my car was broken into

i hardly drive anymore. when i do, its usually just to do the "SF shuffle," which means moving your car around twice a week to avoid getting a ticket in the street sweeping zones.

in the past year and a half i've lived here, i've been pretty lucky because i've never had my car broken into. after my honda civic was stolen in san diego around 2006, i vowed never to own another car with upgrades/mods. i wanted a plain ol' stock family wagon. i got a subaru outback.

i don't keep anything in my car. i'm parking it on the street in downtown san francisco, 24/7. i see cars with broken windows literally every single day. my method: i leave it completely barren, with untinted windows for any beholder to look and find nothing. if you are dumb enough to leave a bicycle, electronics, a purse or bag in plain view, some crackee WILL STEAL IT. i even left a bunch of blankets in the hatchback so that if the seats are folded down, it looks like someone might be sleeping there. they were originally used in the move, but just kinda stayed in there.

when i walked to my car today, something felt weird. i'd parked it on haight, just below octavia. octavia is a pretty bad street for broken into cars- a friend got his stuff stolen there once. anyway, i didn't see any broken windows as i walked up, so i felt ok. i looked inside. stuff was all over the seats. it took me a second to realize that i hadn't left it that messy- someone had gone through my shit!

turns out the thief was kind enough to just pry back the rubber seal on the door jamb and somehow let himself in.

here's the turnout:
1. they didn't get anything, because as stated above, i leave nothing in my bone-stock car.
2. there was no permanent damage to the car. i put the rubber seal back in myself.
3. i learned how to discreetly break into a subaru, should the need ever arise.
4. they didn't even find my spare change?! crack is a helluva drug.
5. they didn't bother to take my cd's?! so sad, nobody buys music anymore.
6. since my shit was already spread out everywhere, i figured it was a good time to clean out my car. so i did.
7. months ago, somehow i had lost the knob that you pull to fold the back seat down. you could manage to still do it by grabbing the threaded screw, but the knob was MIA. the crackhead found it for me, as i found it laying on my back seat. thanks!

tips and tricks for changing a flat

customer: "hi, i got a flat tire. i need to buy a tube."

ken: "ok, what size tire?"

customer: (pointing)"its that exact bike right there."

ken: "alright, here you go."

customer: "are there any tricks to changing a flat? like without taking the wheel off the bike?"

ken: "WHAAA???! sure. here's the trick: take the wheel off the bike."

customer: "yeah, but it seems easier to leave the wheel on there, like if you were in a race or something?"

ken: "thats impossible. think about it. the tube is completely round and the wheel is enclosed in the rear triangle."

customer: "what if you disconnect this part right here (pointing at quick-release)?"

ken: "i suppose that could be done, but you are making it a lot harder than just taking off the wheel, removing the old tube, replacing with a new one, and putting the wheel back on. you would have the entire bike in the way of working on the wheel."

customer: "ah i see."

ken: "i'd recommend looking online for a how-to tutorial with pictures to show you how to do it. that way you will get it right the first time."

customer: "ok, thanks!"

electronic shifting

yesterday our shimano rep came by the shop.

i rode a cervelo with the new DA group that uses ELECTRONIC shifting.

it was weird.

derailleurs are hard wired (not wireless), brakes are normal, cranks are normal. front derailleur auto-trims, and makes a cool sound. shifting is actuated by two buttons that are in the place of the shift levers. weight savings are non-existent since any weight saved in the shifters is gained back in the derailleurs plus battery pack. super expensive too.

shifts pretty crisply, but i'm not sold on it. i guess i'm just old fashioned.

TX homies weekend

3 of my best friends came up from houston and austin for the past 5 days. we've been friends for about 15 years, through it all. skateboarding, high school, punk rock, straight edge, surfing, hardcore, drugs, prison, law school, and beyond. i love how we can live so far away but still get together a couple times a year and its like no time lost. it was like a 5-day sleepover at my house.

i ate soooooo much food. pure, shameless, texas-style gluttony. last night we went for chowder breadbowls at fisherman's wharf, then went immediately over to in-n-out to get burgers and fries for dessert. we had to move fast so that we wouldn't feel full, which would prevent us from further gorging our guts.

other stuff we did: city loops on bikes, muir woods, twin peaks, best biscuits and gravy ever, riding trains, TL bars, mission bars, burritos, dolores park, dim sum, moved clare from TL to panhandle, kings/circle of death, upper haight bars, hill climbing, hill bombing, thrift shopping, farting, PBR, pupusas, full house house, and good ol' male bonding.

on my way to drop them off at the oakland airport, a seagull flew straight into the roof rack on my subaru. that was sad.