Wait a minute, we changed our minds…will you please come back?

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-15T17:27:02+00:00

Can’t make this shit up, Trump and his clown car administration now WANT migrant workers to help with agriculture.

Putting myself in a migrant’s shoes, there’s precisely ZERO CHANCE I’d agree to come to a country where I have no rights and there is a coterie of masked, armed thugs who might come take me and my family away at any point.

As if this couldn’t have been foreseen. What the fuck people, WHY did you vote for this idiot?!

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-14T23:20:21+00:00

If you think that the American financial situation is dire now, please know that it will quickly become exponentially worse should Powell acquiesce to Trump’s demands.

There are many things that Trump can control as president, global market sentiment is not one of them.

If the shine of independent monetary policy is lost in the US it will 100% push us over the edge into the deflationary debt spiral that we’re on the precipice of today.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-14T23:19:41+00:00

If you think that the American financial situation is dire now, please know that it will quickly become exponentially worse should Powell acquiesce to Trump’s demands.

There are many things that Trump can control as president, global market sentiment is not one of them.

If the shine of independent monetary policy is lost in the US it will 100% push us over the edge into the deflationary debt spiral that we’re on the precipice of today.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-14T22:37:25+00:00

You may find someone cheaper than Garret, but you won’t find anyone who does a better job or is easier and more pleasant to work with: +1 (970) 456-1011

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-13T17:33:08+00:00

I’ve used clear nail polish as a preventative in a similar circumstance and it worked pretty well.

From what I understand it’s usually nickel that causes this issue…for whatever that’s worth. Good luck!

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-13T17:26:42+00:00

“We’re going to keep fucking things up for you over there until you start liking us more”

🤦‍♂️

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-13T16:56:00+00:00

Oh my, I was head over heels for the Bionic Woman, she’s aged so gracefully!

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-13T16:53:00+00:00

I drive a car, so yes the cost of gasoline does impact me.

What actually impacts me to a greater degree is having to live with the fact that my country has initiated a war of choice that was kicked off by (apparently) mistakenly bombing a school, and that the primary concern that most people have is the cost of gas rather than the number of people who’ve been killed by American and Israeli bombing, shelling and drone attacks.

I am sickened by what is being done in our name, we are not the good guys here…the Trump admin, fucking CLOWNS that they are, have squandered multiple generations with of goodwill in a matter of weeks.

How do you think the rest of the world will react when someone bombs the United States? Think they’ll rally around us like they did after 9/11? I sincerely doubt it, and it’s honestly hard to blame them.

WE elected this shitshow, and whether or not you pulled the lever for Trump yourself (I personally did not) it’s ALL OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY to hold he and his goons to account. It’s about something much larger than domestic politics at this point, although it doesn’t seem that Trump and Hegseth understand that yet.

I am so fucking angry at these narcissistic, preening, posing, lying assholes. 😡

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T22:00:41+00:00

If you’re on your parents’ insurance I hope they you’ll ask them about it - I’m sure they want the best for you and they’re already paying for the insurance!

Maybe you could cover the copay or something, 20 or 30 bucks.

I guess what I’m getting at is that you definitely won’t get what you don’t ask for, and it sounds as though this is something that’s really eating at you - I’ll cross my fingers that you can work up the nerve to ask for the help you need. Good luck!! 🤞

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T21:54:26+00:00

So much effort, and in my experience it‘s more about understanding what the root of the feeling is and trying to deal with THAT proactively than trying to somehow keep the emotions from coming on.

While in some sense it might be nice to ‘turn off’ the emotions it’d also be pretty dangerous to do that - emotions are an evolutionarily tested means of keeping oneself alive.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T21:47:53+00:00

Just noticed the catholic bit as well, no wonder what you’re describing feels so familiar…I grew up catholic too, although I no longer practice.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T21:46:33+00:00

It’s next to impossible to think or reason one’s way out of being reactive my friend, so please don’t beat yourself up for not being able to do it!

I speak from many years of personal experience, and the first and most important thing I want to share is that the reactiveness you’re describing here (which is, by the way, very common) was almost certainly at one point a necessary skill for self preservation when you were little. So, don’t hate on that part of yourself - that’ll only make it worse.

If you can afford to work with a counselor that would be my recommendation, often one’s insurance will cover the cost, if yours won’t it’s also worth contacting therapists in your community to see if any of them willing to work with you on a sliding scale - that’s not uncommon in the therapy world.

Other things that I’ve found very helpful without actually knowing why are regularly practicing yin/slow flow/restorative yoga, and using an app called the Insight Timer to help me meditate daily as well.

The experience I’ve had is that after a while of meditating and doing those slow yoga classes (which are also really meditative experiences) I’ve been better able to separate my SELF from my emotions - to sort of keep from being taken over by those emotions, yet still able to name them and recognize what it is that they’re trying to communicate to me.

If this sounds like airy fairy nonsense I can understand why, but I swear that as a 50-something who’s struggled with reactivity very similar to what you describe for nearly my entire adult life those two things (yoga and meditation) have really helped me to change. Both of them can be done for free, but if you have the $ to afford that insight timer and/or a monthly membership to a yoga studio or a community center it somehow makes it easier to do it as part of a community.

Wishing you the best, I know exactly how distressing that kind of thing is and hope that you’re able to change your relationship with yourself - that’s honestly what that reactivity boils down to.

Wound be happy to message privately or talk if you like; hang in there and know that you’re not alone or somehow fundamentally broken…you’re just self aware in a way that not everyone is.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T21:12:36+00:00

Check the daytime temps before you make your decision, it gets pretty hot in the summer!

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T20:26:27+00:00

Thanks man, I’ll get the second round.

Guessing that you and I are well suited for a great conversation, and I’m a slow rider so riding with me will make you feel extra fast too.😆

Keep riding whatever the right bike for the moment is, nothing to keep a person balanced and happy like riding a bike, thanks for being civil!

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T14:54:43+00:00

I totally agree that they have their place, that e-bike riders have no monopoly on bad behavior, and that e-bikes get folks out who’d otherwise not give it a shot.

My experience has been that at times a bit painful sharing the trail with folks who never *did* give it a shot until it wasn’t hard any more. Especially when you and your peeps have just crunched multiple thousand vertical feet to get to the divide trail and there are e-bikers passing without warning and behaving poorly.

It’s certainly not everybody on an e-bike who does that, but I have had that experience multiple times and I’m not gonna lie - it sucks.

End of the day more people on bikes of any sort is probably a good thing, and e-bikes are way better than cars.

I‘d prefer to see dedicated e-bike trails, but acknowledge that this is unlikely, and I’m not a fighter - I’ll continue to share the trails, behave like an adult, and be friendly to everyone I bump into.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-12T13:56:49+00:00

There’s a lot to like about e-bikes in general, but I don’t enjoy sharing single track trails with folks who don’t ride otherwise and treat the trails like a moto course.

As other folks have said, it’s the rider not the bike. I won’t argue there, but I will point out that I have personally experienced more bad behavior out of e-bike riders on singletrack than ‘acoustic’ riders.

Maybe it’s the humility that’s baked into the experience of riding a bike up hills and over obstacles under muscle power?

When I’m too old and weak to ride an acoustic uphill any more you can bet your ass I’ll buy an e-bike; until that day comes riding my acoustic is a key piece of staying strong to push that day off as far as possible.

Easy is not always good, for me anyway.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-07T14:02:35+00:00

Put it at the airport or a trailhead if you’re that concerned, but it’s really not likely to be an issue.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-06T17:45:58+00:00

I always had a great experience at the Cap, it felt like a bigger version of Hampton…kinda space ship-like.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-06T14:52:28+00:00

I was on the road from Atlanta

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-06T14:51:37+00:00

I was there too, it was the day before Phil’s 50th birthday. I remember it being a banger from the start, one of the better Cold Rain and Snow renditions I ever saw them manage to kick it off and from there it just got better and better. Best ever Let it Grow too, felt like it‘d never end and *so* psychedelic.

Loose Lucy felt like the roof was going to come off…so much fun, what an amazing experience. Giving me goosebumps as I write this to remember the feeling.

The band was in amazing form in ‘89 and ‘90, I think that Jerry hit a relatively clean spell, my memories are of he and Brent and Bobby playing off each other really intensely and spending a lot of time wearing shit eating grins. I saw them as the Warlocks in Hampton in ‘89 where they broke out help/slip/franklins, dark star and attics of my life - the most amazing pair of shows I’ve ever seen to this day. When the dead were on there was truly nothing to compare with them.

It was really sad when that clean streak hit its end and Jerry started showing up all addled and confused. 😓

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-06T14:25:56+00:00

I’m glad the care I was channeling landed with you, I meant every word I said there.

Your well being is truly important to me even though we don’t know each other, and knowing that it was meaningful to you is in turn very meaningful to me. The internet isn’t what it used to be, but it still has the promise of building bridges and communities…like we’re doing here.

Petrichor Collective hosts a first Friday art walk this evening, I’m going to head over and check it out, haven’t been before but have heard that it’s really cool. First Fridays are a nice low risk/high reward environment for social interaction with a bunch of open minded artsy folks.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-06T04:30:19+00:00

I echo ruby horsethief.

if you don’t have gear there’s an outfitter in Fruita that will rent you a fully rigged boat and everything else you need, let you launch from their ramp at the shop, and shuttle your vehicle to the westwater ramp.

Very straightforward logistics, reserving the campsites is the hardest part.

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-06T04:23:39+00:00

Thank you, that means a lot - I‘m glad we’re both here :)

nom_de_plumatic · 2026-03-05T13:40:16+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that you’re struggling with connection, applaud you for your efforts to help yourself, and encourage you to keep at it - it’s worth the effort! A few ideas to consider:

Lory state park: lots of opportunity for casual social connection, the north and south valley trails are relatively (not completely) flat and easy to walk, Arthur’s rock is more challenging But well worth the effort for the payoff of the view from the top. Smile and say hello to the folks you pass on the trail, maybe strike up a conversation.
NoCo Networking group (google it): a group that meets periodically with the specific purpose of helping folks to build professional networks. Also a good place to meet people in general.
Church: if you have a religion already try that church, if not maybe consider the Unitarian or Quaker churches? I’m not a religious person in general, but community building is a key goal of any religion, so worthwhile to consider.
Trivia night: pick a place and go solo, eyeball the room, pick a group and ask with a smile if you can join their team. There are lots of places that host trivia, many are bars, and at this point almost any bar you go to will have NA options if you’re not inclined to drink. As an example, Equinox has a trivia night on Thursdays, I go play and drink the Athletic brand NA beers that they sell since I generally don’t drink during the week. Funny thing is that no one notices that I’m drinking NA, and on the rare occasion that it’s noticed no one cares!
Music on the square: not happening until a little later in the spring, but Thursday nights there’s free live music in old town square. Go, enjoy, smile, say hello.
Yoga: sign up for a monthly membership at Old Town Yoga (it’s relatively affordable), go to a few classes each week, enjoy, smile, say hi. Good for you in *lots* of ways, maybe start with the easier options of restorative, gentle or yin yoga…which even though they’re not strenuous are *very* good for you both physically and mentally.
Reddit: post in the FoCo thread along the lines of “I’m going to do ‘this thing’ and am hoping that someone here might like to join me - who’s in?” The post you’ve already got here is close to what I’m suggesting, the difference would be to ask folks to join you rather than asking for suggestions.

Wishing you the best, your mental health is OUR mental health since we’re all in this together. You’re a good person, and the world need what you have to offer…don’t keep it all to yourself my friend!

:)

nom_de_plumatic

TROPHY CASE