@LabSpokane@mas.to
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

LabSpokane

@LabSpokane@mas.to

Birdland refugee.

Primary interests: cycling, engineering, electronics, art, aviation, the outdoors, and the magnificent PNW.

Living under the radar because, well, this is the Redoubt and shit is just crazy here.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

Alright, lots of heavy discussions today, so let's talk about something silly!

What is a movie that always makes you laugh?

Personal pick:

Anything Mel Brooks, but Robin Hood: Men in Tights, it's just funny every time I watch it.

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@RickiTarr Undercover Brother

video/mp4

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@RickiTarr Tucker and Dale vs Evil is hysterical.

ai6yr, (edited ) to random
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Broke the rest of my tire levers on Tire #2 from the rims-from-he-double-toothpicks. Now, do I cry "uncle" and see if the LBS will mount this tire for me. 🤔 (Updated: Going to buy some Park TL-5 METAL tire levers next!)

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@ai6yr What are you mounting and onto what? Have you tried spraying windex as a lubricant to get the tire on?

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@ai6yr are you trying to seat a tubeless tire on an old skool rim or something?

ascentale, to random
@ascentale@sfba.social avatar

Q6. I keep wearing holes in my pants from riding.

How do you prevent pant damage like this? How do you repair it? I'd like to still be able to wear jeans and ride.

Do you suffer any other unconventional clothing damage from riding?

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@cainmark @ascentale ^^^ This. Fishing clothing is amazingly adaptable as cycling clothing.

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@ascentale @cainmark A more durable material than modern denim, cooler, plus they dry quickly. Also typically have generous pockets.

ascentale, to random
@ascentale@sfba.social avatar

@skyfaller asks about low maintenance bikes for the long-long term:

Q5. What is the easiest bicycle to maintain in the long term, like if you wanted it to be a family heirloom? Bikes that are no longer in production are valid. What factors do you consider for ease of maintenance?

If you were building a bike from scratch with the goal of making it as easy to maintain as possible, how would you do it?

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@ascentale @skyfaller

-Steel frame with lots of eyelets for fender and rack mounts.
-steel fork for its heirloomness, but a suspension fork is totally legit for comfort.
-1X mountain or gravel drivetrain.
-Shimano hydraulic brakes
-Mountain bike wheels with 36 spokes
-Shimano hubs with cone bearings, not cartridge.
Mavic Open Pro rims with eyelets.
-EXTERNAL bearing bottom bracket.
-Through axles. Do NOT get quick-release skewers. It’s much easier to keep 1 🧵

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

your brakes in adjustment. 

A good rule for buying components is to never buy the cheapest and never buy “race” components. You want middle of the road durability.
2 🧵

fraying, to random
@fraying@xoxo.zone avatar

Anyone who says “this is good for him actually” has pundit brain rot. In no world does being a convicted felon help you win undecided voters. Go talk to an actual person.

Also, anyone saying that being found guilty of fraud 34 times is good for him should immediately be asked how being found not guilty would have been bad for him.

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@fraying @rickscully I’m so old, I remember when voting was good.

ai6yr, to cycling
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

Hmm, random cycling/BikeTooter opinions wanted -- I have two bicycles in need of new tires/tubes... mountain bikes... rotted... which are NOT currently ridden (but every so often someone gets the urge to ride them). The (adult) kids occasionally would ride them.

Buy "any old tires"? Whatever the LBS carries? Opinions? Thinking they ought to be maintained in rideable condition, vs. a last minute go-buy-new-tires-tubes and then whoever it was that wanted to ride them loses interest. What would you do?

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@ai6yr bike shops often have takeoff tires they may sell you cheap if you’re buying other items. These usually get thrown out. The key with tires is to keep them out of the sun when not riding. Sun = rapid rotting. All quality brand tires have cheaper models that will do just fine for what you want. A $100 tire is not 5x longer lasting than a $20 tire. Online stores like biketiresdirect.com have good prices on tires.

msquebanh, to random
@msquebanh@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Has anyone here taken a golf cart, made changes to it & turned it into a street legal electric vehicle?

In my dreams, last night, I was driving around roads, on an upcycled, electric golf cart with a trailer attached to back, with my cat in a backpack windowed carrier in passenger seat. We were heading to a cats cafe.

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@msquebanh A business that sells golf carts may be able to help build you a street legal cart with lights and mirrors. My sister is handicapped and she recently bought a golf cart for local use in California.

LabSpokane, to Idaho
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

What does it say about the future if when the business community determines that the most viable way to prevent racial harassment is for athletes to simply not go to ? https://www.spokanejournal.com/articles/16030-cda-incident-raises-questions-over-need-for-more-hotels

msquebanh, to britishcolumbia
@msquebanh@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

#BritishColumbia #forestry practices came under #InternationalScrutiny after a #BBC #documentary highlighted #WoodPellets being burned for power in the #UK.

The documentary was not broadcast in #Canada. Hansen said the reason B.C.’s wood pellet industry is a focus in #UnitedKingdom is the #Drax Power Station in #England.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10525850/bc-forestry-practices-international-scrutiny/amp/

#BCpoli #BCNDP #Deforestation #ecocide #BCgovernment #BCNDPlies #SaveOldGrowth #environmental #Pollution #CDNpoli

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@msquebanh This is such a massive problem with the lunacy of Drax. Drax apparently cannot remotely satisfy its needs by mowing down and pelletizing the American south east, and now is pulling trees from Washington, Oregon, Montana, and now BC.

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@msquebanh The daftness and corruption of British power planning: also endless. They literally mowed down all the trees on their island over 400 years ago, planted zero back, and now see fit to mow down the rest of the planet’s trees to supply ONE severely-derated power plant.

No one should be mowing down virgin timber to burn it for power.

mlawton, to random
@mlawton@mstdn.social avatar

A pretty decent thunderstorm rolled through and knocked our power out. Despite their claims to the contrary, our local power company is completely negligent about maintaining their infrastructure, so trees are forever falling on the lines. We’re used to it, but I still get irked about it.

No idea how long we’ll be down, but two hours in and no ETA means it’s going to be awhile.

We’re fine. Cooking steaks on the grill and we’d brought home ingredients for strawberry shortcakes. Not all bad!

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@mlawton Also McDonalds and not photoshopped in any way.

BlackAzizAnansi, to random
@BlackAzizAnansi@mas.to avatar

Question - What's the best way to avoid your credit dropping via a mortgage payoff?

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@BlackAzizAnansi You can’t. Having a substantial amount of unused credit on a card can help soften the blow. Credit scores are bullshit, incidentally.

ai6yr, to Insurance
@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org avatar

If you are a homeowner and are insured by State Farm, Ohio Mutual, Pure Insurance, Westfield, and maybe Nationwide, you can get a FREE device to monitor your electrical system for arcing (one of the causes of house fires). h/t @w8emv

https://www.tingfire.com

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@ai6yr @w8emv

Another strategy is to install combination AFCI/GFCI circuit breakers which will detect and trip on either ground faults and arc faults. They’re required for all new residential buildings in code anyway. The only downside is the modest expense, but still cheaper than any kind of fire remediation.

clive, (edited ) to random
@clive@saturation.social avatar

People of Mastodon!

I'm researching the growth of ebikes ...

... in cities around the US

I've talked to many people who love them!

But also want to include the perspective of folks who have concerns ...

... i.e. about the speed and weight of ebikes in accidents with pedestrians or other cyclists, and the like

If anyone has thoughts they wanna share, ping me! I'm all ears: clive@clivethompson.net

Pass this along if you know anyone else with perspective they want to share

#fedibikes

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

@clive The only “problem” with e-bikes is the same problem with all bikes: a lack of infrastructure. The rest of the “problems” are problems of perception that seem to exist solely in the minds of retro-grouches on the interwebs.

E-bikes are a total game changer. They truly are a three-season car replacement. An e-bike just turned my 26 mile teeth-gritting car commute into a pleasure cruise. And it really only takes and extra 25 minutes on each end.

LabSpokane, to RaspberryPi
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

This is going to be such a shitshow. https://www.forbes.com/sites/barrycollins/2024/05/15/raspberry-pi-ready-for-ipo-on-london-stock-exchange/?sh=2f47bbe94be7

LabSpokane,
@LabSpokane@mas.to avatar

Building your business around using a is about to become a very bad, bad thing. They have a captive audience and can just turn the screws on price.

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