Yay beer! And other things.

Just got back from the store with a new (to me) beer, Shiner Homespun Cream Ale. I have a new favorite beer. Seriously, this is the beer I have been looking for for years, slightly sweet and not over hopped with just the right balance of sweet and bitter. I must send a letter to Shiner and tell them this.

Work on the Mid-Bucket has slowed while waiting on the parts to arrive, some of which are still not made yet. I mostly have been analysing the frame for things to leave off and make it lighter. I have found 2 tubes that are redundant so far for a total weight savings of 5.5 pounds.

_yay

On the Mini Sprint-T I’m almost done resizing the wheel halves for width after taking some time off for the Mid-Bucket. Filing the resin wheel halves is much quicker than the stainless steel steering arms on the Mid-Bucket, but because they have to be within a thousandth of an inch precision it’s only quicker in how long I spend actually filing them down compared to fitting the steering arms on the Mid-Bucket.

On the RPG front we are having some difficulty creating my character based on my life. Specifically my HP and natural armor or DR or in the terms of the game we are playing, Body and Hardness. Here’s the rub, the getting hit by cars doing from 25 to 30 MPH and walking away with minor abrasions is how Hard my body is in game terms. Getting hit by a truck at 60 MPH and barely dying is how much Body I have. Un-dying is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish that is covered by the rules but only for creatures in-game. And in-game I’m 129 years old, Mrs. the Poet has been dead at least 40 years, and I’m still living in the same house in Garland. I’m still mostly riding my bikes to get around except when I’m being a Runner when I have a couple of vans and cars. Also I’m an actual walking Urban Legend in-game having been a Runner since the events that created the game world. There are a number of people in law enforcement who don’t believe I actually exist, there are rumors I’m not actually human, that I’m some kind of avenging spirit, and even weirder stuff than that. This is going to be FUN!

On another front, my musical tastes are giving my YTM app apoplexy. So far on my saved music I have Jazz, Swing, Hip-hop, Classic Rock, Acid Rock, Electronica, Ambient, Trance… and whatever they classify Blue Man Group as. Seriously my tastes cut across so many genres My Channel is like listening to a radio that can’t stay on-station. If you can, do a search for Opus’ Fun Junk playlist. And prepare for your mind to get blown. 😀

And now I’m just doing the keyboard equivalent of babbling to hear my own voice, so I’m packing it in now. Happy Easter!

Grocery day in the post-retirement era, and the Feed

Howdy! One of the major differences between grocery day BR (before retirement) and AR is we no longer have to wait for Mrs. the Poet to get home from work before leaving for the grocery store. We just wait for eldest child to put his laundry in the machine and then we go.

I found a new (to me) beer today, Shiner Holiday Cheer, on sale for $14 for the 12 pack. It’s made with peaches and pecans and a little bit of spices and has a very robust mouth feel and head. The peaches are mostly sensed through the nose before drinking, while the pecans are felt through the palate and the spices hover between. There is almost no hop signature to speak of to let the other ingredients shine through. The brew has a dark color from added coloring, not from a roasted malt and that shows in the muted malt notes. I rate this brew as decent for drinking by itself (not with food) but too delicate to go with a meal. If you are just sitting down for a post-prandial before bed, this will fill the bill nicely, but if you are having a pizza then you need to drink a different beer. This would be the fruity white wine of Shiner in contrast to their robust Bock or Black Lager. I still like this beer, just not as much as Shiner Bock, or Farmhouse.

Up first, speeding cyclists doing almost the posted limit! THE INVESTIGATORS: THE DANGER OF SPEEDING BICYCLISTS IN CENTRAL PARK Two people have died! GASP!

A cyclist was also a good person who was always helping others before she was killed getting hit by 2 cars… Bicyclist hit and killed was well-liked by neighbors Not going the speculate on the wreck because I don’t do that any more. I’m just going to let folks know about the special person who got killed.

Bikeyface tries to do her vacation by bike. Notice I didn’t say “does her vacation by bike”. BIKE-CATION! Another case of crappy infrastructure, this time based on access blocked by high-speed traffic and restricted hours.

Some good news from AZ. Flagstaff schools get new bike racks thanks to donations

Infrastructure news from PA. Nutter taps board to make Philly more of a biking hub “Nutter” is the mayor’s name, not a pejorative term.

Long Island in NY makes the infrastructure news. Letter: Lives lost along Long Island’s roads Poorly designed or non-existent bicycle infrastructure gets cyclists killed, simple as that.

Bad infrastructure in the making in the UK, no surprise there. Cyclists criticise lack of provision for bike riders as part of junction re-work The only level of service cyclists are seeing is lip service.

And bad UK infrastructure seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Britain’s roads “aren’t safe enough” says Sustrans as cyclist casualties climb 10 per cent And if it weren’t for the NHS the fatality rates would be even higher…

The Netherlands replaces 70M of bike path paving with solar paving that generates electricity. World’s first solar bike path set to open in the Netherlands This is a real-world pilot project and the first done outside the research lab that developed the solar paving, previous development testing was done with the parking lot of the lab… I have been following this project for several years now.

The cycling town of Wichita Falls TX sends off a different kind of bike ride. Cyclists Prepare for 4th Annual Warriors on Wheels WoaB supports and endorses this event.

And another Wounded Warrior ride. No. Smithfield veteran seeks healing with 1,915-mile bike ride

Last link, because I’m just that evil… Oh My Word This Tune Is Annoying

And that’s all I got today, come back tomorrow for more…

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Enter witty headline here, and the Feed

Just not feeling it today, what with the tornado watch and the trees bouncing around the house and the dull grey skies. I ain’t got no funny in me today. I don’t want funny today, I want a good malty dark beer with just enough hops to make it legally a beer. I spent the last month drinking IPAs and beers “inspired” by IPA, and I think I have about reached my limits on bitter hops. I’m looking for something with even less hops than a Shiner Bock, but with more flavor than a schwartzbier. I’m going to be open for suggestions over the weekend (I check the comments twice a day or more), and make my selection come Sunday. And the reason I spent so much time with IPA and similar beers is I bought a six-pack at the beginning of March and it took me most of the month to drink it, plus two singles of a different brand. I never will be an alcoholic at this rate. And that’s something I have always wondered about other poor people, if you don’t have enough to have a place to sleep or food to eat how do you have enough for beer and cigarettes? (wanders off muttering to himself)

Up first was a hard decision today, as we only had one late link to any North American wrecks. This appears to be a right hook from what little we know at this point. Bicyclist killed in Charlestown Right now nothing about this wreck is sure except that it was in an intersection and the cyclist was killed by a heavy vehicle, but it looks like the heavy vehicle was turning right when the cyclist was hit around the middle of the weapon vehicle. At this point they are not sure of the type of vehicle but are going on the assumption that the weapon vehicle was a garbage truck. Anyway, intersection wreck, maybe the protocols would avoid or reduce the amount of damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

The next closest link is from Bermuda, birthplace of grass and shorts that bear the same name. Cyclist accused of pedalling while drunk Note the (lack of) damage done by the drunken cyclist compared to what happens when a drunk drives an SUV into fixed objects. If you can’t get a ride home from someone else take a bike rather than drive a car, your insurance will thank you.

The rest of the wrecks and crashes come from the Antipodes. Cyclist seriously injured Ambulance crew finds injured cyclist near a badly crumpled bike and are not sure what happened? Did they think a Kaiju (giant monster) stepped on him? It was a hit-and-run. Since I could not see the damages to the bike I can’t say how to avoid a wreck like this because I don’t know what kind of wreck this is.

Infrastructure! news from the UK with a funny picture. Council branded ‘pathetic’ as cycling numbers drop in Sevenoaks If the “bike path” the man is riding a tricycle in is any indication of the quality of the local infrastructure, people in charge need to be in prison instead.

Is this what it takes to get better bike infrastructure? Or to just get bikes banned? One injured cyclist a week At that pace they will improve on last year’s figures for injured cyclists.

More from Enn Zed. Death puts spotlight on bicycle safety

Infrastructure through the lens of a Bikeyface. IF I OWNED THE ROAD

Lots of links from Ted today. Morning Links: Not guilty pleas in OC meth hit-and-run, BFF KINDness, and fundraiser for OC’s Matt Liechty

Update on a story we got earlier in the week from Oz. Community kindness eases pain of crash cyclist’s recovery

Lifestyle from CA. Has the ‘racing culture’ sucked the fun out of bicycling? I say nope.

Last link climate change has made bikes faster than dogsleds in the world’s most severe race. Biking the Iditarod? Climate change makes for faster times

And those are all the links that gave me fits and giggles today. While I was composing the post we got to watch the first severe storm of the season roar by to the north, with heavy hail damage but thankfully no tornadoes. That’s something else that will give you fits and giggles, but not in a good way.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Waiting to find out the Sprint Cup champion on a Wreck-Free Sunday

I have been watching the pre-race shows since 1100 this morning and it’s 1400 and the race still hasn’t started. In fact the drivers aren’t even in the race cars yet. They didn’t start until after 1415 and the first caution flew at 1430…

Other than the final race of the Sprint Cup championship and my new bike getting started I don’t have a lot to talk about other than beer.

I have a new favorite beer. I used to prefer Shiner Bock for a long time because it had so much more flavor than your typical American Pilsner. Well my new favorite is still broad by Shiner, and it’s still a dark beer, but it isn’t a Bock it’s Shiner Black Lager. It’s made from an even darker roasted malt than Bock, but it’s brewed lager style which gives it a lighter body than a bock. This ends up with a beer that has a flavor similar to a bock but is as drinkable as an American Pilsner. The only problem I have with the beer is they are so proud of their imported Czech hops they put so much in they almost completely overshadow the flavor of the malt and yeasts. I should say I’m not a big fan of hops, in fact before I discovered the joys of dark beers my favorite was a beer I can’t remember the name of that had the minimum amount of hops to be classified as a “beer” in the US. It was cheap but they spent more time on their malts and yeasts to bring up the flavor without the bitterness of the hops to cover up shortcomings in the rest of the brewing process.

Mrs. the Poet has emphatically stated that she is NEVER going to ride in anything resembling the Sprint T I was discussing back during the summer in this blog. Her requirements are a windshield and roof with roll-up windows and AC and a comfy seat. Mine are more about going, stopping, and turning with enough range to last as long as my bladder does. While these requirements are not diametrically opposed, meeting Mrs. the Poet’s requirements does add weight which makes meeting my requirements more difficult, especially the weight of the roof and windshield raising the center of gravity of the car which does no favors for the “turning” requirement. I think I might be able to make us both happy if I take a shell from an ’80s era econobox, blow out the floor leaving the dash and everything else intact and slapping it on a tube frame with a V8 and decent suspension. Or I could take that econobox and put in a modern high-output 4 cylinder engine and upgrade the suspension to rally standards (gravel rally) to get the handling and braking up to my desires. Using a 1980s era ‘box instead of a new car takes about 1000 pounds out of the equation right off the bat whichever strategy I choose with the modified econobox.

As has been pointed out to me my suggested changes to the tax structure would result in a decline in tax receipts because of a lack of taxes on the lower tax brackets, and that if I kept the S0 and S4 and S5 brackets and dumped the S1, S2, and S3 brackets (or rolled them into the S4 and put in a large standard deduction that went down as the S classification went up) I would get what I wanted for the “takers” of the economy while not impacting the “makers” negatively. Even my suggestion of reducing our military spending to just the first 3 behind us in combination instead of the next 10 we still couldn’t balance the budget on the tax brackets I had initially proposed.

And the race has gotten real exciting now that the sun has set…

And now the race is over and Denny Hamlin won the race and Jimmy Johnson won the championship.

PSA, Opus