Finished reading: Witchmark by C.L. Polk 📚

Already ordered the second book of the trilogy. This one was fantastic. Witches, magic, and bicycle chases.

Finished reading: The River of Silver by S. A. Chakraborty 📚

A nice bonus collection of stories from the Daevabad Trilogy.

Moving from c# to c/c++ has been a struggle at times as I keep trying to do c# things in c, but the biggest annoyance is strings/chars. I keep trying assign a string to a char variable like you assign everything else, but strings require strcpy. ARG.

Finished reading: The Wager by David Grann 📚

Interesting “biography” of the HMS Wager and it’s crew. British Naval law in the 1700s was pretty dumb but it kind of reminds me of today’s corporate world. Bodies are more important than skills and the Captain’s word is law even if it will harm everyone.

Got out for an 8 mile mountain bike ride with ~1000 feet of climbing. My legs were sore when I got back home, and I figured I’d be dead this morning. I’m actually feeling pretty good. Looking forward to Thursday’s group ride.

Picked up a new bike pump, hard to find low pressure high volume pumps. Most that say high volume have a high pressure gauge that aren’t any good for setting sub 40PSI tires. Ended up getting a Specialized Air Tool MTB pump. Giant 3in gauge that’s easy to read and maxes at 40PSI

Got out for a good bike ride yesterday, before we get 5 days of rain. Really enjoying the new bike. Should be a fun summer.

Ordered a set of Ergon GP1 grips for the new bike. I like the PNW Loams I have but they aren’t big enough, and my hands are hurting 30 minutes into the ride. I had the Ergons on my other bikes, so I’ll try them again. Might get some Wolf Tooth Fat Paws or Mega Fat Paws to try.

Took the 3yr old out for her first “mountain biking ride”. She had an absolute blast, and was sad the ride ended. On the way home she asked when we could go again.

I think we’ll be going for trail rides quite frequently this summer.

Arg. Shakes fist at clouds. We lost power as the new washer/dryer were getting delivered.

So after the water leak, our washing machine decided it has had enough, and destroyed itself. The front tub assembly is shredded, and the drum is way out of balance on an empty load. Our new washer and dryer arrive tomorrow. 🤦‍♂️

Dealing with water on an inside wall this morning was not in my plans today. Found a pinhole leak in the supply line to the 2nd floor bathroom.

The weather around here lately has not been good for drying out mountain bike trails to get out for spring rides. Wish the weather would cooperate for once.

Shoe shopping is a pain for me, especially for specialty shoes. I found these awesome bike shoes, in a fantastic colorway, and at more than 50% off, and they fit great.

Looks like we are getting two new bikes in the family this month. The 3yr old is way too big for her 12in balance bike. She fits on a 16in bike already.

Yesterday’s road trip was to Nashua, NH for a new bike day! Things lined up to check out this XXL Trek Fuel 8 they had on the floor. A big upgrade from the Surly Moonlander I bought a decade ago. Can’t wait to hit some mountain bike trails.

After 6 hours in the car on Wednesday and 9 today, I’m ready for no road trips for at least the next month.

My haul from the Baltimore Pen Show. 6 new nib grinds, including on the Kasama Una, and Esterbrook Estie Honeycomb. One new bottle of ink, Wearingeul For Whom The Bell Tolls, picked up a preordered Schon Monoc nib, and an oversized Esterbrook Estie.

The Baltimore Aquarium was a ton of fun. The Sawfish in Shark Alley was really cool.

Made it to the Baltimore Pen Show. Our first show since the Philly Pen Show in January 2019. We had a great time, so nice to see friends that we haven’t seen in 4 years. A bit overwhelming for the 3yr old, but we survived.

Made it to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum today. We had a great time, old steam engines are amazingly huge machines.

Finished reading: The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty 📚

This was a fantastic series, I found myself reading this one at any free moment, even if it was just a page, because I wanted to see what was going to happen with Ali, Nahri, and Daevabad.

Pearl has been sitting next to me at the table quite a lot lately. Normally she isn’t clingy like this.

Finished reading: The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty 📚

I think this one was better than City of Brass. Looking forward to the final book of the trilogy.

It’s February in central NY. We should be getting cold weather and plenty of snow.

Instead we are getting torrential rains and thunder and lightning.