Re-purposing Old Hub Shells

Ah, yes. When you have to buy a full "lot" of something just to get the few parts you need, what do you do with the rest?

I'm Still Here

Well, it seems like even the overload of schoolwork and lack of time for anything else still can't put my bike projects on pause. I have come to realize that these are the things that keep me from going insane during this stressful time. The only true reason why I have not been posting lately is that everything I have been doing and the associated posts are still in progress. There is much that has been done and much to be completed still, but I just can't seem to sit down and finish any one of them. 

Nonetheless, there is one thing that I have managed to complete: I have turned the old, bent fork of my '79 Ross Gran Tour into some sort of handheld weapon by taping up the threads and plugging the end ... I now keep it next to my bed, ready to use in the off chance that I may have to try and fail to defend myself. It would probably be more effective than the Nerf gun, in any case. 

Anyway, the point of this post was to say that I am still here and still building things. Your patience will be rewarded and soon there will be plenty of eye candy. 

Poor Man's Fixed Gear

Well, it ended up as more of a "fixed wheel" in the end, but I'll get to that.

I picked up this Huffy Open Road a few months ago for free, knowing full well that it would not be worth making truly roadworthy again.  It would have to be thrown out eventually, but I didn't feel right doing it immediately.  I planned to salvage the half-decent parts from it such as the alloy wheels and the reflectors.  Before doing that, though, I wanted to give it a chance to roll on its own again. 

Thanks for the reminder, Frito-Lay! I almost forgot which side faces up

In all seriousness, does anyone know what that mark is actually for?

On a related note, I managed to finish this bag of chips at exactly the same time as I did the jar of salsa without even trying.  Last year, I remember trying so hard to finish a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner at the same time.  As fate would have it, I was less than one centimeter - a couple days - away from completing the impossible when I accidentally left them in the dorm shower stall.  They were nowhere to be found by the time I realized my mistake.  I guess some things are never meant to happen (HOLD ON, I AIN'T DONE WITH YOU YET).

A Sharpie in a Sharpie

Alright, so the pun in the title wasn't original to me.  A friend said it was a "sharp Sharpie" when I showed it to her.  I couldn't believe that I missed the chance at making that pun.  "Yo dawg, I heard you like Sharpies, so I put a sharpie in your Sharpie so you could ... " No? Okay.

It's not actually as stealthy as it looks here.

Potty Humor

Even though I'm a college student, I'm still very much a fan of potty humor.  I sure hope I never grow out of it.  There are two jokes today: One heard from Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe and another found online with NSFW language.  Brace yourselves.  

The Pirate Ship

Just a short post for today since I've been pretty busy.  I have a joke that one of my best friends told me back in high school and even he couldn't get through it without laughing.  It went something like this:

Image from www.techdigest.tv/

Once upon a time, there was a pirate ship sailing on the deep blue sea.  One day, the guy in the crow's nest says "Captain! there's a ship ahead!" The captain told the crew to prepare to fight and said "First mate, bring me my red scarf so if I get shot in the neck, our crew won't notice and they'll keep fighting valiantly." The two ships reach each other moments later and the pirates fight and win.

The next day, the guy in the crow's nest says "Captain! there are two ships ahead!" and again, the crew gets ready to fight.  The captain tells his first mate "First mate, bring me my red shirt so even if I get shot in the chest, our crew will keep fighting valiantly!" They get to the ships and win the battle.

On the third day, the guy in the crow's nest says "Captain! FIFTY ships ahead!" This time, the captain shouts "First mate! Bring me my brown trousers!"

The end.

Me Writing Upside Down

So, this is my handwriting.  I just figured this would be something funny to look at.  I got this idea from my sister because she showed me her results, which were obviously much more beautiful.

Click to enlarge

My handwriting has evolved through various stages of chicken scratch through the years. I remember back during kindergarten when Mom used to buy me those paper pad things with letters and I'd copy them across the row.  My row of A's got really small toward the middle and back to normal at the edge and it was really funny.  On the other hand, my sister's teachers have always told our parents that her handwriting was better than theirs.

My backwards or upside down writing is more legible, but that makes sense.  It's probably because I do it more deliberately.  Same with my word art and block letters and stuff because at that point it's more like drawing than writing.

Neutering Ballpoint Pens

Two winters ago, I got the bright idea to take my dead ballpoint pens and pull the balls out of them for the heck of it.

Defining Moments of the Week before July 4th

I have now officially fallen off a bike a total of three times in my life.  They all happened within the the last year, the last two times being on my Raleigh Sports.  The most recent time was exactly one week ago when I was on the Raleigh on the way to the library and I turned too sharply on a thin layer of gravel scattered over cement.  I wiped out and the fall wasn't particularly forceful and I hopped back on the bike immediately.  One nice thing about step-through frames is that you can more "gracefully" roll clear when you fall instead of getting pinned under it.  I did that but somehow, I landed on my right wrist wrong and sprained it.  All the way to the library and back (10 miles total), the pain got worse.  I then vaccuumed the entire house using only my left hand. I did have some scrapes but 'twas "but a flesh wound."  My right hand started out being nearly useless for the better part of three days but it's been recovering and I'd even say that it's almost done recovering.  I carefully rode my bike last night for the first time since then.