Monthly Archives: February 2011

Yes, I rode this morning

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride, , , , , ,

Yes, I rode this morning. My first semi-epic rain ride of the season, which tends to be a bit problematic in getting out the door, since last-minute changes to the stuff I got out the night before are inevitable as I look out the window and see rain and feel cold radiating a foot away from the glass. Yes, this is going to be challenging.

I’m rigid about this ride starting on time, but this morning that just wasn’t going to happen, or at least the part of the ride that includes me. I’ve got a new pair of waterproof Gore gloves that are beyond-challenging to get on. How do people do it? Lined gloves just don’t like my fingers. I can usually get three into place, four maybe, but the small finger on my right hand just wasn’t cooperative, especially when the other hand required to help already had a glove on it. So back into the house I go, asking for help from my wife and not dealing very well with my frustration as I watch a few precious minutes go by. Eventually I’m out on the road, and arrive three minutes late to the start, where… nobody is waiting. Continue reading Yes, I rode this morning →

If there are two forks in the road, which do you take?

Personal stuff

No, this isn’t about bicycle forks, but my piece on Rachel Ray got me thinking about other kitchen oddities, or at least thinking about posting something that’s been on my mind for ages.

Why do we have separate “salad” and “dinner” forks? The “salad” fork having shorter, what, spikes?, than a “dinner” fork? What makes a “salad” fork more appropriate for salads than the regular “dinner” fork? I did find this piece on the ‘net but whether it’s definitive is open to debate, since you can take any position you wish and find support for it via Google. For those reading who are getting into this subject, I’ve also found a table setting guide, so you can avoid a serious faux paus at your next meal. This is important stuff to some! To me, it’s more of an annoyance that I have to put away different tableware in different places in the kitchen, when the truth is, unless we have guests over, we just use one fork during a meal, for salad or lasagna, and nobody prefers the shorter “salad” fork.

Spoons. That’s another one. Do we really need the smaller of the two spoons (commonly referred to as a “teaspoon”) or can we make do with just the larger one (the “tablespoon”)?

Come to think of it, why do we have separate forks & spoons? “Sporks” have been in the dictionary since 1909 (Wow, how did we miss the Centennial Spork Celebration?). So now we’ve got just a Spork and a Knife. Pretty sure that’s as far as we can go down this road.