Rental prices https://culdesac.com/tempe/apply/unit-selection/

Does the company that bought Osprey still honor the warranty?

Keen Newports have the finger loops on tongue and heel. I think Blundstone boots do, too? I’m sure someone with Blundstones can confirm or refute that.

Those loops are so handy, I agree.

Bicycle. No gas expenses, no tabs, no loan, free parking. I understand how it works and can mostly fix it myself for very little money. I can take quiet side streets and arrive in a much better mood, plus my fat lazy ass gets some exercise.

You can add pockets to the pants you buy, too. This video by Morgan Donner is adding several examples of types of pockets to skirts, but the process is the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pE_nrHKd58

And there’s this one by Bernadette Banner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thlzJj1EHiY

Thigh pockets are really great for phones. You can make visible patch pockets or subtle welt pockets and you can customize to the size of your phone.

Billy Connolly

300+ days a year of sunshine, all they need to do next is pop some solar panels up on those roofs!

You can rent a furnished studio short-term for 2 days minimum at $99/day, and you get the same transportation benefits as residents do during your stay. Honestly, I’m considering this for a vacation during the winter. This walkable community idea is fascinating to me and I want to check it out. https://culdesac.com/

For t shirts I always sing the praises of Gettees. Tiny “factory” of half a dozen people making extraordinarily high quality and durable shirts in Detroit. Most of the people doing the sewing are former auto upholstery stitchers from the car factories. The quality is truly the best I’ve ever encountered. https://gettees.us/

Side note about pockets: Duluth Trading women’s pants have multiple ginormous pockets, and about half have crotch gussets or anterior inseams to avoid chub-rub destroying the pants.

A “final solution”, as it were.

My old Honda has a low and slanted front end (kind of like a wedge). At the time, Honda was crowing about enhanced pedestrian safety and how the wedge would scoop the pedestrian (or cyclist) up onto the hood rather than tossing them under the car.

Dunno about that, but I can say it is far easier to see over the nose of that old Honda than over the damn nose of newer cars I’ve driven.

And even when “right on red” is allowed, they will still lay on the horn when you stop. As if they don’t know you have to stop at the red and only proceed with your turn after a full stop and if the way is clear.

Actually, maybe they don’t know you have to come to a full stop before turning?

A good place to start on YouTube is Bernadette Banner’s channel. She is a clothing historian, so there’s a lot of historical and historical recreation stuff, but she also has a few basic repair and tailoring techniques videos. She wrote a mending book that I hear is much more in-depth than her videos (I haven’t read it). https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/make-sew-and-mend-bernadette-banner/1139915226

Patagonia Wornwear has a lot of repair instructions for outdoor gear (you don’t have to buy their repair materials). https://wornwear.patagonia.com/repairs

Reddit “visiblemending” and “invisiblemending” are also very good resources.

There is a generation of little old ladies who are passionate about sewing, but have no-one to sew for. Their kids are grown, and their grandkids don’t want handmade clothes. Ask at a senior center or at a local (not chain) fabric shop, seek out one of these ladies and hire her to sew for you. Or barter: help her around the house or garden or drive her to appointments or to get groceries, and in exchange she sews clothes from fabrics and patterns you choose. Or tailors used clothes to make them fit you better, or mends your worn clothes, etc.

Here’s an excellent place to start: https://tincanknits.com/collection/the-simple-collection

And “run” the heels and ball of the foot so they felt down and last longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fKKLOUNOHU

I did a deep-dive reading and watching videos learning about sturdy and long-lasting fabrics and materials. Learned a bit about tailoring for durability, too. (For example, Duluth Trading shifted the inseams on their Firehose pants forward. The forward seams don’t rub on each other when you walk, and so the inner thighs don’t self-destruct as quickly.)

There are also a ton of excellent resources on how to mend clothing and properly care for it. And it doesn’t take much effort, really.

So now I have a bunch of older clothes, with subtle repairs, still in good shape. Sure, I’d like some sexy new trendy disposable stuff so I can be one of the cool kids - but that’s how fast fashion gets its claws into you. Preying on our magpie-like desires for shiny new things makes somebody big bucks. (And creates huge waste and exploits desperate workers.)

Buy sturdy “classic” clothes. Keep them in good repair. Fight the system.

Why aren’t chain cases a thing in the U.S.?

Because they are seen as feminine and weak. Machismo requires shunning fenders and chain cases - serious riders can’t afford the weight and are too strong and powerful to be concerned with water, muck, and bike component longevity!

I’m being kind of sarcastic, but really that’s what it boils down to. Sort of the same reason you don’t see station wagons anymore, but truck cabs have expanded to the point that truck beds are minuscule and are pretty much decorative and can’t carry anything. Real Men don’t drive station wagons or minivans, that’s emasculating!

It’s been interesting watching the swing in attitude from ebikes being seen as only for wimps, to now they are powerful tools to assert dominance on the bike path. I would imagine we will see a similar swing with some of the old-school bike tech. (Ryan van Duzer is making internal hubs cool again, at least to a subset of adventure riders. Or people who want to be perceived as adventure riders…)

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/04/12/california-senate-transport-committee-passes-solar-parking-canopy-and-highwayside-law/

Speaking of shade… This is pretty cool.

I’ve had good luck with the rechargeable “Superflash” lights. I assume you’ve already tried those? A back-up kept in my pannier, and one on the bike. (Charge both at work.)

https://www.planetbike.com/bike-lights/