... with my wonderful new e-bike. That was yesterday, when it was overcast and chilly. Today, sunny and almost 50°, which is nicely warm for Wisconsin in March.
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Well, for starters, we have to purify ourselves in the waters of Lake Waubesa...
After, for us in NC, a particularly cold and wet late-winter, we're finally getting a few 70 degree days in a row. Makes the hikes with dog a lot more palatable.
Now that all of my friends and family in the real world know, I guess I'm safe to spill the news online.
Wifey is pregnant. Due in July. It's a girl. She's, by all accounts, perfectly healthy and developing as expected. No morning sickness for wifey, baby bump is showing, name selection has begun.
We're both very excited to welcome our first child into the world. Depending on how it goes, we're hoping for 2 or 3 more. Enough to replace us, and then some.
Congrats Kyzernick! God bless.
If you call her Sue maybe she'll be a lawyer.
Lovely lake. Smooth as a glass-topped coffee table.
If someone asks how far you biked do you tell them you cheated?
The lakes in west central Wisconsin are also smooth, but with ice.
Congrats, K.
@Kyzernick, blessings on you and your child.
"No morning sickness for wifey, baby bump is showing, name selection has begun."
I suggest Laslo.
Even if it's a boy.
The Germans have a word for this.
I see that Cabela's is selling 9mm at $11 per 50 rounds. Which is down from $12 or $13 per 50 a few months ago. I also see that they have AR-15s from Smith&Wesson, and Ruger priced under $700.
The FBI background checks are showing the same numbers as 2017.
I assumed that all the gun grabbing chatter in the news would have pushed those numbers up. I'll check again next week.
I have no problem with ebikes. So long as they are banned from bike lanes and the ban is enforced.
Congratulations Kyzernick!
I recommend July 9 as a birthdate. It's a fine day for children to be born.
Where are Waubesans?
Where are Waubesans?
Next to the Wingrans.
The city of Seattle is pursuing owner-less bikes. The bikes lay around neighborhoods like so much litter. You download the app, and pay some small amount to ride the bike for an hour. When you are done riding, you just dismount, and leave the bike where ever you please.
The problem is Seattle is not a river city. This is a city full of significant hills. You walk off the boat on the waterfront, and you are soon climbing a 300 ft hill over a 10 block distance. The rumor is that they everyone rides down the hill, but they have to pay someone to take the bikes back to the top.
I can see a lot of analogies to the broken window economic model.
Piece of advice on the bicycle. Never turn upside down (to oil, change tire, etc.) with battery in sleeve (if it is like my Currie/ezip, the battery is heavy and the battery sleeve is not very tough). Also do not assume that the battery lock is worth anything. The battery on this type of ebike is extremely expensive and any strong person could probable rip it out of the sleeve with one pull/sell it on ebay. Not a great idea to ever leave this type of bicycle locked outside, but even if you have to do it for 5-10 minutes, take the battery with you!
DNC Chairman Tom Perez apparently said in an interview on MSNBC yesterday that including a question on citizenship on the 2020 Census is a form of "not very subtle voter suppression".
But I thought the Democrats told us that illegal immigrants didn't vote.
To follow-up, a replacement Bosch battery (PowerPack 400) for that Trek looks like it costs over $700. You might be able to get a chinese knock-off for less. Its the one security concern with a really nice ebike. It has a component worth over $500 that's not secured. And if someone comes up and grabs it off your ebike you lose the ability to quickly chase them down. That's why not bad idea to carry a weapon and/or weaponize your ebike if riding alone. I have pepper spray in a convenient holder on my handlebar.
I have an electric bike. It also folds in half to throw in the hatchback. It's a Dillenger bike from Australia. I bought it new for $400 on Kickstarter.
It's not as good looking, but I used it a lot to go out to my mailbox which is 1000 feet from the house, and also at the swap meet, as you can put a big basket above the rear wheel. Works good in the rain.
The battery is larger. There is a key that you use to turn on the bike, and the same key is used in a second place to remove the battery. The key is like a car key, nice and big.
I believe it is enough of a deterrent that a thief wouldn't just steal the battery, but the whole bike.
Is Lake Waubesa in the same lacustrine community as Lake Wobegon? And has the latter filed for a name change after Garrison Keillor was made an unperson?
More seriously, many felicitations to you, Kyzernick, and your growing family.
And has the latter filed for a name change after Garrison Keillor was made an unperson?
It's now Lake Woke.
"The FBI background checks are showing the same numbers as 2017."
Up a bit in February, March numbers we have to wait for another 2-3 weeks, but I bet these will be significantly up.
Note that 2016 was enormous for gun sales.
I keep saying this, but it bears repeating - gun sales are a metric of social anxiety among the class inclined to buy guns. This is a very personal political response, however unconscious it often is.
$5,000 for a bike! Should link to that through the portal 🙄
And gun sales seem to have no correlation with crime rates.
Hunting licenses issued have been flat since 2000
Chuck -- what's your reaction to the appointment of Fred Ridley as Chairman of ANGC?
"The city of Seattle is pursuing owner-less bikes. The bikes lay around neighborhoods like so much litter. You download the app, and pay some small amount to ride the bike for an hour. When you are done riding, you just dismount, and leave the bike where ever you please."
They had something like that in China and it was a disaster.
"To follow-up, a replacement Bosch battery (PowerPack 400) for that Trek looks like it costs over $700. You might be able to get a chinese knock-off for less. Its the one security concern with a really nice ebike. It has a component worth over $500 that's not secured. And if someone comes up and grabs it off your ebike you lose the ability to quickly chase them down. That's why not bad idea to carry a weapon and/or weaponize your ebike if riding alone. I have pepper spray in a convenient holder on my handlebar."
I always assume there are thieves everywhere. I won't disclose my self-defense methods, because I always assume people may read my blog looking for ways to hurt me. Don't worry: I'm as suspicious about crime as sanity and logic permit.
"$5,000 for a bike! Should link to that through the portal."
The one I got -- the one I wanted -- is the last one on the page, at $2,300. Well worth it for me to be able to bike at the level Meade is at and to keep my attitude good when faced with hills.
"This is a city full of significant hills. "
It is hilarious to see cars sliding down hills sideways in winter after a big snow storm or especially after a sleet storm.
I'd love a folding bike but my legs are too long. I'd have to put the seat way up to ride properly. And look like a dork.
They're made for short people.
"...look like a dork."
If you spread your legs going downhill you can fan the fur, unless your pooch covers it.
If you spread your legs going downhill you can fan the fur, unless your pooch covers it.
No true Scotsman would do that.
Seen at Drudge (headline):
........CLASH OF TITANS: COOK REBUKES ZUCKERBERG
................PRIVACY A 'HUMAN RIGHT'
I'm thinking judicious behavior to maintain privacy would be a basic human RESPONSIBILITY.
Which leads me to wonder ... does PERSONAL SAFETY fit in the same category? If so, it must of needs include the MEANS TO DEFEND one's personal safety, and the RESPONSIBILITY for the proper use of those means.
$2300 for a bike used to be crazy. But now you can spend that and more and not even get the full mid-range Campy gruppo or anything titanium. And, let's face it, without Campy and titanium, what's the point? You will never win the criterium.
Increasingly I see the point of Prof A's investment. Just get out there and enjoy.
Any reported incidents of bikejackers/bikenabbers?
Prof Althouse how do you like your new bike? I have convinced my partner to try one of these electric bikes when weather is better and it's due to your posts when you first bought bike a month ago.
I am considering retrofitting my bike with a mid-drive motor kit. No matter what, when I put that helmet on, I'll look like a dork. Well, why not ? I AM a dork.
Just ordered "Who We Are and How We Got Here" - David Reich on Althouse Amazon Kindle
Razib Khan's review in NR -
David Reich Human Genes Reveal History
On the whole, there are no surprises here if you have been keeping up with Razib Khan, but it seems a sound survey of current knowledge which may be surprising even to educated people.
Read Razib Khan and get this book.
They had something like that in China and it was a disaster.
What's the evergreen response to such a statement?
"Yeah, but this time we have fixed all the problems!"
It is hilarious to see cars sliding down hills sideways in winter after a big snow storm or especially after a sleet storm.
Portland has the best videos of ground loops, and side-swipes in Subarus. Coexist with this!!
Seattle held the title for losing garbage trucks on Cherry Street. The brakes would fail, and the driver would side-swipe cars all the way down the hill while trying to bring the garbage truck to a halt. I don't think it has happened in the last 40 years, but I loved sharing these news clippings during show-n-tell.
Buwaya: "...Read Razib Khan and get this book."
OK, OK! It is so hard to keep up with you, but since you insist I will take a closer look.
“Prof Althouse how do you like your new bike? I have convinced my partner to try one of these electric bikes when weather is better and it's due to your posts when you first bought bike a month ago.”
Love it. Speaking only abour Trek: the feeling of riding a regular bike is excellent. You just feel power and certainly not like you’re riding a motorbike.
Kyzernick, congratulations! You're in for great fun.
I keep saying this, but it bears repeating - gun sales are a metric of social anxiety among the class inclined to buy guns.
If you graph the numbers before, and after Sandy Hook, then you can see a spike in the number of background checks after the event. I'm pretty sure you can see other gun-grabber events in the FBI background check data.
Yes, I agree with your assessment as well.
If you're considering purchasing an ebike I recommend Court Rye's web site where he's been reviewing essentially every ebike that has come out over the last 5-6 years. I'll let you google it instead of posting a link to commercial site. Ann's happens to be Court's favorite Trek ebike.
That good to know, Prof Althouse. My partner was wondering how much horsepower and torque the e-bikes have.
Thanks for suggestion, Virgil Hilts.
Saw the most evil comment I have ever seen on Facebook in a large group for local parents. A young woman with an unexpected pregnancy asked for advice about what to do, and even though the young woman had already stated her desire to either keep the child or give the child up for adoption, a well-spoken young mother tried to persuade her to get an abortion. Gobsmacked.
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