Monthly Archive for August, 2010

TB Cantina Tacos

Published on August 26, 2010 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

Picture 002It’s been months since I last went to a Taco Bell, but I found myself in need of a quick lunch and decided to visit the Kapahulu one. The featured specialty items caught my interest, what they are calling “Cantina” style tacos. Soft corn tortilla tacos in either chicken, steak, or carnita fillings with chopped onions and cilantro. Each is roughly $2, and thats about all you get, a double soft corn tortilla with those ingredients, wrapped in foil, and a lime wedge. I have to give them credit for actually offering something that is more than just a rehash and recombination of their existing ingredients. I got a two pack of chicken and carnita. The chicken was quite dry, flavor alright. The carnita, being pork, was less dry, however the overwhelming flavor/spice seemed to be salt. Squeezing the lime into them helps, but after taking a few bites to sample the flavor, ended up putting on hot sauce.

That drink is also some new thing, “Sparkling Limeade” or something to that effect. Pretty much lemon lime soda with some syrup that is the limeade component, and a lemon wedge. Not bad, but you don’t get much for the money.

So the verdict? It’s something different to try than the usual whatever supreme, but ends up rather unexciting.  And not filling. The more real mexican places have nothing to worry about. 2 out of 4 mexi monkeys.

Does it work for optical mouth?

Published on August 26, 2010 in Gear by taro. Closed

Picture 001Discovered at Marukai, something all computer users should find useful, Mouth Pads!

Tight Rear, Loose Rear

Published on August 24, 2010 in car by taro. Closed

IMG_0018I like a tight rear end. I picked up my diff and axle housing from Pacfic Automotive on Friday. Ken was still working on the axle bearings, and was going at it with an air chisel when I went to his shop. I’m glad I left this job to him. I’m sure I would have been cursing at that point, & my rickety mystery China hydraulic press would prob be in dangerous shape and no longer a parallelogram. When I got it back home, I repainted it with my favorite kryptonite paint, POR-15. Thats the stuff I used on my control arms where I forgot to press a metal sleeve out of and we had to torch the end to heat it to extract it. The paint was intact and pretty unscathed even after that. It’s name is Paint Over Rust meaning you can paint it over surface rust. The surface does need to be clean of oil, I can never seem to get it totally clean of that, I have some spots where the paint didn’t stick. But if the paint sticks, look out! If you get any on your skin, that’s it. If you don’t immediately wipe it off, it’s there until the layer of skin peels off. Painting implements are pretty much toast afterward. Its not cheap stuff, buy only what you can use, once you open the can any left over is pretty much toast. They advise you to use some kind of scoop to take paint out of can, you get it on the lid lip and when you close the can, its toast. It’ll seal up the can tight and you’ll end up destroying the can reopening it. If you keep it clean, you can extend storage a bit by sealing it tight and in another container with dessicant, this paint is moisture cured. Oh well, I made a mess of things so this entire $30 pint goes for painting the rear axle. Continue reading ‘Tight Rear, Loose Rear’

Goofed up traffic patterns

Published on August 20, 2010 in SUAR by taro-mobile. Closed

Holy cow, traffic trying to get back to office is totally messed up. State holiday has messed up the usual patterns. Gridlock & idiot drivers locking up intersections all over!

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Monkey House

Published on August 20, 2010 in rant and SUAR by risu-mobile. Closed

Seriously, if you don’t have to be anywhere today, stay home.  Between the State Holiday and the water main break on Ala Moana Boulevard, it’s like someone unlocked the monkey house and gave each monkey a car key.

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GU Chomps Energy Chews

Published on August 19, 2010 in bike, Food and Review by risu. Closed

GU_Chomps_packagingGU_Chomps_blockSimilar to Clif Shot Bloks, these gummy energy blocks from the makers of GU gel are a convenient medium between energy gels and full-blown energy bars. The size and consistency are similar to the Clif Shot Bloks, but they seem to be a little less sweet. I’ve seen three flavors – blueberry/pomegranate, strawberry, and cranberry/apple. The strawberry and cranberry/apple have caffeine, but the blueberry/pomegranate does not (boo!). The packaging is like the original Clif packaging, where once opened, there is no built-in way to reclose the bag or otherwise keep the unused portion from escaping. If you don’t eat the whole 60-gram package at once, stash a rubber band to hold the package shut, or tear a hole just small enough to force a single block through and hope for the best. The caloric value is listed as 180 calories for the entire 8-block package, with 100mg of sodium total: The similar Clif product is 200 calories for 6-blocks with 140mg of sodium (for the non-sodium enriched flavors). It’s pretty clear that the GU product was designed to be a direct competitor to the Clif one. On a recent trail ride, I passed around a package of the blueberry/pomegranate flavor, and everyone in the ride group was positive about them.  Last year, Root did a review on these also – click here for his review.

Made in The USA

About $2.00 USD retail

Recommended

Three out of four carbo-monkeys

Quick Run

Published on August 17, 2010 in bike by risu. Closed

Monday, 16 August 2010

Ckucke, Root, and I were pretty worn out from Sunday’s trail ride, but at JT’s insistence, we met up for a St. Louis drop with Kevyn. I relented because JT said it would be easy. The weather in the morning was terrible, so I thought maybe I’d get some respite from riding, but shortly after noon, the clouds dispersed, and the sun baked the trail again to dryness. To keep the muscle effort down, we stayed up on Mainline and went straight through to the rock drop trail after taco jumps. Descending to agave, we took the smooth, lower line out to the water tank, and stepped up to the rocky bypass above the concrete road. It seemed like we were going pretty fast in sections. Back at Kanewai, I talked with Cook Paul and my cousin, Mike, while Kevyn shuttled Ckucke back up to recover his truck. After ditching the bikes at Ckucke’s, we met Kevyn and Lorna for Vietnamese dinner at the top of Wai’alae. They got my order right this time.

Pictures here

D = 3.69 km (2.29-miles), Vavr = 15.8 km/h (9.8-mph), Vmax = 36.0 km/h (22.4-mph), T = 14-minutes

Demio

Published on August 17, 2010 in car and SUAR by risu-mobile. Closed

Cutter Mazda has their Demios (Mazda 2’s) in!

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Seeking Ikaika

Published on August 16, 2010 in bike by risu. Closed

Sunday, 15 August 2010

The weather was perfect and the crew willing, so we turned out a little earlier than normal for a full Luana loop. JT was finishing up some artwork, and Dr. Paul had family business, so they were missing, but Chris, Ckucke, Danny, Jeff, Sara, Root, and I made the roll-out. Jeff started out pushing pretty hard on the initial road climb. I was trying to take it easy so I’d still have something left for the rest of the ride, but I ended up pushing hard near the front regardless. We entered the woods quite a ways further down than normal, climbing through the ironwood forest below the telephone pole hill. This entry made for a little less climbing. After a food and rest break at the big tree with rope-throwing and camera-swinging antics, we dropped to the Ditch via fat guy and took it all the way to the top of Government road before another break. Ckucke, Root and I were off the back going up the road. I’m not sure what everyone else was on, but it was full of “climb”. Continue reading ‘Seeking Ikaika’

Midweek Descent

Published on August 11, 2010 in bike and Food by risu. Closed

Having missed riding over the weekend and Monday evening, we were all feeling the need for some dirt, so when JT instigated a Wednesday St. Louis drop, we were all in. Root, JT, and I piled into Ckucke’s truck, and we met Kevyn at Kanewai for the shuttle up. Although it had rained overnight and intermittently during the morning, the afternoon sun dried things out, so there was no trace of wetness on the way down through Dumps. At Agave, we climbed up briefly to the middle sortie and descended to the concrete road. Kevyn pinch flatted on the step-up after the water tank, so he had to walk it out to the street. Dinner was at Serg’s in Manoa at JT’s suggestion. I had some good carnitas enchiladas with tomatillo sauce for about $10 USD (oh, and JT, don’t forget to give me $20!).

Pictures here

D = 3.89 km (2.42-miles), Vavr = 13.7 km/h (8.5-mph), Vmax = 31.2 km/h (19.4-mph), T = 17-minutes