COVID restrictions have been devastating to many parts of our lives, including one of my favorite things, adaptive sports. My main sport is sled hockey (as you’ve heard 1000 times). I’m a late bloomer when it comes to sports, having started sled hockey 6 years ago when I was 42. There weren’t adaptive sports around when I was growing up but now thankfully there are tons of them. Last year I tried wheelchair curling, and last week I tried adaptive mountain biking.
As I mentioned, COVID restrictions are having a terrible effect on some sports. The major sponsor of our sled hockey team is the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago, which is one of the biggest hospitals in the country for people rehabbing from major injuries. Right now they don’t have the funds to support our team, and in the name of COVID safety they are not sanctioning any games or tournaments, so effectively most adaptive sports are on hold. Which means we can practice now, but we won’t be playing any games until at least January.
One thing they can do is take people mountain biking. They already have the bikes and it doesn’t cost anything to ride the trails in Illinois. And so my hockey coach (who is also the head of adaptive sports at Shirley Ryan) invited me to join a group and ride some trails. I took a day off work one Friday and headed to Illinois.
I arrived at Willow Springs well before our 9:30am start time. It was about 60 degrees and sunny, just the right kind of day for a ride. The nature preserve was hilly with lots of trees and small lakes, and a nature center that was closed due to COVID, of course. Everyone else arrived and I met my group, which consisted of me, one of my hockey teammates, another disabled guy who looked to be about 20, my coach, and two others from Shirley Ryan. The three able bodied people would ride fat tire bikes, and the rest of us would use hand cycles.
The Other Kevin, attempting The Other Adaptive Sport
They brought two types of hand cycles. Both versions had two wheels in front and one in the back. My teammate rode one where you sat up upright and the pedals were in front. In my version, I leaned forward in a crouched position, sitting on a seat with supports for my shins. I also had a pad to rest my chest. The pedals were directly under the chest support, but the bike also had handlebars that had brakes and gear shifters. I could steer using the handle bars when coasting, but I could also steer when pedaling by leaning side to side on the chest support.
I took a test drive around the parking lot. It was difficult to steer using the chest support, and I struggled with that a little the entire day. But I found that on the pavement, I could pedal with one arm and steer with the other. After a quick spin we headed to one of the trails. Things were going smoothly until we hit a few hills. Flat ground was fine, but this was suddenly work! I am in pretty decent shape so I was able to keep up with the group, but I will confess there were times when my heart felt ready to explode. It was easiest to pedal on hard dirt, but there were areas of gravel and grass that took extra work. Downhill was a blast, of course, and there were some nice long hills with turns at the bottom that were a lot of fun.
Like most things that are “adaptive”, there are lots of things going on at the same time and it takes coordination to make it all work. In this case, pedaling and turning at the same time were challenging, and switching quickly from steering to pedaling wasn’t very smooth. The pedals had a specific “up” and a “down” orientation, but were not weighted, so I was looking down too often to make sure the pedals were oriented correctly. Timing my shifting as I went up a hill also turned out to be an art form that I’d need more time to master.
We rode for about 90 minutes that day. The last 20 minutes were definitely the toughest. I was running out of gas, and the last few hills seemed like mountains. But I was able to finish them all on my own power. In the end I didn’t die or injure myself, and I had a good time, so I decided I’ll do it again.
The group goes out every Friday, and I’m planning on bringing Mrs. TOK to join them at least one more time before the weather gets bad. It was a great workout, and what I saw of the scenery was beautiful. It was one of the few times this year that I spent so much time outside, aside from doing yard work.
A few days after my ride, we had some friends over for brunch. One of them asked me about the hand cycle. How much did it cost? I looked it up, and it was in the $3000-$9000 range. He was shocked at the price, and was convinced we could make our own version with old bike parts and a frame he could weld in his shop. With winter coming on, that would be a nice indoor project. I’m not committed enough to buy and store my own bike, but if we could build one for a fraction of the cost, I could be persuaded. We’ll see how that works out.
While the wife and I were running the dogs at the Brunswick ME dog park (while on our vacation), a guy came down the bike trail on a hand-crank full recumbent – cool as hell.
adaptive sports – I don’t know what that is but I don’t like it.
hmmm should have read more I take back the joke
I think most here will forgive snark first, read the article second.
the term did not ring a bell at first and I thought it was something hipster like functional fitness
What article?
I totally understand the initial reaction.
I have been very skeptical of any such term ever since I found out that water sports is not about diving and polo.
d00d…
That explains much
We rode for about 90 minutes that day. – that is pretty good I don’t think I can regular bike hilly area for 90 minutes without a bunch of breaks.
Depends on how good you are at eating and drinking in the saddle. As a rough estimate, you’ll want to be taking in about 100 calories every 30 minutes after the first 45 minutes for an endurance ride. It’s something that’s very easy to miss, and if you get behind, it’s really tough to keep going. It’s also one of the easiest things to miss when you’re starting long rides.
Man, you must get arms like a stevedore doing that.
I would imagine so, riding a few times a week. I’d have a heart like Secretariat too.
You know what else Secretariat had?
Cool!!!
Yeah, that would make for some excellent article content too.
I am fortunate enough to have multiple friends who have the skills to build things. And I would definitely write about it.
I will gladly hold your beer.
DO IT! If you can undercut the market and still make a great product, you’ll be rolling in money. Sounds like the steering mechanism(s) are the first place to start.
I would speculate that the suspension system for a mountain bike version would be pretty critical as well, because TOK doesn’t have the luxury of standing on his pedals when the going gets extra rough.
Some of the road handbikes I’ve seen have been pretty kickass. I’m not surprised that they cost a lot because they seem quite specialized. I also didn’t know that they made mountain bike variants.
Also, my thoughts and prayers still go out to one of my favorite race car drivers, Alex Zanardi. Last update was that he’s still in a coma but making progress after a collision (with a truck) during a handbike race in June.
Oh, that was a thought I had about the full recumbent – such a low profile couldn’t be safe to ride on anything other than a bike path.
The Zanardi accident was piss poor planning on the race organizers part. Blind hairpin turn at the bottom of a hill and they only had one lane blocked off out of two. Truck swung a bit wide on the hairpin, right into the race path at one of the fastest points on the course.
It’s usually very highly recommended (if not mandated by law in various municipalities) to have a bike flag on a recumbent.
As for the price, that’s about the bike shop price level for a mid-range bike. The first time I walked into one with the girlfriend she didn’t understand why they offered financing. Then she saw some bikes that were over $10,000.
He got in another crash? Jeezus.
Yeah, another wrong place, wrong time thing where he got the worst of it.
Dragging this over from the dead thread, on China…
You have to distinguish between what is historical national ambition (split into legitimate concerns, and not so legit) and quasi-ideologic drives. Even the CCP isn’t Trotskyist – you can only find his adherents on college campuses and splinter terrorist groups.
It was a Russian ambition to have a warm water ocean port for only 3 or 4 hundred years, and probably still is if there was some way to pull it off. But we treated the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan as if it was Hitler rolling his tanks into Poland.
The huge mistake that the West is finally waking up to – is that China was going to be remade in our image. The Chinese think much more of themselves than that – they want to remake the world in their image.
Looking at China breaking the deal with Hong Kong and incrementally rolling in ahead of schedule – what makes you think the Chinese leadership sees you in the US as anything special compared to any of the other billion-some-odd people they already rule? As far as they are concerned, the sooner they can get you under their rule the better. If they have to broker a deal with the DNC (to get the camel’s nose into the tent) – that fits just fine into their long term plans.
Well our progressives can certainly see themselves aligned with such a forward-thinking political leadership, can’t they?
Great job, Kevin!
I feel your pain regarding the hockey shutdowns, but good on you for finding another adventure.
You don’t need me to pump your tires, but I admire the hell out of your attitude. Build the bike!
Indiana just got added to Chicago’s naughty list. So now I’m not supposed to go to practice, but I already got the wink and nod from my B team coach.
Sweet!
How much does one of these rigs weigh?
Good question. It felt pretty solid but couldn’t be too heavy.
Aluminum? Carbon fiber? Heaven forbid steel.
I know the lengths hardcore cyclists go to remove just grams.
What? You don’t want a cast iron bike? Maybe spongiform neutronium?
The good thing about neutronium bike is that you are unlikely to fall off.
You should read the short story Neutron Star by Larry Niven. Spoiler*: the physics are wrong, Beowulf Shaeffer would have died.
*Not much of a spoiler, as this is the first of many Beowulf Shaeffer stories, so he was gonna live.
It won the Best Short Story Hugo.
How many years ago?
1966
Beowulf Shaeffer was a hermaphroditic OtherKin? Who knew?
How many years ago?
Back when it still mattered.
Beowulf Shaeffer was a hermaphroditic OtherKin?
Possibly. He was also an albino.
He wasn’t allowed to have a child on Earth, so got Carlos Wu to father his child.
It wasn’t all connected together until later, but Louis Wu of Ringworld was Beowulf’s son.
The cheapest place to drop weight from your cycle is in the saddle.
The saddle or the person in the saddle?
That’s the joke.
It’s the person in the saddle.
I knew a guy who did long mountain rides. One time he spend some money to get 400 grams off his bike and gained 3 kilos of fat. We were surprised as he rode his bike hours every day how did you get fat? He said I felt like eating cake and ate about 500 g of each every day this month
PieInTheSky:
I get the cutting of grams when you’re at the elite level, where every edge counts. It’s just entertaining when you have someone with a gut worrying about the 100 grams that he can cut with a different bottle cage or pedals.
Feinstein Caught Ranting About Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic Religion When She Thought No One Was Listening
Think a Senator ranting about Jews like Feinstein would crack the news?
Depends on the team.
For Feinstein it just Depends.
What does 80 year-old pussy taste like?
Depends…
Boo
No. Omar does it.
It’s all about the benjamins after all.
Something something religious test something something office.
!00 years old and written by white lave owners, yada yada yada.
Yeah, they couldn’t have known anything about religious oppression and goverment.
Louisville was represented by Romano Mazzoli when I was growing up. He was first elected in 1970 and retired before the 1994 election.
He was a Democrat and a devout Catholic. He had 3 big issues: Big social welfare programs, opposition to the death penalty, opposition to abortion. I think all three were, at least in part, due to his religion. Like ACB, he graduated from Notre Dame, but for undergrad, not law school. Like McConnell, he went to the University of Louisville law school.
Anyway, I wonder how he would be treated in the DNC today? Late in his career, he was already falling out of favor, but had been around too long to lose election.
How does the DNC treat other lepers?
I think a big part of this is what you might call ‘prison syndrome’. You go into a prison and learn details about the inmates and it just gets a shrug. Of course they committed an atrocity. They are criminals.
Of course they tell outrageous lies. Of course they are incompetent and corrupt as hell. They are democrats. Stuff like this comes to light and….crickets.
What I don’t understand is the Trump hate from people that dont really have any skin in the game.
I don’t get it either, but I think it boils down to people wanting to identify with the other people they watch on TV. “I enjoy watching Oprah, therefore I will adopt all of her views.” Like I said, I don’t get it but I think people spend more time in their insular fantasy worlds than interacting with people on a normal basis.
And I think there are other fantasy worlds besides TV – social media is one and school is definitely the big one. I remember hating school with a passion because it just seemed like a fake environment – everybody except the teacher was the same age being taught the same thing which is the exact opposite of the real world. I remember being in high school English class and couldn’t wait for class to let out so I could go to my job at the drug store where I saw people of all ages and all job types and family structures just trying to get on with their business rather than making their backgrounds fetish objects. The five hours at work were way more interesting than the five hours in school.
Just like people hate the Dallas Cowboys or LA Lakers – and no one but compulsive gamblers have real skin in that game.
The interesting part is that Feinstein considers it to be an astute observation at this point in the confirmation.
She must be dull.
Senator Feinstein did not know the video was off when she said this, “She’s been pro-life for a long time. So I suspect with her, it is deeply personal and comes with her religion.”
Uh, basic Catholic concept. Abortion is evil. This is hardly disparaging.
What Feinstein is implying is that ACB is not one of the good Catholic that ignore their religion and live generally secular lives.
She mended the Great Schisim! Forget about SCOTUS justice She should be Pope!
And Patriarch!
Good catch
first church-supported sex change
I’m not a Catholic so maybe i’m talking out of my ass, but this seems like “Sexual Preference” redefinition from the right. I don’t think calling someone orthodox is a smear.
If it’s a smear it’s just at the level of misnaming the branch of Christianity someone follows. Most Roman Catholics would probably politely correct them and call themselves observant Catholics.
It’s like using “clip” instead of magazine and sounding like an idiot to gun folks.
You know what non-orthodox Catholics are called? either they’re called heretics or theyre called Protestants (and throughout history, many have been called both).
Obervant/Lapsed is the spectrum used for laity who are/aren’t practicing.
/not a catholic
That’s awesome.
This is great Kevin. I’ve been lucky in that my main exercise/sport (soccer) has been back to normal since June. Outside, in the sun, cannot get much safer. We did the temperature checks for a bit but they stopped right before labor day.
Indoor season is coming up and I am wondering what goofy restrictions they might put in place to keep it going.
I still haven’t understood the magical difference between indoor and outdoor. I’ve had dinner in a heated tent with sides that counts as “outdoor”.
Well sunlight and a breeze presumably helps.
We were at an Oktoberfest event in the evening in a heated tent.
http://www.nbcnews.com
No mention of “Hunter”. Using the site search engine, you eventually get to a reference of an unverified report in the NY Post.
But in their lead story, they have this gem:
Great investigative reporting there guys.
I really love that! They already know that an allegation that has not been made is false, and not only false, there is not even any evidence for it!
I need to find these people and get them to make some stock picks!
Congrats man! That sounds like a lot of fun!
TOK, thanks for the article. You put my efforts to shame.
I get fed up with the ocean of deceit and cowardice out there….then I come here and see an article like this one and it restores some of my faith in humanity. I am privileged to know you people.
Thank you TOK.
Trump should tweet the Post’s Biden story and dare Dorsey to take down his account.
BREAKING: Twitter locked out Trump campaign’s official account for promoting NY Post story; Update: House GOP want emergency Oversight hearing.
Not the Bee.
Oversight of what? I know it’s the world we live in, and i’m not trying to defend twitters actions, i just wish the government wasn’t so powerful that they have “oversight” over random sectors of the private sector.
Because then no one would care that much about the election.
“Since the election is in only 19 days and other Big Tech platforms continuously limit speech based on political ideology, we must immediately hold a hearing to learn who are responsible for making these decisions and what policies enable Big Tech to selectively limit speech on social media. In order to prevent further interference in the 2020 election by Big Tech, we request the Committee hold an emergency hearing on this important matter before November 3,” the letter continues.
Not that I agree, (I don’t) but if the courts can determine that privately owned shopping malls must allow political speech there because they had “become the new town square” (an actual ruling), then it also stands to reason that Twitter and Facebook would be subject to the same rules.
Yup. Like i said, i get it’s the world we live in. I just wish we didn’t sometimes.
Like I said in the last thread, tie it to Section 230 protection. If the platforms aren’t responsible for posting on their platform, then they should have to also not perform an editing function.
It isnt a perfect world, but it is a good balance for the one we live in.
Trump’s Twitter account has already been ruled to be a public square and subject to the first amendment by the courts.
Stare decisis!
Trump was not allowed to block anyone from his Twitter feed because apparently every single utterance he makes is a public record and everyone is allowed to see it.
if there was time, it would be interesting to see how the courts would resolve the conundrum that results from this idiotic decision.
The best (besides good laws) is consistent application of bad laws.
There is no private sector. I wish there was. Facebook and Twitter (and Apple and Microsoft, etc.) have been working hand and hand with the government for a decade. Saying that “Twitter wants Biden to win,” presupposes that Twitter and the prospective Biden government are different entities. They really aren’t. The incestuous relationship between big business and big government right now is pervasive.
And lockdown politics only heightens things. If any businesses can survive the neutron bomb the various governments have detonated with this, which do you think it’s gonna be? The small and independent ones?
I don’t think “Twitter should be stopped,” I just think the “Twitter is a private company that can do as they like” argument is a steaming pile of horseshit. No they aren’t. If they were they’d be a quarter their current size and market share.
I strongly suspect that the connections you are hinting at are the very reason that the Republican and Democrats are united in their opposition to Trump.
there are literally trillions of dollars on the line for millions of people and companies. Trump disrupts the system. Money doesn’t flow where it should be flowing. Backs are not getting scratched.
Whether you credit Trump with cutting back on corruption, or you blame Trump for being too incompetent to properly administer the government and get the slush funds properly slushed, the end result is the same. People are not getting paid, and they want to get paid.
And the biggest lot of people whose pay is under threat are those hangers on who help channel the money. Lobbyists. Politicians. Media companies and pundits. All of those people exist off of the slop that comes around the edges of the corruption.
So they are particularly violent in their opposition.
i just wish the government wasn’t so powerful that they have “oversight” over random sectors of the private sector
I don’t know for sure, but i’m guessing it not that clean or idealistic. How much money do the investors and leaders at Twitter/Facebook/etc pump into the Dem party campaign chests? What special interest laws and exemptions do they get in return? How many law violations that prevent similar startups get handwaved away for Twitter because of their connections?
This is not a freemarket or random sectors of the private market. This is crony-capitalism in action and Twitter essentially just announced that they are a subsidiary of the Democrat party.
Facebook and Twitter Censor Biden Bombshells Weeks After Execs Join His Transition Team
This is unreal.
Anyone old enough to remember the communist regimes of the past is not surprised by any of this. Their mendacity knows no bounds.
It will get worse.
The problem is that half the population is all in on the side of the communists.
Which is why it will get worse. I have the sickening notion that eventually it will come to blows. Eventually means maybe very soon.
So as I was reading this book written in the late 70s (and 10x more applicable today), and the chapter on what damage progressives, et al had done to the family – my only thought was, why has the civil war not already started.
It HAS started, the right just hasn’t started fighting back yet. That may change after the Dems install Biden with fraudulent results.
why has the civil war not already started.
Because most of us are way too comfortable living anonymous lives in a hostile culture.
It’s also really hard to admit defeat at a cultural level.
It was absolutely normal for Communist apparatchiks to get a stint as a manager in a (state-owned) industry. Then they would go back into the party apparatus. Just a typical career.
Damn man. I can’t imagine what happens when you hit that hill that you bonk on.
not a problem if you are keto I assume
Never really researched it. I’m sure there’s other feeding plans that work for that.
Different long riders have different preferred feeding plans already. FFS, there’s some people who actually claim to like GU gels.
Thanks TOK. I love seeing people try new things.
*nudge-nudge* *wink-wink* Say-no-more!
Thanks TOK.
I appreciate your determination. It’s a much needed, refreshing switch from the constant cries of victimhood and trauma from people that in reality have zero problems.
The people I’ve met have been an eye opener for me. I know a lot of vets who lost one or more legs. Those guys play hard at hockey. We play full contact, and they don’t take it easy on you. And when you mess up they let you know it. The only victims are the ones who get smashed into the boards.
You’re welcome everyone. But thanks to the rest of you for writing about all kinds of other interesting things, and thanks to those of you who told me to JUST WRITE AN ARTICLE last week when I mentioned this in a comment somewhere.
Nice read TOK, i’ll admit that i hadn’t heard of adaptive sports before, but it looks really interesting. I too have been a late bloomer to sports and stuff, so its nice to see you doing so well at it.
I love this, Kevin. I’d never be able to do it in a million years, but I love that you did! 😉
Cool article, Kevin. Sounds like there’s some good opportunity to build a business on reduced cost adaptive bikes you could take advantage of! What drives the (IMO excessive) cost of the bikes on the market?
I am guessing insurance and liability. Look at the cost of guns….geez.
Off hand. More parts, more complexity, limited market, limited competition, no economies of scale, etc.
I suspect most of the cost vs. a regular bike is going to building the frame – someone who really knows their welding needs to put that thing together. Plus, as you say, no economies of scale.
Right. Wheels, chains, brakes, . . . lots of standardized parts.
Frames are probably built by hand with or without using small scale jigs. No mass production here.
Still, I know bikes can be expensive, but $3k-$9k seems high even for that. Development of welding jigs for the frames is probably the biggest upfront cost. The rest is linear inches of weld, and fixed costs per unit like hardware and mechanical parts that are likely stock items for bicycles.
Poking around, I was surprised to see chromoly frames – 50 lbs, yikes.
https://reactiveadaptations.com/bomber-rs-offroad-handcycle/
So that price isn’t because it’s some TIG-welded titanium frame…
“Top” of the line traditional mountain bikes also easily run in that price range.
Most high end frames are carbon fiber nowdays, which for full suspension can ballpark at 3K (including the shock though)
A top suspension fork can be 1k+; I’ve never tried them and don’t think I will for quite a while until they come down in price a ton, but carbon fiber wheels are a thing now (supposedly, the carbon fiber wheels can be too stiff, and so they have to put effort into making them flex a bit) which can be 2k for a set.
Add in the disc brakes, drivetrain, dropper post, all that, it adds up.
Of course, you can build/get a great bike for much much cheaper too, it’s a question of how much of the latest and greatest people want to pay for.
There’s also the timeless adage of “light, cheap, and strong – pick two of the three”
TOK, this was fantastic; thank you for sharing with us. I too would love to read more, particularly if y’all move forward with a DIY project. Also, I’m awed by the upper-body strength required for these and would be interested in trying one out just to fix my spindly, little arms.
Trump’s beating the shit out of Biden right now at a giant rally in NC.
I saw shots of a Biden rally. 12 people showed up.
Trump’s rallies are wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder with thousands outside the venue who cant get in.
Local radio show a few days ago. Leftist host, leftist guest. They did their shtick and then thought an ad was running and their mic was off.
One – ” The Biden campaign is the worst campaign in the history of campaigns.”
The other – ” I dont know if that describes exactly how bad it is. No one in their right mind believes he is going to win.”
Then on and o n with more stuff like that until someone figured out that they were on the air and cut the mic.
Well that’s why the Dems have revved the fraud machine into overdrive. They plan to steal the election, and from what I understand with the mail-in ballot returns, they are well on their way.
He only has to top (bottom?) the Clinton ’16 campaign!
The polls are battlespace prep for disavowing the results when Trump sweeps. They’re going to war over losing.
/adjusts tin foil for better Alex Jones reception
Why would they go to war over losing when they are going to win?
/stirring shit up
Oh, they’ll “win”, alright, as they continue to manufacture mail-in ballots after election night once they know how many they’ll need in the urban areas of each swing state to throw the result to Biden. And Dem Senatorial candidates, too.
Given that we see the mendacity of the media every single day, why on earth would anyone believe the polls? Many of them commissioned by the same media organizations and the rest are likely to act just like every other (corrupt) institution in this country.
We’ve seen this shit before, I just never thought we’d see it here.
Didn’t expect to see it here, either… I thought I posted a new thread.
Brooks can help you with that.
Given that 40% of the country still believes Trump stole the 2016 election, if he wins next month despite the opinion polls, there will be at least legal war.
I mean, some Dems were bleating in 2004 because all the exit polls had Kerry winning.
Nothing to do with violent leftists like Antifa and BLM…
there will be at least legal war.
Good thing one side is unarmed.
I would have thought that the video of MAGA bear spray getting his cranial vault emptied all over the street, would have cured us of that notion…
Long before that.
#FreeKyle
And this is why I think all the people saying “see? gun control is dead because sales are through the roof!” are way too optimistic. There’s nothing to say that a sizeable fraction of new purchases aren’t being generated by leftists who are arming up.
Or normies who are afraid of the riots…
Or Glibs on their XX acquisition.
Or Glibs on their XX acquisition.
*whistles innocently while shopping gunbroker*
*schedules boat rental*
I only watched one video of that shooting (not really my cup of tea to watch killings) which was taken from far away. A gunshot is heard then the camera turns to point in the area. There is a big cloud of red/orange vapor there. Was that the bear spray or the brains?
Bear spray.
Pink mist doesn’t stay airborne that long, nor make a large cloud.
Good to know.
Awesomesauce, TOK. Thanks for the article. Hope to hear more about your adventures and the build.
If you’re not aware of him, I recommend Martyn Ashton and his “Random Tandem” series. He takes a slightly different approach to adaptive MTB.
Way back in the 80s, there was a couple of guys that rode a tandem bike in the RAGRAI (the annual ride across Iowa). One guy was paralyzed from the waist down and one was blind.
They made it work, and they did complain. 😉
RAGBRAI.
You left the B out which is an important component of that acronym.
Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa
I pronounced it right in my head. 😉
Simple typo. The original Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa happened when I was in high school. SAGBRAI was the second annual. TAGBRAI was the third annual. Oops FAGBRAI is not acceptable (even in the 70s), so we’ll call it RAGBRAI from that point on.
You Should Absolutely NOT Read The Disgusting, Totally False Story About Joe Biden’s Son That We’ve Linked To In This Article
Heh. Well played, Bee.
Love the Streissand-effect play there.
Also, Merriam-Webster Adds ‘Potentially Offensive’ To Every Definition Just To Be Safe
and from they’re stealing from us again file.
See the WSJ did it with the tech angle. Which I thought was actually rather clever.
Facebook, Twitter Limit Sharing of New York Post Articles That Biden Disputes Joe Biden denies report that says he met with Burisma executive while vice president
Election Interference quite literally means “Bad news for Democrats”.
Said interference almost always being the release of their own documents or recorded statements.
Ted Cruz is being interviewed by CNBC right now regarding the Jack Dorsey subpoena. I’m surprised given the blatant NBC partisanship, but now they are playing the “if we go after big tech we’ll lose to China” card.
LOL WUT
Apparently the only way to compete with China is to be even more censorious.
We must not allow a censorship gap.
The people making the complaint are already in bed with china, so I suspect they’re just lying for whatever advances their own cause.
Apparently the only way to compete with China is to be even more censorious.
Tom Friedman’s boner wipes out half of NYC.
Very impressive. It was interesting to read about the bike handling.
It’s one of those days where the meetings are scheduled back to back.
Luckily I reminded that I had bought spare ribs, so I should start those cooking.
Is that the correct usage if reminded?
No, not even close. But not a problem, its not like he is an author or anything.
Review and editing time on comments ~= 0s
It’s not like anyone reads my work or anything.
😛
I’m reminded of this meme I saw for the first time this past week.
*remembered that I had bought **short ribs
I was just interviewing a guy for an internship and he wrapped up the interview by saying “hey I have class at 2, is it alright if we end this call?”
On one hand, that should be a bad answer…however, it’s kind of bad-ass and I like it
Better than, “Nah, we can continue on, I regularly blow off that class anyway.”
Yeah he also had a summer internship that fell through due to COVID, so he got a job at the beach working a restaurant (and then let it slip that some of his friends collected unemployment this summer and it pissed him off).
We still have future shitlords in the ranks.
Double-plus good.
guy has priorities and asserts himself which means he’s not a pussy and he’s independent.
I, for one, like this young shitlord. My advice is to offer him the position. He sounds like somebody that will try to be value added.
It sounds to me like he’s trying to balance priorities. It would be a +1 in my book.
hire that man.
To me it just means he doesn’t plan well.
Nah we scheduled it from 1-2, so he was on time.
If he was locked into the time, he should have let you know from the start that he had a prior commitment.
You of all people should like a guy who likes to be on-time.
Premature is not prompt.
I was always told that to be early was to be on time.
I think I’d prefer that limitation be dropped in at the beginning of the call, but getting the hell off a lingering call with superiors is a good skill to have.
Kamala Harris suspends travel after two people linked to Biden campaign test positive for coronavirus
Super
Spreader
Willie Brown agrees.
thank you for running with that.
Well, with that kind of opening.
Hi-yo!
Cleveland breathes a sigh of relief.
They’ve done their damnedest to keep her in the background so she doesn’t outshine Biden’s feeble light. She’s an alienation machine and they can’t risk making her look like the top of the ticket rather than VP. So blaming it on Covid is like… well, like blaming Biden’s basement campaign on Covid.
It’s the Biden campaign’s carelessness and disdain for science what done it.
that looks so fun, glad youre kicking ass! I wanna try it
TOK – Great article and great adventure.
On-topic (for a change): There was a CF gym owner who started something maybe 8 years ago called “The Working Wounded Games.” He had a background in rehab – for people with serious injuries/birth anomalies – and he coined the term “adaptive athlete.” At first it was principally wounded vets missing limbs, or burned over half their body, etc., but quickly included non-vets. I used to volunteer and help judge the event every year and my biggest takeaway was this: people who were paralyzed or otherwise significantly disadvantaged, none of those folks wanted, nor needed, my pity. They were just like the guys and gals (fully-limbed) that I always played sports with: exact same. And they wanted to be treated the “same,” within the context of their specific limitation. After getting to know a lot of them, I realized for a lot of years that my discomfort around people with physical limitations was my own emotional issue. Once I got past it, I came to love those annual events. Always reminded of that D.H. Lawrence poem that Viggo Mortensen quotes in GI Jane:
Glad you’re out kicking ass, TOK. And thank god our ice hockey league has been going on through most of this. I don’t think anyone will ever appreciate how important these small ways in which we gather together are to people – especially a free people – and to a productive society.
That is exactly what I found. I was never around other disabled people until I got into sports. My first practice inChicago I realized they were every but as competitive as anyone else.
For a lot of disabled people their sports are the only thing keeping them going. That’s what I hate most about the lockdowns. There is life, and there is quality of life, and for many people quality of life that they worked so hard for is gone.
Live in defiance, no less, no more, I will not be a slave,
They were just like the guys and gals (fully-limbed) that I always played sports with: exact same. And they wanted to be treated the “same,” within the context of their specific limitation. After getting to know a lot of them, I realized for a lot of years that my discomfort around people with physical limitations was my own emotional issue. Once I got past it, I came to love those annual events.
This is almost verbatim how I feel about Special Olympics. Back when I used to volunteer with them, the discomfort quickly washed away when the immediately recognizable joy of accomplishment shined through. These kids often couldn’t speak, but they loved competing.
Struggles are struggles. Limitations are limitations. But people are people.
Surly Knott, arent; you in Holland? lets meet at New Holland berewy for a pint and maybe party,
Holland is offensive. They prefer the term Nether Regions.
where are you Leon? lets drink!
I’m out west in Utah. If you swing by anytime i’d be glad to take you to the local Brewery.
Is that where they should meet?
Taint the place you want to be.
I’m in Lansing. Sadly, beer is a no-go due to issues with wheat.
Gluten intolerance? Most beers don’t use wheat, but barley (which also has gluten). How’s cider?
My wife is GF – cider is a-ok. A couple not-terrible GF beers out there too (Glutenberg is solid)
There’s also the gluten reduced beer. After testing one of the additives that is added for clarity for beer (Clarity Ferm) was found to also greatly reduce gluten content to below the threshold for gluten free products.
Off the top of my head, I believe Stone Delicious IPA is made with it, but I’m not sure of any others.
No, gluten is fine. It’s the various short chain saccharides. The Low FODMAPS diet is (mostly) my friend.
Sadly, apples, one of my favorite fruits, are also right out, so I’m skeptical about cider.
One of my bigger problems is watching out for inulin; it shows up in the oddest places, it’s in flour, and it’s a problem for my guts.
I really didn’t want to spend my retirement years on a restricted diet, but so it goes. (We won’t even get into alcohol’s interactions with too many of my meds. sigh)
It’d be interesting to see what fermentation would have done to break up those sugar chains. But that’s above my level of knowledge of fermentation and sugars.
Yow, I’d be surly too!
where are you Leon? lets drink!
I notice yesterday that reddit changed their app icon back to the regular icon from the BLM support icon. Any other places that were touting BLM that have dropped it?
I’ve been posting periodically updates, but my company’s BLM/woke matching-gift program that was announced to great fanfare a couple months ago has been quietly shuffled off to the side.
We’re still only up to 102 donations out of ~ 9,000 employees.
(I’m shocked they haven’t quashed the public availability of those numbers).
https://reactjs.org/docs/getting-started.html
React.js ( Facbook maintained Javascrip library) also had BLM stuff all over there docs, and now that is gone too.
same story with Django
Where I work they still called our Monday off “Columbus Day”. No BLM virtue signal. No “hate has no home here”. None of it. It’s a smaller firm, though, and I don’t expect the emphasis on work and not outside politics will last long. The owner is older and the younger guys that will eventually replace him are all in on the virtue signal. They’re convinced that it’s a winning strategy.
reddit is still a raging cesspool of Trump hate. Not dislike; foaming at the mouth, want to murder wrongthinkers, all people who disagree with me are Nazis, hate
Oh the glorious future of our all-encompassing communication via the internet!
*insert Winston here*
Of course. Just fun to see how much the corporate people doing this really _don’t_ care
Pushed aside until the next flavor of the week comes along.
Nice article.
I’ve mentioned quite a few times that there are a lot of biking trails in the state forest that borders my house. But they’re almost all single-track so too narrow for anything with two wheels side by side. The gravel road that goes through (well, did go through before the ends were blocked off) is wide enough, but not maintained, so it probably wouldn’t be suitable for an adaptive bike either.
I never go into mountain biking because I always felt more comfortable on my own two feet, and because a lot of the time I’ve been out on the trails I’ve had a dog with me that has to be kept on a leash.
Hand bikes are a lot of work. I had enough of them after physical therapy. Hats off to you.
neph, I bough a growler today, what are the rules? do I clean it up myelf? or do they do it befoe hand?
You clean it.
That is AWESOME TOK! Love it and you put my lazy ass to shame.