Form vs function in racks and panniers

Today was a half day at the office, we all left around lunch time like rats from a sinking ship before the holiday weekend. I hopped on the bike in search of the 5 new art-bike racks installed the other day Downtown.
I found all five!
I gave the first two here a thumbs down, it seems others do too as they aren't being used.

This one looks like you'd bump into it while walking down the sidewalk.

Not sure what this is, but the paint scrapes off easily. How can I get a u-lock around this?

A bridge! I voted for this one.

Chemtrails?

Thunderstorm.

I headed over to Thick to collect my new Ortlieb panniers that were ordered for me. I love my new handmade cloth/scraps panniers for dry baseball game days. They're cute as all hell but not as functional as I would like. The Ortliebs are fantastic. Waterproof, deep, lots of pockets, straps for toting them around... I love these things. I wish they came in yellow though.

While I was there, I asked them to tweak my hoods, they hurt my hands. I couldn't grip a pen the day after PedalPGH's 60 mile ride.
I'm still waiting for my Brooks Flyer, they tell me it'll be another week. *whimper*
I ate at Amazing Cafe again while they worked on Fizz. They gave me a salad that had an incredible number of jalapenos and banana peppers. I like hot and fiery foods, but this made me beg for mercy.


On the way back, I had my first close call with a car door. Yaaa for disc brakes!





And I sighted Speedo Man again. He rides in a Speedo all summer long. I'm not complaining. It just looks uncomfortable.

My intentions in the evening were to ride with Critical Mass. I got as far as the bottom of the Chute to climb up to Oakland and my body went into mutiny mode. It had enough of the North Hills hills on PedalPGH, I still wasn't adapting to the new bike and my hands and nether regions were in no mood for another 15 miles.