How's that minivan working out for ya?

More on the minivan in a bit.

I went out for lunch. There was either a fire or a drill that summoned the Fire Department to a neighboring building.


Some effects with GIMP on the fountain. This was shot in RAW and tweaked from there. Original image available.


Folger's is actually roasted and packaged right here, mere blocks from my office. The building in the background is not actually part of the Folger's plant. The heat exchanger setup is.


The Broadway Bridge Interchange. It's kind of a mess, but once you're under it, you've got access to some little-known roads that are pretty bike-friendly.


Ice on the heat exchanger has grown so far out of control that it's engulfed part of the fence around it.


This kid actually had some decent skills. This was the middle of a transition from a very long curb grind to a perfect landing.


People were just nuts this afternoon. Tires squealing, road rage and all kinds of automotive madness. Not against us, just cagers in a huge hurry to be the first to the scene of the accident.

A while later, Karen and I noticed this van come to a stop up the road a bit. It just stopped right there like you see it in the middle of Southwest Boulevard. Several other cars stopped behind it and eventually took the shoulder or the (no passing zone) oncoming lane to get around it. As we approached, the driver got out, opened the back, and pulled out a gas can to start walking down the road. This guy ran out of gas in his minivan. This has been in the news lately. Mounting fuel prices have forced (what? at gunpoint?) drivers to put less fuel in their tanks. As such, incidents like this are becoming a lot more common.

It's my guess that this is mostly due to people who pay attention only to how much money (not gallons) they pump at a time. Think about the comment "$10 will get me to work for 2 more days." Now, think how $10 used to buy 3.3 gallons when gas was $3 per gallon not long ago. Now it only buys 2.5 gallons. This guy just got served:


This building's address is 2600! w00t!


This is Karen's rigged-up derailleur.


The cable pull on this thing is insane. Karen told me she has to move her shifter as far back as she can if she wants to get into the granny gears. For reference, top gear is up the other direction much the same way as the front shifter's position (found on the opposite side of the top tube)


What else does this field need? It's got trees, clover, grass, and all kinds of wild plants.


It also has some office space just across the street. What more could you ask for?


How about getting re-zoned to accommodate some "Warehouse/Manufacturing" say bye-bye to one of the few swaths of barely-developed land in Lenexa, KS.


I could do without the thistles though. Ugh. They do look pretty, though.


Random Tunage:
Orbital - Remind
Tri Bowl Nuts - Trapped