Burn-E

So I got bit hard by the road bike bug early in the pandemic and it’s been a swirling mass of N+1 since. The Madone was beautifully light but I wanted something light that could accommodate wider tires and disc brakes for gravel and trails when called for - this led to the 2020 Domane SL6 that I fortunately snapped up before the bike supply chain completely dried up. This was an important addition because when I added a Kickr trainer for winter riding I quickly learned that the Madone was not built for the stresses of trainer riding. So I cleaned up the Domane, transitioned to waxing the chain and it became my full time training bike. Then in early March 2021 I took a spill, cracked a couple ribs and learned that carbon and aluminum aren’t the strongest join points for the rear dropout. Rather than being without a bike for 6 weeks minimum waiting on a repair / pulling the Domane off the trainer when I was still spending most days indoors riding, I picked up a mint 2018 Emonda SLR 9 which quickly became the primary road bike as I found there weren’t as many opportunities for trail / gravel riding as I anticipated. So that’s the fleet and where all of my energy (and spare cash) has been focused the last couple of years until my daughter’s accident pulled me back into working on Volvos. Mike knows all this because we swap updates regularly for indoor Zwift and outdoor rides. Some day we’ll do RAGBRAI together, right Mike? 😄

Pics or GTFO 🤣 @flyfishing3 the guy on LinkedIn runs a window washing business. I mean seriously? I guess I’ve been spending so much time in Australia lately where they kind of give you a funny look if you don’t have a tattoo.

Because @flyfishing3 (Mike) has a thing about tattoos. Did this guy steal his idea from you and then publish it on LinkedIn?

😂 Biden isn’t done. Not even close

I travel frequently and spend time across Europe including the UK and Sweden. I don’t know what kind of places your cousins are hanging out in but unless you’re planning on starting a fight with someone or importing illegal material you’ll be as safe there as you are here.

More like $400 Million and counting. If all he could make was a 10 fold return off that kind of capital he’s a piss poor investor. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html

My taxes stayed about the same dollar wise, then again I have 5 kids under 17 plus other factors put us well beyond the standard deduction so when I got done itemizing everything netted out same as previous years. My rate went up though so this change actually cost me about $1000.

Definitely still interested in the driver's side and passenger's side fronts assuming they are clean. Send photos and price.

Surprised the Parkland shooting didn't even raise a blip here. Especially with how the students are going to town on the politicians.

The Wolff revelations - if they're even 10% true (and tweets by the part owner of the Hollywood Reporter provide supporting evidence for the entire chain of conversation with Aisles and Bannon at the dinner in NYC), are pretty damning. And according to him there are even worse details to come in the book. 2018 is starting to feel like the year the wheels fall off this rolling dumpster fire. But who the hell knows?

Still interested in those window switches if you're selling them.

This is the only photo I can find of Steve's battlewagon:

you laugh because you know he’s right Mike

I'm not a huge fan of David Frum, but this is possibly the most cogent discussion of why the gun debate never goes anywhere. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/the-real-common-sense-tactics-the-debate-is-missing/542229/ We're really talking about throwing out a few life preservers rather than confronting the issue directly. Confiscation won't happen, not now anyway, but placing severe restrictions in place would be a great first step. And if we followed it with a proper education campaign supported by deep research into the actual state of the State concerning firearms then we might begin to change the mindset. Cigarettes used to be the coolest thing and I know many senior citizens who still scoff at the idea of wearing a seatbelt. That changed with research and education. There is no education required to acquire a gun license in Illinois, even in Cook County where I live which is one of the most restrictive areas of the country. No warnings are provided. You just go out and pick up the weapon and the ammunition with an additional background check to back up the one the State Police performed when you requested your FOID that you have to present in order to buy a gun. Nothing like the steps you have to go through in order to get a drivers license. Here's an outline of what is required in Illinois: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-obama-gun-control-illinois-impact-met-20160105-9-story.html

Never going to happen. You’d start Civil War 2