Bike Stuff, River Stuff, Rain Stuff

I just adjusted my bike's brakes, oiled the chain after my ride in the rain today, and centered the fender that's been kind of off-kilter for some time. It feels so good to feel competent! The next big project is going to be replacing the brake cables. I also very much need new panniers; the ones I've got now were some of the cheapest I could find on Amazon. With the help of some duct tape, they've gotten me through two thousand miles of sun, rain, and snow, but I half expect them to give up the ghost and fall off at some point in the near future.

I woke to a text from my adviser saying that with all the rain, Pike Creek (where it's exposed north of 43rd Street anyway) was flooding. Since it's basically on my way to the archives, I met here there and walked around with her a bit. The creek was really moving fast, and was only a foot and a half or so under the pedestrian bridges. After we explored, she offered me a ride, which I took her up on only so I wouldn't be late to work. As I got my bike into her trunk, I noticed that somehow I'd ridden the four miles to the park and spent fifteen minutes walking around with her before realizing that I'd somehow forgotten to put my helmet on that morning. That's very strange for me.

I spent some time today looking at very nice, expensive rain capes for bicycling. Things in the one to two hundred dollar range. My plastic rain pants had a big tear in the crotch that kept getting worse, and I finally threw them out today. I think what I'm going to end up going with for now, though, is tying plastic shopping bags over my feet and above my ankles when I ride in the rain, because I am a cheapskate and can live with mildly damp thighs. It's the wet shoes and socks that are really annoying.

Penn State, Computer Work, Weekend Visiting

I'm in touch with a few people at Penn State University, and it sounds like I'll be doing a campus visit with the geography department while I'm there. I'll meet a few faculty members and a couple of grad students. One of the students attended my current school, and the other has an undergrad in anthropology, so I think we'll have a lot to talk about! This is making me feel really positive about the upcoming trip. It may even, it feels, be worth missing Engineer's Day at the Soo Locks again!

So, let's see. What I did this weekend.

I spent much of Friday and Saturday working on Lisa's laptop at her place. I started a round of updates in the morning, then the two of us went out to get some lunch at a Polish buffet. It was disappointing to me, just because there was no lunch price on Saturday, and there was only one kind of non-dessert pirogi. Oh well; someday I hope to find another Polish buffet as good as the one that used to be by Posi's place. After lunch, we dropped in at American Science and Surplus, where I got some zip ties and cable organizers. Finally, we visited a big Korean market, then went back home where her computer needed a reboot and a fresh round of Windows updates. At least it seems to be running in a mostly stable way, finally.

Posi had organized a photography meet on Saturday, but but I'd been up 'till 2 working on the computer, there was still more to do, and I was too tired to feel like tromping around. I feel bad for having missed it though; hopefully I can make the next one.

After setting up my surround amp at Danae's place Saturday evening and watching...something I forget but I think I enjoyed, I drove up to Grayslake on Sunday morning for Posi's tea in the park. It was nice seeing he and Tybis, and Brownkitty too, with whom I think it's been a year or so. I hope we do more of those over the summer, and cookouts and things too!

Cadbury Eggs!!

I believe I mentioned my squirrel's hoard of Cadbury Creme Eggs before?





They now occupy a plastic tube that contained Citbank-branded juggling balls. No, seriously. I found them at the St. Vincent De Paul.

I showed them to my brother J. His response was something like "Oh man! Can I have one?"

"But these are my preciousssssss....." I responded. He offered me fifty cents for one, but I played Easter Bunny and gave him one for free.

Wherein I am not OK with guns being all over the place

One more thing for today.

While at the archives today, news came to us that someone had possibly threatened a professor on campus with a gun. It turned out (as best as we understand it anyway, since campus police were not forthcoming with information), that it was (possibly) not a real gun, and the person was either in custody or had left the campus. No direct information was coming from the police except by us calling and asking what was up, so I'm guessing they never thought there was a real threat. But for a few minutes, we closed the door to the archives and talked nervously about what was happening.

With all the stuff in the news lately about school shootings (and the ridiculous and insulting allegations that they are carried out by the government), open-carry proponents walking through Target with rifles, and concealed carry legislation in the news, I've been meaning to say something. The strangeness of being in a situation where, for a brief span of time, it seemed as though I might actually be at a facility with an unhinged person with a firearm is additional motivation to do so.

I do not like the idea of people walking around with concealed firearms. In fact, I don't like the idea of people walking around with handguns much at all. I can't speak for my house since it's not actually mine, but in my space here at least, firearms are not welcome. You can put them in a box by the door if you must carry them around with you, and you can pick them up when you leave. The creation of an environment where people feel it necessary to have a gun on them for self-protection is self-perpetuating, and I will not encourage or allow it in my space.