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wd40

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Posts posted by wd40

  1. On 1/17/2020 at 1:06 PM, mdmost said:

    Will need to read through this thread. Going in early June with our kids. Obviously have the zoo on the agenda. La Jolla as well. Other good ideas for kids (10 & 12) that aren't Seaworld and Legoland?

    took the kids last year, President's Weekend.  girls about the same age at the time as yours.  vrbo just a few blocks from Sunset Cliffs.   really liked the neighborhood.  Sundara (indian) a few blocks away was really good as a 'date night' while the kids had pasta we made for them, back at the house.

    didn't do the zoo, but Balboa Park has some other cool stuff.  In particular, the girls really liked the model train museum.  parking is a beating, so I recommend getting an early start.

    we made two trips to La Jolla so the kids could watch the seals and pelicans grabass around on Seal Rock and The Cove. the town is total clusterfuck on the weekend, but there is a public parking garage.  if you can get a table on the roof, George's is pretty good.  the ocean view is great there.  saw some whales breaching, now and then.

    +1 on the tide pools at Cabrillo, and that whole park.  

    breakfast at Mitch's Seafood is awesome.  we hit it right after we landed (I knew about it from some tuna trips, years before).  I assume the actual seafood is of the same quality.

    bring a jacket.

  2. well, I'll never be a welding nerd, but I am seriously jealous of those welds, Marfa.  I've got a cut-off tank end I've been thinking about making into a firebowl, also.  

    I'm self/youtube-taught, plus some good advice from friends.  first project was a welding table (been posted, before).  that was lead up to my narrow-ass smoker build.  very much a go-with-the-flow project, but not too much wasted metal (forgot to account for the halfmoon above the firebox and didn't want janky seam).

    was kinda brutal, welding the firebox from the inside, inches from my face.  turned out pretty decent, I thought.

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    a broken off rake handle only gets you so far

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    "you may experience a little discomfort"

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    "tension.  tension.  tension it's all that I know"

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    first effort with my second-hand (Smith) torch

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    second effort, for the top of the stack.  I was smart enough to allow for grinding to pretty it up, at least.  I can see why circle cutters are so expensive

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    some guy ordered a shitload of various elbows at Westbrook, then cancelled.   worked out great for me, not having to calculate, cut and weld the smoke stack turn.

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    besides some briskets, a bigass turkey with a duck and a chicken on Thanksgiving, I've smoked a bunch of fish on it.  so far, so good.

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    not pretty, but it does the job.

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  3. 6 hours ago, HoustonHorn said:

    Any Whistler recommendations. I'll ski with the kids 9 and 12, and my wife won't ski.

    Places/location to stay, much prefer a very short walk or ski-in/ski-out.

    Place to rent skis?

    Places to eat?

    Might spend a couple days in Vancouver, so any suggestions there are welcome.

    Thanks

    just got back from Whistler.  crowded, but had a great time.  still need some snow, last I checked.

    my wife made all the res's (that's her thing, I just get veto power).  she got some deal online through skirentals.com or somesuch that sent us to the Salomon shop for our rentals. very good service there, although if I had to do it again, I'd ask for a stiffer snowboard boot which I'm used to, over the flexy thing they gave me by default.  

    eats:

    The Keg was pretty good.

    Earl's was waaaay overrated.  unless you like trendy shit served by Eurotrash-wannabes at all costs.

    Gnarly Root was very good.

    the indian place upstairs right by the Whistler Gondola was very good.  Masala something or other.  we got takeout.

    Blacks Pub was meh.

    did not eat on the mountain.  just energy bars.  big food just makes me too lethargic for snowboarding.  the food looked pretty good, though.  much much better than the burgers and dogs up top at Ski Apache or Red River.

    we spent one night at the Westin downtown Vancouver on the back end (wife had points).  it's a block off the Whistler Connect shuttle route, so we had them drop us at the nearest stop on the way back.  very good location.  lots of shopping and ethnic food options nearby that looked good, but we ended up at Dunn's deli.  had smoked meat poutine.  it was ok.  they don't smoke meat like we do, I guess.   I think they used pine or someshit.  Lennox Pub was a good place to chill while the kids dove into their ipads back at the room.

    canNOT recommend the Vancouver Art museum.  but my daughter's into art so we had to find out.  biggest one in western Canada, fwiw.  Bentonville fucking Arkansas's art museum blows it away, easily.

    have fun, you hoser.

     

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  4. you mean at Brushy?  for the most part, there isn't one.  depends on where you start (I usually start under 183A for the shade and proximity to Snail), but that doesn't matter if you ride the same trails on your return trip.  only the flattish area in the woods just the other side of Parmer is truly one way, and it is marked as such.

    personally, I suck at reading these maps, but see if  this helps.

  5. 4 hours ago, RPM said:

    Iranian AAA Commander: I wish that was an American plane. We have all these missiles, think of the glorious victory if we could just fire one.

    Freaked out newb AAA soldier: One fired, Sir!

    Iranian AAA Commander: Damn it.

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  6. no doubt, there are advantages to riding solo, but safety and progression generally among them.   now that I've gone back to mostly soloing, I really like riding when I want, and where I want.  but there's  tech features I delete on solo rides nowadays; some I've done before but won't risk alone.  which is fine, except bailing become habitual.

     

  7. yeah, learning the attack position is key.  relaxed but purposful arms and legs to soak up the bumps but hold your line.  look as fsr ahead as you can.  if you're all puckered up and stiff, staring at uour front wheel, thats when you get bucked.  heels-down will naturally shift your weight back (assume you're out of the saddle).  only when it's REALLY steep to you need to worry about getting behind the saddle, esp with today's slack geometry and bigger wheels.  you really have to work hard to endo a modern 29er.

    youtube has some good stuff, and 2x's advice above is pretty good.  but the #1 theing to make you get better is to ride with others.  hard to say fuckit when it means holding up the group and humbling yourself.  you'll be surprised what you can do when you have company to passively push you.

    as far as Brushy, it's a great place to learn.  easily navigable, and a nice mix of smooth twisty, and rocky chunk you find around here.  rode it yesterday, actually.  a pack of 30-somethings gawking at the Basket drop called me 'sir' as they apologized and scooted out of the way for me to hit it.  Sir.  me.  jfc.

    anyway, based on prior Stravulations, over the last couple days, I did about 9 miles at Brushy (350' of climbing), and another 11 miles today at bcgb (>1600' of climbing).  combined with a 2-mile (w/>200') run on friday to give my newly-arthritic thumb/wrist a break, I am freakin toast, right now.   good start to the new year, tho.

  8. 3 hours ago, KuЯdt said:

    First ride of the new year is in the books.  It was supposed to be cold and rainy/misty today, but the precip never transpired.  Instead it was 52 degrees, cloudy, and the trails were in great condition.  Nice way to kick off the year.

    Surly, I jested.  perfect traction today.

  9. 11 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

    Since I almost entirely missed BMX, I am toying with the idea of getting a BMX/Cruiser type bike, single speed, simple, to learn bike handling things without fighting the weight and suspension of my bike.

    Is that an absurd idea?

    If it's not, and as a full-sized dude (6-1, 200+/-), should I look at something bigger than 20" or does that start to defeat the purpose?  There are even 29er "BMX" bikes now.

     

    I dunno, man.  I kinda went through the same thought process, several years ago.   I got some flats, some shin guards and decided I was gonna learn how to bunny hop, wheelie, etc.  proper.  I even did a lot of BMX bike research.  ultimately, I decided I was too old for that shit.  I lacked the time and flexible bones to invest in it.  then one of my riding buddies who grew up in BMX convinved a couple of the guys to try it.  one broke a a collar bone, the other got just generally fucked up on a jump on a race track.  after that I felt pretty good about my decision to just dance with who brung me

    still, Mutiny Bikes had some really amazing and inspiring videos, many in Texas.  there out somewhere still...I hope.  

    found one

     

     

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