Odds and Ends

Just a few little thingies to post because I feel like it and am trying to let my brain re-set enough to continue on a presentation...

Telcontar: I've finished the first private draft, which means it's going to be getting worked on a whole lot more before I let ANYONE else look at it. All I can say about this one without giving too much away at this point is that the violence content is unusually low. I don't know how long this one will be given that I'm trying to also wrap up a manuscript, get my research proposal written, and generally stay nice and competetive academically. Oh and make sure that I don't accidentally engulf my bike seat with my butt.

FGSO Treasurer

I got appointed as the treasurer of the forestry graduate student organization in a very interesting race against 2 other candidates. Hey, free food is a VERY strong motivator to get things done... well, and the opportunity to check out other research that's going on in the department that I otherwise wouldn't hear about. Downside? The president seems to really love going to bars and other places where it gets a bit too stuffy for someone who'd rather be outdoors.

Power Wheels?
Well, I had the courage to bike to the local pro-shop to do my last round of test-shooting. Right now, I'm down to 3 models that really fit me really well, although none of them come close to beating out my trusty Chek-Mate recurve. The 3 finalists in my quest for a good compound bow are:

#1 -- Fred Bear Odyssey. Pros: Price (<$300 for a fully set-up kit), minimal hand-shock, can be easily adjusted without a bow-press, smooth draw, extremely comfortable grip, weighs less than 3.5 lbs completely set up, fits in on the back of my bike safely, zero finger-pinch, comes almost-ready-to-shoot, wide draw weight range (35-50 lbs). Cons: Slow compared to several of the other models, needs some work with timing and tuning, a bit unstable, a bit of that "children's bow" stigma, 2 year full warranty.

#2 -- Browning Micro-Adrenaline. Pros: Price (<$300 for a fully set-up kit), low hand-shock, doesn't need a bowpress, smoothest draw of the top 3, reasonably fast, weighs less than 3.5 lbs completely set up, stable, fits safely on bike, comes almost-ready-to-shoot, easy-to-change limbs. Cons: Some finger pinch, handle felt a bit small, smaller weight range (40-50 lbs), a bit noisy, minor tuning/timing issues, a bit of that "children's bow" stigma, 5 year full warranty

#3 -- Bowtech Equalizer. Pros: Extremely fast, very stable, flattest trajectory, adjustable let-off, very quiet, very stable, most forgiving, fewest worries about timing issues in the top 3, fits safely on a bike, very little hand-shock, reasonable weight (4 lbs with everything), life-time full warranty. Cons: Price ($650 by itself), substantial finger pinch, smaller weight range (40-50 lbs), needs modules and bowpress to adjust.

The winner? Who knows. All I know right now is that there's muscles in my back and chest that I didn't realize I had.