Thanks for the opportunity to vent my love for gravel bikes.

Thank you for the opportunity to read it!

My father is also a road cyclist, so I didn’t grow up on mountain/hybrid bikes like most other children do; road bikes are pretty much all I know. I’d love to dip into other disciplines, but I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on a bike and then find out I don’t like it. However, I do fully agree with your point about road bikes being restrictive; I often have to take longer, much busier routes around my town when I could just take one of the many trails that go all throughout it. I don’t plan on doing any sort of technical trails, but I’d still like to have the ability to do the most basic of off-roading.

The thing is, I don’t really care about the number on my bike computer/watch’s speedometer. I just want to feel fast; I want to feel the wind, the rattle of the bike against the road, the momentum shift as I lean into a corner. That’s what I enjoy. From what I’m reading, you seem to get that very same thing! Perhaps gravel bikes aren’t too bad after all ;)

Things have to get real bad before people realize they need to get better. I’m hoping that happens here

Agreed, but the legal process will allow us to close the distance while I serve in the military instead of having to wait 4 years.

Ah, I should’ve clarified:

We’re both aware of the issues we’ve been having and both agree that closing the distance could very well fix them. So, we said we could marry only legally (as in go to a courthouse and do it that way) purely as a measure to do so while I serve. If we find out everything’s fine in that time, we can have an actual ceremony with family and vows and all that good stuff. If not, we get it annulled like it never happened

(Great writing for a rant that you didn’t proof-read. I especially like the LaTeX-like emdashes.)

Thanks, lol. I use them a lot

But if you decide she’s The One for you and she feels the same about you, then stay the course and maybe attempt to make your relationship more permanent (marriage) which might solve some of the problems (or make them worse if you’re not both committed to it)

I was thinking I would tough it out until we see one another in July — that’s just two and a half months away from now. If we still hit it off together in person after so long apart, I might stay, but if it’s awkward and/or we’re still having problems, I might leave. I just need to remain disciplined and moral with my friends — especially the one I know is interested in me — until then.

Edit: We’ve talked about getting married for the sole purpose of being able to live together while I serve. In my mind, if that doesn’t work out, a divorce isn’t the worst thing in the world, especially since we obviously won’t have kids or joint ownership of any assets.

Trust me, I’ve tried the whole “fucking around and having fun” thing. It’s definitely not for me; I much prefer a long-term partner over a situationship that lasts for a week or two.

Doesn’t matter. Sacrilege…

Bishop F1 takes on H3. Zombies are sacrilege

LibreOffice for the win

Not once have I encountered one. I don’t mind them, though

During Helene, I had a tree fall through my house while I was in bed, and it stopped about 6 inches from my face

I fully agree, lol. I browse ich_iel with reading glasses and a dictionary

I’m learning German, too! I took 3 years in school and wanted to continue my education on my own. So far, it’s… going

Remember the Titans. Absolute cinema

HUGE second on all of these

It had it coming

Nope. It has to come straight from the starfish

Intellectual? Perhaps. Civil? Not always…

Hot ass water

Edit: Clarification: Poor hot ass water on it or dunk it in hot ass water

Edit 2, electric boogaloo: This is dependent on the material, according to my mother

Now fork it and use OpenRC