Aerik

Understood. Don't worry, I'm deploying a Tactical Cuteness Grenade. Okay, here goes: All better now?

Seriously. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37455920/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/ That's a game now? Seriously, if someone kicks me in the McNuggets, they'll be picking up their teeth with broken fingers. I've always kind of thought of children as vicious little pack animals, but damn-- that's kind of an insult to vicious pack animals. Wolves may spar and scrap, but they don't kick each other in the boys. I guess the upside is that hopefully some of these morons will prevent themselves from breeding. /pragmatism.

Personally the cookies grossed me out way more than the real thing. Maybe its the lumpy filling. If you really can't see it, it's here. I probably wouldn't go there at work or while eating: http://goatse.fr/

Ugh. I ended up riding home to Reynoldsburg from DeVry (Alum Creek Dr.) at about 9:15. The rain and wind were pretty unpleasant, but I was actually more worried about the lightning-- one feels pretty exposed going over bridges on a bike with that amount of staticky goodness going on. Incidentally, my netbook and various other electronics survived the rain in my bookbag. Trashbag Poncho FTW!

That route to Gahanna has become the traditional First Road Ride for the new riders in our group-- it's nice and easy, a couple of swooping wide curves, and generally good road. Just watch out for the Gahanna PD when you start seeing lower speed limits. Only difference is we normally end up at the Gahanna Grill: smoker-friendly patio and really great burgers for a not-extremely-high price.

I'll wait till all the facts come out before I form an opinion on this one. However, I certainly hope you were this vigilant about the honesty of our leaders in 2003. Otherwise I'd get to call you a right-wing hypocrite and do a little liberal happy dance

Agreed. But a wonderful, bacon-wrapped turd smothered in barbecue sauce.

Welcome. I have two newish riders in my group, and four very experienced dudes helping them. You're welcome to come and join us for one of our rides-- pretty much every Friday evening or Saturday afternoon. At this point, if the new people are with us we generally don't go anywhere terribly demanding, but any ride is better than not riding. When we go out without them, it's a bit different. Either way, just PM if you're bored and wanna join up. Also, we're pretty well-versed in older bikes (because we're all broke), so we tend to ride all day and wrench all night if you have some mechanical issues you'd like to address.

Absolutely. I don't hate people based on where they're from, what they look like, what gender they're attracted to, or what they believe. Their actions, on the other hand, are a totally acceptable basis for wanting to see them weeping in a bloody pile on the floor of a prison shower.

I have no problem with people eating meat or dairy products, given that every other carnivore/ omnivore kills for food also. Most of my favorite foods involve red meat and cheese. However, I do think that having these big over-evolved forebrains carries some ethical obligation to minimize the suffering involved for our prey. I really hope these guys get violently sodomized, beaten, or otherwise made to suffer and feel as helpless as the animals they've abused. Repeatedly. Until they die.

But, if I were in the market for that class of bike, why would I buy a brand new Road King for $16.9K when you can get a barely-broken-in Gold Wing for $8-12K? I guess that's the real difference-- I don't buy brand new, so the price gap is large among the bikes I'd be likely to buy.

I agree-- I like the old-school stuff too. My only real problems are: a) They cost too goddamned much for what you get (compared to metrics in the same class), and b) Yuppies in polo shirts on sportsters constantly trying to race my Shadow, and getting WTFPWNED by an 11-year-old Honda. I'll probably end up with one eventually, though.

Don't take yourself so fucking seriously. I certainly don't. And no, if some immature douchebag makes annoying gestures at my wife, I don't go looking to beat some ass-- I generally only react with violence to people actually doing harm or posing a credible threat. Normally, when she tells me about something like this, we laugh about it and move on. Of course, maybe I don't believe in prosecuting people for being offensive or annoying because I find the vast majority of people to be offensive and annoying, and I just don't have that much free time.

Apparently some people can't take a compliment.

Census people showed up just as I was getting home one day, like a week ago. I got out of the car with a bag of fresh KFC in my hand, they asked if they could ask me questions about the census, and I said, "Now's not a good time." They thanked me and went away. What was so hard about that? People act like these are some jackbooted death squads; in my case, it was a lady in her 50's and a smiley fat guy. Just people trying to earn a bit of cash in a shitty job market.

Welcome.

If you wanna do some light-weight mods on a bike, why do it half-assed? Brake rotors are too heavy-- try cutting two circles out of a cardboard box! Gas tank? Too much metal! Use a 2-liter pop bottle with a hose fitting on it! Fork tubes? Hell no! Broom handles, bitches! Also, the engine runs much cooler if you put chipped ice in instead of oil!

I'm well aware that Rand Paul was not related to Ayn Rand, but: Given who his father was, I kind of assumed he was named after her. After all, Ayn Rand's objectivism is a large part of what modern 'libertarianism' is based on. So, a guy who spouts Ayn Rand's recycled material has a kid named Rand (who also spouts Ayn Rand's recycled material)-- it's a fair assumption. According to the Oracle of Wiki, though, he supposedly wasn't named after her, so that's something I guess. Even so, her philosophy still sucks, and they suck for continuing to inflict it on the American people.

" "Don't you know," he asked, "that we can't sacrifice millions for the sake of the few?" "You can! You must. When those few are the best. Deny the best its right to the top-and you have no best left. What are your masses but mud to be ground underfoot, fuel to be burned for those who deserve it? What is the people but millions of puny, shriveled, helpless souls that have no thoughts of their own, no will of their own, who eat and sleep and chew helplessly the words others put into their mildewed brains? And for those you would sacrifice the few who know life, who are life?""" What is the people? We, the people. Blah. Ayn Rand was an anti-American elitist hack, and her philosophy is a toilet. It saddens me to see intelligent people regurgitating her nonsense 27 years after it should have died with her.

I think if Saddam had had WMDs, he'd probably have tried to use them before he got to the whole "hiding in a spider-hole and getting captured and executed" thing. I would certainly use whatever means I had at my disposal to save my own ass. If having the US military chasing you isn't a serious situation, what is? Was he saving them for a really rainy day?

My main computer is the dual-monitored beast I'm typing on now. The other laptop I bought when I was on the road, and haven't used in a while now. It's heavy and irritating to take in a backpack, and the fan's too noisy to use during class. It's an Asus G1 'Gaming' rig, with lots of bells and whistles that I just don't need. I just want a netbook to type up papers between classes and maybe use the web.

That or a Rocket III.

I wanna see it tried with a more powerful bike.