I've got a new customer who's been great, except that he's recently immigrated from Israel and is a workaholic. He will send me work related messages practically 24/6. To his credit he studiously observes Shabbatt (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday). This means that about 10 minutes past sunset Saturday I can expect a text. 
I'm supposed to run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon on Sunday but I think I have to cancel my run. I've been training for this for a few months after already being a runner. But of course last week I got a chest cold because well, I always do. Now, my lungs are still full of gunk and I'm hacking like someone who's smoked for 40 years.
I have sick-ed my way through my 30's and now into my 40's. I can't tell you how many events have either been canceled or ruined because of the most basic cold that takes me out. Trip or vacation planned? I'm going to be sick. Big event I'm excited about? I'm going to be sick. I'm over this. I'm sick all the effing time!!!! I'm the healthiest I've been in my life but still get sick multiple times a year at the worst possible times.
Saturday I ran what was the most difficult race I've run since I was a teenager. That was 50 years ago, and also after doing setup all day Friday and, of course, not getting enough sleep. I passed out hard Saturday night, was terribly stiff and sore Sunday, and kept falling asleep despite getting 11 hrs sleep.
So Monday I felt better and went to the club track to do some layout and arrowing in the trails. Pulling out of my driveway one of the new straps I used to tie the bike down snapped and it cartwheeled out of the trailer. The bike with all new plastics. At the track my stapler kept jamming so I went back to the car to get some tools and realized that my phone was no longer in my pocket. Great. I walked back through the trails and luckily found it. I was defeated by that point anyway and went home.
Tuesday? I don't even remember Tuesday, but after dinner I had to play catch up and get the mower working for PW. I was good, I had all the parts, I'd be done by beer o'clock, relax, have a few, and go to bed. Oh, the king pins are seized, that's why it was so hard to steer. The R side was a bitch, but it took everything I had and about an hour and a half to get the L one out. But I did, and finished off the deck, and made it in the house about 11. And passed out.
Wednesday I was taking the tractor to the club track after winter maintenance was done and a fellow club member was supposed to show up at 10:30 to help. He got there before 10 and I was still in my jammies, half dead. Nonetheless, we got it done and I decided to do a little trail cutting while there. Everything went well, and I thought I'd help drainage a bit because we're supposed to be getting hammered with rain in the next few days, and proceeded to get so stuck I had to go get my farmer buddy to bring his big tractor to pull it out. Last night after dinner I went back and pressure washed it so my trail partner had a decently clean tractor (it was bad) to work with next week.
Still sitting here in my jammies at 11, there is no part of my body that isn't sore and I'm about as beat up and defeated as I have been in a long time. And I'm getting ready to go back and fix the mess I made in the trail getting stuck before it starts raining.
WTF is wrong with me? Why can't I just take a day off?
I'm trying to do things right, and it seems at every turn there is another rake in the path to be stepped on. I'm tired, boss.
Sometimes I wonder why I bother ever posting anything in other forums.
There exists for the E46 convertible a wind deflector that gets installed behind the front seats that by all reports helps a lot with turbulance and wind noise at highway speeds with the top down- so I'd love to have one for mine. Unfortunately, they run from ~$200 for an aftermarket one to over $500 for a really good condition OEM BMW one. So... not something I can justify spending the money on for a car that I originally bought with the intent of taking it to the Challenge.
But, I do still want one- and I'm about as far from averse to making something myself as you can get (OK, maybe not that far... I watched a video of a guy modifying a HF spot welder that had at least one lathe and a freaking metal forge in his shop that he used while making the improvements...) so I posted on the E46 Convertible forum asking if anyone had every made one themselves since on the whole it's a pretty simple design. You'd think that I'd asked what the best engine to swap into an Rx7 in place of the rotary was on an RX7 board.
This was the first response, verbatim:
Really ???
It is not just the fitting of one but also lets not forget the wind/air.
They are the main reason why they exist.
I have an aftermarket one from Germany and it is invaluable for me and her indoors !!
Good luck finding another source as in manufacture, leave special things to the experts please.
Mart.
50 years a toolmaker.
It's been incredibly challenging to not post a very snarky reply... and now I feel obligated to make my own just to be contrary. Good thing I don't have any other projects on my plate!
In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :
Any BMW owner who frequents a BMW forum is almost assuredly a douche.
As to the incredible danger presented by fabricating your own wind deflector- "Do not question our engineers. They have determined the optimal method, and anything less will kill innocent bystanders!"
In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :
I'd just reply, so with 50 years of tool making experience you can't make a flat part about 18 inches long?
In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :
So, someone who is proud that he isn't an engineer is upset that someone might try to do something that he can't do. Sounds about right.
Logical fallacies aren't clever. If a point can't be made without resorting to a logical fallacy, then the point probably isn't valid.
For example: Countries, companies, and organizations inherently reflect the values of their active leadership at any given period in time. Conflating the values reflected through their leaders from one period in time with the completely different values reflected through their completely different leaders from a completely different period in time is just another logical fallacy.
What sort of horseE36 M3 algorithm makes youtube think I need to be bombarded with makeup and full body deodorant ads? Or is that the only thing advertised on yourube?
Ashyukun (Robert) said:Sometimes I wonder why I bother ever posting anything in other forums.
There exists for the E46 convertible a wind deflector that gets installed behind the front seats that by all reports helps a lot with turbulance and wind noise at highway speeds with the top down- so I'd love to have one for mine. Unfortunately, they run from ~$200 for an aftermarket one to over $500 for a really good condition OEM BMW one. So... not something I can justify spending the money on for a car that I originally bought with the intent of taking it to the Challenge.
But, I do still want one- and I'm about as far from averse to making something myself as you can get (OK, maybe not that far... I watched a video of a guy modifying a HF spot welder that had at least one lathe and a freaking metal forge in his shop that he used while making the improvements...) so I posted on the E46 Convertible forum asking if anyone had every made one themselves since on the whole it's a pretty simple design. You'd think that I'd asked what the best engine to swap into an Rx7 in place of the rotary was on an RX7 board.
This was the first response, verbatim:
Really ???
It is not just the fitting of one but also lets not forget the wind/air.
They are the main reason why they exist.
I have an aftermarket one from Germany and it is invaluable for me and her indoors !!
Good luck finding another source as in manufacture, leave special things to the experts please.
Mart.
50 years a toolmaker.It's been incredibly challenging to not post a very snarky reply... and now I feel obligated to make my own just to be contrary. Good thing I don't have any other projects on my plate!
"My God, Mart! Fifty years a toolmaker, and you trusted the safety of your loved ones and those around you to an aftermarket wind deflector? Surely you don't believe they performed even the most rudimentary testing prior to releasing this guillotine-in-waiting upon the unsuspecting public.
No. They did not.
And neither did BMW, when they designed the original version.
It's a piece of plastic, held in place with a handful of tiny screws, in an area of winds so unpredictably ferocious that the factory didn't even protect the occupants from them unless they spent extra money for an accessory.
It'll be fine.
Robert
50 years a guy with enough common sense to build stuff that doesn't break."
Minor rant unrelated to the above: I don't understand the baggy-butt, skinny-leg, highwater/Capri pant look. File it along with broccoli hair and unisex shoes as a look that will age poorly. And, due to the non-judgmental all-inclusive sensitivity that I have been <ahem> "encouraged" to <ahem> "embrace", I'm genuinely unsure whether even forming this opinion, let alone voicing it, is permissible.
Capri pants are always the worst possible length of pants. So very, very wrong, in every case.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Capri pants are my daughter's fashion saving grace. Any pants that are the right length are too wide, and any pants that are the right width end up as capris.
Streetwiseguy said:Capri pants are always the worst possible length of pants. So very, very wrong, in every case.
Knicker-length shorts for MTB are not only awesome for keeping brush from shredding your kneecaps, but practically de rigueur for Enduro/Downhill riding.
::Kind of political - but mostly that this is so petty and annoying::
My D&D group ordered three copies of a new role-playing game we're excited about. (It's called 'Slugblasters', and it's about teenaged skateboard crews doing Rick & Morty style interdimensional hopping.)
Materials are printed, packed, scheduled to ship. We're all very excited.
...and delivery had to be paused indefinitely because the printing was done in China (as most of it is now), and the tiny independent game development company literally does not have the money to pay the tariff fees on an order that was placed about a year ago. So everything is on hold until tariffs drop to a level where they can actually make some profit to justify all the work they've done.
We just wrapped up a looooong D&D campaign earlier this week and were crazy excited to play this game.
Beer Baron 🍺 said:(It's called 'Slugblasters', and it's about teenaged skateboard crews doing Rick & Morty style interdimensional hopping.)
All I can think of now is Borobu
Watch case sizes have been outrageous for far too long.
38-42mm is the optimal range for an adult male, unless you're a giant. Yet manufacturers keep churning out 46mm, 48mm, 50mm wrist watches...who thinks these look good??
In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :
There's a similar situation with a pretty cool Nixie Tube clock/bluetooth speaker that I was part of the Kickstarter for- they were finally shipping units (the Kickstarter ended like 4 years ago...) but have had to pause shipments to the US because of the tariffs.
I'm just glad I got the $1400 frame part I needed for the DMC in from Ireland before they hit.
Lately, I feel like I am angry all of the time. I am tired of it. I don't think it is any one thing and I'm not sure how to improve my 'tude.
In reply to WilD :
I feel very similarly. I'm prone to Anxiety, which often manifests as anger or frustration. I've had mixed results handling it.
First step is recognizing that my mood exists independently of what's going on around me. I'm in a rough mood because I'm in a rough mood. Frustrations in my life may trigger me when I'm in an ill mood, but they are not the *cause* of my ill mood. Just recognizing that is a huge relief.
I recognize when I'm in an ill mood, and communicate to myself that's what's happening.
Then I try to take steps to minimize the chances of being set off.
I also communicate it to select people close to me who will understand and be able to adapt. My wife. My friends I play D&D with. A couple close coworkers.
Mindfulness meditation helps, but doesn't make things go away. It just helps me recognize my moods and be less likely to fight against them and cause myself ongoing frustration.
WilD said:Lately, I feel like I am angry all of the time. I am tired of it. I don't think it is any one thing and I'm not sure how to improve my 'tude.
The trick for me is to go run/hike/bike. Thrashing my legs/lungs takes over my entire mental space.
I'm like Beer Baron- my mood exists independently of my situation (I'm an angry depression dude).
When I am running or biking or hiking, my brain just kinda... zones out, I guess. I do absolutely no thinking of import while my legs are moving. It really helps.
Recon1342 said:Streetwiseguy said:Capri pants are always the worst possible length of pants. So very, very wrong, in every case.
Knicker-length shorts for MTB are not only awesome for keeping brush from shredding your kneecaps, but practically de rigueur for Enduro/Downhill riding.
Leaving your ankles unprotected.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Nah, I totally wear socks!
Recon1342 said:In reply to Streetwiseguy :
Nah, I totally wear socks!
What did he think you were, some kind of triathlete!?
You'll need to log in to post.
