When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive.
I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with.
I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well being.
[This is great!]
Senate Confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court: Live Updates:
The Senate on Thursday confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to be elevated to the pinnacle of the judicial branch in what her supporters hailed as a needed step toward bringing new diversity and life experience to the court.
Overcoming a concerted effort by conservative Republicans to derail her nomination, Judge Jackson was confirmed on a 53-47 vote, with three Republicans joining all 50 Democrats in backing her. The vote was a rejection of Republican attempts to paint her as a liberal extremist who has coddled criminals. Dismissing those portrayals as distorted and offensive, Judge Jackson’s backers saw the confirmation as an uplifting occasion, one where a representative of a group often pushed into the background instead moved to the forefront.
[Excellent.]
When people say we’re “fighting for democracy” even that isn’t strong enough.
We must fight so we don’t become a fascist country with slavery for Blacks, ovens for Jews and women turned into baby-producing handmaidens. And for a human-habitable planet.
If you think that isn’t what’s happening, well it is.
- This country has never actually revoked slavery. A lot of people are still bitter about the outcome of the Civil War. Blacks are not, according to many Americans, entitled to the full rights of Americans.
- Anti-semitism is also a foundation, not just of America, but most of the world. We heard Trump say that American Jews are really citizens of Israel, which emphatically is not true.
- And the last one, women as baby-producing handmaidens, that’s what overturning Roe v Wade is for.
- And of course it’s not just Blacks, Jews and women, there’s a hellish place for every non-white non-male non-Christian American.
- And who knows why they don’t want to keep the planet habitable for humans. Maybe they think God meant for them (and not us of course) to migrate to other planets. Whatever it is, it’s another form of hell.
Yet journalism still mostly sees it as a partisan horse-race and every step we take into the abyss is bad news for one or two people like Biden or Schumer. Their delusion by now is really a form of insanity. Forget about waking them up, we have to move past them.
The thing that unites us is the hell the Trumpists have in mind for all of us.
[Why ia this not obvious to everyone?]
Source: Scripting News
The Aft Unitized Pallet Structure (UPS)
Nominal Event Time: Launch + 3 days
The UPS supports and carries the five folded sunshield membranes. Prior to this, the spacecraft will have been maneuvered to provide warmer temperatures on the forward UPS and various heaters have been activitated to warm key deployment components. Key release devices have been activated. Various electronics and software have also been configured prior to support the UPS motions, which are driven by a motor.
[Follow along!]
Thoreau once said, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”
Figuring out how clothes should fit is one thing; figuring out whether they suit your personality and character is something else entirely. That part requires a lot of self-discovery, honesty, and time.
[As it is with all—discovery, honesty, and time.]
Source: Put This On
Mallory Myths – Gear Timezone:
Their layers of wool, silk and cotton was lighter than modern clothing and extremely comfortable to wear
Mallory’s boot was the lightest ever used on Everest.The 1924 Everesters were lightweight specialists who understood their clothing better than most modern climbers
The complete set of garments was field tested on Everest, by Graham Hoyland, the great nephew of Howard Somervell, in April 2006. He confirmed that the replicated garments indeed formed a sophisticated, effective and comfortable clothing system which ‘was perfectly adequate for a summit bid’. Graham Hoyland, Everest, April 2006
[Unsurprising considering that we’ve all “rediscovered” wool and silk in the last few years, and who doesn’t love cotton? You just have to be more careful about getting them wet. Cotton, because it takes a long time to dry, wool because it absorbs so much water that it weighs a ton until it dries, and loses it’s shape along the way. etc. But still, awesome.]
But the sport demands obsession – at least at the level in which I like to write about it. And that makes it impenetrable. And much of what we love about it stems from that impenetrability. You show up for a ride, and right away you get dropped, or you can’t figure out why everyone swings off to the right sometimes and the left sometimes, or how everyone knows to shift all at once without having to talk about it, or how they all just automatically swoop out wide at the same spot before a corner – a hundred thousand little impenetrable acts in a single ride. Maybe you stick through that, then you confront the true, profound impenetrability at the core: When the shit gets tough, all becomes inscrutable.
[Some of the best cycling writing comes from this dude. And some of the best bikes come from the folks that hang out here. It’s a place where magic is born.]
Rapidly changing weather makes for tough clothing choices. Layers as a concept is fine, but making that work in urban, suburban, on bike, off bike, in and out of stores kinda a deal can be harder. A few thoughts on that.
Being perfectly comfortable all the time with the range of weather we’ve been experiencing is difficult. If you want to simplify what you’re carrying, change your expectations. Be prepared to be cold or hot some of the time and it all gets easier. Do figure out how hot or cold you’re willing to be, and layer accordingly, but if you’re determined not to carry clothes, it’s hard to cover the range from 36F to 72F, both indoors and out, on bike and off, without some sort of compromise. If you can, please let me know what clothes allowed you to do that.
A great piece for me is a light sweater with a standing collar (1/4 zip). It keeps me warm, rarely gets too hot in an conditioned office or light breeze while keeping me from getting cold and clammy feeling. I have one from North Face (it has a nice fleece lining on the collar) I bought on clearance at EMS on club day (who doesn’t like a double discount) but any brand will do… just make sure it’s light.
But even as I play chess with the weather I try to simplify other aspects of my life through the continuing search for products that work in more than one setting (thus allowing me to have fewer or less, which in turns reduces my option anxiety). In the shoes that are comfortable in numerous settings category I’ve inducted Dansko clogs.
“It began with a uniquely designed and patented Danish clog, discovered by company founders Mandy Cabot and Peter Kjellerup, in a tiny shop in Denmark in the late 1980s. This husband and wife team, then professional horse trainers, flipped over their discovery of “the perfect barn shoe,” and, quite literally, put them through two years of “acid-testing.” Mandy and Peter found these shoes to be extraordinarily comfortable, virtually indestructible, and attractive enough to wear almost anywhere. They were the only shoes they ever wore. Mandy and Peter secured the exclusive rights to the stapled clog product line from Denmark, and “Dansko, Inc.” was up and running in 1991.”
Nice story eh? Anyway, they’re plenty comfortable and can easily fit into work, casual, and chores situations. Casual biking only please (atmo).
I have a couple of pieces like Chrome’s Shins that have a bit of padding to make biking more comfy without the “it works on the bike but not off” effect of regular bibs or shorts. But because it’s built into the clothes, if the look ain’t right (I can’t really wear knickers at work) then they’re not a choice. Providing more options, I’m really enjoying Rapha’s new merino boxers. Merino is a true wonder material, the Cyfac pad 
is useful on the bike but not overwhelming off, and for those trips to park where TheKid™ is on, then off the bike, in, then out of the trailer, playing on the bars and then onto the next thing, they’re a great option making the riding more comfy and hanging out off the bike more casual and less technical. Rapha warns to order down one size, I’d say for sure.
Now I know what you’re thinking… Aren’t they a bit warm? I’ll have to keep you posted. So far? Nope. They do sport light mesh panels on the sides which helps them breath. They have flatlocked stitching so the seams won’t chafe, and they do have a fly if you find that helpful. And no… I’ll not be modeling them (count yourself lucky).
[Seriously? You need to ask me if something from Rapha is expensive? In this case, moderately so if you consider what you pay for cycling shorts, significantly so depending on what you pay for underwear.]
Not that it affects any improvement on the layering or performance issues, but a cool T is just that. Johan Bruyneel is branching out from his role as one of the most successful cycling team managers to a purveyor of shmatas. Pave is cool though, so I sport this in good fun. Watch out for the women’s sizing, they run small, order up one.
A long time ago in a boyhood far, far away my parents taught me to skate. The scene would have looked a bit like the one above, only somewhat less idyllic. We got together with a friend of my mother’s (the Fishman’s) and in that classic arms forward stance (to keep your weight on your toes), I’m sure I stumbled all over the ice. Maybe one of the advantages of learning to skate on a lake rather than a rink, is it eliminates that awful starters parade of kids hanging onto the sideboards for dear life, shuffling slowly around the perimeter of the rink. There was no choice out there… if you wanted to move you had to figure out the skating thing. The skates were no doubt a Chanuka gift from my parents, and must have been just good enough. And while I have no specific recollection, I’m sure the swoopy, flying, gliding effect—that effortless forward motion caught me. From my current vantage point, it is easy to see why biking caught and stuck as well.
Jump forward a few years to a family friend (Stacie!) who had studied figure skating. Since I enjoyed skating, a party was planned that included going skating some Saturday night. As is common, halfway through the session the ice is cleared and the infamous Zamboni reset the ice. All slick, smooth, and wet. This being the 70’s I’m dressed head to toe in light blue (just don’t, OK?). Just after the ice is reopened it’s “couples” time. Stacie grabs my hand and says “Let’s go!” and before I could say a thing, I’m out on the ice being pulled along by the hand. I knew it was a mistake, but I was afraid to start skating, and I couldn’t shake her loose. As our crowd of friends sees the two of us out there an “oooh” rises as a collective commentary on our holding hands, skating “together” (as if) and general tween teasing. Sure enough seconds later one of my blades catches on something, and I’ve now mopped up a nice swath of ice with the aforementioned light blue clothing that turned an instant navy blue… no hiding that error, either in that few of us were on the ice, or the darkened clinginess of my soaked clothing for quite some time after that. You’d think that would of have been it for me and skating… but the gliding speed always pulls me back.
In high school there was a small park and rink down the block. Skating sessions were one of the few nighttime activities that fit into the schedule, and where we could get permission to go. Combine that with the on again off again nature of the small ponds freezing and we had a winter’s delight. A touch of freedom from oversight, a touch of freedom from gravity, and the odd whack at a puck with a stick… kinda playin’ pick up hockey on the little ponds behind the rink. I can clearly remember hearing the booming cracks one January morning during the thaw.
After high school skating sessions became far and few between. I was busy learning to be a musician and going to school. And while there might have been the occasional Saturday night skating deal, it certainly had no regularity. Kind of like my skiing “career”, it all kinda went and died out with the focus on music and the lack of funds that went with that. But then… some friends were working at a bike shop and the winter keep busy deal there was hockey gear, skates, sharpening and the like. That winter they started playing pickup hockey over at Playland and before you know it they dragged me out, although I wasn’t in a hockey mood. It was quite a show though. Sadly, I learned that my skates no longer fit me (they *really* hurt that last time…) so I stuffed them away, and the next time my sister asked I gave her my skates (she asked for one of her growing kids). I’m sure they’re stored there somewhere (and worn on occasion I’d guess).
Since Noah been old enough we’ve tried to have him try all sorts of sports. He’s been swimming, karate classes, obviously has been around bikes, trikes, etc., and now ice skating. And he really wants me out on the ice. And, of course, it appeals to me as well… so I went and found me some skates. Skates have changed quite a bit with lots of new tech, and even some changes in how people seem to approach wearing skates (thin socks now, not so much back then). Skates are often made of moldable material and are “baked” (200 degrees F for 4 minutes in my case) to soften them so that they mold themselves to your foot. And they are of course, lighter as you go up in price (and man can you get stratospheric if you care to). now I’m looking forward to playing with him on the ice. His teacher suggested a couple more weeks, which is cool, because it gives me a chance to get to a rink and glide off some cobwebs before that moment. One of the cool things about his teacher is that she was one of Lisa’s babysitters and taught her how to skate as well. My chore will be getting her back out there. It would be nice to turn this into a family thing. Makes it far more fun…
A designer I’ve worked with in a couple of places plays hockey in a league. I wrote him note to see whether we can get together for some some getting started again tips, and help me clean up my technique a bit before I case harden some new bad habits. It would be fun just to hang with him… but skating would be really great.
Updates, as I get back to it… I wonder if Chris still skates?
In the tech category, Rails 2.3, Redis, and the Engine Yard Cloud. offerings have got to top the list of things that improved our ability to deliver products and simplified solutions for us. Github also tops my list of services that have become a way of life. The tech world spins quickly though. Curious to see what’s next. In all cases though, it’s not the tech or the code but the people. All these projects or companies have seriously dedicated people working on them. *That* is what makes these things go. Rock on people.
There might be a few more… time will tell.
turnings :: daniel berlinger 