cherydactyl

Apparently this is a product available on the McCain web site:


Also, a teacher mooched a book from me recently. Her bio has an appeal for her donorschoose.org project, and she segues with "And now a word from our sponcers..."

Actually, I see a lot of bad spelling on the teacher communities I follow. It worries me.

This is not to say that I am not sometimes guilty of errors and typos. I don't like when I do it either, and can be an obsessive reviser of my own posts and comments both before and after posting them.

The awesome evalerie, who has google-fu magic of which I know not, pointed me in the right direction for finding some folding basket panniers. I decided after reading a few reviews of wire-frame folding baskets that they are not my first choice, because they can be noisy, and are usually not quickly removable. I have three major candidates for metal frame fabric baskets:

http://www.bikemania.biz/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BikeProUSACityBasket-C12

http://inertiadesigns.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=177

http://www.amazon.com/Avenir-Metro-2-0-Shopping-Pannier/dp/B00165Q8ZO/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

They all seem pretty equivalent. All are cordura nylon or similar. (I found a hemp/cotton one, too, but worry it will not wear well.) All fold when not in use and have wire frames to help them keep their shape when in use. All are easily removable and have a shoulder strap, so they can be used directly as shopping bags. Two of the the three mention or show a bungee attachment to keep the basket from bouncing off the bike, but I bet they all have that. Rain covers are available for each of them, some of which are bright yellow with reflectors for safety. The main difference I can document so far is price, with the Avenir bag as the least expensive at $30 each. The bikemania one has the least expensive rain covers. The Inertia Designs one, which is around $50, has some great reviews, but I haven't found as much information on the others.

Does anybody have experience with any of these or know something about panniers that might help? I plan to get a pair to start, probably will get rain covers soon after, and maybe eventually will get a laptop messenger bag or backpack pannier, so the removability of the baskets is a feature I really like.

I am also concerned that I need to take much better care of my bike from now on, since I plan/hope to be using it much more and it will be getting heavier use. How do I tell when I need new tires because the tread is wearing? What maintenance do I need to do or learn to do regularly?

Thanks in advance!

Yesterday I washed the kids' snow gear to put it away for the season. Today it is snowing. Of course.

I get the feeling somebody thinks we are perfect victims or something.

A year and a half ago, our house was the target of a drive-by shooting with a BB gun. The only casualty was the picture window in our living room. It was scary at the time, because we were home when it happened. The BB only penetrated the first of the two panes of glass, but it did kind of mess up the insulating properties of the double-paned window. It was rather expensive to replace that window, but we have a much spiffier front window now.

At some later point that I have not been able to identify, it appears that the bay window over our kitchen sink got a similar treatment. (We have not yet replaced or fixed that window.)

Now, some hi-lariously funny asshat has destroyed our extra-large rural-route curbside mailbox. It appears the vandal swung for the fences right through the hinged door from the side, and it looks rather less like a box and more like a shallow cave. I assume the tough Rubbermaid plastic only shattered because of how cold it is around here this week. It’s been below freezing for several days. Today’s high is due to be 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Oh, joy, the weather underground says that tomorrow the high will be 31 and we have a 90% chance of precipitation, in the form of ice pellets. (Eat your heart out, thecranewife.)

Awesome truffles from tammylc for Hallowe'en. Go drool after them, or maybe even order some.

Here are some of her wares from a previous sale (Valentine's 2007):

Yesterday the Wolverine Gaming Club had its last meeting as a regular student group at The Michigan Union. Some people who hadn't attended in a while showed to say goodbye to the old club. We had to leave before the bitter end due to a family event, but we did go.

WGC has been around in since the early 90s. As these things go, it was very, very long lived for a college games club. I myself will miss the club very much; it's been through a lot. I remember a Space 1889 campaign and a Star Wars campaign whose only certain "member" from session to session was the ship. We've met in Anderson, in Kuenzel, in Pond, and mostly in the Wolverine room. UCon and the WGC parted ways in the later 90s, but originally WGC was the student group that put on UCon. We played Settlers of Catan on a members' home-produced edition cobbled from online descriptions, and we were doing the ports wrong until we got an actual published copy! There were advanced games of Silverton, Road Kill, and lots of Outpost at one time. Magic players have come and gone and come back and gone again. Sometimes we'd even break out an 18XX game, especially if there was a new one. People went off to summer vacation and conventions and came back with new games. I have learned and taught many, many board games at club meetings. We had a few dedicated minis players who would show up, sometimes but not always, and immediately hog two tables at one end of the room. Lately it's been lots of Power Grid, Ticket to Ride in its various versions, To Court the King, and Betrayal at House on the Hill. My older daughter has literally grown up in the club. I am going to miss it even though it has been a shadow of its former self for a while now.

Apparently we get to keep our mailing address/list and our web site by dropping to a second or third class student group. Now the plan is to meet in the MUG next time and look for a suitable venue to meet. Regular attendance had been down in the teens recently, but maybe we can reinvent ourselves. Any suggestions for a meeting place? Traditionally, Sunday was the meeting day because that was the day parking was free near the Michigan Union. Free parking and nearby or onsite food (or perhaps the ability to order in food) are the major requirements I think. Maybe other people or past members will chime in with other ideas.

Thanks to current and past officers including gizelnort, sorcycat, cpl_hicks, illyaa, Mike C., and probably a few others that I am forgetting.

The Wolverine Gaming Club is dead...long live the Wolverine Gaming Club.

Went by Meijer's on my way home from a late roleplaying game to see if they had copies of HP&tDH. They do, or did. They said they had four palettes' worth. I held off buying one, since I knew I am on the library list as #122 out of 500+ reserves, and illyaa ordered one from Amazon to arrive tomorrow. Patience, patience, I told myself in this time of no job. Save the $21.

I'm glad I did because I just checked the library site. It says they have 200 copies. I will therefore be in the first wave of people to get it. I wonder if it will be ready if I am there when they open tomorrow. }8^)

Get on some charity mailing lists. They will send you address labels to try to get you to send them money. You will never want for return address labels again.

Except that 90% of them will say Mr & Mrs [Guy's Name] [Last Name]. Sigh.

So, make sure you are under your own name or they are enlightened charities that will put two names on their mailing lists.

At least I had the foresight to donate to a couple charities only in my name.

An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. - Carl Jung