I was going to post a really long complaint about my last flight and airport experience, but this is in the same spirit and it’s much shorter:  

New TSA Rules Regarding Lithium Batteries (it.slashdot.org) 

Last time I was on a plane I had lithium-ion batteries in my phone, two iPods, laptop, camera, and a watch.  And, based on the number of suits yapping about “how the plane just landed” and explaining to several people how they are “not to the terminal yet”, there were a lot of lithium batteries on board.   How long will it be until some TSA screener rips apart someones Rolex to weigh the battery?  Anyway, I’m off to find some spare lead-acid batteries for my wrist watch…. 


Next up: No items containing more than three ounces of carbon (unless in a clear plastic bag (which may not contain carbon or be measured in metric units  (may be subject to search and damage by blue-glove-wearing TSA employee))).  

New Sites: 

SecondRotation (www.secondrotation.com) appears to be a somewhat cost-effective way of selling/disposing of your laptops and other electronic devices.  The estimated value of my old iPod with a dead battery is $31.  That seems fair to me, but I think I’ll keep my iPod.  My 12″ PowerBook came in at a disappointing $349.  That is $349 for a perfectly serviceable three year old laptop.  For comparison, I found a similarly spec’d PowerBooks on eBay (with bids) in the $500 to $600 range.  I also found one wishful thinker with a buy it now of $800; keep in mind that this same laptop was about $1400 new.  On the bright side, SecondRotation offered to give me $116 for my year-old TomTom One.  Do they know you can buy a new one for under $200?   

Info-Mac.org (www.info-mac.org) is the recently released reincarnation of the old Info-Mac.  I haven’t looked around much, but this has the potential to be a useful site.

How did I spend my Saturday night?  I made a time-lapse video of the end of the season tear down and rebuild of the M2.  What else?   

No surprises this time.  The only parts that were replaced were a couple of cable housings, derailleur cables and the rear brake cable.  That’s all for now…

New bike parts?  Yep.  I was fortunate enough to receive a very nice Mavic Crossmax XL ceramic front wheel.  (Thanks!) My old wheel started leaving large amounts of aluminum in my brake pads, and the braking surface was getting a little thin.  So, new wheel and some new brakes and pads to finish it off.  I went with the Avid Single Digit 7 brakes and a pair of Rim Wrangler 2 ceramic pads on the front.

Why rim brakes?  Well, I considered a disc brake, but I couldn’t see much performance advantage, they are heavier, more expensive, require more maintenance, and I’d have to refer to the M2 as a mullet.   I’ve only ridden the new wheel once, but it was quite a bit stiffer than the old wheel, and the braking was impressive.  We had our first snow here in beautiful muddy suburban DC, so it may be a while until I’m back on the trails.   Until things dry out, I’ll probably spend my time tearing down the M2 and getting it cleaned up for the spring…