TL;DR: what are your tricks to keep the interior air of a house pleasant when living in a stinky locale?
For the next couple years, I am stuck on land* in a house that is occasionally downwind from a paper mill. Holy hell, the smell can be eye-wateringly bad when the winds blow just the wrong way. The house is ~1700 square feet with HVAC.
*I normally live on my sailboat and move around at will.
I have an ozone generator for serious de-stinking, but wow ozone is nasty even in small quantities. I have a Corsi-Rosenthal box, but that does nothing for smells. I was thinking maybe a big tray of activated charcoal in the HVAC intake and another in the CR box. In my experience, the tiny charcoal filters in most air cleaners get saturated in about 48 hours. What works for y'all? Super extra bonus points for ongoing maintenance and cost-reduction tips and tricks.
"inflammation is now understood to be a key mediator of OA that
contributes to cartilage loss and progressive degeneration of affected
joints... OA is no longer considered a noninflammatory arthritis or a 'wear and tear' disease"
I heretofore thought age-related cartilage loss was the cause of osteoarthritis and inflammation. Turns out it's the other way around: the inflammation degrades cartilage. Okay, no more slogging through joint pains for me, regardless of how small.
I'd wanted to jump to Linux since the 90s, but it was never quite there for me, plus my day jerb requires me to be on Windows. I finally started ripping the band-aid off a couple years ago and it's been amazing. I received a private message in response to a long-running issue I was having with my dGPU, and that person absolutely got me squared away by suggesting I give Aurora Linux a try for use cases.
Win10 at some point stopped recognizing my beloved FiiO E10 USB headphone amp despite it supposedly being class-compliant. Nothing I did could get any Windows machine to recognize it. Today, I found that amp in a drawer. I plugged it into one of my Aurora Linux machines, and the OS immediately recognized it. Works great and gave me back the headphone sound that I know and love.
So thank you all, for this community, for your contributions, for paying forward the Linux love. Have a great day all.
My partner surprised me with a Yuto Omura's Japanese cuisine cookbook. I've been trying his recipes from his site (https://sudachirecipes.com/) and YT channel for about a year now. Every single recipe of his I tried has been an absolute slam dunk, sometimes helping me solve a particular recipe I've been trying to dial in for years (or decades). "Hm, sure, I'll get around to buying his cookbook at some point."
Oh, wow, I wish I'd gotten this book sooner.
There are elucidating primers and explanations, beautiful photographs, and just enough text to get you to your destination. The book + site + YT channel are force multipliers for each other. Even though I was using his website a lot, there are some recipe refinements in the book as he found tweaks and improvements. Yamitsuki (https://sudachirecipes.com/izakaya-salted-cabbage/), for example, has some tweaks in the book that I would have never imagined on my own.
And if you've never made yamitsuki, do yourself a huge favor. The website version of the recipe has been my most requested side ever. That shit gets mowed. down. Every time. Omura isn't kidding when he calls it addictive.
In addition to the great content, this is one of the best designed cookbooks I own: lay flat binding, two bookmark ribbons, a serious index (rather than an afterthought jammed into as few pages as possible), and a matte finish on the pages so that your fingerprints don't muck up the images. A lot of thought went into making a cookbook that people would want to use.
Braised lamb hindshank on Punjab coconut cream curry with cashew, apricot, kale, and peas. The lamb is from a local rancher. Coconut cream is what I had available, which was almost too rich. Oh, who am I kidding? Coconut cream was amazing!
I prefer soltanas for this kind of curry, but apricots are what I had; the substitution worked great. I seared and braised the shank in a little bit of lamb stock I made from another meal, then crisped it up under the broiler right before plating. The result was crispy, creamy, almost-fall-off-the-bone meat.
As a sidenote for anyone else trying to rein in their grocery bill but are tired of ground beef/chicken/pork, shanks + curries are my go-to when I want a hearty, satisfying dinner that makes great use of whatever is available. The disadvantage of this is that the leftover bones are not really suitable for stocks; too much of the minerals tend to leech out resulting in yucky metallic notes in the stock. Rice would stretch this out, but we're trying to bring our blood markers into normal range, so we've been scaling way back on the straight carbs.
Broth base was a stock made from bones from a prime rib roast, turkey carcass, chicken carcass, pork bones, ham hock, reduced pastrami cooking liquor, kombu, and mirepoix. Not the traditional tantanmen base, but the results were worth the effort. Also, the single ham hock somehow initially overwhelmed the pastrami liquor. :D Had to tweak things a bit.
The tare was Japanese dark soy sauce, ground sesame, roasted tahini, peanut butter, leek, and homemade chili oil.
Toppings are pork shoulder "chashu" crisped up under the broiler before serving, seasoned ground pork, ajitsuke tamago, and roasted ground cashews.
I have a Roxim Z3EK bicycle headlight. This light is supposed to have a low and high beam function, but I can only get the low beam to work. So far, I have tried:
grounding the green wire
sending 12V+ to green
sending 12V- to green
bridging the green and black wires
bridging the green and white wires
I emailed the manufacturer asking for a wiring diagram, but no response.
I appreciate any guidance y'all might have. Thanks!
The runner Fauja Singh, believed to be the oldest person to complete a marathon, has died in a road accident in India aged 114.
The athlete, who lived in Ilford in east London, was hit by a car and suffered fatal injuries while trying to cross a road in his birth village of Beas Pind, near Jalandhar in Punjab, on Monday, according to reports in India.
Come on, Guardian. "Accident?!" Notice the use of language in these cases. When the person killed is driving, that's a "crash." For example, "crash" was used to describe Kelvin Kiptum's (marathon record holder) death.
Off the top of my head, a couple more ultra-endurance athletes killed when hit by automobiles:
Last summer the LBS gave me this old Rodriguez that was part of a batch of bikes they got from an estate sale. I just "completed" it yesterday. Even in its neglected state, it felt soooo good. Also, since it was from the original era of Rodriguez, it merits all the love.
How I got it:
The original TA 50.4 BCD crank was ruined because it was over-torqued to the point of rubbing the frame. Not the biggest issue since 50.4 chainring selection has been problematic for decades.
I stripped it down, cleaned it thoroughly, touched up the paint dings, and put clear film on all the wear points. I'm not a fan of blue on bicycles, but this metal flake blue really grabs me.
The handcut lugs and brazed cable guides are also a pretty detail.
Upgrades:
VO fluted triple crankset, 165mm
VO 124mm cartridge bottom bracket (holy hell, this took me months to find; of course, now they're back in stock :D )
VO Enterprise wheelset, 27inch, 126mm rear OLD
Pasela Pro-Tite tires, 27x1 1/4 (meh)
VO first gen quill stem, 100mm, NOS
Nitto Noodle 177 bars, 46cm, NOS, traded some IT work with the LBS for these
Shimano BR400 brake levers, NOS (although I recently found out these are still in production!)
14-30 custom, rebuildable freewheel traded from the LBS retrogrouch in exchange for homemade peppermint patties :D
VO clear braided stainless brake and shifter cables
Forager Cycles cable cherries (highly suggested farkle for all your bikes! They make cable adjustments much easier away from the workbench.)
What I kept:
Suntour Honor rear derailleur - not the prettiest, but a total workhorse and will last until the heat death of the universe
Huret front derailleur
Campagnolo Record downtube shifters
Suntour Superbe sidepull brakes
Specialized cartridge headset
SR Laprade seatpost (but it needs a polishing)
What I'm going to change:
700C wheels - there's plenty of room on the brake arms to move the pads down; the switch to 700C will vastly improve my tire selection and give me room to add...
Full coverage fenders, probably VO smooth
Tubus Fly stainless racks, front and rear
That bar tape was not my best wrapping job and the tape itself doesn't impress me; probably gonna go with Lizard Skins DSP or Supacaz Super Sticky Kush
Part of the fun of these old bikes is the by-hook-or-by-crook refurbishing journey. The networking and human connection involved in bringing this bike to its rideable state... it absolutely took a village. I found fellow retrogrouches in my small city. I helped the LBS resolve a bunch of their computer network problems. Old components that were languishing in a box got a new life on a bike that will be ridden. Seeing this in the sun, feeling it on the pavement, all that frustration turns to joy.
Special callout to Classic Cycle in Bainbridge Island WA USA: (https://classiccycleus.com/museum/bikes/). They are a seriously cool museum bike shop. They have encyclopedic knowledge and a ridiculous NOS parts selection. For being such a tiny shop, it's absolutely worth the trip. Be sure to say hi to Tullio, the friendly chill shop kitty.
No, this isn't a cast iron thing. Using stainless pans, you can get nonstick effects that, in my experience, far outperform Teflon anyway. The process is called "spot seasoning." I have cooked crispy, cheesy rice noodles with eggs with zero sticking.
I love my cast iron pans, but stainless is my daily go-to. Added bonus: use 100% copper wool to clean your stainless pan. The copper-coated wool at most grocery stores is problematic; you might get a few uses out of the coated garbage and then it starts shedding metal bits.
In order to add this to the cart, the user must first view their in-house financing advertising. Switching to desktop mode shows an "Add to Cart" button, but focus stealing scripts cause the page to skip around to the point where the page becomes useless.
I'm learning how to build up my own synths in Bitwig Grid, but I'm far from the point where I can just imagine a sound and then implement it.
Does anyone know what synth that is in the sweep at the linked time? I realize it's most likely an analog or analog-modeling synth, but which one? More advanced question: what combination of oscillators and filters would one combine to get that sound?
My commute was 25 miles each way, 1400 feet (426m) of ascent each way, with no transit option. Last winter, a surprise blizzard rolled in during the week. My ride home took me 2.5 hours, rather than my usual 1:40, but I managed to stay upright the whole ride despite riding on slicks. Fixies and foul weather, better together!
TL;DR: this was my very first road bike, purchased new in 1986, and it came back to me twice.
I bought this new in 1986 after two problematic race seasons on an eighth-hand, hand-me-down Bianchi that fit me poorly. This was my first new bike ever. When I went away to college, I perma-loaned it to my best friend. When he went away to law school, he left it at his parents house, and his evil mother put it out at the curb as a freebie. @#%^&@%^@#$^% No, seriously, she was a horrible person and not just because of the bike.
Twenty years later, I set about trying to replace my lost first love. I had a bunch of alerts set on Craigslist. After about two years of patience, I got a notification for a Batavus Course in NYC; I lived in Portland OR. I contacted the seller, put down a deposit, and bought my plane ticket. I was doubly surprised to find that it was my same bike, same serial number. The bike was in need of some TLC with a lot of paint damage, but was otherwise straight and solid.
I stripped it down and sent it to get repainted with a triple-pearl white. I knew I was going to use Nokon cabling, so I had them color match the pinstriping to the new housing.
Other changes:
Velo Orange 165mm triple crank
Velo Orange Grand Cru mirror finish headset
Velo Orange Grand Cru brakes
Nitto Grand Randonneur 46cm handlebars
When I moved onto my sailboat in 2013, I sold the bike because I couldn't stand the idea of subjecting this bike to the salt air environment. The buyer fell in love immediately, and I was happy that my first love was going to a good home.
Cut to November 2024... the woman who bought the bike got in touch and asked if I wanted my bike back. ABSOLUTELY! It was again in rough shape and poorly maintained, but nothing that couldn't be fixed in an afternoon with a couple beers and some good music. I'm not letting it go this time.
My partner works in a bike shop, and I get to ride all of the top shelf bikes they have. None of them feel like this. I steadfastly believe that modern bikes do everything better, but something is missing. Taking the Batavus out for a sunny day fast ride, it's easy to understand how vintage sports cars are so popular. These old machines might not be the best at cornering, accelerating, and braking, but they just feel so connected and visceral. The Reynolds 501, definitely an entry level tubeset, is flexy, but in all the right places. It feels like love.
Fuji SuperG 400 pushed 2 stops sends the saturation into ridiculous range. The overcast day with a lot of skyscraper glass gave the concrete a heavy blue cast. Printed on Fuji Maxima glossy.
Fuji SuperG 400 was my favorite film ever. Pushing it one or two stops sends the reds and greens off the charts into surreal territory with a creamy grain. Printed on Kodak Royal II paper.
This Raleigh Raveino 4.0 is the first road bike my partner ever bought. She used this for everything: touring, triathlons, commuting, grocery getter, and joy rides. It was in desperate need of love and had been sitting neglected in favor of her mountain and gravel bikes. She was making some comments about just giving it away since we don't have space for things we don't use. We recently reached a place in our lives where road biking is back on the table. She wanted a new road bike, but nothing she test rode really spoke to her, regardless of budget. This bike has a lot of sentimental value for her, so I low-key encouraged her to hang onto it. I stealth-asked a bunch of questions about her component preferences with the intent of surprising her with a whole new modern group, but she still holds this bike as her platonic ideal of a general road bike for flogging. No major component changes, got it.
Sorry, I don't have a good pic of before the overhaul.
What was wrong:
Front brake track was worn way beyond the safe limit; I've never seen a rim that worn without blowing out
Chain was past 125% wear; fortunately the jockey wheels and chainrings were still okay
Seatpost was single bolt design and we couldn't dial the angle for all-day comfort
Cable sheaths were cracked and worn-through
Bar tape was worn through in places
Saddle was packed out, torn, and no longer comfortable
Bent derailleur hanger
What got changed:
Deep clean everything, ultrasonic parts wash for the brakes, derailleurs, and crankset
NOS cassette (holy hell, finding the exact match cassette involved some bike part archaeology)
New cables and housing
New Raceface zero setback seatpost
New Terry saddle
NOS Bontrager Aeolus Comp 5 bladed spoke rims
New cartridge pads
New Rubino Pro tires
New chain
Aluminum lock bar end plugs
Yeah, the pedals are gnarly, but she wanted the old pedals. And I'm waiting for a pack of Fastenal stainless M5 bolts to backfill the braze-ons on the stays.
Her first test ride was a climb up the biggest hill in town and was a resounding success. She's overjoyed!
Given the recent front page posts about Vanessa Guillen's funeral fuckery, you should know what your rights are surrounding disposition and treatment of the recently deceased. My late mother-in-law Lisa Carlson devoted much of her life and professional career advocating for consumer rights in the death industry.
