At the beginning of the season I bought a beautiful teal 1988 Trek 1000 and have been riding the hell out of it. Unfortunately all that riding has come at a price, Ive ruined two rear wheels(rims) over the span of a few months.

I know I can tuck my tail and head back into the shop to have them lace me up a new wheel (they got me back on the road for a good price the first time) but I'd like to take a stab at building a wheel myself.

So my question, how hard is it to build a wheel?

• I've watched the park tools wheel building and truing videos and I'm sure they make it look easier than it really is.
• There's a few shops around me that do "open shop" hours a few times a week that i plan on taking advantage of if i actually do this.
• I also looked at just getting a new wheelset but then discovered the freewheel vs cassette change and the old hub width is the old 126mm standard and decided it might be easier if i just learned to lace a wheel and put a new rim on.

(I guess I'm actually just looking for some encouragement, tips)

McSweeney's bringing some hard truths with this one. We could all be doing better.

You forgot to go back in time and tell people that subsidizing the oil industry might be a bad idea.
When the oil and auto industries teamed up to bend public policy to their will, making a system of roads and parking lots that now function as a continuous subsidy and magnificent symbol of the normalization of injury and pollution, you had a lot of options. You could have objected. You could have shifted public opinion. Instead, you weren’t even born yet. And, rather than go back in time, all you’ve been doing is riding to get groceries and occasionally saying, “Please stop killing us.” On the effort scale? 1/10.

If you want to run a railroad, you should be on it. These fat-cat elites are far removed from the real life of public transportation. The biggies are too busy, their matters too important, to bother with the CTA. They have no clue about what it’s like to search for safety on a train car as the thieves and miscreants prey on riders. They don’t face the fear of standing in a bus shelter, alone at night, waiting for the ghost bus that never comes.

Amen.

The merger would have created the nation’s largest cannabis firm...

...Cresco Labs is the largest wholesaler of branded cannabis products in the U.S. It operates dispensaries in seven states, including 10 retail locations and three cultivation labs in Illinois.

Columbia Care is one of the original multi-state providers of medical cannabis in the U.S. It operates 126 facilities, including 94 dispensaries and 32 cultivation and manufacturing facilities.

I've been a little out of touch with the news in the Illinois marker and didn't realize this was even slated to happen. Great that it didn't though, consolidation is never good for consumers.

Lumpen Radio and International Anthem are doing a really interesting 24hr broadcast on Lumpen featuring some local (and not) heavyweights, like Star Creature and Numero, starting tonight at midnight and ending with a live preference by two local jazz giants; Damon Locks and Rob Mazurek, tomorrow night at 9.

Some local record shops will also be broadcasting it in store as well( including, 606, pinwheel, reckless, and more)

Should be a good listen 📻

From the email:

TOMORROW IS LISTENING will be available on terrestrial FM radio in the Chicago area via Lumpen Radio (105.5 FM); but more importantly, we have a growing list of independent record shops across the globe who will be tuning in.
That means: you can properly participate in this special day by leaving your solo reality tunnel, heading out IRL and listening to this broadcast in the community of friends and fellow music lovers at the cultural/communal sanctuary of your local record shop. The list of shops who will be tuned to the broadcast gets bigger by the minute.

“Instead of investing to retain current employees or support former employees through their transition following a recent sizable layoff, Cresco is spending money on lawyers to monitor and sue its former employees for finding new jobs,” spokeswoman Rosie Mattio said in a statement. “This move is not only distasteful to their former employees looking to continue their careers in the cannabis industry, but also a total waste of Cresco’s capital and resources.”

Getting spicy at the top of the corporate cannabis ladder!

This is a great example of why non-compete clauses are anti-worker, and why you should grow-your-own (or find your local home-grower). If they weren't playing lawyer wars maybe they could drop their prices a little?

Fuck Cresco.