Month: September 2019

Thunberg Thunder

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment
Screenshot 2019-09-30 at 08.29.49.png
Screenshot from the Interwebnets proving usefulness of focus.

Can’t apologise enough, dear worst-reader. You know, apologise for being who/what I am. Born of a grand idear but set to die by the/my (own) hand of über-stupid in the collective body of a generation. Indeed. So it is to be a baby-boomer from a once great nation-state that has so willingly and wantonly turned into the LAND OF FREE TO BE STUPID. #Trump.

But so much negativity, dear worst-writer. Why so much negativity? We know you care about $hit.

Well, dear worst-reader, it is hard to wake up to reality. A reality where the likes of Greta Thunberg is not conceivable in my beloved & missed united mistakes of #Americant. And I mean conceive in the most literal sense. Oh how such a thought hurts, don’t you know. I mean. Ain’t that a question worth asking: why is it #Americant can’t give the world a Greta Thunberg? Well. I’ll tell you why it can’t. Just look at what happened to Occupy Wall Street. Or just look at what happens to groups or individuals that try to take a stand against money and/or rampant anti-intellectualism that is #Americant. Forgetting who killed the Kennedy’s again? For you know, the police-state will shoot you down. And the supporters of such violence will go about the business of money, money, money galore. But before things get convoluted.

I’m not sure what I dig most about Greta Thunberg. Is it the fact that she has a voice heard ’round the world, which, perhaps, I’m jealous of (at 55) because I’ll never realise my dream of traversing the Atlantic in a sailboat while spewing truth, justice and Superwomanism? Or is it that she’s from a little budding country where the girls are so unbelievably gorgeous but also stronger than a ball & chain decorated in Barbie dolls and Disney? No. The thing that I dig most about Greta is how stupid, ugly, disgusting (mostly) white men of the fail-upwards western world react to her. What a great thing to witness.

You go Greta!

Rant on.

-T

Links:
– https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49855980
– https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763389015/this-is-all-wrong-greta-thunberg-tells-world-leaders-at-u-n-climate-session
– https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/claudiakoerner/fox-news-apologized-greta-thunberg-mentally-ill
– https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/emily-clarkson-takes-aim-at-middleaged-men-as-her-extop-gear-host-father-calls-greta-thunberg-a-spoilt-brat/news-story/5c2d9b5251702eacc0a00c2c84b956ec

Pods, Ears, Tech Mediocre Galore

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

Pseudo-review of Soundcore earbuds, baby.

Consuming to survive, dear worst-reader. How’s it going for you? Otherwise, I bought these earbuds a few months back while you-know-who/what online store had a sale. Got them for half-price, too, don’t you know. But I suppose I should also give credit where it’s due regarding how I bought something that I thought I wouldn’t buy–at least until I upgrade my iPhone 6s and thereby get a phone jack out of my life. For that’s the ticket, ain’t it dear worst-reader? For most of my dog-walking and podcast listening pleasure over the past few years, I’ve been using the original earbuds that Apple provides with their phones–phone-jack n’all. I’m actually a fan of the Apple design earbuds, too. If they weren’t so expensive I’d be using Apple wireless earbuds, too. Instead, I got these earbuds after my son bought them and I was able to try them. He actually ended up sending his back and buying another set from another brand because he said these don’t have enough bass. Goodness knows there’s plenty to choose from in this arena–and I’m not a bass fan anywho. I was so impressed with these that when I saw them marked down to 55,-€… I was all over them. Which brings me to the main issue, eh. Do they actually work?

Telephony.

In short, they work great if you don’t…

  • make a phone call while walking
  • use them when it’s windy
  • walk in the city where there’s lots of traffic (noise)
  • try to make a call using only the right earbud, etc.

As a headset for telephony, they only work if you’re using them where there’s absolutely no ambient noise and you’re not moving around.

Music.

For music listening they work much better than the wired earbuds from Apple. In fact, I’ve been so impressed with music play that I’ve actually found myself listening to music again via my iPhone. For don’t you know, dear worst-reader, I stopped listening to music via my iPhone because 1) I hate iTunes and 2) I hate listening to music through headsets, whether in-ear or over-ear. Not sure if these are gonna turn me into a regular earbud music listener, though. Indeed. I doubt it.

In summary.

These are my first true wireless bluetooth earbuds. I had wired bluetooth earbuds but I misplaced them and they never turned up again. The only reason I bought these is because they were half price and my Apple wired earbuds were literally worn-out. Once I found out how bad they are with telephony, I was on the verge of sending them back. I changed my mind on account I like the design and the way they fit in my ear. Since I don’t telephone much, that ain’t that important. Battery life is also pretty good. I use them twice a day during dog walks which means they last for a whole week. The other odd them about them is that I have to plug them in, unplug them and then plug them back in (in that oder) to get them to charge via USB. Obviously these earbuds are a bit of a hassle. I certainly won’t buy them again. But they do serve their purpose.

Oh well.

Rant (and consume) on, baby.

-T

Pseudo-Review: R&M Charger GX 9000km, Sprained Shoulder, Battery Degradation

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

2019 has been a bad year, dear fellow worst-rider. Bad because, well, I’ve not been riding much this year. Usually, within a half-year, I can easily ride for a 1000km or more. Are things starting to wane in my e-bike joy? Or maybe it’s the weather? Yeah, blame it on the weather–and never mention all the/that drink and substance that make one love/live the good life. Or, maybe, just maybe, this damn e-bike has turned me into a lazy mother-effer with too much wobble around my middle aged waist. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Let’s go with lazy.

While worst-writing about wobble and middle age… Get this. I fcuking sprained my shoulder on a tour the other day and the cause of that sprain was my fcuking über e-bike–and a tarp. While riding past the infamous Bayer factory in Leverkusen last Saturday, a gust of wind dismantled a heavy advertising tarp that was attached to a make-shift fence that secured a construction site. My handle bars got caught-up in the tarp. At that moment I probably mixed up braking with peddling. Because of the peddling a sudden surge of power pushed me further into the tarp and caused my handlebars, front wheel  to twist. Before I knew it I was catapulted into the roadway, ripping the tarp off the fence, and to prevent me from being thrown over the bars my left arm became my only point of contact with the bike. The entanglement with the tarp and the bike, forces being multiplied by a surging motor that thought it was going up a hill or something, brought everything to a sudden halt as I focused solely on not flipping over the handlebars–and into oncoming automobile traffic. Once I finally got everything to stop I let the bike drop on the road–stopping a few cars. For a moment I thought my left arm was not only disjointed but hanging by ligaments. The pain was excruciating. In fact, as I worst-write this, a week later, I’m just now able to type because I can finally lift my arm high enough to rest it on my desk. Needless to say, I haven’t been able to ride all week. But things are improving and I’ll be back in the saddle soon enough.

Moving on.

The only issue after surpassing 9000km on my über e-bike that I have to worst-write (complain?) about is the battery. But before I get to that, as you’ll note with my other worst-posts, this year I’ve finally taken the dive into urbanising my über e-bike. That is, by changing the tyres (tires) from knobs (rock razor) to street (super Moto-x), also changing the front sprocket from 14-16 (or 16-18???), and then shortening the handlebar width one inch each side, I’ve taken a hard-tail mountain bike and turned it into a souped-up, smooth ridin’, road-soakin’, somewhat aggressive styled, cruiser. And I’m still sportin’ that awesome curry colour that I worst-love so much–and differentiates me from, say, Pee-Wee Herman and his bike. But let’s get-on about the battery.

My battery is dying. Good thing I have two, eh! Now don’t get me wrong, dear fellow worst-rider. I’m not gonna bitch & moan about this too much. For one thing, even though I hate the whole proprietary bull$hit of owning battery power, I’m sold on Bosch. Keep in mind, I not only splurged by buying a Riese & Mueller über expensive e-bike, but I bought two of them. And one of the consolations for doing so was that I’d thereby get an extra battery. And don’t worry. With the way I ride, I was right NOT to buy a duel-battery bike. Anywho. My better-half has the Charger Mixte and we both have 500w batteries. Since my wife doesn’t ride that much, we always knew that my battery would die first. But then I’d be able to use her battery as a supplement till I replaced mine. The question has always been, the question I face now: do I replace with 80% degradation? 70%? Etc.?

Although I’ve known (felt) my battery was getting weaker and weaker since around 5000km, battery degradation is finally obvious. I suppose, after two and half years, almost using it every day, this is to be expected. Yet, as the reality of a battery replacement nears, especially considering the cost, a few thoughts do linger. And. Remember. This ain’t bitchin’ & moaning. Or?

First. Why the hell doesn’t Bosch have some kind of battery replacement program that doesn’t require one to have to just buy a totally new battery? Wouldn’t that be a more ecological solution? I mean, these batteries are nothing more than a bunch of cells in a heavy duty casing. Although I haven’t looked, I’m sure there are mods out there that allow one to just replace the cells, but then one enters the world of… stepping on Bosch’s profits, voiding warranties, fiddling with the powers-that-be. Since I’m not into fighting the man when it comes to my e-bike needs, I’ll obviously have to just buy a new battery–and I will. Still. As e-bikes become more and more ubiquitous, it’s time to start facing the ecological reality of having to deal with a world of dead batteries–that weigh upon us like bricks, bricks of money, effort and construed chemicals. Ugh.

Second, let me worst-write a bit about my battery degradation experience and the part that seems to hurt my e-bike riding soul (wallet) so much. There’s the obvious reduction of distance travelled, don’t you know. Where I once could easily hit 20km per bar, I’m now down to about 10km per bar. On the last two long distance rides I took, I was barely able to ride 60km. Granted, one ride was a mountain ride and the other a flat road ride, and I’m not going to get into the power delivery settings. But I do ride the majority of the time in either sport mode or tour. This year I’ve rarely ridden in eco or turbo–unless I face a mountain or want to stretch power to get me home. Also, of the five bars indicated on the screen, the last two bars seem to wither away long before the same distance travelled on the top three bars. Wait. Let me put that another way.

I think–and I’m kinda worst-guessing here–I was barely able to ride 5km on each of the last two bars of my battery. If that’s true, then I’m seeing the same thing in my Bosch über-battery that I’ve seen with, say, my iPhone battery. I’m sure there are e-bike riders (if not smart-phone users) with more interest in studying battery degradation, but my worst-guess is, I’m pretty much where the attached pic (see pic above taken from Bosch website) is regarding battery life. Indeed. Just like the batteries on phones, laptops, etc., once they surpass a certain capacity, time of use–they empty and/or degrade faster. In other worst-words, not only is the end-of-life of the battery exponential (pic above), but the same seems to apply to power delivery. If only there was a way to extend/postpone buying a new battery by adding a supplemental battery like I was able to do with my iPhone (see pic). Wouldn’t that be cool–even if it’s all a bit ugly? That’s right. I’m still using an iPhone 6s, baby. Stop laughing. Gotta save money somewhere to afford the e-bike, eh!

But enough about worst-moi and my über e-bike antics. The thing is, I’m still really diggin’ this e-bike. I especially love R&M quality. Even though I’m gonna have to make another major investment in it to keep it going, which will coincide well with all the other investments, i.e. tires, chains, sprockets, my fcuking left arm, etc., does this mean I’ll even keep it next year when it might be time to replace it? That’s right, dear fellow worst-rider, this über e-bike, upon purchase, was arbitrarily given an ownership life-span, of three years. For that’s the ticket, ain’t it dear fellow worst-rider? I’m not only up for a new e-bike next year, but do I really need to replace this piece of über-German-engineering grandness?

Stay tuned, baby.

Rant (and ride safe) on.

-T

When Lightbulbs In Your Head Turn On But You Can’t Know It

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment

Pretty good answer, dear worst-reader. Madame Warren kinda nails it. In the video above (time-stamp link), a talking-point question is asked that could be applied to almost any issue regarding the fairytale that is #Americant politics. You know, abortion, gun control, taxation, the rich eating the poor, etc. This time, though, the question is about whether or not the united mistakes government should regulate lightbulbs in the context of an overly polluted planet–that it created. That Warren calls-out the question for what it is, i.e. #Americant stinky bullshit framed in mint-julep sauce, is good enough for worst-moi. But what about the audience? I mean, dear worst-reader, I had a hard time watching this video, even though its something akin to a FIRST in #Americant TV. That is, kudos to CNN for holding the first ever mainstream political broadcast dealing solely with a polluted planet–created by the main polluter: #Americant. The way Warren (and other candidates) have to talk in this TV show, how they have to address the audience–let alone deal with the questions being asked–made me cringe. Yet, unlike the vastness of internet pornography, that makes me cringe even worse (waaaay too much genitalia and fluids!), I was able to get through some of this. My worst-point being: who are these candidates really talking to? Even with such a great call-out, does this mean that #Americants, i.e. those who have facilitated so much STUPID to enable #Trump, are finally gonna wake up from the(ir) nightmare dream? Hardly, eh.

Good luck suckers.

Rant on.

-T

Useful Idiots vs Useless Idiots

~ Tom ~ Leave a comment
Pic source: screenshot from the interwebnets

Big fan of Matt Taibbi. Enjoy reading him every once-a-once at Rolling Stone. Also. Kinda tickled that he’s entered the podcast arena (see link below). Well, I was tickled until he interviewed Jimmy Dore the other day. Don’t get me wrong, dear worst-reader. I kinda like Jimmy Dore. I mean, some parts of his podcasts are hi-larry-us, especially those skits with the phone calls and the guy who imitates all the well-known political and Hollywood personalities. But I often find myself fast forwarding when Dore gets-on about cutting-up on democrats. For that’s what he’s about, right? Cutting-up on people. It seems to be the last resort for comedians who can’t think of anything else/creative to say. So you just criticise and cut-up. You know. Talk about how fat people are. How stupid they are. Ugly? Make fun of everything your agreeing mob horde (audience) thinks is funny on account, well, they can’t figure anything out either. And while doing all that criticism and funny-stuff about the uglies that is #Americant, never come up with a solution. In my book the mob hordes are nothing more than #Americant smart-asses–or as Dore might put it: jag-offs. You know. The college grads who think they know/have learned something. Those who think just because they are something other than politically conservative, everyone else is wrong. Indeed, dear worst-reader. The armchair political scientists who think they know what’s wrong with my beloved & missed #Americant because they’ve never been able to come up with a creative thought about it–ever. Make fun, baby. And never realise that everybody that has a job in a corporation and is part of the anti-intellectualism that is biting a once great nation in the ass, there’s a joke to be made. Yeah. It seems Jimmy Dore is a pretty good comic when he gets on stage–performing for desperate minds, don’t you know, who all agree with him. Sound familiar? A bit of Rush Limbaugh, anyone?

Dore is nothing more than anything or anyone else in #Americant today: a smart + ass. Which, by-the-buy, doesn’t have to necessarily be derogatory. I mean. Come on. Again. Where would #Americant be today with out smart-asses? To me, the entire Boomer generation is one single smart-ass. The greatest smart ass that ever lived, don’t you know. In all of human history! Under other economic and political circumstances all these smart-asses might not be so gullible–but that’s what happens when you listen to your parents, you spend your life doing what you’re told, you never wake up to the con, you think a comedian is funny because he can make fun of a system that you’ve lived by your entire life. Oh comformity–you lustful and ugly bitch! And so…

Where else can these people turn? Marvel movies? Porn/Disney? WWE? New & improved forms of revolving credit? No culture, no community, torn and ripped families? The DNC and those attempting to be something other a touch left of centre? Deplorables? At the least, those who are part of what has given way to #Americant politics seem to be in agreement with Jimmy Dore. Then again, there is no other way to get a country to resort to the likes of #Trump–which allows Dore to rant and rant and rant about the DNC, Hillary, Russia-gate, etc. And because so many can’t understand the simplicity of what’s really going on, scapegoat it all. Yeah, baby. The great #Americant past-time, don’t you know. Sound familiar? Rush Limbaugh, anyone?

The thing Jimmy Dore doesn’t get (and perhaps makes him so dangerous) is that in a system of exclusivity, making fun of it all ain’t gonna change much. But it will continue to confuse the gullible. In other words, the GOP is still in full revolution mode and the progressives have a long way to go to catch up with what Ronald Reagan started. The fact that so many people like Dore hate Hillary in the same vein that the likes of Breitbart hates Hillary…? Holy cow, dear worst-reader. Indeed. It is the #Americant con manifest, don’t you know. Exclusivity is what lead to all the hate towards Hillary and the DNC’s behaviour toward Bernie at the 2016 Democratic primary. Bernie, by-the-buy, knew this because, before he entered the race, he was NOT a democrat. But let’s not get too bogged down in details. Here’s my point. What needs to change in #Americant won’t come from so-called Progressives if they continue to fight outside the system. #AOC is the perfect example of this. The only way to bring change is from within. But enough of worst-writer’s arm-chair politics, eh? Let’s just hope that in the mean-time, Dore doesn’t confuse enough people to enable another electoral college win by #Trump.

Good luck suckers.

Rant on.

-T

Links: