Category Archives: Uncategorized

First a little history: Stoker grew up in Iowa but spent several years in St. Paul Minnesota. She got her Library Science degree at the University of Minnesota, then went to work to support her first husband while he worked on his PHD. When we got together in DC I used to get on herContinue reading “Northern Lights”

Readers may recall that I like to say my hobbies are cycling, chess and monogamy. Two of those are in the gender bending news this week. Item 1 is from a women’s crit cycling race in New York. Here is what USA cycling says regarding who is eligible to compete in ‘woman’s’ races: “Those whoContinue reading “Gender Benders”

Back when Mr. Putin first sent troops into Ukraine, bars and liquor stores and vodka fans the world over responded by pouring vodka from Russia down the drain. But there are lots of vodka brands with Russian sounding names that come from other places, including Smirnoff: Smirnoff is named after Vladimir Smirnoff who fled fromContinue reading “До свидания (Dasvidania) Stolichnaya”

A lot of the mail that finds its way to Brumby Road is junk that gets dropped in the garbage can in the garage without ever entering the house. But not when it arrives looking like this: Much of our mail is at least a little unwelcome: PG&E bills, jury duty summons, property tax notices,Continue reading “Tit for Tax”

A high quality road bike that is well maintained should be nearly silent. You might hear a swishing sound of tires on smooth pavement, and a kind of ‘whrrr’ as the clean and well lubricated chain rotates and meshes with the chainrings and cassettes. Shifts are smooth and precise with no irritating rattling or chainContinue reading “The Case of the Creaking Seat Post”

My cell phone rang on Monday morning, and it wasn’t a robot selling me something or asking me to donate to some cause. It was my friend and riding buddy Paul, aka ‘G-Man’. “Rich can you come to lunch? It’s on me!” he said in a voice that sounded really upbeat and excited. Actually G-ManContinue reading “Flush with Funds”

I’m back on the bike after a long layoff due to the flap fracas. My first ride was on February 9, and I’ve done 400 miles so far. That’s including 66 miles yesterday on the Pedaling Paths to Independence Ride to support the Community Center For the Blind. On Thursday, our ride coordinator posted thisContinue reading “Make Mine a Metric”

Until recently I had never even heard of a culinary concoction called ‘chicken and waffles’. Then my friend Dave posted a picture of himself eating this at a bar/restaurant in Memphis. He was on a road trip to see Iowa State play in the Liberty Bowl. That is ‘liberty’, as in ‘freedom’, a concept GoogleContinue reading “Eat This, Don’t Eat That…”

This photo appeared on a friend’s Facebook page. Apparently one of his favorite restaurants had to close because of a skunk under their building. As they say in poker “I’ll see your skunk and raise you a dozen…” Stoker and I love our quiet home on Brumby Road, but living in the country poses aContinue reading “I Smell a Rat”

But un-able to cycle for at least another week. I just had the un-flapping surgery. It was scheduled for 30 minutes but ended up taking almost an hour. Lots of needles, pressure, cutting, cauterization, and discomfort. A very unpleasant process. After it was over I asked about exercise and the dermatologist said to wait atContinue reading “Un-Flap-Able…”