So much for Apple's Hype...

Got a little surprise in the stocking this year. MrsJAC thought I might like this thing. And I migt, but it has been a pain in the ass so far.

You've all seen the Apple commercials and heard the ignorant comments from Apple owning acquaintances who don't know any better, "It just works!"

I go back a long way in PC's - back to TRS80's and C64's - and I have to say I haven't hadt to deal with anything that was such a pain in the ass to get working as this thing in the last 7 years since I was installing a tape-drive backup system.

Yeah, it's that bad. I had to force it 'mass media storage drive' onto a different drive letter assignment. In contrast, my walmart Rio player "just worked!" and didn't have all the bullshit "protected content" and "works only with I-tunes" garbage.

But, it's working now and sounds pretty good. Apple must have a good digital to analog converter cause the little bugger does a fine job in that department, and it is extremely portable. I just I hope I don't forget about it and run it through the washing machine.....



Update : It's chuggin' along pretty good now, but I have to dump the "temp" directory anytime I want to synch it. Those guys at Apple must be geniuses......

Arrogant Bastard

Ale

Do check out the animation.

New Math

This poor bastard made the mistake of talking to a person instead of a computer:

[Start of Call]

[on hold with Verizon Wireless customer service]

Trent (Verizon): Hi.. Hey, George?

George: Yes.

T: Hey I'm really sorry about that wait there. Hey, I got Mike on the line. He's my supervisor over here and uh, he'll take care of you from here on out, okay?

G: Thanks.

T: Alright.

Mike (Verizon): Thanks Trent. Good evening George, how are you doing this evening?

G: Great, except that I've been trying to resolve this for two calls and over 45 minutes now.

M: Okay, well lets see what we got here, I'm definitely sorry that uh, that you've had to call in that many times. Let's see, ummm, looks like you're questioning some kilobyte usage that was done while in Canada?

G: Well, let me just start out with a basic question.

M: Okay.

G: Do you recognize that there's a difference between “point zero zero two dollars” and “point zero zero two cents”?

[pause]

M: Point zero zero two dollars?

G: Do you recognize that there is actually...

M: ...and point zero zero two cents.

G: Yes, do you you recognize there's a difference between those 2 numbers?

[pause]

M: No.

G: Okay, is there a difference between 2 dollars and 2 cents?

M: Well, yeah, sir..

G: Well okay, is it.. is there a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents?

M: .002 dollars and .002 cents.

G: Yes, is there a difference between..

M: Sir, sir, they're.. they're both the same if you, if you look at 'em on paper-wise

G: No.. they're not, actually. It.. is .5 dollars the same as .5 cents?

M: Is .5 dollars..?

G: Is half a dollar..

M: That would be.. That would be 50 cents.

G: A half a dollar.. is it the same as a half of a cent?

M: No.

G: Right.

M: Okay.

G: So, clearly, two one-thousandths of a dollar, which is your rate for airtime as I now understand it, uh, your rate per kilobyte in Canada is two one-thousandths of a dollar. But two one-thousandths of a dollar is different than two one-thousandths of a *cent*. What I was quoted was .002 cents. That's two one-thousandths of a cent per kilobyte.

M: Mmhm. okay...?

G: I specifically asked the rep. I said, “Are you saying it's .002 dollars or .002 cents?” because I .. *I* recognize that there's a difference. Just like there's a difference between that half a dollar and half a cent.

M: Okay.

G: There's a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents. Your rate in Canada is .002 cents.

M: Correct.

G: Uh, it's point, point... Well okay, it's not true, it's .002 dollars. You're still quoting me .002 cents when in fact it's .002 dollars per kilobyte. So, if you want to charge me .002 cents, I'd be happy to pay the bill, the problem is I was charged .002 dollars per kilobyte.

M: Okay, so if you take.. okay.. do you have a calculator with you?

G: Yeah, I do.

G: Okay, take this uh, 71.79.

G: Yeah.

M: And divide that by uh, 35,893 you should come out with .002

G: Yes, and what units should it be? Dollars or cents?

M: Well that's per *kilobyte*.

G: Right. And is it dollars or cents per kilobyte?

M: Well, let me take a look here for ya.

[time passes...]

M: [looking up rates] We're.. we're in Canada..

[time passes...]

M: Hold on one second for me..

[time passes...]

M: [mumbles something about Canada]

[time passes...]

G: For the record, what I was quoted before I went to Canada, I called because I'm on an unlimited plan in the United States and I thought I might be paying more when I go to Canada.

M: Right.

G: What I was quoted was .002 cents. That seems to be what you believe is the rate is .002 cents. Unfortunately, your computer system charged me .002 dollars per kilobit, er, per kilobyte, so my point here is the confusion is on your side, and the first rep I spoke to, the second rep I spoke to, and including you, in calling “.002 dollars” “.002 cents”, that's a hundredfold difference just like one dollar is 100 times different than1 cent.

[time passes...]

M: Okay... looking at the pricing here for ya.

M: Okay.. for data.

M: National roaming access coverage in Canada is .002 per kilobyte cents.

G: Can you say that again?

M: It's .002 cents per kilobyte

G: .002 cents per kilobyte. So you just quoted me again; your price is .002 cents per kilobyte

M: Correct.

G: Okay, so now I'd like you to translate my 35,893 kilobytes into dollars if you would.

M: Okay, if you take .002

G: Cents, remember, cents.

M: Times 35,896. 71 dollars and 79...

G: No, that would be 71 cents because you started with a rate per *cent* and multiplied by the kilobytes, so that would be 71 cents. I'll tell you what the problem is here, is you, you're.. the original person I spoke to *before* I used my airtime...

M: Mmhmm.

G: Up to and including you, are quoting .002 dollars per kilobyte as if it's .002 cents per kilobyte and they're not the same, so I assumed that you guys knew how to do math. No offense here , but i assumed that you knew the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars. And it sounds like there's still some confusion about that. .002 dollars is two one-thousandths of one dollar, or two tenths of one cent, which is very different than two one-thousandths of one cent. It's one hundred times different. [pause] I'll give you a brief example: If you're selling your car and I said I'm gonna give you twenty thousand for it, and I show up with 20,000 pennies, we're not speaking the same language. If you quote me .002 cents it's not the same as .002 dollars. So, when you just did the math .002 times 35,893, you came up with 71 cents. You didn't do the translation from cents to dollars, which would be... you'd have to.. uh, divide by a hundred, so then you get .71 dollars: 71 cents, So, I do understand, even though it seems like maybe *you* don't, that the rate is, I now understand: .002 *dollars* per kilobyte. But that was not what i was quoted, and that's not how I used my airtime because i thought it was... I thought it was cheaper than it actually turned out to be, because I was misquoted.

M: Mmhm.

G: I also had no context. The previous person i was speaking to said I should have had some context because i know what the united states rates - I *don't* know what the United States rates are, because I have an unlimited plan. I don't have to be concerned about the United States rates.

M: Mmhm.

G: So. It all comes down to me being misquoted, and it's hard.. it, would, it, it.. At the time, I, I said there could be some confusion here, so I asked the customer service rep, “Can you please write that down in the notes, that you quoted me .002 cents?”

M: Mmhm.

G: And she did.

M: Right, and I see that.. I see not only one, but I see several reps that have put it in here.

G: Right. So I.. I hope, it sounds like you may not actually see what the problem is yet, but ah..

M: Well, I've been working here 2 years sir, and I've been a supervisor for almost a year and a half.

G: Okay..

M: Okay? Umm, ya know, I'm going by what is.. what is documented here in the system.

G: Right.. so can you tell me then if, if the rate is as you quoted .002 cents per min.. per kilobyte, and I used 35,893.kilobytes, how much should I be charged?

M: By, by.. The way this is calculated? Seventy-one dollars and seventy-nine cents.

G: You did your math wrong, so what I'm saying is you did... bring up your calculator.

M: I.. I've got the calculator in front of me, sir. If i type in .002 and multiply that by 35 thousand, nine hundred...

G: But wait! but but.. Here's the key.. I know, but here's the key: What does the .002 represent? Cents or dollars?

M: It's cents, sir.

G: Okay, .002 cents...

M: So basically you're paying... you're paying two tenths of a penny [pause] per kilobyte. If you want to look at it that way.

G: Two tenths? hold on, hold on.. two tenths of a penny...

M: Mmhm.

G: ...would be .2 cents. You quoted me .002 cents. Do you see what I'm saying? [pause] Two tenths of one cent...

M: Mmhm.

G: ...would be point two cents. You quoted me .002 cents.

M: That's correct.

G: there's a difference between .2 cents and .002 cents. They're 100 times different. So which is the real rate?

M: .002 sir.

G: .002 what?

M: Cents per kilobyte!

[pause]

G: So you just said it was .2 pennies and then you also said it was .002 cents. Those are 2 completely different numbers. They're 100-fold different. Quoting someone .002 cents per kilobyte is different than .002 dollars per kilobyte. I... I don't know what else more I can tell ya. The math... the math on the bill is right if it's .002 dollars per kilobyte. It was quoted .002 cents.

M: George, hold on one second for me okay?

G: Sure.

Link for the full conversation is here.

So, My brother recommended a movie t'other day....

I knew better. I've been burned before. The boy has Never, Ever, E V E R recommended a good movie. But he was so enthusiastic I figured, "What the hell?!"

What the hell, indeed.

The thing starts off with government thugs trying to bone Natalie Portman who is saved by a masked dude with a lisp and uses the "v" sound alot. Mildly irratating, but not a movie killer.

There follows some pretty good mayhem and a few gratuitous shots at US foriegn policy, faith portrayed as the watch word of an oppressive government, the bad guys siting God to justify their legitimacy. It's hollywierd; nothing surprising here. In fact, one pretty much can't take in a movie w/o a minimum undercurrent of such tripe. Still, not too over the top for hollyweird, but I'm startin' to wonder when the professed merits of this flick start to overshadow the leftist hollyweird pap. Good thing I didn't hold my breath.

It goes off the deep end when a closet queener comes out of his closet and the scene shifts to said closet (secret room) wherein photographs of men fondling, and biting? one another get some big screen time. Lest we forget, the buttholebandit also has a fourth century copy of the goatherd scribe's koran (illegal - but he appreciates the "beautiful images and poetry"). This fag is soon martyred.

At this point I call the BrokeBackBlaster to give him a good cussin' for wasting nearly an hour of my life. My wrath exorcised, I feel much better and sit back down with one finger firmly on the FFWD button. Maybe Natalie will have a wardrobe malfunction..... Nyet.

The movie goes on to raise a pair of lesbo's to sainthood complete with a scene of one's obviously small minded bigoted parents crying over what was "only the truth".
One is martyred and is the inspiration for both the heroine's and the main character's respective epiphanies which leads to the primary motivation for the climax of the movie.

The premise is solid though absolutely buried beneath wagon loads of stereotypical leftist manure, and wading through 90 minutes of George Soros' Gay Party Propaganda is not my idea of entertainment. My brother on the other hand....

"V" for Vendetta sucks. Skip it. You have been warned.

Joke o' the Day

Q: What do you call a group of a hundred Harleys?

A: Slalom course.


Q: How do you get a Harley rider to ride her bike?

A: Tell her their garage is on fire.

A: Tell her that chrome polish is on sale.

Name That Car

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Nate: “How exactly does a nuclear bomb become obsolete? Don't they still go bang real big?”

Thermonuclear weapons will loose the bulk of their punch after a few years if the tritium isn’t replenished (12 yr halflife). The tritium acts as a catalyst during the fusion reaction, and the yield suffers greatly when there is not enough present.

The fission detonator on an h-bomb would still be of great interest to a terrorist, perhaps. But it is a military necessity to replenish the tritium in our warheads.

Another issue is that the casings for nukes degrade somewhat over time, even in ideal storage conditions. There is a lot of debate over the likelihood of a failure on timescales under 50 years, but from the military’s perspective, they want to be sure that the bombs detonate when launched. So they’re evaluating and reconditioning old warheads every day.

And finally, newer models are lighter, more reliable, and more versatile… at least they were up until the changes in the NPT precipitated by the India/Pakistan dick waiving contest.
thimscool | Email | Homepage | 11.20.06 - 8:42 pm |

Thankyou thimscool for stepping up here. Normally Bill or EP handle this sort of inquiry, but they seem to be laying down.....

Look at What I Saw This Weekend

SR71 Blackbird



YF22 Raptor









Some of our obselete nuclear arsenal

NOT Work Safe

Sorry, the bikini speeder girls were gettin' on my nerves.

Cannon Fodder

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, a moderate Republican best known for his stewardship of the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has taken the first step in a 2008 presidential bid.

My Way News - AP: Giuliani Takes Step Toward '08 Bid

Moderate Republican he says. Gun grabbin', baby killin', fag lovin' newyork liberal says I. And the best way I have seen since McCain to get the conservative base to stay home in 2008.

1) Achieve Power 2) Consolidate Power 3) Punish Your Enemies

"A lot of people have said to me, `Are you going
to now go out and issue a lot of subpoenas and go on a wild payback
time?' Well, payback is unworthy," he said. "Doing oversight doesn't
mean issuing subpoenas. It means trying to get information."

BREITBART.COM - Waxman Set to Probe Areas of Bush Gov't

Sure, a republican elitist politician is much the same as a democrat elitist politician, but there is a not insignificant difference (which republican elitist politicians  always forget at their peril) that the democrat models for governance are Mao, Castro, and Uncle Joe Stalin.


Never doubt that this stuff will be reported as "government investigators" and not "democratic commitee heads".

Frenchy Feelin' Froggy. Jews Say, "HopTo!"

French troops almost fired at Israel jets: minister | International News | Reuters.com

Now that's what you call a BAD IDEA. Last I heard of any wargame with the jewboys, they waxed our asses. The french need to be constantly reminded they are....well, french.

The Israeli action looks like a warning to me. Whatever Froggy did the Jews didn't like will probably cease now.

Oops!

That's a $50,000 NS750 vintage race bike the chick just dropped on the tarmac.

Sometimes I Think Vets are Brainless Walking Egos

ESPN.com - HORSE - Barbaro may have cast removed

Barbaro shattered his right hind leg in the May 20 Preakness and has been in intensive care at the New Bolton Center ever since. He underwent surgery to stabilize the right leg on May 21, then developed laminitis in his left hind leg in July, prompting Richardson to remove an estimated 80 percent of his left hoof

Now that's good thinkin' right there. He can't stand on this one so we'll just cut the other one off.

I have to say here that I'm not "in" on the details of Barbaro's case and that there may be some things about it that would make this acceptable procedure. I wonder though.

I saw a case yesterday where a mare had become laminitic (foundered) in her right front hoof. This is a very painful, life threatening condition where P3 (the bone inside the hoof) becomes detached from the front (mostly) inside surface of the hoof and begins to sink down through the bottom of the hoof. If you walked on your toenails (like horses do) it would be  like having a toenail peeled off until the bone poked through the skin and that was what you had to walk on. Sound painful? It is. Remember horses can't sit or lie down for any extended period of time. There is no relief for them. A veterinary clinic had treated the right front surgically (properly), all the while refusing to make an intervention on the unacceptable load the left hoof was having to bear while the right was useless. Can you guess what happened? Correct. The left went to shit, too. It damned near always happens if you don't act properly to prevent it, and sometimes even when you do. This poor girl was tossing her head upward, using its decelerating mass to fleetingly take weight off her front hooves for even an instant of relief. Its been eatin' at me ever since I saw it. Somebody needs a beatin'.

There is a proven procedure for dealing with laminitic horses. It was developed by a farrier turned veterinarian and is so successful it is mind boggling. I haven't seen it fail, yet. Some horses are beyond help and nothing will save them, but this is a small percentage. It requires the skills of a highly skilled and  specialized farrier (usually trained by the above mentioned vet), several sets of x-rays, highly technical  machined shoes, timely intervention, and some not unreasonable horsecare by the owner. Some more severe cases require a minimally invasive surgical procedure performed by a vet to allow the procedure to work. It's a step by step damned near guarenteed to work thing. Some of the same things apply to preventing laminitis in a noninujured opposite foot. Connect the dots! Do the math! I don't understand folks sometimes.

Some educated idiots won't take advice from folks with enough experience to know what they are doing. Ego over horsecare.

Why would we ever want to be without the constant company of women?

JAC, how much fun can a guy have without a woman around? Isn't there a reason why it goes 'Wine, Women, and Song'?

Maybe I'm just weird, but I like going adventuring. And there are so many amazing places to go to . . .
BoysMom | Homepage | 11.02.06 - 4:04 pm


BoysMom,
The version I have always heard is more like "Whiskey, Pussy, and Cigarettes", and I have always held that these things were to be had sequentially rather than concurrently.

Adventuring with women is a not really adventuring.
It's taking a woman somewhere, which is it's own kind of fun, but not the same thing.
It's going slow so she won't get scared.
It's planning a trip around Cracker Barrel locations.
It's passing up that sweet motel with the liquor store in the lobby.
It's mandatory showers.
It's changing clothes everyday.
It's not farting (audibly) in public.
It's not being able to say, "You ain't got a damn clue what the hell it is you're talkin' about. Now, shut the fuck up while I figure out what to do!" with out tears being shed.
It's having to find clean places to pee. Indoors for Christ's sake!
I could go on. .

We are happy husbands and fathers 24/7/365.25, but sometimes we want to be "just" men.

Many women don't understand this and feel threatened by it. They'll do everything they can think of to impinge upon it. I see it all the time, especially this time of year when men traditionally get together to hunt. There's always a few in a group, usually with young wives, who get phone calls throughout the day - or have to check in themselves 'cause the Mrs. managed to load 'em up with a guilt trip before they left. It's probably not only the women, either. I know guys who are scared to death their women are gonna figure out they don't have to have a man around all the time. Those fellas are best left at home, too. They'll muck things up as sure as havin' a woman along.

If only it was true

“There has never been an American army as violent and murderous as the one in Iraq”



The McGill Daily

The pacification of Iraq and it's neighbors would not be an ongoing balance between our lack of application of unrestrained brutal force and a teeming reservior of suicidal boys.

An Example

Of the kind of thing that will keep The Lizard Queen from the presidency.



Eventually, the arrogant can no longer restrain themselves and say what they actually think.

Worlds Smallest Horse

17" tall - a touch over 4 hands, weighs 60lbs. At birth she was all of 8 pounds.

Before you ask; yes it is shod and with therapeutic shoes.

Hayden Wins!

Nicky Hayden came in third in the last MotoGP race of the season and took the World Campionship. Congratulations to Nicky!

Infallible Voting Machines

No sense in leaving this stuff to chance.

It's almost enough to make one go, "hmmmm". What a coincidence these things were used in chicago with some problem with the tranmission software requiring intervention by Venezualan engineers.

If I was going to screw around with voting machines to skew the results, that's where I'd start in with my wrench. A "transmission" process to a central machine; a built in "error" accumulator.

The OTHER reason girls can be fun to have around

Lifted This from Nate's Peep Paradise yesterday:

Wildly off topic, but now we finally have an answer to where have the men gone.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/ 2006...inamericanmales

I think the answer to what is causing it is obvious especially when they throw in a major "symptom" is low bone density and diabetes. Boys- step away from the Big Mac.
Spacebunny | 10.27.06 - 2:28 pm |

I'm puttin' my money on socially suppressed masculine personality traits. And soccer.
JACIII | Homepage | 10.27.06 - 3:14 pm |

They claim that obesity can't fully explain the decline, but I'm betting it has a HUGE impact especially coupled with the rise in diabetes due to obesity.
Spacebunny | 10.27.06 - 3:15 pm |

Well, fat guys DO have boobs, right?!
JACIII | Homepage | 10.27.06 - 4:27 pm |


First of all JAC -eeewwwwww!
-snip-
Spacebunny | 10.27.06 - 5:11 pm |

Here's proof I had it right.

I hate to lend some legitimacy to this post but after Nate pointed out nothing but lack of honest work was at the root of modern obesity and its associated side effects, it occured to me I had read a study which found bone density and size amazingly high (compared to average modern man) in nomadic peoples who began traveling extensive distances on their own two feet at a very young age.
Easy verification of this can be had simply by shaking the hand of a man known to have been throwing 80lb haybales five feet over his head since he was 10. What we commonly call a "farm boy".

The Lizard Queen strikes fear into the hearts of... men?

First, there's my little brother who has been reading his own posts too much. For those of you collecting Nate-isms this is a "scrapbooking moment":

unelectible?

how niave can you be?
Nate | Email | Homepage | 10.26.06 - 11:09 am | #

Then Will tries to pull me out of my delusional state:

J, I don't want to seem like I'm insulting your intelligence, but remember that 48% of the country's voters pulling the level for Kerry. Hillary is a much more electable candidate than Kerry. All she has to do is win an extra 2% of the voting population and she's in.

She has the name and face recognition, that false crutch that "things were better under my husband", and the fact that most of the only people who see her for what she really is are us on the Extreme Right who nobody listens to anyways.
Will | Email | Homepage | 10.27.06 - 5:04 am | #

President Hillary? You're smokin' crack.

Sure, it's a national election. But politics is local, folks, and no one has abolished the electoral college since last I checked. Didn't Al Gore 'win' the national election?

Oh, The Lizard Queen has 'star power', I'll grant you that, but it is a hollow thing of the sort hollywood denizens command so long as they keep their mouths shut about what they really think and stay with the script their publicist gave them. Hillary, like (the artist formerly known as) Prince, Madonna, Sting and other one-name pop stars has an ego too great to allow her to do that. I can't wait until this screech owl gets revved up. Remember Howard Dean? You ain't seen nothin'.

The Lizard Queen has yet to walk into a fight where the electorate was not already skewed in her favor. She could have run for senator in Arkansas, could she not? Considering the weight the South has been throwing around in national elections, perhaps that might have been the place to start a run for the presidency. Sure, being a NY senator is a bit more in the limelight, but when was the last time a yankee state swung an election? She is sittin' safe, building up her confidence to face the big boys while hoping James Carville will save her from those rednecks who shit all over Al Gore and said all those nasty things about that nice man, John Kerry.

She's not somebody. She's somebody's wife. I'll be surprised if she makes it out of the primary.

But don't let me stop y'all from gettin' all a-titter and swooning with fear at the certainty of Queen Lizard the First, by all means carry on with your fun. Drama Queens.

Does no one in California own a bushhog?

No better place for commie rat bastards to be.

I may be paranoid.....

But I have been seeing a lot of Lizard Queen, aka Hillary Clinton, look alikes from hollywood lately. You know the type, moonfaced, wrinkly eyes, droopy eyelids, shortish yellow air with dark roots.

Most folks aren't cognizant of the media's use of images to subtley promote the agendas its members sympathize with, but I read this book -

Tower of Secrets: A Real Life Spy Thriller by Victor Sheymov



years ago. It is by Colonel Victor Sheymov formerly of the Soviet Union Third Directorate which was entrusted with Signal Security. In his official capacity he was privy to a lot of communication for all different levels and branches of the KGB and it's client agencies including those regarding Soviet infiltration of the US entertainment industry, its dominance of the American communist party, and its techniques for promoting activities and persons 'useful' to them.

It is a useful exercise to ascertain what cause the left is championing and begin watching for their little pokes and proddings upon your consciousness. It's sort of the same as when you buy a car and suddenly discover there are a lot more of hat type than you thought previously. You'd be surprised how much you'll notice.

Start looking for the Lizard Queen in bit parts as crowd fillers and no-line actresses. See what you can see.

Example:

I just watched The Sentinel on DVD. One of the Secret Service agents with one line is a 'younger' Lizard Queen (completely unattractive) who receives a lot of face time at especially dramatic moments in the film instead of another actress who is present in those same scenes and is attractive and also blonde, but ends up slightly blurred or in the corner of the screen. Coincidence? Subconscious impulse by a director/editor who worships at the webbed feet of the Lizard Queen and her ilk?

What a Nutcase !

Watch the video.

Pardon the pun.

Proclamtion

RE: This post at Vox. Follow the first link in the post.

By the power vested in me by Jimmy Russel's 50.5% alcohol by volume on Sunday mornin' while everyone else is in church, on authority of my rusty pickup truck, extensive gun collection, Farmall tractor, Justin boots, Resistol hats, shiney belt buckle, Copenhagen, and George Strait's Greatest Hits I do hereby declare VD to be forever absolved of the unnatural sin of foo-foo drinks in recognition of his not insignificant contribution to the Lost Cause and the defamation of That Bastard Lincoln.

From this day forward let no man ridicule VD for his past foo-foo drink transgressions lest the comfort that is the shade of the Magnolia, the refreshment that is Sweet Tea, and the glory that is the Rebel Yell be forever denied him.


Amen.

My pal the skunk

We had a skunk move into the crawlspace a couple days ago. PEEEEEEEYOOO.

Here are the steps I've taken to rid myself of this noxious critter.

Constructed a trap and set it out last night but haven't had any luck yet.
Placed moth-balls under the house in an attempt to ward him off.
Dumped flour at all possible entrance/exit sites to track his comings and goings.

Be vewy vewy quiet....

Any creative suggestions for killin' this critter once I get it in the box are appreciated. My plan is to release him, runaway (to a safe distance), and put a bullet into his brain. Yes they spray when you brainshoot 'em. They spray everywhere like a high pressure hose you turned loose. I know this.
I read that a middle spine shot will disable the squirt mechanism, but I doubt that will be his presentation upon release.

worth talking about.

The North Koreans are building and testing nukes, proclaiming war is inevitably.

Madonna bought a slave.

Nancy Pelosi wants to be speaker.

The Lizard Queen wants to take over the world. If only she had a pecker.

The internet HAS taken over the world and the dinosaur media has started to get the message. (No, liberal idiot bloggers will not rule the internet - It's the market, stupid. And AOL is long dead from forcing chioces on it's subscribers.)

There's just not much goin' on

worth talking about.

The North Koreans are building and testing nukes, proclaiming war is inevitably.

Madonna bought a slave.

Nancy Pelosi wants to be speaker.

The Lizard Queen wants to take over the world. If only she had a pecker.

The internet HAS taken over the world and the dinosaur media has started to get the message. (No, liberal idiot bloggers will not rule the internet - It's the market, stupid. And AOL is long dead from forcing chioces on it's subscribers.)

Modern Diesel Automotive Engines

Are incredible. Durable, fuel efficient, powerful, sophisticated, amazing. Until the EPA gets involved...

The europeans have been using small turbo-diesels in their cars and trucks for many years now and the technology is stable and proven. Lots of folks in the US have compact pickups - how would you like that with a diesel? Wipe your chin.

A few of the euro models have made it across the pond to the US consumer such as the VW TDI Jetta, Bug, Toureg and the Jeep Libety CRD. Mercedes has been cartin' diesels over forever. These are all great vehicles with great engines, until the EPA gets involved. A spectaculary bad idea US manufacturers came up with to meet emissions standards is a thing called and EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve. This thing allows engine exhaust to be "reburned" thus lowering the emission of EPA regulated substances. Horrible idea. Take a look inside your tailpipe. Nasty isn't it. That's what the EPA has mandated your engine inhale.

EGR is a particularly ornerous thing with diesel engines as they are inherently sooty (like the inside of your wood stove). Keep in mind that these engines are computer controlled and depend on delicate sensors along the intake tract to relay information about air temperature, boost pressure, air flow rates and such. How long do you figure these sensors would last in your tailpipe? Right. It has become a common procedure to have the intake system "cleaned". The service tech disassemble the top half of the engine and washes it. If you're lucky this is a $700.00 procedure not including the price for changing out that failed component that brought you into the service bay to begin with.

Needless to say there are an awful lot of "offroad use only" automotive diesels out there now.
FYI: Honda is suposed to coming out with one that uses no EGR and has a nitrate converter in the exhaust system. Freaky.

As if we need evidence of cowardice of the republican party.


The David Zucker Albright Ad is linked by Drudge. He quotes elephant official as saying they couldn't use it because it was too hot.
Some "You Tube" users have flagged the video for adult content so you may have to go to Drudge to see it or log onto "youtube".

If it upsets that many democratic socialists it can't be bad.

Y'all seen my good for nothing brother?

Oh, I forgot; he told me Leonardo Dicaprio has a new movie out this weekend. He is very excited. He's seen all of Leonardo's movies.

I expect he'll be posting a review over at the BloggerBlaster soon....

Mark Foley to Test the Axiom

"There are really only two things fatal in politics: to be found in bed with a live man or a dead woman."

Granted, the pillow-biter lobby and it's champions have forced the substitution of "boy" for "man" in the phrase, but the concept still exists that there are depths of public conduct from which a political career cannot recover. Mark Foley, according to Drudge, has made an initial thrust toward ameliorating his responsibility in the eyes of the public. "Hey, I was drunk!"

What should be interesting is the public's reaction to this. I will consider it to be a good indicator of the how far the general populace's "pervert detector" has been de-tuned.

American's (in general) have been grading moral fitness on a curve for sometime now. As another perversion becomes normalized this curve gets steeper to allow that perversions practicianers to hold moral equivalence with more upright ways of life. We shall soon see just how steep this curve has gotten.

The pervert-o-meter is in full swing right now; an old man and a young boy. Let's see if the alcoholic amelioration attempt serves to dampen its movement.


UPDATE: Two newspapers and Fox News (The one with the hot chicks) sat on this story to protect the old fag lest the public overreact due to him being a pillow biter.

"Our decision at the time was ... that because the language was not sexually explicit and was subject to interpretation, from innocuous to 'sick,' as the page characterized it, to be cautious," said Tom Fiedler, executive editor of the Herald. "Given the potentially devastating impact that a false suggestion of pedophilia could have on anyone, not to mention a congressman known to be gay, and lacking any corroborating information, we chose not to do a story."

This type of editorial decision happens all the time. An example would be the unreported black on white crime statistics. The newsies believe themselves to be fighting stereotypes, regardless of their accuracy.

More info on the weird tractor

From FarmerTom:

My dad had a 4020 propane. I hated that thing too. Not because it was
a bad tractor, but because I was still a kid then, and I was scared of
the refueling process.

You hook up a line from the liquid valve of a standard propane tank,
to the liquid intake valve on the tractor, then you hook up a return
line from the vapor side of the tracor to the propane barrel,

One gallon of liquid propane expands to 13 gallons of propane vapor.
When you bleed the vapor away from the tractor into the propane barrel
the differential in pressure allows the liquid to flow into the
tractor tank. As the liquid takes the place of the vapor the tank is
filled from bottom to top with liquid.

The tractor runs on both vapor and liquid, you start it on the vapor,
then when it is running well you switch it over to the liquid.
Obviously there is much more energy in the liquid than in the vapor.


My dad was plowing with his, running on liquid, when it got hot
enough that it melted the pistons.

We bought a diesel engine to replace the propane one. Best thing that
ever happened to that tractor. We still have it, use it most every
day, on the home farm. Has a Buhler loader on it.

This fella has a workaround of some sort.

Just makin' sure I had your attention, Farmer Tom.

The wife and I saw this propane tractor on our recent trip through Mississippi. It's the wrong color, but still interesting.

While we are on the subject of ugly tractors, a friend of mine just bought an early 70's 4010 for $10K with a 10 foot Woods bushhog. Sounds a bit privey to me, but he says it has 1300 hours on a rebuid and a new transmission. What do you think, FT? He seems to think it's been only used for mowing.

JACmail From an Old Friend

So, I commence to googling and discover you're a motorcycle
expert farrier mechanic blogger. Well done.

Me, I'm a standard re-treaded programmer waiting for my
job to eventually end up in India, and living in the outer
suburbs, repleat with minivan.

But before I dribble any catch-up email, I've got a question
about how to avoid junking my 1989 Ford Ranger. Seems the
brake line has cracked behind the fuel tank. The shop here says
it's horribly difficult to remove the tank 'coz the bolts are all
corroded over with 18 years of rust, and the tank might break,
and this and that and it's not much in parts unless they destroy
the tank, and yada yada, don't I just want to junk the truck.

The answer is no, I want to keep the truck and not go broke.
Can't they just run a separate brake line from the master
cylinder all the way back to the rear proportioning valve, and
leave the gas tank alone?

They won't do it, so I'm going to coast it on home tomorrow
and replace the line myself (well, with some help of a real mechanic).

Waddya think? New truck isn't in the budget. This is just a toy
for occassional messy stuff.

Carl

How's it goin'!

A good old beater truck is worth a lot for its utility function as well as a backup transportation source. I have my doubts about the fuel tank falling apart. Those bolts will come out with some penetrating oil maybe. It's the hangers/straps you might rip apart. All of this is easily replaced/ fabricated by the son of a man who possessed every issue of Popular Mechanics from 1950 to date.

I would unhook the fuel lines and empty the tank. No smoking! Flush some H2O through it or maybe even leave a few gallons of water in it for safety's sake and commence to working on those fasteners. I know you have a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel. Male sure you have hosed off any fuel you spill from the driveway before gettin' nasty with heat and sparks. Worse comes to worse, there's a new fuel tank on ebay for $79.00. Get everything out of the way, fix the brakes properly (you don't want to deal with unforseen wear on a brake line routed to hell and gone) and then start worrying about how to put it back together. You might have to tear shit up to make the repair. Get over it.

Good to hear from you, old man!

JACIII

The Folks You Run Into

We ran into this fella with an ADV sticker on his BMW F650 Dakar. He's a professional balloon twister. What a world.

Finally! The New Kawasaki Concours and The New SwampThing

Based on the ZX14!!!

200mph with Hard bags! Biker cocaine, man. Pure biker dope.


Swampy is not quite as rugged lookin' but the new brakes and swingarm with (I assume) modernized components should make up for it.

The KLR or the BMW

I kicked around buying the BMW F650 before I settled on the SwampThing. I was leanin' toward the BMW, but I kept seeing pictures like these:

Trail Tail

I have seen it all. Go here.

6Mb video - work safe.

Alcohol Stove Experiment #1, #2

Constructing a Low Pressure Alcohol Stove:

If you try this - do it outside away from flamable material and yourself. These things are dangerous and can explode. Some folk have cautioned against lighting it with the fill hole uncovered. You play at your own risk.

This Alcohol Burner is constructed of two coke can bottoms nested together in the manner in which it comes out looking like a midget coke can with two bottoms. It is helpful to scrounge around and find to cans of different diameter. If you have calipers get them out, ; even .010" (that's ten thousandths or 10/1000 of an inch girls) will matter. But most cans are the pretty close to the same size. If one is slightly larger than the other mark it for use as the "top".

The stove is constructed in just a few simple steps as follows:

Place a razor blade (in a safety holder) in the pages of a hardback book. Loading manuals work great. Rotate a coke can while pressing the can against the razor blade to "score" the can. You are not slicing the can with the razor blade, just putting a deep scratch into it.







You can see the note MrsJAC wrote me so I would be sure and add a caution about playing with dangerous stuff.








Once you have completed the scoring work your fingers on either side of te score to initiate an propogate a slit around the can.

Repeat once more on another can.

Now, mark 16 equidistant points around the circumference of one can bottom (use the larger diameter of the two if you determined a difference) with a "Sharpie". The marks go just outside of the raised ring on the can bottom. Poke small holes at the points you just marked. Use a pushpin or a sewing pin held in a pair of pliers. It is important that these holes very small.

Poke a hole in the center of the same can bottom. This one needs to be large enough that alcohol will readily flow through it. This is the "fill" hole.

This same can bottom must be stretched to fit over the other can bottom. Do this by pressing it onto a third (unmolested) can AT AN ANGLE. Do not press it straight onto the bottom of the can - it will stick and nevercome off. Rotate the angled can bottom against the other can while pressing on it.

Slip the stretched can with holes over the other can bottom. press these together, but do not "mash" them. Closing them up too far will cause the inner can bottom to warp and leak between them. I wasn't real confident in the seals on either of my stoves so I Used some J-B Weld to seal it up.

Fill the device with alcohol until there is a small puddle over the fill hole. light it.


It take a bit to get it hot enough to burn through the perimeter holes but it will. Once the perimeter holes light drop a coin over the fill hole to prevent it from spewing burning alcohol everywhere.

If you have trouble getting it to start you can hold a lighter to the side of it. I am constructing a base pan that I can put a little alcohol in to start the stove rather than light it from the top. The alcohol burning in the base pan will boil the alcohol in the stove and get it cranked up and running.


The one below is burning too rich (I think the holes are too big) and still boiled a pan of water in under 5 minutes. Total burn time was 24 minutes for about 2 ounces of alcohol.

Now BrandX Can Go, Too.

'course that tool kit is gonna come in real handy...

These Dumbasses

Must spend all day on the phone with frenchmen.

“The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 [of the Geneva conventions] would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk,” Mr Powell wrote in a letter to Mr McCain released yesterday.

Can the USA project weakness any more strenuously? The left has been harping that this conflict must be treated as a police matter, but what they really want is to get this into the court system as a kind of WPA for lawyers.

Somebody Try This....

Simple Foolproof Stove

Needed to Build items
1 a 6 ounce round tuna can with Lid
2 an Altoids Sour tin with Lid
3 a Hand paper punch like wal mart sells for a couple of Dollars,and on ebay.
4 a good can opener
Now we are ready to build a Simple multi fuel fool proof stove.
open your tuna Can, and eat, or give to your cat the tuna, keeping the
lid, wash them out, and remove the paper label.
Now taking your Paper punch, punch out 4 holes evenly spaced, as close
to the bottom of your tuna can, as you can
then punch out 8 holes evenly spaced as close to the top of your
tuna can, as you can.
Your tuna can lid is used as a fire snuffer to put out the stove
Eat the Altoids sours, sharing with friends, Clean out the Can when done.
now your stove is complete, it will burn Hexamiene, and triox heat bars and tabs,
also rubbing Alcohol, denatured Alcohol.
as a heat tab stove, just turn the altoids sour tin bottom portion, with its lid removed
upside down, and place your heat tab or triox bar on top, placed inside of your tuna can.
Light it, and put your pan on the tuna can, and cook.
for rubbing alcohol, or Denatured alcohol, turn your altoid tin right side up,
fill the bottom portion, less than half way up with alcohol
place in your tuna can. light, and place your pot on top of the tuna can, your now cooking
If you want to get fancy, one can get some perolight , from a nursery store, and some copper screening
putting them in the bottom portion of your altoid tin, this will give a better regulated heat
when burning alcohol (Safe for the endorsement)
have fun camping

And tell me how it goes.

The Central Committee Speaks

Harry Reid is not pleased at the prospect someone (even nearly two terms later) might tell the tale of the leadership and priorities of our National Socialist Democrats.

This is not even a subtle veiled threat:

The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest. Nowhere is this public interest obligation more apparent than in the duty of broadcasters to serve the civic needs of a democracy by promoting an open and accurate discussion of political ideas and events.

No doubt, the network will scramble to cave to the commisar. Pride in servility and all that.

Must they grow up?

I was wonderin' why the little one was in such a grumpy mood this morning. It seems "somebody" didn't see the note and only left a dollar.....

I'm bettin' a few dollars fell behind the headboard.

I've Never Forgotten a Campsite...

or remembered a hotel room.

We met a lot of nice folks on our little trek. A surprise was these two Indian folks working at the Econolodge we stayed at in Clinton Mississippi:That's Pamela and Ramon. We stayed there on Friday on the way down and Saturday on the way back. Pamela spoke no english, but when we pulled up Saturday night she ran out of the lobby and gave MrsJAC a big hug. Later, after a great supper at Sombrero's resturant, she met us at the door to our room with some kind of Indian food. We thanked her, tried it, pretended to like it, closed the door and immediately started trying to figure out how to get rid of it. Looked like a cross between curly fries and potato chips.

Mission Accomplished

Gumbo Got!

More to come...

I'm Out

Me and the MrsJAC are two-up on the SwampThing gone for Gumbo at the Magnolia Cafe' in Natchez Under the Hill. I'll hoist one fer y'all.

Nate was gonna go, but his wife said, "No." Bummer. Maybe next time, Bro.

We're Sorry, BrandX. You Can Come Back Now!

Actually, even though I've been givin' the Harley fella's hell, Ol' BrandX is still checkin' in and even contributing every now and then. Good on ya', Brother.

He did try to get us Jap bike riders to use anti-sieze compound when replacing screws on our bikes, though, so he might actually be pissed. I can just see myself Thumpin' blissfully down the road when I hit 6500RPM; ol' SwampThing goes into Auto DisAssembley Mode and all the Self Removing Bolts start turnin' out at speed.

And just so y'all know I ain't takin' myself too seriously while whackin' the Harley boys, this fella was spoted in pennsylvania on his KLR:

I don't have the optional milkcrate, but if I did mine would be black.

Harley Bashing Never Gets Old

From my inbox this morning:

Since this also seems to be the funny-Harley-story thread I'll chime in.

I was sitting in the shade on my parked R100 eating my lunch between classes yesterday when a 40-something Harley rider rides up on his shiney '06 model and parks right next to me... in my parking space. I didn't say anything and I didn't really even mind because if he felt enough kinship with me to park in the same space just because I also ride a motorcycle then he must be alright.

It turns out he was alright and we talked while I finished my lunch. He told me about his bike and how much he enjoyed it and asked questions about mine.

The funny part happened at the end of the conversation when he said "You're not going to believe this, but I've put 1200 miles on this thing since I got it in June."

I just smiled and said "Wow, you must have had a great summer."

He asked how many miles I have on my bike and I told him 256,000. The look on his face was great and then I said "Yeah, you're not going to believe this, but I put about 1200 miles on this thing every two weeks."

(Disclaimer: Yes it's a 25 year old bike and no I didn't put all those miles on it, but I do put about 1200 miles on it every 2 weeks just because of commuting. That doesn't include weekend riding or trips.)

I had a similar experience with my parent's neighbor. The fella is restoring and old Sportster 1000 and doin' one hell of a job. The Brothers 'C' are always pickin' with him about it, especially since he knows better having had a Z1 "back in the day.

Well one day he had enough ribbing and whined, all but throwing a crying fit. All because I playfully scoffed at how little he and other Harley owners actually rode their bikes. My first reaction was to try and smooth things over, but I quickly figured out it was just that he was havin' trouble reconciling his Harley fantasy with our assertions of reality, how ever much they were in jest.

It must have really stuck in his craw 'cause later he came over to poke fun of SwampThing loaded on the trailer for the trip home.

"You ride that much?"
-yep.
"I bet those knobbies are rough on the highway"
-Not too bad.
"They wear out fast, too, don't they."
-Not as fast as you'd think. They're a pretty good on/off road compromise
"How many miles that thing got on it?"
- 30,000.
Keep in mind SwampThing looks for all the world like a dirtbike and it's only a 2003.

He kept his composure, but those eyes were on the ground.

Dude Bought a Harley

Ever wonder what those dentists are thinkin' out there on their chrome pigs?

A little insight:

It ran great! In the course of about an hour I put about 15 miles on it in stop-and-go traffic without encountering any problems at all. Aside from a few embarrassing moments when I killed it trying to take off while facing up a hill (with cars racked up behind me, all probably laughing uproariously at the geek on the Harley), it was righteous. It was stupendous. I motored around Greenlake in the sun with my feet on the pegs, the wind in my face, and tears of joy streaming down my cheeks. I was a badass. Bad to the bone! Ride to live, live to ride you sumbitches! The sociopathic tendencies that exist in all bikers blossomed and coursed through my veins. A foot-long grey beard magically sprouted out of my face as faded tattoos spread across my arms and back. Blasting through a busy crosswalk doing 40 over the limit, I stuck my leg out and laughed as my titanium shinguard smashed a little ol' lady's walker into smithereens. I tore off my helmet and hurled it at The Man sitting in his cage in a Winchell's parking lot. I pumped 12-gauge rounds into a whole row of Quiet Please / Hospital Zone signs and then held the throttle wide open with my shin through the center of the shopping mall while I leaned back and reloaded. Raised $50,000 for a local children's home through a biker club rally too. It was a most enjoyable day.

After having it for awhile, he comes to this conclusion:

Over the next 18 months, I put over 3000 miles on the scooter and over 1000 miles on the Sportster. I can safely say that there are significant differences between the two. In many ways, the little scooter is the superior machine.

Within about 3 weeks of daily commuting on the scooter, I began to feel more confident in my ability to come to a rapid stop without having to think too much about it. The scooter felt more and more like riding a motorized bicycle. The Harley felt like riding an aircraft carrier in comparison. It never felt as nimble as the scooter, probably because, well, it isn't. This was true at speed as well as when parking. The scooter can be bumped over curbs and wedged between dumpsters without a second thought. There's no danger of it tipping over while you're weaving around at low speed because it doesn't weigh anything. If it does fall over, it's no big deal.

I ride the scooter rain or shine, mud, gravel, whatever. Part of the Harley's appeal, and value, is it's gloss black paint job, stainless steel braided cabling and hoses, and chrome. I don't want to blast through mudpuddles with it.

After All the Shit

Reuters still has their staged "Suffering Lebanonese Broad" pic up on their website:

EP is Holding a Shoot

Sunday 8/27

Who ever is close enough and wants to come - I know there are many around the Red river Montague county Texas area that might want to come shoot some clay birds. This is our annual tradition, and everybody is welcome. We have alot of fun, and we always like new victims., just kidding.

We have alot of games we play and it cost you a quarter, yep 25 cents per game. we do it for fun not profit, you will have a ball come join us. Email me at ru4cowboys@yahoo.com between now and Sunday morning at 9:00 AM and I will send you the directions.

This isn't some PC gun club shoot, this is the real thing that test's your skills in every way.

Will there be beer?

A Stuck Screw - Philips Head

First!

Righty Tighty - Lefty Loosey

Use good driver bits or drivers. Don't skimp or try to save money here you'll pay for it in te end.

If you have been smart and stopped trying to turn the screw out before the head is cone shaped try the following:

Apply enetrating oil, wait a half hour. Remove screw.

Tap your screwdriver lightly with a hammer as you apply turning force to it.

If that doesn't work, place a screwdriver bit into the philips "star" and heat it cherry red. Leave it there until it and the screw have cooled. This will expand the scew, hopefully breaking any corrosion bond as it cools. Remove the screw if possible. Use the previous procedure if needed.

Note: - your may want to heat the bit out of the scew and then place it in the screw with a pair of pliers if you are imprecise with your torch work.


If the screw head is stripped or nearly stripped try the following:

Place the end of a flat punch (pin punch) about at least the size of the screw head over the screw and whack it. This will close the philips "star" again giving your driver some bite again. You may have to whack the screwdriver into the new star. You might try heating the bit here as you are almost to the end of the options.

Apply some "valve grinding compound" to the screwdriver tip. This will give is extra "bite" and help prevent it from camming out of the screw head. Remove the screw.

If you have gone and just made a funnel shape of the screw head, get a center punch and drive it into four points arond the screw head making another (boogered up) "star". Heat a bit as described above. I don't hold out much hope with this method, but it will sometimes work.

There are some screw extraction devices that are sold by crafstman and others that look lise reverse running countersink bits. Try these, too. They will work on screws that just need a little extra force to come out, but they will only chew the head off if the screw is actually frozen.


If all else fails: Drill.

I'll not go into this as it requires equipment and o

My Civic Duty

So You Went and Told the Masses

First EP, then Nate, now ABC snews.

Internet websites have been full of speculation that it could be a target date for terrorists in commemoration of the return of the 12th imam, a supposed day of reckoning for Shiites.

I got a dollar says won't shit happen tomorrow.

Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Chapter I - The Chain





Modern chains are sealed units with preinstalled factory internal lubrication. Some are of the "endless" variety and must be assembled/disassembled using special tools for replacement or when required for other maintenance prcedures.
They come in different sizes or "pitches" and are specific to an application.

O-Ring:
These are the seals that retain the factory installed "grease" internally. Preserving these is part of the goal of proper chain maintenance.

Masterlink:
This is the part of the chain that allows you to disconnect it from itself. There are three types; Riveted, Slip-fit clip type, and Press-fit clip type.
Only the "Slip-fit clip type" is easily roadside friendly.
The "Press-fit clip type" can be dealt with on the side of the road, but it's a pain in the ass.
The "Riveted" type refers makes an endless chain and requires special tools to work with. It can be disassembled and assembled with common hand tools and workbench, but it ain't fun and it won't work as well or be as safe.

Lubrication:
This is a highly contentious topic. There as many theories as there are riders, but The following is universal.

No matter what you use, use it often and keep your chain as clean as poosible.

There are two basic types of lube; Oily, and chain "wax". Manufacturers recommend "oily" as in 80wt to 90wt gear oil brushed onto a clean chain usually every 300 to 400 miles. Some use WD40. That might be OK for cleaning a chain, but it ain't gonna lube it and some say it will deteriorate the o-rings that seal the chain.
Chain "wax" is a class of spray on lubricant that won't fling off the chain and applies in a somewhat less messy manner than "oily" libricants do. I hate this stuff. It does nothing to prevent corrosion of the chain plates and your chain will look like shit right quick.

The Best Solution is to install an automatic lubrication system such as a "Scott Oiler" or somesuch.

The following manufacturer's link has videos of chain assembley and disassembley.

Chain Stuff

It's High Time For a Trip

SwampThing has undergone some mainteance upgrades lately, and I'm thinkin' it's time to take him out on the road. So, I am beginning the initial stages of planning a motorcycle excursion. An adventure. No great thing. A small thing. Leaning toward another Iron Butt trip, but a loop this time. Have to see what's 500 miles away and interesting. Looks like a solo trip this time as Nate appears covered up in domestic duties.
Break out my old 2002 edition of Streets and Trips and look around..... Some possiblities: A SuperSlab Tour through major cities nearby (ugh), A Hillbilly Backroad Tour through eastern Kentucky and East Tennessee, A Never Too Far From Home Tour which maintanes a maximum radius from the house of 3 hours driving time. Of all these the Hillbilly Backroad Tour looks the most interesting. May plot a River Road Tour along the Ohio; that'd be fun, too.

I'm Really Gettin' The Itch

I stumbled on this fella's website the other day and checked out his videos. He does some pretty good editing work. Sure, this one is corny, but if ya' got time and bandwidth check some of the others out, especially the rainy trackdays. One fella starts a slide 30yds before the turn!

Bandwidth Warning

Let's Eat!

Riders, Post your general location so I can get a handle on whether or not a Sunday ride to a steak dinner at some central location would be feasible. We may be able to just get a few together at different points at different times as I figure folks are pretty spread out, but I don't need much excuse to ride to a good meal.

MM I got you in Indy.
Nate's near Nashville.
Welldigger is near Nashville.
EP is near DFW.
Bill is somewhere Gawd-awful near as I can tell...

Pipe up, y'all

The Times, They Are a Changin'

Some old ridin' buddies went on a poker run today. They met for breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Lexington, then on to Midway for their meet up.

I was invited. I didn't go. We not exactly, "didn't go"; I met 'em for breakfast and rode with 'em to the meet up.

A couple of these guys have been faithful riding buddies for many years, and leaving them with the poker run organizers I felt like I was abandoning them to a nursing home. What can ya' do?! I talked until I'm blue in the face, but they are beguiled by the flatulent, toothless pachyderm. So, abandon them I did, lest I fall along side them into the morass of fatman's whimsy where reason may not reach and from which there is no salvation.

UPDATE:
I heard back from one of the old-folks. It seems one of the harley ridiers t-boned a roadside tree. From the description it sounds like another Harley rider 30 mph freeze-up. Popped over a hill, saw a curve and a driveway equipped with optional 16" ( " means inches, SB) diameter tree and fixed his paniced gaze upon the tree. You know the rule, look where you want to go. He looked, He went.
Bike is wrecked. Head is bashed, brain is scrambled (it was before) since he wore no helmet. I am told he had no idea where he was, what he was doing, what day it was, or how he got there. He was alive when they hauled him off, though his breathing was laboured and he was wheezing badly.
He sure looked cool w/o his helmet on. Bet his family will think he's cool, too, when they have to wipe his ass because he shits himself now.


Ride safe y'all. And ATGATT; You're worth the trouble.

JACIII