Blog Nuggets II

I had just finished fixing the flat when he drove up in his Chevy pickup and offered assistance. He had seen me from the other side of the road and driven at least a mile out of his way to lend a hand.
  
"No thanks, just caught a broken bottle. I think I've got it handled"
  
"People don't just seem to care about their fellow man anymore."
   
"You did, and I appreciate it."
  
I often think the world would be a much better place if everyone just tried to clean up after themselves. Sure it's the janitor's job, but you don't have to do your part to make it harder. The roadsides are littered with trash? That's somebody else's job. That mess on aisle 5 you just made? Someone else's problem. A couple of seconds of effort could make that guys life a little easier.
  
People don't just seem to care about their fellow man anymore.
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The eyes glowed in the light of the Super Moon, which I'm told is like a regular moon with an added grocery section. When I swung my headlight its way, the lone doe paused and then scampered back into the brush. With hunting season upon Mississippi, I hope she makes it. Barring that, I hope she feeds a family well.
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WHITE FAMILY FOR TRUMP
  
The sign didn't match the name on the mailbox. It took me a couple crank revolutions before that sunk in. Never said I was all that quick on the uptake. Exploring what ended up to be a dead end road put me square in the middle of Hillary's "basket of deplorables".
  
I spent the rest of the ride wondering how the guys of various colors I ride with would take that sign. Many of them voted for Trump. Many of them would probably see it as nothing new. A little more brazen than a couple years ago, but nothing new.
 
I don't think the average Trump supporter is overtly racist or any of the other horrible adjectives thrown around to explain his win. I think the vast majority are decent and tolerant people that saw something there that spoke to them. I think his open-ended statements held up a mirror to his supporters, allowing them to interpret them through their own worldview.
 
Being a white male of limited intelligence, I don't always see the undertones others see. I don't see the messages they do. Some people are scared, and that sign would scare me if I were in their shoes. What was once pushed back into the category of "dude, not cool" is suddenly gaining traction again.
  
But, nothing new.
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Have I mentioned how much I really like this titanium bike? I really do.
  
It's durable, performs well, and cleans up easily. It has external cable routing and a threaded bottom bracket.
  
The only thing I could have asked for was a little more tire clearance. 28c tires would be a tight squeeze. On extended rides on rough roads, every bit of cushion is appreciated.
  
Still, this is probably the most surprising bike (in a good way) that I've ever built. So much so that I've actually contemplated other builds and then stopped because... I don't need them. This bike and the rest of my existing stable pretty much punches far above my weight class.
  
I'm not exactly sure how to deal with that.
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My wife sent me a picture of my son:
  
  
He's standing in the driveway, refusing to come in, in 30-something-degree temperatures, while holding one of his shoes.
  
It's completely him. It's both completely frustrating sometimes and completely adorable. He gets the will from his mother and the douchebag from me.
  
A couple minutes later he came in, as if it all was his plan all along. Point made. Score one for the home team. Let's watch Wall-E.
  
You do you, Matt. You do you.

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