WackyNeighbor

I've been commuting for a while and I've always just used a Nike rain jacket and some rubber Columbia rain pants in the winter. I'm not really all that fancy. My commute, however, has recently dropped from 17.6 miles round to 8.4 and I have a few extra dollars for some outerwear. That said, I think I'm digging the MEC Crosstown jacket, but I'm in the states and I've never bought anything that I couldn't return "easily" if it's not quite right. How are MEC products? I also like the Showers Pass stuff, but I really dislike their logo and logo placement. Shallow, I know, right? Anyway, can anyone convince me to go with or dissuade me from MEC?

Okay, so here's my problem. I use a Paul Melvin chain tensioner and for the first year, everything was right with the world. I keep two chainrings up front so that I have a 2:1 and a, uh, 2.625:1 (?) gear ratio. Anyway, lately the thing has been "skipping." It makes a sound like when you change a gear on a geared bike and the spring arm with the pulleys on the chain tensioner tugs a little bit. Usually twice per revolution of the crankarms. I've changed the pulleys on the tensioner, made sure the chain line was right, tightened down the chainring bolts, put a new cog on, new chainrings... I just don't know what else it can be. It started shortly after I put on a new chain. I've put n

I know that it's nice to be able to read many different journals, but if you had to recommend one professional nursing journal to a relatively new student, which one would it be?

...that I always feel like I'm working on my bicycle or doing something for my bicycle. In 1993, I dropped $300 on a Schwinn hybrid and I swear that I cannot remember ever changing a tube or lubing a chain. I swapped out the pedals once. I put centuries on that thing! Now I have a mountain bike commuter that I built up the way that I like it and I'm diagnosing creaks in the cranks and replacing chains annually. Did anyone else ever have a problem free bike? Also, what is this creaking in my cranks this time?

I also posted this in gardening. I had no idea there was a winemaking subreddit, but i probably should have known.

I recently bought a home with approximately 250 feet (approximately 76 meters) of grape vines strung on dilapidated wire fencing in three rows. The previous owner's husband was an avid winemaker before he passed and the vines have not been attended to in any real way for maybe more than ten years. Since then, they've become overrun with briars and sumac. I've been working at getting rid of the briars and the other plants and I can cut down the sumac as soon as the weather breaks, but I want to know how to go about making these vines what they once were. I'm told they were wond

I recently bought a home with approximately 250 feet (approximately 76 meters) of grape vines strung on dilapidated wire fencing in three rows. The previous owner's husband was an avid winemaker before he passed and the vines have not been attended to in any real way for maybe more than ten years. Since then, they've become overrun with briars and sumac. I've been working at getting rid of the briars and the other plants and I can cut down the sumac as soon as the weather breaks, but I want to know how to go about making these vines what they once were. I'm told they were wonderful and produced high yields. The soil is really rich from years of leaf litter and the vines are like small t

I'm about to test for an ADN nursing program in Pennsylvania and one of the requirements is to have nursing liability insurance (if I'm accepted, of course). Anyway, I have a call in to my insurance agent (and he won't get back to me until this afternoon) but something's telling me that State Farm doesn't have this sort of coverage. If they don't, where should I look? Is there a preferred insurance provider in PA (where my understanding is that malpractice insurance can be rather expensive)? Is it expensive? Could I use more parentheses? What should I budget? I just want to have all my ducks in a row for when I get in to this program!