Andrew Ritchie, RIP

[William Crowell]

I just learned that Andrew Ritchie, devoted cyclist, cycling historian, musician, carpenter, contractor and author of Berkeley, California, passed away about a year ago:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1237898-cycling-historian-andrew-ritchie.html

I didn't see any mention of his passing in this forum, so thought I'd mention it.

Andrew wrote two important books about cycling: the first biography of Major Taylor and "King of the Road", a history of bike racing from 1868 - 1903. I understand that he earned a Ph.D. or the equivalent in cycling-related studies.

I met Andrew at a meeting of the Grizzly Peak Cyclists back in 1978, told him I was planning to go touring in France and asked him for his advice. He invited me over to his house and very kindly suggested where I should ride, what provisions to take and where to stay.

I think he will be greatly missed.

[Tom Kunich]

Look at it this way - at least he was never forced to meet the stupid six. The world will always remember the good people and regret their passing. It will probably celebrate the passing of people like Seaton. I'm saving a good bottle of wine for the occasion. Slocum on the other hand will simply disappear and never be missed. Scharf will disappear into the mill grind of those who never were and Krygowsky will be remembered as a teacher who may even have taught basics to someone else but never actually used them himself so precisely how did he actually know they were basics or his own mythology? This leaves Flunky. But who is to miss someone that never was? Every stupid comment made by anyone could just as well be Flunky under yet another psuedonym. The invisible man as it were. Jeff actually did something. He actually had some friends. But I'm sure that they were neither good nor faithful because he isn't. He is nothing more than a partisan prick who would argue that night is day simply to be contrary. Actually he is probably the sadest one of all. He had all of the tools at his command and no way to use them. I supose he was too afraid to actuallly look for a real job and instead did handiman work. After all - looking for work means that when you apply for a job you are qualified to do 2/3rds of the time you are turned down and usually for no reason at all but the look on your face. Maybe that is the unfairness of the world that made Liebermann into the nothing he became.

[ritzann...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 6:35:17 PM UTC-5, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 3:10:13 PM UTC-7, William Crowell wrote:
> > I just learned that Andrew Ritchie, devoted cyclist, cycling historian, musician, carpenter, contractor and author of Berkeley, California, passed away about a year ago:
> >
> > https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1237898-cycling-historian-andrew-ritchie.html
> >
> > I didn't see any mention of his passing in this forum, so thought I'd mention it.
> >
> > Andrew wrote two important books about cycling: the first biography of Major Taylor and "King of the Road", a history of bike racing from 1868 - 1903. I understand that he earned a Ph.D. or the equivalent in cycling-related studies.
> >
> > I met Andrew at a meeting of the Grizzly Peak Cyclists back in 1978, told him I was planning to go touring in France and asked him for his advice. He invited me over to his house and very kindly suggested where I should ride, what provisions to take and where to stay.
> >
> > I think he will be greatly missed.
> Look at it this way - at least he was never forced to meet the stupid six. The world will always remember the good people and regret their passing. It will probably celebrate the passing of people like Seaton. I'm saving a good bottle of wine for the occasion.

I hope no one celebrates my passing. As in, throws a party because I passed. But I am definitely not against friends and family getting together and celebrating my life while I was here. I am hoping, hoping, hoping, I am around for a long time yet. So it will be time for me to go when I go. I do not ascribe to being sad when an elderly person dies. They lived a long life and had the chance to do whatever they wanted to do. No sadness there.

As for a bottle of wine. I am not anti alcohol. But I don't favor using alcohol either. There are far better things to spend your money on. Or if you make your own liquor, spend the time to make something more useful. Like raising a garden.

Tommy, I am sure you are unaware of this simple fact. But I am a bit younger than you. I suspect you will be pushing up daisies long long long before I keel over. If by happenstance I come across your grave, I might be inclined to water the flowers laid on your headstone.

> Slocum on the other hand will simply disappear and never be missed. Scharf will disappear into the mill grind of those who never were and Krygowsky will be remembered as a teacher who may even have taught basics to someone else but never actually used them himself so precisely how did he actually know they were basics or his own mythology? This leaves Flunky. But who is to miss someone that never was? Every stupid comment made by anyone could just as well be Flunky under yet another psuedonym. The invisible man as it were. Jeff actually did something. He actually had some friends. But I'm sure that they were neither good nor faithful because he isn't. He is nothing more than a partisan prick who would argue that night is day simply to be contrary. Actually he is probably the sadest one of all. He had all of the tools at his command and no way to use them. I supose he was too afraid to actuallly look for a real job and instead did handiman work. After all - looking for work means that when you apply for a job you are qualified to do 2/3rds of the time you are turned down and usually for no reason at all but the look on your face. Maybe that is the unfairness of the world that made Liebermann into the nothing he became.

Tommy, you left out John. I am sure he wants to know your comments about him too. I also noticed you misspelled a lot of words in your above paragraph. Tommy, you should proofread your replies before posting. Catch the simple spelling errors. Misspellings make you look even worse. I know that is difficult in this forum. But our opinion of you might improve a little bit if you demonstrated proper English writing, spelling, and grammar. I know you are uneducated and apparently flunked school classes related to writing. But I am sure there are guides to help you.

[John B.]

Yes, it is rather humbling to have been left out of Tommy's tirades...
however I shall persist in correcting his delusions and hopefully will
"make the grade" in future posts.
--
Cheers,

John B.

[Frank Krygowski]

I really enjoyed his biography of Major Taylor, and passed copies on to
a couple of my black cycling friends.

Major Taylor should be better known.

--
- Frank Krygowski

[ritzann...@gmail.com]

We should probably have a thread on race and bicycling. Recreational cycling anyway. I know two black men who ride bicycles. Or to clarify that a bit, I knew and frequently talked and rode with one black man. And I met very briefly the other on one bike ride. Now I will admit I live where diversity is almost zero. But there were still a larger percentage of blacks in the community than I ever saw on a bike. And far more Hispanics in the community than I ever saw on a bicycle too.

[John B.]

On Wed, 31 Aug 2022 21:39:03 -0700 (PDT), "russell...@yahoo.com"
<ritzann...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 10:24:12 PM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>> On 8/31/2022 6:10 PM, William Crowell wrote:
>> > I just learned that Andrew Ritchie, devoted cyclist, cycling historian, musician, carpenter, contractor and author of Berkeley, California, passed away about a year ago:
>> >
>> > https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1237898-cycling-historian-andrew-ritchie.html
>> >
>> > I didn't see any mention of his passing in this forum, so thought I'd mention it.
>> >
>> > Andrew wrote two important books about cycling: the first biography of Major Taylor and "King of the Road", a history of bike racing from 1868 - 1903. I understand that he earned a Ph.D. or the equivalent in cycling-related studies.
>> >
>> > I met Andrew at a meeting of the Grizzly Peak Cyclists back in 1978, told him I was planning to go touring in France and asked him for his advice. He invited me over to his house and very kindly suggested where I should ride, what provisions to take and where to stay.
>> >
>> > I think he will be greatly missed.
>> I really enjoyed his biography of Major Taylor, and passed copies on to
>> a couple of my black cycling friends.
>>
>> Major Taylor should be better known.
>>
>> --
>> - Frank Krygowski
>
>We should probably have a thread on race and bicycling.

Try "rec.bicycles.racing" (:-)

--
Cheers,

John B.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Wed, 31 Aug 2022 16:35:15 -0700 (PDT), Tom Kunich
<cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Jeff actually did something. He actually had some friends. But I'm sure that they were neither good nor faithful because he isn't. He is nothing more than a partisan prick who would argue that night is day simply to be contrary.

I'm wondering what inspired that comment. I have friends and I have
customers. The difference is that the customers pay me. As I get
older and simulate being retired, most of my customers are converting
themselves into friends, for obvious reasons. At my present rate, I
seem to be gaining quite a few friends. Tom, are you having
difficulties keeping friends that you never had? Perhaps you would do
better if they were real?

Partisan prick? What's that? It's an odd comment because Tom is one
of the few in RBT that attach political significance to literally
everything they mention.

As for arguing the night is day, I think I can do that. Way back in
High Skool, I took a class in forensics (speech and debate) and joined
the debate team. One of the important exercises was to defend a point
of view that was either unpopular or obviously wrong. After the
initial presentations, we were told to change sides and defend the
opposing point of view. One had to really know the subject to be able
to do that effectively. I'll confess that I didn't do very well at
this type of debate. However, the experience was quite valuable later
in life. Yes, I think I could prove that night is day, depending on
how one defines night and day.

>Actually he is probably the sadest one of all. He had all of the
>tools at his command and no way to use them.

Why are you attributing your worst characteristics to me? Do you
think that will make them go away? I am not sad, but you seem to be.
You are the one who doesn't seem to know how to use tools. Found any
metric Torx bits yet?

>I supose he was too afraid to actuallly look for a real job
>and instead did handiman work.

I made my own job starting in about 1983. I retired at the end of
2020 mostly because the homeless had largely taken over the office
building. If not for that and Covid, I would still be working today
(at age=74).

>After all - looking for work means that when you apply for a job
>you are qualified to do 2/3rds of the time you are turned down
>and usually for no reason at all but the look on your face.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I've been working full
time either for myself or for someone else since I graduated college.
The only time I wasn't working was when I did some traveling, when I
took an extended vacation, and when a company that I was working for
need to cut expenses and told everyone to stay home for 2 weeks. I've
been fired a few times. I'm done stupid things and had to quit. I've
argued with management, tried to lie my way out of sticky situation,
and stolen small things from various employers. I never expected to
be fair and generally got what I deserved, both good and bad.

However, your incomprehensible paragraph seems to be the start of a
self analysis. Were you turned down for a job for no obvious reason?
I have but I also eventually discovered the reason. I can only image
what the "look on your face" meant to you? My guess(tm) is that
someone asked you a technical question, and all you could do was
deliver a blank stare or maybe asked too many questions.

>Maybe that is the unfairness of the world that made Liebermann
>into the nothing he became.

Here, I don't have to guess. You once declared that all you wanted
was to be recognized for your achievements. I believe it was in
reference to the PCR machine you helped develop. Did you expect to
get more recognition than you actually received? Did someone else
steal your recognition? Were you expecting part of the Nobel Prize
awarded to Kary Mullis? Or perhaps you were ignored when it came time
for raises? Yes, the world is not fair, but companies don't want
people who whine about the world not being fair. They want people to
accept awkward situations and move on. Given sufficient time, tact,
expertise, and company politics, you'll eventually get what you want.

As for me becoming a nothing, I have the opposite problem. No sooner
did I retire, that everyone assumed that I now have infinite spare
time. So, I've been buried in requests for help for all kinds of
strange and mundane things. Today, I helped a friend with a Champion
inverter generator repair and some camper wiring. Tomorrow, I discuss
a new security camera system with a friend and former customer. Later,
I help a different friend drag an recumbent exercise bike into his
garage. Etc. Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me to do
something or how to do something. So, why do they ask me? Because I
know how to do things. If don't know, I know how to learn new skills
quickly. If I can't find the instructions, I know how to make my own
because I know how the device works. This is in contrast to you, who
doesn't seem to be able to anything correctly. Almost all the
problems you present in RBT are what I consider to be trivial. They're
the kind of things that if you knew understood how they worked, how
the associated tools worked, and where to find some clues, you should
have easily figured it out for yourself. Attributing your
shortcomings to someone else does not fix those shortcomings.

--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

[Tom Kunich]

This is hilarious, I see by the message count that the stupid six all responded with sniveling and whining about how unfair I am to them. As I said, the world will always regret the passing of the good people like Andrew Ritchie whom I probably met at one time or another since I also rode with the Grizzly Peak group for closer groups formed. But absolutely no one could possibly miss the whining and tears of the stupid six.

[ritzann...@gmail.com]

Ohhhhh, that's bad bad bad bad bad bad!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ritzann...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 2:57:52 AM UTC-5, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Aug 2022 16:35:15 -0700 (PDT), Tom Kunich
> <cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Jeff actually did something. He actually had some friends. But I'm sure that they were neither good nor faithful because he isn't. He is nothing more than a partisan prick who would argue that night is day simply to be contrary.
> I'm wondering what inspired that comment. I have friends and I have
> customers. The difference is that the customers pay me. As I get
> older and simulate being retired, most of my customers are converting
> themselves into friends, for obvious reasons. At my present rate, I
> seem to be gaining quite a few friends. Tom, are you having
> difficulties keeping friends that you never had? Perhaps you would do
> better if they were real?
>
> Partisan prick? What's that? It's an odd comment because Tom is one
> of the few in RBT that attach political significance to literally
> everything they mention.
>
> As for arguing the night is day, I think I can do that. Way back in
> High Skool, I took a class in forensics (speech and debate) and joined
> the debate team. One of the important exercises was to defend a point
> of view that was either unpopular or obviously wrong. After the
> initial presentations, we were told to change sides and defend the
> opposing point of view. One had to really know the subject to be able
> to do that effectively. I'll confess that I didn't do very well at
> this type of debate. However, the experience was quite valuable later
> in life. Yes, I think I could prove that night is day, depending on
> how one defines night and day.

True. If you choose what the clock says as night and day, AM or PM. Then go to the North Pole on June 22 at 1 AM and night is day. Or if you choose to define night and day as whether there is sunlight, then simply wait until a dust storm occurs. Or a violent thunderstorm with black clouds. Or an eclipse. Lunar or solar, I'm not sure which makes everything dark and which will blind you by looking at it.

Jeff, is that customers becoming friends comment up above coming back to bite you here? You're expected to do things for free for friends and relatives. Only charge customers. I'm sure Andy does not charge his daughter in Chicago to fix her bike. At least I hope not.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Thu, 1 Sep 2022 16:06:58 -0700 (PDT), "russell...@yahoo.com"
<ritzann...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 2:57:52 AM UTC-5, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Yes, I think I could prove that night is day, depending on
>> how one defines night and day.
>
>True. If you choose what the clock says as night and day, AM or PM. Then go to the North Pole on June 22 at 1 AM and night is day. Or if you choose to define night and day as whether there is sunlight, then simply wait until a dust storm occurs. Or a violent thunderstorm with black clouds. Or an eclipse. Lunar or solar, I'm not sure which makes everything dark and which will blind you by looking at it.

Sounds about right to me. I didn't consider any of those you listed.
My version is that since the original assertion failed to consider
when or where it would be night or day, I only need to observe that
when it is night here, it must simultaneously be day on the opposite
side of the globe.

>> As for me becoming a nothing, I have the opposite problem. No sooner
>> did I retire, that everyone assumed that I now have infinite spare
>> time. So, I've been buried in requests for help for all kinds of
>> strange and mundane things. Today, I helped a friend with a Champion
>> inverter generator repair and some camper wiring. Tomorrow, I discuss
>> a new security camera system with a friend and former customer.
>
>Jeff, is that customers becoming friends comment up above coming back to bite you here? You're expected to do things for free for friends and relatives. Only charge customers. I'm sure Andy does not charge his daughter in Chicago to fix her bike. At least I hope not.

That's a difficult subject that I haven't resolved yet. I am charging
everyone for parts that I use, but am being rather inconsistent when
charging for labor. The problem is that I would need to invoice them,
charge mileage, charge sales tax, pay quarterly estimated taxes, of
which imply that I'm back in business. I'm not sure if I want that.
Stay tuned around tax time for my decision.

[AMuzi]

Of course I don't. Who would?

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Thu, 01 Sep 2022 21:33:23 -0500, AMuzi <a...@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

>On 9/1/2022 6:06 PM, russell...@yahoo.com wrote:
>> On Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 2:57:52 AM UTC-5, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> As for me becoming a nothing, I have the opposite problem. No sooner
>>> did I retire, that everyone assumed that I now have infinite spare
>>> time. So, I've been buried in requests for help for all kinds of
>>> strange and mundane things. Today, I helped a friend with a Champion
>>> inverter generator repair and some camper wiring. Tomorrow, I discuss
>>> a new security camera system with a friend and former customer.

>> Jeff, is that customers becoming friends comment up above coming back to bite you here? You're expected to do things for free for friends and relatives. Only charge customers. I'm sure Andy does not charge his daughter in Chicago to fix her bike. At least I hope not.

>Of course I don't. Who would?

I would charge them and have done so many times. If I ask, they
usually pay.

For immediate family, I only charge for parts at replacement cost.
That means if I paid $5 for some part, but thanks to inflation, the
same chain now costs me $10, I'll will charge $10 replacement cost
(plus tax and estimated shipping) if I plan to maintain my inventory.
For immediate family, zero charge for labor.

Not so immediate family (cousins, uncles, aunts etc), I also charge
for labor, but at a greatly reduced rate. If my shop time were
$100/hr, I would probably charge $50/hr and possibly not bill at all
for any time I wasted. I don't like doing that to family, but if I
didn't, I would be buried in repairs.

In 1987(?), my father had a stroke and I found myself commuting
between Santa Cruz and Smog Angeles roughly every 2 weeks for 9.5
years. When I arrived at the parents house, I would usually sleep on
the living room couch for a few days. One day, I arrived to find a
rather bizarre collection of electronics, hi-fi, radios, a sewing
machine, several kids bicycles, some edged tools that needed
sharpening and other oddities piled up against one wall in the living
room. Since I obviously enjoyed doing repairs, the relatives had
decided that I should best spend my time in Smog Angeles fixing their
junk. Rather than try to invoice them until they repented, I simply
ignored the repairs. It happened again a few more times, but not to
this extent. Training the relatives is a big part of running a repair
business.

For friends, acquaintances, neighbors, friends of friends, etc, it's
much the same as the not so immediate family except I charge at a
slightly higher labor rate. The actual rate tends to be negotiated
individually.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

On Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 3:57:52 AM UTC-4, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Aug 2022 16:35:15 -0700 (PDT), Tom Kunich
> <cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Jeff actually did something. He actually had some friends. But I'm sure that they were neither good nor faithful because he isn't. He is nothing more than a partisan prick who would argue that night is day simply to be contrary.
> I'm wondering what inspired that comment. I have friends and I have
> customers. The difference is that the customers pay me. As I get
> older and simulate being retired, most of my customers are converting
> themselves into friends, for obvious reasons. At my present rate, I
> seem to be gaining quite a few friends. Tom, are you having
> difficulties keeping friends that you never had? Perhaps you would do
> better if they were real?
>
> Partisan prick? What's that? It's an odd comment because Tom is one
> of the few in RBT that attach political significance to literally
> everything they mention.

I noted the unmistakable sound of irony meters exploding all over the internet when he posted that.

>
> As for arguing the night is day, I think I can do that. Way back in
> High Skool, I took a class in forensics (speech and debate) and joined
> the debate team. One of the important exercises was to defend a point
> of view that was either unpopular or obviously wrong. After the
> initial presentations, we were told to change sides and defend the
> opposing point of view. One had to really know the subject to be able
> to do that effectively. I'll confess that I didn't do very well at
> this type of debate. However, the experience was quite valuable later
> in life. Yes, I think I could prove that night is day, depending on
> how one defines night and day.
> >Actually he is probably the sadest one of all. He had all of the
> >tools at his command and no way to use them.
> Why are you attributing your worst characteristics to me? Do you
> think that will make them go away? I am not sad, but you seem to be.
> You are the one who doesn't seem to know how to use tools. Found any
> metric Torx bits yet?

Or special non-stretch campy shifting cables?
Or a PWM cable tester?

> >I supose he was too afraid to actuallly look for a real job
> >and instead did handiman work.
> I made my own job starting in about 1983. I retired at the end of
> 2020 mostly because the homeless had largely taken over the office
> building. If not for that and Covid, I would still be working today
> (at age=74).
> >After all - looking for work means that when you apply for a job
> >you are qualified to do 2/3rds of the time you are turned down
> >and usually for no reason at all but the look on your face.
> I have no idea what you are talking about. I've been working full
> time either for myself or for someone else since I graduated college.
> The only time I wasn't working was when I did some traveling, when I
> took an extended vacation, and when a company that I was working for
> need to cut expenses and told everyone to stay home for 2 weeks. I've
> been fired a few times. I'm done stupid things and had to quit. I've
> argued with management, tried to lie my way out of sticky situation,
> and stolen small things from various employers. I never expected to
> be fair and generally got what I deserved, both good and bad.
>
> However, your incomprehensible paragraph seems to be the start of a
> self analysis. Were you turned down for a job for no obvious reason?

Not to him, though I suspect it would have been quite obvious to anyone that had the displeasure of interviewing him, or worse yet, "working" with him. In any case, it's definitely something he's experienced - not doubt multiple times.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Tue, 6 Sep 2022 11:13:37 -0700 (PDT), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
<funkma...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 3:57:52 AM UTC-4, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Wed, 31 Aug 2022 16:35:15 -0700 (PDT), Tom Kunich
>> <cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:

>> Partisan prick? What's that? It's an odd comment because Tom is one
>> of the few in RBT that attach political significance to literally
>> everything they mention.
>
>I noted the unmistakable sound of irony meters exploding all over the internet when he posted that.

Notice that most of the meters are pegged at full scale:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=irony+meter&tbm=isch>

Speaking of irony, I just read through today's deluge of postings by
Tom. I noticed a pattern. All of them attacked the author and not
the content of the postings. I'll confess that I'm guilty of doing
that when I'm irritated, but not every message.

>Or special non-stretch campy shifting cables?
>Or a PWM cable tester?

Remind me to make a list of Tom's amazing devices and to post it
somewhere. Such a list might serve as a humorous diversion from the
depressing character assassinations and full auto repetitive claims
and accusations.

>> However, your incomprehensible paragraph seems to be the start of a
>> self analysis. Were you turned down for a job for no obvious reason?

>Not to him, though I suspect it would have been quite obvious to anyone that had the displeasure of interviewing him, or worse yet, "working" with him. In any case, it's definitely something he's experienced - not doubt multiple times.

Maybe. I've had the displeasure of having my memory go blank and
inconvenient times. One was during an interview which I really
wanted, but in retrospect, would have been a bad idea. When I forget
something, I have think hard for a few minutes, and it will eventually
come back. Today, I walked up to the ATM and forgot my PIN number.
So, I walked around the market and was able to recall the number. I've
learned to live with the problem. However, as I get older (74), it
seems to happen more often and take longer to recover. Also, there is
one particular Android weather program that I really like and have
used many times, but cannot remember the name. Getting old sucks.

Now, visualize such a memory gap going into an interview. I was being
grilled by the chief engineer on topics which he knew well. In this
case, it was how to use a Smith Chart. I correctly answered several
questions as to how it works and how to use it, but forgot some really
basic things about the Smith Chart. A few minutes after leaving the
room, the basic things I forgot came back:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_chart>
<https://www.google.com/search?q=smith+chart&tbm=isch>
<http://www.ae6ty.com/smith_charts.html>

It's possible that Tom had a similar experience. If so, he probably
returned a blank stare. Searching for something that would make me
feel bad, he projected his bad experience on me. The original comment
was:

"After all - looking for work means that when you apply for a job you
are qualified to do 2/3rds of the time you are turned down and usually

for no reason at all but the look on your face. Maybe that is the

unfairness of the world that made Liebermann into the nothing he
became."

As I mentioned, I didn't need to guess where the above comment came
from.

"The key to success is learning how to survive failure".
(Me, just prior to giving up on an unsuccessful design).

[John B.]

On Tue, 06 Sep 2022 16:03:05 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote:

"The key to success is learning how to survive failure" may be a
recipe for success for a chap of reasonably intelligence but Tommy has
evolved a somewhat different philosophy.

His theory is "The key to success is lie about it".

And while Tommy's philosophy doesn't actually make one a success it
certainly does insulate one from reality - that it wasn't really "his"
fault that he couldn't graduate from school, that he couldn't get
promoted in the Military, that he couldn't keep a job, that he
couldn't afford a house and had to live with his mother, that nobody
believes his stories... and on and on.

The classic defense - "the other guy done it".

It also demonstrates a remarkable lack of intelligence in that when
caught out in a lie, which happens just about every time he opens his
mouth, rather then even attempt to justify his lie he attacks the
individual that exposed his lie.... In other words, "YOU are no good
because you expose me as a liar.... it is all your fault!"

Back in my grandmother's days, when people called a spade a spade,
Tommy would be dismissed as, "just another crazy" but in this modern
age when reality has become unpopular he is said to be "suffering from
a narcissistic personality disorder" which is defined as

"A mental condition in which people have an
inflated sense of their own importance and a lack of
empathy for others. And is vulnerable to the slightest criticism and
frequently respond to what they perceive as criticism with insults and
threats of physical assault."

Obviously the kindest action would be to simply ignore him and let him
rant and rave in private, but the temptation to, just as 18th century
in London's "Bedlam" hospital, rent a stick to poke the insane, in
their cages, to see them rant and rave, is overpowering and as it is
"modern times" we use the Internet rather then a sharp stick to poke
the crazies.


--
Cheers,

John B.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

On Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 7:03:14 PM UTC-4, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tue, 6 Sep 2022 11:13:37 -0700 (PDT), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
>

> Speaking of irony, I just read through today's deluge of postings by
> Tom. I noticed a pattern. All of them attacked the author and not
> the content of the postings. I'll confess that I'm guilty of doing
> that when I'm irritated, but not every message.

I also notice that you (like the rest of us) tend to do it as a response, not to pollute an otherwise non-contentious thread (as do tom and andre)

> >Or special non-stretch campy shifting cables?
> >Or a PWM cable tester?
> Remind me to make a list of Tom's amazing devices and to post it
> somewhere. Such a list might serve as a humorous diversion from the
> depressing character assassinations and full auto repetitive claims
> and accusations.

I sometimes lament that we don't have moderation of some time, if only for the purpose that we could have a "pinned" thread listing tommy's claimed technological prowess.

> >> However, your incomprehensible paragraph seems to be the start of a
> >> self analysis. Were you turned down for a job for no obvious reason?
>
> >Not to him, though I suspect it would have been quite obvious to anyone that had the displeasure of interviewing him, or worse yet, "working" with him. In any case, it's definitely something he's experienced - not doubt multiple times.
> Maybe. I've had the displeasure of having my memory go blank and
> inconvenient times.

But that wouldn't constitute being denied "for no obvious reason". That would be for choking during the interview. That happened to me as well when I interviewed at MIT/Lincoln Labs many years ago for the quantum computing group. The hiring manager was a PhD RF specialist who came up with a concept of embedding coherent communication within side-band noise. He was impressed that I grasped that concept which wasn't discussed at all during the phone interviews, but then switched gears very quickly into quantum computing. I had prepared for the interview as well as I could, but completely froze.

>
> Now, visualize such a memory gap going into an interview. I was being
> grilled by the chief engineer on topics which he knew well. In this
> case, it was how to use a Smith Chart. I correctly answered several
> questions as to how it works and how to use it, but forgot some really
> basic things about the Smith Chart. A few minutes after leaving the
> room, the basic things I forgot came back:
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_chart>
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=smith+chart&tbm=isch>
> <http://www.ae6ty.com/smith_charts.html>

I worked at one company a while back that made covert surveillance devices, many of the one-offs which required custom antenna designs that could fit in discrete hiding places. These were usually patch-stye dipoles and required specific tuning using network and spectral analysis. We had an engineering tech that was a master and had him train incoming engineers on the tuning techniques. Super smart guy, too bad he used to come to work drunk.

>
> It's possible that Tom had a similar experience. If so, he probably
> returned a blank stare. Searching for something that would make me
> feel bad, he projected his bad experience on me. The original comment
> was:
> "After all - looking for work means that when you apply for a job you
> are qualified to do 2/3rds of the time you are turned down and usually
> for no reason at all but the look on your face. Maybe that is the
> unfairness of the world that made Liebermann into the nothing he
> became."

Except that you've had a successful personal career whereas tommy couldn't keep a job long enough to prevent him having to live in his mothers house. I'll freely admit my job hunting sucess rate was vastly higher than the 66% tommy admits to. After my last layoff, I went on 4 interviews before landing where I am now (with one other offer). That was the longest un-success rate I've ever suffered, which I attributed as much to my age (53 at the time) as anything else. Still, there was only one of those that I wondered why I didn't get the job.

[Sir Ridesalot]

If Tom ever stopped posting here this newsgroup would be practically dead since most posts are either by him or by people responding to him. I just ignore him and a few others and usually simply ignore the responses to him too.

Cheers

[Tom Kunich]

Most of my postings are about bicycles, tech or riding the several bikes I'm working on. If you're not going to add anything at all to the group, why are you posting?

[ritzann...@gmail.com]

Tommy, SOME of your postings are about bicycles, bike tech, and riding. Not all. Probably not even most, majority.

Some of the recent threads are titled "Frank Krygowski admits to being a troll", "How long has Frank Krygowski been a bully?", and "Why the Biden Administration is a Criminal Enterprise". All were started by that intolerable person on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. But you Tommy, you, you, you, were the second responder in two of the threads and the third responder in the other one. Based on the titles of those threads, they do not contain any bicycles, tech, or riding stories. You posted 7 times in one of them, 4 times in another, and only once in the last. I think this definitely proves you are a liar about "Most of my postings are about bicycles, tech or riding the several bikes I'm working on."

And as Jeff and others have pointed out repeatedly, you inject political comments or economic concepts into postings at random that have no bearing at all on the topic being discussed.

[ritzann...@gmail.com]

On Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 5:22:34 AM UTC-5, funkma...@hotmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 7:03:14 PM UTC-4, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Tue, 6 Sep 2022 11:13:37 -0700 (PDT), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
> >
> > Speaking of irony, I just read through today's deluge of postings by
> > Tom. I noticed a pattern. All of them attacked the author and not
> > the content of the postings. I'll confess that I'm guilty of doing
> > that when I'm irritated, but not every message.
> I also notice that you (like the rest of us) tend to do it as a response, not to pollute an otherwise non-contentious thread (as do tom and andre)

I must admit my guilt. There have been a few threads I started deliberately to antagonize Tommy. Couple I recall were about the recent heat wave in California after Tommy said it is cold there. And another about the drought in the western US after tommy said California had more than plenty of rainfall and it rained every day. But I guess it was a response to Tommy after he lied in other threads. But I did start entirely new threads with no bearing at all on bicycling.

[John B.]

True, true. But as the folk visiting London's Bedlam Hospital in the
18th century found, when you poke the Insane with a sharp stick they
sometime react in an unpredictable manner (:-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Wed, 7 Sep 2022 03:22:30 -0700 (PDT), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
<funkma...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 7:03:14 PM UTC-4, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Tue, 6 Sep 2022 11:13:37 -0700 (PDT), "funkma...@hotmail.com"
>>
>> Speaking of irony, I just read through today's deluge of postings by
>> Tom. I noticed a pattern. All of them attacked the author and not
>> the content of the postings. I'll confess that I'm guilty of doing
>> that when I'm irritated, but not every message.

>I also notice that you (like the rest of us) tend to do
>it as a response, not to pollute an otherwise non-contentious thread (as do tom and andre)

Thanks. I try to be diplomatic and tactful. Sometimes, I even
succeed. A good rule is:
"Thou shalt not post what thou also find unworthy of reading"
<http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/crud/genesis.txt>

>I sometimes lament that we don't have moderation of some time,
>if only for the purpose that we could have a "pinned" thread
>listing tommy's claimed technological prowess.

In the bad old days, before the internet, when earlier networks were
hammering out rules, procedures and protocols, moderation was usually
imposed after all the other available options for keeping the peace
had been tried and failed. For about a year, I played moderator of a
BBS and several mailing lists (not simultaneously). I also helped
moderate one of the early local Usenet newsgroups. I also ran a news
and mail server at various locations that handled the local Santa Cruz
Usenet traffic. In other words, I've had some experience with some
forms of moderation. In my never humble opinion, moderation doesn't
work, and will probably never work, because there is no way to
simultaneously be effective and fair at the same time. Good luck.

>> >> However, your incomprehensible paragraph seems to be the start of a
>> >> self analysis. Were you turned down for a job for no obvious reason?
>>
>> > Not to him, though I suspect it would have been quite obvious
>> > to anyone that had the displeasure of interviewing him, or worse
>> > yet, "working" with him. In any case, it's definitely something
>> > he's experienced - not doubt multiple times.

>> Maybe. I've had the displeasure of having my memory go blank at

>> inconvenient times.

>But that wouldn't constitute being denied "for no obvious reason". That would be for choking during the interview. That happened to me as well when I interviewed at MIT/Lincoln Labs many years ago for the quantum computing group. The hiring manager was a PhD RF specialist who came up with a concept of embedding coherent communication within side-band noise. He was impressed that I grasped that concept which wasn't discussed at all during the phone interviews, but then switched gears very quickly into quantum computing. I had prepared for the interview as well as I could, but completely froze.

Sigh. I somewhat remember all that. The inventor promised very
impressive improvements in either bandwidth or range while operating
well below the thermal noise level. He had attracted some investors,
the military, and allegedly built a working prototype which he showed
to nobody. Eventually, everyone ran away when he persisted in
providing a working demonstration. Does this sound familiar? I'm
trying to recall the names but am failing. As I vaguely recall, it
was never proven to be a hoax and just faded away into obscurity. I
know of several such amazing devices that followed a similar path with
similar results. These days, it's called a scam. The products tend
to be simpler and more consumer oriented, such as most of the products
advertised on YouTube.

My version of the interview problem was when I interviewed with a
local telecom equipment company. The interviewing engineer dumped a
large schematic on the table and asked me what I thought of the
design. I looked at it carefully, did a few calculations, and
declared it overly complex, used far too many components, had some
component tolerance problems, and probably missed on a few key specs.
I was half way into offering suggestions and scribbling all over the
schematic when asked me to stop. I thought I was doing an impressive
job of improving the design, but that wasn't what he wanted. He
didn't tell me that it was his product and his design. I only found
that out when personnel called me later to inform me that they would
not be hiring me. They then asked what did I do to the engineer that
would make him cry. I think this is called burning one's bridges
before crossing them.

>I worked at one company a while back that made covert surveillance devices, many of the one-offs which required custom antenna designs that could fit in discrete hiding places. These were usually patch-stye dipoles and required specific tuning using network and spectral analysis. We had an engineering tech that was a master and had him train incoming engineers on the tuning techniques. Super smart guy, too bad he used to come to work drunk.

I've done some antenna designs:
<http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/antennas/>
For high density, the best antenna are supposidly a fractal design.
<https://www.fractenna.com>
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractal_antenna>
I lost track of Dr Nathan Cohen. He used to appear in various antenna
related Usenet newsgroups, such as rec.radio.amateur.antenna and do
battle with the experts. The discussions were civilized, but brutal.
I had some spare time, so I build a few fractal antennas from his
designs and tested them. I'm lousy with the theory, but do quite well
with building and testing those theories. I came to the conclusion
that a fractal antenna does very much what he claimed, but only if it
were in an isolated environment (i.e. free space). Try to cram it
into a cell phone, and all the benefits disappear. The golden rule:
"High gain, small size, large bandwidth. Pick any two"
still prevailed.

>> It's possible that Tom had a similar experience. If so, he probably
>> returned a blank stare. Searching for something that would make me
>> feel bad, he projected his bad experience on me. The original comment
>> was:
>> "After all - looking for work means that when you apply for a job you
>> are qualified to do 2/3rds of the time you are turned down and usually
>> for no reason at all but the look on your face. Maybe that is the
>> unfairness of the world that made Liebermann into the nothing he
>> became."

>Except that you've had a successful personal career whereas tommy couldn't keep a job long enough to prevent him having to live in his mothers house. I'll freely admit my job hunting sucess rate was vastly higher than the 66% tommy admits to. After my last layoff, I went on 4 interviews before landing where I am now (with one other offer). That was the longest un-success rate I've ever suffered, which I attributed as much to my age (53 at the time) as anything else. Still, there was only one of those that I wondered why I didn't get the job.

I wish I could claim a 66% hiring rate. I haven't had too many jobs
in my career. To the best of my recollection, I believe that every
real job (including consulting) was delivered on a silver platter by
someone I know that either worked for the company or who knew the
owners and management. Most of the job hunting that I did was because
some situation at a current employer required that I activate an exit
strategy to get the attention of company management.

I've been hired, fired, laid off, moved, reassigned, reclassified,
reorganized, rehired, etc often several times. A few times, I was
working simultaneously for two companies. If I'd known what it was
like when I graduated college, I would have run screaming for a
different profession. At least I can claim that for most of my
career, I was either gainfully employed, self employed, or managing my
fathers lingerie factory after he had a stroke.

"The key to success is to survive the failures".
For me, that means about a 10% or less success rate on interviews,
which was good enough.

[Sir Ridesalot]

On Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 8:07:51 p.m. UTC-4, russell...@yahoo.com wrote:
Snipped

> I must admit my guilt. There have been a few threads I started deliberately to antagonize Tommy.

Snipped

That falls under the definition of Trolling. ;<) LOL

"What is trolling on social media?
Image result for trolling meaning
What are social media trolls? They're people who deliberately provoke others online. By saying inflammatory and offensive things. They live to make people upset and angry. People like your fans and followers.Feb 28, 2019"

Replying to Tom and other Trolls also bypasses people's Killfiles as the reply is not blocked unless the person responding is also Killfiled.

Cheers

[Tom Kunich]

I am trying to picture an idiot capable of "antagonizing" me. The man cannot add nor subtract and has absolutely no idea about economics despite that be a necessary course for his major. He is literally a laughing stock and couldn't troll his little sister.

[funkma...@hotmail.com]

On Thursday, September 8, 2022 at 2:38:39 PM UTC-4, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, September 8, 2022 at 4:35:29 AM UTC-7, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
> > On Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 8:07:51 p.m. UTC-4, russell...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > Snipped
> > > I must admit my guilt. There have been a few threads I started deliberately to antagonize Tommy.
> > Snipped
> >
> > That falls under the definition of Trolling. ;<) LOL
> >
> > "What is trolling on social media?
> > Image result for trolling meaning
> > What are social media trolls? They're people who deliberately provoke others online. By saying inflammatory and offensive things. They live to make people upset and angry. People like your fans and followers.Feb 28, 2019"
> >
> > Replying to Tom and other Trolls also bypasses people's Killfiles as the reply is not blocked unless the person responding is also Killfiled.
>
> I am trying to picture an idiot capable of "antagonizing" me.

Says the idiot that just got trolled...

> The man cannot add nor subtract and has absolutely no idea about economics despite that be a necessary course for his major. He is literally a laughing stock and couldn't troll his little sister.

Says the laughing stock of RBT (and pretty much anywhere else)

Special campy non-stretch cables, anyone?

[Simon S Aysdie]

On Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 3:10:13 PM UTC-7, William Crowell wrote:
> I just learned that Andrew Ritchie, devoted cyclist, cycling historian, musician, carpenter, contractor and author of Berkeley, California, passed away about a year ago:
>
> https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1237898-cycling-historian-andrew-ritchie.html
>
> I didn't see any mention of his passing in this forum, so thought I'd mention it.
>
> Andrew wrote two important books about cycling: the first biography of Major Taylor and "King of the Road", a history of bike racing from 1868 - 1903. I understand that he earned a Ph.D. or the equivalent in cycling-related studies.
>
> I met Andrew at a meeting of the Grizzly Peak Cyclists back in 1978, told him I was planning to go touring in France and asked him for his advice. He invited me over to his house and very kindly suggested where I should ride, what provisions to take and where to stay.
>
> I think he will be greatly missed.

RIP Andrew. I have the Major Taylor book. I really enjoyed it.