Al's Blog-o-Sphere

Is it just me, or do other people find it irritating to be approached by those people pushing scripture at outdoor concerts? We’ve all seen them, standing on the street corners with their signs, trying to yell over the music.

[dewplayer:http://gritzmacher.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Five-Man-Electrical-Band-Signs.mp3]

I usually ignore them, but last week here in Lockport, I ran into an especially pushy woman who just wouldn’t take no for an answer when I wouldn’t accept one of her tracts.

Why must they mar an enjoyable time with their preaching? Who are they trying to reach? Do I look like I need their religious assistance? How do you tell by how someone looks?

I mean, this isn’t some pagan third-world country. 90% of the people here were raised in some sort of Christian religion and have, by the time they reach adulthood, found their way to whatever beliefs suit them. These people have nothing new to tell anyone, in fact, they’re pretty much literal Bible-believers, so they have nothing we haven’t all heard before. Continue Reading…

Why an interest in LED flashlights? Well, it’s an offshoot of the bicycle lighting research I’ve done. Both are ever-changing with better technology coming along every year, mostly due to the advances in LED design.

This is totally unscientific, but based on two LED flashlights I currently own. I have an older one that has multiple LEDs that comes nowhere close to these two, so I thought maybe most people don’t realize what is out there in this niche market.

The one thing that makes these flashlights different than their predecessors is their high-powered, high efficiency Cree XR-E LED. If you are not familiar with this company, or think you know about LED brightness based on what you may have seen in the past, you are in for a surprise.

Both of these flashlights are super-bright. Bright enough to be painful to look at. Bright enough to shine a light across a room in full daylight. In darkness, they are comaprable to much larger incandescent flashlights in a fraction of the size and weight. Continue Reading…

What if everything ran on gas? I’ve got news for you, everything DOES!

Maybe you saw the Nissan commercial with the appliances powered by dirty, smoky gasoline engines. If not, here it is:

The presumption is that if those are so nasty, and are better because they run off of electricity in reality, then a car that runs off electricity should be nicer too. They are pushing hybrid and full electric cars, with the governments support, on the public, leading them to believe they are cleaner, better and cheaper. But it’s not that simple.

Here’s some facts. Continue Reading…

From Drop Box

For the second weekend in a row, I took off on the bike for a overnight trip. This time I rode to the Rochester Hamfest in Greece NY, a trip I usually make by car. I go every year and it’s a chance to socialize with fellow Ham Radio operators I often don’t see much any other time. I talked to more Hams I know from Lockport than I see around town.

I belong to one Rochester area Ham club, the Rochester DX Association, and I enjoy meeting and hanging out with them. They always set up a big area at the hamfest for that purpose. You can sell things there, if you don’t have enough to justify setting up your own table. Or just talk.

I rode out on Friday, planning on arriving in the evening and camping overnight. I knew I would need to stay over Saturday night as well, so I asked ahead to see if I could stay the second nigh and got permission.

The trip out was long, but uneventful. I rode the Canalway Trail from Lockport to Medina, then jogged north to Route 31 aka, NY Bicycle Route 5, and took that to Albion. Riding the road was much faster and it was hot and sunny. I was glad to find places to stop and buy something to drink. I pulled into the Super Wal-Mart just outside Albion and bought a lemonade, Vitiamin Water and a candy bar, mostly for a break and a chance to get out of the sun. When I left, I stopped again in the Village of Albion at McDonalds and had one of those Lemon-Strawberry Slushies. I got brain-freeze, but felt much cooled off. Continue Reading…