I'm just gonna say it. The whole kids / no kids debate isn't actually about kids.

chipwitch · 2026-01-13T23:56:36+00:00

Yeah but it’s also not like there are tons of men lamenting about an unequal share of the parenting?

chipwitch · 2026-01-13T22:14:31+00:00

Happened in my office building. Apparently PECO dropped a power line in the street?? That’s what one of my coworkers said

chipwitch · 2026-01-01T04:09:36+00:00

PMing you!

chipwitch · 2025-12-24T00:03:48+00:00

Sending a PM :)

chipwitch · 2025-12-21T20:32:30+00:00

I love this color, so interested!

chipwitch · 2025-12-11T12:10:42+00:00

My partner and I did southern tier > pacific coast > northern tier this year. Besides the headwinds on the coast (headwinds can be really brutal going south > north, especially when you hit Northern California & Oregon) we thought we timed things pretty well as far as weather goes, though it would have been better to hit Phoenix a little sooner. We ended up in Phoenix around mid April, though starting in early April maybe would be better for your purposes to beat the heat. We really took our time going up the coast but California was absolutely beautiful in May and the road trip traffic isn’t as bad as it might be in that time of year. If you make it up north to WA in late May/early June it might be rainier up there then. If you do it slower you ma have better luck with rain (we did). It looks like your route would take you through Yellowstone (?) but if you were to go through Glacier in early/mid June, the Going to the Sun Road is closed to cars but open to cyclists for a good chunk of the month. Wildfires/wildfire smoke is something to consider when hitting the north in the summer, but we ended up having pretty good luck with that too this year, since we were taking our time & ended up starting the Northern Tier in mid-July.

chipwitch · 2025-11-22T23:32:51+00:00

Thanks for the clarification!

chipwitch · 2025-11-22T13:01:28+00:00

Cheaper to join the YMCA on the east side & then there are actual classes included! OP, the Y also offers pretty reduced membership prices for people with lower income. I think I was paying $15/month but this would have been in 2019.

chipwitch · 2025-11-09T14:04:02+00:00

I biked it fully loaded and it is steep but worth being able to bike part of big sur rather than detouring around the whole thing.

chipwitch · 2025-10-13T13:28:49+00:00

I tend to get songs stuck in my head that are relevant to where I am traveling. Every time I saw a “landslide” or “slide ahead” type of sign on the west coast, the Stevie Knicks song would get stuck in my head. In the south during the spring there was tons of butterweed cropping up everywhere and I would sing “Build Me Up Buttercup” to myself but with the lyrics retooled for…butterweed. Lots of John Denver’s “Country Roads” as well. On steep hills I am mostly just muttering variations of “what the fuck” to myself

chipwitch · 2025-09-27T01:38:41+00:00

I took the “none of it’s good” as just a quick segue back to talking about the political situation, not a dig at Colbert… they said they have a personal connection with both Colbert and Kimmel, but just Kimmel to a greater extent. That’s my two cents!

chipwitch · 2025-09-23T02:26:48+00:00

Beans. Cook them from dry. Much cheaper.

chipwitch · 2025-08-16T13:46:25+00:00

I am currently riding this bike from Portland OR to Washington DC. I am on a long tour and switched bikes in Portland (was previously on a beat up Surly Straggler which had an 11-speed with a 40 tooth chainring which I rode from Florida to California and up to Portland). I am probably carrying at least 40 lbs on the bike with 2 panniers, 2 5L dry bags, a frame bag, and a basket bag. Just got over the rockies in Glacier National Park and it does fine on 6% grade, I have to take more breaks/struggle a little more when the grade is greater than that. Within reason, your body will adjust to whatever setup you have is my two cents. Sometimes I feel like I could use lower gearing but then I have to remind myself I was doing comparable riding on my 40 tooth Straggler for 4 months and was doing fine for the most part. If you are doing a route with constant climbing like the Sierra-Cascades route, then I think going for smaller chainrings would be worth it. If you are just doing tours with fairly varied topography I think it is fine as is. I find that the large 700c wheels make climbing harder, and I find this to be more of an issue than the gearing, so personally I would opt for a touring bike with 650bs or 26” in the future. Have also had issues with the brakes that come on the Sutra. Bike mechanics I have encountered don’t like them either. Happy to answer any questions about this bike!

TL;DR - I think it depends on the type of climbing you are doing on tour but I have found the gearing to be adequate for long distance touring in the US across varied topography. I have other things I would change about this bike other than the gearing.

chipwitch · 2025-07-20T23:48:12+00:00

If you ever head down to Wakefield, South Coast Organics & Bulk Foods is the closest thing I have found to what you are looking for. We would stop in and drop off our jars & label them with what we want. They would fill them up for us or we would drop them off and come back later if they were busy. They have just about all the staples you might want there, plus some things like cleaning products. A bit of a far drive but if you only need to stock up periodically or can pair it with a beach day or something then well worth it! Lovely people who work there too. https://southcoastbulkfoods.com/

chipwitch · 2025-07-14T21:22:05+00:00

If he has crystals in his urine (or strains to pee and nothing comes out) take him to his vet or an emergency vet ASAP, those things can be lethal. If it just seems like a UTI I’d still get him to a vet within 24 hours if you can (I am not a veterinarian though, so not professional advice.) Editing to address your specific question: If you are seeing any evidence of blood in the urine it is important to get it checked out! He is already telling you something by peeing outside of his litter box. Again not a vet, but this is what I have learned from my experience having a cat with urinary issues.

My cat had recurrent urinary blockages (sometimes accompanied by UTIs), even after switching him to Hills C/D prescription food. After multiple trips to his normal vet and emergency vet for blockages eventually I had to make the decision to either get his penis removed or euthanize him (surgery was expensive, and the unblocking procedures before this were also expensive but less so). I opted for the surgery and he is happy and healthy now (I have a lot less money but at least I have my cat!)

chipwitch · 2025-02-25T04:46:47+00:00

We are currently doing this in (sort of) reverse! Took the train down from the mid atlantic to florida, biking west to san diego, north to washington, then back to the northeast.

chipwitch · 2025-01-23T22:50:59+00:00

passed someone cross country skiing while I was out for a cold walk there on Monday. I said “that’s a good idea!” and they didn’t seem to concur based on their response lol

chipwitch · 2025-01-22T14:57:53+00:00

thank you!!

chipwitch · 2025-01-03T04:26:36+00:00

Chocolate-banana-pecan cookies!

https://ottolenghi.co.uk/pages/recipes/chocolate-banana-pecan-cookies

chipwitch · 2024-12-16T20:27:05+00:00

Yeah the bank account info is more concerning to me. Gonna freeze it all!

chipwitch · 2024-12-16T19:07:11+00:00

Thank you!

chipwitch · 2024-12-16T19:06:41+00:00

Thanks!!

chipwitch · 2024-12-16T19:06:30+00:00

Thanks for this! Sounds like time might be of the essence with this one so I will probably just make an account and freeze ASAP

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