YMCA
Saturdays are weightlifting class for Lisa and me.
I always wonder what event precipitated the need for this sign.
Grilling Kialbasa
Kuat Sherpa2
I need a new bike rack since I have a new car that doesn’t work so well with my previous roof racks. I do miss my old roof racks!
I borrowed a hitch mount rack from a friend at work, and was very impressed with how easy it was to operate, and how stable it was while traveling.
I debated with myself for about 2 months, because $650 is so much more than I wanted to spend. But in a moment of weakness, I ordered one.
Much to my disappointment, the parts didn’t fit while I was trying to put it together.
I called customer service, and they immediately sent me parts that did fit together, but without admitting there was a known problem.
They sent instructions with the replacement parts:
And the part that was wrong they instructed me to replace. So I think they knew there was some sort of manufacturing snafu with this batch. I’m very happy they fixed it fast for me with no questions asked!
I think one of the best features of the Sherpa2 is the ball bearing that you can tighten into the hitch. It creates an attachment with no play, so the table is very stable.
Native Milkweeds
My native milkweeds are covered with insects!
behind the beautiful forevers
behind the beautiful forevers,
Life death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity. by Katherine Boo.
I found this book to be compelling and a bit disturbing. It’s a tragic study of our modern world. Here is an excerpt:
But the slumdwellers rarely got mad together-not even about the airport authority. Instead, powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what they lacked. Sometimes they tried to destroy one another. Sometimes, like Fatima, they destroyed themselves in the process. When they were fortunate, like Asha, they improved their lots by beg- garing the life chances of other poor people. What was unfolding in Mumbai was unfolding elsewhere, too. In the age of global market capitalism, hopes and grievances were narrowly conceived, which blunted a sense of common predicament. Poor people didn’t unite; they competed ferociously amongst themselves for gains as slender as they were provisional. And this undercity strife created only the faintest ripple in the fabric of the society at large. The gates of the rich. occasionally rattled remained unbreached. The politicians held forth on the middle class. The poor took down one another, and the world’s great, unequal cities soldiered on in relative peace.
“powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what they lacked” – that touched me. So true.
This book is worth the read.