain celeb's to open their closets.
Anyways, I figure I did a few wise things that were timely. The pickings I find on EBAY are a little slim right now. Really glad I loaded up the truck when I did.
Cal
I brought my laptop to work on some files.
Lately I have been concentrating on maxing out my Ti IBIS. Took advantage of some summer sales to order new carbon fiber Mini BMX bars, some new chain rings to minimize and downsize my drivetrain, and a front deraileur to make an unconventional two-speed with only two gears: fast; and faster.
This Ti IBIS will weigh less than 17 1/2 pounds with road slicks set up as an urban bike. Lately I have been doing interval training using the tall single speed to climb the "Harlem Hills" in the northern end of Central Park.
The steel IBIS I re-made into a trials bike sporting a Middleburn Trials Guard that has a tiny 20 tooth chainring with a 16T rear cog. This bike is built in a heavy duty manor and is not built to be lightweight. The gearing is 30 gear inches and pretty much is a true wheelie gear. The tall bottom bracket and short wheelbase supports climbing obsticals, and for doing tricks that involve hopping around on a bike.
On EBAY I notice that some of the stuff that was readily available two years ago is now gone. I'm glad that I stockpiled and used the plastic card with the magic numbers when I did. The hard to find 24 inch tires I stockpiled, and the slicks I now use are no longer made, and I'm glad that I had the wisdom to stockpile some. The single brake lever that Sy-Moe- tain-E-Us-Lee controls both front and rear brakes at the same time is no longer available.
On the camera side of things I have maxed out my kit. If I won the lottery pretty much things stand pat, no need to upgrade, and pretty much I own already what I would want if I won. This is true with bikes, cameras, guitars, and amplifiers. Any more is just being greedy.
So if I won the lottery I think the new Audi RS5 would be a cool "old man's" car. I like that it has 4 doors and the rear seat folds down so I can load in my bikes, guitars and amps. What I love is the 444 horsepower and 440 foot pounds of torque. Reminds me of my old Saab 900 which was a four door hatchback.
The design of the car is optimized for accelerating coming out of a turn, and is not the best for coming into a turn fast. Kinda like riding one of my IBIS's when mountain biking, built for acceleration and climbing.
"Maggie" found some time to catch up. Dropped off 4 garbage bags of designer clothes to good will. There are 4 clothes racks full of clothing to be donated to "Housing Works" as part of their annual benefit program where they invite certain celeb's to open their closets.
Anyways, I figure I did a few wise things that were timely. The pickings I find on EBAY are a little slim right now. Really glad I loaded up the truck when I did.
Cal
Prest_400
Multiformat
We're on biking time. Of your 2 IBIS one was the Trials with a 24" rear and another was a Mountain bike as well?
I eded up assembling that project bike and it's a fun thing to commute in, sometimes going through forest fire trails and single track, city bikes can't do this.
After a couple weeks of use it developed a creak when pedalling under load, yesterday I regreased the whole crankset area but no avail, oh well. There's a bit of a frame crack in the headset that I'm watching, got to love that time bomb feeling of danger... In any case I was surprised of how much dirt I had to clean on the transmission.
As commuting bike, I really didn't want to spend that much. You mention availability of parts and got reminded that finding a 58/94mm 5 arm chainring without spending more than a Propack of film was hard; I think it was the standard MTB crankset sizing back in the 90s but not so much now!
Bikes do have a bunch of marketing and the emphasis towards 650B and 29" sure did its thing on part turnover.
BTW you mention the 2x drivetrains, all the rage is in 1x10-12. I should sometime try that, but got used to the useful range of 3x10. My FD crapped out so I now run out of a 3x8 just a 32 chainring with a 11-36 cassette or such.
Noticed that as I'm biking daily I don't find that much need to go to the trails for leisure... At the end of it, a replacement/replenishing set of legs would be nice to have. 😀
I ordered some film and in some terms got reminded that biking can be a not too expensive hobby compared to photography. And really bikes don't get obsolete per se, just the fashion around it and some geometry or part manufacturing advances...
I eded up assembling that project bike and it's a fun thing to commute in, sometimes going through forest fire trails and single track, city bikes can't do this.
After a couple weeks of use it developed a creak when pedalling under load, yesterday I regreased the whole crankset area but no avail, oh well. There's a bit of a frame crack in the headset that I'm watching, got to love that time bomb feeling of danger... In any case I was surprised of how much dirt I had to clean on the transmission.
As commuting bike, I really didn't want to spend that much. You mention availability of parts and got reminded that finding a 58/94mm 5 arm chainring without spending more than a Propack of film was hard; I think it was the standard MTB crankset sizing back in the 90s but not so much now!
Bikes do have a bunch of marketing and the emphasis towards 650B and 29" sure did its thing on part turnover.
BTW you mention the 2x drivetrains, all the rage is in 1x10-12. I should sometime try that, but got used to the useful range of 3x10. My FD crapped out so I now run out of a 3x8 just a 32 chainring with a 11-36 cassette or such.
Noticed that as I'm biking daily I don't find that much need to go to the trails for leisure... At the end of it, a replacement/replenishing set of legs would be nice to have. 😀
I ordered some film and in some terms got reminded that biking can be a not too expensive hobby compared to photography. And really bikes don't get obsolete per se, just the fashion around it and some geometry or part manufacturing advances...
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jorde,
Back in the day when CD, Microdrive and 94/58 were new I fully embraced it. I saw merit in the downsized drivetrain.
Both of my IBIS's have 24 inch rear wheels making them novel. The Ti IBIS dates from around 1994 and uses the tubeset that was developed for the Ti Mojo which has the reputation for being the pinnacle of titanium fram building because of its internally butted tubing and the affiliation with Gary Helflic who is the Godfather of Titanium bikes.
A funny story about Gary is that he had to choose between going to MIT on a full scholarship or being a roady for Aerosmith. In the end he decided Rock and Roll was an education that better suited him. On the road is where he learned welding.
At work it was another boring day when I went on EBAY two years ago. Out of boredom I did a search on "IBIS Mountain Trials" because it was obscure, a bike I already owned, and it dated from the late 1980's. I was pretty surprised when this titanium version of the Mountain Trials showed up. I placed a bid and became the high bidder. The auction was to end later that day.
So the next day at work I find out I did not win this rare bike. I'm disappointed and had wished I had placed a higher final bid. Another day passes and I get a "Second Chance Offer" because the high bidder was a deadbeat. I hit the BIN and win the Ti IBIS.
This bike due to the aggressive geometry and short wheelbase was set up as a single speed geared for bike polo. The price I paid was what the frame alone was worth to me.
I sent an e-mail to Scot Nichol who was the founder of IBIS, and I forwarded him the EBAY auction to inquire about its history. It featured a "Hand-Job" (investment cast small hand made by a local jeweler that was used as a rear cable retainer) so Scot figured it was made around 1994 before Vee-Brakes were invented.
I knew I owned a rare bike, and I wanted to know how rare. Scot mentioned that it is impossible to remember how many bikes he built decades ago, but that perhaps/maybe only a handful of Mountain Trials were ever built, but in fact I might have the only one ever built. So I have in writing that this bike could be or is likely a "one-off."
I did further forensics and I discovered that the first owner owned a ski and bike shop in Lancastor County in Pennsylvania, they are long-time IBIS dealers, and on their web-site they mention that one of the owners bought the first Ti IBIS Mountain Trials ever built. The bike was shipped to me from Lancastor County in Pennsylvania.
So I have the paperwork to prove rarity and providence.
Over the past two years I have upgrade the Ti IBIS. Initially I canabilized all the lightweight trick parts off my old Steel IBIS. In turn the steel IBIS received all the heavy duty parts and evolved into a full blown Trials bike. The Ti IBIS has been ultimized as a light weight road urban single speed.
In a way my bikes make up for no longer owning a car, although I miss my Jeep Scrambler with the Corvette engine a lot. It is really cool riding a piece of history that is so classic and timeless.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jorde,
Shimano looks to be coming out with a 1x12. Came close to buying the latest XTR 1x11 that is currently being closed out.
For me it might make more sense to do a 2x12 eventually or even a 2x11. The reason is that jumping front chain rings is faster and more violent that skipping through gears on a 1x11 or 1x12. The kinda single track I love to ride is more like interval training with short steep climbs followed by short downhills.
I already bought an extra 24 inch Answer Pinnacle Pro rim. This rim is basically a BMX rear rim with a machined brake surface. This rim also is discontinued now. Glad I secured a second rim.
Besides the Mini BMX bars I mentioned above, the single brake lever also goes with the BMX culture, as well as the ODI lock on grips.
I had an IBIS Type 2 fork custom made by Steve Potts. This fork originally was designed for original use on a tandem. The Paul's front brakes are also were originally designed for use on tandems, as well as the Middleburn cranks.
Cal
Shimano looks to be coming out with a 1x12. Came close to buying the latest XTR 1x11 that is currently being closed out.
For me it might make more sense to do a 2x12 eventually or even a 2x11. The reason is that jumping front chain rings is faster and more violent that skipping through gears on a 1x11 or 1x12. The kinda single track I love to ride is more like interval training with short steep climbs followed by short downhills.
I already bought an extra 24 inch Answer Pinnacle Pro rim. This rim is basically a BMX rear rim with a machined brake surface. This rim also is discontinued now. Glad I secured a second rim.
Besides the Mini BMX bars I mentioned above, the single brake lever also goes with the BMX culture, as well as the ODI lock on grips.
I had an IBIS Type 2 fork custom made by Steve Potts. This fork originally was designed for original use on a tandem. The Paul's front brakes are also were originally designed for use on tandems, as well as the Middleburn cranks.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
A financial newsletter I subscribe to uses the initials CF to denote wealthy people who can't break away from their early habit of saving. Seems like the writer encouraged being thrifty until the age of 45 to establish wealth, but then wrote that at a certain point that accumulated wealth should be enjoyed, otherwise it makes no sense and goes wasted. He cited a retired spendthrift reported in the news who somehow saved over 7 million dollars. Her estate was donated to rescue cats.
This age of 45 is a inflexsion nice point. It was back in 2003 that I bought my Rolex Submariner, my cheap Rolex that does not feature the cyclopse of the date. I'm age 60, so that is when I decided to begin to enjoy the fruits of my labors and enjoy myself and embrace life more fully happened to be at the age of 45.
Interesting that some of my critics that are Leica haters who whine they can't afford Leicas are well under 45. Let me say and call them mighty entitled. Jerks... I did not buy my first Leica, a used M6, until 2007 or 2008 at the age of 50.
In one posting the word "smug" was used to attack me. I like the word and I take it as a compliment: I have good reason to have that level of confidence and happiness. I earned it.
Retirement. Kinda like being a teenager all over again in that you really are entering a scary time of uncertain future whether you are ready or not. Lately have been taking more seriously eating and exercising for a better quality of life. My dad lived to 94, even though he was poor and had a brutal life. I'm spending more money on food, and I'm putting in the time exercising.
Maggie might begin her retirement soon, meaning quitting her day-job in six months. I can see me being encouraged to do likewise soon.
Cal
This age of 45 is a inflexsion nice point. It was back in 2003 that I bought my Rolex Submariner, my cheap Rolex that does not feature the cyclopse of the date. I'm age 60, so that is when I decided to begin to enjoy the fruits of my labors and enjoy myself and embrace life more fully happened to be at the age of 45.
Interesting that some of my critics that are Leica haters who whine they can't afford Leicas are well under 45. Let me say and call them mighty entitled. Jerks... I did not buy my first Leica, a used M6, until 2007 or 2008 at the age of 50.
In one posting the word "smug" was used to attack me. I like the word and I take it as a compliment: I have good reason to have that level of confidence and happiness. I earned it.
Retirement. Kinda like being a teenager all over again in that you really are entering a scary time of uncertain future whether you are ready or not. Lately have been taking more seriously eating and exercising for a better quality of life. My dad lived to 94, even though he was poor and had a brutal life. I'm spending more money on food, and I'm putting in the time exercising.
Maggie might begin her retirement soon, meaning quitting her day-job in six months. I can see me being encouraged to do likewise soon.
Cal
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