Hey I'm a squid...

Estelle Getty in the movie Mannequin.

"I don't care if Johnathan runs around the store at night naked with a rubber glove on his head yelling HEY I'M A SQUID"

Well that is at least how I felt this morning, a bit of rain, a lot of slop coming off the road. Oh well its better then driving.

Friday...
Well we had an extremely busy weekend. Due to hours cut backs at work I got Friday off........ There are times I really hate being a contractor. So to celebrate my new found Friday freedom I went shooting with my good buddy, Jason L. or as you all know him. Sgt Pezzer. I have happy to report I out shoot a ex-marine again. (for now) I am sure that at some pint this will pass, right around the time He can hit the slow rabbit.

Saturday...
Melissa (Wife) and I went back down to the Warrington Sporting Clays again, she got an assignment to shoot (camera) a wedding party that was shooting a 50 round on the course before the groom had to run off to get married. We should have pictures up soon on here and at

http://www.melissamcclainphotography.com/

If you would like to see the pictures please message me and I will send you the gallery password.

We then stopped in a Java Junction for lunch, the Turkey and chipolitie panini was excellent. This will be the second time I got something from there that was good. If you are ever in the Wellsville PA area and would like to shoot a nice round of sporting clays or a good lunch I would highly recommend both.

Warrington Sporting Clays.
http://www.warringtonsportingclays.com/

Java Junction, Warrington PA.
http://javajunction.us/

After the photo shoot, and me getting to shoot 25 on the wobbler and 25 on the 5 stand, we went down to Melissa grandparents and had a snack with them. Melissa's grandfather was nice enough to jump some pigeons from the barn, and I am happy to report that all my wing shooting practice is paying off. :)

From the Grandparents house we headed over to Hershey to take some recon photos of founders hall, We are photographing a wedding over there in a few weeks and wanted to get a idea of the campus and where some good shoots could come from.

Sunday...
Sunday was busy as well, got to sleep in and suggle a bit with the wife, always a good time. We went up to my moms house and meet up with her for lunch, and then home for lots of cleaning and photo editing.

Ended Sunday with a very nice fish dinner with my wife.

Monday...
I need a day off from the weekend.

Cold wet ride into work, and trying to make some things right.

We are meeting with our Realtor this evening to look at some houses. Very excited about a few of these, lets hope for some luck.

Tires...
I'm having a hell of a time finding tires that don't die. It seems that no matter what smooth tread MT bike tire I get after about 5-6 weeks of riding the side walls start cutting. I have checked my rims and there is no sharp edges that could be causing it. I'm starting to get discouraged.






Green Tech...
EVO Beta is a wonderful site if you want to learn about green alternatives to everyday items. They are currently running a nice piece on solar pannels. If you would like to read up a bit and find out if its a option for your home. Please check out this site.
http://www.evo.com/content/2827/solar_basics_-_how_much_does_a_home_solar_system_cost

Pet of the Day...

Its a double trouble pet day here at the Shami.

Today's pet #1 of the day comes to us from the Myers family. Jestine Myers is an extremely close friend of mine from High School. Seems that her and her family went yard saleing this weekend and came home with a new puppy.



Our second pet is the new member of the Lopez family (Sgt. Pezzer).

Ahh, new puppys, what is it with spring and getting a dog?


Why Helmets Don't Suck...

I know, we have run it before, but its one of my favorites.







Sgt. Pezzers Epic Fail...

Dump Truck Rule #1 - Put the DUMP part of your truck down when done with it.

This clip is safe for work.

A hole new sore...

Wonderful web...

So the web has given us some data over the past 20 years. But one web page has come to my attention as being almost indispensable to the commuting cyclist. If your like me and tend to find out what the ride home is going to be like by sticking your head out your office window, this site may help your and your co-workers comfort levels. Just plug in your zip code.

www.weatherbike.com

New Ride...

Wow, that was harder then I thought it was going to be.

Over the past two weeks I have been riding fairly short rides 8 to 10 miles round trip per day. I was feeling good, really good, fast, agile all things not fat.

This has been my ride for the past two weeks.

This ride is safe, easy and best of all, I can sleep in a bit and still make it to work just fine.

This is the new ride.Still very safe, not easy, and about twice the time on the way into to work.

The Green path is what I drive to my parking area (Giant Parking lot). So the questions may be, why do I drive, and not ride that short distance. Well, I hate a hill between my house and the parking area. I really hate it on the way into work, but it sucks HUDGE on the way home.

So today was the first time this spring I made the longer ride. My back side is sore, and my legs felts like they were going to fall off by the time I got to the car. But as they say, pain is weakness leaving the body. I must be very week, it was a lot of fun to be able to be on the bike for a much longer time, I'm sure there will be time in the upcoming weeks when I will want to slash my tires, but this is for the betterment of me and I'm excited about it.

Numbers of the Day:

According to my Cycle Computer.
Time: 40:25
Avg: 11.4
Max: 37.7
Trp: 7.7

According to my GPS.
Moving time: 40.30
Stopped: 2.22
Over all Avg: 10.6
Odo 7.59 miles


Geeky item of the Day...

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the ThinkGeek Annoy-a-tron.

This comes to us from one of my favorite sites, ThinkGeek.com where you can get such wonderful thinks like the One up mushroom t-shirt and the R2 fish training school kit. Today I would like to talk about the Annoy-a-Tron. This wonderful little device has crumbled the mind of two of my coworkers, go to the above link and read the letter ThinkGeek received.

So what does it do, it emits a random tone, at a random interval... All day...... They also have a new version that emits a buzzing sound. You know something like a cell phone on silent.

Pet of the Day...


I try to stay away from all the pet pictures with intentionally incorrect English, but this was funny.








Why Helmets don't suck...


I have three words, CRAP!!!! all of them.






Sgt. Pezzer's Epic Fail...

I would like to point out a where these two "men" went wrong.

A) WTF are they wearing?
B) SNOW! No pants, SNOW!
C) Crazy Person 1 (CP1) is standing on ICE, Crazy Person 2 (CP2) is diving into what they believe is water. CP2 really should have looked at CP1 prior to attempting to dive into a sheet of ICE.
D) What is CP2 wearing under their "toto" is it?
E) I'm not sure how much alcohol it took to get these "men" out here but for CP2 is about to not be enough.

There is a part of me that would really like to see how this turned out.

Till the cows come home...

Ride to work...

OUCH!!!

Ok, it was fun, but wow did the wind on river front suck today. I was peddling for all I was worth and could get up to a whopping 8mph.

Squirrel racing...

Squirrel can run at about 13.5 mph for some time. On the ride home Friday after work I was racing a Squirrel. Now I'm not really sure why the little guy ran by 5 trees before going up one. My only guess is that the one he/she went up was home. But for the 50 or so yards of river front park that we were side by side on he was going at about 13.5mph. I'm not so sure I would call it run or I would call it flying, they don't touch the ground very much when the run.

Pet of the Day...





I would have loved to seen how this played out.




Why Helmets don't Suck...





Remember boys and girls, always, always verify the depth of a water crossing PRIOR to making your entry.




Sgt. Pezzers Epic Fail...




HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!! I'm not sure how the hell they pulled this off, but I'm sure it was really, really hard to do.

By popular demand...

Surly Instigator Pictures and parts outline...

My I present the Surly Instigator, plus some customizations.

Frame features of note:

• 100% 4130 CroMoly steel
• Curved top tube to save ones junk
• Solid piece CNC milled drop outs

• Crank set: Shimano Deore LX
• FT Derauiler: Shimano Deore LX
• Chain Stays: FFF Fatties Fit Fine ;)
• Peddles: Crank Brothers Egg Beaters
  

Read Derailleur: Shimano Deore (Not LX yet!)

• Chain and Casset: SRAM
• Wheals: Custom build on XT hubs (Or as the bike shop calls them, "I want to see you break these")
• Drop outs: CNC'ed solid steel
• Also notice the cross brace
• You know you love the chain stay protector ;) $2.00
• Breaks: BB7 rear
  

• Seat Post: This is new, Thomson muti-adjustable. Its made by a guy that used to make parts for rockets. Its thicker in the front and back then it is on the sides.
• Seat: Bont, same one I have had for well ever.
• Rack: Aviar Painer Rack

• Forks: Since the frame is set up for a 100 - 130mm travel fork, I decided to go with a solid fork rather then a suspension.
• Breaks: BB5 in the front.

• Handel bars: This is one of my better ideas.
• Inside Climbing Bars: I have no idea who makes these I got them from Performance.com a few years ago.
• Outside Bar Ends: Cane Creek.
• Shifters: Generic
  
• Break Controls: Avid

Yard Gnome: Gnome-be-gone Gnomes. (You know you want one)

Pet of the Day...


Kitty Roll UP?



Why Helmets Don't Suck...


Road Bike + Mud Pit = Reason number 10 skinny tires don't work well




And Introducing the all new section to the Shami

Sgt. Pezzers epic fail...


"Yep, that's the way those "New Fangled" cameras work.

A new ride...

What is a new bike...

Steal, Aluminum, Cro-moly, Carbon Fiber, all of the above. No, its hope. Hope that you will be able to climb that hill just a little bit faster on this bike. Or hope that you will get out and ride more often then you did on the old one. Its hope that this one will not break after 6 months. Its hope that you will loss weight, get in shape, be faster, better, jump higher, ride longer and all around be a "bikeyer" person.

Its a hope that you will not look like you do in 3, 6, 8 months from now.

Sadly this is not always the case, most new bike come home and only come out on a rare weekend ride with the family or to go to the beach as a car ornament.

I believe the problem here is a full on lack of understanding of what owning a bike means.

It means PAIN, in many different ways.

Legs, back, BUTT, arms, feet, lungs. There have been climbs where I wanted to roll into traffic to get the burning in my legs to stop.

Wallet, holy crap can stuff get expensive, I took a few min just to calculated up the things that I can remember getting.

Gary Fisher "Marlin" Mk I - $600
Egg Beater Peddles - $60
Helmet - $40
Shorts - $40
Shoes - $100
Gloves - $20
Computer - $40
Flat tire kit - $20
Hydration - $30
Tires - $80
Tubes - $30
Replacement Crank - $300
Replacement Chain Ring - $65
Replacement Chain - $30
F. Derauler - $60

Gary Fisher "Marlin" Mk II (Replacement Frame) - $free
Parts transfer - $200
New wheals x2 - $200
New tires - $60
HID light - $100
Shoes - $100
Helmet - $60
Painers - $45
Backpack - $85
Gloves - $35
Socks - $100
Cold Weather Gear - $100

Surly Instigator MK I - (Replacement Frame for GF MK II)
Frame Save - $40
Cables, housing and setup - $100

Grand Total - $2740 I'm going to guess that you can add about 6% to that for purchases I have forgotten.

PAIN.

If you ride a bike you are going to;

1)-Be in pain
2)-Break something expensive
3)-Feel better
4)-Loss weight
5)-Increase heart health
6)-Start looking at bike racks and bikes on cars differently
7)-Notice trails, bike paths and wide berms

8)-Have about the same amount of fun you did when you were a kid.

I'm now thinking that I should have not posted that dollar amount, when the wife reads this she is going to want some new camera equipment.


Pet of the Day...



"Ahhhh, Ummmmm, I think the dog door is a BIT to small"









Why Helmets Don't Suck...



In the biking world this is called "Tacoing"

Meaning your wheal now looks like a Taco, and so would your head with out that helmet.

Discounts, Discounts, get your discounts...

Step 5...

My frame is in, I so excited, I' m going to pick it up while my boss is at PT this afternoon.

Road ID discounts...

For any of you that are thinking about getting your self a roadid, friends of Broken Shami get a discount.

If you go onto ROADID.com and place an order, use code: ThanksJason467543 to receive a discount.

Also to be safe...

Two other things that have come across my desk in ways of keeping your self safe.

1) Place a note inside your helmet with Name, Number, Address, and contact information.
2) Place an entry in your Cell phone of ICE (In Case of Emergency) and put in all your important phone numbers. You can also list all of the contact people names in the email fields.

Air Rocket...

I'm not sure what what into this, but I know I want make one.

Never mind, I found how to make it. I know what I'm doing this weekend.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/compressed_air_rocket.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890



Supper Bike...

From Gixmod/GixMag

I give to you the BERU's Factor 001, with built in GPS, motorsport grade sensors and a radio transmitter. 7kg, designed entirely in house by F1 engineers using F1 grade materials.

Ceramic breaks, all cables and components are integrated into the composite carbon-fiber frame.

Price: 20,000 GBP.

Bright light, light bright...

Philips US release in July for their LED light buld.

45,000 hours, 40w for $50 - $70 hours.

CFL - 10,000 hours
Standard Buld - 750 hours

Not sure this is going to hit main stream this close to a user acceptance of CFL.

I kill you...

Peewee RC spitfire can only destroy panzers driven by Nanonazis (thanks you gizmodo)

1/72nd scale for $150

I like, I sort of want. Link

Pet of the Day...







Why Helmets Don't Suck...

Wonder if Red Bull gave him wings?

Killing me...

Well your not going to believe this.

My frame broke, again...

Same place as last time, right above the BB on the right hand side.

My friend, Joe H. gave me a BB5 and a BB7 that he was not using any more. After installing them I decided to degrease my drive chain and give the bike a wipe down to get some of the road grime off it. While cleaning up the bottom bracket I saw a hair line crack on the right hand side right above the weld.

CRAP!!!!!!!

Interestingly enough, I can strip a bike down to headset and bottom bracket in about 15min.

Back to the shop I go, this one only has about 500 miles on it.

In a word.

GERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

I'll be posting pictures up shortly.

Ohhhhhhh what a beautifull morning....

So a few thoughts, and ramblings and such for Friday.

The ride to work was wonderful, so wonderful in fact that I took a little extra time and went the long way into work, My legs felt good, I could breath for 30 min, there was little to no traffic on the road. Perfect.

The ride home is not looking so good. Cause well when I look out my 4th floor corner office window. (yea I know, but sometimes I just have to sit back and wonder if they know they hired ME?) So when I look out my 4th floor corner office window (just wanted to make sure you did not miss that part ;) ) its raining, really raining, like raining sideways raining.

The I think to my self,

ahhhha!

I have a rain coat.

Sheep Shit!

Its at home.

On two sides notes,

1) Meilssa and I are going to look at a house on Saturday, Im very excited, it may be one of the first ones that we have looked at that may acutely meet our needs. And its right behind the bike shop.

2) We are holding a team building event at the troges brewery this weekend. (sweet)

Weekend...

Weekend...

Weekend was very lazy, we really did not do to much. Only had two set backs.

Saturday AM before we went to the Base for groceries with my mom, I had a ocular migraine hit me. And then again Last night I had another one. Two in 48 hours,,,, gerrrrr. I have a call into my Doc to see what I should be doing, and also to set up a appointment, the wife feels very strongly about me getting a checkup.

Cleaned up the house a bit, start writing out the thank you cards from the wedding, WOW what a pain in the back side that is. Now I know why people elope.

Other then when ever I sense I want to pass out, things are back to normal.

Bread...

I made challa bread this weekend, it came out really nice, I used a technique I learned/borrowed/stole from the restaurant in Long wood gardens where you bake the bread in a 2" terracotta flower pot. When its all said and done you get this really nice presentation, and a wonderful texture on the bread from being in direct contact with a stone.


I did changed up the traditional recipe a bit, Challa calls for a egg yok+sugar+water egg wash before it goes into the oven. I changed this out for just a traditional egg wash, were not really sweet bread lovers with the exception to sticky buns, and donuts. HUmmmmmm donut.

The two images were from the web, mine looks much better.

On to the Geeky Goodness...

Geek/Man Sales...

http://www.woot.com/ - very nicely priced digital camera

http://shnoop.com/ - $425.00 Citizen Perpetual Men's watch marked down to $124.00 :0

http://www.thinkgeek.com/ - nothing really on sale, but the 2008 Holiday gift center is online.

ttp://www.wine.woot.com/ - Six pack of "Emergency Holiday Provisions" of a Tuscan-style blend of Sagiovese and Merlot and Cab for $59.99, still with no shipping to PA. ;(

http://www.fatwallet.com/ -

• Postings for most blackfriday flyers are up
• Hanns 22" LCD monitor for $139 at staples.com
• Dell - Black Friday Vostro 1510 Laptop $499 after $282 in saving.
• Walmat announced it will price match all Black Friday prices

http://www.amazon.com/ - Is running their black Friday sales now!!

http://www.ihavetohavethat.com/ - Salton Express Wine Chiller -$23.99 Reg $61.99

http://www.handbagchick.com/ - I'm going to hate my self for this one, Maxx New York Patent Demi Bag w/Turnlock Detail $35.00 + $5.72 Reg $97.25

http://www.nashbar.com/ - De Marchi Contrur Plus Bib Knicker - $99.00 Reg $199.00

Man Toys...

Nothing really that new over at http://www.uncrate.com/ They did a nice write up on the LL Bean boots, and I fully agree with them, they are some of the best boots you will ever own.

http://www.dodtracker.com/

Sweet site, info is good, the layout could use a little love, but its all about the information.




How bad is your driving, Really?



Lemur Autovision is a key fob that records a drivers habits. With the price of gas being what it was, and just a needed over all understanding of some of the ways we can as a culture break our love affair with the automobile. This little fab will allow you to see how you really drive. I'm thinking of a second version that you can't reset so parents know how their children drive. $80




AdminPatch...



So hears the deal, You don't feel pain from a cut until the skin is cut to a certain depth. This depth is know to medical science, is the level where our skin has all its pain receptors.




So, we take a patch, fill it with millions of tiny micronedles that can puncture you skin, and then lace those microneedles with drugs. This will allow the delivering of water-soluble drugs locally or systemically thought the micrpores it makes in the skin, and allows for medication to be delivered continuously while its stuck to you.



Put all of this with, these cuts are so small they collapse quickly when the patch is removed, its simple to use, easy and cheep to manufacture. Not sure of the medical uses for delivering but if it can in some way be used for insulin I know allot of diabetics that will be very excited for this one.



Pet of the day...




One of the best pet costumes I have seen.

Why Helmets don't suck...

A Broken Shami reader send this one in.. I know I'm surprised to, we have readers.

They went down on a club ride, 10mph, f. tire went out on a Rodie, turned side ways and they did a road surface density check with their head.

This is your brain, this is your brain on asphalt with out a helmet, any questions?

What a wonderfull Friday...

On the post again, I just cant wait to get on the post again I'm back online hanging out with my online friends, I just can't wait to get on the post again.

So I have been very, very lucky as for the last two days, the wife has been driving her old man to and from work... Ahhh,, "Some times to be a man, you get to take off the stretchy pants"

So since there is no bike news on the books, "Let talk about geek baby, lets talk about you and me"


Vista in 4 seconds...

So some rocket scie.... wait not really.

Someone, somewhere (That Guy --->)
was very, very happy with them selvs that they got windows Vista to start in 4 seconds. Ok, all they really did when you take the higher math out of it was retart the comptuer, then susspend the new session till it was needed...... ho-hu.

Correct me if I'm wrong, and according to some its often, but aren't their some more pressing problems with Windows Vista that need fixed other then the speed of boot?


Its Hudge...

No really its it, I can't say it any better then they did so here you go.

"Huge astronomy news! For the first time EVER, galaxy researchers have taken pictures of planets orbiting a sun-star, much like our own. The first, taken by the much beloved Hubble Telescope, shows a planet orbiting the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis. The second picture, snapped by upstaging Hawaiian observatories Gemini and Keck, shows two young planets orbiting a completely different star located 130 light-years from us! Take that Hubble! But I warn you—like the ultrasounds your friends show you of their three-month old fetus—these pictures wow mostly because of what they are, not because of what they look like."


Read all About it -> Here


What the fork???

I'm with gizmodo on this one, this might be fake, but it looks real, and I would really like to know what its for, why and how.






Save a tree, make it easier on the Air lines so they can bill you more...

American Airlines is now allowing customers to eprint their bording pass on a PDA. At O'Hare airport you can walk up, show your inner geek and get on. I wounder if they will charge for this to?














This is taking pre-wash a little to far.















Why helmets don't Suck...

No image today, just a link and A hope that you all go out and read this one,

Want to know where the most dangerous places to ride are, well here is the data behind where bikers get hit and why.

http://www.bikexprt.com/bikepol/facil/sidepath/sidecrash.htm

Bang I've Been SHOT!!!!!!!

Wow, this one scared the poop out of me. While on the way home Friday, I was behind PennDot after taking the Lower "Something" Gobbler trail, I was rolling out to the small rise to make the crossing at camron street when I heard a 38 special gun shoot, followed by, well nothing, nothing at all.

The last time I had a tire blow there was a depressing hissing sound accounted with it as the tire went round and round. This blow out was so fantastical that all the air let go all at once. So off I went, walking for the next 30 min to get back to the truck. Got back safe and sound, not sure if anything can be done for it or not, but I'm going to shoot performance an email. They have been rock stars in the past when it comes to stuff like this so maby there is a chance they can hook me up.

In the mean time I put the Kenda semi slick back on the rear, its not as nice a ride for the back, but it does allow for some level leanancy.

Things that confuse cats...

Cold this morning on the way in, yesterday was wonderful, so much so that I stayed in bed and snuggled with the soon to be wife so long she drove me to work.
Had to put some long pants on today, boy that sucks. nothing like lots of griping and tugging on your legs to make you feel slower

Tech Confuses cats...


I sure all you geeks our there with cats will be able to testify, that technology confuses cats just about as much as they confuse us when they chase that little dot on the carpet that only they can see. Well this printer must have been a threat. Watch your volume, it gets a little load.




And this one is just a moron




And lastly...

I approve...

The fish is back, and she's BAD!!!!

First day ridding the new rig, Daddy likes, Daddy likes a lot!

Wow, completely different ride then the old frame, it's about 2" shorter, front to back then the last one, figured that out when I went to lock it up and the cable stuck through the lock by an extra 2" inches.

The carbon rear is really, really nice, feels like you are much more connected with the back wheal.

Shifting, well I am going to have to kiss Rick at PP square on the lips when I see him, it has never shifted this good in it's entire life, wait its new, oh to hell with it I will figure it out later.

It's also more squirrely then the old frame, now I'm not 100% sure on this one, but it’s a hell of a lot more twitchy then the m80, but then again My truck is more twitchy then the M80.

I can definitely tell that the rack is sitting much higher, I am going to have to get used to the higher center of gravity, at the same time it does not take as much to make turns as it used to.

The real test will happen tonight, I'm going to throw a climb at it and see what its makes of it.

All in all, "I approve"

Why Helmets don't suck...

But I love to ride on the boardwalk, what could go wrong?

This had to suck! heheh get it Sucks...

Wow I need coffee