What are your jeans doing today?

[ATWM]

We all have our weird tradeoffs.

I had a sinus injury when I was young, so I’m not sure I can taste/smell as well as the average person, but the romance over gas is something I truly cannot comprehend. Induction is faster, more precise, cleaner (air and surface). My brother who is an intrepid cook who does understand the difference in more subtle ways changed about two years ago, motivated at least in part by having a young child with asthma - and wonders why he was hesitant. For our part, we’re just slowly trying to electrify our home over time as we can afford, and this was just one step in that. 

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

^ as you mentioned briefly in your last sentence, induction stoves that match the quality (of cooking) of gas stoves are much more expensive than their gas counter parts. At least that’s how it is here. I’m not sure it’s romance, I think it’s a much more practical. 

[Cold Summer]

I much prefer electric stoves but it's entirely because they're so easy to keep clean, just wipe down the flat surface and you're done. Cleaning my gas stove is annoying and time consuming that I don't even care if it cooks better or not.

[julian-wolf]

I think my (somewhat strong) preference for gas is rooted in some of my favorite pots & pans not having fully flat bottoms. A small saucier will operate very differently if it’s only heated from the bottom; a wok won’t operate at all. That said, I’m sure that when we inevitably do make the switch to induction, it’ll just take a year or two to forget I ever had any complaints

[ATWM]

43 minutes ago, Hopethisoneisnttaken said:

^ as you mentioned briefly in your last sentence, induction stoves that match the quality (of cooking) of gas stoves are much more expensive than their gas counter parts. At least that’s how it is here. I’m not sure it’s romance, I think it’s a much more practical. 

Yea I totally understand not switching due to cost. I’m speaking more about all the waxing poetic about it that I’ve seen here in the US - advertising and lobbying really and then people buying into it. There has been a lot of money spent trying to make people think gas is the best, and to actively invest in it - and it’s been done largely by utilities who just want to sell gas - the fossil fuel industry. 
 

@julian-wolf You're right though. We had to ditch our wok (which was also our only pan that lacked the magnetic properties needed). I do miss that a bit, but only when I’m reminded of it! There is a bit of an adjustment. 

[CSL]

Being in an off-grid situation we're on propane. Like KOTH Hank's barbeque except it's a 500 gallon tank. Used to be affordable. Now it costs a f'in fortune. 
I've been curious about induction cookers. I suspect they're a big current draw which is problematic for us.

 

 

[ATWM]

5 minutes ago, CSL said:

Being in an off-grid situation we're on propane. Like KOTH Hank's barbeque except it's a 500 gallon tank. Used to be affordable. Now it costs a f'in fortune. 
I've been curious about induction cookers. I suspect they're a big current draw which is problematic for us.

 

 

I can’t speak to the particulars, but whatever the additional draw is I can say we haven’t really noticed it on our electric bill. That might not be helpful as I’m not sure what sort of rationing you’d have to do. There was already a 220 line next to the gas line that was installed before we bought our house, that was lucky.

We did notice our bill change a little when switched to EV and a plug in hybrid (our mileage is generally fairly low, most miles total are electric) - maybe 12-13k a year for spread across two cars.

Edited August 21 by ATWM

[CSL]

^^^For us the problem is not the increased usage, rather that our system can't handle big current draws without turning on the generator. 

During the day, sun on the panels will handle most things, but from twilight on it's a different story...

Edited August 21 by CSL

[julian-wolf]

These days, pretty sure you can get induction (or electric) cookers with pretty big built-in batteries that are made to handle an hour or two of heavy draw per day without added stress to the system—could be worth looking into

[CSL]

^^^Good to know. I'll look into that.

[rodeo bill]

I've just got back from a week around Albuquerque New Mexico, which was totally made by extremely kind recommendations from @chicote. We're so grateful- thank you!

Most of my photos are of family, but here are a some solo/landscape highlights, some including Working slack jeans:

landscape just outside Corrales, where we were staying, on the way to a site of hundreds of Native American petroglyphs:

which appear on rocks where black 'glaze' of oxidised iron is scratched away to make a lighter mark of the rock beneath:

they were not easy to spot, here's a close up:

we also saw a coyote clambering over the rocks, and the rest of my family saw a thorny devil (aka hornytoad, squirts blood out of its eyes), and we saw lots of anole lizards and 5-line skinks.

Throwing a rock across the Rio Grande:

the riverbed is almost totally dry at this time of year, where we were:

best meals we had (we returned!) were at Itality in Albuquerque, on a plaza for indigenous-owned businesses, serving entirely vegetable local Native American food. It was fantastic, this photo doesn't really do the food justice but the stew was great (lentils, green chiles, summer squash), as were the 'pueblo tacos', and fry bread, which has a problematic history (devised from US-provided rations during enforced relocation), but seems to be a part of the NM culture now and tastes really good:

up nearer Santa Fe the altitude is seriously high, and the clarity of light is spectacular. It's also a lot less hot, and a lot greener:

Just outside the Jemez pueblo there's a calcium carbonate (chalk right?) 'frozen' waterfall:

inside we found a crystal clear pool of water coming from a drip in the ceiling. Don't judge me, I tasted it, tasted like Topo Chico no lie

Fenton lake, at the end of the same drive up into the mountains:

the best bit for me was our visit to Sky City, the Acoma people's Pueblo- it's a long drive through pretty much desert to get there, but the landscape changes so radically with the geology that the drive itself was one of the best bits. It's at the top of a mesa (flat top mountain) and we got a bus up, and a tour by a woman whose family have a home there. Here's the view from the top:

 

and the streets:

a stairway to the skies (the top horizontal is a cloud, the verticals are rain)

bread oven:

the walk down is on very steep steps cut into the rock, with scooped hand holds:

on our last day we went to Tinkertown, halfway up to Sandia Peak, which is the mountain that looks over Albuquerque. It's barely describable, but it's a gallery/workshop/home of Ross Ward, who was a sign painter and model maker. There are thousands of carved figures and scenes, a lot of them automata, mostly in the circus/fairground vernacular. Plus a boat that his brother built and sailed around the world, plus vast collections of pretty much anything you can imagine, all jammed into tight wooden corridors and rooms built out of concrete with thousands of glass bottles set into them, which act as windows, like this:

bonus picture, I thought it was really cool that construction workers had hard hats with clip-on wide brims and sun/insect nets:

Again, @chicote I'm just so grateful for all the time you took putting this itinerary for us together, I think we did all but one thing you suggested, which was too far of a drive. Best trip in ages.

 

[julian-wolf]

Trying hard to get back into climbing after close to two years mostly off 

 

feat. Union Special Daisy Mae, Columbiaknit rugby, M41059, Bootleggers chalk bag, Acopa Chameleons

Edited August 28 by julian-wolf

[chicote]

^ Wishing you luck!! I got back into climbing a couple of months ago also and almost immediately reactivated both my old hand injuries on some overhang routes. Trying to practice through it when I can but I’m still back down to only 1-2 times a week lol. Hope you are having fun climbing again!!

[scooby]

I've been climbing less but feeling stronger lately

I tore a pulley in my ring finger earlier this year and the rest I took during the healing process really helped me 

Occasionally taking longer breaks is good - all of that bad muscle memory can potentially get wiped out

and remembering you're ultimately there to enjoy yourself helps, too

 

My gym has also left me feeling humbled lately, and it's most certainly lit a fire

 

[julian-wolf]

Thanks @chicote. At this point 1–2 times a week is just about my goal, but man, having a regular 9–5 with a commute on either end makes it feel a lot harder than when I was working @ the university right down the street. Shame about the injuries. When I first stopped, it was on the tail of bad tendinitis in one of my wrists, and I’m really hoping to keep that behind me. Wishing you luck w/ working past your hand issues! Those can suck big time.

@scooby That’s a good angle. It’s true that getting fully rested & loosened out feels like it can take months sometimes. A lot of my best climbing (or bicycling, or whatever) sessions have been right on the tail ends of longer sedentary spells. You’re right, too, that feeling humbled can be a good motivator in itself (I’m right there with you, these days)

[Hopethisoneisnttaken]

@julian-wolf generally in the same boat as you. 
 

after having a baby last year and starting a 9-5 after some time in academia I barely squeeze 2 sessions a week if I’m lucky. It’s mostly the one session on Saturday morning where everyone’s still asleep for me. I’ve sort off switched to climbing mostly on moonboard since I can’t really have projects in the “regular” gym sections, since they change fully within a month. And I can only do 4 sessions a month. 
 

Been mostly trying to maintain the same level rather than improving. 
 

but hi, at least I don’t have to buy new climbing shoes every 10 months now 😅

[Double 0 Soul]

Wait till you hit your 50s JW, recovery takes an age.. i've only just recovered from an achilles injury from June 2024

I'd had time away from tennis while i'd been working on the bathroom project.. then i played one of the neighbours on the local clay courts.. i'd never played on clay before and wans't used to the loose powdery surface.. maybe Chucks wern't the best choice of footwear either?

At the end of the match i limped home, elevated / iced but by the time i went to bed, i had to go upstairs, backwards on my arse... i couldn't play tennis for 6weeks although cycling was fine. @MJF9 is sick of hearing about it

First match thereafter, post-physio.. i strapped my ankle up tight af but tore the calf in my left leg (typical tennis-leg injury) i heard an audible POP! ..  I was trying to put less pressure on my injured achilles.. to add insult to injury, i had an allergic reaction to the lycra in the strapping so my lower leg was covered in what looked like burn blisters.. for 6mths after just carrying bags of shopping from the car would hurt my heel.. i couldn't even put my feet up on the footstool.

14mths later i'm now pain free again.. 10am this morning, waiting for the offspring.

Do you think Taylor Fritz has to bring a brush to sweep the court..

[ATWM]

We're all getting up there I guess ha.

I used to be a decent enough casual runner, I would try to clock a sub 5 mile as my sort of annual check in. But now I am always training around some sort of injury and I've had to add 30 seconds on to that baseline and be happy with it.

Sore achilles for the past 6-7 years (gets better then I overdo it), elbow tendinitis for the better part of four years (trips to PT, gets better, then I overdo it), IT band pain (when my achilles isn't hurting). Sprained ankle every once in awhile too. I wish I could climb but I'm at a strength/conditioning gym 3-5 days a week and just can't add anything on top of that - but I know enough to know that I need that to keep some baseline functioning. Total recovery has seemed to be sort of a pie in the sky notion since I turned 35 (which is some years ago now), lol. But when something is hurting at least there is always something else to do that avoids it!

I was just telling my wife though that I need to recalibrate my routines for my current age. Less high intensity and more yoga and walking I think is in the cards. It's just hard for me to "slow down" so to speak, moreso recently than in some years, which is all the more reason that I need to. 

Edited August 29 by ATWM

[Double 0 Soul]

I'm meeting some friends from t'other side o'pennines in a few weeks at Fairholmes carpark.. so i've just done a recce to see what time i need to set off.. made some coffee, the caffeine gets me up the hills.

20mins later i'm at Greenhouse Lane.. then i rode up to Burbage

Burbage

..still eating the apples

Rode through Burbage.. past Surprise View, through Hathersage, heading to Hope, then took a right into Bamford

Ladybower.. the water level is usually up to the overflow

..around Ladybower and around Derwent Water

Got to Fairholmes 1hr 40min later

Dam wall

Beneath the water lies the remains of Derwent Village..

It used to be a river crossing from Sheffield to Manchester but back in the 1940s, folks said goodbye to their homes and the valley was flooded to create Derwent dam.. i've never seen the water level so low.. i'm actually stood in someones house that was flooded 80+ years ago

What look like the gate posts from the above photo

..a house roof poking out of the water

On the way back to Ladybower, it started to rain.. so rather than ride back through Bamford.. i took the more direct but bleak af Strines route, head down, into the rain...

.. and got back into our neighbourhood 1hr 2min later

..i'd got a txt saying my tennis rackets were ready to collect so i headed down to Sharrowvale Road.

For those who're interested (who the fuck am i kidding?) i've gone for Black Luxilon Alu Power 125.. (aluminium core with poly outer).. one stung at 54lbs for more accuracy and one strung at 52lbs for more power..

Sexy af!

..i never drank the coffee so i polished it off while i cleaned my bike

The End..

Edited 23 hours ago by Double 0 Soul

[Thanks_M8]

@Double 0 Soul where'd you get that mug? 

[Double 0 Soul]

Not sure.. it's been in the cupboard for maybe 8yrs, it belongs to either my wife or kid, albeit both Pokemon nerds, i assume it would have been bought for one of them as a xmas prez..

It looks great but the last bit of coffee runs down your face because the shape is all about aestetics with zero consideration for function

[Thanks_M8]

Thanks mate might have to check the interwebz for this one. Love it and reminds me of my childhood