shigley & 153

SHIGLEY

about three years ago, i decided, after being out of school for three years, to dump all my college text books except for one- 'Mechanical Engineering Design,' by Shigley and Mischke. Today, I finally had to use it as a reference. I've been asked to come up with a method/ calculation based on another refinery's spec. to determine the require torque on bolting for exchanger flange pairs. i asked around the office for assistance and one of the websites i was directed to referenced the Shigley Mech. Eng. Design book. Tucked in the back of one of our filing cabinets, i dusted it off after arriving home and found what i was looking for... except i think there is still one intermediate step i need to figure out.

153

p bought a scale over the weekend. i weighed myself in the evening and it read 156. holy smokes. heaviest i've ever been in my 31 years. then, in the morning, i was 153... still... eight (8) lbs over my fighting weight of 145. i'm really not concerned, just a bit surprised... i knew i had put on some lbs since aiden, but didn't realize it was 8 lbs... i wonder if this extra weight will help or hinder my racing season... and speaking of which, i really need to start riding more... gotta pull out the trainer and get on it.

trailer ride III

yes, that's right. number three. number two was with mom pulling the train. on that trip, we headed west down montview to city park. once we got to city park, we called a friend and met for coffee. after coffee, it was back in the trailer and east down montview home.

number three was this afternoon. the weather was nice enough, about 50 F, that i put aiden in a fleece and draped a blanket over his legs, pulled the screen and plastic cover down and headed to the dpl on welton st. the ride was pretty good, took 29th all the way in... a bit bumpy in spots, but generally smooth with very little traffic. aiden slept the entire way there. once at the library, instead of waking up the tyke, i pulled the trailer off and did my browsing of movies and music. then, after about 20 minutes, it was back on the road. this time, it was east on 26th ave. again, very little traffic, but a tad smoother road. the ride back was a bit tougher. had a slight head wind and still not use to the push and pull of the trailer... and i'm terribly out of shape. but hopefully i can get a couple of days a week out on the bike pulling the tyke.

trailer ride

yesterday p and i headed over to REI in d-town and bought ourselves a little gift for aiden's one year birthday- the trailer hookup for the bike. since aiden is soon to be one year old, he can now sit in the bike trailer as p and i ride around our neighborhood. so excited was i, that today i hooked up the trailer to my commuter and took aiden out on his first bike ride. i'm not sure what he thought of the experience, but sitting in the trailer with his new helmet was very exciting for me. selfish, i know... but it's been a year since i've been riding consistently, and with aiden's first birthday approaching, his mobility has improved, and so has mine. very excited to start riding with the tyke behind me... stopping along the way to where ever to play in the grass or take a ride on the swings.