Burj Dubai (Arabic: “Dubai Tower”) is a skyscraper under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure on Earth, despite being incomplete. Construction began on September 21, 2004, and it is expected to be completed and ready for occupation in September 2009.  162 floors, 2,650 feet high.  This aerial photo of the construction lends perspective to just how incredibly high this thing is:

If you felt a cosmic disturbance today it was only me purchasing a brand new touring bike  — a Surly Long Haul Trucker!!  We’re talking a heavy duty, much lauded, full blown, radical, fantastical bike specially formulated and fitted for long, laden touring.  This will be the bike I will use to ride from coast to coast, from Atlantic to Pacific, a bit after I retire in two years.  Until then, I will be equipping it and exercising me for the journey.

Following a 31 mile bike ride yesterday I mentioned to my son Paul that I had a degree of soreness in the posterior. He sneered and scoffed and pointed me to saddles real men use. (article by Sheldon Brown)

REAL MAN SADDLES!

If you look at advertisements for conventional saddles you’ll see adjectives like “soft” “cushy” “comfy” “padded”…no wonder this country is going down the tubes, if that’s the priority of the sybaritic masses. Can total decadence and degradation be far behind? The Real MAN ® saddle offers a rugged, spartan alternative that can help restore the hardy pioneer spirit that made this great nation what it was in its prime.

Can a bicycle saddle change the world? Why not! You’ve gotta start somewhere, why not at the bottom?

The typical saddle sold today is made of squishy “gel” foam over a plastic base, designed to coddle the delicate derrières of women and decadent, emasculated males. They’re often upholstered with slippery Lycra or similar slippery cloth. Yecch!

By contrast, the Real MAN ® saddle is made from solid granite from Canada’s rugged Gaspé peninsula, shaped and smoothed by eons of pounding by powerful Atlantic breakers. The Real MAN ® saddle is tough enough to stand up to whatever you can dish out!

Pertaining to my 6^th great-grandfather on my mother’s side, Zebulon Hoxie, a good Quaker:

“About 1760 Zebulon and family moved from Rhode Island to Beekman, Dutchess County, New York. Beekman town had just formally become a town two years previous on March 7, 1788. Beekman area is described as broken and hilly upland containing some of the finest farming land in the county. The streams are small creeks and brooks, tributaries of the Fishkill, and are bordered by wide, fertile valleys. The derivation of the name “Beekman” is not without much mirth. In General History of Duchess County 1609-1876 a note at the bottom of the page explicating “Beekman” reads:
The derivation of this name is thus given by noted writer: “This great dignitary was called Mynhor Beekman, who derived his surname, as did Ovidius Nase of yore, from the lordly dimensions of his nose, which projected from the centre of his countenance like the beak of a parrot. He was a great progenitor of the tribe of Beekmans, one of the most ancient and honorable families of the province, the members of which do gratefully commemorate the origin of their dignity, not as your noble families in England would do, by having a glowing proboseis emblazoned on their escutchcon, but by one and all wearing a right goodly nose stuck in the very middle of their faces (Irving’s Knickerbacker list, NY).
The name “Beekman” became attached to this area in 1697, when Henry Beekman, a large landowner from Kingston, obtained a grant from the British crown for what was to be named the Beekman Patent. Recall, that England owned the land until the Revolution. The entire patent consisted of what we now know as the towns of Beekman, Pawling, Dover, Unionvale, and part of LaGrange.”

This 1776 map shows the Beekman Patent within Dutchess County, New York wherein Zebulon lived:

Once again Bruce’s Blog brings you a product that will help protect and ease your journey along this rocky road called life.  This unit will help guard you from olfactory assault, a condition common to many households, some more affected and afflicted than others.

You’re aware that at construction sites a flashing orange beacon light warns that there is danger afoot and it would be wise to keep your distance.  Well now you can have the same warning in your home, near or in your water closet, thanks to the Air Freshener Construction Signal available from homeloo.  Not only do you get a revolving signal light to alert unsuspecting victims to a potentially hazardous situation, but also you get a pleasant air freshening scent should you find yourself in precarious propinquity to ground zero.