This Should Go Well

Tomorrow at noon, Cathy McMorris Rodgers is holding a Facebook Q&A. The back and forth in the comments is already entertaining enough.

Spokane Marijuana Store Opening

I had a dentist appointment before lunch and, since it wasn't out of my way, I thought I'd stop by the grand opening of Spokane's first marijuana store. It was only 12:15 and one of the guys in line said the store wasn't opening until 2:00. A line had formed and everyone seemed patient enough.

 First guy in line is waving.

 Last guy in line gives it two thumbs up.

 Plenty of media on hand.

Pizza Rita with pizza and water for sale. Cha-ching!

As Seen From A Bike

A cow hydrant?

Beginner Bike Maintenance Stuff

As my brother John knows too well, I'm not much into the bike maintenance thing but I'm working on it. Today I put new chains on my cross and road bikes. (I now have a tool that checks chain wear.) I did the cross bike first and it went well. I counted the links and laid them out so they matched.

New chain on the left needs shortening.

I made a slight mistake with the new chain for the road bike. While placing the chain in the tool to remove the excess links, I moved the chain one link off and pushed the pin out of the wrong link. Since the Powerchain pieces won't connect to the outer plates I removed that link, which I believe makes me two links short. I rode the bike and went through all the gears. If I'm on middle chain ring and the smallest cog in the rear, I can't shift onto the big chain ring. But if I'm on any of the larger rear cogs, I can shift onto the big chain ring and then down to the smallest rear cog. There's still an "S" and the rear derailleur is not pulled too far forward. So it doesn't seem too bad and I'm guessing I'm okay until I get another chain in a couple of days.

Negative Split Half Marathon

This morning Kathy ran this race for the second year so I guess that makes her a perennial. She's done 'em all! I love that a bottle opener is incorporated into the medal.

Fourth Of July Party

We had a ton of friends over for a pool party yesterday. Our friend's children have children of their own. "How quickly they grow up," has moved on to the next generation. I walked around with my camera, using a 35mm fixed focal length lens to capture a few moments. A little over 300 of them, not all of them useable. Getting in close to the little ones involved aiming the camera without using the viewfinder. I tend to shoot low so the rule for me is to hold the camera to where it feels right and them aim higher.

The young ones played for hours. No doubt they slept good last night. And today they're probably sharing tales of derring-do...

 ...coming off the slide...

 ...and knifing into the water.

 Being tossed up in the air...

 ...to incredible heights.

 Little kids...

 ...and big kids...

 ...enjoying the moment...

 ...or taking a dare...

 ...or trusting this is a good idea.

 Contentment in the center...

 ...of their own universe.

Life is good.