Category / Lifestyle

by Adron

Mountlake Terrace, Pizza, and Art

I reached Mountlake Terrace yesterday. It was after a short ride down the Interuban Trail from Lynnwood Transit Center. Upon arriving, and more on the route in a moment cuz it’s worth its own write up, I made a right turn away from the Link station. My intent to roll downhill to the Zeeks Pizza and grab dinner.

As I rolled downhill the utter chaos of dystopian incompetence in parking was on full display. Full suburban entitlement was evident. Car after car, among the majority parked correctly, was pulled into the PBL (Protected Bike Lane). Some were parked halfway in the road, blocking the road and bike lane, all while beside an actual parking spot. A New Yorker would be enraged at the absurdity of parking beside a empty spot filled by a ghost, maybe?! But all that nonsensical disrespectful motorist shit aside, it was a quick roll down from the station and up on to the sidewalk to park.

There was a solid staple rack right out front of the Zeeks, so I saddled right up to that. I then perused the other establishments on the street here. There’s a coffee shop that looks like it’d be legit, but closes at 3:00pm and it’s 5:30 now. There is also a beer brew joint of some sort. All of it looked like legit quality joints! Not entirely what I’d expect this far out into the suburbs, but after the ride (again more on that in a moment), this Mountlake area is one of the more quality areas in the overall metro area! It’s really nice out here!

Anyway, I strolled my happy ass into the pizza joint. One of the staff (or proprietor, I don’t know) she offered I sit anywhere. I went ahead and took a seat on a two top. She came over, and provided menus and offered some beer options upon my curiosity. We discussed beer for a minute, Pfriem specifically because holy hell are they amazing, and then delved into our children and their recent chaos! No idea how we got there but it was a great multi-minute conversation. As the waitress came up and popped around the corner, the trio of us relayed by beer option and then the waitress and I discussed the varietal of pizza options I had before me.

Zeeks

I will admit, she struck me a bit off kilter because she had enthralling dermal facial and septum piercings of a uniqueness – a very artistic uniqueness – I’d not seen. With necklace, jewelry, and other accoutrement, she had an air about her that was very bespoke. Humans in Seattle are not cookie-cutter. Standing out as unique is rare and a significant compliment for me to ponder, let alone verbally offer someone.

I ordered my pizza and chatted with the team there a bit more. I had a pilsner – ok two because the Italian Pilsner was tops. Then I wrapped up. When I paid, I verbally complimented the waitress on her artisanal bespoke style. She genuinely appreciated my word soup compliment. We discussed the idea of one’s self being presented as a human art. In all seriousness, it’s a topic unto itself, but for those that know y’all know. Hat tipped to you all!

I then left. I had a good phone chat with my kiddo. After that, I mounted my steed to claim and uphill to the Mountlake Terrace Link Station. However I did deviate again and cut right. With a slight bit more hill climb, I rolled past. I gave a good look to the claimed “center” of Mountlake Terrace. I also eyed Hemlock State Brewing. Another trip will include that brewery!

With that I made a u-turn mid-suburb and got another hill drop down to the station. Rode the elevator up and the next Link rolled in within minutes. Boarded, and off I went wrapping up this very blog entry. Until next time, enjoy your transit trips, bike rides, and adventures! Slava Ukraini, may fascism fall on its face, and may your quality of life improve endlessly!

by Adron

Brass tacks review after 416 days of owning and riding the hell out of a Riese & Müller Load 75!

In this VLOG episode I give you a straight up brass tacks review of where I am with my Riese & Müller Load 75, the fun the trials and tribulations and my recommendation on purchase.

  • 0:21 Start of monologue on my Riese & Müller Load75.
  • 1:33 The basic run down of what I bought, back when I bought the bike. Key parts plus additional recent additions, including the trailer and all.
  • 2:00 The trailer and trailer hitch addition.
  • 2:20 Continuing the run down on drive train, battery arrangement, display, blinkers button for helmet blinkers, and hub.
  • 3:40 Even though I don’t have trouble with my hub/gear (so far) my recommendation is…
  • 3:53 The break down of the brake system and the breakage that happened with top reservoir leak.
  • 5:15 Discussing hills, hill climbs, distance, and use of a bike like this among the numerous hills.
  • 6:45 Discussing the front form and suspension, and their lack of rust on mine.
  • 7:22 The puncture in the foot well.
  • 7:30 The impacts on the steering bar.
  • 8:40 Discussing riding at the weight limit, something I’ve done a number of times.
  • 9:20 My main missions: kid hauling, grocery getting, hauling guitar and amp equipment, carrying records, and more.
  • 9:52 Income and suggestion to buy or not to buy an Riese & Müller Load75.
  • 11:44 My recommendation.
  • 12:20 Maintenance, strong maintenance suggestions.

Recorded a VLOG on this topic too, you can watch that here.

by Adron

A Week in Pittsburgh Begins!

After the grand trip across a vast expanse of the United States, I was finally approaching Pittsburgh! I’d been looking forward to visiting Pittsburgh for years now, so I was STOKED!

The day started at around 5am, as I pondered my arrival and the logistics of the situation on the train. I had some commentary, which I added in the VLOG. So be sure to check that out.

Then arrival in Pittsburgh. This image is from the train as we crossed the river.

In the VLOG you get to see this some, but lets talk about the station in Pittsburgh. For the first thing to experience coming into the city, it is a major let down. It reflects horribly on the United States as a whole – as does our passenger rail in general – but this was an embarrassment of riches right here. The station is in what I’d consider the basement of what used to be the train station. The train station itself however is a bunch of apartments or condos, and the grand entrance is now just the entrance to those apartments. So the grand station that used to exist is now a basement with apartments – which you can’t really walk around – there are signs warning you not to, on top of that basement.

Overall, it’s kind of an insult to Americans to have taken a grand station of this nature, dumped the station into the basement, and stuck a few arbitrarily built – and likely very inefficient apartments in the once grand station.

It’s now kind of just a dump. It made me sad. But I digress, the adventure in Pittsburgh was just beginning and I wasn’t going to let the embarrassment of a station ruin my trip!

Pittsburgh Arrival Day 4 Part 1 – Arriving into Union Station & Initial Explorations.

Once arrived and finally detrained and out of the station, the mess that it was, I made my way out into the streets of Pittsburgh for an exploratory bike ride around the city. This became an absolutely stellar first experience in the city and more than made up for the dumpy station.

In this video I’ve got relive maps guiding the way so you can see exactly where I went, along with some stellar photos I took of the city. I rode up onto a bridge, through a kind of messed up, stinky, car-dependent part of the city so I could get these pictures and ALMOST DIED TWICE! I point that out in the video too, so if you are ever there, dear readers, be wary of the western bridge over the Ohio River! It’s got a sketchy approach on both side! Watch these next two episodes for that part of the adventure.

Pittsburgh Arrival Day 4 Part 2 – Arrived & Exploring the Ohio River “West Wend Bridge”!
Pittsburgh Arrival Day 4 Part 3 – Heading to south Pittsburgh to get some coffee & try to check in!

Finally, after all that exploration – from 5:30am to about 7:45am – I finally make my way form the north side of Pittsburgh over the the Travelers Rest, where I’d be staying for the week. I wrap up the day one VLOGs with the final check in, checking out Travelers Rest, and I show you the accommodations I’ve picked up for the stay!

Pittsburgh Arrival Day 4 Part 4 – Delanie’s & Travelers Rest. You GOTTA check these places out!
by Adron

Bike Life. Combining “New Bike Day” with “New Glasses Day”!

This VLOG is a bit oddball, at least it felt to me. I was just chasing down stuff it seemed like; first a new bike for gravel rides and then second to get some new glasses. In my normal fashion however, I’m taking you along for the ride to check out what I’m getting with a little bit of *why* I’m getting it.

Metropolis Bikes

The first place I headed to was Metropolis Bikes. I was hoping they’d have a bike that would be perfect for my upcoming gravel mission. I headed out from Fortress PDX (that’s what I’m calling my location in PDX these days) and headed south along the Williams Corridor (which is made up of two streets, Williams and Vancouver).

  • 0:21 – Welcome to Portland, Oregon.
  • 0:38 – “New Bike Day” @ Metropolis Cycles.
  • 2:51 – Heading to Blink for “New Glasses Day”…
  • 3:15 – But first coffee at Nossa Familia.
  • 4:49 – The first 2 glasses I’ve purchased and received, another is still on it’s way (as of the original recording).
  • 6:00 – After returning to Portland Office, I booked off for a short haul on the MAX back to Metropolis Cycles to pick up THE NEW BIKE! Much excite, very wow!
  • 6:58 – New bike day pick up, I introduce “PDX Orange”! New glasses, new bike, and ready for some gravel riding the next day – and thus gravel riding next episode! 🤙🏻
Episode 32 of the VLOG.
by Adron

Traveling Trackball, AKA “GSD Better!”

Recently I purchased a trackball and a hardshell case for that trackball, which I then wrote a review of over yonder “A Review of the MX Ergo Advanced Wireless“. The hardshell case primarily because I displace a lot during the course of the day. Whether traveling far away from home or just within the city in which I live (i.e. Seattle these days, but in the past Portland, Memphis, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Krakow, etc) it’s been very important to have computer gear that holds up well to these movements during the day. Here is a video that details the trackball, hardshell case, and some of the different places I’ve used it since purchase. Below the video I elaborate on two of the scenarios I use these devices.

Trackball Travels

Coffee Shop Cycling Displacements

Often during the day, at least a non-pandemic day, I work coffee shop to coffee shop. Meeting other coders, working alone, or having meetings in person in coffee shops. As I move from coffee shop to coffee shop, sometimes I use transit (bus/train/tram/streetcar/etc) but more often I bike from shop to shop. During these displacements computer gear can get banged up heavily. That’s where the hardshell case for the trackball is hugely important!

Here are some detailed “product” shots from Amazon/co2CREA, and the link itself to the product if you want to pick it up.

The Hardshell Case from co2CREA

While cycling all sorts of things can happen. I could biff it (i.e. *wreck*) on my pack (i.e. messenger bag, or backpack) and things are safe from direct impact in there, but can still be squished. I could toss my bag down or set it somewhere and it gets kicked, hit, or falls. The number of impact scenarios are numerous. But it doesn’t stop there while out cycling, since most of my packs are waterproof it’s nice to have individual elements packed in water resistant packages for when I pull them out of their pack. You get the idea, there’s a lot of potential oops scenarios, and for maximum gear lifespan it’s best to keep them safe.

Railroading Baggage Pannier Packing Style

Alright, using panniers for bike and train combo trips is another one of my specialties. I take a lot of train trips. Sometimes I ride coach, sometimes I get a roomette or bedroom, and on some trains I may end up standing. Whatever the case, traveling means luggage of some sort and luggage gets banged around. Again I’ve got my packs, but also in this scenario I routinely use my panniers. The combination is great as the survivability of devices – Apple Laptop + hardshell case for pointing device plus tough packs with panniers holding the remainder of things means surviving insane things like train wrecks (i.e. my experience of the train wreck of 501), or just regular travel trips like my trips to San Francisco for QCon, or my trip to Olympia, Washington to speak at a users’ group.

In summary, if you want to enjoy the bikey life combo powered with the rail life and keep your gear intact, it’s a good idea to pick up a hardshell case.