On Upgrades

Is there a man on this planet who does not think of ways to spend money to improve something? For me, it used to be computers, the dream was to have a Pentium 120 with a whole 16MB of RAM and a 1GB hard drive, good god, that was a dream machine? (!) Since I could not afford that, I upgraded my 386 DX-33 from 4MB to 8MB, that was... actually a long time ago, 1994/'95.

I've long since given up on the notion of having the latest and greatest computer. Frankly after spending eight or ten hours on the computer at the office the last thing I want to do is concentrate mental effort on systems. (Besides with a near unlimited budget the company is sure to have a better PC for me than I could possibly buy, or upgrade, for myself.) This isn't to say I don't think about upgrading equipment from the company budget, new routers, switches, firewalls, WAN links, but I digress.

Over the last few years I used to spend a lot of time dreaming up ways to make my skates better. The problem is, I cannot anymore. I have Magnesium frames, Swiss Ceramic bearings, 110mm wheels, Custom boots. I could argue that the three point frames or the 110mm wheels are redundant or overkill, the boots might not be the best fit, or something else, but frankly those skates are about as good as you can get. It makes the skates kind of boring actually, if there is no way to improve them then all I can discuss is my own technique (which does need work, I know that!) but I'm a technical person, I like to think of ways to make the technology better.

Fortunately I have other things to dream of upgrading (yes hardwood with a runner on the stairs, and hardwood in the third bedroom... oh and Ocean View shutters throughout, I love Ocean View shutters.) But I was actually thinking of my bike, the Roubaix. So here is my thoughts on it, and I do welcome comments because I am really striking out into largely unknown territory, for me. First all components are Shimano 105s, but I was thinking of upgrading to Ultegra in the following order:

1. Rear derailleur
2. cassette
3. front derailleur
4. crankset
5. levers

Or, it occurs to me, I could just go to an online American retailer and get all of the above for a fraction the price of what a Toronto area bike shop would charge. Well researching this article gave me something new to dream about, but not right now, I desperately need bike shorts. Well actually what I desperately need is the half height wall in the basement so we can decide where the T.V. ought to go.

Okay, having just written about the Earthquake in Sichuan, it occurs to me, I should say I don't need a damned thing, there are people who need things, like water, food and medicine, and they legitimately desperately need.

I would very much like to have, but I can wait.