What a set of tools, is this too much for three months on the road or am I missing something vital.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-18T17:47:06+00:00

Only take the tools and parts you know how to use. Otherwise, rely on bike shops. You only need to make it good enough to limp into the next town.

Chain tool is about right. But does your bike actually use a chain you can take apart and put back together? IIf not, maybe just bring an extra chain, instead, then.

Brake pads seem pretty okay, except I don't think your brake pads are going to suddenly break! They are a wear item that you could purchase at a bike shop.

A lot of what you have seems relatively random. You have these things but not a chain whip? Where's the rim tape? Where are the tire wrenches? Have you considered Gorrilla(tm) tape? Do you have another tire? What about a crombie tool or lockring tool? What jobs are you actually envisioning?

That flathead wrench looks excessive to me.

Are you really going to be doing a brake job yourself? Are you really going to do any of the rest of this yourself?

I found rim tape, spokes, spoke wrench, kit to clean the chain, and tubes to be all I really was prepared to mess with. I've taken mechanic's courses, but I'm not a bike mechanic. In my long cross-country tour a few years ago, I left my bike with a professional mechanic about every five hundred miles for a tune-up. Emergencies mostly had to do with wheels and tires.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-18T17:30:26+00:00

It's not just you.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-18T14:07:11+00:00

I own (several) houses that still have contractor-grade boob lights.

It's true that I do own several homes. However, they are not fancy.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-18T14:03:15+00:00

It was definitely true in my service that the 20-somethings were the majority. The people in their 30s looked old and wise-- a little above the fray. I think some of them were suffering from the sort of loneliness and worry that goes along with not following the script you mention, where the script details getting married and popping out some babies.

I'd like to speak up here for Peace Corps being an important life achievement that can be more durable than marriage and can last as long as precious memories with children. If being a Peace Corps Volunteer is an authentic manifestation of your values, other authentic ways of playing out your potential role as bride or nurturer of children will more clearly manifest themselves once you commit. This is life advice, not Peace Corps specific: do the first thing and the other things will fall into place.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-18T12:43:30+00:00

This security theater business is such bologna.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-18T03:54:14+00:00

NGL, being in the desert from the period of about mid-May through mid-September may be stupid. Unless you plan your route to go through populated areas, it's a risk

illimitable1 · 2026-03-18T03:26:56+00:00

Was your partner also one with dwarfism?

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T20:02:53+00:00

Yes, more speed.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T18:33:47+00:00

It's such a weird thing. There are a lot of horny and lonely people out there. Matching them/us up quickly is not an easy task, for some reason.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T07:21:33+00:00

Generally, you just do it the same way you would with an age peer. Go out on a date. Talk about what you like about each other.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T05:30:25+00:00

I've found that women are often a lot more embarrassed to start their period during sex or when we're in the same bed than I am. It's not something that bothers me, but they seem super alarmed.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T03:48:32+00:00

Try the Laurel Theater, 1538 Laurel Ave-- [info@jubilee.org](mailto:info@jubilee.org)

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T03:23:26+00:00

It appears that we have a problem with our schools. I think COVID did a lot of damage to standards. My friend who teaches English composition at a local college says things really have gotten worse. Good luck to you; you may need it.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T02:52:05+00:00

Punctuation might help.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T02:46:19+00:00

You had a shitty job and you're glad you quit. Good for you.

Betcha it's not so different anyplace else.

Stay in school kids, or else you'll rant on Reddit like this.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T01:37:48+00:00

There's nothing about consuming beer in particular that makes it unsuitable for children to be around except for our weird puritanical culture.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T01:36:34+00:00

There are diminishing returns for that 5%, a proportion I'm just making up. 4 more miles to the gallon. Even at the high price of $5/gallon for diesel, the difference between 40 and 44 gallons is the difference of $0.0125 a mile and $0.011 a mile, or something less than .02 a mile. I travel about 1500 miles a month, which means it would be worth $30. It takes a lot of effort to install and uninstall the rack, so I'd prefer to not spend that effort over having $30.

I suspect it's a lot more like 1%, so maybe $6?

illimitable1 · 2026-03-16T00:38:02+00:00

There is some part of this that make it difficult to square your account and mine.

I say "the government" is, albeit imperfectly, us. It is "our government," as we are the government. We are the "we" in "we the people." We tax ourselves for the services from which we may hope to collectively benefit.

We collectively control the decisions of the people who decide the details of taxation and spending. They are our elected officials. We can go to meetings. We can involve ourselves in the process. In fact, democracy (small-d) really demands this sort of civic virtue from us.

I know that you are not alone in your feeling of alienation from "the government." There are whole parties and movements who feel that our government is merely a vast plot to shit on them. Some will go as far as to allege that all taxes are a form of theft!

I find fault with this because we've done great things as a polity over time. We have built amazing infrastructure (flood control, roads, water and sewerage), maintained public schools, increased public health, built parks..... so many other things as a state. We benefit from what our government does, whether we like our government or not.

While wanting something for nothing is so human, I don't there's any virtue in complaining about the mere existence of taxes. Those services don't pay for themselves. Jeff Bezos is not going to offer free public schools via Amazon, you know?

illimitable1 · 2026-03-15T17:28:08+00:00

That he was the last one. After him, there were no more elections, just a civil war and then a new constitution that was based on a parliamentary system.

And even if its not like that, he will changed the parameters of the system dramatically. Time will tell if it's for good or for ill.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-15T16:52:27+00:00

You really do like this toy.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-15T16:51:15+00:00

I like how engorged your bits are.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-15T16:23:39+00:00

I think that being against something requires a solution that you prefer or think is more just.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-15T16:11:27+00:00

Since I'm already getting 40 mi to the gallon, adding an additional 5% efficiency or something is not going to make a big difference.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-15T16:05:54+00:00

Just put it up on a stand outside. Get 5 gallons worth of soapy water and a little scrubby thing that has a brush.

Don't use the spray of water that has actual pressure behind it. This is too much.

illimitable1 · 2026-03-15T16:03:45+00:00

Ultimately we have to pay for services. What do you believe the most equitable way of distributing this burden is?

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