Changing of the Stems

The 100mm stem on the gravel bike (pic) always seemed a tad long.  It was okay... but not quite right.

Swapped it out for a 70mm (that'd be 1.18" shorter in Murican units), and it made all the difference.  I no longer tend to scoot forward on the saddle or feel too stretched-out.  Handling's much more, uh, snappy without becoming twitchy.  Big improvement.  Weirdly though, first time jumping on the bike with the new stem, it felt almost a full size smaller.

Rule of thumb for off-road bikes: In your normal / usual / preferred riding position (gravel bike: out on the brake hoods), the front hub should be more or less hidden by the handlebars.

I Knew That Stuff Was No Good

Erythritol crosses blood-brain barrier, linked to strokes etc.  Article at Inc, though I'm sure you can find other sources.

I tried that stuff a couple of times in various Monster drinks.  Nasty.  You can just taste that it's no damed good.

Quotes of the Day

I'm in the middle of planning out a radio tower for the new Franklin County EOC, and two quotes came to mind that are worth mentioning here.  The first is from the very best source, author unknown:

Always and Everywhere,

Mission drives Hardware

I'd like to tattoo this on some people's foreheads.  Reversed of course, so that they could just look in a mirror as needed.

The second of course is from Robert A. Heinlein:

What are the facts?  Again and again and again – what are the facts?  Shun wishful thinking ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell," avoid opinion, care not what  the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" – what are the facts, and to how many decimal places?  You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue.  Get the facts!

RAH may be an even more unassailable source of quotations than either Mark Twain or Winston Churchill.  Probably not the two combined, however.

Thus ends my smartassery for the afternoon.  Time to get down to some Egli calculations in order to nail down just how high this antenna has to be.  Because "as high as we have budget to build!" holds no water whatsoever with me, and in fact actively ticks me off a good bit.

Thursday Movie at the Library Night: Ulee's Gold

Tonight!  Don't forget!

A Glimpse into What's Going On at the ARRL

Over at KB6NU's blog.  It's bad.

Here are my earlier thoughts on the matter, to provide some context.

Yep, Definitely the Equinox

Today, and the exact moment is 10:46 EDT.  Can't you just feel it?  Nah, me neither, but there it is.

No picture here, but APOD usually has something interesting up on these astronomically interesting dates.

A Look at the Science Behind 'Project Hail Mary'

By no coincidence at all, it's this week's topic at Big Picture Science podcast.  Go & download & listen.

I'd put in an image, but just click through and you'll get all the image I'd put here.

Really looking forward to this movie.