Thread Drift

Yesterday, I had a different kind of day. It rained in the early AM, but it did stop. The forecast was for clouds. mid sixties. All of a sudden, I had an urge to see the ocean. This hasn't happened in a long time; when I first moved back east, we spent all of our free time and vacations at the beach. However, once we both started cycling, that has gone by the wayside. Beach areas full of tourists in the summer are not good places for riding. With the exception of a few 3-4 day vacations to the Cape in the "shoulder" season, we haven't done much beach time. Plus, my neighborhood has a swimming pond, which I do use in the summer.
So, we drove up to the NH seacoast and walked on the beach in North Hampton. It was lovely. The waves were crashing, the tide was low, and the sun actually peeked out. The beach shack across the street was open, so we got sandwiches and soft serve ice cream. Then we drove down the coast to Newburyport, MA, another place we used to go to all of the time. By this time it was getting colder and windy, so we walked around the town once and headed home.
I guess I didn't expend many calories, but it is nice to be a "regular" person once in awhile!

Crankin - that post made me homesick.

Yea, when I lived in AZ, I used to play the video we had of a vacation at the Cape and go about my business in the house. I had it on, just to listen to the sound of the waves and the wind.
A couple of years ago, someone on the board mentioned the smell of pinon burning in fireplaces. That really made me nostalgic for AZ. But, it was truly just nostalgia. I am never leaving Massachusetts!

I took my car to the body shop today and then walked to the gym/PT place. Explained the situation to Noel, the PT, and he very gently adjusted my hips. I felt instantly better...but it's not all better. He said to let it heal up and just walk, then in a few days start doing the balance exercises that we all know and love at this gym. He said don't go to the doctor, yet, because they'll just give me drugs and that won't help (I knew that already). I walked home, briskly, about 1.5-2 miles (there was an actual detour that took me about half a mile out of the way). Walking always helps my back feel looser.

I'll be better soon, I think. Still loving the Zen/Lisa haiku!

Karen

My dining room wall is covered in photos I took in Newburyport, MA. Some in Portland, ME and some on that island with the ferry by Portland that I can't remember the name of (the island, not the ferry).

Karen

Mice ate my car. Again. This is the third vehicle they've rendered inoperable, second one we've had to have towed in.

Anybody got any suggestions for keeping them out? This is REALLY a PITA.

What? Mice? Do you park in a field?

Hire a falconer to patrol your yard? Borrow some barn cats?

I did hear this problem on Click & Clack once. I don't remember the details, tho.

Karen

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Mice ate my car. Again. This is the third vehicle they've rendered inoperable, second one we've had to have towed in.

Anybody got any suggestions for keeping them out? This is REALLY a PITA.

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I have squirrels eating my car, although they steer clear of the electronics and satisfy their chewing urges with my fenders and bumper...filthy tree rats. :mad:

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Mice ate my car. Again. This is the third vehicle they've rendered inoperable, second one we've had to have towed in.

Anybody got any suggestions for keeping them out? This is REALLY a PITA.

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I want to know too. Where do you park this car? in what geographic area?
Is it in a garage?
All I can think of right now is Cat Piss and i'm not sure you want THAT smell in your car.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Mice ate my car. Again. This is the third vehicle they've rendered inoperable, second one we've had to have towed in.

Anybody got any suggestions for keeping them out? This is REALLY a PITA.

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Get a terrier. Border terriers in particular are great vermin hunters. Too bad you don't live near me, I could loan you one for a day, your mice would be gone.
Of course you wouldn't want to watch. :(

Tuckervill, do you mean Peak's Island?
Portland, Maine is another place I love, but rarely get to anymore. We almost moved there, but it was 10-15 degrees colder than Boston and coming from AZ, we thought it might make us crazy.
My son used to do a bike race in Saco and we would go into Portland every night during the weekend. Fun.

Old fashioned mouse traps works well for us, in our basement and garage (where the cats don't have access).

Over the winter in our little barn where the rider mower is stored, we put a cloth bag full of mothballs inside the mower engine- mice hate the smell thus will not nest inside the mower engine during the winter and eat the wiring.

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Originally Posted by TsPoet

Get a terrier. Border terriers in particular are great vermin hunters. Too bad you don't live near me, I could loan you one for a day, your mice would be gone.
Of course you wouldn't want to watch. :(

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Terriers can't get into car parts in the middle of the night when the mice show up!

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

Terriers can't get into car parts in the middle of the night when the mice show up!

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I think they win the war through attrition.

Maybe you should feed them something besides your car:D

Hello all. It's day 2 of my 3 month stay in Zurich. Finally got internet working in my apartment (finally thought to cycle the power on the router). Biked to work today (5 miles) and had to pull out the map a few times each way. Lots to learn about living here. Gorgeous views of Lake Zurich from the city.

Duck, where are you? Since I'm on your side of the pond, maybe our online times will mesh.

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Originally Posted by DebW

Duck, where are you? Since I'm on your side of the pond, maybe our online times will mesh.

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Duck and UK are probably packing for ALC right now. Both arrive here on Friday I think? UK will head back to Wales right after ALC. I think she leaves for the airport right after closing ceremonies. :(

After the ride Duck heads back up to Northern CA with our mutual Mom who is heading down to catch them and closing ceremonies. Then she's back to Hell (Hell, Norway that is :p).

We have a mutual cousin who lives in Geneva. D must be in her late 70's I think, does a little bike riding and still works as a UN Translator on some of their special projects.

Trek, you have such an interesting family :)

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Originally Posted by DebW

Hello all. It's day 2 of my 3 month stay in Zurich. Finally got internet working in my apartment (finally thought to cycle the power on the router). Biked to work today (5 miles) and had to pull out the map a few times each way. Lots to learn about living here. Gorgeous views of Lake Zurich from the city.

Duck, where are you? Since I'm on your side of the pond, maybe our online times will mesh.

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Hi Deb! I'm up here [she waves] North of you. Waaayy north, kinda backlit against the 1030pm sunset. Can you see me? For the moment, yes, we're in the same time zone. Until I leave for California on Friday. I'll be back again June 13. I hear rumours that scrabble is again available on Fb ...? Haven't found it there yet, but I've heard rumours.

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Originally Posted by Zen

Trek, you have such an interesting family :)

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All families are interesting once you get to know them and take the time to think about it a bit. We take them for granted, but they're all unique and have interesting stories about how they got to be who they are.

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Originally Posted by Zen

Trek, you have such an interesting family :)

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I do :cool: I'm lucky they picked me :D What Duck sez. All families are interesting.

Deb, what job are you doing for three months, you lucky thing????

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Deb, what job are you doing for three months, you lucky thing????

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Visiting scientist at ETH University working on climate impact of volcanoes (we don't need volcanoes, just computers to simulate them).

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Tuckervill, do you mean Peak's Island?
Portland, Maine is another place I love, but rarely get to anymore. We almost moved there, but it was 10-15 degrees colder than Boston and coming from AZ, we thought it might make us crazy.
My son used to do a bike race in Saco and we would go into Portland every night during the weekend. Fun.

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Yeah, that's it! Peak's Island!

My best friend's mother grew up in Saco, and I hunted down her old house for her and talked to the old man who lived there and took a picture of the house. That was the trip I thought was 5 miles away, so I took my mountain bike, and ended up doing 25 miles because I took a wrong turn.

I love that area, though.
Karen

I might try mothballs, but I'd be a little afraid of the fumes getting into the passenger compartment. I'm thinking more along the lines of hosing the whole thing down with hot pepper spray, or Bitter Apple, or something.

We'd have to hit EVERYTHING - wheel sensors, I assume there are sensors on the exhaust system? and all the wiring in the engine compartment, which is really packed tight, we'd have to spray from above and below.

It isn't garaged, but the garage is actually worse. We did learn, with the motorcycles, it's a matter of denying the mice shelter. If we take the seats off as soon as we park, mice won't nest. I'm not sure there's an equivalent with a car - DH thinks parking with the hood open would just invite more critters in, and obviously it wouldn't have any effect on them eating the wheel sensors.

I don't think we could trap all the mice in the county. :rolleyes: I'm just happy when we can keep them out of the house. When we leave for the winter, all the kitchenware, linens and clothes go into plastic tubs (we learned that the hard way, too :mad:).

Our experience from our last house - where the neighbors had outdoor cats - is that cats just drive the mice deeper into places where the cats can't go. Not good.

One of my riding buddies offered me one of the big blacksnakes that lives in his shed. I'd take him up on it, but not sure how I'd keep the snake confined to the mouse-accessible areas of the car. :p

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Originally Posted by mtbdarby

Maybe you should feed them something besides your car:D

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Honestly, I was thinking about getting a few hundred feet of wire, putting it in a nice cozy box, and letting them have at it. :rolleyes:

I guess TE'll be quiet for a few days because of the US memorial day long weekend.

Many Many Many moons ago I remember asking if anyone in the DC area if they've seen the "Rolling Thunder" procession. Do people in the area avoid the area like the plague on long weekends like this? Just wondering

THE SUNSHINE IS BACK!!!!! wweeeeeee...:D The trails will be great & hopefully the hills will be debris free :)

I'm sitting here doing the last bits of editing on my paper that's due Tuesday. After all the panic over it a few weeks ago, I was able to settle myself down and get it done. My panic/fear was that I'd not written a uni paper in 10yrs :o and wanted to get it right.

yes, you're right, except people were still posting, just not on this thread.

I was in the middle of a 68 mile ride on Saturday. We had come down a hill, about 25-35 mph on the tandem and slowed so that we could turn left.
There was a lady waiting to cross our street (in a car) on the street that we were turning left on. She waited for us to turn in front of us, and as I waved, this 60 year old woman took her fingers to her head and made the "you're crazy" gesture. It really took the wind out of my sails for a bit.
there wasn't a lot of traffic, we were trying to be safe, and it was a lovely day. We were in South King county. Maybe that was the problem?

Oh, maybe she was being facetious. Or maybe she's a horrible curmudgeon. Either way, her opinion is worthless! :)

Karen

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

. . . this 60 year old woman took her fingers to her head and made the "you're crazy" gesture. It really took the wind out of my sails for a bit.

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Don't let her get to you, Mimi! Thankfully, you will probably never see her again.

At least she's not a co-worker . . . or your boss!

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

as I waved, this 60 year old woman took her fingers to her head and made the "you're crazy" gesture.

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How did you know her age?

CC, Many people in the DC area see the Rolling thunder cyclists as a PITA. I think only a small percentage of them have any connection to the Vietnam War and most use it as an excuse to party

Zen, I didn't know that..interesting & sad.

I made it up Mount Street today sititng in my saddle :D I don't normally have info on the streets I cycle up but moons ago I asked the GIS dude at my former workplace for the info...

Length of Mount St – past bridge to top (cliff st): 280m
Height at bottom: 15m
Height at top: 50m
% Gradient = 35/280*100 = 12.5%
As Degrees slope: roughly: 7.125016348901798

Weeeeeee :) I could never get up it before without feeling like i was about to fall over etc. I'm so glad I got meself a compact double!

CC - Actually, I live in Arlington -- where Rolling Thunder starts --- and I don't consider it a PITA. As a matter of fact, I like seeing/hearing the motorcycles roaring down Rt 66, which abuts my neighborhood, on the way to and from the start. Yes, many motorcyclists stay in hotels within a mile of my neighborhood and in the many years that I've lived there, we have never had an issue with Rolling Thunder participants. It's a mark of the start of summer for us.

I'm not going to cast aspersions on those who participate. As a matter of fact, I know several people who ride in it and while they are not Vietnam Vets, they are there to support all veterans and active duty military.

Route 66..are there more than two in the US? :o

I missed the Rolling Thunder procession because the Washington YHA was booked out that weekend. I went to Antietam (sp..:o) instead.

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Originally Posted by Zen

How did you know her age?

CC, Many people in the DC area see the Rolling thunder cyclists as a PITA. I think only a small percentage of them have any connection to the Vietnam War and most use it as an excuse to party

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sigh, Zen, it was an approximate age.
she could have been 65 or 72

more to the point, she was just a little older than me.

and you're right,Jocelyn, i will never see her again, but that part of the county continues to give me bad vibes and that incident did not help.

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Originally Posted by crazycanuck

Route 66..are there more than two in the US? :o

I missed the Rolling Thunder procession because the Washington YHA was booked out that weekend. I went to Antietam (sp..:o) instead.

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I think the OP was referring to Interstate 66 which runs west from DC to Winchester (IIRRC) vs US rt 66 - (where one gets there kicks going from Chicago to LA) :)

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Originally Posted by Fredwina

I think the OP was referring to Interstate 66 which runs west from DC to Winchester (IIRRC) vs US rt 66 - (where one gets there kicks going from Chicago to LA) :)

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Correct, Fredwina! Not many get their kicks on Interstate 66 (especially those of us who must use it for our commute to work ;) )

I get my info from the Washington Post and my experience with them on the highway.

http://www.velonews.com/article/92496

I'm not a big roadie event fan. I do however have a particular liking for Cadel Evans :D Cadel & Rafa...ooooo

Thanks for clearing up the Route 66 info! When I read it i thought hmmm..doesn't route 66 go from California to ???? but not DC..

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Originally Posted by crazycanuck

I do however have a particular liking for Cadel Evans

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I knew you had the hots for someone but I got my Aussies mixed up:o