Rosina and Karl asked for some help and a whole bunch of folk showed up Sat morning and we formed two crews. One headed south and the other north from Old Cheney parking lot. I was on chainsaw duty and cut out 5-6 fallen trees that blocked the path. Erosion made a few parts dangerous and some folk flagged alternative routes for the game and parks to approve so we can make new sections. We hit biker, hiker, and horse trails.

The pic above is an area we repaired last year, which did not fare too well. There were tadpoles swimming in the pools. Sunday I hit the same spot and did some whacking of the 5 foot tall nettles that had choked parts of the trail. It seems some folks just do not understand that you destroy the trail if you ride on it wet. Huge ruts were all over. Since it has been so wet the trails are growing over with vegetation. It is going to be a lot of work to get it nice again.

Poison ivy, poison oak, and nettles have flourished insanely out there. We wore pants, long sleeves, eye protection, and lots of bug spray. it was really warm and hard work, but will be worth it when we finally get back in there for a ride.

Big thanks to all that came out to assist.

Fuggles got another pair of my fave bike glasses, Serfas Sike. I headed down to the monkey wrench to see if they had another set, unfortunately they did not have another pair. I have three full sets of lenses for the Sike’s and prob should of gotten another pair, but decided to try something new. I got some ones that were on sale.

I figured it would be pretty cool since they go back to clear after the sun is down which would mean I would not have to change the lenses out. After an agonizing week of waiting for the glasses to get shipped and rocking a horrible pair from the gas station they arrived. I busted them out in my truck and waited for the darkness to happen. And waited. OK so they cant get dark in a vehicle since automotive glass blocks the UV needed to make the glasses do their thing. No prob I will just hold them out the window to get darker. They got a bit darker and then the clouds blocked the sun. Late night at work followed and I did not get to get a good test.

Next day we headed out to wilderness for some trail work. They offered good eye protection and when I paid attention they darkened up a bit when they were hit with direct sunlight. Thing was I was wearing a hat and they were not getting hit directly so they were just slightly darkened through most of the day. Did some more research and found out this:

Because photochromic compounds fade back to their clear state by a thermal process, the higher the temperature, the less dark photochromic lenses will be. This thermal effect is called “temperature dependency” and prevents these devices from achieving true sunglass darkness in very hot weather. Conversely, photochromic lenses will get very dark in cold weather conditions, which makes them more suitable for snow skiers than beachgoers while outside.

Sigh…… Also part of having sunnies is to have your eyes hidden while checking out the ladies in summer attire without getting caught. These will not work for that at all. All those bummers aside, I really like them actually. They get just dark enough to make looking around pleasant. I do not like really dark sunnies, and when in the trees riding I really want to be able to see. On the ride into work today I was not blinded by the sun at all, it was really nice. They fit really well, provide good protection by wraping my eye area and fit closr to my face. The ear and nosr parts are made of really comfortable rubber and are really light. The open sides and bottoms do not block my view at all. I will prob pick up another set of Sike’s since I have 12 extra sets of lenses in multiple colors and these will prob get destroyed eventually like all mine do, but for now I am satisfied.

Near-Sighted Biker Gets Closer Look At Sign - Watch more free videos

How to make yourself Retarded - Watch more free videos

Pretty long, but funny.

hat tip GP

The flickr set. And each pic links to flickr so you can view larger sizes.

The Journal Star had an article on the restoration today. You can also watch a video. Legislative employees were offered the chance to view the work and I jumped at the chance.

The chamber is huge. All the desks were covered in wood, carpet covered in plastic, and an amazing scaffolding fills the chamber. It created a floor 40 feet up so the restoration of the wood ceiling could be done. The scaffolding was not anchored to the walls so it swayed from the people on it. It was quite a strange feeling.

lots more below

LJS article

EDIT: check the comments to see the snark ball Gene got rolling.

Police say a man fired a gunshot in a Lincoln restaurant early Friday as he attempted to rob the place.

A man wearing a dark hoodie pulled over his head and a bandanna covering his face came into Perkins at 48th and O streets at 3:04 a.m. and confronted the manager, demanding money, said Capt. Dennis Duckworth.

The suspect fired one shot from a black semiautomatic handgun before leaving south on foot, Duckworth said. He did not get any money, and no one was hurt.

the LJS has an article on the art show. A couple friends made bikes for it.

The opening reception for the “Zombie Bikes Ride Again” art exhibition will take place from 6 to 9 tonight at Against the Wall Gallery, 6220 Havelock Ave. The display will run through July 31.

The bike artists include Scott Grossenbacher, who owns the bike shop Re-Cycled, 27th and South streets, where many of the artists hang out. Other artists: Bill Jones, Daniel Kelly, Jon Taylor, Brian Mac and Johnny Yates, among others. Check out their work at www.ratbike.ning.com.

My long term goal in life is to be the guy who has the best lawn on the block and spends all day making sure it is perfect while forcing the neighborhood kids to avoid my land. We there is little I can do about the feral children since they show no fear. Some day I will have the perfect front lawn, but for now I get by with my perfect lawn out back.

The rain has been amazing. You can look back to when I first tilled, first sprouts, and seeded. I have tried for the past 6-7 years to get to this point. First there was the two years I planted annual thinking it came back annually, then just trying to patch the weed infested. But getting lazy on the dog waste got the best of me for a few years.

I have criscross mowed it once. The corn gets in the way, but it is a small price to pay when I love mowing that sweet healthy green grass so much. It is young so I need to pay really good attention to it through the fall. Still, after so much failing I am proud to have achieved this.