A good friend of mine recently gave HuskySooner some buying tips for a new bike.  I think others might be interested:

Hey HuskySooner,

I’m not sure how much you want to spend, but I would recommend a minimum of around $450 if you want something to last.

Now is actually a good time to get ’05 bikes at most shops. Performance Bike is having a big sale that I went to recently. I’m not sure if they have a retail outlet in your location, but you definitely should buy from a local shop or a chain with an outlet near you.

Here are some good bikes at a reasonable price. Performance may not show them online since they might have been in-store only specials.

• ’05 Fuji Silhouette Flat Bar Road Bike $469 (reg $679)
• ’05 Fuji Absolute Flat Bar Road Bike $429 (reg $599)
• ’05 Jamis Coda Sport Flat Bar Road Bike $449 (reg $569)
• ’05 Schwinn Fastback Sport LE Road Bike $499 (reg $719)

You can probably find similar bikes at most shops. The big chain stores are good because they usually have a larger variety. Supergo.com is another biggie.

Brand really doesn’t matter too much at this price point. The above are all probably made in china or taiwan, maybe even at the same factory! They are overdesigned so they will last, at the expense of weight. I would insist on the highest level of components you can get for the money. The shop staff can tell you the levels of components.

Frame material – you will be looking at either steel or aluminum. Steel is a more comfortable ride and a little more durable in the long term but it is a little heavier and can rust. Either is fine – I would go more on overall fit and looks. Yes, you should have a bike that you like!

Good luck.

Yeah, you see birds sitting on highline wires all the time….. They can get away with it because their legs are too short for them to be able to touch more than one wire at a time and unless they fall with the wire, they’re not going to come in contact with the ground and the wire at the same time, therefore, the wires do not present a problem to them…..

I want to take away this highline perch that birds seem to love because humans are not so lucky….. If we are not running into the poles that hold the wires or touching the wires with tent poles, Mother Nature’s knocking ’em down on us usually with electrifying results….. In Oklahoma, most of the rain we get (which isn’t much) is accompanied with thunderstorms, which result in power outages, which result in repairs, and we all know who pays for repairs: the customers….. This is a never-ending cycle and the electric companies are making a killing (or causing quite a few of them)…… Why do people just naturally accept as fact that power lines have to be above ground?…… Besides the ugliness of utility poles and highline wires all over the place, they’re really very, very dangerous…… I’m sure that when electricity came to Mayberry, above ground was about the only way the wire could be placed due to insulating problems, but I think the technology has existed for quite a while that allows for the wires to be placed underground, out of sight, out of Mother Nature’s way, and away from stupid humans…… I don’t see many, if any, power lines/poles in downtown areas and high class shopping and eating complexes (in Oklahoma City that would be “BrickTown”, although I call it “PrickTown” because of the people who own it and how it came into being, but that is for another post)……

I think that state and local governments should require electric companies to replace so many miles of existing above ground power lines with underground lines per year…. The electric companies already have a monopoly on the area that they serve, so why not force them to improve such service by providing better safety and a more reliable product for their customers at a reasonable cost…… What a concept!……..

What’s the smartest form of government?

Thomas Jefferson was smart enough to know that in a democracy we get to choose the people who will then screw up our lives….. But, in a monarchy the people who will screw up our lives are chosen by divine right, which proves that God has no better luck picking rulers than we do……

Earlier this week, broken, beat-up bikes entirely painted with white primer appeared tied to select Seattle street lights with signs on them that read “a cyclist was struck here”.  It is a move by an anonymous group to promote bike awareness to car drivers.  Each GhostCycle has a story behind it posted on GhostCycle.org.  This is a really good and hopefully effective idea.  I’ve personally almost been hit at location #2, 8th Ave NW & Leary Way NW.  That intersection is particularily bad.  Drivers turning right on red from northbound Leary to 8th frequently don’t look left for legal crossers: The result is typically BOOM!  The Seattle PI reports that the Seattle Transportation Department and Seattle Police Department are not in any hurry to remove the GhostCycles.

Oh, this is fitting. Schmuck by the pool trying to impress a gal and ends up costing his company million$.

A Sony Music promo exec unknowingly sparked Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s major payola investigation when he started hitting on a woman at a poolside bar at a Miami hotel last year. The exec bragged about some of the excesses in his line of business, according to chatter in music industry circles. The executive must have felt pretty good, as the attentive woman probably hung on his every word. He must have thought he was spinning a Gold Record.

But not so fast. It turns out the woman who was the object of his affection worked in Spitzer’s office.

Full post here.

In the old Soviet Union, it was illegal to play the game of Monopoly…….. Scrabble was legal, but all triple-word bonus scores probably had to be distributed equally among the collective players for the greater glory of the game masses………

What does the telephone company and the Spanish-American War have in common?…… The Spanish-American War ended 107 year ago…… Alexander’s company was then just emerging….. So-o-o, where’s the connection? (Pun intended)…… Our fabulous government……

In order to pay for the Spanish-American War, our government levied an excise tax on telephone usage as it was then considered a luxury to own a phone….. So-o-o, what’s the problem?…… THE TAX IS STILL THERE!….. YES, 107 years after the fact, you are still paying for the Spanish-American War every time you pay your phone bill!…… That must have been a Hell’va expensive war!…….

I saw this on the news and they are considering repealing the excise tax, but what about all the money they’ve collected over the 107 years?….. I don’t think the American taxpayer will ever see any of it again…..

We need to get more involved in the politics of this country or we are going to lose it…… There are plenty of other countries that would love the U.S. to fail…..

My hint for when you go to the polls: “Incumbent means incompetent”…… The only exception to this rule is if vast and sweeping changes to the good occurred during the incumbent’s term….. And, this just doesn’t happen, although the “Governator” of California is making a good showing so far……

I didn’t think so, well not if you live in Seattle and you aren’t having fast food.  There is an increase in Monday restaurant closings around here.  And I say ARG!  Last night, we walked over to get a burger at Red Mill (not a frequent occurrence).  Red Mill makes a fine gourmet burger and is closed on Mondays.  Phinney Ridge is becoming quite a ghost town on Monday nights with most of the restaurants closed.  I understand that restaurant owners may appreciate a day off, but I’d appreciate something to eat and I’d pay more than normal to get it — especially when I’m staring at Red Mill’s ‘Closed’ sign.

What if a special date falls on a Monday?  Oh well, gotta eat in I suppose.  That’s what happened to Tarn and me on her birthday.  Fortunately that time I called ahead for reservations.  I like the Italian way to solve this problem: restaurants in little nearby towns alternate weekday closures.  Something like that could work on a Seattle neighborhood scale.  For example, various restaurants can pick Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays to be off.  Then at least you can walk on and get some grub.  Rumble. Rumble. Don’t mind that; it’s just my empty tummy.

Which is the smarter choice: draft beer or Genuine Draft Beer?……

Seems like a question of taste rather than intelligence…….. But, nothing is simple in an age where your share of the advertising costs more than your share of the beer……. Real draft beer is better if you like good beer….. Genuine Draft Beer is better if you want to marvel at how marketers can make millions by continually lowering the bottom of the barrel we live in…….

Braft beer comes from a barrel….. You hold the glass up to the tap, and the beer falls out….. Makes for better beer, as any English pubster can explain, if you’re buying…….. Genuine Draft Beer comes in bottles or cans, the opposite of draft beer…… They can legally call non-draft beer draft beer by the international law that states: If you can make big money out of a lie, go ahead……

No, I’m not moving out of Oklahoma – Mexico has moved to Oklahoma……. The influx of Mexican’s into OKC has increased tremendously over the past year……. The S.W. section of OKC is referred to as “Little Mexico”…… If you don’t read Spanish, you don’t have any idea what business is located inside the buildings you pass……..

Now, I have no objection against anyone of any nationality entering the United States through legal channels, applying for citizenship, and becoming an American citizen thereby infusing their culture and background into the “melting pot” known as “America”, but, according to CNN, we have what they call a “Border Crisis”…….

The following are excerpts of news reports I heard on CNN and other news sources:

1. In mid-June, the Border Patrol reported 98,000 illegal aliens entered the U.S. by crossing the U.S. Mexican border since the first of the year…… Yes, that’s 98,000 in less than a six-month period!…… (CNN) That’s probably more than the population of 80% of any single city or town in the U.S…….
2. In response, the U.S. Department of Immigration states that it intends to double the number of border guards from the now existing 10,000 personnel over the next 10 years…… They state that the increase will be 200 officers in the next year….. (CNN) Remember, this is for BOTH borders, Mexican and Canadian!…… Sounds like too little, too late to me…….
3. Oh, Yeah, this is the good one…… The officials also stated that the Mexican Government will not take back any illegal aliens caught by the border patrol unless they are Mexican citizens…… Any non-Mexican citizens are checked out and released to go about their business or are held in detention centers to be processed……. Our government further stated that it does not have anywhere near enough of these centers……. (CNN) So-o-o, we have an open border that anyone can walk across and if they are not a Mexican citizen, they are in the U.S. to stay…… You think that terrorists organizations and immigrants from other countries besides Mexico are not aware of this?…..
4. There was a bust in Portland, Oregon of a ring that was making fake Social Security cards for illegal aliens……
5. In a CNN interview with the “Govenator” of California, Arnold stated that he intends to close the border to illegal aliens, but that it will not stop the influx into California because they will just cross the border somewhere else and enter from neighboring states…… He said in order to stop the invasion the Federal government would have to close the entire border to illegal aliens…… He also stated that he was getting extreme pressure and bad press from high-powered groups opposed to this because they don’t want to lose the “cheap labor” pool…… That’s what I call “Forced politics by big business” and it stinks in my opinion…….
6. There is an organization in Texas that claims it has enough members to shut down the U.S.-Mexican border from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific and plans to do so for one day on the first of October or November since the U.S. government refuses to do anything…… They say they are tired of being flooded with illegal aliens…… The Government says this would be a “Vigilante action” and would be dealt with as such if it happens……. (CNN) Looks like Texas may succeed from the Union one more time, and if it happens, even though I dislike Texas rather extremely, I might just have to move there and join the cause…….. It is called the Lone-Star state…….
7. In another CNN interview with a naturalized U.S. citizen of Mexican decent, he stated that there were two radical Mexican organizations whose sole intent is to convert the U.S. into Mexico….. As I was in a hurry at the time, I didn’t write down his name or the initials the organizations went by…….. It looks like to me that they are well on the way to accomplishing their mission…….
8. I remember seeing on the cover of “Newsweek” or “Time”, I can’t remember exactly which one since it was at least 8 to 12 months ago, but across the cover in large letters was the word “MexiAmerica” with an underlying “is America turning into Mexico” (This may not be the exact wording but the meaning is the same)…….. The name “MexiAmerica” stuck in my head….. I’m sorry, I live in America…… If I wanted to live in Mexico, I would move there!………
9. Check out May 30, 2005 edition of “Newsweek”….. The cover is a picture of L.A.’s mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa with the caption “Latino Power – L.A.’s New Mayor – And How Hispanics Will Change American Politics”……. In the article it’s stated, “Get used to it”…… I’m sorry, I will not get used to it…… To me, if you are a United States citizen, whether you were born here or naturalized, you are an American…… You speak English and you respect and abide by the laws of this country…… I think all Americans should re-read the “Declaration of Independence” and the “Constitution” and actually take the time to think about the content of these important freedom documents….. You will find that this country was founded on the belief that “All men are created equal”…… On this statement alone, there’s no such thing as a “minority race” – We are all Americans and should treat each other that way…… I do…..

The question I put to you is: Do you think the U.S.-Mexican border should be closed in such a manner as to prevent the entrance of illegal aliens and possible terrorists onto U.S. soil?……..

I think you know my stance on the subject…….

In 1971, A Pennsylvania attorney brought a lawsuit against the Devil……. It was thrown out of court because the judge ruled that Satan was not a Pennsylvania resident………

I wonder “where the Devil” his residence is anyway?……..

I hope Jek’s hall project doesn’t turn out like this:

Here’s how they get things done in Washington: The Dirksen Building was built in 1958 for senatorial offices….. When the building was finished, they discovered that the floor was too slippery….. So they covered it with carpet….. But the carpet was too thick so the doors wouldn’t close….. So they took off all the doors and planed them down to fit the carpets they wouldn’t have needed if they had put down the right floor in the first place…….

Sounds like government specifications to me………

In 1996, a Pennsylvania man was arrested for harassment because every time he saw his ex-wife he oinked at her…….

Someone I know coined the term “Pork Snort”…….. I wonder if that term applied in this case?………
(I know it’s not nice to make fun of those afficted with, shall we say, added poundage, but sometimes ya just can’t help it.)………

A friend of ours has been looking to buy a compact SUV. His reasons: safety and the need to drive high-clearance roads for hiking. Let’s look at the latter first. Tarn and I take our Honda Accord on our hiking adventures and have yet to encounter a Washington back road we couldn’t clear. Our friend did quote us two roads we haven’t been on that might do us in. Fine, I’m okay with avoiding those roads.

As for safety, it is interesting how people feel psychologically safer in a bigger vehicles than in small ones. This New Yorker article talks about the myth of SUV safety. The stats in section 2 are missing some data like total number of cars sold and implies an even distribution of all vehicles and drivers across the US. This is certainly not the case. Anyway, the article is still very interesting, especially if you are considering the purchase of an SUV.

Since I don’t have Sat Radio, I don’t listen to internet radio because I have a slow dial-up connection, and OKC doesn’t have any Alternative or Progressive radio stations, can anyone give me suggestions on any new groups and/or albums in the Yes, Moody Blues, King Crimson vein?…….. Or, let me know if any exist……..

Classic Rocker (Me) willing and wanting to expand/update my musical ear…… (Although an open E-flat tuning gets me by most of the time)