欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

Do I need a front bag?

This bag is not too expensive. It clings to (attaches to) the handlebar and there is a stay (stabilizer) that rest on the head tube. The bag is easily detachable from the hand. The stay / adapter rests on the handlebar.

(All the images are taken from Amazon Germany or more accurately, those sellers on Amazon Germany)


This part (making it possible to detach the bag) seems to give more flexibility. The handlebar on my Cervélo is low as there is no column spacers inserted there. I am very afraid if I use this bag as it is the bottom will touch the front tire. I can avoid this inconvenience by meddling with this part (maybe).



I am not against one of these rustic baskets but they don't come with adjustable or modern adapters (stays).

Should I buy one (the one with sophisticated stay)? I can not buy it too late. If I were going to buy it, I should buy it now and see if it fits on my bike and also if my cat (not yet with me) likes it or not.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A front bag (basket) or other means of transportation]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2019/05/30(木) 16:17:25|
2. Cats
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The Tour de France is coming!

And it means that I am spending more and more money for it.

The famous "the ant and the glasshopper"Aesop's fable tells you that one works hard for the time when working hard pays off. I am spending a lot of money around the TDF.

This year the sum is stunning because it includes that of having a trailer hitch installed on my MX-5, which itself is already huge.

I just placed an order of some bike parts. These have been already discussed in some previous entry. A tubular tire and a set of two ZIPP wheel sleeves have been ordered and will be here in a week.

I will buy some items from Amazon Germany. I am buying a battery charger (8 slots), a cat bed, a set of snap rings and an LED lantern (with a dynamo function).


(image from Amazon Germany)

This one has a built-in rechargeable battery and a dynamo inside so that I can recharge its battery without an outside source or I can even (not so effectively I imagine) charge some electric devices that can be charged from a USB port.

A cat can see well in the dark but I can not. I have some flashlights but this year I want a lantern so that I can have a quality time with my cat with my both hands free.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ


[How much more do I pay?]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2019/05/29(水) 16:22:37|
2. Diary
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A kick scooter restoration



I think I have written about this second hand old kick scooter that I had bought a while ago. It was only €8 and it works OK but not so well. The problem is the rear wheel. The scoooter has a pair of urethane wrapped wheels of diameter 100 mm. The rear wheel has developed a rather hideous flat spot on it.

Whoever had it before me must have skidded (while locking the rear wheel) on an abrasive surface at one point. This flat spot sends a constant uncomfortable vibration. These 100 mm wheels are good for one thing; when the scooter is folded, they won't be too obtrusive. On the other hand, the front wheel won't handle a road gap of any kind too kindly.

When it comes to going over bumps and gaps, the bigger (the wheels), the better (the ride feel).

I figured out that upgrading to a set of 120 mm (in diameter) wheels won't hurt or affect the functionality of the scooter. I have already ordered ones on Amazon. I have ordered two of thin wrenches. The steering parts (bearings or whatever inside) needs a pair of 36 mm wrenches to get some kind of maintenance. I am waiting for them to arrive any time soon.

I am additionally ordering what is in the photo. Snap rings! Some parts are fixed with these and they are already rusty and may break at any point.


Kitty stuff shopping



I am thinking of buying this one but I have not decided which color. I have choices among Pink, Gray or Brown. I don't know if my cat is a boy or girl yet so I can not decide yet. This will sit on the passenger's seat while I am following the Tour this Summer.

Yesterday, I bought a bag of cat sand made of wood. It is supposed to be friendly and to some extent to absorb the smell. As I am a cheap person, I picked up the discounted bag among the pile because the its paper package was damaged. For this only cosmetic defect of the product it got extra 15% (or so?) discount. Who cares about the ugly vinyl tape fix, anyway? Me? Not at all.

Possibly a new mobile phone this Summer?

Before the Tour de France or not.

My current mobile phone is Google Nexus 5X (made by LG). I am happy with it but I noticed that it has been performing a bit slower than it had been before. This is maybe due to the Android OS upgrade and inevitable OS overhead.

When it was new (to me at least as I bought it as a "customer return B grade" item), it felt snappier but now it reacts a bit slower (at least it feels that way).

My choice will be Google Pixel 3a (as I am cheap, I won't be opting for Pixel 3 or XL or wait for Pixel 4) as it seems that it boosts a good camera with its affordable price.

If I decide to buy it, I will buy it before the Tour de France.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Kick scooter restoration? and kitty stuff shopping]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2019/05/28(火) 15:40:54|
2. Cats
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Question: What do I need to buy?

. . . before the Tour de France kicks off in July.

Answer: A lot of things.

Cat related items?

This year I am touring with my cat (not yet with me) so I need stuff for him/her (unknown at this point).
I have basic equipment like a harness, leashes (one retractable and one just a string), two seatbelt attachment for harness, a smaller toilet, food bowls, carry bag and some yummies.

I recently bought two seat covers so that my leather passenger seat won't be damaged.

What more?

1. Do I need a pet carrier bag that attaches on my bike (road bike)?
2. Should I buy a type of wood-based pellet cat sand so that I won't have mess in my car?

Camping equipment

This year I am leaving more stuff at home (instead of taking them with me) as I have simply less space on my MX-5 than ever. For example, I am leaving my beloved JetBoil (the first generation). This has served me dutifully these years. This year I think I can take only the Trangia set. This make it a bit cumbersome for me to make just a cup of hot water for a sip of expresso with my Wacaco Nanopresso®.

What more?

1. Should I get get a lantern (electric)?

I have a couple of flashlights but it would be nice to have one of those at hand.


Electric gadgets

1. A rechargeable battery charger (6 or more at the same time)


(image taken from a seller on Amazon Germany)

(ditto)

I have a charger that works on a wall outlet or a DC 12 V car cigar socket. I have a DVB-T2 portable TV set that works on 6 AA cell batteries. It (this TV set) is supposed to charge those 6 cells when it is plugged to a wall outlet or to a car cigar socket. I tried the wall outlet charger many times but there seemed to be some kind failure or problems. After a full night charge, the TV set died (ran out of juice) rather unexpectedly after a short period of use during the so-called Ardenne (Limburg) Classic week.

WTF?

Later I pulled out the cells and put them in the charger that I had (and have now) by two. Mine takes two cells at a time obviously.

This was what I found. Some had more than 65 % of charge left but some had been almost depleted. I guess this was why the TV set died so soon. Even after a full night charge, some batteries (2 serial x 3 parallel) remained almost uncharged. They were not even charged inside the TV set!!

So in conclusion I have to take them out and put them in a dedicated charger to charge them. So the next logical question is whether I have the luxury of charging them by 2 at a time while the hectic drive travel (from a camp ground to another). I don't believe I do (have the luxury of doing that).

So I need a charger that takes at least 6 of AA cells at a time.

2. Solar power gadget?

I don't think I am going to open the roof during the trip (the trip to follow the Tour de France). Last year I opened and drove only on two occasions maybe (both of the time the weather was mildly sunny with scattered clouds).

A cabriolet is not made for Summer when the summer is sunny and hot. You risk getting a skin cancer or at least terrible burn on your skin if you don't stay protected from the various harmful rays.

The Sun is abundant as the old movie title suggests in Summer in France (Plein soleil). Instead of dreading it, I think I should benefit from it. How about a placing a solar panel where the roof of my MX-5 folds when not in use.

Bike related

This year I am going to use my Saris Axis 2-bike rack on my MX-5. This (usage of this trailer hitch mount bike rack) allows me to have more flexibility and convenience than ever. For one thing, the rear boot lid is always accessible. Last year I used my Saris Solo so it was not easy at all to gain access to what was inside the trunk.

1. One or two of spare tubular tires!
2. Something generally called "Wheel sleeves" like the one shown below.



I want these (obviously two of them) because this year my wheels will stay outside on the bike rack while being transported. I have to expect some rainy days. These are not so cheap but they will make wheels more aerodynamic while being transported (right?).

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [The purchase list before the Tour de France 2019]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2019/05/26(日) 16:32:51|
2. Tour de France
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A new twist or a new tryst

It was postponed to an unspecified future date.

It* = the appointment for the adoption of a baby cat

Now there has been a new twist or as the title says a new tryst.

It goes like this. This afternoon a colleague of mine (who helped me adopt a cat) got a piece of news along with a short sweet video and some photos from the madam who had organized this adoption.

In this short but sweet video, her husband is cuddling up with a bunch of baby cats (up for adoption by me and others) who stayed with them (he and his wife and other cats) away from their mother cat to get them used to being around humans.

The twist is that this man fell so much in love with these pussy cats that he decided not to give them up for adoption but to keep them.

So his wife (the madam) arranged another adoption for me as it seems that she had unlimited supply of baby cats needing a family.

She added that this time she would get those cats from their mother and drive directly to my workplace to show them to me so that she could avoid letting her husband meet them.

So there's a new tryst arranged for me next week.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A new twist (the cat adoption story)]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2019/05/24(金) 15:25:17|
2. Cats
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MX-5 Trailer Hitch (EU/European style) Part II



In this episode (Part II), I will talk about the details.

I started this quest (the goal of having a trailer hitch installed on my ND Miata MX-5) around the time I bought it or even before I bought it.

As always when I consider buying something that costs substantially, I resort to the information that is available on the Internet to make a wise (as wise as possible) decision. I don't say that what is on the Internet is all true but at least what is testified by users is more useful and valuable than what is advertised by paying agents.

When it came to EU/European style trailer hitches for ND MX-5 at that time (two years ago and even now), the information was scarce. I managed to find (probably via some user forum site) one site and later I also found another site through where trailer hitch installation was available for an ND MX-5.

The first site was this (http://www.kupplung-vor-ort.com/) and the second site was this (https://www.ahk-preisbrecher.de/).

First I thought they use the same material (the installation kit) but now (after the installation is complete) I know that they use different kits.

Please visit their sites to see with your own eyes.

I chose Beeken Fahrzeugteile GmbH (https://www.ahk-preisbrecher.de/) because they had a spot for me when I wanted and the other told me that they were too busy and did not have any spot for me for the next three months (I need it by the end of June at the latest).

In the end, I was happy that I chose the second agent because 1. the location was closer to me and 2. their installation did not require cutting a piece off the plastic part covering the muffler to accommodate the hitch and the electric connector. Additionally, the quoted total price (the material and the installation charges) was lower, too.

I don't know if Kupplung vor Ort's electric connector is retractable as mine or fixed. I assume it is also retractable by looking at the pictures on their site.

So let get to the business without any further delay!

Here I will talk about these topics with the documents that I got from Beeken GmbH.

1. Specification (rough)
2. Electric work /wiring diagram

1. Specification

First of all, this seemingly robust hitch is only for a bike rack or a cargo box like these. It is not for "a trailer". You are not allowed to tow anything at all.


(An image taken from Beeken Fahrzeugteile GmbH's site)

This entry is too long so I stop now and continue later in a separate entry.

Preview : The reason (I assume) that this one is only for a bike rack and not for towing is this tiny part.


(This is part of the documents that I have and this part shown in this photo is hidden under the rear bumper.)

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [MX-5 Trailer Hitch (ND) Part II]の続きを読む

テーマ:カスタム - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2019/05/23(木) 14:14:28|
2. Mazda MX-5
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Not Today but later!

I had a phone call this morning and the pick-up appointment was postpone to an undetermined date. I don't know exactly what had happened but the only thing I can do now is to wait.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A postponed appointment]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2019/05/21(火) 16:33:46|
2. Cats
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The drive trip was a smooth one

The first part is all about what I have got on my MX-5 and second part is just a diary.

This is what I've got. As wise people say, pictures tell a thousand words. So let them talk instead letting me talk!

(The rear view of my beloved MX-5: some blurred areas around the license plate for the sake of privacy)


(Now the hitch is installed: ditto)

(The right side of the detached detachable hitch)

(The left side of the detached detachable hitch)


(The right side of attached hitch)


(The left side of attached hitch)


(13-pin connector is exposed and the connector cap is open)


(The hidden part / female part and the tacked electric connector)


(For ease of access use this hole with the tip of your finger to pull the connector down or up)

I have not weighed the detached hitch itself but it is really heavy.

This is Part I of the two-part introduction. The Part II will show some pictures of the papers (hitch system design, electric diagram and others).

On a separate entry, I will continue the review of this system in conjunction with my bike rack (Saris Axis 2-bike rack).

I really want to shoot some videos and upload them on my YouTube account. Those will include (hopefully) the unboxing of Saris Axis 2-bike rack, installing it on the hitch, putting my Cervélo on it and finally driving the car.

**************************

Sunday, 19 May (2019) it was mostly sunny. Since it was Sunday, there were almost no big trucks and rigs on the road (I remember seeing a couple of them only?).

I left home for Apen, Germany around 07:10 in the morning. The route was easy. I thought the entire route would be just highway (autoroute in French and Autobahn in German) but I was wrong. Around 70 to 80 km (?) was vehicle only road but not highway. I had only one roundabout in the entire route (twice if I count the way to and back).

I opened the roof for most of the trip as the weather was too good not to do so.

I think I arrived at the hotel at around 14:30. I was a bit taken back as there were more than 100 bikes (big ones) and more bikers on site. The bar / hotel turned out to be a very popular place for bikers. There were old and new Harley Davidsons, BMWs and of course other Japanese bikes and others.

I was not too tired as driving the MX-5 was nothing but pleasure. I checked the TV programs if I could watch the Giro d'Italia but there were only basic German channels. I knew I had no chance of watching this sport event immediately.

So I just relaxed and later went to bed early.

Monday, 20 May (2019) it was mostly sunny with a hint of thin clouds in the morning as it had rained a bit earlier in the morning. I did not know it had rained but my Mazda MX-5 was wet, which told me that it had rained earlier. I parked my car under a tree expecting a nice shade provided by it the previous afternoon. Almost all the parking place was occupied by those bikes anyway.

It was a wrong move. The tree had shed its leaves and others off on my car. They were not normal leaves but some kind of awful messy stuff. I did not know what kind of trees they were but the messy stuff that accumulated on my car was similar to those from chestnut trees or marron trees.

continues ... [The trailer hitch is now on my Mazda MX-5 (ND)!]の続きを読む

テーマ:カスタム - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2019/05/21(火) 15:33:26|
2. Mazda MX-5
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Nuff said

Finally! Just now I confirmed the pick-up appointment. I am going to have a baby cat with me then.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Next Tuesday (which is May 21) I am getting the cat, finally!]の続きを読む

テーマ:猫のいる生活 - ジャンル:ペット

1. 2019/05/17(金) 16:07:39|
2. Cats
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1. Small but long trip to Germany

Off to Germany! The rendez-vous (appointment in French) or Termin (appointment in German, thus it begins with a capital letter as German nouns have to be spelt so) is approaching. Next Sunday morning I will be off to a smallish town near the North Sea in Germany. So far no news on the cat so I guess I am traveling (or travelling) alone. No special preparation for this trip needed.

2. Moving

I am moving to somewhere. I have not decided where or when but I am moving to some place where I am openly keep a cat.


3. Cat

I am welcoming a cat soon although no news has been provided.


4. The Tour de France

Of course, I am going to be there all the way. I have to work on Garmin BaseCamp. After plotting the locations relevant to the stages on it and I will run a lot of simulations of daily drive routes and all. By running numerous simulations, I can choose reasonable and enjoyable plans.

By reasonable and enjoyable plans, I mean that my transfer (driving) will not exceed some extreme miles (distance) for a day. I would like to reach and check in a camping ground at the end of the day very much and to get there before the office (camp site), I have to be there before 20:00 or earlier. When I start driving after the stage, I have less than a few hours to drive. So making the transfer range within 100 km to 200 km will be preferable.



5.



In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Preparing for many things]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2019/05/15(水) 13:33:48|
2. Bike Races
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Festival Elsy Jacobs 2019

I began to check its site more frequently as the date draws nearer. The latest update on the site is that its Twitter link. I followed it hoping that I was right guessing that this would be the proper way to get the latest updates.

The teams participating the event update their information (roster or so) there so that the organizer has less work to do to reflect the latest development on its site.

I quickly learned that Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig is not participating the event as Bigla Pro Cycling Team announced it planned roster.

Lazy as I am

I am lazy. I want to change this lazy life. A help is on my way. I am so close to having a cat with me as a companion (at least I am led to believe so).

With a cat living with me being lazy or staying in bed late won't be an option.


My iPad mini 2 needs more storage

My iPad mini 2 (second hand found on ebay) has builtin 16 GB of storage. Some of it has been taken by the system (iOS) so I have less space than than of course.

I have TomTom Go Mobile on it (as I was a TomTom Western Europe application user and I got this free update). I am using Western Europe map on it and the map data is rather huge.

To accommodate the map data and leave some empty area for updating the map occasionally, I deleted some apps before. The map data seems to be constantly growing and recently I had to delete more and make some apps offline (delete the apps but keep their data).

I will be shooting a lot of movies (cat movies to be exact) on it so I need to make more room on it. Since expanding the storage is impossible (no possibility of inserting SD cards or others), I have to do something else.

How about this?


128 GB should suffice for a while.

How about this microphone?


Do I need it?


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Festival Elsy Jacobs UCI WE 2.1]の続きを読む

テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記

1. 2019/05/08(水) 16:28:32|
2. Bike Races in Luxembourg
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Memories from 1990's when I was living in the USA

I lived in so-called the Valley (San Fernando Valley) and Santa Monica about 3 years when:

The Rodney King trial aftermath led to riots and consequent curfews (I vaguely remembr I had two occasions of curfew?).

So-called the Northridge Earthquake shock the area. I was living in Chatsworth then, very close to Northridge and also not far away from Reseda (the actual epicenter).

The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a magnitude of 6.7, blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17 at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the County of Los Angeles. Its epicenter was in Reseda, a neighborhood in the north-central Valley. Wikipedia

I have written about these memories before here.

Anyway, I remember for some reasons strange TV commercials very well. There were series of short skits commercials featuring an ice cold liquor of some sorts that had just come out on the market (I thought so).

It was a clear alcohol drink so I just assumed that it must be similar to Vodka or so. I never had the occasion to drink it back then.

The name was ZIMA, at least I remembered so and I still think it was called so. I did not know what it meant or did not care what it meant at all back then.

These TV ads featured a man (comedian or actor/comedian?) who promoted the beverage with some peculiar wording. His wording was like whenever his lines included words with "S" sound, he stressed them and also swapped them with "Z". The product's name was Zima (could have been Zema but I am too lazy to Google it) and it was meant to be some kind word play. They (ads) also stressed that it should be served icy cold with the word "IZE" instead of "ICE". I also remember he frequently if not always got a cold shoulder from women around him in the ads.

Anyway, the point is that I just had to tell myself, "After all theeeeese years!" when just a few hours ago, I came to know that the word ZIMA meant "Winter" in Russian.

So I am guessing without actually Googling the word that it was indeed a Vodka and the name indeed suggested that it should be cooled before consumption.

After all these years!

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [After more than 20 years, I understood what ZIMA meant]の続きを読む

テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記

1. 2019/05/07(火) 14:32:46|
2. Diary
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A phone call from Germany!

It was a Monday morning when I received a phone call on my mobile phone (Google Nexus 5X to be exact). It was from Germany (+49 ******).

To cut the to the root, it was from someone at Beeken Fahrzeugteile GmbH telling me that they want to postphone the installation date by one week. Since I had no particular reasons to refuse, I accepted it.

Subsequently, I postponed the booking date at a local hotel for this small trip by one week.

Now I realize (my brain was not in tune as the very phone call woke me up) that I can be in Luxembourg and welcome the riders who participate in Festival Elsy Jacobs.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [OMG! I had a phone call from Germany!]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2019/05/06(月) 22:47:03|
2. Mazda MX-5
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Sunday, May 12

I have an appointment with an entity in Germany on May 13th, which is Monday and I want to be there early in the morning (this business opens at 07:30 on Monday) so that after the installation which takes several hours (?), I can still drive home early enough to catch a brief sleep (if I can) before going to work on Tuesday morning.

According to their site, their Business Hours is as below:
Mo. - Fr. 7:30 - 18:00
Sa. 8:00 - 12:00

When I made this appointment on the phone, I thought there would not be any bike race events on 12th. I was wrong and I was wrong a big time!

An event called "Festival Elsy Jabobs (WE 2.1)" is on that day here in Luxembourg! It is a short but sweet stage race event under the category of UCI "WE 2.1". WE appears to be Women Elite but I could be wrong.

URL: http://elsy-jacobs.lu

Oooooohhhhh My Goooooodness!

Because the route to this company Beeken Fahrzeugteile GmbH (Beeken = obviously a family name, Fahrzeug = automobile, Teile = parts) is quite long (530 km), I planned to use the preceding Sunday to get there. So I am going to miss the final stage.

Oh, well I can still be a spectator along the route on Saturday. I hope some of the few riders who can (could) recognize me will be there!

As usual (for some unfathomable reasons), the start list won't be there (on the official site) until really really the last moment. Sometimes I don't get the roster until it is too late.

For example, I checked the start list of LBL feminine on none-other-than ASO's site (letour.fr) and had been led to believe that Rossella Ratto would be there (as I saw her name there). I was heartbroken when I heard from a friend of mine that she would not be there when I was painting messages for her or her name on the route of LBL (la Redoute) and this was Friday, April 26.

She was out because of the injury that she had suffered. I know she was also really seriously heartbroken because she had missed the event, LBL, that she states her favorite racing event of all times. Compared to her disappointment, mine would be almost nothing.

Well, this friend of mine sent the photos of them to her and my work is currently on her (Rossella Ratto's) Instagram. So it was rewarding after all, anyway.

I will miss the prologue because it starts in the evening and I can't be there. I will see them in action on the 1st stage. I will do the same thing this year as I did last year. Can you guess?


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [OMG! I got the wrong date for the appointment!]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2019/05/05(日) 15:11:46|
2. Bike Races in Luxembourg
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A week of vacation is gone by

So-called the Ardenne week has gone by and I am a bit sad. This is one of the two big events in a year. The other is, of course, the Tour de France.

Reality set in. I am back from this event-packed dreamy vacation. I have to work to earn enough money to support myself financially and also to go on another holiday trip following the Tour de France.

I stayed (i.e. slept) at the Youth Hostel in Liège for four nights. I like this place because it is located close to the place called Place Saint-Lambert where LBL starts. This Hostel is very clean and usually quiet so it is perfect for someone like me who just wants to sleep and get early to do something there.

There was a small incident this year that deserves a mention here while I was there.

One evening (almost midnight, I guess) someone came in the room where I was staying. The room had 5 beds and I was the only person there! I placed myself in the attic bed, which was not a bunk bed but a single separate bed, so I can be left alone and can be "not" bothered by my bedmate who may wake me up by climbing up or down the bunk bed as almost all beds are two-story bunk beds there at the hostel.

Anyway, I was awake then and I looked down on the person who had just come in. I guess I just said hello or something to this person without any intention. This person was a woman. This Youth Hostel is one of those hostels that belong to the international youth hostel organization and they don't mix sexes. I have stayed at so-called youth hostels (= dormitory style inns) run privately by local bars or restaurants and they mix sexes.

There was a short conversation between this woman and me. She went back to the reception and never came back. So there must have been a small confusion at the reception or some error made by the receptionist.

It was close to midnight and I could have been asleep and could have NOT noticed this person coming in. If she had not bothered her roommate for the night (me) and had stayed there, there would have been a small surprise in the morning between us. Not a big deal (certainly not for me) but if this had happened, she could have given a bad review for the hostel. Lucky for the hostel management, it was just a minor incident.

A planned trip to a small town in Germany

I have an appointment on May 13th, which is Monday at a company (auto parts sales and installation services) in Germany. It is very far away and this town (Apen) is very close to the sea.

As it is very far (530 km one way), I thought it would be better that I booked a room on Sunday evening. I found one and booked a room. I will leave Sunday morning and will check in there in the evening. I am sure the trip would take more than 9 hours including the occasional rests and I am not in a hurry.

The next morning I will have a trailer hook installed on my Mazda MX-5 by sometime in the afternoon I will drive home. There is no planned side trip or sightseeing on the way to and from there.

A US-layout keyboard arrived

When I came home from the vacation mentioned above, I found a notice slip from the post office. I knew what it was for as I was expecting this keyboard from the USA. I picked it up the next day. It was a US-layout keyboard for my PowerBook G4 (A1106) Two (1.5 GHz). My PowerBook G4 (A1106) One (1.67 GHz) came with a US-layout keyboard but PB G4 Two came with what seemed to be a German keyboard (or Lithuanian keyboard or whatever).

The latch (shutting the LCD panel tightly to the lower case) of PB G4 Two was broken (as described in the description by the seller) so I also bought this part. They were there.

Where's my cat?

I have not yet seen it (male or female) even by a photo. It (he or she) is by now a month old. They (three cats) were born at someone's home and this person is a friend of my colleagues's friend. This middle person has been on a long vacation and away but has just come back. So I will know the when I can have it soon.

Battery deteriorating? (MacBook Pro Mid 2010 13-inch)

Recently I fixed two of MacBook (Pro) wall outlet adapters/chargers.

One broke already! For this one I used a cable (MagSafe plug cable) from also a broken DC 12 V auto cigar socket charger. The cable's outer material feels much harder, thus I thought it would be more durable than Apple's soft (vinyl?) outer material. It can be so but it could go either way just like diamond is really hard under pressure but it can be fragile under smashing impact.

So the wire broke off internally at the point it meets the pod.

The internal battery is dying slowly?

I noticed recently that the pulldown menu of the battery status icon on the menu bar showed a warning icon. It translates that I need to be careful with the battery as it may not be as healthy as it looks.

I launched this app (Battery Health 2) and it showed more detailed status of the battery. The current battery is not the original part that accompanied my MacBook Pro when it left the factory in China. I swapped them when I purchased it from the USA. It is a compatible aftermarket Chinese battery. It has been working well up to now but I think I would have to do one more swapping not too far away in the future.


(A screenshot clip of an app Battery Health)


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Reality has set in]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2019/05/04(土) 16:36:51|
2. Mazda MX-5
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