Bennidito's last night...

Is there a cheerier lit restaurant in Spokane?

Free Parking on Riverside Today!

Parking is a lot easier downtown when I ride my bike. Even better if I walk. But, I had to drive this morning for a long series of errands. The first of which was downtown. I instantly spotted one empty parking spot on Riverside! Wait, it's not really empty. It's half-empty (if you're one of those kind of people, half-full if you're not).

The person driving the aptly-named Lincoln "Navigator" had a hard time piloting his/her Dreadnought into the actual parking spot, and wound up half-in the metered parking area and half-in the 10-minute loading zone. There was plenty of space for the Geo to nestle completely into the Navigator's empty designated area. There was also plenty of room for the driver behind me to get out. Yes - the meter was maxed out.


It seems that the bigger the auto/suv/truck, the harder it is for some to drive. I've witnessed this at work, walking, and on the bicycle. Sometimes I really feel bad for the person driving. I can imagine some guy buying one of these penis-extenders and justifying his purchase by telling his wife - "Honey, I bought this for you because I care about your safety," while she's thinking, "Holy shit. This is ridiculous. This thing's bigger than our living room." Yet, she smiles bravely and climbs onto the seat (without belay) balancing a latte and a cell phone, starts the engine and rolls the dice. Statistically, these are the unsafest cars on the road. I really think there ought to be a mandatory class for anyone who wants to steer these barges down our streets.


Oh yeah, I guess it's pretty obvious that I am one of those types whose bicycle costs a lot more than their car. And my bicycle is not very fancy. Plus, it's washed and waxed, unlike the White Rocket. But the Geo is a chick-magnet. No doubt.

Out with the old...

15 years ago, my dad gave me a BBQ grill for my birthday. It was one of the nicest things I ever received. Every spring I would clean it up and replace parts. About 7 years ago I replaced the broken handle with a baseball bat (I didn't use the bat as a tool to remove the handle, but as the actual handle. OK?). That worked really well and looked pretty cool too. My dad died a few years ago and I became even more attached to the old Charbroil. But the cast-tron racks are almost nonexistent from continual scrubbing and heating and the second replacement burner is now rotten, etc.

Today would have been the big spring cleaning and replacement session. Instead, I went out and bought a new grill. Sarah and I did a lot of shopping around. Buying locally is something we try to do, to help out the old city tax base. This Big Green Egg grill came from Spokane Fireplace and Patio and is assembled in the US. The other one we were looking at was the Primo grill, which is made entirely in the US - "Georgia." Better than Texas anyhow.

I think my dad would be glad that I bought a new grill. He really liked to buy stuff. However, I think he wouldn't have liked that this is a charcoal grill and not propane.

I plan on making some things out of the old one - some bicycley things...

Another day in bicycle paradise.

All it took was a switch from the WinterWarriorCycle to the SpringSummerXtracycle to get us a few more inches of snow! It wasn't a bad ride though, yesterday to work.

I wondered out-loud, to Sarah last week, "How many other places do people normally ride where one can enjoy wearing cycling mittens for the majority of the year?" Nice!