Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Sandwich

A super roast beef sandwich from a couple days ago. 

We went to Jason's Deli the other day. This sandwich was massive... but I conquered it. I'm still on my quest for the Ultimate Sandwich Grail. 

The search continues... 

Check out the Sandwich Project link on the left. If you can put it between two pieces of bread, I want to eat it!

Monday, December 29, 2008

stupid update

My last semester at UVU starts next week. I'm excited, and dread the workload. I assume that most of my time will be spent in the library this semester... writing my senior thesis. The basis of my senior thesis revolves around the idea of new world mythology and Spanish expeditions in the Borderlands. Interesting stuff.

Economic hard times have finally started rumors around my work. It looks like the "executive management team" will examine every employee review this month and determine who is staying and who needs to leave. I'm sure the "executive management team" could save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars if they laid off those jerks that get paid to just play golf all year long. My measly wage is understandably insignificant to the bloated unjustifiable salaries that the management makes annually. What do I know? I don't play golf.

Meh. I've talked about this crap before. This was a stupid fluffy job that's become a bigger thorn in my side as time goes on. I'm graduating in the summer... I need to get out of this endless shift of misery (as I blog from work).

After talking with dan a long time ago- I've decided against a single-speed setup on the Peugeot commuter bike I've been working on. For more versatility I'm going to try a 3 speed internal hub setup. I hate derailleurs. I hate adjusting them, I think they are stupid. I want to try out an internal hub, which from my understanding is just as good, requires less maintenance, and lasts longer than the cassette style bicycle transmissions found on most bikes in the United States. So there. I'm going to do it.

Last night I got on the old stationary bike I swiped from my parents house. I'm not sure how accurate the odometer is... But it says that I rode for over 4 miles. The thing is so old... and the friction wheel starts to heat up after a couple of miles. I made an iPod mount for the handlebars so I don't die of complete boredom within seconds. Yes... nothing beats watching Japanese cartoons on a 1.5 inch screen while riding away in my office. I'm sure the noise from the bike bothers my wife and my dog... oh well. I'd like to get in better shape this year.

bleh.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

what?

When science_hover_jectors and the earth collide.

 

Friday, December 26, 2008

Cereal

I have a bad habit of not finishing the entire box of cereal.  I leave like 1/2 a bowl at the bottom and the box disappears to the back of the pantry. 

Kevin combined the 19 bags and boxes of cereal in my pantry to make the most ultimate cereal known to man. I fear for my life, yet know that it is my destiny to face this foe and not shrink in defeat. 

ULTIMATE CEREAL GLORY WILL BE MINE!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

vegas bowl

We left for Vegas in the midst of a blinding snowstorm that rocked most of northern Utah. After six hours we finally arrived in Cedar City and spent the night. The next morning we left for Las Vegas. 

Here's Kevin in front of the basketball arena, as we waited for the gates to open.

U of A!!

Here's us in our seats prior to tip off. 

Well... Let's just say that the Wildcats need some work passing the ball. UNLV hit like 20 three pointers in a row. A blind man could make more baskets than the UofA basketball team. ugh. 

We checked into a hotel near the football stadium after the basketball game. The building should be condemned, but the rooms were clean... kinda. For some odd reason the entire building seemed to be crooked, as if the foundation had settled funny.

The door to our room had some curious gaps... it was hung crooked which left a 2 inch gap on the bottom, and an inch gap on the top.  The gaps allowed the mice to travel freely from room to room. 

Our seats were on the 30 yard line, 10 rows up. Perfect seats. As the sun went down, so did the temperature, and it stayed around 30 degrees the entire night. Our seats were in the middle of the BYU section however, which didn't stop my brother or I from heckling the cougar fans. David Hasselhoff sang the national anthem, weird.. I know. 

My brother and I are idiots.

The game went well, there were some ups and downs. U of A beat BYU 31-21. Even before the game was over, fans started to jump the fence to storm the field. After the game ended.. the entire field was filled with crazy fans jumping up and down.  We jumped down on the field for the trophy award show thing. People were going crazy... Mounted police kept the masses away from tearing down the goal posts. This was the first bowl game for the Wildcats in 10 years, and this win was awesome- giving me bragging rights over all the BYU fan idiots in Utah. 

The ride back was quiet. The snow had melted from the road, and we pretty much slept the entire way back. The cold from the game, and the bad weather made me sick- which is about right because I contract an illness during every holiday season. I'm getting over it. 

Monday, December 22, 2008

woot!


I'm not feeling very well... because I sat out in the cold all night Saturday. But it was well worth it. I'll post some photos of our trip to the Vegas Bowl later...

Thursday, December 18, 2008

last day of school

This was my long walk in the snow to my last final this afternoon. 

The snow storm this morning made my commute absolute insanity. I was half an hour late to my first final because it took me more than an hour to drive from my house to school. We live too far away

I'm done with school until spring semester. These are the classes I'm taking:

  1. Jewish History (which is still tentative)
  2. Middle East History since 1914
  3. Senior thesis project
  4. And something else... a fluffy class. 

I'm tired. This semester turned out to be harder than I thought. I don't know how I finished all my projects in the last 4 days.  ugh.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

problem

I swear... in the past few days I've probably drank almost 2 gallons of hot chocolate. I'll make a cup... then sit there working on something... look in the cup and there's nothing left! So I go back and make another cup... a few seconds later it's all gone!

Repeat 4 more times.

I have hot chocolate amnesia... and get confused. Then I run to the bathroom. This week has been really hard on my brain... the lack of sleep and fighting the will to procrastinate has been an epic struggle.

I'm tired and I'm probably sick.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

today

Studying for finals. 

Went for a bike ride today to nat's school and back. Even though they said it was supposed to snow, it didn't, so I got out of the house for abit. I changed the gearing on my raleigh single speed mountain bike, so I wanted to see if everything lined up. 

The higher gearing increased my top speed by 4 miles per hour, and the bitter wind was brutal. I got to nat's school in record time. The ride back was tough, going into a headwind, and uphill. My quick patch job held up, and my brakes seemed to work ok. 

It wasn't a long ride, but it was a ride. 

I haven't worked on my peugoet bike since I got it.  But I've got plans. They'll have to wait until next year though. 

Thursday, December 11, 2008

what's in my bag?

What's in my bag?

  1. Timbuk2 Large Messenger Bag
  2. brown lunch bag: with crackers and fruit leather
  3. New York Times
  4. Book: "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" by Charles C. Mann
  5. Book: "Searching for Yellowstone" by Paul Schullery
  6. bell U-Lock
  7. red spiral notebook
  8. green folder of destiny: important papers and study guides
  9. 2 clippy timbuk2 reflector things
  10. leather wallet: credit cards, notes, pictures, licenses, lehi library card, receipts.
  11. plastic micro SD case (empty)
  12. staedtler sketching pencil case: pencils HB-8B
  13. iPod with leather case
  14. quacking duck LED lightup keychain attached to spare U-Lock key (which oddly enough, also lights up)
  15. colgate university key ring: 2 house keys, mail key, 2 car keys, U-Lock key, carabiner, ring
  16. carabiner key ring: work keys
  17. usb 2 GB flash drive (which has seriously seen better days)
  18. palm centro power plug
  19. usb palm centro computer connector cable
  20. usb iPod computer connector cable
  21. velcro strap (so my pants don't get sucked into the crank)
  22. little bike emergency kit: 3 plastic tire levers, inner tube patches, tube ruffer-upper, 2 screws, band-aids
  23. allen wrench set
  24. tiny screwdriver for my glasses
  25. cleaning cloth
  26. perry ellis glasses case
  27. spare dkny glasses
  28. computer case
  29. blue American Eagle beanie (just in case it gets really cold... but it hasn't yet)
  30. small blue pencil sharpener
  31. cheapo sony headphones
  32. papermate #2 pencil
  33. replacement erasers
  34. 3 staedtler mechanical pencils
  35. orem institute of religion pen
  36. utah community credit union pen
  37. sprint pen
  38. utah county academy of sciences pen
  39. 2 family first federal credit union pens
  40. 2 babies "R" us pens
  41. 3 uta rideshare pens
  42. blue bic atlantis pen
  43. 3 uvu pens
  44. 4 uvu rotc pens
  45. zebra replacement ink (0.7mm)
  46. 2 zebra F-301 pens
  47. uni-ball gel impact RT pen

not pictured: old Dell Inspiron Latitude notebook computer, and AC power adaptor. black palm centro.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

final breakfast tuesday

Kevin struggling to text on his new phone. 

Breakfast tuesdays were a tradition this semester. Kevin and I would shoot the breeze and read newspapers. Then we would just observe people and create hilarious social commentary.  My favorite was reading the UVU police blotter in funny voices.  It got rowdy sometimes, and we would laugh the entire time. 

My last breakfast consisted of two slices of French Toast, slathered in butter and syrup with a couple slices of overcooked bacon. It was good, but the bacon crumbled to dust in my mouth. Lame. 

We'd then wander around the school, get some fresh air and meddle with the weird weather thingy. People are strange... some girl with big clunky heels was walking down the walkway... Kevin started laughing because I think she heard me say "MAN! Those are loud freaking shoes!!" 

Yeah.. Good times. 

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

today

I took this picture in the library.

I met with my advisor today. I have 3 more classes left... and then I'm done. 

But it will be hard. 

Saturday, December 6, 2008

bike stuff

I'm glad that my love for old rusty bikes has rubbed off on Dan.  His old varsity will clean up nice. In the meantime, today I looked over the Peugeot and took inventory of the good and the ugly. 

The crank looks solid. Closer examination makes me think that the bottom bracket and components are actually USA/British style, not French (which is probably right, since the bike was sold here). I'm not going to mess with the bottom bracket for now... I don't have the right spanner to remove it anyway, and as far as I can tell it works fine. 

Here's the broken rear derailleur. If you look closely you can see that the teeth are broken off of both of the small cogs that run the chain. It's an old Simplex derailleur, and looks kinda cool. 

Stem shifters. Most road bikes have these shifters on the down tube, but on this bike the shifter were up on the stem. I guess that could make shifting a little awkward, and present a dangerous situation should I ever crash.. Those levers could go right into me... you know.. down there. I don't even want to think about it. I removed them for safety's sake. 

Cool old Campagnolo pedals. Very solid. 

This is the frame, just sitting here in my office. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to it next, I need a large hex key to adjust the handlebar stem (I'm hoping it isn't frozen). The handlebars will probably stay as is... 

the short list:

  1. 27 (630mm) inch front wheel
  2. Rear wheel needs to be trued, and cassette removed
  3. New chain
  4. Repaint? Gah.. that could get messy. 
  5. Saddle? Probably.. The seat looks hard and unforgiving. 
  6. 27 inch Tires.
  7. Single Speed freewheel
  8. Bartape or grips. 
  9. I've got some fenders I'd like to try out, but it needs tires first. duh. 
  10. Headset and stem adjustments
  11. Deep clean (though I would say this bike isn't that dirty, for a junk yard bike.)
  12. Brake adjustments
  13. Chainline adjustments

Too much stuff. I won't get around to it for a long long time. I'll keep my eyes open for some wheels though. 

Friday, December 5, 2008

Thursday, December 4, 2008

peugeot

you wish you were cool. 

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

bonus!

Find of finds!

I was driving to school this morning and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bike frame sticking out of a pile of junk next to the local junk yard. I wasn't too sure what kind of bike it was...(there are a lot of crappy old mountain bikes rotting in junk yards) so I thought I'd give it another pass on the way home from school. Sure enough, there in the pile was an old Peugeot road frame. The front wheel was missing, but everything else seemed to be there, so I liberated it.

Comparing it with other bikes I've seen on the internet, my guess is that its an early or mid 70's Peugeot px-10... or a similar model. It might even be a junior model (because of the weird stem shifters). The frame has no bends or cracks in the welding... The white paint has normal wear for a bike that old, some rusty spots, but it all looks superficial. The cranks and pedals are awesome. Campagnolo components. The rear wheel is true, but the old tire is rotted out. After looking at all the parts, I found that the rear derailleur was broken. Which is too bad, because its a cool old part.
I was thinking of striping down the entire frame and repainting it something else, but looking at all the cool decals on the frame... I'll probably just restore it.
I found a picture online of a similar model:

I don't think I'm going to be able to get this bike up and running anytime soon... I'll probably work on it over the winter months and have it ready by summer next year. Cool find though.