(e:paul) and (e:terry) and I headed out to the coop for shopping and then fro yo. (e:tinypliny), Ive decided to start documenting ridiculous food prices. $3.29(Mobile typo!) $2.29 per grapefruit!


We then drove across the street to White Rabbit for frozen yogurt. I was so obsessed in the summer but I think I'm over it, back to ice cream. Paul and I were poisoned by the gasoline flavored banana yogurt, which the guy let us replace. the spoon knew about that life.




See ya soon Condrells!

Last night, (e:terry) and I headed out after an afternoon of programming for cask beer night at Goodbar. (e:heidi), (e:dianne), and a bunch of the beer club were there. Apparently cask beer is beer minus the carbonation. It actually made some beers that I don't think I'd like normally taste a lot better.

I also discovered that 2:1 ratio for beers between Terry and me works out much better.

(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.