Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
It's a very nice ride. Very smooth, just about perfect sizing.
The dropouts are 30mm long and the axle is 10mm in diameter. This allows an overall rear cog spread of 10 teeth, depending upon which chainring I'm in. The rings are 38/42 which widens up the range quite a bit if you think of it as low gears and high gears. Cog tooth count overlap exists but that is the price I pay for going this route. My low range is 38: 23 - 18 teeth, and my high range is 42: 19 - 13 teeth. I have all odd tooth count cogs from 13 - 23, and also have a 14 tooth. Running 700c x 32 tires, this gives me an awesome gear spread that I can take on most paved and packed dirt terrain. If I really gel with this road-centric build, I may do a repeat with a MTB, but I'd need to have some Campy 1010 dropouts welded in since all decent MTB frames use vertical or "short" horizontal dropouts with only about 15mm of dwell, so 5mm of adjustability, which equates to only a 2 tooth cog difference. A White Industries ENO eccentric hub can handle a few more teeth but the vertical adjustment also messes with brake track, so it's not really a viable option.
What I really need to do is go to frame building school ...
The fixed Raleigh has been ridden to work just once, right before winter weather and sinus sickness set in. This Saturday, I am scheduled to work a shift and the weather is forecast to be gorgeous, so I'll probably be riding to and from work on the new fixed Raleigh. The front hub is a Shutter Precision SP8 dynamo driving a SON Edelux, which actually cost more than the frame. I bought that light maybe 10 years ago as an employee purchase and it was still expensive even with the discount. The Edelux used to live on the Univega but I decided to swap it out for a Busch & Muller headlight with the same guts as the SON but a plastic body. I'll be putting on a Busch & Muller taillight this month.
I also have a Cateye Padrone Digital computer mounted, which gives me speed, cadence and also displays pulse as it is paired with my Polar heart rate monitor.
One of these days I need to find a Suntour Superbe Pro double with 160 or 165mm right side crank to help me mitigate bounce and unequal stroke due to my leg length discrepancy.
Here's a fun workout bit of gear that I built:
I took two sawhorses with about 3 foot legs and stuck a plastic coated 1 1/8" wooden dowel rod (cut down to about 4 feet wide) in the sawhorse jaws. This gives me a bar from which I lay down and do both a plank and pull up at the same time and it is a great bit of workout. I've only been able to work on those back muscles doing either bent over rows or on a machine at a gym (when doing PT for shoulder injury recovery). Essentially the opposite of a push up. Cheap too, the dowel rod was the most expensive part!
Phil
The dropouts are 30mm long and the axle is 10mm in diameter. This allows an overall rear cog spread of 10 teeth, depending upon which chainring I'm in. The rings are 38/42 which widens up the range quite a bit if you think of it as low gears and high gears. Cog tooth count overlap exists but that is the price I pay for going this route. My low range is 38: 23 - 18 teeth, and my high range is 42: 19 - 13 teeth. I have all odd tooth count cogs from 13 - 23, and also have a 14 tooth. Running 700c x 32 tires, this gives me an awesome gear spread that I can take on most paved and packed dirt terrain. If I really gel with this road-centric build, I may do a repeat with a MTB, but I'd need to have some Campy 1010 dropouts welded in since all decent MTB frames use vertical or "short" horizontal dropouts with only about 15mm of dwell, so 5mm of adjustability, which equates to only a 2 tooth cog difference. A White Industries ENO eccentric hub can handle a few more teeth but the vertical adjustment also messes with brake track, so it's not really a viable option.
What I really need to do is go to frame building school ...
The fixed Raleigh has been ridden to work just once, right before winter weather and sinus sickness set in. This Saturday, I am scheduled to work a shift and the weather is forecast to be gorgeous, so I'll probably be riding to and from work on the new fixed Raleigh. The front hub is a Shutter Precision SP8 dynamo driving a SON Edelux, which actually cost more than the frame. I bought that light maybe 10 years ago as an employee purchase and it was still expensive even with the discount. The Edelux used to live on the Univega but I decided to swap it out for a Busch & Muller headlight with the same guts as the SON but a plastic body. I'll be putting on a Busch & Muller taillight this month.
I also have a Cateye Padrone Digital computer mounted, which gives me speed, cadence and also displays pulse as it is paired with my Polar heart rate monitor.
One of these days I need to find a Suntour Superbe Pro double with 160 or 165mm right side crank to help me mitigate bounce and unequal stroke due to my leg length discrepancy.
Here's a fun workout bit of gear that I built:
I took two sawhorses with about 3 foot legs and stuck a plastic coated 1 1/8" wooden dowel rod (cut down to about 4 feet wide) in the sawhorse jaws. This gives me a bar from which I lay down and do both a plank and pull up at the same time and it is a great bit of workout. I've only been able to work on those back muscles doing either bent over rows or on a machine at a gym (when doing PT for shoulder injury recovery). Essentially the opposite of a push up. Cheap too, the dowel rod was the most expensive part!
Phil
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
I forgot to add, the Rudge Aero Clubman is for sale. I just can't get a good riding position without too much neck strain, due to the frame size. That neck strain is brutal for me as I already have mild stenosis due to my injuries in Iraq. I can't bring myself to turn it into an upright so it has to go.
Phil
Phil
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I understand the limitations of an ENO hub and the brake position changes with an elliptical hub. Seems like you have a great degree of freedom.
The bike is a looker also. Protect it well from theft.
One word of wisdom from an old man, don’t waste time, especially on BS. Also the state of mind of an old man is to avoid remorse. I think keeping old things alive like bikes or cameras is very grounding and actually prevents remorse because there is a sense of permanence.
Good luck with the sale of the Clubman. Too bad it did not work out. You took a risk, and sometimes dreams do not come true. Oh-well. No remorse because you tried.
Boy do I have spring fever. Being retired is an emotional time. Lots of reflection that triggers hidden memories. In a ways I was too busy in the past to fully experience what was going on around me. I feel a bit more sensitized, sensitive and perhaps more in tune and in touch with myself and who I am. I feel more alive.
Later in the week I visit the hematologist who ordered all the bloodwork from the recent ER visit. We will be digging into how my CAD is impacting my health. After a decade of a wait and watch monitoring that happened quarterly at a Cancer Center, it was deemed I was stable and asymptomatic, and that further monitoring was a waste.
So here I go again, but I’m older and seven years have passed since the last monitoring.
My blood pressure was in the 110/70 range this morning. This is a good indication that my cardio vascular system has a carryover from the two days of rowing. It won’t take long to get into the 100/60 range.
On one hand I enjoy remarkable health, but on the other is a big unknown that could take me out. I have lived with these thoughts for more than a decade and a half. Like I said, no time for BS.
Cal
I understand the limitations of an ENO hub and the brake position changes with an elliptical hub. Seems like you have a great degree of freedom.
The bike is a looker also. Protect it well from theft.
One word of wisdom from an old man, don’t waste time, especially on BS. Also the state of mind of an old man is to avoid remorse. I think keeping old things alive like bikes or cameras is very grounding and actually prevents remorse because there is a sense of permanence.
Good luck with the sale of the Clubman. Too bad it did not work out. You took a risk, and sometimes dreams do not come true. Oh-well. No remorse because you tried.
Boy do I have spring fever. Being retired is an emotional time. Lots of reflection that triggers hidden memories. In a ways I was too busy in the past to fully experience what was going on around me. I feel a bit more sensitized, sensitive and perhaps more in tune and in touch with myself and who I am. I feel more alive.
Later in the week I visit the hematologist who ordered all the bloodwork from the recent ER visit. We will be digging into how my CAD is impacting my health. After a decade of a wait and watch monitoring that happened quarterly at a Cancer Center, it was deemed I was stable and asymptomatic, and that further monitoring was a waste.
So here I go again, but I’m older and seven years have passed since the last monitoring.
My blood pressure was in the 110/70 range this morning. This is a good indication that my cardio vascular system has a carryover from the two days of rowing. It won’t take long to get into the 100/60 range.
On one hand I enjoy remarkable health, but on the other is a big unknown that could take me out. I have lived with these thoughts for more than a decade and a half. Like I said, no time for BS.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Commercial Real Estate in the U.S. is causing a banking problem. No surprise, but now there are new headlines. Something might give.
I read an article that dealt with probability and dealt with chaos theory based on grains of sand. The danger was that there were these “Islands of stability” that unpredictably built up over time, and then a trigger single grain of sand could trigger a collapse.
This model was used to explain all the bailouts and how the markets somehow got rescued again and again, which cumulatively leads to a bigger rather catastrophic collapse that seemed to be triggered by a single event in the periphery.
Car loans are a problem with delinquencies, and also credit card debt. Then there is the debt crisis where our government is abusing debt at an unsustainable level.
Separately we went to a podcast studio in Cortlandt. We have new friends we met at Brian’s house party last month. Sandy is about our age, and his partner Colleen is much younger. The burbs here has some interesting people to have as good friends. What is happening is we are meeting more people like us, instead of connecting with the hipsters from Brooklyn.
We will certainly become great friends and talked of doing lots of things together. Pretty much we are fighting against the isolation that can happen in the burbs.
Realize that Cortlandt is really a suburb of the City of Peekskill and the scale of the home was mucho grand and of affluence.
The podcast was with a woman and her sidekick that have over a million views of her weekly podcasts. Pretty much ground swell material that will be posted about a week before “Maggie’s” book release. This is a popular site, and Maggie’s book was plugged by the host several times.
Also know after the recording that the host wants to have Maggie back as a guest. The woman was a southern bell that came across as a bad ass, and this prompted and promoted the bad ass in Maggie. The Co-Host added lots of color and laughter.
So this podcast could be a real big springboard to pitch the book. Could add mucho pre-orders, and from there a lot of crazy things could happen. The podcast studio was at Sandy and Colleen’s home. BTW Sandy is a bass player.
The news feature where a crew will come to Peekskill is not a local New York crew. It is a bigger scale and is on a level of being national. This isn’t a 1 1/2 to 2 minute story, but an in depth feature. This is not really about the book, so much, but is really about the topic of aging, and somehow this includes me.
The date is not firmed up yet. I’m kinda excited.
I can say, “I was just minding my own business.”
I’m just going along for the ride. Still a lot of things going on keeping us booked. Both Maggie and I have mucho doctor’s appointments and Maggie also has physical therapy.
I have to thank another new friend, Phil, who mailed me back a book on jazz that had a forward written by Stan Kenton. Phil also sent a CD he recorded that has some Stan Kenton influence that Phil engineered and recorded. I accidentally left my book at Phil’s studio.
Phil is around my age.
It took a while but I am worming my way into having a group of peers. There is another couple that lives in Ossining that are in this circle. Mike was an exec at HBO and is retired, and his wife, Ivonne, was the producer of Maggie’s audiobook.
I have to stop by the horse barn/printing studio with the master printer who is sponsored by Epson, Cannon, Canson, Hannemuele… Pretty much this printer is at the level where he developed the new firmware that drives Canon large format printers.
The thing is there is a wonderful sense when one can share your life with others. BTW MIke’s wife Ivonne is a biker, and so is Sandy.
Anyways, after a delays things are branching out.
Maggie also had a telephone/zoom call interview for a print/online travel magazine. This interview is for a print article
I kinda feel like a sideman in a band. I’m reframing the way I look at my involvement. Parts of this book publishing I hate, but there are some great outcomes. Even though I’m retired, I’m busier than I thought, with lots of distractions.
Cal
I read an article that dealt with probability and dealt with chaos theory based on grains of sand. The danger was that there were these “Islands of stability” that unpredictably built up over time, and then a trigger single grain of sand could trigger a collapse.
This model was used to explain all the bailouts and how the markets somehow got rescued again and again, which cumulatively leads to a bigger rather catastrophic collapse that seemed to be triggered by a single event in the periphery.
Car loans are a problem with delinquencies, and also credit card debt. Then there is the debt crisis where our government is abusing debt at an unsustainable level.
Separately we went to a podcast studio in Cortlandt. We have new friends we met at Brian’s house party last month. Sandy is about our age, and his partner Colleen is much younger. The burbs here has some interesting people to have as good friends. What is happening is we are meeting more people like us, instead of connecting with the hipsters from Brooklyn.
We will certainly become great friends and talked of doing lots of things together. Pretty much we are fighting against the isolation that can happen in the burbs.
Realize that Cortlandt is really a suburb of the City of Peekskill and the scale of the home was mucho grand and of affluence.
The podcast was with a woman and her sidekick that have over a million views of her weekly podcasts. Pretty much ground swell material that will be posted about a week before “Maggie’s” book release. This is a popular site, and Maggie’s book was plugged by the host several times.
Also know after the recording that the host wants to have Maggie back as a guest. The woman was a southern bell that came across as a bad ass, and this prompted and promoted the bad ass in Maggie. The Co-Host added lots of color and laughter.
So this podcast could be a real big springboard to pitch the book. Could add mucho pre-orders, and from there a lot of crazy things could happen. The podcast studio was at Sandy and Colleen’s home. BTW Sandy is a bass player.
The news feature where a crew will come to Peekskill is not a local New York crew. It is a bigger scale and is on a level of being national. This isn’t a 1 1/2 to 2 minute story, but an in depth feature. This is not really about the book, so much, but is really about the topic of aging, and somehow this includes me.
The date is not firmed up yet. I’m kinda excited.
I can say, “I was just minding my own business.”
I’m just going along for the ride. Still a lot of things going on keeping us booked. Both Maggie and I have mucho doctor’s appointments and Maggie also has physical therapy.
I have to thank another new friend, Phil, who mailed me back a book on jazz that had a forward written by Stan Kenton. Phil also sent a CD he recorded that has some Stan Kenton influence that Phil engineered and recorded. I accidentally left my book at Phil’s studio.
Phil is around my age.
It took a while but I am worming my way into having a group of peers. There is another couple that lives in Ossining that are in this circle. Mike was an exec at HBO and is retired, and his wife, Ivonne, was the producer of Maggie’s audiobook.
I have to stop by the horse barn/printing studio with the master printer who is sponsored by Epson, Cannon, Canson, Hannemuele… Pretty much this printer is at the level where he developed the new firmware that drives Canon large format printers.
The thing is there is a wonderful sense when one can share your life with others. BTW MIke’s wife Ivonne is a biker, and so is Sandy.
Anyways, after a delays things are branching out.
Maggie also had a telephone/zoom call interview for a print/online travel magazine. This interview is for a print article
I kinda feel like a sideman in a band. I’m reframing the way I look at my involvement. Parts of this book publishing I hate, but there are some great outcomes. Even though I’m retired, I’m busier than I thought, with lots of distractions.
Cal
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Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Today I am more relaxed about just taking things in stride. This book publication is opening a can or worms and surely life will be different after March 12th. It seems everything is kinda big and blown out of proportion.
I can expect things to get crazier, busy, and for life to kinda have unexpected surprises. With the cold weather pretty much the progress on the house has slowed down. My guitar practicing helps me have some progress and momentum.
Pretty much I don’t have to be in NYC for odd things to happen or to meet interesting people and make friends.
I do miss my friends from NYC though.
My friend Mike the Skinny Hipster is getting married. He and his gal went to Serbia so he could meet her parents, but now she can’t get back into the U.S. He now, after trying all these measures to get her back in, is flying to Serbia to marry her, but then it still might take a year for him to get her back into then U.S.
They are a wonderful couple. Know that Mike is a wack job on a track bike, and because Branke was/is a tennis pro she is basically a very fit and skilled bike rider now. Pretty much a biker couple, both kinda skinny.
What a disaster with immigration. This situation really sucks.
Cal
I can expect things to get crazier, busy, and for life to kinda have unexpected surprises. With the cold weather pretty much the progress on the house has slowed down. My guitar practicing helps me have some progress and momentum.
Pretty much I don’t have to be in NYC for odd things to happen or to meet interesting people and make friends.
I do miss my friends from NYC though.
My friend Mike the Skinny Hipster is getting married. He and his gal went to Serbia so he could meet her parents, but now she can’t get back into the U.S. He now, after trying all these measures to get her back in, is flying to Serbia to marry her, but then it still might take a year for him to get her back into then U.S.
They are a wonderful couple. Know that Mike is a wack job on a track bike, and because Branke was/is a tennis pro she is basically a very fit and skilled bike rider now. Pretty much a biker couple, both kinda skinny.
What a disaster with immigration. This situation really sucks.
Cal
Austintatious
Well-known
Especially when you consider that every day, thousands of undocumented illegal immigrants walk across our southern border from dozens of different countries and the government does not one thing.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Uh oh.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
No doubt that illegal immigration is a mucho big problem.
Realize that I know that no economy can grow that has negative population growth.
That said illegal immigration is a mess and messy. The way it is being handled or being not handled is just a disaster and total chaos. Almost everything about it is kinda wrong.
Now it is being politicized. Shame on everyone.
I happen to live in an immigrant community, and my dad was an illegal immigrant who jumped ship in New York Harbor in the late 20’s or early 30’s.
I have no problem with immigrants, but I have a serious problem with the way immigration is being handled or not handled.
I see hard working immigrants doing the heavy lifting and scut work that Americans will not do. I also see these workers being exploited. Also child labor exists if you read the news.
Our government or lack of government fosters exploitation and oppression. We do need immigration to have a growing population and a sufficient workforce, but do we need total chaos?
I also have to ask who profits from this situation, and who pays?
I was told that the “Hooverville” encampments I saw on 5th Avenue in NYC in the 80’s along Central Park were refugees.
Also know that the southern border is a migrant route for Chinese illegal immigration. Russian ex pats also are migrating through the southern border. It is not just Latino’s that migrate.
What a total mess. Pretty much a free for all that is costly.
Meanwhile at the hospital I worked at these Post-Docs with PhD’s that came from all over the world had big problems with immigration, and there are all these stories of them going home to visit family and being barred from returning to the U.S.
Cal
Realize that I know that no economy can grow that has negative population growth.
That said illegal immigration is a mess and messy. The way it is being handled or being not handled is just a disaster and total chaos. Almost everything about it is kinda wrong.
Now it is being politicized. Shame on everyone.
I happen to live in an immigrant community, and my dad was an illegal immigrant who jumped ship in New York Harbor in the late 20’s or early 30’s.
I have no problem with immigrants, but I have a serious problem with the way immigration is being handled or not handled.
I see hard working immigrants doing the heavy lifting and scut work that Americans will not do. I also see these workers being exploited. Also child labor exists if you read the news.
Our government or lack of government fosters exploitation and oppression. We do need immigration to have a growing population and a sufficient workforce, but do we need total chaos?
I also have to ask who profits from this situation, and who pays?
I was told that the “Hooverville” encampments I saw on 5th Avenue in NYC in the 80’s along Central Park were refugees.
Also know that the southern border is a migrant route for Chinese illegal immigration. Russian ex pats also are migrating through the southern border. It is not just Latino’s that migrate.
What a total mess. Pretty much a free for all that is costly.
Meanwhile at the hospital I worked at these Post-Docs with PhD’s that came from all over the world had big problems with immigration, and there are all these stories of them going home to visit family and being barred from returning to the U.S.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
My friend Phil, the Recording Engineer, will be helping me with the sound treatment of my attic studio. Pretty much I want to sound proof the room as much as possible, and set it up for my 300B tube stereo. Also would be a practice room for guitar and a digital printing studio.
Right now it is all rough still and the old fiberglass insulation in the rafters has compacted over decades and needs to be replaced. I will use rock wool that does not compress over time.
One of my neighbors offered me a pallet of exterior grade 1/2 inch plywood he got a deal on. He figures he now needs 5/8 or better because he now wants to install an air handler in his attic.
The first thing is the floor. “Maggie” offered to pay someone to insulate the attic, but to me this is a low skill task that would waste our resource of cash that could be used elsewhere.
My actual studio space is only a 15x16 foot area because of the 4 different rooflines on the second floor that make effectively many crawl spaces. The 15x16 footprint has an A-Frame roof without any knee walls.
The ceiling is well suited for the use of rigid foam and a radiant barrier. I will create a sealed envelope as Devil Christian suggested.
Logistics are that a 4x8 sheet will not negotiate the stairway, so plywood and Sheetrock will have to be cut in half. Because of my sealing and the radiant barrier the space will be small, but that’s alright. I’m cool with that.
The baby boomers that we are now meeting, that we consider our peers, will be surprised by how modestly we live. Their houses are rather big and I would hate to pay the taxes on their homes. Maggie has her PhD and I have my MFA, both terminal degrees. Besides that Maggie has a Masters degree and I too have a Masters degree.
We now realize the difference between us and our peers is that we started lower on the SES, and certainly there is less of a display of wealth and affluence. In a ways we are still working class and we live in a blue collar community.
Another thing that became evident is the township of Cortlandt, the suburb of Peekskill, the city, pretty much has a big strip mall and there is a bit of a lack of a village or town. Cortlandt kinda sprawls and some of the properties are McMansion in size, but date prior to the term. Elevated living for sure.
It also becomes evident that our home is kinda special and cute. We have a remote location even though in a city.
Next monthly article for our local paper written by Maggie will about Peekskill as a Blue Zone. Cortlandt lacks sidewalks and is highly un walkable. Also things are spread out. Peekskill is somewhat walkable, and it has the sense of community that is required to be somewhat of a Blue Zone. Maggie already has I.D.‘Ed at least 3 individuals over 100 that live in Peekskill.
Today physical therapy for Maggie, and a later phone interview.
All I have is guitar and fitness. Have to get another tank of propane for the grill.
Cal
Right now it is all rough still and the old fiberglass insulation in the rafters has compacted over decades and needs to be replaced. I will use rock wool that does not compress over time.
One of my neighbors offered me a pallet of exterior grade 1/2 inch plywood he got a deal on. He figures he now needs 5/8 or better because he now wants to install an air handler in his attic.
The first thing is the floor. “Maggie” offered to pay someone to insulate the attic, but to me this is a low skill task that would waste our resource of cash that could be used elsewhere.
My actual studio space is only a 15x16 foot area because of the 4 different rooflines on the second floor that make effectively many crawl spaces. The 15x16 footprint has an A-Frame roof without any knee walls.
The ceiling is well suited for the use of rigid foam and a radiant barrier. I will create a sealed envelope as Devil Christian suggested.
Logistics are that a 4x8 sheet will not negotiate the stairway, so plywood and Sheetrock will have to be cut in half. Because of my sealing and the radiant barrier the space will be small, but that’s alright. I’m cool with that.
The baby boomers that we are now meeting, that we consider our peers, will be surprised by how modestly we live. Their houses are rather big and I would hate to pay the taxes on their homes. Maggie has her PhD and I have my MFA, both terminal degrees. Besides that Maggie has a Masters degree and I too have a Masters degree.
We now realize the difference between us and our peers is that we started lower on the SES, and certainly there is less of a display of wealth and affluence. In a ways we are still working class and we live in a blue collar community.
Another thing that became evident is the township of Cortlandt, the suburb of Peekskill, the city, pretty much has a big strip mall and there is a bit of a lack of a village or town. Cortlandt kinda sprawls and some of the properties are McMansion in size, but date prior to the term. Elevated living for sure.
It also becomes evident that our home is kinda special and cute. We have a remote location even though in a city.
Next monthly article for our local paper written by Maggie will about Peekskill as a Blue Zone. Cortlandt lacks sidewalks and is highly un walkable. Also things are spread out. Peekskill is somewhat walkable, and it has the sense of community that is required to be somewhat of a Blue Zone. Maggie already has I.D.‘Ed at least 3 individuals over 100 that live in Peekskill.
Today physical therapy for Maggie, and a later phone interview.
All I have is guitar and fitness. Have to get another tank of propane for the grill.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
50 degree weather allowed me to throw some 40-50 pound slabs of concrete into the gully. I ran into the contractor who gave the clean fill to me and told him I don’t need anymore concrete.
I told him that I will be getting wood chips and clippings from my friend Craig, and the contractor offered me a supply of logs for firewood. I don’t have a fireplace, but I have friends that do.
I got a pretty good upper body workout. Now I will eat and do a slow row to just pump some blood.
On my slope I’m starting to fill in the dead end section as well. I’m kinda annexing the land.
I love the break in the weather.
Cal
I told him that I will be getting wood chips and clippings from my friend Craig, and the contractor offered me a supply of logs for firewood. I don’t have a fireplace, but I have friends that do.
I got a pretty good upper body workout. Now I will eat and do a slow row to just pump some blood.
On my slope I’m starting to fill in the dead end section as well. I’m kinda annexing the land.
I love the break in the weather.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
After throwing cement around, I only did 20 minutes of rowing to pump blood.
Earlier I also was doing some log moving. The logs got dragged more towards the dead end to fill out that area.
Baby steps for an old man.
Cal
Earlier I also was doing some log moving. The logs got dragged more towards the dead end to fill out that area.
Baby steps for an old man.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Went to bed really early. Seems like yesterday’s exertion tired me out. I’m a little stiff today.
Getting fit will require a lot of time, and I’m seeing that there likely will be limits to what I might accomplish. I’ll see how far I can go.
I have an appointment with a hematologist today. Will be looking into why I am prone to infections. This hematologist is the follow through from my ER visit.
“Maggie” needs an updated computer to do her Podcasts. Pretty much the same questions again and again, and a bit like “Ground Hog Day” the film with Bill Murray.
One podcast recorded over a year ago was just released. Maggie had to listen to it to remember what she said. Kinda dream like and surreal.
The Concept 2 rower remains set up in or hallway. I hear a truck backing up and see we are getting a fuel oil delivery. I’m greatful that we don’t have forced hot air heating, and I love having radiators in our old house. Also glad we don’t have propane, and have natural gas for cooking. Nothing like it and I’m spoiled.
Cal
Getting fit will require a lot of time, and I’m seeing that there likely will be limits to what I might accomplish. I’ll see how far I can go.
I have an appointment with a hematologist today. Will be looking into why I am prone to infections. This hematologist is the follow through from my ER visit.
“Maggie” needs an updated computer to do her Podcasts. Pretty much the same questions again and again, and a bit like “Ground Hog Day” the film with Bill Murray.
One podcast recorded over a year ago was just released. Maggie had to listen to it to remember what she said. Kinda dream like and surreal.
The Concept 2 rower remains set up in or hallway. I hear a truck backing up and see we are getting a fuel oil delivery. I’m greatful that we don’t have forced hot air heating, and I love having radiators in our old house. Also glad we don’t have propane, and have natural gas for cooking. Nothing like it and I’m spoiled.
Cal
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
So, in the spirit of Cal, I was just minding my own business...
I had an idea to find another British 531 frame in a larger size and swap all the components from the Clubman over. Yesterday I found one on ebay for super cheap, I mean $20 cheap, and asked my buddy Graham if I should buy it. He texted me back and said, why don't you just take this one for free? And attached a photo of a mint green and white Raleigh Super Course Mk II. I said "I'll stop by on my way home from work."
So now I have another Reynolds 531 frame on the stand and needed to find a fork. A 27" Raleigh fork is something which should be free in this day and age. I thought I might have one, but nope, so back to ebay and after about 20 minutes of searching and an email exchange about crown race seat size, I have a lugged crown, Reynolds 531 fork with an older Carlton logo on the way. The color doesn't match, so I may rattle can it, but I may just keep it different to give it my "rat bike" look when it's actually going to be a very nice ride. Total cost for a whole brand new bike is $55 and elbow grease. After it gets stripped, the Clubman will be going to a new owner.
Since I need to keep my fitness up, the Miyata is being relegated to indoor trainer duty, but I need to swap the cranks. They are currently Suntour Superbe and really belong on something that actually gets on the road. Trainer bikes see incredible wear and tear, and I don't want these cranks, nor other bits on the bike, to be worn out indoors. Those will be going on something far more special which has not yet made its presence known.
I'm doing a Saturday shift this week and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous so I'll be riding tomorrow.
Phil
I had an idea to find another British 531 frame in a larger size and swap all the components from the Clubman over. Yesterday I found one on ebay for super cheap, I mean $20 cheap, and asked my buddy Graham if I should buy it. He texted me back and said, why don't you just take this one for free? And attached a photo of a mint green and white Raleigh Super Course Mk II. I said "I'll stop by on my way home from work."
So now I have another Reynolds 531 frame on the stand and needed to find a fork. A 27" Raleigh fork is something which should be free in this day and age. I thought I might have one, but nope, so back to ebay and after about 20 minutes of searching and an email exchange about crown race seat size, I have a lugged crown, Reynolds 531 fork with an older Carlton logo on the way. The color doesn't match, so I may rattle can it, but I may just keep it different to give it my "rat bike" look when it's actually going to be a very nice ride. Total cost for a whole brand new bike is $55 and elbow grease. After it gets stripped, the Clubman will be going to a new owner.
Since I need to keep my fitness up, the Miyata is being relegated to indoor trainer duty, but I need to swap the cranks. They are currently Suntour Superbe and really belong on something that actually gets on the road. Trainer bikes see incredible wear and tear, and I don't want these cranks, nor other bits on the bike, to be worn out indoors. Those will be going on something far more special which has not yet made its presence known.
I'm doing a Saturday shift this week and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous so I'll be riding tomorrow.
Phil
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
“Good things happen to good people,” I say.
Understand the indoor training stress. I presume on rollers. Higher speed due to no drag and wind resistance.
Cal
“Good things happen to good people,” I say.
Understand the indoor training stress. I presume on rollers. Higher speed due to no drag and wind resistance.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I watched Lou Reed do Sweet Chain with Metallica backing him up at The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Watch the homage and in particular the energy of the drummer putting it all out there.
Great beauty and creative inspiration.
Cal
Watch the homage and in particular the energy of the drummer putting it all out there.
Great beauty and creative inspiration.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I got a clean bill of health from the ER Hematologist. I learned that the absess started as a Cold Sore inside my nostril. No particular reason why it became or led to a major infection. Could be explained by a weaker immune system due to aging, and or my CAD.
It seems the CAD is not a measurable risk, and a plan to monitor me twice a year will begin. I have another visit to a second Hematologist that is a referral from my PCP. Of course this one is more local and convenient. I will likely chose between the two, and I think I will favor the local referral. The Co-Pay was not so small even though in network.
A task this weekend will be install a chain link fence to make the back-backyard grandson proof. There is a more serious tick hazard on the slope, and the incline still is steep. The grandson of course is smart and a trouble maker. The grand daughter will be prohibited beyond the fence to avoid confusion or conflict, and perhaps is a bit of collateral damage. Oh-well.
I won’t cement the poles and will just hammer them into the ground, just in case of any building department hassles. In other words I’m doing this without a permit, even though there was a fence back there that existed when we bought the house, I kinda took liberties in moving the fence a few feet. Oh-well.
This fence when the kids get older will likely get removed.
We went to the Apple Store in a White Plains Mall. Pretty huge and not crowded. At the Apple Store we made some new friends: one was a Neuro Scientist and my new friend Gary unfortunately lost his wife to Cancer during Covid. Like me he is trying to establish a path forward, but he is still stuck a bit in his grief.
I dug into the Mac Mini, a loaded version that would enable 8 TB of internal storage. I would pair this with the 27 Studio Display that would go with my 27 inch EIZO. Don’t forget that my friend Landrew gifted me a mucho expensive viewing booth that has 5000K lighting. Perhaps this might be one thing that Devil Dan does not have that I might have him outgunned in this single item besides lids for my 3 1/2 hard rubber Kodak dip and dunk tanks.
“Maggie” seriously wants me to have a workspace, and I tell her that it will require a good deal of cash. She understands why I put it off because I need to get a bit crazy to set up printing the way I want it.
I told her that while she was on the phone with her daughter (The Creature) that I was thinking of exhibiting my prints at the Peekskill Coffee House: and that because my prints are so large (20x30 image size on 24x36 sheet) that basically only 4 prints could be accommodated along the one big wall.
I would also include a series of 5 small prints assembled in a book that would fan open. This series of shots features a black man named “Orlando” who pretty much caught John and I wandering around Harlem on the day of the Trevor Martin verdict against the man who shot and kill the kid “standing his ground” under a new Florida Law.
Orlando was angry, disturbed, and I think mighty high. He got right in our face and vented. After a while most of that anger was focused on John who is a tall white guy.
At one point I stepped back and took a series of shots of the interaction between John and Orlando. Pretty heated, but the shots I took show and indicated Orlando’s gestures: one of him is holding his index finger to his lips implying “shut-up” but his other fingers were tucked and along with his thumb the image is of a gun.
On Orlando’s black T-shirt is a phaser as from Star Trek with the words, “Don’t Phase Me Bro,” so there is a second gun in the image.
Then in the bottom corner you see John’s white hand with his index finger pointing towards Orlando’s face with his fingers tucked and his thumb suggesting a third handgun.
There are earlier shots that narrate the tension. All I had to include was a poster I had shot pleading for justice for Trevor Martin.
I took these shots about a half-step away with a 28 Cron on a Leica MM. The framing was tight and in your face.
I wondered about the 4 shots I would pick. My friend Klause gifted me a bunch of archival mats that have been cut for 20x30 images with a half inch border around the image. He payed some serious money for these windowed mats with backing, they did not suit the display of his work, but they are perfect for my images.
One image I would frame and use would be this landscape of the old Domino Sugar Refinery shot from the Williamsburg Bridge. Of course this area now has been redeveloped and most of the refinery was torn down. In view is the small brick building where we had a loft. The building back in the day was a burlap bag factory from when men with hooks held in their hands unloaded ships along the waterfront.
I have a picture of “Sal” an old man who’s face was an urban lanscape creased with valleys and wrinkles who lived on 106th Street all his life, had many kids, and worked loading and unloading ships.
Then there is the landmark Rizzoli bookstore that was on 57th Street. This bookstore was torn down. It was relocated in Chelsea, but it lacks the character and personality. Pretty much a great loss in my book. I shot from a balcony by the Photography section. Pretty much a downward Ariel view with some motion blur of people below. A landmark that was destroyed that represented the old New York.
There is a remarkable shot I took at night. I was walking downtown from East Harlem where we lived. It has just turned dark and I took a shot on Lexington Avenue. Across the street was a church with massive doors like some mansion on 5th Avenue and a grand porch was well lite, but sitting on the top step was a homeless person taking advantage of the bright lighting reading a newspaper.
Shot with my 28 Cron from across the avenue it remains clear that the man is the subject. The lighting and detailed shadows display amazing light, especially the shadow details. The subject and the background offers great contrast. Massive columns, a grand entrance, frame the image of a small man surrounded by darkness.
The smut is that this was just a test shot and it ended up being a powerful and strong image with profound visual meaning. Pretty much an accident. Later on in the night further downtown on 59th street I ran into some Wi-Fi hot spot where everyone was playing some newly released video game and were fully immersed in this group setting of hundreds of people outdoors on the corner of Central Park.
“I was just minding my own business…”
I am looking at these images on 2x3 business cards. I used a rubber stamp I bought at Staples to imprint my name, copyright, and contact information. I printed these business cards on large sheets, cut them out, and then stamped the reverse. Basically hand made.
The images hold up well even as 2x3 inch prints, but the impact of the large prints is mucho bigger: more detail, more expressive, and wider dynamic range. On the smaller prints the contrast seems greater. On the large prints the mids really speak large format, especially on the landscape of the old Domino Sugar Refinery.
Now that I’m looking at these 4 images, they kinda send a strong message alone. They reflect the issues that are hot in Peekskill now as far as gentrification and redevelopment go.
Know that whites are not the majority in Peekskill. The biggest part of the population is Latino, and as far as Asians go there are only a few, perhaps a handful as far as I have seen. I would like for people to know Orlando’s anger that he displayed that day. George Zimmerman is a murderer, but the law took his side.
Another idea is to shoot Peekskill at night. Lots of cool light and old buildings that present a reminder of the work of Edward Hooper the painter. These photo’s could be published online as a feature in the Peekskill Herald. I know the Editor myself, but Maggie already has a monthly column there.
I don’t think I would have a problem getting published or pitching ideas.
Anyways, some crazy ideas…
You can tell I daydream a lot.
Cal
It seems the CAD is not a measurable risk, and a plan to monitor me twice a year will begin. I have another visit to a second Hematologist that is a referral from my PCP. Of course this one is more local and convenient. I will likely chose between the two, and I think I will favor the local referral. The Co-Pay was not so small even though in network.
A task this weekend will be install a chain link fence to make the back-backyard grandson proof. There is a more serious tick hazard on the slope, and the incline still is steep. The grandson of course is smart and a trouble maker. The grand daughter will be prohibited beyond the fence to avoid confusion or conflict, and perhaps is a bit of collateral damage. Oh-well.
I won’t cement the poles and will just hammer them into the ground, just in case of any building department hassles. In other words I’m doing this without a permit, even though there was a fence back there that existed when we bought the house, I kinda took liberties in moving the fence a few feet. Oh-well.
This fence when the kids get older will likely get removed.
We went to the Apple Store in a White Plains Mall. Pretty huge and not crowded. At the Apple Store we made some new friends: one was a Neuro Scientist and my new friend Gary unfortunately lost his wife to Cancer during Covid. Like me he is trying to establish a path forward, but he is still stuck a bit in his grief.
I dug into the Mac Mini, a loaded version that would enable 8 TB of internal storage. I would pair this with the 27 Studio Display that would go with my 27 inch EIZO. Don’t forget that my friend Landrew gifted me a mucho expensive viewing booth that has 5000K lighting. Perhaps this might be one thing that Devil Dan does not have that I might have him outgunned in this single item besides lids for my 3 1/2 hard rubber Kodak dip and dunk tanks.
“Maggie” seriously wants me to have a workspace, and I tell her that it will require a good deal of cash. She understands why I put it off because I need to get a bit crazy to set up printing the way I want it.
I told her that while she was on the phone with her daughter (The Creature) that I was thinking of exhibiting my prints at the Peekskill Coffee House: and that because my prints are so large (20x30 image size on 24x36 sheet) that basically only 4 prints could be accommodated along the one big wall.
I would also include a series of 5 small prints assembled in a book that would fan open. This series of shots features a black man named “Orlando” who pretty much caught John and I wandering around Harlem on the day of the Trevor Martin verdict against the man who shot and kill the kid “standing his ground” under a new Florida Law.
Orlando was angry, disturbed, and I think mighty high. He got right in our face and vented. After a while most of that anger was focused on John who is a tall white guy.
At one point I stepped back and took a series of shots of the interaction between John and Orlando. Pretty heated, but the shots I took show and indicated Orlando’s gestures: one of him is holding his index finger to his lips implying “shut-up” but his other fingers were tucked and along with his thumb the image is of a gun.
On Orlando’s black T-shirt is a phaser as from Star Trek with the words, “Don’t Phase Me Bro,” so there is a second gun in the image.
Then in the bottom corner you see John’s white hand with his index finger pointing towards Orlando’s face with his fingers tucked and his thumb suggesting a third handgun.
There are earlier shots that narrate the tension. All I had to include was a poster I had shot pleading for justice for Trevor Martin.
I took these shots about a half-step away with a 28 Cron on a Leica MM. The framing was tight and in your face.
I wondered about the 4 shots I would pick. My friend Klause gifted me a bunch of archival mats that have been cut for 20x30 images with a half inch border around the image. He payed some serious money for these windowed mats with backing, they did not suit the display of his work, but they are perfect for my images.
One image I would frame and use would be this landscape of the old Domino Sugar Refinery shot from the Williamsburg Bridge. Of course this area now has been redeveloped and most of the refinery was torn down. In view is the small brick building where we had a loft. The building back in the day was a burlap bag factory from when men with hooks held in their hands unloaded ships along the waterfront.
I have a picture of “Sal” an old man who’s face was an urban lanscape creased with valleys and wrinkles who lived on 106th Street all his life, had many kids, and worked loading and unloading ships.
Then there is the landmark Rizzoli bookstore that was on 57th Street. This bookstore was torn down. It was relocated in Chelsea, but it lacks the character and personality. Pretty much a great loss in my book. I shot from a balcony by the Photography section. Pretty much a downward Ariel view with some motion blur of people below. A landmark that was destroyed that represented the old New York.
There is a remarkable shot I took at night. I was walking downtown from East Harlem where we lived. It has just turned dark and I took a shot on Lexington Avenue. Across the street was a church with massive doors like some mansion on 5th Avenue and a grand porch was well lite, but sitting on the top step was a homeless person taking advantage of the bright lighting reading a newspaper.
Shot with my 28 Cron from across the avenue it remains clear that the man is the subject. The lighting and detailed shadows display amazing light, especially the shadow details. The subject and the background offers great contrast. Massive columns, a grand entrance, frame the image of a small man surrounded by darkness.
The smut is that this was just a test shot and it ended up being a powerful and strong image with profound visual meaning. Pretty much an accident. Later on in the night further downtown on 59th street I ran into some Wi-Fi hot spot where everyone was playing some newly released video game and were fully immersed in this group setting of hundreds of people outdoors on the corner of Central Park.
“I was just minding my own business…”
I am looking at these images on 2x3 business cards. I used a rubber stamp I bought at Staples to imprint my name, copyright, and contact information. I printed these business cards on large sheets, cut them out, and then stamped the reverse. Basically hand made.
The images hold up well even as 2x3 inch prints, but the impact of the large prints is mucho bigger: more detail, more expressive, and wider dynamic range. On the smaller prints the contrast seems greater. On the large prints the mids really speak large format, especially on the landscape of the old Domino Sugar Refinery.
Now that I’m looking at these 4 images, they kinda send a strong message alone. They reflect the issues that are hot in Peekskill now as far as gentrification and redevelopment go.
Know that whites are not the majority in Peekskill. The biggest part of the population is Latino, and as far as Asians go there are only a few, perhaps a handful as far as I have seen. I would like for people to know Orlando’s anger that he displayed that day. George Zimmerman is a murderer, but the law took his side.
Another idea is to shoot Peekskill at night. Lots of cool light and old buildings that present a reminder of the work of Edward Hooper the painter. These photo’s could be published online as a feature in the Peekskill Herald. I know the Editor myself, but Maggie already has a monthly column there.
I don’t think I would have a problem getting published or pitching ideas.
Anyways, some crazy ideas…
You can tell I daydream a lot.
Cal
Last edited:
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Wow. The Internet is such a crazy space.
There is a lot of crazy spins on and about “Fast Car,” a song that is 36 years old.
For me, an man who escaped poverty and who experienced racism, this song has profound meaning.
I don’t know how many people know what it is like to be invisible, or not to really have an existence. I do think poor people don’t really get counted, so I’m not talking solely about race here.
Clearly racism and poverty compound each other. I can speak because I know both.
The lyrics “be someone” and “buy a house in the suburbs” speak to me.
When “Maggie’s” book gets released what will get revealed about me is a very different kind of homelessness I experienced at an early age. It will become public knowledge, and might explain a lot of things about me.
It will be a bit of an oh-well moment…
Fast Car speaks of homelessness. I know those feelings. I know alienation, and of never fitting in, I know exclusion, discrimination…
Tracy Chapman has kept her private life private. There is a lot of vulnerability in this song, sad, but somehow hopeful.
If you read into her career her success was a lucky stroke. Not so different than “Maggie’s” blog being an unexpected accident. Then things evolved and got complicated when things took a turn into becoming a digital influencer. Now she is a writer who is having a memoir being published that covers a decade of her life that includes me. Whether I like it or not I am somewhat a public figure. Anyone that knows her, knows me.
Anyways being vulnerable is a hard place. I have and feel safe here, but like I said the Internet is a fraught place…
I am not judging people, but I don’t know that everyone really understands oppression, poverty, or homelessness just because of a great song that speaks of those issues.
What a mess…
I can see why Tracy Chapman chose to try and stay under the radar as an artist. Keeping a low profile is pretty hard to do.
Cal
There is a lot of crazy spins on and about “Fast Car,” a song that is 36 years old.
For me, an man who escaped poverty and who experienced racism, this song has profound meaning.
I don’t know how many people know what it is like to be invisible, or not to really have an existence. I do think poor people don’t really get counted, so I’m not talking solely about race here.
Clearly racism and poverty compound each other. I can speak because I know both.
The lyrics “be someone” and “buy a house in the suburbs” speak to me.
When “Maggie’s” book gets released what will get revealed about me is a very different kind of homelessness I experienced at an early age. It will become public knowledge, and might explain a lot of things about me.
It will be a bit of an oh-well moment…
Fast Car speaks of homelessness. I know those feelings. I know alienation, and of never fitting in, I know exclusion, discrimination…
Tracy Chapman has kept her private life private. There is a lot of vulnerability in this song, sad, but somehow hopeful.
If you read into her career her success was a lucky stroke. Not so different than “Maggie’s” blog being an unexpected accident. Then things evolved and got complicated when things took a turn into becoming a digital influencer. Now she is a writer who is having a memoir being published that covers a decade of her life that includes me. Whether I like it or not I am somewhat a public figure. Anyone that knows her, knows me.
Anyways being vulnerable is a hard place. I have and feel safe here, but like I said the Internet is a fraught place…
I am not judging people, but I don’t know that everyone really understands oppression, poverty, or homelessness just because of a great song that speaks of those issues.
What a mess…
I can see why Tracy Chapman chose to try and stay under the radar as an artist. Keeping a low profile is pretty hard to do.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Post 356 should read Sweet Jane.
AI is mighty dumb and makes mucho mistakes. That one got away.
Cal
AI is mighty dumb and makes mucho mistakes. That one got away.
Cal
MrFujicaman
Well-known
I still say you should make a poster with all the business cards blown up to 4 by 6 on it.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
MFM,
The problem with doing that is each image has its own LightRoom 5 individual settings. Pretty much outa say 50 images only one would be optimized.
When I print a sheet it is all the same image on one sheet.
For a cover on my book I took a stack of cards and threw them up in the air to create a random mess on a hardwood floor. I photographed the scattered cards to create a file. My contact info was displayed on some cards, and on others an image.
The books I made have a “soft” cover with a linen tape hinge along with a spine made from print trimmings. I also used vellum cover sheets in between each photograph that comprised a page.
For protection I designed the size of the book to fit a stock off the shelf archival box from Archival Methodes, one with a folding side to allow the book to be easily pulled out. Also note that these two books are two sizes: one is designed to be a table topper and it is big; the other is a handheld size.
A lot of engineering went into making and designing these books that so far are “one-offs.” Anyways mock ups for perhaps limited editions.
I feel this is the best presentation of my work. Better than a print on the wall because there is no glare from glass, and also for the experience of handling a book is a more individual and intimate experience.
Perhaps a great idea for promotion would be to dry mount the business cards into a collection to make a combined larger image. I think that would be a really great idea. Many thanks for the inspiration.
I stayed up late for me last night listening to and watching various artists perform songs that were mostly covers. Somehow I got all wired up and did not sleep so well. Somehow I got over stimulated.
The idea of doing a cover is to make it your own. Jim I Hendrix did this with his cover of “All Along The Watchtower.”
Looks like 60 degree weather today. It is close to the middle of February.
Cal
The problem with doing that is each image has its own LightRoom 5 individual settings. Pretty much outa say 50 images only one would be optimized.
When I print a sheet it is all the same image on one sheet.
For a cover on my book I took a stack of cards and threw them up in the air to create a random mess on a hardwood floor. I photographed the scattered cards to create a file. My contact info was displayed on some cards, and on others an image.
The books I made have a “soft” cover with a linen tape hinge along with a spine made from print trimmings. I also used vellum cover sheets in between each photograph that comprised a page.
For protection I designed the size of the book to fit a stock off the shelf archival box from Archival Methodes, one with a folding side to allow the book to be easily pulled out. Also note that these two books are two sizes: one is designed to be a table topper and it is big; the other is a handheld size.
A lot of engineering went into making and designing these books that so far are “one-offs.” Anyways mock ups for perhaps limited editions.
I feel this is the best presentation of my work. Better than a print on the wall because there is no glare from glass, and also for the experience of handling a book is a more individual and intimate experience.
Perhaps a great idea for promotion would be to dry mount the business cards into a collection to make a combined larger image. I think that would be a really great idea. Many thanks for the inspiration.
I stayed up late for me last night listening to and watching various artists perform songs that were mostly covers. Somehow I got all wired up and did not sleep so well. Somehow I got over stimulated.
The idea of doing a cover is to make it your own. Jim I Hendrix did this with his cover of “All Along The Watchtower.”
Looks like 60 degree weather today. It is close to the middle of February.
Cal