Before I moved to Salt Lake City to cement my relationship with Jessi, we courted. It was fun because every other month or so I’d fly to Salt Lake or Jessi would fly to Minneapolis. We would give each other the tourist treatment. I’d take Jessi to worthwhile hotspots in Minneapolis, and she’d give me glimpse into her world in trade.
Robert “Bob” Vandegrift is a consummate professional. He provided custom documentation record worksheets to record our findings, as we worked our way through the census records and other documentation. He’s helped settle several cases to correctly determine family heirs. It was a great way to meet a potential family member and learn what their passion is.
The genealogy library is one of the most unique amenities available in Salt Lake City, I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to visit. You take several hours and dig into just one branch of your family tree. Continue reading →
Luckily I had a professional by my side so if we hit what seemed like a dead end, he knew of all the alternative methods to continue our research.
We traced just my family name, Foell, up to the emigration point, and along the way discovered a Dubuque, Iowa county history book that had a few paragraphs written about my great-great-great grandfather (and his father as well).
I have a single speed bike. I chose a single speed for it’s simplicity. I just get on it and pedal. It has suited me well for about 6 years. The only thing that has changed is kids.
These darn kids, they start at 6 or 7 pounds and eat and grow, and grow and eat and never seem to stop! I used to carry Jules on the back of my bike in a babyseat that attaches to the rear rack. Then Marlo came along and I had the opportunity to buy a Chariot trailer from my friend whose two kids were now riding on their own.
With the added drag of the trailer, and the additional weight of two kids, I found myself doing the walk of shame up steep hills more often than not. I needed another gear, but I’m fond of my good ol’ Redline 29er.
There were a couple of options:
Nuvinci N360 (which I still might get if I save my duckets)
I chose the SRAM Automatix because it’s inexpensive, and it’s hackable. There are a few articles out there outlining how to change the shift point on the SRAM Automatix, so I won’t go into the mechanical detail on how to do it. You can read thosearticles for instructions.
Regular Gear + High Gear
Most people are “unwinding” the shift spring to give the Automatix a shift point at a greater speed. This allows them to have a “normal” gear and then a “high gear” for puttin’ the spurs to it.
I actually wanted to do the opposite.
Low Gear + Regular Gear
I wanted the shift point to be lower, so that I can use the low gear under 10mph for climbing and the high (regular) gear for “normal” cruising.
Trying to get a comfortable shift-point on the Automatix can be tricky because there are a number of factors that determine which speed it shifts at. First is wheel size – the shift point is based on rotation speed, so it will shift at a much faster moving speed on a small-wheeled folding bike than on a 29er. The larger wheel will take you farther per rotation.
You also want it to jive with your cadence. On my 29er with the stock 34t crankset, it shifted at about 14mph. My cadence was ridiculously high at that point.
To get the low-speed gearing right, I switched from the stock 19 tooth to a 20 tooth gear. This gave me the stock mountain bike, low-gear ratio that my Redline came with. Great for going up hills.
I needed to “wind” the shift spring just a tiny bit to bring the shift point down. It doesn’t take much when winding, as winding the spring actually loosens the pressure it puts on the shifting mechanism. Less than 45° did it for me
That change was enough to put the shift point at about 10.5MPH on by bike, which is a good balance for slogging up hills, and just cruisin’. Now I only have to do the walk of shame on the steepest inclines.
No I haven’t been giving my 2-year-old wine, scotch, or beer. The point is, I don’t have to. She acts like a drunk 24/7. If you don’t believe me, I present for your amusement, the ways a 2-year-old is like a drunk…
They’re easily incited. If a chant is started, they’ll quickly join in, whether or not the chant goal meets their needs, they just want to join in the fun.
They slur their speech. New parents and greek house members quickly catch on to drunk-ese and can translate for those who are otherwise intelligently sober.
They will repeat themselves ad nauseum. You will likely have to verbally acknowledge what they’re saying or simply tell them to be quiet to get them to stop.
They’re riding an emotional roller-coaster. One moment it’s hysterical laughter, the next moment they’re crying uncontrollably. Your particular drunk (or 2-year-old) may have a propensity for anger and violence. Steer clear or you might get hit, slapped, punched, kicked, or bitten.
They think they can dance. This is the single most entertaining thing about drunks and 2-year-olds. I could watch a toddler dance all day long. I myself have thought I could dance on occasion while inebriated. I’m sure the others around me were both embarrassed and delighted by the spectacle.
It’s just a matter of time before they’ll fall down. I actually like to play a game when I see a toddler running. I simply count. I keep counting until they fall down. It’s usually not more than 60 seconds. 30 seconds is a good run, but sooner or later they’ll hit the pavement. Drunks aren’t much different but they have a greater mastery of the ‘wobble.’ They’ll use whatever is at their disposal: walls, sign-posts, furniture, other people – to stay upright.
It’s also just a matter of time before they pee themselves.
Be safe when you’re drinking folks and take care of yo’ babies!
My son Jules loves trains. I like trains too and my enthusiasm was probably the seed that grew into his obsession. My good friend Joe bought Jules a copy of “Trainz Railroad Simulator” for Christmas a year ago. It was in the bargain bin at Mills Fleet Farm:
Still at $180, I wasn’t about to buy the Train Cab Controller, which would certainly make the game infinitely more complex for a 5 year old. Trainz has a “DCC mode” which allows you to control the trains very simply like they are model trains: with a dial.
When it arrived, I downloaded and installed their driver software. It renders terribly in Windows 7 (it was probably last updated for Windows XP):
The “click” and “long click” actions are hidden in the interface (you can only see 4 at a time). But they’re there, you just need to highlight an action, and arrow down until you get to others.
For the Trainz Simulator setup, I added the following settings:
Rotate Right: Send Key – W (forward)
Rotate Left: Send Key – X (reverse)
These keys control the forward/reverse dial in the game. I set the sensitivity fairly high (see screenshot) so a turn of the Powermate would closely match what you saw onscreen.
Click: Send Key – S (stop)
Long Click: Send Key – A (apply brake)
“S” stops the train by putting the dial immediately back to zero, so a quick click is an easy way to stop. Trains are heavy though and the “A” key normally applies the brake, so I added a long click action to apply the brake – I like to think of the long click like pressing the brake pedal in a car.
Enjoy
It works exactly as I imagined: simple! You can see the “dial” on the screen and the Powermate glowing under Jules’ hand that now controls it. Easy peasy.
Both the Griffin Powermate and Trainz Simulator (newer versions) are available for Mac OSX so Apple loving trainiacs won’t be left out.
What the heck is an S24O? It’s an acronym invented by famed Rivendell Bicycle builder Grant Peterson. It stands for Sub-24 Hour Overnight and he writes about it in his book “Just Ride”. Put simply, it’s a bike overnight where you’re gone for less than 24 hours. Since it’s short and you travel by bike, it limits the amount of “crap” you can bring.
I (possibly foolishly) convinced my family to embark on a 16 mile bike ride to the nearest campground, at Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Preserve. It wasn’t foolish because we lacked the muscle or equipment to undertake this endeavor, it was foolish for other reasons… Continue reading →
Getting There
A month before we embarked, I scoped out the route. This was good because the trails in Anoka County are extremely poorly marked. I got lost no less than 5 times. Plus I found two shortcuts that weren’t offered by Google Maps which would shorten the distance.
I made a time-lapse of my scouting trip using my GoPro:
We chose to actually go from Friday to Saturday – so we could have a full day of recovery before work on Monday. One thing about leaving early afternoon Friday that I didn’t anticipate was rush hour traffic – I work from home so I’ve purposely forgotten most of the drudgery of “regular” daily life. Traffic wasn’t especially bad, but it felt like everyone behind the wheel had some pent up angst.
An old bike-commuting coworker once told me that morning traffic is much more agreeable than afternoon traffic. People can use you as an excuse to be late to work. They’ll drive politely, and then can twist the blame if their boss asks. “I was late because of bicyclists.” But in the afternoon they need to get home, or else.
So we got buzzed by a couple of jerks that needed to get on the freeway ASAP, only to crawl along the interstate at the beginning of rush hour. Meanwhile, crossing the interstate meant we were onto the trail, so long suckers!
What to Bring
With the route set, I knew to allot around 2 hours for riding (plus breaks) so we could schedule accordingly. But what to bring? Some things were obvious, but what do you omit and what are must-haves? Here is what our packing list looked like:
Shelter, clothes & bedding
1 Tent
3 Sleeping bags
3 Small pillows
Toothbrushes & toothpaste
Minimal clothes for the next day
Fire & food
Lighter & newspaper
Firewood purchased at campground
Grill grate at campsite
Picnic table at campsite
1 Cooking pot
1 Skewer for hot dogs and marshmallows
4-person tableware set
Hot dogs & s’mores for dinner
Bacon & eggs, with instant coffee for breakfast
Other
Flashlight (bike light)
Multi-tool (knife/scissors)
Paper towels and/or baby wipes
Bug spray
We identified a couple of things that we need to better the trip next time. One was a lantern for hanging out at the picnic table. My bike light is bright, almost too bright. It was sort of like being in the interrogation room with it shining right at you.
Also, a camp-dedicated cooking pot would be nice. Our normal kitchen one went home looking like it had endured the worst, now scorched and soot-covered.
But that’s the best part of the S24O – if you forgot something, you’ll live. You can remember it for next time and not worry because you’re there for less than a day.
Our S24O looks a lot like car camping, minus the car:
The Romper Room
My wife warned me about camping with a 16 month old. We had just come off a month-long stint of Jessi’s mom staying with us and helping out with the kids. Grandma had been sharing a room with our 16 month old Marlo, and they had gotten into a good nighttime routine with minimal interruptions.
I assumed her sleeping habit had gotten to a point where Marlo would go to sleep when tired, and she’d respect everyone else in the tent, just like she did when she was in her crib and grandma was in her bed in the same room.
Boy was I wrong.
Jessi went to bed with the baby around 8PM. But Marlo had no intentions of sleeping. The sheer thought of everyone in this nylon fabric box sent her into a frenzy. She scooted and climbed all over everyone with laughter and cheers. At several points no one could contain their own laughter because she was laughing and clapping joyously. This lasted for 3 HOURS. 11PM was the magic hour when laughter turned to tears, and a few minutes being held by mom turned into everyone finally getting some rest.
But the sleep was not good, because I have a 2-man tent and we were 4 – two adults and two of the wildest, tossing-est, turning-est children ever. Then once we did fall asleep we were awoken by the sounds of a meddling raccoon. That bastard stole the last of the s’mores! Judging by his heft, he didn’t need any more s’mores 🙂
Turns out both my parents and Jessi’s parents have similar horror stories of going camping with children of a similar age. Some of those children may have been me. But we didn’t hear these stories until we returned and told how our own trip unraveled. I guess the next generation is doomed to repeat the same mistakes.
Even though some parts weren’t “fun,” we’ll surely remember it forever, and always tell the tale. As Grant Peterson put it:
If they hate it, it’s only a night, and they’ll still be proud as they brag to their friends how much they hated it, and they’ll be secretly glad they did it.
