How Good is a $70 Bike?

As a test run, I rode my bike to QFC and back, about 4 miles round trip. I tried to stay off the main roads as much as possible, as I'm still scared of cars. Overall it went pretty well, with some exceptions.

1. The seat was really uncomfortable. It felt like I was sitting on a bumpy, sharp rock. Not fun.
2. The brakes wore down to the point that they were unusable. I almost hit a fence going down a hill because fully squeezing both brake levers did hardly anything.
3. Finally, my 18-speed bike is more like a 6-speed bike. Let me explain. I have a left shifter labeled 1, 2, 3 and a right shifter labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for a theoretical combination of 18 speeds. In practice, I'm not supposed to use the extreme gear combinations where the chain is not in a straight line. This eliminates 8 combinations: 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 2-1, 2-6, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3. Then, to make matters worse, I've never been able to successfully shift the left to 3 or the right to 1, eliminating another 4 combinations: 1-1, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6. This leave just 6 combinations that I can use: 1-2, 1-3, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5.
   

Buying a Bike at Walmart

I finally got a bike! I considered getting a cheap one off craigslist, but most of them were surprisingly expensive. So I got this 26" 18-speed mountain bike for about $70 from Walmart.

Shopping there was painful, as usual. The bike I wanted was on the top, and it was apparent no associate was going to offer to help me get it down. The woman I finally drafted to help me did not look happy about the job at all. She got a ladder, realized it was too short, then disappeared for 15 minutes to get a bigger ladder. Once she returned, I offered to just use the ladder and get it down myself, saving her the trouble, but she said it was against store policy. While she was trying to get it down, I seriously worried for her safety and wondered why a more in-shape associate wasn't doing this.

All together, it took 30 minutes to actually get the bike down. Then while I was riding the bike to the cash registers, another associate told me it was against store policy to do so. How else was I supposed to test it? Finally, as I'm walking my bike out of store, another associate tells me to stop. At this point, I just want to leave the store as quickly as possible, so I ignored her, knowing that I have no legal obligation to stay in the store. She actually ran outside after me and grabed the bike to stop me. I considered arguing with her, but instead just showed her the damn receipt.

Did I mention how much I hate Walmart?

Squirrel Holes?

The other day, I saw two squirrels in my backyard and quickly snapped some pictures from my kitchen window. When I looked at the pictures later, I saw something strange: two brown patched in my yard that look like dirt. So I go out for a closer look and see this:

What in the world? They're definitely holes, but I'm not sure how deep they are or where they lead. Then there's the mystery of how they got there and what made them. Was it the squirrels? Invisible gophers? Malicious neighbors? Rare geological phenomena? Tiny mole people? Aliens? I'm definitely keeping a close eye on the happenings in my backyard from now on.

Bike to Work Day

I really wanted to join the fun and bike to work today. The weather was perfect and the traffic on 405 was horrible. There was an accident that caused long delays, which doubled my normal 20-minute commute.

To make myself feel better, I came up with the following excuses for my non-participation:

1. I don't have a bike.
2. I'm afraid of annoying/getting hit by cars.
3. 13.5 miles is a long way to bike.
   

Could I Have OCD?

I think I may have OCD.

Last night I was making some modifications to my car. A few months ago, I installed a third-party car stereo with line-in so I could use my iPhone to play music in my car. The problem is the iPhone creates audible interference whenever there is data transfer going on. At first I didn't mind, but now it is getter more annoying. Thankfully I found a solution: ferrite beads.

First, I cut up a cable to extract the ferrite bead. This was not easy. The cable I used encases the bead in about half an inch of plastic. I whittled away at a corner with a knife for five minutes before I saw any ferrite at all. I decided to give up and just keep the plastic in place.

Next I tried installing the ferrite bead in my car. This is when I made my biggest mistake. I had removed the stereo so I could tape the ferrite bead to the speaker wires. Before I could do that however, the bead slipped out of my hand and into a cavity in the stereo enclosure. Instinctively I reached for it, only to push it further into the dark nether reaches of my car's interior.

Here's when I think my OCD kicks in. All I can think about is this freakin ferrite bead being stuck in my car. I'm not thinking rationally anymore. I worry the additional weight will decrease my gas mileage, or that it will rattle when I drive. I try for half an hour trying various methods of extracting it with no success. I seriously consider disassembling the entire front panel. I really can't get anything else done for the rest of the night. I try to fall asleep, but I lie awake for about an hour thinking about my car.

Not So Stimulating After All

I got my tax stimulus payment of $600 direct deposited into my bank account last Friday (^_^). Today, I got my homeowner's insurance bill for $595 (T_T).

Looks like I have $5 left to stimulate the economy. I wonder what I should buy?

Homemade Apple Pie

I recently rediscovered how delicious apple pie can be and decided to try my hand at making one myself. Here's the recipe I used. The pie turned out great, though the crust was a bit hard.