Sunday ride

I got buzzed by a C-130 Hercules at the beginning of my warm 87° Sunday bike ride, then they kept coming around in circles, so I finally stopped to take some photos. 

I caught a few pics of sailboats and storm clouds, as I was making my way around the lake. 

More sailboats on Chatfield lake. I heard a series of warning horn blasts about this time, I’m guessing they were warning the boaters about some approaching storm cells.

At my midpoint hydration stop, I encountered a young man with a disabled bicycle and a bike trailer with two pug dogs in it, that were looking and sounding very thirsty. He’d already used up all of the water he was carrying, and was hoping to find a water fountain, with no luck so far, so I volunteered my water bottle to fill up their dog bowl. They were very happy. 

There were some dark looking storm clouds moving around the area, and on my final mile, I realized that one of those cells was racing me to my house, so I went into sprint mode, and I made it home about a minute before the rain hit.

After I got home, I used FlightAware to show me the track of that C-130. Presumably they were loitering over Littleton, until their moment to do a flyby of the Broncos game.

Trying Fedora 40

Every once in awhile, I boot my laptop computer into a different operating system - Fedora Linux. I miss my many work years of developing on a Linux system, with the command line terminals, the programming shells, and the VIM text editor, so I find it fun to step into a tiny version of that world, and see how things are going. 

I started messing with Linux at home in 2020, struggling a little with USB flash drives, trying to set one up with a bootable Linux image, and I eventually succeeded, but it was unbearably slow. It wasn't until later, that I discovered that some USB flash drives (including mine) don't support simultaneous reading and writing of data, which is an impossible constraint in a bootable disk. 

 

I resolved that issue completely, by setting up an external USB hard drive with a Fedora Linux boot image. I think back then, Fedora was at version 31, and I've been updating it occasionally, as they release a new version twice a year. My original installation, and the first few updates, were relatively complicated, but with clear instructions, and some helpful ISO boot image management programs like Rufus, I got through it. 

 

Last week, I updated my system to Fedora 40. Wow, what a difference. The update was pretty much painless, and the user experience is smooth and polished.

Freaky Friday

I hope you have a safe and fun Friday the 13th! It’s the first Friday the 13th of 2024, seen as one of the most unlucky days of the calendar year, a “spooky” reputation it earned centuries ago, although I had a positive experience on this day during my childhood, so I've always thought of it as a lucky day for me. This year will see the date occur twice, with the next one in December.

Thursday ride and repair

Hot and head-windy conditions for my Thursday bike ride. I was handling it ok, but then just to test my mettle a little more, my rear derailleur suddenly couldn’t access its two highest gears. While troubleshooting that in motion, I discovered that the front derailleur couldn’t shift out of its lowest gear. Hmm… 

I finally came upon a shady spot to continue my sleuthing, whereupon I found that the front derailleur shifter cable had pulled through its clamp. It was an easy fix, thanks to the compact multi-tool that I carry under my seat. 

After I got moving again, I encountered yet another rider who was having difficulty finding his way through the various trail discontinuities, and helped get him back on track a few times.

Remembering 9/11

The attack on New York's World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 was such a horrific event. In some ways it seems like forever ago, but it also feels like yesterday… I was on my way to work when I heard on the radio of the first aircraft impacting the North tower, but then the succeeding events of the attack played out in the news over the rest of the morning. My heart still races in protest, just thinking about it.

I haven’t been to the September 11th memorial and museum in New York, but I’m pretty sure I’d be too choked up to fully appreciate the experience.

We lit an all-day candle this morning, in memory of those who didn’t make it past that day, 23 years ago…

55th HS Reunion

My High School classmates got together today for a 55th reunion, at a local park a short distance up in the foothills from my home town. I rode my bike up to that park when I was a teenager, and it felt like an unbelievably long trip, a climb for superhumans, and my first experience with riding a street bike on offroad trails -- fun memories. However, I couldn't see myself traveling 1,000 miles for that event, as I still have memories of feeling like mostly an outsider from the numerous tight-knit cliques at our school. I realize now, that it was just everyone's way of fitting in, to find some kids with shared interests, and hang with them, but that feeling of being excluded still hurts. It was nice to receive a photo from a friend who attended, of a few of those classmates who have later become my Facebook friends over the years.

Flash Bang Smoke!

An intense storm cell just moved through here, leaving some shock and awe in its wake. I was gazing out my window, looking away from my Flight Simulator DC-3 flight, and watching my next door neighbor’s construction materials blowing around, when my window suddenly got so bright I couldn’t see, and at the same time I was surprised by the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. The first thing I did, is check on Jennefer and the kitties, who were fine, but the cats were on the floor looking up at me with a questioning tilt to their heads. I tried to assure them that all was OK, when my phone rang, and my neighbor across the street told me they thought my house was on fire, as they could see and smell smoke. I hurried outside while calling 911, and walked around my house, smelling a strong smoke smell, but didn’t see anything on fire, or even any concentrated smoke, although there was definitely a light smoke haze drifting around. The Emergency operator transferred me to the Fire department, who said that someone in the next neighborhood over had reported a fire, and they were responding. They asked me if I saw smoke or flames, and I had to say no. They said call back if you do, otherwise you’re probably smelling the neighbor’s house on fire. It’s been quite a while now, and still no sign of smoke or flames here, so I guess we’re good! It appears they got the neighbor’s house put out right away, as I’m not smelling smoke any more. Wow. So much for a quiet afternoon! 🤷‍♂️