Re: Left Behind

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Last week I was feeling impressed with myself because we had more volume in the recycling than the trash. Then I remembered that they only get the recycling every other week, so it wasn't a fair comparison.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:18 AM
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With certain types, you just never know.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:26 AM
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Umm, has someone invited you to the Sadie Hawkins sock hop yet?


Posted by: spaz | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:28 AM
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re:1 - we have the same system here. Seems to me that if we really wanted to encourage recycling, we would do the opposite - pick up recycling twice as often as trash. Of course then I suppose people would complain about "hygiene" and "sanitation".

Blah. Wusses.


Posted by: parodie | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:33 AM
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4: That doesn't seem right, unless you are going to collect food for composting. Two weeks without trash pick-up would be teh stink while recycling pick-up twice a week would clearly waste a great deal of fuel.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:35 AM
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I would love to live somewhere that collected composting.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:36 AM
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I think they collect yard waste for composting, but only twice a year.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:40 AM
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Durham picks up our yard waste every week year-round for composting, but (unlike some other cities) requests no food waste be included.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:45 AM
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I still throw in things like corn husks and vegetable stems, though.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:47 AM
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It's once a week for both in Camden, but on different days.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:49 AM
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All the more reason to step up the collection of compostable waste. I know some major cities do it - Toronto has a "green bin" program, although I'm not very familiar with it. Given the difficulties cities face finding landfill space, alternatives ought to be appealling... then again, I guess, who wants a composting facility in their backyard either?


Posted by: parodie | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:49 AM
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then again, I guess, who wants a composting facility in their backyard either?

We have a compost bin in our backyard.


Posted by: urple | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:51 AM
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Where I used to live in Oxford it was recycling and normal bins weekly [different days], and garden waste/compost every two weeks. The garden waste was a service you had to pay a small annual fee for.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:54 AM
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12. Right. Industrial composting facility, I should've specified. Then again, my knowledge of industrial composting is limited to ... well, actually, I have none. They use large bins that rotate, I hear.


Posted by: parodie | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 9:55 AM
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14: I saw a How It's Made on industrial composting. They use bulldozers to turn the piles. I think you'd want it away from your house.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:03 AM
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Of course, that was probably Canadian compost. I have no idea how regular compost gets treated.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:04 AM
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16: probably. I hear Canadian compost is better, too.


Posted by: parodie | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:10 AM
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Do any of you have to pay for curbside recycling?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:13 AM
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15: If it stinks or catches fire, ur doin it rong. Also, putting out a fire in an industrial-sized compost heap takes a long, long time.

We have weekly recycling pick-up and year-round biweekly yard debris pick-up, and the city has started a food waste program. Lassitude is the only thing that's keeping me from switching to once-monthly garbage service.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:15 AM
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If I wanted a curb, I think I'd have to pay for it.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:15 AM
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and the city has started a food waste program

Fudduckers?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:22 AM
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I went to dump my compost in the backyard bin the other day... opened the lid, and sittin there eyes all atwinkle was a big ole Norway rat! At the top of a burrow that went down into the compost, which he then ran down into. Guess he likes coffee grounds.

I debated telling the landlords about it (it's their bin, which they use for gardening) but didn't. Today the burrow wasn't so well-formed anymore so maybe he left or they turned the compost.


Posted by: ursyne | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:41 AM
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The Seattle city compost (giant windrows) was excellent to garden in, and the program was central to outlawing clopy*din. Win-win.


Posted by: clew | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:41 AM
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If you're a rat, a nice, warm compost heap sounds like a great place to winter.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:43 AM
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23: Outlawing what?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:47 AM
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18: Not for recycling, but the yard waste pickup is $60/year.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:52 AM
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23: As in the broadleaf weed killer? Awesome.

A friend's compost pile combusted one summer in the most elegant way, with a flame hovering over what was probably a methane vent. It was like food-waste Pentecost.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 10:54 AM
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We have waste, recycling, and compost once a week. They will even give you a bigger recycling bin for free if you need it. I was a recycling skeptic, but the system works well.


Posted by: lemmy caution | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:09 AM
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26: For sixty bucks, I think I'd let the yard waste pile up in the back.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:09 AM
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Or as I would call it, composting in place.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:15 AM
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26: Here it's about 10 bucks a month to get your recycling picked up in front of your house. I can't find the figures, but I'm pretty sure the participation rate is significantly less than 10%.

But, our bold mayor has plans to institute free curbside recycling in 2012.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:31 AM
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I don't understand Facebook at all. Some friend of my niece's, who I've met possibly twice in her life, last time at the niece's wedding three or four years ago, and who I've never spoken to beyond greeting, is trying to friend me. What on earth for?

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Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:35 AM
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Maybe her Farmville garden needs help.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:39 AM
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Compost might work.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:39 AM
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32: If you didn't want to be social, why did you join a social network?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:42 AM
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What on earth for?

Because she can?

Where is the flaw in the thinking I did recently about the idea of "friendsourcing" being superior to simply using an old fashioned search engine if you want to find stuff? If you have hundreds of facebook friends, most of them are barely acquaintances if you're lucky and you have no more reason to trust their judgment than any other random subset of the population; if you only have a dozen or so facebook friends, you might as well call them, as you would do if you were looking for guidance in a world where Zuckerberg was run over by a tram on his way to elementary school.

Either way, the whole idea seems fatuous and nobody would ever have thought of it if they weren't selling a product. Am I right; if not, why not?


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:44 AM
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36: I can't just call my old high school classmates and ask which one of us went the baldest.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:48 AM
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There's something to be said for your Facebook friends (I speculate, not really using the site much) being your sort of people, in a socioeconomically fine-grained sort of way, and therefore being cued in to the sort of stuff you want to consume in a way the broader population isn't.

I use the comments here (and see other people doing so) for that kind of thing a bit -- someone who bothers commenting here probably has enough points of contact with me that I have some reason to think I'll share their tastes, even though I don't really individually know everyone here, and I'd be just as likely to take consumer advice from a lurker as from someone I knew better.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:51 AM
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In SF, composting is mandatory; behold your liberal fascist future, and collect your tears for salt reclamation.


Posted by: foolishmortal | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:53 AM
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If you have hundreds of facebook friends, most of them are barely acquaintances if you're lucky and you have no more reason to trust their judgment than any other random subset of the population

Where else would you find a random subset of the population that is happy to offer you, e.g., free product advice? If you have a blog with lots of readers, that works. Otherwise? A google search is likely to get a bunch of filthy paid ads, and things masked as unbiased advice that are really paid ads.

if you only have a dozen or so facebook friends, you might as well call them

If 15 seconds and an hour or so are basically interchangeable for you, and neither you nor any of your friends generally hate talking on the phone, then these two things are pretty much equivalent. Otherwise, they're not really comparable.


Posted by: urple | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:57 AM
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Semi-demi on topic, since it relates to environmental stuff -- could someone who knows something tell me if this insanely good-sounding news is for real?


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 11:57 AM
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Friendsourcing is the quickest way to reach a random (or slightly less random, as the case may be) subset of the population. How the hell are you going to call up fifty to nine hundred people and ask whether they know something you want to know?


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:00 PM
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41: It looks like a major improvement if it pans out (which still looks a bit uncertain since they apparently haven't built any yet), but they're probably overhyping it.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:04 PM
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42: You could hire Gallup.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:04 PM
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I can't just call my old high school classmates and ask which one of us went the baldest.

Yeah, but they're trying to tell us that facebook's better than google at answering the question "Which consumer durable should I spend a grand on?" because of the wisdom of crowds, and that seems like crap to me. In that situation I want the wisdom of qualified engineers.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:05 PM
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I've avoided Facebook because it seems to involve a lot of learning things about your acquaintances that you'd rather not know.

E.G., someone who seems normal in person likes to forward Glenn Beck's latest wisdom to all of his/her friends.


Posted by: AcademicLurker | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:07 PM
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42 rather well urplepwned.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:08 PM
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Yeah, but they're trying to tell us that facebook's better than google at answering the question "Which consumer durable should I spend a grand on?" because of the wisdom of crowds, and that seems like crap to me. In that situation I want the wisdom of qualified engineers.

Well, if many of your Facebook friends are qualified engineers, then there you go.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:11 PM
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Some friend of my niece's ... is trying to friend me

The thing I don't understand about Facebook at all is how it managed to turn "friend" into a verb, especially when the perfectly good verb "befriend"* already existed. What on earth for?

*Unrelated, but it's worth noting that my heavily-accented father pronounces this word indistingushably from the phrase "beef rear-end". "I want you kids to beef rear-end your cousins this summer", etc.


Posted by: urple | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:17 PM
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SLC has weekly recycling and they even pickup compost, but they will not accept glass bottles in the recycling. I used to have to drive down to the most run-down looking golf course I've ever seen to deposit bottles in a completely filled bin with shards of glass strewn everywhere. Fortunately, the grocery store now accepts glass for recycling.


Posted by: LizSpigot | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:22 PM
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49: for one thing, "friend" and "befriend" don't mean the same thing.


Posted by: E. Messily | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:29 PM
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Prescriptivist.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:31 PM
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In my neighborhood, incredibly diligent southeast Asian people come through and take the glass bottles out of the recycling (and aluminum cans, I imagine). Since they're going to have to fish the bottles out of the recycling anyway, the done thing is to toss your empty beer bottles from your porch onto your front lawn. They're gone by morning.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:37 PM
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I don't actually see much in the way of requests for information or ideas among my ~100 fb friends. Some people post music links, occasionally a question (why are people nicer to their pets than their loved ones?), some aspirational political posts, but rarely much in the way of requests or actual conversation starters. I'll exchange information with my neighbors more when I see them face-to-face. People rarely respond when I post a link or a book compared to when I post something personal.

By the way, the Wickham book about the dark ages that got recommended here two or threefold is quite good, and contains as a footnote a cite to a book on a narrow topic (circus factions, basically Roman football mobs) that's interested my dad for a long time.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:38 PM
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53: That might not be ideal, from an economic justice perspective.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:39 PM
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The success of Facebook has always seemed like unexpected evidence that some people can't get enough of the class notes in their college alumni magazines.


Posted by: Flippanter | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:41 PM
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Beef rear-end 'em? I don't even know them yet!


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:47 PM
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They just switched the recycling in our neighborhood from low, open bins to single-stream recycling in giant tall bins with lids. It seems like a good thing in general -- for one thing, it seems to mean that the overall volume of recycling exceeds that of trash -- but I feel bad for the people who would pick returnables out of the old recycling bins, because it has to be much harder (bordering on impossible) now. I suppose I should just chuck my beer bottles out the window, per Megan's suggestion, but we live on the third floor.

We don't have composting yet (or rather, there is city composting but there isn't pickup, and I haven't yet found myself thrilled by the premise of talking an extended walk to the depot with an armload of food waste).


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:50 PM
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56: are you on facebook? That strikes me as an almost totally inapt description of my experience of the site, but maybe it's different for you?


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:51 PM
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I have a Facebook friend who's kind of ask-y. Yesterday, she posted a question about how to connect the cable line she'd just discovered in her new house. (It didn't have a connector on it.) I was about to respond that I can help her put an F-type connector on a coaxial cable (it's a simple crimping job), when someone else (whom I don't know) responded offering to do it for money, mentioning he was really hard-up for cash. So I just kept my mouth, er, keyboard shut, even though it kinda sounded like he was about to charge her, like, $100 to put a little metal cap on a cable.

Facebook: it's weird!


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:53 PM
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58: Sort out your returnables as you go, and put them on top when you put the recycling out? Seems to both be kind and to minimize the possibility of your garbage being spread all over the street.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:54 PM
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I'm with Sifu Tweety here. For both Facebook and Twitter, the complaint about how it's nothing but people babbling about how their day went is akin to someone complaining about rap music based on the artistic limitations of Run DMC and the Cold Crush Brothers.

However, if Flippanter is entirely friends with people who have children under the age of 10, which is possible, his description might be accurate.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:55 PM
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IMO, the only thing worth a damn on Facebook is John Emerson.

The babbling about one's day thing seems to have receded, or maybe I just blocked those people.


Posted by: Robert Halford | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:58 PM
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61: the bin is shared among more than one unit and we tend to bring stuff out as the smaller container in our apartment gets full, so I'm not sure that would work.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:58 PM
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||
Hi all.

I was about to send an ask the mineshaft on the topic of buying a bike, but looking around a little first it turns out my question really comes down to: am I missing something that would make the first couple of bikes listed on this site (and esp. the very first one) something other than a good deal? Could I get better value using on craigslist, ebay, or what have you? Are vilano's and/or gavin's terrible and I'm too ignorant of cycling to know it? If it helps, I care more about lightness of frame than quality of components, not really sure what else I care about.
|>


Posted by: washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:59 PM
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In Portland, bottles go in separate bins, and people cruise our neighborhood the night before garbage day, some with shopping carts and some in SUVs, to pick through them for returnables.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 12:59 PM
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As for recycling programs, our little hamlet has unlimited free recycling (glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, cans) but charges about $2 per 32-gallon container of trash. You buy stickers that have to be on the trash can.

I find it an elegant system of incentivizing good behavior, but apparently the neighborhoods that have moved to single-stream systems get significantly more recyclables. Because people suck, basically.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:00 PM
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65: I tend to believe, with bikes, that if you're not the sort of person who already knows and cares about bike stuff, you probably won't notice the difference so long as the bike's in good working order.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:03 PM
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Currently, I only have two people blocked on Facebook, both of whom apparently believe that Facebook is their personal DJ gig and that I would just love to have 2/3 of my news feed at any point on any given night be classic rock videos.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:06 PM
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Ooh, good. Bike advice. It's really high time I bought one.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:07 PM
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65: I've never heard of them, but they're probably fine. I'd be more likely to point you to something like this, just because I know the brand, but it probably isn't fundamentally very different.

You could certainly get a better deal via craigslist or (maybe) ebay, but the issue you're going to run into is how much time you're willing to invest in researching things. If you just want a bike that works, they can be a pain to deal with. Another option is to look for a place (it'll be a full of hippies, and will probably have "cooperative" in the name) that sells reconditioned bikes in your area -- you can often find cool older bikes that are in perfect working order for very fair prices at that kind of place.

Also, weight is really not the be-all-end-all of factors for a bike. You do want something that's light, but the typical knock on aluminum is that it can be sort of painfully stiff, especially for a road bike with thin tires. How much that applies to cheap aluminum I'm not totally sure, but I assume it still does.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:09 PM
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70: go here and see if he has anything cool.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:10 PM
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will probably have "cooperative" in the name

They've moved on to "Kitchen."


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:10 PM
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Hey! I just bought Electra's Ticino 1 (single speed, in the grey, not white). Pretty comfy, surprisingly light. My bike arrives Friday.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:12 PM
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72: And ask for whom? And is your name good for 10% off or immediate expulsion?


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:12 PM
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75: well, you could ask for "Mr. Jalopy", as he's the dude that owns it, but probably you should just talk to whoever's there. My name will do nothing for you.

The key trick with old (steel) bikes is to ask (or ascertain by looking at stickers) what kind of steel the frame is made from. If the answer is "Hi-Ten", it will weigh a ton and generally be cheap and not-so-great. If the answer is "531", that's sort of the jackpot. If the answer is "Columbus", wtf how did you get so lucky? If the answer is something else, it's probably okay but not great and more research might be needed.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:16 PM
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I got good wheels for my road bike last year (secondhand, like new, off of craigslist). Best money I ever spent.

How often/far do you ride? Minor maintenance-- you or the shop?

If weekend pleasure rides and no home tuneups, then that bike looks great. Otherwise, if you ride more, and can do a little work, I would say go for a steel rather than Al frame and better wheels on cl or a refurbisher.

re 71: I though Al meant a too-soft ride unless the frame has large-diameter tubes.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:19 PM
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77.last: that's entirely possible. Those bikes seem to have honkin' tubes, but honestly most of my experience comes from older cannondales.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:22 PM
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59: Yes, but I'm also kind of a dick, so perhaps I'm judging people overharshly.


Posted by: Flippanter | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:23 PM
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If it would help anybody to look at pictures of ridiculously nice, totally unaffordable city bikes for everyday use, you could do worse than to start here, here and here.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:24 PM
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Bike-wise, I can report from the anecdotal experience of my roommate that the Swobo I mentioned him getting turned out to be all hat and no cattle. His experience definitely made me chary about internal geared hubs.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:24 PM
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81.last: really? I'd love to hear more details on that.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:26 PM
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Japanese Bianchis post 85 are made with great steel by Ishiwata, easy to find, cheap.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:32 PM
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I'd love to hear more details on that.

Straight from the source: "The rear hub kind of just exploded one day. I think as a result of an aftermarket rear cog."


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:36 PM
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56 fits my experience exactly. What is everyone else's Facebook like? Long arguments about what sucks worse, analytic philosophy or neoclassical economics?


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:39 PM
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84: huh. My first instinct is not necessarily to blame that on the hub.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:39 PM
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86: Yeah. I had forgotten about the attempted mod.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:41 PM
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Wasn't getting a different cog the advice of the shop he got it from, though, because he found the cog it came with too large or toothsome?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:50 PM
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88: Everything's in TFA. Everything.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:52 PM
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Not love, Stanley.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:54 PM
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90: I bet Sifu and Blume, eg., would beg to differ.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:57 PM
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My Facebook is cute animals, cocktails, links to videos including a high subset of links to videos made by people I know, outrage including a high subset of updates from Wisconsin, hipstamatic shots of friends' babies, my cousin's ruminations on Tantra, people "checking in", and a half-decent Algonquin Roundtable of my friends and acquaintances. It wouldn't work at a class reunion because of my cousin, but otherwise I would totally go.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 1:58 PM
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Thanks sifu, lw. At least right now, I pretty closely fit your first description, lw, so I'll probably go ahead with that bike or something similar. There also seemed to be some really nice bikes between about $279 and $359 here, so I have some more pondering to do.


Posted by: washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:01 PM
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90: I bet Sifu and Blume, eg., would beg to differ.

Nah, they don't really love each other.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:05 PM
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In the underwater cities of the future love will be a quaint piece of history.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:06 PM
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My fb is exquisite sestinas, mostly.

It's nice to see friends' features in the faces of their kids, that one old friend still paints, knowing that another one is close to a city I'll be in a few months down the line...


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:13 PM
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I love you, nosflow. So fuck you!


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:15 PM
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"In the underwater city of the future, one woman will have to choose between her heart and the dude who is really good at catching fish."


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:24 PM
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I'll put in my standard plug for the idea that, if your commute is under 6-7 miles that a MTB with a rigid fork (or, presumably, a hybrid) can be a nice option.

The things that I like about commuting on a MTB are (1) more upright position makes it easier to look around and watch traffic (2) I find an upright riding position more comfortable (3) easy to take on non-paved trails and can be better in wet or muddy conditions.

The disadvantages are that it's slightly less efficient and your top speed is lower. The former is less of a problem if the commute is short, and the latter isn't necessarily an issue if you're regularly stopping for lights or stop signs.

The other problem is that nobody's making cheap MTB with rigid forks and v-brakes anymore. So you might have to look around a bit.


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:41 PM
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My Facebook is nearly identical to #92 but with more reminders that "X is Y night!" and "Don't miss this weekend's Farmer's Market!" etc. and minus the cousins.


Posted by: Populuxe | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 2:45 PM
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back to compost: clopyralidin (sp?) was a pre-emergent herbicide that was not, in practice, biodegradable. Gardeners noticed failure to germinate, composters worked out cause, great public outcry got it off (WA state??) market, scientists still looking at the effects of year's unhindered release.


Posted by: clew | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 3:00 PM
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Reaching all the way back to LB's initial FB question - a lot of people, especially young ones, just send out friend requests to anyone the system suggests.

I get quite a few of these from people who are friends of teachers from my old high school. I assume that the fact that I'm friends with the teacher and with the high school's alumni announcements page the algorithm sees two friends in common and suggests me as a friend. I refuse them all.


Posted by: togolosh | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 4:01 PM
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Worrying about the alloy in your pushbike: audiophile, I think. I can't imagine anything more price-driven than a bloody bike. No, you're not going to win the Tour de France. It's mild steel, is all. It's like a saucepan. Cycling to work doesn't make you special, either.


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 4:16 PM
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My former advisor, who has a pretty common name, ia apparently trying to friend everyone with the same name.
Sifu, they take yard waste for composting in the non-frozen months, no food, but pumpkins are allowed, so maybe you could sneak other squash-like items in there.
I managed to get hooked by some kind of facebook malware, a friend had a link to a picture of giant boobs (yay!) and knowing this friend to not be someone who usually posts such things I thought wtf? and clicked to see what it was. My wife informed me the next day that there was a picture of giant boobs linked in my profile (boo!). I did nothing but click on the link- did not like it or give my password or anything. Many of my friends are co-workers or people who report to me, so I'm now waiting for my notice of complaint about sexual harassment.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 6:44 PM
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It's probably not sexual harassment unless the boobs were e-mailed directly to your subordinates or were the boobs of your subordinates or were photoshopped underneath the heads of your subordinates.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 6:52 PM
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Just in case I should start making donations to judges.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 6:53 PM
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I suppose you could cross the line into harassment with captioning also.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 6:54 PM
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There was a court case about sexual harassment that involved the "Mulva" episode of Seinfeld about the time we had a work training on sexual harassment. (I think somebody talked about it enough that it met the "hostile environment" standard.) The training was given by a lawyer who was a bit young and touchy. For much of the training, you could tell that he was on the edge of yelling "STFU." Especially with the one woman would kept asking about the "Mulva" case when he was trying to give his well ordered talk. After the training, she emailed the news article to everybody in the office with a note about how it might make things from the talk clearer. He about lost it. I still don't know if that woman was dense or a genius troll.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 1-11 7:08 PM
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Worrying about the alloy in your pushbike: audiophile, I think. I can't imagine anything more price-driven than a bloody bike. No, you're not going to win the Tour de France. It's mild steel, is all. It's like a saucepan.

Saucepans aren't made of mild steel.

Also, from experience, there is a real difference in how tired you get after 10 miles or so on a steel bike vs a lightweight racer. And once you're up to 50 miles or 100 miles a day (as, eg, on holiday) yes you notice.
Having your tyres properly pumped up makes a lot more difference of course.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 2:38 AM
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We get recycling every other week. We have to smallish bins (bigger than private house ones but still small) for my 20-unit building. To get more, the landlord would have to pay a decent chunk of change to the town. Our dumpster, on the other hand, is decent-sized.

There are some people now who order a lot of stuff and the cat owners who put boxes in them without breaking them up. This means that the maintenance guy has to move a lot of it over to the dumpster.

I really should make sure to take bottles with deposits back to the store--not so much for the money, but to make sure that they get recycled.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 4:45 AM
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I'm pretty grateful to facebook, because I was able to
reconnect with some relatives that I hadn't seen in a long time, and I just came back from visiting them. There was a big blow-up with my parents about 15 years ago which was sad, because before that I'd been reasonably close to my aunt by marriage.

My Mom's family has always been pretty bad at communicating, and one of my uncles is so deeply disturbed that a lot of people didn't want him to have their addresses, so there's always this question of who gives out what information.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 4:54 AM
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||

OT, but related to the Facebook discussion:

I broke up with my partner about a month ago. Now, I imagine that sometime soon I'll begin dating, or something, and this will probably spill over into new Facebook friends (at least some of the times), and it will probably be better all around if she doesn't see that.

On the other hand, if I set my privacy settings so that she can't see my friends, she's sure to notice that, so the unpleasantness will be there anyway.

Is there anything like a privacy freeze for this kind of thing? So as far as she's concerned, she won't see any new friend added since the freeze?

|>


Posted by: Awl | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 5:10 AM
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108: We talked about the case a bit here. As I recall, the Mulva guy got fired for a whole bunch of stuff including the Mulva conversation, and sued the company for having been fired; sort of the opposite from someone else suing for hostile work environment based on the Mulva conversation.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 5:36 AM
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113: All the more reason for the lawyer guy to want to keep it out of the discussion. Really, it was his own fault for citing case law in a mandatory workplace training given to a non-lawyer audience.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 6:58 AM
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112: Shouldn't you just unfriend your ex?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 7:19 AM
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115: That sounds rather unfriendly. awl may want to stay on good terms with her.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 7:20 AM
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Make a group consisting of [all friends ex-[schmoopie and her family and closest]]


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 8:44 AM
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116 is right.

117: How does making a group help?


Posted by: Awl | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 8:54 AM
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You can direct your innocuous posts to all or photos and fun posts to the restricted list.

Maybe there's a way to restrict views of your wall postings, but if new people post and tag photos, you're outed, I think. Whoops, list not group is the tool I meant.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:07 AM
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The other problem is that nobody's making cheap MTB with rigid forks and v-brakes anymore. So you might have to look around a bit.

If anyone in NC (RDU) is interested in a lightly used (as in not actually raced in awful muddy bike eating conditions) cyclocross bike that makes a reasonable commuter, I'll be putting one on craigslist in the next few days.


Posted by: spaz | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:08 AM
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how tired you get after 10 miles or so on a steel bike vs a lightweight racer

I can't believe Sifu is not championing steel! Retro Italian racers with reasonably light, but flexible frames have cache in certain circles. The right steel frame won't automatically suck. And as an urban fixy it would be positively mod.


Posted by: spaz | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:12 AM
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The other problem is that nobody's making cheap MTB with rigid forks and v-brakes anymore. So you might have to look around a bit.

Really? That's what I have. I bought mine three or four years back, but I'd have assumed it's not that hard to find a bike with rigid forks? I don't know what you mean by cheap but mine was the equivalent of about $300-350 US. Mine is aluminium, I think, rather than steel, though.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:19 AM
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119: Thanks, I'll check it out.


Posted by: Awl | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:19 AM
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I have road/hybrid tyres at 95psi on mine, though, which makes a massive difference on the road.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:20 AM
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121: I hadn't noticed the comment until now. Yeah, as somebody who just bought his third lightweight steel bike, I can say with some assurance that steel bikes can be perfectly -- even delightfully -- comfortable on long rides, certainly on a level with any other frame material and possibly (depending on frame and circumstance) better.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:22 AM
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On the other hand, it's "cachet", dammit.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:23 AM
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Also, I'd just noticed 103, which is of course silly. Why would you play softball with an aluminum bat when you could just use a piece of rebar?!?


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:24 AM
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I want an oak-framed bike.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:25 AM
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128: bamboo is more environmentally sustainable.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:26 AM
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I'm not from an Asian culture. I wouldn't understand bamboo.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:27 AM
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Also, I get nervous dealing with people like in the link at 129. For example:

Following an interview with the frame's new owner, we hand select a bamboo tube set that will deliver characteristics consistent with the riders expectations and requirements.

Now I wonder if I buy a cheaper bamboo bike, are they selecting the tube with an elbow or penis or foot.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:33 AM
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I should say that 109 is only mildly wrong (in that you can have lightweight performance bikes made out of steel), whereas 103's contention that it doesn't matter what kind of material your bike is made of is quite true if the only thing you use your bike for is sub-five mile trips to work or errands or whatever in flattish country but is nonetheless pretty wrong in general.

I certainly agree that biking to work doesn't make you special. It might make you happier. I'd prefer a lot more people did it, which would make it much less special.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:34 AM
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132.1: fair enough; I've never encountered one (certainly never ridden one).


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:41 AM
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The frames linked in 129 are awesome. Hemp-lugged bamboo! WANT.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:47 AM
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133: I highly recommend it if you get the opportunity. They're really lovely.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:48 AM
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The frames linked in 129 are awesome.
Really gorgeous.


Posted by: Annelid Gustator | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:58 AM
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The frames linked in 129 are awesome. Hemp-lugged bamboo! WANT.

Yeah,

My uncle almost got one (the uncle that ended up getting the Chris King bike) and I was very jealous.


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 10:17 AM
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129 'Base frame price $2995'. Are these really that good? At that price point finding a pretty amazing, custom fitted bike isn't that hard.


Posted by: teraz kurwa my | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:46 PM
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138: no.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:49 PM
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Only a rube pays for one of those. If you don't make it yourself, you're not keeping it real.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 9:56 PM
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the Chris King bike

One of the new ones? That King just rolled out at NAHBS?


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 03- 2-11 10:25 PM
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We have fortnightly collections (alternate weeks) of general rubbish and recycling. Recycling includes paper, card, plastic bottles, cans, but not glass or tetrapak-style cartons, so every 2 or 3 weeks I have to deal with them. You can have garden waste (not food) taken away if you buy a green bin, but we don't have that much so ours just goes on our compost pile. (I never *use* the compost, it's just a way of getting rid of things.)


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 03- 3-11 1:57 AM
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We also finally have litter bins in town with recycling compartments. I don't know whether people are using these properly yet.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 03- 3-11 3:53 AM
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Cambridge, MA has recycling on the street, but Boston does not.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 03- 3-11 4:45 AM
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"That's not litter, that's recycling."


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 03- 3-11 8:16 AM
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On the other hand, it's "cachet", dammit.

I must have meant that they have hidden storage spaces, because I couldn't possibly have made that mistake. ;(


Posted by: spaz | Link to this comment | 03- 3-11 10:24 AM
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One of the new ones? That King just rolled out at NAHBS?

Checking my saved e-mail he got the Cielo, about two years ago.


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 03- 3-11 10:32 AM
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I never *use* the compost, it's just a way of getting rid of things

Yeah, it's a stretch to call ours "compost" at this point. It's more like "The Large and Growing Pile of Sticks and Leaves and Spinach and Coffee Grounds Et Cetera That We've All Agreed Not to Look At".


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 03- 3-11 12:22 PM
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