Too many projects...

I like to build stuff. Always have. I used to go down to my dad's workshop and take apart bikes etc and put them back together. Sometimes I couldn't get stuff back together, most of the time I could.

I inherited a wicked trait though... I start new projects before I finish the old ones. Right now I can't even count how many 'open' projects I have around here.

Just tonight I was out in the garage to build a *long* overdue batch of ibuckets for friends and family. Before I could start I had to move stuff off of the 'electronics' workbench. (Yeah, I have a few workbenches out in the shop... Electronics Bench, General Projects Bench, and Metal/Welding Bench...what? you don't?) Not a problem, unless you can't find anywhere to move the stuff to. No room on the other workbenches. No room on the shelves in the loft(including the shelves i never finished putting up), No room in the basement. I need to pick a room, de-clutter it, and then work from there i guess.

Moving recently didn't help. I have totes, milkcrates, cardboard boxes, tupperware containers, shoeboxes, milk jugs... you name it... absolutely full of tools, parts, and junk. And I think to myself... 'I freaking *moved* all this stuff here for a reason... and I have no idea why...' I swear sometimes it's an illness, pack-rat-a-titis. I'm sure there's some psychologist out there that's done studies on it.

Anyhow.. back to the point. Too many projects. Recently I started a "master list" of projects I want to do around here. (Making lists is another one of those things I obsess over, but thats fuel for another post...)

Now, some of these projects are so mundane as "Replace faucet" or "Split firewood", but man.. I swear I can't find the time to get to it. I have a friend who has rebuilt a 2 family up in Lowell.. Alone... in the time I still haven't finished restoring that old raliegh I posted about last year. It's not that I don't work constantly it seems... some nights i never even sit down when I get home from work .. just go change and go right back outside or into the garage. Other projects are pretty aggressive, like, replace windows on house, or stain house. Yeah right. I'll get to staining maybe by next summer.

I need to get organized, prioritize, and take a weeks vacation from work just to catch up one something... anything... at this point. Like, any of the million bike projects, house projects, boat projects, or even just cleaning out the garage.

Or, maybe I'll just wait till Fall when the weather's not so nice. :)

Long weekend

Whew... Good to finally have a long weekend. Mrs 40 and I took some time to relax and visit with family. Snoopy is getting the hang of the kayak thing now. He's been out three times over the weekend, and went swimming everyday.

On Sunday my sisters, their kids, my mom, and 40s all packed up the kayaks with stuff, people, the dog, and the ibucket and headed out to the sandbar for happy hour.

Snoopy ran around catching the frisbee, ran out of gas, then burrowed under the pile of towels to take a nap.



Yesterday he and I took a trip out in the kayak around the lake. He curled up in the back seat and fell asleep.

Busy summer coming up. This weekend should be quiet, then FARTAB the 8th and 9th. After that summer becomes a blur.

-40

Dogs and Kayaks

I took the day off today in exchange for working last weekend. It was so freakin hot here today. 90+ most of the day. In the morning I spent some time getting stuff together to head down to the beach.

I plunked the kayak in the water at the salt pond and used the same tactics that have been pretty successful getting Snoopy in the kennel and bike trailer: A kong filled with peanut butter. Before long he forgot about the water gurgling by and settled in. We got out to the sandbar and he got to run around like a maniac, then back in the boat for the short paddle home. I think the only problem was that it was *too* hot for him and there wasn't really any shade. I kept it short this time. I think he'd like an early morning, or late afternoon boat trip better.

Mark your calenders: FARTAB Vol 4 is June 8-9th. Check the archives for pictures of what to expect.

Have a good long weekend! -40

And it starts again.....

My first almost daily bike ride and swim on the way home from work was yesterday. I've realized that if I go home, I can find any excuse to sit on my couch and take a nap, which then leads me to do nothing all evening. So I last year I started keeping my bike in my car and going to the river on the way home from work. Ride from there about one mile to the bike path, where I can ride up to about 60 miles if so desired (the most I've done after work was 40, but it's there if I want it). Then when I get back to my car, change and go for a swim in the Farmington River (just upriver from the poop plant). So the first swim was yesterday, and hopefully do another one today. I have taken naps in my car before my ride, I do get up at 5 for work in the morning. Just turn on the radio, lean back and take a 20 minute power nap before the ride.

Side note.....on my ride yesterday, a little girl said that I have a nice bike. She was about six. I don't think it had anything with my bike being pink.

Underwater

Yeah.

So I really like it under the sea. Can't explain it- just has always been something that has interested me. Speaking of- this Memorial Day w/e is the first Save The Bay eel grass transplant. Let me know if you want to help out. This year I am also participating in the Save the Bay swim- for the 6th time (I found a picture of myself coming into the finish line when I went to register). If anyone is interested, you can go here to support my swim and the cleanliness of the bay. Next year I should convince one of you to kayak in front of me so I can actually swim straight and turn in a good time- rather than swimming two times the distance as I normally do...

Anyway- back to the Hawaii trip... Last year I convinced Mrs. CTLP to take her open water diver course (which she passed with flying colors), and while we were in Hawaii she got her first taste of non-RI diving. Big difference... For instance- a fantastic day for visibility in New England is 40 feet. A good day elsewhere? A whole heck of a lot further.

Three things that I was psyched to see in Hawaii were (in no particular order) whales/dolphins, monk seals and turtles. Well- before we even got in the water spinner dolphins were playing in the boat's wake, sea turtles were bopping all around and a monk seal (VERY rare) came up to check us out. The swells were very big (I don't remember the last time I was seasick- I get woozy- but not lose your lunch sea sick- before this time. Mrs. CTLP could be on Discovery Channel's 'Deadliest Catch' with her imperviousness to seasickess- but fell prey to it's deviousness twice on this trip...) but even that did not dampen our enthusiasm for what we saw beneath. Like this crappy picture of a beautiful Lionfish (no-no never touch):


An angelfish chasing a bandit butterflyfish:


A mother and baby sea turtle:


Oh yeah- so a word on sea turtles... I am used to thinking of the idea of seeing a sea turtle as being akin to seeing a unicorn. Well- let me tell you something- I don't think that it is possible to enter the waters off Kauai WITHOUT seeing a sea turtle:



That being said- it does not make the Marine Mammals Protection Act any less applicable. It is still illegal to touch an endangered sea mammal. Hell- it is illegal to get so close to one that it deviates on it's intended path. But that did not stop people from diving down to 'pet' the sea turtles as we were watching them or chase them around the ocean... Probably the same kind of people that I watched bob around stepping on LIVE CORAL with their flippers on. Or should I say- what WAS live coral. At least it was for the who knows how many decades before your dumb a$$ decided to get in the water... A little respect, people... I was on vacation- I should not be dealing with a blood pressure spike and thinking of lecturing people on the fragility of sea life.

Anyway- nothing goes with a nice day in the ocean like freshly caught local sustainable fish poke (and dip, cheese, crackers, etc). I think it was the only thing better than Hamura Saimen:



Another cool discovery was Kauai Recycling for the Arts. For an island known as the 'Garden Isle'- and one with a very limited land mass- there was not much in the way of keeping trash out of the landfills. This was one of the few places we found that was different. Really hard to find, and really out of the way- they are a non-profit working to keep trash that can be recycled out of the dump (the landfill is scheduled to be full in 2009- then where will it go?). Not only that- but they are working to provide jobs and increase the tourism trade at the same time. This was where Mrs. CTLP and I thought that our gift dollars should go. Well worth it.

Okay- almost 2am- gotta run (to bed).

So- it has been a while...

A few things have kept me from posting lately- both commenting on 40's wonderful posts and on Mrs. CTLP's and my activities- but hopefully I will catch up in time...

Last thing's first:

RI NEMBA's Spring fun ride was cancelled due to inclement weather. A shame because we were going to ride the Western section of the forest which I was really looking foward to- but it made sense with the 4 inches of rain that was dropped in the few days before the event. One member pointed out that the rain did not stop other user groups (equestrians, I am looking in your direction) from partaking in group events the same weekend and wreaking havoc on the trails, but I have no direct knowledge of that seeing as I stayed out of the woods.

Well- based on my thorough enjoyment ripping hole shots and donuts with the new go-kart in 40's driveway the other week- I guess I have no high-horse *ahem* to stand on... Man- that thing is a great time...



Now a solid month and a half ago, Mrs. CTLP and I went out to Hawaii. That is a freaking ways (and I still have yet to turn in my carbon emissions ) to go. After flying to Newark we had a 10.5 hour flight to Oahu. Yikes. It has been nearly half a decade since my longest flight (Johannasburg to London to New York). My height is all from the waist down *snicker*. Thankfully the legroom was adequate as I am not made to be on a plane that long...

But the islands were beautiful, and I am glad that we went. After three days on Oahu checking out Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona (respect), the beaches (closed due to jellyfish *Curses!*) and climbing Diamondhead along with a screaming schoolgroup (nothing ruins a nice hike like having a teenage dude push ahead of you and try to keep his jeans and boxer shots up while huffing and puffing up four steps...) only to crash and choke down a twinke- we said goodby to Waikiki:

Of course- if you want to see pictures of anything above (with the exception of the youg kid pants thing) just let us know and Mrs. CTLP and I will post piccies.

From there we flew to Kauai- the 'Garden Isle'. While the sushi places on Oahu were nice- neither Mrs. CTLP or I are very big into clubbing or bar hopping- we would rather a vacation be... well... relaxing. Granted- for Mrs. CTLP that means a healthy dose of reclining on the veranda reading, and for me that means doing some kind of stupid activity- but we both want to see whatever there is to see, so common ground is easily come upon.

To whit we hiked (for instance in Waimea Canyon- the Grand Canyon of Hawaii):


The view from the top of the uppermost falls in the picture above:


Drove (yes- drove- not only that but we were given a Ford Mustang which got only 20 MPG -driven under 50mph most the time- thankfully was not a big island or a lot of distance to drive) to the far side toward barking sands beach. This trip was akin to driving Schnebly Hill Rd in Arizona- NOT meant to be driven w/o 4 wheel drive and never a trip that would be undertaken in a vehicle owned by me- but happy to beat up on a rental... I am the king of driving sedans where sedans are not meant to go. And I have to admit to being impressed by the ground clearance on that Mustang...


admired native ruins and avoided the myiad of chickens:


and enjoyed a multitude of sunrises and sunsets:


There were a great deal of underwater activites as well- that will be detailed in the next post. Those of us on the right coast tend to go South to the Atlantic Islands because they are closer- but in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific is a beautiful place for an active vacation. We did not get to go kayaking. Or Kiteboarding. Or hike the north shore of Kauai. Or go mountain biking (not quite what I had in mind anyway...) And while I am ashamed to admit it- we did not even go surfing... Plenty of things to do the next time around!

RI Sustainable Living Fair, June 9th

Hey, Check out the RI Sustainable Living Expo on June 9th in Coventry. I'll probably head up there weather/FARTAB weekend we pick/etc dependant. FlatTires went there last year, said it was a little on the hippy side of things, that could be good too depending on what kind of day you're looking for.

I think this is the year we'll put in a clean wood boiler to heat the house, and use it for hot water storage for the solar panels when we get around to that. First things first tho, insulation and better windows. (Hint: 30 year old single pane windows SUCK. They are pretty much giant holes in the house that all our expensive BTUs sneak out of. )

It should be amusing to go to the fair just to see all the greenies who DRIVE there, then talk about sustainability.

------------------------------
Author's Addendum:

So when I got to work this morning I got some b@ll busting from a friend.

"Hypocrite" he said, "How else do you want people to get there? Its not like they could take the bus out to the woods. How are *you* going to get there? I bet you drive..."

Starting to thing about it, he had a point. People who lived in providence could take the bus there in a reasonable amount of time, but anywhere else it would take half the day.

Yeah, I have a car. I drive it *alot* more than I'd like to. Thats even with the recent move closer to work etc. This time of year (It's light out and warm enough to easily ride from 6am to 7-pm) I could ride my bike just about everywhere I had to go: work, movie store, beer store, pizza place, hardware store, department store, and the grocery store. Tangent: the ride to either the grocery, department or hardware store rides include a *scary* section of road that I wouldn't expect many people to want to ride on, but i'm goign to keep doign it anyway. How could it *possibly* be legal to build a brand new grocery store without there being a road with bike lanes out front??? (Built where fiddlesticks used to be, btw)

anyhow... I could go on for hours. The point is, while cars are a necessary evil, even in new construction we're building infrastructure to continue to encourage people to keep using them rather than some more realistic alternatives.

My favorite quote from people who complain about the bus? "Why should I subsidize something I don't use?" Guess what j@ckass? People who ride the bus helped 'subsidize' the ridiculously expensive road you're driving your private vehicle on.

I guess the point of this is that while I'll probably ride a bike there, its not that reasonable to expect everyone to so I'm going to shut up about it. Put up and shut up will be my mantra. :)

Beater Bike Grows a Tail

After not so extensive testing I realized the BFB was just too... Big. Too long, Too heavy, too kluged to be used regularly. I couldn't wait the four-five months till the Big Dummy is available from Surly, so I ordered an Xtracycle kit for my old red cruiser/commuter/beater/rainbike.

Xtracycle themselves were out of stock, so I had a local bike shop (LBS) order me one from the big bike parts distributor, QBP.

Anyhow... I got the kit yesterday and installed it last night. The instructions say it should take 'about an hour', but for me it took a couple since i changed from a 3 speed with canti brakes to a 21 speed with v-brakes.




First impressions: Its a very well made and clever kit. Only complaint I had was the threads for the derailer needed to be chased. Other than that, the assembly is very intuitive and easy. A couple laps around the driveway in the rain confirmed it handles *way* better than the BFB.

The StokeMonkey kit from the BFB will be installed this weekend.

-40

Stuff

We've been in the 'new' house now a little over six months. Since I've been staying closer to home lately to keep an eye on Snoopy I've finally started to clean up the garage. Man, I thought I got rid of a ton of stuff when we moved, but I was wrong. I wanted to clean out the loft of the garage so I could try getting rid of the nasty carpenter bees that had moved into the eaves, but before long I realized i had no place to move anything to.

Time for a dump run! I started throwing stuff out of the garage and piling it up next to the dump truck. It felt good to finally start clearing a path through the loft, and getting rid of stuff. I packed up the truck this morning after taking Snoopy and Maggie for a walk down to the river. (The CTLPs doghter Maggie had a sleepover with Snoopy this weekend. I think Snoopy's in love). Anyhow... Back on track.

I didn't believe FlatTires when he told me this, but now I get it: On weekend mornings the dump is *the* happening social scene. This morning was no different, half the volunteer fire department was there talking about all kinds of stuff over their coffee. I dumped the trash then headed up to the metal dumpster to toss our old mailbox-baseballed up mailbox.

You would be absolutely amazed at what people throw out. Sitting right on top of the metal pile was a perfectly good Specialized Stumpjumper frame! A chrome-moly steel, Made in the USA, Horizontal dropouts frame. Since I had busted up my old Raliegh M80 I had been looking for a replacement frame to build up a 26" singlespeed again. This should do, and the price was right, free. Right underneath it was two kids bmx bikes, with nothing wrong with them. Not even a flat tire. I left them, no need for any of those these days.

When we lived in Pennsylvania there was a rich township in New Jersey that had ONE DAY a year when they could throw out anything they wanted. Other than that, each household would have to only throw out one trash can full of regular garbage and recycling. They had to hang onto all those old bikes, bigwheels, exercise machines, lawnmowers etc that these people apparantly briefly use then push to the curb. Well, this one day a year turned into a sort-of Superbowl of Recycling. I kid you not, we used to load the trailer, the sawzall, an inverter, multimeter(to test stuff), tools, and head out. In no order we scored: too many 'powerwheel' ride on beasty mini cars(you know, the kind that people use to train their 2 year olds how much fun it is to drive), bikes, lawnmowers(on one the wheel had fallen off... not broken, the bolt loosened and fell off. so it got pushed to the curb, where they put the wheel and bolt on top), a treadmill, an electric start weedwacker(the battery was dead) and various motors, fans, etc, etc.

Now, don't think we were the only freaks out there digging for treasure, it was like a parade of scavengers, bumper to bumper, checking the piles, making selections, moving on. You laugh but we got some good stuff that way. Don't be afraid to pull over, toss a bike frame in the trunk, and keep going!

More 5 boro stuff

Check out the video on You-Tube.
Also check out your "official" pictures.

5-Boro Part 2

So on this ride we saw a whole bunch of different bikes and people. Road, Mountain, Singlespeed, Fixies, 6 year olds on 12" bmx bikes, trikes, beach cruisers, tandems... seriously.. everything on two wheels. Here was a some recumbents leaving Astoria Park:


I even saw one guy riding a fixie with his son on a trail-a-bike.

Cruising through Brooklyn. Didn't see anyone from The Burg tho, no matter how many times I sang "My Humps".


BBW, easy to find on his classic pink Iron Horse:
I think one of my favorite parts of the ride was blasting down a closed highway with a ton of bikes on the way to Staten Island. I bet in 20 years this sight will be common when we're out of oil to feed the cars... Bikes as far as you could see:


Seriously we could have been rocking this part.... I got behind a tandem drafting a tandem. I wasn't pedaling at probably close to 25mph.

Up and over the Verazano(sp?) Narrows Bridge:
There was festival on a park on Staten Island at the end of the ride, and we needed to look for GUDG... we lost him somewhere around mid ride.
We found him in a couple of minutes at the lost kid table. Then we waited again just to leave the festival... then ride another 3 miles to the ferry landing. To freaking WAIT again. We must have waiting for an hour for the ferry.


When we finally got on board I struck out in search of some cerveza. I'm not a big fan of Heinikin, But it hit the spot after the ride. Statue of Liberty:

Heading towards Manhatten:

It was a looooooong day. After we got back to the car we had a two hour drive back to Naugatuck, then a 1.5 hour drive back to RI. Then GUDG had ANOTHER 45 minute drive back up to his house. 4:40 am till 11pm.

I think I'd do the ride again, but figure out how to get around all the freakin waiting and waiting..... and waiting. And, I'd definitely bring the ibucket for some entertainment etc.

So... maybe next year we can try it again.

The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty busy for the Fortys again. Lots of work-work, house work, school, and Snoopy is starting school tomorrow night too.

-40

5-Boro part 1

Sorry it took so long to get these pictures up.. I left my phone in GUDG's truck, then have been wicked busy with work. Starting to get too common these days... 'too busy' .. ugg.

We had to get an early start to make it to NYC in time to get a 'good' spot in the pack. Up at 4:40, out the door at 4:45.


We loaded the truck the night before so all we had to do was slide into the backseat to be shuttled at rocket-like speeds by GUDG's stepdad into the city.

It was a little bit of a challenge to find a place to park, no surprise with 30-40,000 people showing up for this ride.

GUDG, BBW, Garden Girl, GUDG's Stepdad and I lined up a couple blocks back from the start and sat back to wait. And wait.


GardenGirl needed something use something to stop from getting her pants tangled in the chain. A piece of rope worked well.

When they finally said "Go!", we all had to wait some more. I guess all these people don't get going that fast. Here we are finally moving along pretty well in manhatten:


The ride was okay, though I would guess we spend half the time riding and other half waiting around. We must have waited for an hour just about a block from central park while they funnelled all these people onto a 1 lane road through the park. It was cold... people were getting restless.


The park was pretty nice, somehow I didn't take any pictures in there. After that we went up and over the Queensboro bridge:

After all this riding/waiting I was starting to get hungry and we stopped at White Castle. What better way to fuel up than a handful of belly bombers, french fries, and a coke. We aren't 'Nutritional Role Models' either.

Not too far away was the official rest stop in Astoria Park. Here's GardenGirl and BBW:
A pile of recycling, and a view of the bridge:
BBW and GUDG giving the thumbs up to get back to riding:

So we headed out along the river under the bridge.


Looks like I can't add any more pictures to this post so... I'll start another one. Be right back...

Day before 5 Boro

GUDG and I got a slightly later start than the rest of the folks. Snoopy had a vet appt in hope valley, so we got on the road eventually. Toss the bikes and junk in the back of the pu truck and we were off to the GUDG/Sleepy homestead deep in the heart of wild Naugatuck.

When we got there sleepy, bbw, and gudg and sleepy's mom were hanging out on the porch.



We were warned of serious consequences if we played too much in the front lawn so we moved out to the disc golf course that gudg and sleepy's mom found not too far away.

BBW made some special beverages for sink o dey may o for the course. Yummy.


The course was great... it was first time I ever played on a 'real' disc golf course.. it was pretty cool to not have to move the basket everytime.





We took turns carrying the iBucket. Here is BBW taking his turn:


After that we headed back to the homestead for a home-cooked dinner of lasagna and italian bread.. it was faaaaantastic.

One in a millenium

Ok, some of the geeks out there will enjoy this....yes, you are a geek.
At three minutes and four seconds past two, tomorrow morning (May 6th), it will be (are you ready?) 02:03:04 05-06-07
How exciting!!!
And Sunday it will be 05-06-07 08:09:10. How wonderful!!!

Sink-o Dey May-o

Well, I'm not sure how to spell it, but i'm positive that's not right. I could look it up but, you get the point. Happy May 5th. Today some of the Pandapas folks are launching yet another boy(and girl) activity through the peaceful burgs of connecticut all the way down to NYC.

It's starting off with a road trip to GUDGs and Sleepy's Mom's house in CT where we're meeting up with Bald Boy Wonder and Garden Girl. The plan is for some late afternoon disc golf, margeritas, tons of lasagna for dinner to carbo-load. Tomorrow we need to get up insanely early to make it into NYC for the start of the 5 Boro Ride! 42 miles of street riding with 30,000 of your closest friends. Should be interesting to say the least.

I took the mtbike tires off my Karate Monkey and put on some road tires. It looks neked.