Don't read this post.

Yup!  Its another political rant. Just skip over it and hope that I post something else really soon.

 

George Bush's Biggest Nightmare and what can he learn from it. 

 

Something really interesting happened this week.  In a free and open election, the Palestinians overwealmingly elected Hamas to form a new government.  The Bush administration (can i call it a regime yet?) denounced this and said that it will not send financial aid to any government that includes Hamas. 

 

Hamas is an organization that has used violence to achieve its goals.  I don't think anyone denies that.  They also expend an enormous amount of effort and funds to provide food, housing, schools and medical care for its people.  In a part of the world where it is difficult to get anything done politically, Hamas has succeeded for its people and they're rewarded by being elected into governing positions in the Palestinian Authority. 

 

Here is the pitfall for George W. Bush.  He's all for free and open elections until someone he doesn't agree with gets elected.  He's now pulling financial support and aid for the Palestinian Authority. 

What is the point of that?  Hamas didn't need US support to get elected.  Hamas got elected by taking care of its people.  When in power, I imagine they'll do more to provide housing, food, schools and health care for their people... hopefully on a larger scale.  Will there be violence?  Probably.  There was before, there will be again. 

 

Isn't there some way that the US could work with the Palestinian Authority to help in its humanitarian ventures while helping provide a level of stability that would alleviate the need for violence?  That would be a hell of a balancing act.  It would be a major undertaking that would take a leap of faith.  At least it is an effort that has a worthy goal... one that is a lot better than just washing our hands of the situation. 

 

There are no easy answers in this kind of thing.  How do we balance support for Israel that is demanded by the powerful lobby in the US with a desire for true peace in the region?  Some of that is by supporting fair and free elections... regardless of outcome.  The US doesn't have a history of fairness in the Middle East.  Few actions it has taken over the last 70 years can be viewed as doing anything to promote peace in the region.  This is no different.

 

The US has missed an opportunity to promote peace in the region.  Would it have been easy?  Nope!  Would it have been bloodless?  Nope.  Will we ever find out if the cause of peace could have been helped?  Nope. 

 

Oh well.  Kinda makes you wonder what will happen if a fundamentalist Muslim government ever gets elected in a free and fair election in Iraq.  :D  They're not stupid.  They saw how Hamas just got elected.  Win the hearts and minds of the people and you'll win.  If they change their tactics and add a humanitarian effort to go along with their insurgency, then they might have a way win. 

 

Something to think about. 

 

You can wake up now.  I'm done ranting.

 

Pete

Those crazy swedes.

I could say a lot of things about this video.  I think probably the most appropriate is that I pity this guy's tires.

 

Volvos are safe cars?

 

Have fun.

 

Pete

My non-technical appraisal of different big turbo options for the MkIV GTI

Greetings.  :D

 

As usual, I had a weird realization that was deserving of a post.  There was a thread on ECE that was talking about different turbo options for a MkIV GTI.  When the topic of a certain turbo came up, I just had to comment.  I have to get one just for the name alone.  :D

 

****************************

 

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 7:08 am    Post subject:
This comment is totally unrelated to any performance issues with different turbos. There is a HUGE coolness benefit to having a turbo with the nickname "Disco Potato". Girl that you'd normally have no chance scoring with: "What's that under your hood?" You: "Its a disco potato." Girl that you'd normally have no chance scoring with: "Take me now!" Pete

Where the hell did Pete go????

Hey peeps. 

 

A few people have asked me why I disappeared from the normal mountain biking crew at the end of last season.  Some people wanted to ask, but didn't.  I don't talk about all of the stuff, but some of it is public domain. :D

 

I have to say that my bike is partially to blame.  I originally purchased the Karate Monkey to be a bike that would test and see if I liked riding a 29er.  I'd ridden one years ago, but didn't like the available suspension forks at the time.  I knew I liked the bikes a lot for the way they rode.  My plan was just to have it for a few months until I could get a custom frame made. 

 

Well you know what they say about the best made plans of mice and men (squeek squeek!).   When all hell broke loose for me last summer, getting a new frame was out of the question.  I sold off everything of value that I could to get a little extra cash.  That was a good thing because it forced me to be more reasonable about stuff and it helped clean out the basement (though there are a bunch of car parts that I wish I hadn't sold....  It helped at the time).   Some folks have been a huge help to me through that time.  THANKS!!!!!  I haven't forgotten you. :D

 

The Karate Monkey is a great bike.  I love the way it handles and the 29er wheels.  The only things I don't like about it is that it is a very punnishing frame and its heavy.  I didn't fully realize how much it beat me up until I took some time off in November.  The constant ache in my wrists, elbows, shoulders and upper back went away in a few weeks.  After years of cycling and climbing injuries, I have a fair amount of chronic pain.  As was obvious this fall, I have trouble telling what pain is chronic and what is symptomatic of the need for change.  After taking a few weeks off, and having the pain begin to subside, I started to realize that the pain was coming from my bike.  That is when I decided that a new bike was in the works for me.  :D

 

Another cool thing about that time off was that my ribs FINALLY healed in full after fracturing them back in April. 

 

The cool part about this whole sad saga is that there is a new bike in my future.

 

It is really tempting to want to drop a huge wad of cash on a fancypants new bike.  The wad will be there, but I think I'm much better off getting a much simpler bike and taking the rest of the bonus money and paying off debt and saving some for vacations.  That will give me more disposable income down the road for updating the bike on an incremental basis. 

 

There's a company called Niner Bikes that specializes in 29ers (duh!).  At this point they make 2 different hardtail frames.  They make an SS-specific frame out of Scandium (an insanely light aluminum alloy) and a Reynolds 853 steel frame that can be easily used as a single speed or geared bike.  Their frame geometry looks to fit me like a glove, so I'll save money and time by not having to get a custom frame built.  I'm going to start with the 853 frame so I can swap it between a single speed and a geared bike.  The change takes roughly an hour of work.  I'd eventually like to set up the bike so that I can do a really quick swap from geared bike to single speed.  It takes me about an hour to change the Karate Monkey over.  If I get a spare set of handlebars and a second set of wheels, I could cut that time in half.

 

I'm back riding the bike 1 day per week.  I'm running, lifting and swimming for my other activities.  I'm enjoying that and REALLY enjoying living with less pain. 

 

Thanks for reading.  Please accept my appology for writing something that isn't totally idiotic.  I'm sure I'll compensate for this by writing something inane in the near future. 

 

Pete

If I were Osama bin Laden

Okay, I don't normally make political statements on my blog.  I rarely say anything intelligent at all.  This will be no exception.  Something struck me as funny tonight while I was listening to NPR while running. 

 

Bin Laden's taped message today called for the release of Islamic women in custody and in return there would be a cease fire.  President Bush replied that the US does not negotiate with terrorists. (On a side note, some of the women in question are being released anyways.  That apparently has nothing to do with bin Laden's message, but their sentence was up.) 

 

Back to my point...  If I were bin Laden, I'd make some better demands, knowing that President Bush would do the opposite to make sure it doesn't look like he's negotiating with Terrorists.

 

"Stay in Iraq or I'll unleash terrorist attacks all over the US!" 

 

It probably wouldn't work, but he'd get a few laughs. :D

 

Now you know why I don't talk politics on my blog.

 

Hugs and Kisses,

 

Pete

Holidays Are a Great Time for Penis Enlargement.

Ahhhhh... One of my favorite topics. :D  If you've read this blog much, you know how much I enjoy a good penis enlargement or ED commercial.  I think it is hillarious... no... make that fucking hillarious... how much emphasis people put on having a big dick and erections on-demand. 

 

I was listening to Michael Feldman this weekend on NPR and they had a greatest hits thing on.  One of the news stories they talked about was the connection between Viagra and vision problems.  He read part of an article rather expressively... the way my friend Lisa used to read the personal ads in the City Paper out loud for entertainment.  It went something like this, " The first time this man took Viagra he noticed that his vision got a little blurry.  He wasn't sure if there was a causal relationship.  The second time, his vision got even worse.  The third time, it was much worse.  The 4th time worse still.  By the fifth time he took Viagra, he was blind." 

 

My other penis story for this post involves my favorite dietary suplement... ENZYTE!!!  I love that stuff.  It is the "once-a-day suplement for male enhancement." Did you manage to catch the Christmas commercials for this stuff?  They featured Bob, my favorite spokesman.  He was wearing a Santa Suit and all the women were lining up to sit in his lap.  Bwahahahahahahahahahaha

 

God bless America.  I really love this place.  You'd never get stuff like this in a communist country. :D

 

Love,

 

Pete

Only when chased!

I used to run a lot.  I was more of a freak about running than I am about cycling.  I stopped about 17 years ago. 

 

About 3 weeks ago, I started again.  I'm having fun. 

 

Love,

 

Pete

Quote for the day:

Warren Miller: "It is entirely possible that there is no such thing as an Austiran accent. There may just be a country completely populated by those who impersonate Arnold Schwarzenegger."

 

Love,

 

PEte

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

Someone recently congratulated Grumpy J on somehow managing to get me back on a mountain bike.  While it wasn't really his doing, it has been a hell of a lot of fun riding with him.  That is the "GOOD" portion of this posting. 

 

Grumpy J was equally happy riding with me (or so he said).  He did forget one of the "BAD" parts about having me as a riding partner.  I tend to look at inclimate weather as an opportunity to do something silly instead of a reason to stay indoors.  J was looking at the post on the MORE web site announcing the cancellation of the annual Catherine Furnace ride because it was supposed to be 40 degrees and raining.  That is when the "BAD" set in.... the dread that I was going to drag his ass out on a ride.  (Okay, that's a bit of a dramatization...  He wasn't dreading it.  He loves that sort of thing... it makes for good blog entries.  He might not go out on his own for that kind of ride though). 

 

The "UGLY" comes in the form of the actual ride.  When I say that it was ugly, I don't by any means intend to say that it was bad.  The ride FREAKING ROCKED!  We stomped up the first climb to get ourselves warmed up.  I think we were all hot and steaming by the top of the first long climb.  It had just been drizzling a little as we dropped into the valley and started the rocky portion of the climb.  Once we hit the open doubletrack leading to the hike-a-bike section, the heavens opened up.  We were moving pretty well... enough to keep us warm and keep the rain from soaking in.   The rain eased up as we hiked/rode the steep, rocky climb to the top of the ridge.  Once we got there, the rain started again... really hard this time.  Our clothes kept us dry until about half way down when the ugly really began.  The rain stepped up a notch and we were all soaked through.  I finally told the guys to go ahead and get to the car so they could get dry.  My arms were really tired since I don't use a suspension fork.  I took my time down the last bit because I really didn't want to bail in the rocks. 

 

All in all, it was a great ride.  Grumpy J took us to lunch.  David was kind enough to drive.  The three of us started the new year right.  The good, bad and ugly made for a ride worth writing about. :D

 

Love,

 

Pete

 

Num-chuck Season

I was talking this week with a friend of mine who deer hunts.  She's given up using a gun and now exclusively bow hunts.  According to her, it is more sporting and gives the deer more of a chance to get away.  I know a few people who use vintage muzzle-loaders for the same reason. 

 

I'm not really a hunting kinda guy.  I suggested that it might be a lot more sporting to have num-chuck season.  I can just imagine people dressed up in camoflage ninja suits with blaze orange hats and vests running through the woods after deer, armed only with num-chucks. 

 

She didn't think I was very funny.  Go figure.

 

Love,

 

Pete