PolarLava::Blog

So back in early August I acquired a Centurion Ironman Expert and began rehabilitating it.  It was in very good condition other than having been unused and stored for a number of years.  So a good cleanup, a full lube job (which really didn't need to be done) and replacement of some of the dry rotted rubber and plastic bits and it's been good to go for a while now.  Items replaced and/or added:

• 2 - Vredestein Rocorso 700x25 folding tires (dry rot replacement)
• 2- Standard rubber presta value inner tubes (dry rot)
• Nashbar 6/7 speed chain (clean and stretch free)
• 2 sets - Shimano brake pads (dry rot, pilfered from another bike, not new)
• 1 - Blackburn Mountain silver water bottle cage.  (Only had one, I wanted two and this was a cheap alternative.)
• Nashbar racing saddle (Narrower and harder, to replace the softer one that was on here.)
• Profile Design Bar Wrap Handlebar Tape (Hot pink because the yellow didn't match!)
• Profile Design Aerobars (old set I wasn't using)
• Time petals (pilfered from my LeTour)
• Sigma Sport BC-800 bike computer (older, pilfered from my LeTour)

Since August when my Canon S1 IS died, I've been camera-less and sad.  But FINALLY, my wife relented her fiscal restraints and yesterday allowed me to shell for a new Canon PowerShot SX10 IS.

There aren't a lot of reviews to be found yet, but there is some information both here and here. And for those to lazy or disinterested to follow the above links, here it is:



And the backside…



Basically this is the 5th generation of the S1, S-series camera I previously had.  The S1 was followed by the S2, S3, S5 and now the SX10 and SX1; (An even nicer and likely pricier version (CMOS sensor) that is only available in Europe.)  This is a pretty major jump in features/abilities as the S1 was a 10x/3MP camera and the SX10 is a 20x/10MP camera.  But there's a lot more with a bigger sensor and other electronics upgrade.  In short this a serious upgrade over the older S1 I had.

I would like to have jumped to a true DSLR, but this is a better choice for me.  A DSLR initially wouldn't have cost significantly more, but to get the range this has I'd have to shell for a lens or two.  And then there would be something else and on and on.  I just can't afford that and this is still something my wife can simply, easily and readily use…not that she couldn't wield a DSLR.  So mostly it's cost compromise as I'd also still like to get a new bike and we really, really need a new computer.  Regardless, I'm an extremely happy camper this morning as I eagerly await it's arrival from Newegg (complete with a free 8GB memory card)!

Last weekend I found time to make a minor update to my CycleLog.  The Bikes page now features a lightbox image popup for each of the bike images.  This now allows for a small thumbnail image that can be clicked to view in a larger size.  This is what I wanted to do all along, but didn't have the time back when I added the images.  This was really needed as the original image sizes were too large which resulted in horribly slow page loads.  Plus the reduced image display size looked really lousy.  So all is well now, although I need to update the Centurion Ironman image since the bike was rebuilt.

So a few months ago Mary Lou and I ordered Chinese food for dinner.  And of course it came with fortune cookies.  Here was her fortune…



So clearly this means she should trust me implicitly and never question any place I may go or anything I may do.

So then I opened mine…



Oh, yeah, I obviously have immunity here because of her fortune.  She needn't be concerning her pretty little head with anything I may be doing or anyone I may be doing it with.

Unfortunately she didn't seem to quite see it this way for some reason.  :)  We did have a very long hearty laugh while discussing all of this though!