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Motorcycles, tools, and garages! A little bit of everything mechanical and technical.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Leaving the Lights on.


Whats with men and their garage? It seems like almost every man I know has a fascination with garages, a fascination akin to what most people consider the infatuation that men have for power tools. Okay, maybe not ALL men, but a lot of them.

A mans home is his castle? Uhh, no. Theres someone else in charge there. Don't get me wrong, bieng in charge is not all its cracked up to be. I would hate to be the one that has to get me to take out the garbage, vacuum, put up the backsplash, finish the basement, or whatever the case may be. The garage however, is MY castle. You can always slink away to the garage in dull moments, moments of happines, and sometimes moments of anger. Sometimes you can even sleep in your garage! I have yet to experience that, although I'm trying to talk Sarah into living in a big garage someday...

The trick, then, is to find ways in which you can cross the border from one kingdom to the next. Luckily, taking the garbage out leads down a path that goes right past the garage! I also like to hedge my bets: if I ever DO make it out to the garage, I "accidentally" leave the lights on. A staple in our house is, "I'll be right back, I have to go turn the lights off in the garage. See you in an hour"

Friday, March 31, 2006

Mind Tricks.

Do you remember things that nobody else does? For example, I can recal with great clarity going out to play one morning. For some reason we had some people over for a big meal, but it seems like the meal was a breafast. Maybe someone was visiting from afar? I dont remember that part.

Anyways, I went out to play. On this particular day I found myself in the lean-to part of the barn where the pig food and old pull-type combine were stored. I dont remember if I had just fed the pigs (my chore at the farm) but I was running up the conveyor belt on the combine like it was a tread mill.

Next thing I know I'm hanging face down by my shirt, which had snagged on one of the blades on the front of the combine as I had slid accross them. I couldnt reach the ground, the combine, or my shirt, so of course I did the only thing any self respecting 6(?) year old would do- screamed bloody murder! Someone (dad, i think it was you, but my memory is kind of foggy on this part) eventually came running out and unhooked me from the combine.

I dont think I ever played on that combine again...

Monday, March 27, 2006

Happy birthday to ME!

Okay, not me, but thats the only way Isaac will sing it. Hope your birthday was a good one! We celebrated by sleeping untill noon (yes, even kade and isaac), then i spent the rest of the day wiping noses and administering antibiotics. it was great. I was then forced to take a 2 hour nap, which i didnt need, so of course it took me until 1:00 this morning to fall asleep. World, here i come!!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

GROUNDBREAKING NEWS!!!


Dad, it IS possible! This post is to bid fairwell to a good friend. Not as good as some, she was only a part of the family for about a month. My heart was heavy as we loaded her into the back of the adoptive families truck, but hey. I'm sure I can find another bike to put the money towards!

Monday, March 13, 2006

A Riddle for Steve...

The limit is X, but Y is the velocity. Lets say that X - Y = Z. How much is Z?

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

oh great. hes one of THOSE kids....


Maybe we should have named him Napoleon... or bubble boy. Currently he wont go anywhere without his "spiderhat" and glasses. Currently, we wont go anywhere either. At least, not out in public. Kade appears to be a little more normal and so far has less calvin&hobbes tendancies. At least, Kade hasnt dumped a hole thing of dishsoap out on the glider-rocker stool and floor, and doesnt run around in only underpants... time will tell.














Sorry for the crappy phone camera pics...

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Faith is....


Faith is driving a 36 year old pickup. Faith is driving that pickup more than 15 minutes away from home. Faith is taking that pickup, knowing that NONE of the gauges work, *hoping* you filled it the last time you drove it (remember, the gas gauge doesnt work), and driving it 65 miles away. REAL faith is then taking that pickup and getting on the freeway in fairly heavy traffic and winding it out to a whopping 75 miles per hour. BLIND faith is then saying to yourself, "Ah, she can take it" and bumping that speed up to 80 for another 20 miles. Man, I love the sound of a screaming 360. I guess you could say I have Faith in FORD!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Do you ever wonder why?


This picture was taken by my Mother while she was over in Mississippi. The question just begs to be asked: "Why?"? What were they thinking? "Oh, I just had some spare cash and hadn't paid tuition yet, so i figured, what better way to get the chicks!". Sorry dude. Just not working for me.

Same thing with Mississippi. My philosophy is that someone had been outside in Alasaka for a couple of days with no coat, had a serious case of the shivers, and was trying to write "my sippy" to their two year old. What with the shivers and all, it came out as Mississippi.

Okay, okay, so I really do like the wheels, the car, and the spelling. I guess I just wish I had some extra cash and a bad case of the shivers!

Friday, February 17, 2006

Licking 9 volt batterries!

No, I've never done it. But in preperation for the wiring Dad and I are going to be doing to my house this week, I remembered a great experience I had with 120 volts and substantially more current. Or rather, an experience my friend Clinton had. It even happened in a garage! (just not dorkpunch garage).

Late one evening, much to Clints neighbours disdain, we were working on one of his killer snowmobiles, a John Deere 340 Liquifire. Incedentally, this is the same sled i jumped the Ridge Park Highway on, but thats a different story.

The sled was having carb troubles at the time and we had been trying to sync them out in the alley. It got dark and we gave up and pulled the sled into the garage. Clints shop was a pretty nice setup, although it was seriously lacking in electrical outlets and lighting at the time. To this end, we had set up a set of those fancy floodlights-on-a-stand setups to illuminate our hardships. The extension cord ran from the outlet on the wall across the bay to the light stand. When we pulled the sled inside, we drove it right in to this fancy bay and popped the hood.

Now, for those of you who arent to familiar with snowmobiles, on the bottom of the ski are wearbars. They keep the ski from wearing holes through them. In these wearbars are sharp little peices of metal called skags. Remeber how we had the shop set up? With the extension cord on the floor? Well, we drove the sled right across it. Actually, we parked it with the skis resting on top of the cord, which at this point had two nice cuts in it from the skis.

Good thing it wasnt plugged in! We commenced working.

It quickly became evident that we were in need of further illumination. I was convienently close to the outlet, so i reached over and plugged it in.

Several things happened in short order. We'll just skip the part about the electricity joltling through the skis, arcing across the tie rods, and seeking out a ground. It was pretty cool to see three guys LEAP away from the sled. It took me a little longer to figure out what the deal was and why there were 3 guys just itching to plug me in...




Dontcha just hate it when your boogers freeze?

I sure do. Especialy when they freeze because its been 7 deg F for the last three days. Dang 'rents drug the weather down with em from Canada. What makes it even worse is that i almost had a free weekend and i couldve gone riding. *sigh*. On a brighter note- I got a new motorcycle!! Well, new to me. Steveo, you would like it- its a '71 Kawasuky F6- just like your old one but its a 125. I still think you shoulda hung on to that 250... Why is it that i cant ever let bikes go?

Hmm. Having re-read what I just wrote, I admit defeat. I'm to tired to change it though.... Only 9:30 and its about 3 hrs past my bedtime... g'night. *yaaawwnn*

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

The Pits

No, I'm not talking about Monday mornings, crappy deoderent, or melancholy feelings. I'm talking about the game. Pit. For some reason, this stupid little game really likes me. Maybe its just the fun of screaming "one one one one one two two two two two two two okay one here who'll take three three three" for an hour. Maybe its the exhiliration of playing with women, who have sharp fingernails and dont care if your hand is in the way of the card they want.

Anways, the 'rents came for a day or two, and we had a great time with them and friends playing pit last night. Hopefully their trip goes better than Steveos (aka goobersuckweasel) trip to Washington. Anyone wanna buy a Mitsubishi Mighty Max?

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

how NOT to dispose of unwanted vehicles.

Sorry Stevo, this tops the pics of the truck jumping in your blog. dP not to be held responsible for poor taste in music.

http://www3.telus.net/minizuk/More_Stuff/rangerdanger.wmv

Supposedly 147 feet in a Ford Ranger.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Succumbing to temptations...


Today, Feb. 2, 2006, at 4:27 p.m., Lula broke free from her mighty cocoon and awoke with a magnificent rumble. After a brief but very exciting stint from the garage to the road, Lula and i went for a short jaunt through the countryside on fairly clear roads. Then, after another brief but exciting trip down the icey pothole filled alley, she re-entered her slumber, hopefully for a much shorter time. Obviously, the picture of Lula was not taken recently. Its from last summer.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Things that go "squirt" in the night...

I used to be scared of things that went "bump" in the night. Things like Freddy Kruger, Jason, and that freaky frozen guy that would keep me under the covers not daring to breath at night. Well, Freddy, do your worst. You dont scare me anymore! Not unless you go "squirt".

Squirt, you say? Maybe I should elaborate a little bit. its more of a "skwe-EEERRRRRRTTT" most of the time. Some times its a much shorter but higher powered "SKWORT".

These are the deadly ones, as my wife found out the other night. Of course, this would be the night we are down to 2 diapers, the night she decided that the baby would probably be okay if she sampled some home made jalapeno bread. And, of course, the "SKWORT" would follow the "skwe-EEEERRRRRTT" by about two minutes, giving enough time that the diaper would be removed. This, of course, allowed us to observe the full power of the un-muffled and un-restrained "SKWORT". Remember Super Soakers? How they could shoot this huge stream of water 50 ft? They've got nothing on a good healthy newborn baby "SKWORT". I love changing the sheets and wall color at 1:00 in the morning...

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

temptations...

In the middle of each January, I get a bill. I kind of like this bill, as it is a sign of spring. When the bill comes, it makes me think of spring and summer and fall, nice weather, barbecues, and the wind in your face. Yes, this bill is the insurance renewal for my motorcycle.
Of course, thinking about spring and summer and fall, nice weather, barbecues, and the wind in your face can make one quite grumpy. Especially when the motorcycle is locked in the shop awaiting those spring and summer and fall days, awaiting a time void of slush and mud and cold and snow. I just cant decide weather or not I like those tempting little morsels of joy on the horizon... As mamma always used to say, be happy with what you've got, not sad for what you've not. Or something like that. Mmmm. I love heavy wet snow.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

John Wayne

"Good Morning, Sir!"

"Waallll, I guess everyones entitled to their own opinion... "

-Mr. McClintock.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Tempting Bums!

Toys are a lot of fun. Do you remember having toys when you were a kid that were so much fun that they always got taken away? My brother had a gurlfiend that went to Korea and brought him back an air-soft pistol. Once Mom got sick of the little plastic balls all over the house (this probably took about 3 hours), the gun was confiscated.

Last Christmas, Steve actually found the gun in its original hiding place. We thought this was great fun. The evil glint in my mothers eye when she saw the gun informed us that one toe out of line, one yellow plastic ball left on the floor, and it was curtains for us. Well, I belive it was Christmas day, and the gun was just sitting there, so i shot Steve in the bum. Steve didnt even flinch! Hmmm... I thought to myself, It must not be that strong. So I glanced around the room for another target.

The only target that readily presented itself was the behind belonging to my dear Mother as she had her back turned to me preparing Christmas Dinner.

Steve and I had almost a full week to search for the gun in its new hidding place. It was never found. Y'know, its amazing how fast old people can move when they put there mind to it...

Thursday, January 26, 2006

New Begginings


Seems like a time of newness around here... Even though its still January there is a whiff of spring in the air, the days are getting longer, work has started to pick back up, and Kade was born! Kade Orrin was born January 23, wieghed in at 7 lbs 14 oz and was 20.5 inches long. The delivery went great much to Sarahs delight! Donations are being accepted at this time and should be in the form of cash or junk motorcycles...