WaferManeuver

Lately my single-speed Peugeot has been giving me some trouble. Earlier this year I’d noticed funny sounds coming from my bottom bracket - clicking, metallic sounds. I attempted a bottom bracket overhaul, only to find out the ball-bearing casing on one side of the spindle had been destroyed. I cleaned out the metal shards, and left the ball bearings there so that the bike would still function. For awhile this was actually much better.

Then, in the past couple weeks, the action had been getting increasingly worse, more metallic clicking sounds and a slight sticking sensation. I was getting fairly frustrated with the whole situation and thought to go in to a bike shop to get some advice on what to do: Can I resolve this by performing another bottom bracket overhaul? Is it even worth it to try?

I ended up going to Cascade Cycling to seek some expert knowledge. After describing the history and current behavior, their response was “Your bike is f#@*ked. And it’s pointless to attempt to fix it.” This was an answer I’d been fearing, though it didn’t come as a big surprise. I’d been thinking about replacing my everyday/commuting bike, as the Peugeot had obviously outlived its usefulness. Fortunately, they actually had a perfect bike solution for me right in the shop, an SE Lager. It’s basically an inexpensive single-speed, but with all brand-new, modern parts. It only costs $540, which is a remarkable deal considering the quality of components and the fact that any decent used bike in Portland usually runs $300. I’d thought of building up my own single-speed again, but at that cost, there’s no way I could make anything as good. So, now I am the extremely happy owner of the “Lager”, pictured below!

I recently purchased a used piano, and currently I am taking weekly lessons. My concentration is on learning theory, sight-reading, and, of course, technique. Below is a picture of my new piano, as well as an audio recording of the first little piece I’ve been able to play all the way through, “Red River Valley”.

Listen: Red River Valley

This morning I set up a flickr photostream so that it will be easier to publish photos from my iPhone and share. The name of my photostream is, no surprisingly, wafermaneuver. All free photos, all the time!

If you’d like, you can subscribe to my photostream feed, Wafer Photos, so that you’ll know as soon as I’ve uploaded anything new. (If you’re a Safari user, you can drag the link to the bookmarks bar and it will tell you if there’s something new to enjoy)

Yesterday I received a quilt that my Mom kindly created for me. Photos below. Thanks Mom!

Now I just have to figure out exactly where and how I’m going to hang it…

Recently I undertook a project to create kitchen curtains. My kitchen windows face my neighbor’s driveway, and often they pull up in there car, and there I am chopping vegetables or sipping a glass of water, all exposed. Well, I picked out some great material from Cool Cottons on Hawthorne, recommended by the woman working there. Since my kitchen features green walls and red cabinets, the colorful leaves and flowers in the pattern matched up perfectly.

Originally I hadn’t planned on doing the whole project myself, but while at the store one day I saw a sewing machine for under $70, so I figured, why not? The sewing machine came with a DVD with instructions on setting up the machine, what the different features were, and how to actually sew different hems. This DVD was invaluable, as I would sit directly at my computer with my sewing machine right there, then quickly go back and forth between pausing the video, following along, then rewinding to catch something I’d missed. In the end I had it all set up just the way I liked it.

I made the smart move of making a sample curtain using some other material before starting on the real project. This was essential as I made many stupid mistakes which I was able to correct for the actual curtains. I learned the importance of getting exact measurements, pinning everything down, ironing my edges, and carefully watching the material feeding through the machine. I’ve posted some pictures below of the intermediate process, as well as the final product. Who knows what further sewing awaits?

So I was getting all geared up to build a fence. I’d thought through most of the planning, I had a workforce prepared to assist me, I just needed to sit down and start drawing up the plans. Then I noticed that the lot next door to my house was being flagged for construction. Today I came home from work to find an earth-mover and the ground dug up (see photo).

I guess I can’t get started on that fence quite yet - although I’m now hoping whoever is building the skinny house next door will also build a fence, thereby saving me the work!

This past weekend, I headed out to the John Day area with a few friends to camp. We had a great time, seeing many interesting geological formations and fossils. Our campsite was in a bend in the river at the Muleshoe campground, which made a good home base to head out into the area to explore the various sites. On Saturday, the temperature reached 100 degrees! Despite this, we did about 5 hikes - each of them fairly short, but due to the heat, they were much more exhausting.

In the morning we bought some firewood from a fellow named Scott in the town of Spray. He was an old hunter, and showed us his display room, which featured several deer and snakes. But his best kill was a bear, which he shot with two arrows from about 20 feet away!

Perhaps the greatest sight was the Painted Hills near Mitchell, OR. They are these beautifully colorful hills made up of a clay-like substance. We showed up at just the right time, as there was a ranger that took several photographers down directly into the hills to get some closer shots.

On the way back, I stepped into a prickly pear which attached itself to my ankle. Some of the needles were stuck a quarter-inch into my leg! After some prying and pain, I was free to continue on the hike.

Overall a great weekend!