Objective Jerk
Army Veteran Asshole that is learning to love Jesus. I use my MIC / Platform as a form of "Therapy", no schedule, no script, just whatever is floating my boat at the moment.
Objective Jerk
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU UPGRADE EVERYTHING BUT YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
I share my experiences attending Good Friday Mass and the unique traditions I've encountered at church in the Philippines. After three years of consistent attendance, I've found I prefer quieter Monday morning services to the packed Sunday crowds.
• Discussing my decision to temporarily stop drinking coffee to address podcast audio quality issues
• Detailing my recent mountain bike upgrades - essentially a complete overhaul with new frame, wheels, and components
• Explaining the technical challenges with my chain repeatedly coming off despite having the derailleur locked
• Reflecting on how modern bike components seem less reliable than the simple, bulletproof parts on my old bike
• Sharing my thoughts on current American racial tensions and media coverage
• Examining how entertainment like the show "Elementary" serves as both a welcome distraction and subtle influence
• Considering how living abroad provides perspective on American cultural and political issues
God bless, and I will see you guys next time.
Again, thanks for hanging out with me!
Please feel free to comment or send an email to theobjectivejerk@gmail.com
What's up? This is the Objective Jerk, where I share my daily activities and my internal mental thoughts and ambitions. And no, that was horrible. Anyway, I'm SubJerk. That was just off the cuff, like pretty much every podcast I do. One of these days I'll come up with something and then, when it hits right, I'll write it down. That's what I'll do. Anyway, what's up? How's everybody doing? Hope everybody's doing good. Hopefully people oh man, I don't know. Well, it was a good Friday. Right Yesterday Went to Mass. It was hot as balls. Well, it was Good Friday right. Yesterday Went to Mass. It was hot as balls and it's really long.
Speaker 1:The Good Friday Mass, it's not like a normal Mass. And then they do here. They do like a procession around where you walk around holding candles. It's kind of weird because it's like people will sit on the side and they'll watch and then people walk and it's just the normal people. It's like if you want to walk it, you can, but then people sit on the side. It's like it just seems weird to me. It's like what, what are you watching? You know what I mean. It's like why don't you just get in and walk what I don't know? It's just kind of weird. It's funny, but yeah, it's the third time that I've done it, actually, since I've been here uh, first time, so this just within the last year or something.
Speaker 1:Not even I've been pretty good about going to mass, going to the you know, you know Ash Wednesday and all the different important parts. I mean, they're all important I'm thinking of my cats in here, because something like filled but then I really don't like going. I mean, I like going to Mass, but I like going when I go, which is on Monday in the morning and there's hardly anybody there. So I like it better than going on Sunday when it's just full on. But you'll notice, I'm not drinking coffee. Did I drink? Did I not? Did I give up coffee for Lent? No, I didn't. Well, you've seen me drink coffee before.
Speaker 1:I'm actually just trying to figure out the phlegm problem, because I listen to my podcasts not all of them, but some of them and I hear myself like I can like as I'm talking. I can like as I'm talking. I don't think I'm that audible when I'm trying to kind of keep whatever I don't want to get too gross, but but then when I listen back to it, I'm just like oh my gosh, dude, I'm just constantly like I'm making all these noises, you know, and so I was like I don't know. So I'm like I gotta figure it out. So I made sure. Well, I heard somebody said like maybe try not drinking coffee. I don't think that's it, but maybe. So I was like okay, so I made sure to clean out and it's been like dusty here. So I've been sneezing like crazy. Like two days ago I just was, my sinuses were just done and I was just like non-stop sneezing. Um, but yeah, so I cleared out my stuff. It's been a little bit since I drank coffee and I got these little lozenges. So hopefully, so far, man, I can't talk to him. I need my coffee. So I can think. Not really, but yeah, so far so good. Yeah, see how that goes, let's see. So had a good Friday, let's see.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to talk a little bit about what I'm going on before I talk about whatever else. Um, now my bike. So I basically have a brand new bike. I think I said that before, but for sure, now, like I, my whole bike is basically brand. Everything is brand new, except for the handlebars and the fork, the front suspension. Everything else is like brand new, and my fork and what my handlebars are like two years old, something like that, maybe three even. It's been that long, I don't know. But yeah, so I wasn't planning on going all out like that, spending that much money, but I'm happy with it, though it made a huge difference.
Speaker 1:With it, though, it made a huge difference. You know, like I said, first I put a new drivetrain on my old specialized bike, which was a large frame, but the geometry for those older bikes are not the same, you know. They're a lot shorter, it's more boxy, I guess, and then now they're a little more aerodynamic, they're longer. Um so, and what's funny is, though, this frame is a medium and I couldn't really find, like at my local store. They didn't have any large, because they probably don't ever sell large frames, at least very often, because, you know, most Filipinos are not very tall. There are tall ones, there's plenty of them that are, you know, a lot taller than I am, but they probably just don't sell them very often, you know.
Speaker 1:So, which I understood, and I, briefly, was like man, I don't know, should I not? But the frame, you know, had like some scratches on it and it was on sale. So I was like, I was like for the price, how can I not right so, but immediately, just with the geometry of the frame, going uphill was so much easier, climbing and and even downhill, just like it was a little smoother. But I kept just like it was a little smoother, but I kept pedal striking.
Speaker 1:So I went riding on some other trails that are a little more, not aggressive maybe, I guess, but more just single trail, single track. You know what's the word I'm looking for. You really have to kind of. They're complicated. You know it's not just a little smooth. You got to look at your trail and find the right path and there's a word, word for it and I can't think of it right now. It's a little more complicated, but it's not. You don't ride like these trails are not. You know they're not fast, it's not riding fast and trying to. Some parts are, but a lot of it's just kind of slower, intricate, kind of riding and doing whatever. But anyway.
Speaker 1:So with that frame that I, the frame that I bought, even though it was a medium, it was set for 29 inch wheels and I was riding 27 and a half and I kept getting pedal strikes like crazy as I'm riding. It was just like like, oh, come on, like just nonstop. And I was just like, oh my gosh, I was like I can't. I got to get bigger, I got to get 29s on, or I just can't ride because it's going to, I'm going to end up damaging my pedal or getting hurt, wrecking something I don't know. So I was, I made a decision I'm going to get some bigger tires, right.
Speaker 1:So I I really like the rims and the tires on my 27 and a half, my older bike, which I had gotten here I don't know two years ago or something, and I so I sent to my local shop. I'm like, hey, I took pictures of it. It's like, do you guys have these? But in 29,. They're like, hold on, in a couple days we'll go by. I'm like, hey, I took pictures of it. It was like, do you guys have these button 29? They're like, hold on, and a couple of days will go by. And I'm like, hey, what's up? And they're like, oh, we're looking, we're looking. I'm like, well, crap, maybe if you got to look.
Speaker 1:And and I looked on Amazon and it was like $100 per, which is what I basically paid for what I have now. But anyway, I was like man, I've been spending $100 on it per frame. It's crazy right, which is kind of what I almost did. I'm not sure. Yeah, pretty much close, anyway.
Speaker 1:So I talked to my bike shop and I'm like, you know, they're like, hey, we have these frames, they're really good for enduro, you know, and trail riding and everything. And then I sent it to my bike buddy. I'm like, hey, are these good? He's like, yeah, those would be good for what you know. So I'm like cool. So I'm like cool.
Speaker 1:So I told them I was like I will buy those and the most aggressive tire they got, you know. So I go to the store and get the frames, I pick out the tires, they give me the fork, you know, the spokes. And then I buy another water bottle, because the one I bought before sucked and it came out to like 300 something dollars, something like that, which I think more. No, not, but close. Yeah, like 300 something, not quite four, but close, you know. And I was like, oh man. So my wife wasn't too happy Cause I was thinking it was going to be. I told her like five to 10. That's what I was thinking. Um, so anyway, so I got the, I got the, you know the wheels on.
Speaker 1:And I got the wheels on and I went riding today and I went riding on Thursday no-transcript, you know, coming off, coming off like the rear cassette, and I was like, okay, whatever, put it back on the road. And it's coming down. You know hill, it's like bouncing and this and that, and the chain's coming off. And my uncle, my riding buddy, he was like, did you lock your you know derailleur? And I was like, oh, you lock your you know derailleur. And I was like, oh crap, that's right, I completely forgot about the little. You can lock it so it doesn't move as easy. So it doesn't move. But you know, when you're going downhill you can lock it so it's not bouncing. And so I was like, okay, well, well, I'll do that next time for sure, thinking that that that was it. But then I so I made sure it was locked today and the same thing happened. I'm coming down.
Speaker 1:It only happened right at the end, like the last end part. That's like steeper and it's really rocky and aggressive. So you're like you know and but, and then I coasted all the way to my truck after that and then, once I got to the truck, I just stopped and I and I go down and I look and it's the chain is off again. It came off the rear cassette and I'm just like what the crap, man? Because I even have. I had it locked.
Speaker 1:So what happened? Why is it coming off? So I'm thinking, okay, maybe the chain is just one link too long, maybe Because the guy put the chain on, maybe it needs to have a link taken from it because it's just too loose, you know. But then I get home and I kind of look at it and I move the chain. I'm like gosh, it seems like it's good. What the crap? I don't know.
Speaker 1:So I got to figure that out. I mean, I don't understand, because I rode my bike a few times with my 27 more than a few and I had no problems. And then I put these on and then all of a sudden it's giving me problems. So I was like how would that factor in to my chain coming off? To me it doesn't seem like it should. I don't know. It's weird. Maybe I have too much air in my tires, so if they're bouncing too hard, maybe I need to take out a little bit of air. I don't know, but I don't know. It's just like it's not a bad problem to have, I guess, but still it's like I kind of I just I don't want to have to mess with my bike for a while.
Speaker 1:I feel like I've been having to deal with bike issues for forever now. It's just kind of starting to get old, you know, when I first got out here and I've told my bike riding story so I'm not going to do it again but this is the most riding I've done, like for the longest amount of time, like I would go through periods where I would ride but then I wouldn't ride for, you know, a year or more because we'd move or just whatever. And so coming here, I just, you know, I had no excuse to not ride. So when I first started riding my bike, the Specialized had, you know, the three gears in the front and the six in the back, or eight or whatever, and it had the cable brakes, it had a spring fork, you know. So all that stuff added weight and but I, you know, I was riding it and I never had to mess with nothing, I just cleaned it and that was it. Never, never, nothing. It was like it was wonderful, it was awesome, it was like, you know, an appliance from the 40s or something.
Speaker 1:But then as soon as I started upgrading and putting a different derailleur and a bigger cassette and just all this stuff, I just started having problems. I mean, yeah, some of the stuff was kind of like on the cheaper end and I mean I had a derailleur that ripped in half, it ripped off almost from me because it was a cheaper derailleur. I think I've told it before but I didn't really know. I would tell the bike guy not the one that I go to now but I'd be like, hey, I need something that's for aggressive trail riding. A lot of people have mountain bikes but they just kind of ride on the side of the road and stuff. But I, you know I don't like riding on the road, I just ride trail and I like to ride, you know, aggressive. Plus I'm a big dude, you know I weigh a lot and it's a lot of weight, you know putting on. You know, every time I the crank and pulling on the chain and everything. So like, yeah, I was riding.
Speaker 1:This was at the end of when I was riding like crazy. I rode like every other day for almost a year and it was after my dad died, so it kind of helped me, I think. But I was riding and my, yeah, the derailleur just like ripped off. I'm just like what, the what, how, the how does this happen? But it was probably a cheap one. I mean it had to have been.
Speaker 1:I don't remember what the brand was, but you know, I just kept telling him I need, I don't want something. I was trying not to go crazy was, but you know, I just kept telling him I don't want something. I was trying not to go crazy with the spending, you know. But you know you get what you pay for, you know. So finally, it's like we've had other stuff, have a little bit of money, now I can spend some money, but I still didn't want to go crazy. I didn't want to go and buy brand new full suspension, whatever this and that I like hardtail. So I'm sticking with it.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I wasn't planning on just totally buying everything and I was worried too. I was like I knew, or I remember my front suspension, my fork, when I when I bought it a couple years ago I remember that I bought it was good for $27 or $29. So, but it's been some time since I bought it. So when I was getting my $29,. I was like man, I hope they don't come back and say it's not going to fit. I'm going to be pissed, I'm going to have to buy a fork, but it fit, so it's good. But yeah, I just got to figure out the chain. So I got to do some research on that, find out exactly what that problem could be. So, anyway, that's kind of what's going on with me. I'm trying to distract myself, you know, with that.
Speaker 1:And I actually found a TV show that I've been watching, which is the show's like 10 years old when it came out and I remember the show Elementary, so it was like a contemporary take on, you know, sherlock Holmes and stuff, and it's got What's-Her Her Face from Charlie's Angels in it. What's her name? Lucy Liu, right, yeah, lucy Liu. So it's pretty good. I don't know. I'm liking it, I'm watching it. I think what's His Face does a good Sherlock. So I've just been either mountain biking, biking, working on that, doing stuff around, I mean, going to church or whatever, and then when I'm chilling, I watch that show.
Speaker 1:So I don't, I mean, I'm still kind of keeping up on current events, but I just kind of so tired of how retarded American people have become. Not really so much, because I mean, they voted majority voted for Trump, so not, it's a select few, and it's the media and just the propaganda machine. And you know, the kid stabbing the other kid and it's like self-defense, and they're making all kinds of money. And it's like self-defense, and they're making all kinds of money. And it's just like what is going on. You know all this, this, this kid's going to go to court. I mean, I guess it's probably going to be a year from now, huh, by the time anything really happens.
Speaker 1:But I just have a feeling I was thinking like, oh, this summer's going to be nuts again, just like the summer of love when BLM was burning everything down. But it's. You know, what's probably going to happen Is now it's like you're going to get a bunch of black folks killing white people, claiming self-defense. Some of it's going to be like come on, dude. I mean this one is come on, dude.
Speaker 1:Like how is this? I don't want to get into it, I really don't. I'm just kind of tired of race. It's like there isn't, I don't know, they're just trying to. It's like there isn't, they're just trying to. It's just, it's just, it's just so, so, freaking, annoying. You know, I don't. I'm like to the point of just I care, but I'm not gonna just be involved in it anymore. I don't know if my podcast is going to suffer. I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I talk about whatever, right, I mean a lot of politics in it, but I don't know. I just, you see, there's just so much crap out there and it's so blatantly retarded. Blatantly retarded, like how is it? How did this kid get his his bail, you know, set lower, which, I mean, he's a teenager, okay. Well, still, he stabbed the dude in the chest and it wasn't like it was this ongoing battle, this and that, and the other guy had a knife or something like that, you know, and it's like supposedly there's video, but they're not putting anything out. So you're like, okay, so obviously it doesn't help this dude.
Speaker 1:And then just all the race gaslighting crap. It's just like it's so annoying, it is so, so it's just all a big scam. But anyway, I think, you know, there's going to be a lot of violence this summer because of that. You're going to see more of the same crap, to see more of the same crap. And then when this kid goes to court and he gets found guilty, because there's no way he can't not be found guilty, then there's going to be riots and all this kind of crap again.
Speaker 1:And it's crap like this that I'm glad I don't live in the States anymore, because it's just, it's just retarded, it's I don't know. I mean, you know, look at this, look what it's doing, the presidents, the precedents Am I saying that? Right, that it's setting? So you ain't got a bunch of people that are here like dude, this guy and everybody knows it, the guy just straight up, stabbed him in the chest. He is dead, died within a half hour or something right, goes to jail, gets his. They start a GoFundMe and they just start raising all kinds of money pay for his bail, buy a house, buy a escalator or something I don't know. What do you think? Do people are going to start killing white people? I mean it's not funny, but you know it's. And they're going to be like oh, self-defense, it was self-defense Watch. Oh man, it's gonna be retarded. It's just retarded.
Speaker 1:You know, and things were going great as far as race relations go. Yes, there were racist black people and racist white people, racist Hispanic and Chinese. Dude, korean people hate Filipinos. You know what I mean. I mean everybody's racist to an extent, but it's nothing like what they. It's not 1960s or 50s or 40s, you know what I mean. It's like they're just tired of living life like a black man and being afraid and all this kind of shit. It's like shut up, you, martin Luther wannabe. It's like shut up, fucking guy, you got like criminals trying to. I don't know, it's just insane and it's all a grift, just like BLM. Blm was a huge scam.
Speaker 1:Now this is the next one. Here's the new one. I don't know, hopefully, I don't know. Actually, I mean, I mean things are going good from Trump's side. I mean they're still trying to argue the whole illegal immigrant thing. Like shut up, what are you talking about? They're illegal, get out of here. Sorry, I don't know, it's just crazy. But yeah, that I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know what to say about it because I haven't really been watching too. I've been trying to avoid it. Actually, I do catch a few things here and there, but you know, for the most part it's just. You know, but I watch the show because the elementary show, because it distracts me, and that's all you know. When you think about it, you know I never cared much for what was going on in the news that much when I was so into movies.
Speaker 1:But like film, sports, music and TV shows, it's all. It is all a distraction, it's all for us taxpayers that make money or work and pay taxes so the government can abuse those taxes and we don't pay attention or we don't care because we're we're distracted, we're watching. Oh, I gotta catch my, you know, monday night show or I gotta do this, or all this movie's out or this kind of whatever. All these like stupid distractions and it it's true, I mean it's, you know, it's not like I'm not saying that all shows and movies were created by you know the deep state to keep you distracted. Um, but they perpetuate it, you know. And and then it's like plus two, it's, it's funny, cause like so this show that I'm watching Elementary, like I'll catch a few things where they're talking about left wing, right wing.
Speaker 1:And I've realized that when I've watched older shows and movies, that where I didn't really pay much attention to it but it did influence me because I've talked about how I felt the same way, I thought the same way Right wing were evil. You know, people who believe in God are stupid, people who, you know, just can't let. I fell for all that stuff too. I just wasn't, you know, dyeing my hair and whatever. Well, okay, I did dye my hair, I guess in high school, but not dyeing it like blue, you know, I wasn't going crazy with you know who knows man, what, if I would have went to college, if I would have went to, like Washington University, what could have happened to me, man, maybe not something, that was, that was in the 90s, so maybe not.
Speaker 1:Well, a little bit, who knows? But just kind of makes you wonder, man bit who knows. But it just kind of makes you wonder, man, because I see it now when I watch older movies and I'm like, oh my gosh, I, you know, like all that stuff, and they just, and like the show that I'm watching, they just kind of these little little things and I'm like I almost I'm like you know what am I gonna turn this off? But I don't, because the show is pretty good overall and it doesn't really get too much into, you know, political stuff, but it gets close. I'm kind of worried, though, towards the end, because I think there's like seven seasons or something and I'm on season four, I think.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, maybe by the end of it there's going to be a bunch of stupid retardedness. I mean it has like a female Watson, you know. So I was like, oh, but I mean it works it. You know when they, you know when they do stuff, when they change it, because I think it works better for the story, for the show really having I'm not saying a female Watson should always be the standard, but for what the purpose of this show really having I'm not saying a female Watson should always be the standard, but for what the purpose of this show is trying to do. It works, but it was, you know. Now they do it just because, oh, how can we put a female in there and make her stronger, and I don't know, but whatever, just like Fantastic Four bullshit, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I was never into Fantastic, you know, I didn't mind the movies back in the early 2000s. I mean they weren't the greatest but they were entertaining, I guess. But yeah, that's all turned into shit too. Anyway, oh crap, man, I've been talking forever, all right. Well, thanks for hanging out. Thanks for listening. I talking forever, all right. Well, thanks for hanging out. Thanks for listening. I appreciate your time. God bless, and I will see you guys next time. All right, bye.
