Ttoc6

Y'all might remember a year ago when I had to debate joining a lab or moving to another desk job. Well, today proved the love-hate for lab work. The machine I work with broke (fairly common occurence) and guess who pulled the short straw to fix it.. Came out afterwards covered in mucked up carbon / oil. It's nice to not be in front of a computer all the time and the work is much more engaging, but I take a step back and look.. I know a lot of engineers who won't ever turn a screw driver or wrench in their entire professional careers and here I am, smelling like dielectric oil, looking like a coal miner. At least we got it fixed.

I don't get many pictures of what I work on due to the nature of it.. but suffice to say I looked like the average Fred after they lube their chain and go for a ride.

Hermes

I noticed a Tesla support truck parked in front of one of my neighbors. He has a model S and just got a model 3. I talked with him later and asked about his Tesla. It turns out that the model 3 would not self part in his garage. So Tesla had to come to his house to reboot the the car by disconnecting the battery.

The reason for the service call was for Tesla to also demonstrate the self park in the garage feature. My neighbor has very little margin to get the model 3 into the garage - first world problems.

burnthesheep

This doesn't need its own topic, so I'll just toss it in here..........why the eff am I sooooo damn slow on gravel when compared to the road. I use a Crockett on 32mm cx tires. It's pretty easy gravel with some technical stuff for maybe a couple miles each lap.

Best example I can give is that on the road there's a guy I can toast on demand. Drop in the flats or hills. But looking at their times on the gravel for similar stuff, it's almost like they're just chilling out cruising the same or faster on gravel.

I know for sure I'm a bit less ballsy on some gravel technical areas than some folks. I just can't imagine it making that huge a difference over longer rides where things would even out.

I almost need someone to follow me to see what I'm doing. Like blowing energy wasting it in dumb ways or something.

cmh

Are you deciding you are slow on gravel based on strava segment times? Maybe the person in the example had favorable winds or a draft on the segments you are looking at? Having said that, there is some technique to being fast on gravel. The best way to learn is to ride gravel a lot, and ride it with people that are good at it. A lot has to do with choosing your line and learning to take corners fast.

burnthesheep

Overall average for similar elevation and similar routes. Like, we both had doing 40ish miles with XXXXft of elevation. I've been riding a lot more gravel lately and it is improving. Just not sure why I am more skittish about sliding out on gravel than on road.

I did 10mi of TT practice one night recently in a driving rain/wind storm. I was in aero tuck in a 20+ mph cross wind in driving rain. But can't corner fast for crap on gravel. I need more hours.

I did figure out though, I take a pretty rough section of gravel for about 1/8 to 1/4 mile that really really slows me up each lap that most everyone else skips.

Ygduf

I mean.

Flatballer

Going back to work after long time off sucks.
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Giving my 5 week notice helped make it easier today.

Also, bought two pairs of men's dress loafers, both with bits, same company, same size. One pair is too small and one is too large. How did they manage that?

big john

The owner of the dealer I work for came to visit me in my work area today, can't remember the last time that happened. He got wind of me talking about retirement and at first I thought he was concerned about me and would be well-wishing and thanking me for 21 years of service, but actually he wanted to ask me to give them plenty of notice before I go, like 6 months notice! I told him it's already less than 6 months even though I'm not sure yet. Made me feel crappy. Who knows, maybe he'll give me a nice bonus check that I can buy a nice bike with.

Flatballer

It's hard, especially when you've worked somewhere that long, but it's not your problem to worry about the boss or the company. The only person you need to look out for is you and your family. The company will be fine

TMonk

On a bit of a home (well, apartment rental) improvement kick with the lady.

Our trundle bed in the 2nd bedroom is made of some crappy laminate boards and the wood screws and dowel just tore out of both sides of the board that supports the upper mattress. So we got some nice, hard maple cut and ripped to size, installed the ledger board and slapped it back together. New hardware and dowels too.

We swapped which side the bed and bikes go in the separate room, and I'm installing bike hooks into the studs on the wall instead of the crappy vertical rack that I had.

Our patio is generally overgrown and needs some TLC so I trimmed a bunch of branches and we need to re-pot a few things, sweep and generally tidy up. Lastly we're re-arranging the way a few framed (music) records and paintings are oriented in the living room by the piano.

Fun stuff! I'm finding myself distracted at work! Also I really look forward to home ownership where I can get further fulfillment out of some good old fashioned elbow grease and sweat-equity. I think we're about 5 years out.

topflightpro

Ha ha ha. I remember when I used to think like that.

big john

Did I give the impression that I am worried about them? Screw them. I was a little surprised that after learning of a 20 year employee leaving his concern was getting enough notice to find a replacement. Like I said, he might yet do something nice for me but I'm not holding my breath.

Flatballer

Sorry, I must've misunderstood. Maybe you'll get a cake? Or a gift card? Hell, maybe even both.

Edit : Going back and re-reading it I think you probably edited it to make your feelings clearer after I read it but before I quoted it I guess. Much clearer now, lol. Or I'm too busy and skimmed it poorly.

big john

I like cake.

cmh

It is a bummer to be undervalued by your employer. But I hope you are looking forward to more riding once you retire.

big john

I sure hope to do more riding. I used to do at least 10 hours per week which kept me ready for about any ride that came up. The last couple years that has dropped off and my riding has suffered. I suck more than I used to.

cmh

Being a masters racer, I guess a permanent item on my list of annual goals is to 'not suck more than I used to'. A tough goal, that one.

caloso

Preach, brother.

Ttoc6

I helped the parents tear out a bathroom when I was home for Thanksgiving. Never once when I was younger did I think I'd enjoy home improvement. But I'll say, it wasn't too bad of a time!

rubiksoval

Got the final okay from the cardiologist after my last stress test and EKG. He feels confident now that the issue (Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome resulting in episodes of supraventricular tachycardia...I think I got that right) has been resolved. My wife was adamant about me not riding until he said so, even though he said after the ablation in October I was free and clear to do whatever and he wasn't worried about strenuous exercise.

But anyway, other than 3 short rides to go get my car, I haven't ridden since the last week of August. And I really don't want to that much. Once I broke the "habit", I filled my time with a lot of other things I haven't focused as much on, notably my job.

I still want to race, but I need to jump on the bike and actually get back into the groove of training, and the first step is the hardest I guess. Just not that anxious to do so, especially with rainy or cold weather seemingly every day.

Maybe I'll just hop on zwift and do one of their training plans and some "races" for a few weeks to get things going, especially since my CTL is about 5 and my ftp is probably a solid 100 watts lower than it was a few months ago. Could be a good little structural/motivational boost.

TMonk

Nice. I've never done tile or bathroom work, but I'm sure I will at some point.

Well, once you do choose to get back in the groove, it will be fun getting strong really quickly again for a while at least.

furiousferret

Good luck getting it back, coming back from a layoff isn't always easy but its just a hobby. Usually you need a breakthrough ride in both performance and fun then it comes back.

Heart stuff is scary, I had an issue after my Ironman where I got bad chest pains for months (and still do). Luckily for me its just chest wall related.

gsteinb

This is how masters racers are created.

big john

R.I.P. Paul Sherwin.

mattm