Looks like a helicoil that size will cost about $40. So… no. I can get a set of square-taper Bulletproof or RPM cranks for $40, and a square taper BB for $10. I can probably sell the stupid Octalink v2 BB that I had to buy for $20-30, it’s brand fucking new, so no, it’s dead. The cranks are neat looking, but obviously beat up pretty bad before I got into their life, so I’m done trying to keep them around. Not gonna be doing this too soon, so back to the fixed full time. Hooray!

Meanwhile, here’s a picture of my IRO.

If anything is broken, you can now contact me via the contact page. Instead of that just doing nothing but reloading the site and making my Google sitemap have errors! Terribly exciting. If it was broken before, but is fixed now, then keep your whore mouth shut. Or whatever.

I’m going to do a quick rundown of all the crazy shit I had to do that nobody really explained very well to get the sitemap (not the XML one, the nicer looking one on the toolbar there) and the contact page working.

First, I had to not use the WordPress-Comment: Akismet Edition plugin. Because it just didn’t fucking work at all. This was the most time consuming step for me, because I hadn’t figured out that the goal was to _not_ use it.

Second, I had to find the PXS Mail Form modified for Akismet plugin, which, besides having a really long name, seems to work pretty well, and uses curlybrace notation, which I love, because curlybraces always get the short end of the stick. Then just make a new static Page on your WordPress, name it Contact, give it the URL-slug ‘contact’, and insert the magic word (mailform with curlybraces around it).

Third, I had to install the Dagon Design Sitemap Generator plugin, activate it, create a static Page called Sitemap, with the slug ’sitemap’, and insert the slightly different magic word (ddsitemapgen with angle brackets and dashes).

Fourth, I had to go in and turn on the visual editor for my username, because it was turned off for some reason, then go back in and put those magic words in again.

Fifth, I had to marvel at how much shit it takes to make a blog look pretty. I mean, fuck.

Other plugins I use are Akismet, Feedburner’s Feedsmith, Google Sitemaps Generator, Instant Upgrade (one of the best things to happen to WP), WordPress.com Stats (because I am incredibly vain), WordPress Database Backup (because I am also incredibly paranoid), wp-cache (because I wildly overestimate the amount of traffic I get), and Youtube Brackets (because I couldn’t get videos to embed right for some reason and I wanted everybody to see my Lasik).

Well, I somehow forgot to post about my bike for a while. I got it all together, got my albatross bars and my basket and set it all up, and it sat, waiting for a sunny day.

I picked it up and rode it into work.

Problem 1 - Seat was too high, and I didn’t know where my allen wrenches were.

Problem 2 - Rear basket rubs on my right heel (but not my left). Gotta figure that one out.

Problem 3 - Riding position needs wooooork. It’s not very upright, but it is very short in the cockpit, so it’s like riding with my hands on my knees. Got to get the bars up, probably six to eight inches to really make it townieish.

Problem 4 - Steering is squirrelly. Probably just an artifact of having 70% of my weight on my hands.

Got to work, noticed some funny feelings from the left pedal. Which led me to the big one.

Problem 5 - My fancy used Deore LX Octalink V2 Hollowtech cranks are fucked out. The non-drive side pedal threads just fell right out and the pedal came off. Awesome. I was hoping that I could find an insert or something, but it’s not looking good. I guess I could try a helicoil, but that seems like a huge pain in my dick.

Lame, but I got on the Rob Roy and pedalled in the next day, and it was a revelation of simplicity and comfort. Managed 3 days the first week, 4 days the next. I’m on-call this week, so riding in is out, but next week, I’m shooting for the entire week.

Windows Live Writer is very odd for me, it keeps putting my text in a single column.

Like so.

My house currently smells a little like animal urine, and I’m not 100% sure why. It seems to be stinky in the attic, which I haven’t closed up from my ethernet cable adventures over the weekend.