Alden Grabit Pro

broken alden grabit-pro

I bought some bolt extractors (Alden Grabit-Pro 8430P) to remove a stripped and seized bolt on my bike.  My efforts with the extractors were unsuccessful – After a lot of effort, I gave up on the extractors and was able to drill through the bolt and cut it in half.  I was able to destroy one of the Grabit-Pro extractors though.  I’m disappointed in the product.  I took some fun macro photos to share.  It broke after I was finally able to get some “bite” from the extractor.  Maybe I ran the drill too fast?  Maybe the bolt had seized too much?  Maybe the extractor was defective?  Either way, I ended up with a broken bolt extractor.

broken alden grabit-pro broken alden grabit-pro broken alden grabit-pro

 

Sous Vide Brisket #3

Sous Vide Brisket #3: I haven’t posted #2 yet; maybe that will happen later.  This was grass-fed organic brisket that cost $9/lb.  I double bagged it with nothing added, and then put it in the water bath for 72 hours at 54.5C (130F).  I was targeting the bottom of the medium-rare range.  It was a much thicker cut, and the point turned out sorta dry and with a weird texture.  The rest of it was good though.

It looked ugly coming out of the plastic bag.

sous vide brisket #3

I added salt and pepper and then seared it with the blow torch.  Looking much better now.

sous vide brisket #3

 

Texture was soft to the touch, and the muscle fibers could be torn apart manually.  I made a gravy by reducing the beef juice, and it went well with the brisket.

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Oakland Running Festival – Marathon 2014

We stepped outside around 8 this morning to catch Oakland marathon runners around mile 5.

Oakland PD motorcycle marshaling the frontrunners:

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This guy from the Oakland-based Bay Area Track Club relay team was minutes in front of anyone else at this point.  Not surprisingly, they went on to win the relay with a final time of 2:20:54.

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oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

 

These guys did very well too – “That’s Fine Track Club” from San Francisco finished second in the relay results, with a time of 2:24:31.

 

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A small pack of solo-marathoners came next.  Here’s Rob Nachtwey from Berkeley in the pink hat, with Chris Mocko close behind, wearing the red headband.   Chis had won the marathon in 2012 with a time of 2:28:09, but apparently dropped out of the race and registered a DNF this year.  Rob Nachtwey went on to finish second place with a time of 2:41:00 – his second straight second place finish.  Well done, Rob.  It’s neat that the official race results show splits – Rob appears to have spent the entire race consistently in second place.

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oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

This is Eulogio Rodriguez from Whittier, who was only footsteps behind in the pack.  He hung out in 3rd for a while, but was up by more than 2 minutes by mile 12, and finished the race 10 minutes and 37 seconds ahead of Rob Nachtwey, with a time of 2:30:22.21.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

 

 

Boone Ebel from Foster City finished a solid 4th.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

Colorful Kindy Tice, bib #728, was a bit behind at this point (maybe 5th or 6th place) but was able to make his way into 3rd by mile 12 and stayed there til the end, finishing with a time of 2:43:13.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

This is Robbie Salazar, of Pueblo, Colorado who finished in 6th place.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

This guy didn’t have a bib, but made up for it with a black Raiders cape.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

This guy blue himself.  – Team Reservoir Dogs from Oakland.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

 

 

 

The woman on the right is Jen Bakula, who finished 6th among women.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

Verity Breen won the half marathon in 2011 and returned this year to finish in 2nd place among women, with a time of 3:22:13.  She was in 4th, or maybe even a bit further back at this point, but made her way up to second within a few miles.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

And of course, Hawaiian shirt guy was running again.

oakland running festival - oakland marathon 2014

Truckee and Donner Lake

Truckee and Donner Lake, March 2014

donner lake

donner lake

donner lake

those are birds

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ski lifts at sugar bowl ski resort

sugar bowl ski resort

donner lake, from rainbow bridge apparently aka the donner memorial bridge

from rainbow bridge, a view of donner lake

our wonderful hosts treated us to blueberry pancakes with olallieberry and maple syrup

blueberry pancakes in the morning

hike on the negro canyon trail and crazy layered clouds – are these lenticular?

view from negro canyon trail

looking the other way:

view from negro canyon trail

tanner, and look at those drool trails

tanner and insane drool

well-deserved burgers from burger me with quite a bit of onion ring on top

hamburger with onion rings at burger me

new york again

the order is all mixed up, but that is okay

looking out the window at the spotted pig in the west village

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we walked to hudson river park to look at new jersey

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dept of well being

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in the fog: midtown

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in the fog: manhattan, across the east river

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espresso at sweetleaf in williamsburg

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a la marzocco

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it was a rainy day and football was on the television but we walked to neighborhood coffee joint WTF coffee labs where asio happily posed and shared coffee insights

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and I had another shot

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but before that even.. where were we?  ah, sit and wonder.

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and we had a donut from dough

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Holiday Lights at Longwood Gardens

Lots of LED lights at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania this year.  We visited on Christmas Eve.

Inside one of the tree houses:

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White LED bush

Holidays at Longwood Gardens

There was a light dusting of snow on the ground from flurries

Holidays at Longwood Gardens

We walked to the conservatory.  The indoor hall display here is made of floating apples (!!!)

Holidays at Longwood Gardens

Holidays at Longwood Gardens

A weird crazy blue light illuminated the path and the tree branches

Holidays at Longwood Gardens

one of the larger trees outside, with ornaments

Holidays at Longwood Gardens

Holidays at Longwood Gardens

Holidays at Longwood Gardens