James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

Zwift Bike

It's been a minute. But anyone who's been around here for a bit knows I tend to be on-again-off-again with posts. I have a handful of pictures I've taken, so I'll try to bring this back for a bit, once again going with the 1-paragraph format because a) it's easier for me to write and b) It's easier for you to read. Below is the fabled Zwift bike, which I assumed I would like before we even got it. As it turns out, I do like it. I figured it would take some time to adjust the fit, but it was pretty much set by the 3rd ride. I imagine I've done 10 rides or more so far; so far it's been great. It's better than the bike + smart trainer for me. The setup was super-simple and if you're on the fence, I say go for it. If you're a reader of this blog and want to buy my old smart trainer for like $100 or so, send me a PM. This year's television epic will be: Breaking Bad and probably Better Call Saul.

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Norm said:
Zwift Bike

It's been a minute. But anyone who's been around here for a bit knows I tend to be on-again-off-again with posts. I have a handful of pictures I've taken, so I'll try to bring this back for a bit, once again going with the 1-paragraph format because a) it's easier for me to write and b) It's easier for you to read. Below is the fabled Zwift bike, which I assumed I would like before we even got it. As it turns out, I do like it. I figured it would take some time to adjust the fit, but it was pretty much set by the 3rd ride. I imagine I've done 10 rides or more so far; so far it's been great. It's better than the bike + smart trainer for me. The setup was super-simple and if you're on the fence, I say go for it. If you're a reader of this blog and want to buy my old smart trainer for like $100 or so, send me a PM. This year's television epic will be: Breaking Bad and probably Better Call Saul.

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PM sent
 
Norm said:
Zwift Bike

It's been a minute. But anyone who's been around here for a bit knows I tend to be on-again-off-again with posts. I have a handful of pictures I've taken, so I'll try to bring this back for a bit, once again going with the 1-paragraph format because a) it's easier for me to write and b) It's easier for you to read. Below is the fabled Zwift bike, which I assumed I would like before we even got it. As it turns out, I do like it. I figured it would take some time to adjust the fit, but it was pretty much set by the 3rd ride. I imagine I've done 10 rides or more so far; so far it's been great. It's better than the bike + smart trainer for me. The setup was super-simple and if you're on the fence, I say go for it. If you're a reader of this blog and want to buy my old smart trainer for like $100 or so, send me a PM. This year's television epic will be: Breaking Bad and probably Better Call Saul.

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What bike did you have on it? I need to find something better for mine.
 
Cole said:
What bike did you have on it? I need to find something better for mine.
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Just some old shitty cx frame I cobbled together for it. I would give it to you but it's likely no better than what you have.
 
Cole said:
Yeah, idk. This just isn't comfortable
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Ok yeah F that. Send me a PM if you're interested in what I had on mine. The shifting is a little wonky but it's going to feel better than that thing.
 
Will throw out a suggestion for "Dead to Me" on Netflix. 3 seasons. Wife and I are currently watching, in Season 2.
 
Thanksgiving Ramen

This was our Thanksgiving meal - an awesome bowl of ramen. We've really dialed in this recipe, and this was one of the richest, most flavorful yet. Truth be told, the pork belly was a bit on the fatty side so this came out a little heavy. That said, compared to most people Thursday, this could be considered a light meal. We roast our own pork, make our own broth (but not tonkatsu), and put together a bowl that makes it hard to go out to pay for ramen these days. This holiday there were only 4 of us at home, and it was a later lunch meal. After that, the boys went with their dad and we were left at home to make homemade pizza for dinner. Julia stayed out in Ohio this round, so we had a very quiet day in the end. All the better when you throw in a solid meal like this.

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Women's Volleyball

Zac came home for a week over Thanksgiving, and last Wednesday we went to see the RU women get clobbered by the PSU women at the (former) RAC. This is the 3rd women's game I have seen this year, the 2nd time seeing PSU, and the first at the RAC. I know that volleyball isn't exactly a premier sport, but since Zac has been playing club for a few years, we've paid more attention to both the high school and college teams. Last year we watched Kirt's daughter play in the fall, then Zac in the spring. This year, Zac made the club team at PSU though we haven't gotten to see him play yet, save for some crappy IG live feeds. It runs year round so we hope to get out there in the winter for 1 of the tournaments. Anyway, this PSU team is really good, and they are the overall 3-seed in the NCAA tournament which starts later this week. I'd love to watch some of the tournament, but these networks make it hard to do. We have come so, so far technologically, but sometimes the most simple thing is nearly impossible. We tried to get the PSU/Nebraska game this past weekend and the best we could find was signing up for a $50/month subscription. The more things change...

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Grilled Cheese

We bought a fresh loaf of bread from Costco the other day, and at the time it seemed somewhat absurd that it cost us $6. But it was still slightly warm and there's nothing like a good impulse buy to make you feel American - am I right? So we took it home and made lunch with some slices of it, topping it with some of the roast chicken we also bought there. In the end, this loaf of bread carried us through 4 meals, with the best of them being what you see below, a good old-fashioned grilled cheese. This guy is loaded with sautéed onions, brie, and sun dried tomatoes. Combined with the thick-cut fresh bread, and this was an amazing dinner. This was part of our Thanksgiving weekend of eating solid-yet-easy food. I think grilled cheese gets a bad rap. This is not your childhood version that measures 1/4 of an inch from top to bottom when done. No sir, this is a hulking mass of awesomeness right there.

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Norm said:
Grilled Cheese

We bought a fresh loaf of bread from Costco the other day, and at the time it seemed somewhat absurd that it cost us $6. But it was still slightly warm and there's nothing like a good impulse buy to make you feel American - am I right? So we took it home and made lunch with some slices of it, topping it with some of the roast chicken we also bought there. In the end, this loaf of bread carried us through 4 meals, with the best of them being what you see below, a good old-fashioned grilled cheese. This guy is loaded with sautéed onions, brie, and sun dried tomatoes. Combined with the thick-cut fresh bread, and this was an amazing dinner. This was part of our Thanksgiving weekend of eating solid-yet-easy food. I think grilled cheese gets a bad rap. This is not your childhood version that measures 1/4 of an inch from top to bottom when done. No sir, this is a hulking mass of awesomeness right there.

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Any bread left? Go french toast and make a a monte Cristo tomorrow!
 
Fire

It's that time of year again...already. This week we've had 3 fires brewing, and winter hasn't even started yet. I enjoy the fireplace, though it does render the rest of the house ice cold, since the thermostat is maybe 10 feet from the fire. Thus, you tend to gravitate to the single room in the first floor that's warm. That said, it's like really warm; so much so that you go upstairs to the far cooler bedroom and it feels refreshing - at least for a few minutes. I know it's early, and all things considered this will seem warm in a few months. Right now, however, it feels brutally cold out there to me. I guess I'm just not mentally ready for the cold, even though we'll be skiing next weekend if all goes to plan. For now, I'll enjoy this warmth and huddling in the 1 room that's blisteringly warm.

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Television

What you see below is a picture of the TV on our wall, broadcasting a live stream of a club volleyball tournament that was being held in Ann Arbor over the weekend. Zac is on the court, #13, square in the middle of the court. But that's not the point. The point is that we can watch a club tournament happening in a small gym almost 600 miles away. And yet, if I want to watch the PSU women's game, or a random OSU football game, it's nearly impossible without paying an arm and a leg for some bullshit subscription service. It seems incomprehensible to me that you can't pay $10 to watch a game that would cost you $9 to watch in person. But if we wanted to watch the PSU game last weekend, we would have had to subscribe to the Hulu/Disney/ESPN+ package for $18 a month or whatever - with commercials. While this is hardly breaking the bank, we also pay for Netflix and Prime. At what point has the streaming TV ecosystem become cable television all over again?

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Norm said:
Television

What you see below is a picture of the TV on our wall, broadcasting a live stream of a club volleyball tournament that was being held in Ann Arbor over the weekend. Zac is on the court, #13, square in the middle of the court. But that's not the point. The point is that we can watch a club tournament happening in a small gym almost 600 miles away. And yet, if I want to watch the PSU women's game, or a random OSU football game, it's nearly impossible without paying an arm and a leg for some bullshit subscription service. It seems incomprehensible to me that you can't pay $10 to watch a game that would cost you $9 to watch in person. But if we wanted to watch the PSU game last weekend, we would have had to subscribe to the Hulu/Disney/ESPN+ package for $18 a month or whatever - with commercials. While this is hardly breaking the bank, we also pay for Netflix and Prime. At what point has the streaming TV ecosystem become cable television all over again?
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I think it was somewhere around February or March of 2024.

All the shows/movies are now split pretty well between a bunch of companies so if you want to watch the majority of what's popular you need 4+ streaming services. And now we have ads on basically all of them.
 
Pizza

I think every house goes through this, the pizza phase. I think there's even a thread on the board about it, but I won't pretend I have time to read everything on the board every day. This is something Simon and I threw together. Generally we go for cheese, meat, a different cheese, a different meat, then whatever other cheeses and meats we can find. It's good, as good as it looks. It's easy to make a solid pizza. Just add a lot of meats and cheeses. Hell, it doesn't really even matter what kinds. Just add it. Blue cheese and alligator? Send it. Anyway, this is not what I had for dinner tonight. I ate half of a leftover bagel with egg on it. It was fine, but this pizza was better.

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And She's Back

One semester done and the child has survived THE Ohio State University. She got back last night and I picked her up from her mother's place today. We grabbed some lunch, hung out a bit, then I worked and we later went to the store, made some dinner, and now we're in the kitchen and she's making cookies while I sit here and eat the raw cookie dough. It's nice to have her back, and it's starting to feel a bit more normal; though this is never really going to be "normal" again. Zac comes back next week and then we'll be a fully functional house of 5 - at least for a few days. Even though she was gone for almost 4 months, it feels right like she never left in a way.

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