(e:paul) and I just got back from my work's Christmas party at the Dock at the Bay in Hamburg. I thought it was going to be super awkward but it really wasn't.

The food was good, (almost) everyone loved Paul and some of my coworkers made me feel a lot better about the future working there. I was even forced to sing Christmas songs with the other new employees. I wish (e:terry) could have come too.

Later Paul and I were talking about how normal it felt to introduce him to all my coworkers, and that it might not be that way even 10 years ago. That or I don't pick up on people's reactions to it. Either way, I don't care and we're part of a protected class in NYS.

Also in bikes, I read this NPR article about bike trains in LA. Basically they use this website to organize group commutes to work for safety and encouragement. It's an awesome idea that makes me wonder if Buffalo is big enough for something like that. It's definitely easier to commit to riding knowing other people are counting on you. The thing that really stood out to me was the quote from this sociopath, Jackie Burke.

"It's like they enjoy taking up the lanes," says Jackie Burke, who has lived in Los Angeles her whole life. She says bicyclists drive her crazy when she's in a car and has to slow down for them.

"It's very frustrating, to the point where I just want to run them off the road," Burke says. "I've actually done one of those drive-really-close-to-them kind of things to kind of scare them, to try to intimidate them to get out of my way."

Is she freaking serious? How is menacing and assault a reasonable response to being slowed down for at most thirty seconds? Not to stoop to her level but I hope next time she does that someone u-locks the shit out of her car because that's not even the least of what she deserves. If she ever hits someone I hope the prosecuter finds this quote and throws the book at her. Maybe after she gets out of jail they can suspend her license and she can spend the rest of her life on a bike.

I need to wear shades.

Last Monday while on a run, I saw a pedestrian after he got hit at Elmwood and Bryant. I didn't see what happened but people were saying he got hit by a car swinging around onto Elmwood. He was in rough shape, in and out of consciousness, but the cops, paramedics and FD got there super quickly. I haven't heard anything about it so I hope he survived.

I freaked out a bit and as soon as I got home I put aside my cheapness and bought a ton of new safety stuff for my bike. I finally ordered Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded bike tires, which are supposed to be great on ice and snow, and two new bike lights. My old front and rear were cheap dim Bell lights. I ordered the Cygolite Metro 420 (lumens) and the 2W Cygolite hotshot blinker for my back.

They're so freaking bright its amazing. The pictures don't really capture it but I don't think I can even run them at full power most of the time because they hurt to look at that level. Plus they're USB rechargeable so I don't have to buy any more batteries. Definitely worth it.

Behind on posts but oh well.

On Saturday after a lazy day of seeing Hunger Games with the Paul, Terry, and siblings, watching Dracula, and clearing out thanksgiving leftovers, (e:paul), (e:terry), and I needed to go do something physical. We went out with (e:yesthatcasey) to go see Marty McFly and a few other DJs at a place called Club Miami, 2339 Union Road, West Seneca. Apparently it must be a sports bar or normally because the sign said "Dog Pound Saloon" outside.

The place evoked exactly what I pictured the Miami club scene to be - a former Bob Evans/sports bar with a carpeted dance floor and a light up palm tree. Paul thought it might be an actual dog pound during the day because it made him allergic.

Despite the weird venue the music was pretty good. I'm not sure what DJs we actually heard. Dancing wasn't great since the floor was taken up by breakers for an hour.

By the 3am people started to clear out and the crazy boiled over. One guy was on something hardcore he was going into the bathroom and screaming all night. Somehow he ended up fighting with the security and got dragged out the door, knocking over tons of stuff on the way. Right after, there was some drama between two girls about a guy and four or five people started going at it. At this point we dipped out because it could only get classier in there. The whole night was so weird, I'd consider going back just for the spectacle.


The decor




Paul and Casey fighting over handwarmers

Last Sunday, (e:paul) and I decided to climb the tree next door at the church. After trying to climb it once, I thought to myself, "I should take my phone out of my pocket so it doesn't fall out and get smashed". Of course, I decide to take it out of my pocket and hold it out for Paul just as he was climbing down from the tree, leading to this.



The tree in question

So we ordered a Note 2 glass repair kit, an infrared thermometer and heat gun from amazon. First of all, I'm absolutely obsessed with taking the temperature of things.

89 degrees, so hot.

I used this video to replace the glass yesterday. Basically the glass is glued down with a high temperature glue to the OLED display itself, and can only be pried off with some heat.

It wasn't too difficult to remove. The glue bonding the OLED to the the glass came off with only 150F of heat, so the display didn't discolor at all. The most difficult part was keeping the new glass dust free while I was adhering it again.

The replacement glass is definitely a knock off. It doesn't have gorilla glass or oleophobic coatings, and the glue isn't vacuum bonded to the display like the original, meaning there's a bit of a gap and flex to it. It wasn't too much work to replace it though, and I don't have to worry about getting shards of glass in my finger. Plus the cost of the replacement was $20 vs $150+ for a new display with OEM glass.




The finished product, and the flexed spot