Don't Steal Shit

I had a couple bikes stolen at UCSB. I got both of them back later, and while it did not make up for the tremendous frustration I felt when my bikes were stolen, I remember the recovery events with fondness.

So this thing should bring a lot of people great joy, and I wish them luck.

BTW, the cops are not at all interested in recovering your stolen bike in Isla Vista. Too hard to prove, too hard to prosecute. Fight crime? lol why would they do that? They could not care less. All they want to do is write tickets for MIP's, DIP's, and open containers. Those are revenue generating opportunities.

Go Do This: MDTS Practical Shotgun for Home Defense

AAR for MDTS Practical Shotgun for Home Defense
Course date: 30/31 Sept/1 Oct
Instructors: Chris Fry and Bill Aprill
Gear required: A working shotgun; your brain
Rating: Five stars (out of five)

I took an excellent class over the weekend; I cannot recommend it highly enough. The instructor runs classes all over the country, and if you are at all interested in improving your mental and physical approach to your (and/or your family's) safety then you should attend. The only reason not to participate is if you already know that you are not the type of person that would use a firearm to defend yourself in a life or death situation. In that instance you should focus on techniques that are better suited to your abilities.

MDTS is run by Chris Fry, based out of upstate New York. He travels around the country doing trainings for firearms, edged weapons, and unarmed self-defense. Chris was joined by William Aprill, of ARC, who runs his own training programs down in New Orleans. Together they delivered a curriculum that covered both the mechanics of shooting a shotgun and, more importantly, the mindset you must cultivate to protect yourself from violent criminal actors, up to and including using deadly force in your home. As a special bonus, Bill Aprill did extensive lecturing on the mindset of violent criminal actors: where they come from, what they want, and provided the students with anecdotes backed up by hard data accrued during his career in both mental health and law enforcement.

I did not know the first thing about these guys when I registered for the class. I signed up because they were recommended by Craig Douglas. He is an awesome instructor, so anyone that is approved to work with him is likely to be good. Not only that, they will likely have a cerebral, intelligent approach to the hard truths of self defense and personal protection in a low-pressure environment.

That is the best course summary I can offer you: a cerebral, intelligent approach to shotgun home defense, which includes an excellent lecture course on violence and criminality. To do this kind of thing on your own you would have to read The Gift of Fear, and then read Meditations On Violence, and then read Thinking, Fast and Slow, and then read Sources of Power, then read a great many more books that I cannot remember because they are not already sitting on my bookshelf right now, and then spend thousands of hours studying and talking to violent criminals, and also spend thousands of hours practicing your weapon mechanics. Or you can take advantage of seasoned professionals and use their knowledge to your advantage. (Still have to practice your weapon mechanics though.)

I have been fortunate in that I have been able to take many shooting classes over the years. This is the most useful, most applicable, and most valuable of all. Useful and applicable because the information about mindset and criminal actors can be used and applied during every waking moment of your life. The gun mechanics are useful and valuable because you learn skills that you may actually have to employ. (This is a contrast to the long-gun courses and handgun courses that you might take - they are fun but they are really just LARPing for guys that like molle webbing - you will never, ever do that shit IRL.)

The value of these real-world, readily applicable skills cannot be overstated. You should take this class. It is a superb way to learn skills that will keep you and your loved ones more safe.

See you out there.

That's Not Where That Goes

Rather Have This On the Wheel and On the Bike TBH

Why do I have a rear cassette (Shimano Ultegra R8000 11-32, if you must know) sitting on my desk? Don't those things belong on a bike? Wellllll it turns out that if you have a mental episode splurge on some super-sweet wheels* to put on your super-sweet bicycle and you don't read the directions about maximum tire pressure during tire installation you might have a Negative Outcome. And by that I mean they might crack at the valve stem. I needed a place to store my cassette until my new wheels got back from the vendor, and there it is. Just pointing all this out in the event it ever happens to you.

I had originally thought that the wheels were defective (and they may have been), but I probably contributed to their demise when I inflated the tubeless tire to seat the bead and exceeded the specified maximum tire pressure. (The bead is the part that touches the rim and seals. It is very tight in tubeless tires; it has to be in order to keep the air from spilling out.) This may be more information than you need, but the important part is that the prohibitively expensive, hand-made-in-the-USA carbon fiber wheel cracked before I even put it on the bike. The other wheel leaked badly from the valve stem during inflation and installation of the sealant, so it was a goddamn debacle all the way around. Though it eventually sealed it did not seem like it should have happened - the wheel that cracked did not leak at all.

The only good news about this whole thing was that I still had the boxes when I went to return them, and the vendor (wheelbuilder.com) was phenomenal. They handled my returns and warranty and rebuilt my wheels extremely quickly. Enve was also extremely apologetic, and I think it is probably the first time ever I had a c-level executive address an issue with a product I bought. They took my issue seriously and handled it no questions asked. Official word is that early versions of the wheel may have had some issues at the valve stem, but they have been resolved, and with a five year warranty you can buy with confidence.

Do I need prohibitively expensive, pro-level, hand-made-in-the-USA carbon fiber wheels on my bike? Fuck no! I do not need almost all of the shit I buy. But the groupset I want to put on the bike (Ultegra R8020) is not available in the states yet. So, here we are. I could have opted out after the unpleasantness detailed above, but one of the nice things about being a party of one is that I can allocate my resources however I choose. (Could also have switched to the main competing brand, but I do not like the branding, and the last time a rich white guy passed me on the bike path without responding to my friendly greeting he was on Zipps, and I refuse to ride the same wheels as that asshole. Also the patented dimpling seems like pure ::wanking motion:: to me. YMMV)

* Wheels: Enve SES 4.5 AR Disc; hubs: Chris King R45D in 'jette' aka matte black; bladed spokes: I forget which brand (DT Swiss?), but also in matte black; Hutchinson Sector 28 tires; orange seal sealant