This, That, and the Other

EmptyCup

EmptyCup

Free Agent
Location
Arizona
Bike of Theseus

Going up hill on a narrow, one lane bridge, my bike suddenly went out of gear. Dangerous, since there were riders behind me. Something inside the hub had broken. I was finally able to finagle one gear to work and got back home. Later, at the bike shop, I was informed that my nearly 30 year old bike had about 25,000 miles on it and everything was worn out.

New or rebuild? That was the question. I wanted a Trek since the old one is Trek, and it has served me well. I tried a few models and they were not comfortable. I am used to the old-style geometry. So for the same cost of a new one, the old one will be stripped down to the frame and all new parts installed, including wheels. Not quite a Ship of Theseus, but you get the idea.

This caused me to think about the paradox of replacement. I suppose humans are a true Ship of Theseus since our cells regenerate from daily (skin) to 15 years (bone). By comparison, this old bike still has the same metal tube frame. I also remember a guy from a TV show, who “restored“ old cars. He would cut the metal VIN tag off an old wreck and build a completely new car, and then weld on the old VIN tag. The taxing authorities finally caught up with the trick. Where is the point that replacements cause something to no longer be what it was? Something to meditate on.

Anyway, I hopefully will be enjoying my new-old bike again sometime next week. Cheers!
 

Where did they all go?

I have been traveling my bike path routes for several years. This past week is the first time I have seen zero homeless (or unhoused?). No camps, nobody sleeping on the concrete benches, and almost no trash. Some municipal vehicles and a crew came through mid-week and cleaned up almost everything!

I also saw a police cruiser sitting in back of the CVS where the smoking of bluez usually takes place. Again, all the trash had been picked up. No smokers to be seen.

Something strange going on. There are still some panhandlers on the medians - it’s dangerous! But their numbers have decreased greatly.

Was it the recent court ruling? Time will tell…
 
Questions

Almost all forum threads seem to start in the form of a question. Some questions I have no answer to or does not apply. Others are too close to the three topics I consider “third rail” and I will not respond to. This is why I started writing under this category. Sometimes I have a topic to write about and there is no existing thread to place it under except general discussion, and it may not be interesting to anyone. Oh, well. This is not a diary per se. More akin to random ideas and observations that relate to the life I live and have lived. And perhaps the future, as I am planning a couple trips. I also want to continue to do new things, visit new places, even locally.
 

Phonercise

My son recently pointed something out to me about gym behavior. He wanted to know if I see people that sit on a piece of equipment and poke on their phone for an extended period of time (like 20-30 minutes). I went to the gym today since my bike is still in the shop - lo and bold, I saw exactly what he was talking about. I never paid attention to it before. If you don’t go to exercise why be there? A mystery to me.

I used to volunteer at the food bank and there was one older man who was there everyday from opening to closing. I remembered from the orientation class, they told us only to work one or two 3 hour shifts a week. This man was nearly 80 years old and couldn’t do very much except put the lightest items in the 60 plus boxes. I asked him once why he worked so many hours. He told me that after he retired, his wife said he got on her nerves being home during the day, and that he needed to go somewhere. Ha! Not what I would have guessed. Circling back to the gym folk who only come there to scroll and poke their phone - human behavior can be interesting and strange!
 
Offline Processing

I put something aside that I can’t figure out and come back to it later. Instantly I see the solution! It’s happened so many times. Is the brain working on it in the background? Maybe. Or the act of clearing it from working memory and resetting? Could be.

I often think of the Taoist idea of “action by inaction” - leaving something alone instead of furiously trying to solve it. It seems to go against the American societal “grab it by the horns”, “pull up by the bootstraps” way of thinking. When I go that way I usually end up gored with broken bootstraps.

The moon this morning, out on the trail…
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Seen lately…

A homeless sleeping on a piece of cardboard in the MIDDLE of a dry wash - very dangerous! He was surrounded by a need line of empty plastic bottles. A single pit bull with no collar was circling and waiting (for him to wake up?) I suppose this was some kind of homeless security system. But sleeping IN the wash. We have had a couple of sudden storms in the night this week. Very, very dangerous.

I visited the newly remodeled neighborhood library. Doubled the square footage and ALL books and materials are new. It smelled like new books.

The harvest supermoon this week. It shines in my window during the wee hours and greets me out on the trail/path every morning. See pic in previous post.
 
Loopy

Tomorrow is El Tour Loop de Loop. It’s basically a fun ride sponsored organized by El Tour. Since my bike is still in the shop* -no fun ride for me. I am starting to think a second bike wouldn’t be a bad idea! There is a big party near the dog park around 10. There’s always next year. I am all in for fun stuff, but you won’t see me in a race - not my thing and I am too slow. To be fair there, are many cyclists older than me who do the tour (it’s a century race, plus two shorter ones 66/33) in November. More power to them.

* one of the parts he ordered was the wrong size. Have to wait til next week.
 
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I took this photo in October, 2015. I remember the day, it was a birthday party. Little did I realize how much everything would change in about two years.
I have all the photos I have ever taken with my iPhone going back to 2012 (stored in iCloud). Flipping through them this morning like they were flash cards. Sometimes I forget how much has happened in the last twelve years. I don’t look back much but once in a great while I do. Nice to have this archive. Wish it went back further, but I was trying out so many different phones in those days - Palm Treo, Samsung, LG. The school district I started working for used iPhones and MacBooks and I’ve stuck with those since that time.
 
EmptyCup said:
This man was nearly 80 years old and couldn’t do very much except put the lightest items in the 60 plus boxes. I asked him once why he worked so many hours. He told me that after he retired, his wife said he got on her nerves being home during the day, and that he needed to go somewhere. Ha! Not what I would have guessed. Circling back to the gym folk who only come there to scroll and poke their phone - human behavior can be interesting and strange!
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Poor gentleman! Can you imagine?
 
Cool Mornings

Finally getting some temps in the low 60’s around 6am. I like getting on the bike path just before sunrise. I enjoy the light at that time of morning. There are a lot less people during the weekdays, which is also nice.
I have kept track of when the mornings first became a bit uncomfortable until now. Approximately from the first day of summer (June 21) until a couple days ago. Funny how that time span encompasses the entire summer almost exactly. Middle of the day is still around 90ish, but if I have the mornings, calling it good.
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EmptyCup said:
Offline Processing

I put something aside that I can’t figure out and come back to it later. Instantly I see the solution! It’s happened so many times. Is the brain working on it in the background? Maybe. Or the act of clearing it from working memory and resetting? Could be.

I often think of the Taoist idea of “action by inaction” - leaving something alone instead of furiously trying to solve it. It seems to go against the American societal “grab it by the horns”, “pull up by the bootstraps” way of thinking. When I go that way I usually end up gored with broken bootstraps.

The moon this morning, out on the trail…
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Click to expand...
Put it on a back burner and let it simmer. Works every time.
What a magical moon!
 
Dog Gone

My elderly Yellow Labrador mix passed away in April. He had a long and happy life. Sad, but at the same time relieved he isn’t suffering painful arthritis any longer. He died on his favorite rug in the same spot he would nap as a puppy. That morning he got up to be let out in the yard and I went to get my coffee first. When I got back he was down and taking his last breath. Gone in an eye blink. RIP, old friend.

I did this sketch a few months earlier. Don’t know if I want to use it for a painting or do something in the Procreate app. I have too many projects going. He was in a deep nap when posing for that sketch.
Rocky.jpg
 
EmptyCup said:
Dog Gone

My elderly Yellow Labrador mix passed away in April. He had a long and happy life. Sad, but at the same time relieved he isn’t suffering painful arthritis any longer. He died on his favorite rug in the same spot he would nap as a puppy. That morning he got up to be let out in the yard and I went to get my coffee first. When I got back he was down and taking his last breath. Gone in an eye blink. RIP, old friend.

I did this sketch a few months earlier. Don’t know if I want to use it for a painting or do something in the Procreate app. I have too many projects going. He was in a deep nap when posing for that sketch.
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@EmptyCup
He went peacefully, bless him. We've had 2 labs .. they were loving boys.
I love the drawing. You should frame it.
🤗
 
Camping in the Wash

It turns out that it wasn’t my imagination. Local LE has been moving homeless camps out of dry washes. The city council will be voting soon on making it official policy. At least one group is fighting it. Go figure. I would invite them down to the wash next time we have a flash flood. I was biking this past summer when I saw a rushing wall of water from a storm in the mountains. It wasn’t raining locally, and it doesn’t have to be. It can take a camper completely by surprise. One person did die this summer very near a spot I pass almost every day. Please - DON’T CAMP IN THE DRY WASH!

Tucson City Council to vote next week to ban camping in washes
 
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Hot then Cold

I have a new routine that I started several weeks ago. Start with a hot shower for a few minutes and then abruptly turn off the hot water and finish cold. Wow. I didn’t like it at first, but now am addicted to it. Very energizing. I was reading it helps activate the immune system. Something about white blood cells. Could also be my Scandinavian ancestry calling? I don’t have a sauna or snow available, so this will have to do.
 
To Bee or not to Bee

A wasp flew right at me on the bike path this morning. Didn’t get stung but it made me remember something. That bees and wasps are two different things (and that a hornet is a type of wasp).

At my first teaching job there was a teacher who was a self-appointed morale officer and cheerleader for the school. The school mascot was a hornet, but he came up with all these slogans on banners and posters that started with “bee”.

Later, at a faculty meeting, a science teacher pointed out that hornets are not bees. Slogan-man got a little angry and said something like: Hey! I’m trying to build school spirit here! The science teacher said yes, but what about how it looks to the community, that we can’t even tell the difference between a bee and a hornet - not a good look for an educational institution.

Ha! I don’t know why I thought of this today. But it made me laugh.

Hawk friend I saw this morning. I suppose I could have edited that branch out, but whatever.
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Return of the Blast Furnace

The high temperature today reached 109F. Ouch. It’s not unusual to get one more summer heat wave at the end of September/beginning of October. Usually around 103F as a high. But not 109F! Setting records of course.

On a happier note, I finally got my refurbished bike back from the shop and took it on a shakedown cruise early this morning. Like a new one. Certainly easier to shift and stop. No more crunchy bearing sound. New swept-back handlebars mean less hunching over. It was worth the cost.

Greetings from a lazy orange tabby named Oatmeal…
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Planes, Trains, and Ferries

Before the pandemic I had been planning to take a couple trips. One to Scandinavia and the other to Australia. I am feeling it’s time to get back in gear and make a definite plan.

I know this sounds rather odd, but I love traveling by train and ferries. Something soothing and meditative about it. And the feeling of always moving. Plus the scenic aspects. The mandatory part of these trips will be: train from Oslo to Bergen, train from Sydney to Perth, and ferry from Bergen to Iceland.

The flying part is not that important. I had an academic position in the past that required extensive travel. From large airliner to single engine village hoppers. I was in the top frequent flyer group for three different airlines. Definitely had enough flying for a lifetime.
 
EmptyCup said:
Planes, Trains, and Ferries

Before the pandemic I had been planning to take a couple trips. One to Scandinavia and the other to Australia. I am feeling it’s time to get back in gear and make a definite plan.

I know this sounds rather odd, but I love traveling by train and ferries. Something soothing and meditative about it. And the feeling of always moving. Plus the scenic aspects. The mandatory part of these trips will be: train from Oslo to Bergen, train from Sydney to Perth, and ferry from Bergen to Iceland.

The flying part is not that important. I had an academic position in the past that required extensive travel. From large airliner to single engine village hoppers. I was in the top frequent flyer group for three different airlines. Definitely had enough flying for a lifetime.
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I hope you do! I know what you mean about trains, even tho' mine were only short hops into NYC.
 
Nada, nada, limonada

I have been taking one day off a week from exercise for the last couple months. Probably the hot weather. Also, I felt like I was breaking down muscle by never taking a break. I usually do a project on the off day or maybe a motorcycle ride. Something. Today I did nothing. I didn’t leave the house. That is extremely rare for me. I am sure I will make up for it tomorrow. Move it or lose it.
 


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