Chile today, hot tamale

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 11 Comments

Here’s something you don’t think about much — what happens if the natural gas goes away in the middle of a cold spell? Got a fireplace? Wood stove? Any objection to burning the furniture in the living room?

It’s not quite clear what caused the problem, but some 40,000 New Mexico Gas Co. customers apparently find themselves in this position this evening, reports the Albuquerque Journal. According to the Journal, crews have to shut down every single gas meter before gas can be returned to communities’ main lines, then return to each gas customer, purge air from the lines, test the lines, and relight the pilot lights before service can be restored. Ay, Chihuahua.

We used to fret about running out of gas from time to time in Weirdcliffe, because the propane guy hated driving up our wickedly steep road to fill the tank in evil weather, which is (duh) when you really want a full tank. But up there we had a wood stove, trees and the tools to bring the two together in fiery union. Down here in Bibleburg we have a couple of portable electric space heaters, three propane camp stoves and two cats. Oh, yeah, and a solar assist unit on the roof that mostly works only when the sun shines, which lately, eh, not so much.

Here’s hoping all my friends down thataway are staying warm this evening. As one noted: “We got some excitement down here.” Claro que si.

Neither a Bibleburg nor an Arab spring

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 4 Comments

Say it ain’t so — looks like we actually squeaked into positive territory here this afternoon. Two degrees above zero. Why, that’s practically balmy. Or maybe that’s just me. Two consecutive days of trainer rides in the office do little for one’s mental health, no matter what’s on the iPod.

Speaking of mental health, what in bloody hell is going on in the Middle East? Did everybody wake up on the wrong side of the bed all at once? Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan — all of a sudden the streets are full of pissed-off people and the boss-fellas are peeing themselves, spazzing out like a herd of cats trying to cover turds on a tile floor.

Not even the CIA can push ’em over wholesale like this. They have enough trouble working retail. And the NYT doesn’t seem to think it’s jihadis, either.

Is it truly an “Arab spring?” Not so fast, says Roger Hardy, Middle East analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center:

“Analysts would do well to exercise a little humility. My own guess, for what it is worth, is that this is not the beginning of an Arab spring, but of something more messy and drawn-out. The old order still has plenty of fight in it.”

Less than zero

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 21 Comments
The folks at NOAA have some chilly news for Bibleburgers.

Great googly-moogly! It’s colder than the ice cubes in Weepy John Boehner’s breakfast martini out there.

The weatherfolk say we may crack zero today. But when I got up we were at minus-8 and we’ve been inching downward ever since. Right now we’re at 10 below zero.

I guess this means the nude sunbathing is right out. Poo.

Blue Monday

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 12 Comments
Bare trees, a la Fleetwood Mac
There's a big-ass mountain behind there somewhere. We know it's there. We just can't see it.

Nope, not so much. January hits the door running, taking our blue skies with it — so this Monday, what we have is gray with a side of snow.

Oh, well. Mondays are supposed to suck, right? And it ain’t like there isn’t any work that needs doing. I wrapped up my review of the Voodoo Nakisi for Adventure Cyclist magazine — look for it in the April edition, I believe — and more bikes are en route to the Caramillo Street Beacon of the Revolution Bicycle Examination Collective & Proving Ground as we speak, including a Soma Saga and a Raleigh Port Townsend.

But before they get here and the fun stuff resumes, VeloNews needs a cartoon, Bicycle Retailer wants ’toons and columns, and VeloNews.com has requested the honor of my presence in the virtual barrel a few extra days in February while Management attends the Tour of Qatar.

And given the weather, it looks like the only bike I’ll be examining is the one bolted to the Cateye CS-1000 in the office.

So, yeah. Monday. There’s always a little blue in there if you know where to look. A professional can always find that dark cloud surrounding the silver lining.

Speaking of dark clouds, check out Paul Kimmage’s interview with Floyd Landis, posted at nyvelocity.com. Good read, but a sad story. Makes a guy feel like a low-level mafioso for writing up pro bike races for fun and profit.

I will never be smart

~ Patrick O'Grady ~ 4 Comments

So much for my skill at prognostication. Marianne Vos wins the women’s race and Zdenek Stybar takes the men’s title.

I was trying to follow the men’s race via streaming video, but it blew up on me somewhere in the third lap so I clocked in and went to work. The video finally came back to life with two laps remaining, so I had that going for me.

Man, check that photo of the men’s podium. Those are two disgruntled Belgians.