Saturday, December 31, 2005
Happy Cats
Happy Cats are Good Cats.
(No, this is not a belated Friday cat blogging. It is just a welcome back to Chicago, and a confirmation that the cats made it 9 days without any of us.)
(No, this is not a belated Friday cat blogging. It is just a welcome back to Chicago, and a confirmation that the cats made it 9 days without any of us.)
Thursday, December 29, 2005
no Tuesday Bike Blogging this week
Yeah, like the title says. I swear, I had this great idea that I would take my camera up to the DMV with me, and find a bike there to photograph, then call the post something like "Tuesday Bike Blogging: Car Edition" or something like that. Instead, I took the one car to the DMV so I could fix the other car, then broke the first car less than 30 minutes later. I swear it wasn't my fault. Though I did manage to make it up to Huntington Beach to complete my mission of obtaining beer from the Huntington Beach Beer Company (thanks, Dad!).
So out of respect for the car gods screwing with me this week, I'll lay off the alternative-transportation-solution-glorification for the week. Yeah, or something like that.
So out of respect for the car gods screwing with me this week, I'll lay off the alternative-transportation-solution-glorification for the week. Yeah, or something like that.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Tuesday Bike Blogging: CA edition
It's still Tuesday where I am (though just barely).
This is my dad's bike. I don't think it's been used in a few years. He bought it awhile back, and used it for about a year to bike to work. He would bike from home to the Irvine train station. Then he would take the commuter train into work in Santa Ana. The bike has a motor-assist system, which is very useful around this area; we have lots of hills that are too tall and long of a climb to bike up unassisted.
This is my dad's bike. I don't think it's been used in a few years. He bought it awhile back, and used it for about a year to bike to work. He would bike from home to the Irvine train station. Then he would take the commuter train into work in Santa Ana. The bike has a motor-assist system, which is very useful around this area; we have lots of hills that are too tall and long of a climb to bike up unassisted.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
American Science & Surplus
So about that trip to AS&S. I purchased 6 garden thermometers and 200 pH strips. Nothing out of the ordinary. Both are for beer-making. It appears that yeast really likes its environment to be at pH of 5.2. The pH strips are to check that in the next batch we brew. I don't expect that to be an issue, and we probably can't do anything to change the pH of our wort anyway. The temperature issue is more complex. Sam noticed that one batch seemed to be taking a long time to ferment and carbonate. That batch is being stored next to an exterior wall. The theory is that that corner of the room is colder than our other storage area, so the beer takes longer. Now we have a bunch of thermometers we can use to check the temperature of various parts of the dining room (and one to scout out possible places to do lagering next month).
My preliminary results:
My preliminary results:
- our tap water has a pH of 7 (huzzah!)
- the temperature in our dining room varies by as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit at any given time
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Wednesday Bike Blogging
This week's bike blogging is late, because I spent most of yesterday evening running up to American Science and Surplus (more on that trip later).
We (where we = everyone) call this the Promiscuous Bike. It's an older bike of Steven's. He now has a newer bike, so this is the one he loans to people (like me) who don't have a bike of their own. To rip off a really lame Your Mom joke, it's like the village bicycle; everyone's had a ride. (okay, that was really lame, and I'm ashamed of having written it)
It is a yellow Schwin Continental with the derailleur removed. It has 27 inch wheels. As you can see from the photo, it lives on our front porch most of the time.
We (where we = everyone) call this the Promiscuous Bike. It's an older bike of Steven's. He now has a newer bike, so this is the one he loans to people (like me) who don't have a bike of their own. To rip off a really lame Your Mom joke, it's like the village bicycle; everyone's had a ride. (okay, that was really lame, and I'm ashamed of having written it)
It is a yellow Schwin Continental with the derailleur removed. It has 27 inch wheels. As you can see from the photo, it lives on our front porch most of the time.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Tuesday Bike Blogging
Today begins a new feature: Tuesday Bike Blogging. Like Friday Cat Blogging, but with bikes instead of cats. And on Tuesday, instead of Friday. I hope this will catch on, and will become at least as big as Friday Cat Blogging, if not bigger.
For our first installment, Nora's freshly cleaned bike (at least, it was when the picture was taken a month ago). It's a black RayleighCollegiate Tourister with 19 28 inch wheels and, get this, rod brakes. Seriously, this thing is awesome.
(click for full-size)
For our first installment, Nora's freshly cleaned bike (at least, it was when the picture was taken a month ago). It's a black Rayleigh
(click for full-size)
