MythBusters

The story goes something like this:

A motorcycle rider hits an object in the road (ranges from a possum to a fallen tree). The force of the impact launches the rider many feet into the air to impact a telephone pole cross bar whereupon he is impaled. Stuck. Like a pig on a spit. A bug on a pin.

A fella recently related this tale to me with the assertions that he had personally known the rider and had inspected the tree laying across the road said rider had hit (about 18" across). I was using the occasion of this fellas' telling of the tale to illustrate the fact he is, in fact, a liar to a friend of mine, Chris.

Chris is a physicist and got to wondering just how that would work..... Needless to say, a few beers and 20 minutes later he had this prepared:




Disclaimer: This was quick and dirty, and used perfect conditions since it was for the purposes of testing the possibility of such an occurrence. Go easy on the boy, Gregg. Though, I did warn him....

So it looks like that '63 Panhead would had to have been runnin' close to 550mph when it hit that log, and the forks would have had to be infinitely rigid, the log would have to have been infinitely massive and infinitely hard.

Ahem...

Having washed out completely on the Derby, I think I'll try to mitigate my losses with a beer recommendation:

Shiner Bock

Brewed in Shiner Texas since 1913. All taste and no after-taste.

Do not confuse it with Shiner Blonde. Some relation to mead I think. Bleck!

Derby Day

My bets:

Cowtown Cat - $10.00 to win

Nobiz like Shobiz - $10.00 to win

To Be Famous

The most absurd idea becomes "deep thought" when one is inebriated. That is not to say that Greenies have much in the way of thought processes.

Crow (4/19, Springfield, Tenn.): I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming. Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of forest conservation which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.

Crow (4/19): I also like the idea of not using paper napkins, which happen to be made from virgin wood and represent the height of wastefulness. I have designed a clothing line that has what's called a "dining sleeve." The sleeve is detachable and can be replaced with another "dining sleeve," after usage. The design will offer the "diner" the convenience of wiping his mouth on his sleeve rather than throwing out yet another barely used paper product. I think this idea could also translate quite well to those suffering with an annoying head cold.

The above are excerpts from the blog Miss Sheryl Crow and some other hollywood nutball on a bus tour of the South. More yankees trying to save us poor ignorant rednecks from ourselves....

I, Treonaut

It's assholes and elbows around here, fellas. And I'll tell you one thing, by God, the work ain't nothing compared to the clerical duties associated with being a moblie equine Dr Scholls vendor.
I have tried many a system to streamline contacts, scheduling, invoicing, notes, and communication. DayRunner (never handy - uneditable - where's that pen?) , desktop PC (scratch a note and forget to add it), cellphone (no used - data entry too limited, and lastly, my trusty Visor Platinum, a triplicate invoice pad, and many combinations thereof. The Visor stood me in good stead until things got really hoppin' this spring and I did not have it on my person when making an appointment. Missed appointment - lost phone # - unhappy client. One pissed off horseshoer. See missing and appointment feels kinda like tellin' a lie. Icky. Anyway, I vowed this would never happen again and began searching for an all encompassing man portable device capable of managing contacts, scheduling, communication, notes, and invoicing - all at the same time.

Palm Treo 700p. I'm already using the Palm Desktop. Easy, slam dunk decision. Wait... No WIFI!! Not even wifi support?! What?! Palm is migrating to Linux?! Shit!

Palm Treo 700w. Microsoft is really gettin' on my nerves lately. But it has WIFI support (SDIO), and I have to admit Outlook has the Palm desktop beat all to hell (except for sub 1/2 hour scheduling).

A few minutes with the wife's Axim convinced me and I plopped down my hard earned money and hooked my PPC to my belt.

I'm looking at PPC invoicing programs and for a bluetooth printer now to mount in the truck. Geek nirvana, boys. Geek nirvana.

Check it out:

See what an old redneck can put together with a little effort.

Damn fine work there, Gary.

Newlyweds

Golden Gopher Glory! Tubby Smith sees Shadow!

What a Hoot!

Tubby Smith has left the UK Basketball program and you'd think the diversity-centric are poppin' a coronary gasket. How dare UK fans expect to support a program that is above the rest of the nation? UK fans are a joke in their expectations they say. Unrealistic. The mantra goes something like this:

Get real. It's, like, 2008 and everything. There just isn't going to be a dominant program anymore. Parity. Yeah, that's it. There's parity now. Everybody else has gotten really, really good. Anyone can win and we like it that way. Rednecks and hillbillies shouldn't have anything to be proud of, because they aren't as smart as the rest of the country who lives in the East or the North or California. They don't even wear much Abercrombie - how can their colloge basketball team ever be good?

Yeah that's a bit satirical, but it pretty much sums up the fit the local media is throwing. They LIKE to see UK lose. They LOVE mediocrity. I think it's an "I suck. You Suck. We all Suck so I feel better about the fact I was never able to ______" mentality.

Fuck 'em. The expectation and pursuit of excellence is it's own reward, as we shall soon see. Right Coach Donovan?

For the Toolguys:

This is what I have been so busy with of late. Bill, eat your heart out.

This is a Stonewell Body for a farrier shoeing rig and this is how it is done in the horse capital of the world.

Hey Nate,

Do NOT start looking at and reading about camping gear.

The Long Way 'Round

Rent this DVD documentary. Ewan MacGregor (ObiWan Kenobe) and Charlie Boorman (Deliveranve) circumnavigate the globe on a pair of 1200GS BMWs through Siberia, Mongolia, Alaska, Montana, Kazakhstan.

They had to have some help on the "Road of Bones", but other than that they made a hell of a ride.

Beware - this kind of thing is catching.

Bill Beats His Drum

The DC Court of Appeals struck down the DC gun ban!

NO NO NO! It Can't Happen!

Things are supposed to get worse and worse, there is no place in the script for incremental shifts towards sanity! Only whole-sale revolution is allowed!

Besides, the Justice Silberman was appointed by Reagan, and everybody knows that Judicial appointments by Republicans always further a statist agenda.
Bill | Email | Homepage | 03.12.07 - 11:43 am | #

Just when you thought it could never happen

The DC Court of Appeals struck down the DC gun ban!

There will be much freakin' out on the left over this, and we will surely get to see SCOTUS in it's true form as soon as it gets around to reviewing it.

Spring has Sprung Early in Horse Country

Go Away! I'm Busy.

Google: Craig Vetter

Craig is the inventor of the modern touring bike. The original Honda GL1000 was meant to be a sport bike, but Craig thought it needed something.

The "Windjammer" fairing was born and EVERYBODY bought one for their GL1000. Everntually Honda thought they should cash in on this popular accessory and offered it preinstalled on the GL. Thus was the Goldwing born.

Mr. Vetter now rides a........

K L R 650

Can you guess what he is up to?

For you sheltered Nascar Fans:

What man worthy of the title doesn't know of this?

Rigid Tool

If you're not cheatin' you're not tryin'.

"This is not the action of an organization, a manufacturer or a sponsor," Waltrip said in a statement. "This was an independent act done without consent or authorization from me or any of my executive management team." -Mike Waltrip


Somebody tell me how thre's any racin' goin' on when the driver has an "executive management team"? They probably hang motivational posters on the shop wall instead of the Rigid Tool Calendar. Makes me sick.

The more things change...

Back in the early eighties GM decided it wanted to put diesel engines in a few of it's 3/4 ton+ light trucks and even some oldsmobile sedans. Folks were familiar with the rock solid dependability and longevity of BIG truck Cat, Detroit, and Cummins engines along with the ever-present Mercedes 300D that just wouldn't die. Bear in mind this was when diesel fuel was cheaper than gasoline and at 100,000 miles you called the junkyard to come get that worn out car out of the driveway. Were folks ready to buy vehicles for longterm use? GM thought so.

Folks ordered them. And drove them. Back and forth to the dealership. Problems of all kinds. Expensive injector pumps, coolant in the oil, warped heads, leaking head gaskets. They were so bad that a myth was perpetuated that GM had "converted" gasoline engines to diesel and foisted them upon the public.

Years after the introduction of the GM diesel the aftermarket got into the act and started offering stronger replacement head bolts. Viola! Problem solved. Did I hear someone calling "Bullshit!"?? Look it up. For years mechanics circled around the problem replacing all the wrong things and causing many return trips to the dealership for warranty and expensive out of warranty repairs.

Now, just how could a company with the resources of GM spec fasteners that were not up to the job? Didn't they have trained engineers? What gives? Luckily, the corporate idiocy passed when Dodge speced a Cummins (cement truck) diesel for their 3/4 ton+ trucks and the working world beat a path to their door. Ford adapted and old International Harvester diesel and dubbed it the PowerStroke to great success, and GM upgraded the 6.5 liter with a turbo and some redesign, but not many were lookin' to take a chance on it.

Fast forward twenty years and look around; Dodge still uses the Cummins, Chevy got smart and bought Isuzu and is using one of there diesels to great success, but old Ford decided they were gonna improve the breed with their very own 6.0 liter all aluminum, variable vane turbo hot shit engine.

Guess what - weak head bolts.

The Shame

I guess every family has a Black sheep...

New Addition to the Family

Meet Pudge. (we didn't name her)