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	<title>absent.canadian</title>
	<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog</link>
	<description>Eating poutine in the South since 2004, eh?</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 13:32:57 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Water Bottle Mirth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I love water bottles.
Not the cheap flimsy plastic bottles that come in 6 packs at the grocery store, but the really nice ones made by Nalgene, Sigg and the like.
In fact, water bottles are bit like pocket knives to me.  For no rational reason, I find myself buying a new one every four to six [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1309</link>
			</item>
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		<title>How not to top up your brake fluid</title>
		<description><![CDATA[On the top of my Ducati&#8217;s front brake master cylinder are the following words:
&#8220;Use only DOT 3 ÷ 5 Brake Fluid&#8221;
And as the following post will demonstrate, this does NOT mean DOT 3 or DOT 5.
First, a brake fluid primer.   There are three commonly available brake fluids: DOT 3, DOT 4 and DOT 5.  One [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1307</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Laws of Physics: 1.  Scooter: 0.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[It was bound to happen.  After 2000 hard commuting miles on my trusty Honda Spree, it gave up the ghost.
I was riding home the other day, and the engine just stopped.  Kaput.  Nada.  Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.
After finishing a complete flush of my Ducati&#8217;s front brake system (after adding DOT 5 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1303</link>
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		<title>Hi.  I&#8217;m Mike, and I&#8217;m not a PC.  Or I&#8217;m not PC.  Or something like that.</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I watch very little TV &#8230; but last night I caught one of Microsoft&#8217;s latest &#8220;I&#8217;m a PC&#8221; ads.  A quick google search revealed that I&#8217;m hardly the first person to chime in on these ads.  And from that perspective, it&#8217;s worked &#8230; at least, if you believe the advertisimg mantra that &#8220;all press is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1299</link>
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		<title>50% Driving Time &#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I realized this morning that I&#8217;ve been driving for over half of my life.
In truth, I&#8217;ve been driving for a lot longer than that.  I&#8217;m not sure what was the first motor vehicle to fall under my control, but I remember riding a motorcycle for the first time when I was about 11.
In terms of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1296</link>
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		<title>This is the problem with film photography &#8230;</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230; so I spent a glorious morning at Umstead Park, enjoying the 20+ degree Celsius (70+ degree Fahrenheit) temperatures.  The sky was a brilliant blue, wildlife was in its full springtime splendor, and life simply felt right.
I took all sorts of fabulous shots with my new (old) camera, and am now remembering why digital photography [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1293</link>
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		<title>To Twit or Not to Twit?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m seriously thinking about leaving Twitter.  And Facebook.
I signed up for my Twitter account in December 2007, and have sporadically used it since.  In many cases, it was simply an easier way to update my Facebook status &#8230; but Twitter slowly took on a life of its own for me late in 2008.
Twitter and Facebook [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1290</link>
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		<title>The Big Blog Post About Marriage</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As many of you know, I&#8217;m on the final leg of a divorce after a 9 year marriage.  And while I&#8217;m still adjusting to the new reality (oddities like the term &#8220;ex-wife&#8221;, for instance), I&#8217;ve spent enough time reflecting to offer some observations and thoughts about marriage.  Thoughts I hope may help some other people [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1283</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Adjusting</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The document I signed this morning has the following words on it:
&#8220;Michael Jon Helms, Plaintiff, vs &#8230;&#8221;
And as my regular readers my guess, it&#8217;s a divorce complaint.
I can&#8217;t believe the end is so close.
So if I&#8217;m a bit distant from my blog for the next little while, you&#8217;ll understand why.
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1281</link>
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		<title>History Repeats Itself</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I clearly don&#8217;t learn.
Late in 2005 I sold all of my film cameras (with a few collectable exceptions) and replaced them with a Fuji E900 digital camera.  A sprinkling of money and wave of my magic wand turned that into a Nikon D80, which has been my camera du jour, save my recent acquisition of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.mikehelms.org/blog/archives/1272</link>
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