Playing Doctor

Want Want

I thought that I really wanted a pen f mount Zuiko 50-90mm f3.5, and I did. It's on the way from The States right now. Now that I've got that lens coming I want a wide angle (20mm f3.5) too.

However I do not want that as much as some direct TMS that would let me get eight hours of sleep in two. I would pre-order that contraption if it was available. If I could get one, I'd get two: one for the office and one for home.

Attempted bike theft?

I was heading out of the house this morning and went to unlock my bike as usual. Unusually my key didn't fit into the barrel. It required some effort to get the key to go. Once actually in the barrel it wouldn't turn. Examining the lock revealed signs of duress. It took further brute force to open the lock and then close it again once removed from the bike.

Had someone tried to steal my bike or was the damage incidental and due to it's proximity to the stair case? What ever happened the lock didn't really seem to work very well anymore. I couldn't open it again.

I had to buy a new lock. A Kryptonite lock. The KryptoLok. It seems very well made and I will appreciate having a transport bracket to put the lock on my bike in transit, instead of in my bag. That bracket that came with my old lock broke ages ago. This one looks much sturdier. Great.

Edit: Other people have it much worse. As a guide to locking your bike in New York shows.

Choice is best

I've been thinking on how to spend my newly acquired discretionary income. I don't have an mp3 player at the moment , and haven't for a while, since the last one died. So I thought that an nano would be good. But I also keep thinking that I will feel dissapointed as soon as I get it because it's not that amazing and I'll no longer have the freedom to choose some other consumer electronics crap.

With that in mind perhaps investment or donation are better ideas. What ever I choose I feel that I will be remorseful over choices not taken.

It's a chopper, baby.

Having buckled the rear rim of my bike recently, I have been forced to walk to and from here and there. No longer! I dropped about $150 into a replacement rim, the Shimano deore alexrim dm18. It's quite a bit tougher than its predecessor. Kathmandu were having a summit club (special members club, but joining is free to students) sale which was 50% off so I got new front and rear lights and a trip computer for my bike too. It's hawt.

Actually after I had the rim replaced, the chain slipped all over the rear cogs, a misalignment. I had to spend a while playing around with my derailleur until everything was straight again. I hope those husks of humanity known as <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=3003948">innuendo addicts</a> are happy with your RDI now.

Laptop fever

So I've been thinking about buying a laptop to bring some work with me on holiday. Upon writing it down, the whole thing sounds like a totally crazy idea. The possibility of working overseas for a bit next year has also led me to start hunting around. That sounds a bit more reasonable. I must be trying to justify this craving for a new toy.

Recently I saw in a Good Guys flyer drop that they had a Toshiba laptop, that had a 2.0Ghz Pentium M, Centrino, 128 Mb graphics card, 80 Gb Hard Disk, and a gig of RAM. That whole set up and they were asking for $1300. I couldn't believe it was that cheap. I thought I'd better give them a phone.

On phoning the store I was redirected to some manangement person there who told me that they had recalled the flyer drop because they couldn't get stock of the advertised Toshiba. I think she was trying to say that they made a big mistake about the specifications and pricing on the flyer but it was easier to say 'no stock' than 'we made a mistake'.

I was a little disappointed. There's a new class of Pentium Ms coming out in a few months though. Maybe I should wait till then.

International sweat shirt

The hooded the sweat shirt that I ordered on a late night impulse buy two weeks back arrived in the mail yesterday. I picked it up from the post office this morning. Typically I was excited to get it, then sort of felt that it was cooler online than on me. It's still good to have though. The material seems tough, thick but not ultra heavy and the print is generic enough for non-gaming individuals to safely ignore. The best thing was that it only cost $50 AUD for the hoodie, including the p&p! That's half the price a hoodie would cost in a store in the country that I actually live in. Good deal.

Further down the garden path

So I turned up at the bike shop after work to fetch my bike. Turns out the guy meant that it would cost an additional amount that was twice the original cost, so I paid three times what I had originally meant to pay. I was a little bit shocked about it to be honest. It also made me wonder what I had paid for.

All the maintenance makes the bike ride like new (basically an entirely new drive chain anyway!!) which is good. However, the amount I paid makes me think I could have sold my old bike without the repairs and got a new one for about the same expenditure. Live and learn I guess.

That part sucks a bit, but I am glad that my bike works like new. The new rear tyre has a kevlar insert inside so I probably will never have to worry about punctures on that again. The brakes are incredibly responsive now too. Safer? Yes!

Cycle shop taking me for a ride

I dropped my bike into the Lonsdale St Cyclery this morning to replace the rear type on my bike and replace the rim (infact the whole wheel) due a nasty buckle in it. I had a brief chat with the guy there about the rubber that I was interested in, eventually going for a wide slick. I also saw the rim that I was getting put on. Then I headed off to work.

A couple hours later I get a call on the contact number I left them saying that they had completed the work but they wanted to suggest (they said that I needed) some further maintenance. The further work included new rear brake pads, a new casette and chain and some gear system alterations plus the labour for that, doubling the cost of the inital work I had wanted.

At first I thought this was all a bit suspicious; the typical mechanic's behaviour. Then I thought that I'm not the greatest when it comes to maintaining my bike, and they know what they are talking about at the shop. I ended up agreeing to it. At the end of the day it's my personal safety on the line and why take risks with that?

Logistics management

I just spent a fair amount of dosh on a new pack. My old pack's zip blew out after I overloaded it one too many times. I've been borrowing a flatmate's snowboarding pack for a while, but now I have a brand new bag.

It's great because it really suits my needs. It has a concave back so I don't get all sweaty up my back while riding. It doesn't use a zip, but a draw string plus lid. That means I can over load it with out too many problems. It also has heaps of capacity with compression straps so when the bag isn't full it doesn't look massive. It also means I don't have balance problems while riding from stuff moving around in my bag.

All that made me $140 lighter. It could have been worse.

New toys

I went home at lunch time today to phone up Harris Technology regarding my absent router. I spoke to a very helpful Heather who sorted out what the courier was doing after establishing that Harris Technology had already dispatched the order. She assured me that the courier was due to arrive shortly. Turns out a 1-2 day delivery really means 3-4 days!

I decided to stay home to eat lunch (wholemeal pasta, tomato pasta sauce, a soft-boiled egg and some grated cheese) with a cup of tea. Shortly after lunch, during my cuppa, the courier arrived! So now I have new toys.

In other news: these guys are my new favourite band. I'm seriously considering a purchase of their next CD.