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Closer and closer…

More rebuild bits have arrived…

Forked

Build bits

In an unrelated note… this years Chanuka treats. Both were keepers!

marshmallow and chocolate dreidels

Chocolate toffee pecan squares

The above is based on these, but I used 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips from Ghirardelli despite this being a first time, we almost always think these things are too sweet. I might go even darker next time. I also sprinkled Heath bits English Toffee Chips and left the lovely pecans whole. Squares were cut around the pecans. Changes for next time: We’ll take some of the sugar out of the dough, bake it a bit more, and flatten it more. I also put them in the fridge, since the chocolate seemed a touch excessive and wasn’t setting up (fast enough for me and the late hour when I made these). After I chucked it in the fridge the chocolate set up in a few minutes. Then they sliced up nicely.

Some of the feast from Thanksgiving 2010

I got up early and did 30 fairly chilly miles with Gerry. He’ll soon torture me with tales of 80 degree days in Florida, but he was thankful to note that I was riding on fat 33’s while he ridin’ skinnies. I believe I pedaled twice as much as he to cover the same distance. Then, like most of the US it seems, the pilgrims living at Circumstance Manor turned to the kitchen and produced a scrumptious feast. You can see some of it below…

The abundant feast could well be the item lowest on the “thankful” list. We are overwhelmingly blessed. “Better than I deserve” is how I feel most of the time.

Butternut squash pizza with red onion and cheddar cheese

Mushrooms stuffed with caramelized onions, pablano chilies, garlic, gruyère cheese, and touch of sauce

Mushrooms stuffed with caramelized onions, pablano chilies, garlic, gruyère cheese, and touch of sauce

Pumpkin Tort with dark chocolate covered pecans

Roasted pumpkin seeds with agave and cardamom

Hill Climb Sundays (Nov 14th 2010 Edition)

Pano of Route 6 Lake

Waaaaay to much climbing today. What was I thinking? No regrets! Much better glove choice today, besides it was warmer. Still, that was a midsummer climbing route… time to ease off a bit thinks I. Felt OK though. Allez!

Route notes: Out the door to Camp Hill Road up and over to Call Hallow Road. Left onto Willow Grove. Right on Blanchard (Co Rd 98). Right on Gate Hill Road (Rockland County 106), Left onto Cedar Flats Road, Left onto Mott Farm Road. Sharp Left onto Liberty Drive down to 9W. left on 9W. Slight left onto S Entrance Road (7 Lakes Drive), past Perkins down to the Route 6 interchange and circle, keep going on 7 Seven Lakes Drive (another long climb), switch sides of the road to avoid the crazed racoon. Left up Tiorati Brook Road which becomes Cedar Pond Road. Loop around onto Lake Welch Parkway and slog back up to Lake Welch, squeeze by the closure, and enjoy the empty Lake. Jump on the double track that leads to the boat launch or stay on the road as you wish (just guess which choice I took?). Hang a left on Gate Hill Road (RC106 again, now from the other side) and bomb down Gate Hill Road. Now reverse the beginning of the ride, up Call Hallow, up Camp Hill, and shortly you’re back.

Variations, you can stay on 7 Lakes Drive and climb up and over from Kanawauke Circle. You can continue even further up 7LD turn left on Lake Welch Pkwy and make a right on Johnstown Road past the Church in the Woods. I have an even more epic version planned for the summer… let me know if you want in… should be a fun day.

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Publishing has moved on

I’m going to talk about “content” for a minute. I’m going to define it as stuff I read. And what I realized is that going back to my earliest days of the web, I don’t consume content. I use it to support my writing, which is really an ongoing conversation with my friends.

In the final analysis we’re all media outlets now.

So my writing and thoughts (and yours as well) move from friend to friend through the social network, far from the original source of the story. Sources of stories that are shareable are preferable because I can weave them into my thoughts, display the context of my thinking, and minimize, in a shorthand kind of way, how much writing I need to do. And because linking is so important, a shareable amateur source is preferable to a professional source that requires me to pay, or worse, requires everyone to pay.

Someone who reports a car accident with a few cell snaps is doing a far better job than the person who picks up a report off the police blotter. Someone who visits the family and reports on how things are going is doing a far better job than someone who gets the “patient is stable” report from the hospital. What matters it turns out is not publishing, which has become easy at even a world wide level, but reporting, analysis, and story telling.

We should be talking about new models for employing reporters, photographers, authors, and story tellers of every sort, and not publishing. Publishing has already moved on…

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Feel at risk on the road as a cyclist?

[Update: An explanation from the DA.

Given that he had a clean history, Mr. Erzinger would essentially have been able to write a check, and the case would then be dismissed. On top of that, while Dr. Milo was still probably recovering from his injuries, Mr. Erzinger would be able to say that he had no criminal history and even deny that anything had happened. That is not something I could stomach.

I therefore offered that Mr. Erzinger plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and careless driving causing serious bodily injury.

This means that for the rest of his life, Mr. Erzinger will have on his record that he carelessly drove, caused another human being serious bodily injury and left the scene. He will lose his driver’s license, face potential jail time as determined by the judge and still have to pay restitution, which as I said in the Vail Daily is important to us but not an overriding objective in the plea.

Not bad. +1]

This simply will not do. (Short version… guy gets bounced off his bike by Mercedes driving wealth manager who leaves the scene. Felony charges have been dropped for ugly reasons.)

Sound off here:

Judicial District Attorney’s Office
Mr. Mark Hurlbert, District Attorney
955 Chambers Rd.,
P.O. Box 295 Eagle, CO. 81631
(970) 328-694 7; (970) 328- 1016 fax

or here.

How Obama could have avoided the shellacking

How Obama could have avoided the shellacking:He wouldn’t have been up against the Republicans if, on coming into office, he set up a Craigslist for volunteering, with meetups at a community level every month to talk about ways of making things work better. And during the rest of the time, no talk, just action. Keep the streets clean. Help out the homeless. Create new flows of information about how things are working, or not.

I think he had that opportunity, to carry the new way his campaign lifted him up and use the same energy to lift up everything. At least then, if it failed, it wouldn’t have been his faillure, it would have been ours. But he didn’t even try. Not even a bit.

[Dave nailed it above. The change I can believe in is the ability to crowd source things. You see the effect on EBay and Twitter and Facebook. It’s the change that Obama should’ve created and hasn’t. The opportunity is not lost.]
Source: Scripting News

Limited Edition Fall Peloton Scarf

Made of wonderfully soft organic cotton knit, the Limited Edition Fall Peloton scarf is a colorful way for me to celebrate fall cycling even when I’m not on my bike. There’s a special message printed on the fold, and is the first in a series of special editions from VividExcellence.

If you want one (and you know you do) you can send mail to “daniel.berlinger+scarf.sample” at gmail dot com. If there’s enough interest a run will be produced, so tell your friends.

If a run is to be produced, I will contact you with pricing information, and you will have the opportunity to place an order.

If nothing else, I’m lovin’ it.

Fall Peloton scarf sample

Fall Peloton scarf sample

Fall Peloton scarf sample

Fall Peloton scarf sample

Fall Peloton scarf sample

The week in links (11/3)

The week in links (10/25)