Wingnuts & Bolts

Taco Night in Paradise

2012-01-18T23:55:00.005-05:00

I have, for several years now, had grandiose notions about writing a book of short stories called Fine Food and Cocktails, which would be a group of stories about the kind of people who frequent the kind of places that put "Fine Food and Cocktails" on their signs or menus. You know from looking at them that neither the fare nor the clientele are "fine," but they are sure as hell interesting. This is the beginning of one of the stories I was going to write. I seem to have no problem getting started, but always get bogged down in minutia that is completely irrelevant to the story as a whole. I should probably take a creative writing class or something.

Yeah, in all my free time.

Anyway, here's the seed of the installment of Fine Food and Cocktails, "Taco Night In Paradise":

TacoNight in Paradise

Brenttried to exhale as he entered the bar, so as to minimize the effect of itsassault on his senses, but it didn’t work. The smell was a tangible, physical one, made up of decades ofcigarettes, beer, sweat, and more than a little blood. Brent had seen cleaning products around theplace, but never any evidence that they had been put to their intendeduse. It didn’t, however, stop him fromcoming in every Tuesday after softball, or from making the occasional stop in onhis way home from work when he needed to kill time. The smoke-stained walls and sticky bar topwere just features that added character to his times drinking there, whether hewas alone or with the members of the team. He’d been coming to the Other Side Lounge (an appropriate name for thebar, as it was positioned on the “other” side of the railroad tracks from theemployee lot at Brent’s office) for several years, probably as long as he’dbeen working at the credit company. Hehonestly couldn’t remember how long it had been, and didn’t really care to, asthat would only serve to illustrate just how long he’d been unhappy. It also didn’t make him a regular in theplace, by any means. That dubious honorwas reserved for guys like Stinky Pete, Roger, and Just Ed, the three ancientbarflies who occupied the three stools to the right of the cash register, inperfect viewing angle to see the small TV Brent assumed was placed therespecifically for them. Brent had neverseen them anywhere but the Other Side, though he assumed they lived in Paradise.

Let's write a book about music...

2011-12-19T00:44:00.000-05:00

So a couple of years ago my friend, the infamous Clarence Beeks, and I decided that we were going to jump on the Klosterman bandwagon and write a book of music "critique," for lack of a better word. Really it was about music critics and pundits, mostly. We never got very far, but I did write an introduction and a few outlines. Unfortunately, I can't seem to copy the footnotes to paste them into the blog, so I'll manually create endnotes for you (un-clickable, unfortunately). Because I love you. This is the introduction, offered without comment:

When Bill and I first started to discuss writing this book he sent me a link to the Wikipedia entry for the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. I looked at the list and saw most of the so-called “essential” albums of the last 40 years or so, which wasn’t really very surprising. What was somewhat surprising, to me, is how the number of essential recordings increased exponentially from decade to decade (I’m sure this is related to how the music industry evolved from record-centric to album-centric in the 1960’s). Looking over the 1950’s there are some obvious choices: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, etc. Very much the jazz and swing decade, with just a smattering of early rock and some Latin, for a total of 23 “absolutely essential” albums of the 1950’s. Again, this is surely due to the recording industry putting out releases as records instead of albums, only two to four tracks at a time. It was a very different kind of experience for music fans, I imagine, and was probably kind of like today’s digital age where artists are releasing a song or two at a time on iTunes or eMusic(1). Moving into the 1960’s, the number of essential releases grows substantially. When the primary way to release new music switched from the record format to the album format in the late-1960’s, it accompanied the switch from AM to the new FM radio frequencies and a change in programming styles and formats. Bands started to work on releases that were themed, concept albums such as Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the Beatles(2). The fact that the list for the 1960’s contains more than seven times as many entries as the previous decade is even more mind-boggling when you realize that it wasn’t until later in the decade that the formats changed, and that a great deal of the titles on the list were released in the second half of the decade. Part of this is due to an increase in popular music as a medium as well as an increase in the number of pop acts across the spectrum. The late Sixties, especially, saw both an explosion in youth culture and the music that drove it. Every slice of society had a musical representative, from poor, black youths living in the projects to old, rich, white men in country clubs. The definitive album list, however, tends to focus more on the young side of the industry, presumably because that’s where the growth and experimentation was coming from. The future of the industry and the sound that would shape forthcoming artists wasn’t in the crooners and jazz standards of the 1940’s and ‘50’s, but in the experimental sounds of the young Frank Zappa (Mothers of Invention, Freak Out), Pink Floyd (Piper at the Gates of Dawn), Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin) and others. Some artists, such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley(3) experienced some success in the early or later parts of the decade, but the experimental jazz and big band sounds of the previous decade had seen their popularity wane in the face of a rock-and-roll revolution comprised of many forms of the relatively young style, from the country-tinged Rockabilly of Jerry Lee Lewis and his Sun Records stable mates to the folk styling’s of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan to the new electric blues from Chicago and the Delta of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, to the radical psychedelic sounds of San Francisco’s Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, to the New York Art Scene’s Velvet Underground and everything in between. Rock and Roll was here to stay, and was beginning to show how diverse a sound it really was. Rock and Roll was young, it was vibrant and it was new. Rock and Roll was sports cars, motorcycles, sex, drugs, surfing and freedom. Rock and Roll was anti-war, pro-diversity(4), anti-establishment, and pro-youth. A whole generation grew up with Rock and Roll and adopted it as the statement of their identity. As the decade progressed, so did the music, on into the Seventies, when popular music became even more fragmented and country and western moved from the honky-tonk bars to every American television set.

As can be expected, the list continues to grow at an alarming rate, although with not nearly the kind of difference as between the Fifties and Sixties. From 23 albums considered essential listening in the 1950’s, to 150 in the 1960’s we’ve got 277 for the 1970’s. Out of 1001 albums, we’re through only the first 450 and we’re half way through the timeline. More than half of the albums that you absolutely cannot die without having heard were released in the last thirty years(5). Again, there are a number of reasons for this imbalance, not the least of which is the proliferation of acts and the incessant touring and release schedules that some of them adhere to. Additionally, there are an untold number of people working in the music industry as session musicians, songwriters, composers and producers. It’s hard to imagine that the number of people working in the music industry declines from year to year, or has declined since the 1950’s, so we’re going to assume that it’s gone up each year, probably in a line or curve that roughly matches the amount of money in music sales(6). I can track this progression in my own collection as well, seeing a much greater number of releases from the Nineties and the first part of the new century. Partly this is due to my greater awareness of music that is released in my lifetime, obviously, but I feel it is representative of the greater trend because my appreciation of music isn’t only shaped by what’s been popular in my lifetime, but also by what my parents and friends listened to(7). In fact, one of the things that surprised me wasn’t really the number of records from each decade, although it was certainly interesting to see the disparity from era to era, but instead the titles that were included and the ones that weren’t. Any list like the 1001 Albums list is going to have about 500 albums on it that everyone, everywhere agrees are absolutely essential to everyone. There are too many pre-existing lists and too many music magazines, websites and books already extant that have ranked the top 100, 250 or 500 “Desert Island Discs” or “Best Albums of All Time” or “Albums No Collection Can Be Without” for there to be much argument about those 500. The 1001 Albums list isn’t ranked, so there’s no hierarchy among the selections, they’re listed chronologically. Because of this, all the albums listed are equally important and, at the same time, equally unimportant. If an album made the list, there’s no discussion as to whether it’s more essential than the albums on either side of it or on either end. The nice thing about a list like this is that the authors aren’t telling you what your tastes should be. They’re not saying that Sgt Pepper is better than any other album ever made by anyone in popular music, like Rolling Stone. What they are saying is, if you haven’t heard it yet, you should really make an effort to hear it. And don’t just hear it, listen to it. Every hearing-enabled person on the planet hears thousands of things each day, but they really have to filter out and listen to understand what’s going on around them. Albums, especially essential albums, are like that. You can hear them, or you can listen to them. Since reading over the list for the first time, I’ve seriously considered putting together a playlist of digital copies of the albums I already have in my collection just so I can get a sampling of the list as a whole. I’ve been surprised by just how many of the albums on the list I already have or am familiar with. It’s somewhat comforting, really, since I do consider myself a connoisseur of music. Another great thing about the list has been mentally re-visiting the albums in my head and remembering where I was or what I was doing when I first heard them. It’s been a lot of fun to go back to and relive those experiences and that’s one of the reasons I was so excited about the prospect of writing a book about music. Bill and I have spent the last twenty years talking about music, going to concerts and making music, and we feel that we have some understanding of how things have progressed to this point.

[1] If you remember buying new releases in the 45 (or 78) format, please ask your children (or grandchildren) about these fascinating new technologies for purchasing and listening to music. You’ll be amazed. Seriously.

[2] This is the commonly accepted gold standard for the “birth of the concept album,” even though many would argue that the Beach Boys Pet Sounds (released a year earlier) was the first theme album. Mainstream music publications often rank these two albums at #1 and #2 on Best Ever lists, with Rolling Stone preferring the Beatles opus over Brian Wilson’s.

[3] Presley’s 1968 Christmas-season TV special, titled simply Elvis (later called the ’68 Comeback Special) was his first public musical performance since 1961 and truly brought him back into the public eye as a musician. Presley spent the 1960’s as an actor in a series of movies featuring him in roles such as “singing race car driver” and making about as much sense. He didn’t have a Top 40 hit for several years and by 1968 it had been 6 years since he’d cracked the Top 100. After 1968, Presley experienced a career resurgence that saw him set a new standard for performance and promotion in Las Vegas and had him touring extensively until his death in 1977.

[4] It had to be, since all rock and roll, structurally, is based on traditional African rhythm structures later adopted by Black bluesmen of the Mississippi delta, electrified and sped up.

[5] The book in question was published in 2006, with the last entry on the list being the White Stripes’ Get Behind Me Satan, released in February, 2005. A lot of very interesting albums have come out since then, which almost certainly would have made the list. The question then becomes, what gets dropped?

[6] At least until recently, when the digital “sharing” of music and the digital distribution model not only increased the number of people working in the industry and self-publishing their releases, but also decreased (according to the RIAA) the amount in revenues brought in by the industry in album and singles sales.

[7] This is probably true of most people who truly appreciate music (as opposed to people who merely “like” music or people who are very compartmentalized in their listening habits) as it’s better and easier to appreciate modern music by having some experience with the acts that influenced current musicians. The collection of someone who truly understands and appreciates music will undoubtedly contain a great many of the entries on the 1001 list, from each decade. The current trend in this vein is to buy a couple of Pixies albums because they influenced EVERYONE that released a “modern” or “alternative” rock album since 1986.

New Stuff

2011-11-30T15:27:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile, hasn't it? Ok, so it's been a REALLY LONG TIME since I've put anything up here. In my defense, such as it is, I have been busy. When not corralling two small children, I've been doing freelance proof and edit or recovering from various little bugs. Also, I'm really lazy. Let's be honest, most nights that I could be updating or posting here, I'm sitting on the couch, trying to figure out if I have enough energy to get upstairs to go to bed.

I have several ideas for posts lined up in my head, which I should probably write down somewhere before I forget them, and I'm going to use one of them today. A couple or three years ago, I got the crazy idea (no doubt heavily influenced by my best friend, the immortal Clarence Beeks) to co-author a book on rock music, alá Chuck Klosterman or Lester Bangs, only much, much less talented or recognized. The idea, such as it was, was spawned over the consumption of Many Beers, and bounced around in my cranium, various notebooks, and a couple of computers before wending its way back into the dark recesses of my brain, where it found solace with everything else I've tried to start writing (a collection of short stories, a bunch of mediocre poetry, and a "novella"). I've decided to "self-publish" what I've got (once I find it) so that I'll start to maybe feel accountable, but also as a way to collect notes on what's there. So there, that's something.

I'll also be posting a description of a speaker repair job (with pictures!) that I did and am fairly proud of. I decided last year to start building a stereo system, prompted by the gifting of a nice Technics turntable and a veritable MOUNTAIN of vinyl records. I played it through my iPod dock for a while, but I hated having to move that thing around the house. I got a receiver from my brother-in-law, a DVD/CD player from my father-in-law, and a rack and speakers from Freecycle. The speakers are decent Cerwin Vega AT-8's, and were in desperate need of re-foaming. Luckily, the guy that gave them away also gave me the re-foaming kit. Otherwise, I'd be looking at free speakers that were going to cost anywhere from $50 - $200 once they were working.

I'll also try to put some ephemera that only I will find interesting, such as my ramblings about my 1949 Royal manual typewriter, working on the Benz, fixing up my old mountain bike (then proceeding to watch it hang from the ceiling of the garage), etc. So, you've got that to look forward to.

I really do want to keep this more up to date, as it's sanity-saving to be able to talk to the ether like this. We'll see what happens!

Identity Crisis

2010-03-08T21:41:00.003-05:00

I sold my motorcycle today. This shouldn't be a huge deal because I've only really ridden about three or four times over the last 18 months or so, but it still feels strange and sad. I wasn't pressured into selling it due the impending arrival of Peanut 2:Electric Boogaloo, I wasn't pressured into selling it by Mrs. Nut, who doesn't like the idea of me riding out there with all the crazy cagers who don't see you, even when you're looking them in the eyes, and I didn't do it because we need the cash (though we do, with me not having a paycheck). I did it because I couldn't think about it sitting there, unused, for much longer without driving me crazy.

The SV was very very good to me. We only had one truly hairy moment, when I high-sided at low speed on Old Garth Rd, outside of White Hall. I had only been riding for about six months at that point and panic-braked into a skid. I was unfazed, ultimately, fixed 'er up and got back on the road ASAP. Sure, I dropped her in parking lots a couple of times, didn't wash her enough, and neglected some of the services I should have done, but ultimately, we were excellent together. People always said that I'd get sick of a 650cc bike, that it wouldn't be enough motor for me and I'd want to upgrade too quickly. This was so far from being true, however, and I never really felt like I needed a bigger bike. Sure, there were times when a little more power would've been nice, but for everyday, one-up riding and back road carving, the SV was more than enough bike and made me respect it.

I had the SV for just over four years. In that time, I put about 8k miles on it. The longest trip I ever did was a round-trip to VIR to the superbike races with my brother-in-law. Other than that, I did one or two rides up to NOVA, but the majority of my riding was commuting and the occasional leisure ride on some local back roads. I had a few riding buddies, but I mostly rode alone. It was nice to be in there, in my helmet, feeling the world go by in a completely different way than when you're in a car. You truly experience moving from point A to B on a bike. You feel the road, see everything, smell everything, hear everything. There is nothing insulating you from traffic, the road, the other cars, and whatever scenery you're riding through. It's visceral to ride a bike, enlivening, eye-opening, and all the other thesaurus words like that. It's so lame to say it, but it truly makes you feel free to be on a bike, moving under power. I'll miss that.

One of the other reasons I'm sad to see the bike go is that for those 4+ years, I truly identified myself as a rider, no matter how much or how little I was actually riding. I won't say I was a "biker," as that brings up a whole slew of references, some of which are not even remotely accurate when describing me, but overall, riding the bike was a part of who I was. When I commuted on it, people knew I was at work that day because my bike was parked right outside the door. We would go out for lunch rides as a rule, rather than an exception. There were several of us in the building who came together primarily through our bikes. This was the case in a lot of places I went, and continues to be the situation today. Until today. I can now no longer say "Oh, I've got a bike, it's an SV." Now I get the pity-look from other riders, like the guy on the tripped out Colin Edwards/Factory Racing Yamaha R6 (with matching Arai and jacket) at the bank drive-in today. I'll miss that too.

One of the things, however, that I'll miss the most about the bike at this point is this: every time my son, the Peanut, points to the garage, or goes out there, he says: "Nununuh!" which is his way of saying "motorcycle." Now, knowing it's gone, he instead says: "bye bye." That makes me sad.

The SV was a great bike for me, that came along at a difficult time in my life and gave me something to do to keep my mind off of things. It was a little bit of lashing out, a little bit of "you can't tell me not to anymore," and a lot of "I've always wanted to..." I still believe the SV is the best beginner bike you can get, especially since it's one that you can continue to ride for a long time without getting too bored. They're nearly infinitely upgradeable, with some owners doing so much to them that they can hardly be called SV's anymore, but that's part of the joy of owning something like that. Infinitely upgradeable is merely another way of saying "infinitely customizable." I'm glad that she's going to another new rider, someone else who will have a chance to learn and enjoy riding. I hope that he'll enjoy her as much as I did, if not more, and that it will be the beginning of a great new chapter for him.

So, to recap: bike sold, Daddy sad, Peanut sad, garage emptying.

Dream toy...

2009-11-25T21:08:00.002-05:00

This would be a friggin' blast on a lake bed.

1940's era Bellytank Lakebed Speedster

I've even got room in the garage for it...I wonder if it even has a steering rack?

HELLOOOOOO......HELLOOO....Hellloooo....helllooo

2009-11-24T20:02:00.002-05:00

"Wow, it's quite empty and echo-y in here. I can't believe I've let this place get so run down and dusty, sorry about that!

"Let me just shift this pile of research papers and you can sit down. Watch out for that pile of empty cans, I've been drinking lots of beer and Red Bull. What? No, not mixed together, that would be gross...right?

"I'm really looking forward to getting back out into the world and stretching my legs, feeling the warm sun. What's that? You say it's almost Winter? How can that be? What do you mean I've been locked away in here for 9 months, are you crazy? Let me see that iPhone...ye gods...I feel so out of touch, so...analog."

It's actually kind of nice to feel analog every once in a while, it's a warmer, fuzzier feeling than the cold, technical digital world we've built around ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I've stayed fairly current on some things, and I've gotten my daily dose of vitamin LCD (at least most days), but I've been so incredibly busy with school and moving and family that I haven't had time to really sit down and be a digital bum for a while. I do want to get back to posting here relatively frequently, and I need to hook the Twitter IV back up, but maybe dial back the dose a bit.

What's happened since February, you ask? Well, let's see...I finished my coursework for the PBTL program and have just wrapped up 12 weeks of student teaching at MCHS, teaching English to 9th and 12th graders, whether they liked it or not. Mrs. Nut and I went to Hawaii at the end of May/beginning of June, courtesy of Mama and Papa Nut, and it was AWESOME. I've never had a more relaxing vacation, seriously. Kauai truly is the "Garden Island" and it was amazing. Beautiful, relaxing, slow-paced, everything we needed and then some. The summer was good, but a little stressful since we were trying to sell the Petit Chateau, but we finally did. We are now officially and finally moved into La grande Chambre d'écrou and are stretching out to see how much we can fill. Luckily, that's not very much!! Lots of room to grow into the new place, which is great because we're going to be here for a while and would like to add to the Nut tree.

As I said, I just wrapped up 12 weeks of student teaching, will soon be licensed to teach English at the Secondary level, and will be doing...nothing. I'm going to reprise my role as Mère de Monsieur, since I don't really have anything lined up at the moment. I miss being home with the Peanut, and he's all kinds of interesting right now, so it'll be fun. He's much better about going on adventures and seeing and trying new things, so hopefully we'll be able to find interesting and cheap (like the budgie) things to try.

There will be more to come, I promise, but for now I must bid you adieu, until we meet again and the case is sol-ved.

long, long time, no write

2009-02-22T19:52:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I put anything up here. I hate to disappoint my reader like that, sorry guy!

If you're one of my fleshbag friends, you know that I've been VERY busy lately. My new position as Primary Care Giver (PCG) to The Peanut during the day has kept me very busy while taking 13 hours at 3 different schools in order to get my PBTL so that I can student teach in the fall (hopefully under contract, fingers crossed!) and also fulfililng my fieldwork requirements (55 hours, total). Let's just say that it's been a little hectic. None of this is helped by my natural tendency towards procrastination, let me tell you.

Otherwise, things are really going well, Ulli is in good shape and is hauling me and The Peanut around with nary a complaint besides a burned out driving light bulb. We've covered a LOT of miles since Nov 1, how many, I'm not exactly sure, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 3k-4k. He is definitley proving his worth as the Familienwagen.

That's all for now, back to NCIS marathon and decompressing before tomorrow's full day in a 9th grade classroom.

Pausing for Breath

2008-12-18T20:34:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long pause, still working on a post about my new situation. In the meantime, saw this today on Defective Yeti and almost wet myself laughing. That Matthew Baldwin is one funny f--ker.

Fed Cuts Rates on Money, Chicks

The Federal Reserve today cut a key interest rate to zero, allowing borrowers to get money for nothing. In a related move, the Fed also set the short-term lending rate of chicks to free.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the adjustments were necessary to avoid a deflationary spiral and to prevent the acquisitions of blisters on little fingers and thumbs. "We're confident that yo-yos, millionaires, and little faggots alike will respond favorably to this unprecedented action," said the visibly stressed and unhappy Bernanke, who in recent weeks has complained of "Hawaiian noises" and privately lamented that he did not learn to play the guitar or drums rather than study economics.

Retailers in dire straits welcomed the news, having felt the sting of low consumer confidence. "Hopefully this will allow us to sell our backlog," said Mark Knopfler of Brothers in Arms Appliance. "We gotta move these refrigerators. We gotta move these color TVs."

Retro-Awesome

2008-11-18T13:48:00.002-05:00

I love this Maker-style bluetooth handset for mobile phones. The main problem I have with current hands-free devices is the same I have with the phones themselves: I feel like the mic is so far from my mouth that I have to shout. This solves that problem, adds some retro-geek-chic and some comforting real-life familiarity to the situation. Add a shoulder crutch or maybe one of those floor-trader harnesses, and you're hands-free!

Bluetooth Handset Hack, via MightyOhm

Fanboys

2008-11-04T11:50:00.001-05:00

The King is Dead, Long Live The Kaiser!

2008-11-02T19:25:00.007-05:00

Big changes here at Nut Industries World Headquarters. A series of events occurred over the last week or so that enabled the Nuts to make some major changes in the transport fleet over the weekend. The first thing that happened is that a 1999 Mercedes Benz E320 Touring w/4Matic showed up on the website of Mid Atlantic Motorwerkes, in Harrisonburg, VA. MAM is owned and operated by a bunch of serious gear heads with a serious Euro-Iron addiction. Greg Schafer is the primary guy over at MAM and I know him from my days at CDOC, when his vinyl graphics company (Victory By Design) did a lot of work for us and for many of our partners, and he and his brother have opened a high-line pre-owned European dealership in Harrisonburg and, by all accounts and appearences, are doing very well at it. Their primary specialty is BMW, but they also deal in Audi, Mercedes Benz and Porsche. Occasionally they'll have a Lexus or Jaguar on their site, but mostly it's German iron. Greg's a Bimmer man, and races an E36 325 in BMWCCA racing. He's currently leading the championship, with one round to go, at Barber Motorsports Park. Needless to say, they know what they're doing when it comes to high-line German imports, so when this 10-year old Benz war/party wagon showed up on their website, it seemed like a decent option for a family car for the Nuts.

In case you're the reader that doesn't know me personally and know my current fleet situation, the Nuts have a total of 4 vehicles, a 2008 Subaru Outback (a silver station wagon with awd) which is Mrs Nut's car and was purchased pretty much specifically so that we had a safe and reliable Peanut carrier; a 2001 Ford Ranger pickup, which has been my primary car since I got it in 2005; my 1999 Suzuki SV650 motorcycle; and the Ghetto King Kamry, a 1992 Toyota Camry. Needless to say, only one of these vehicles is even remotely appropriate for transporting the Peanut (the Subie). The Truck is useful, but we're not using it much, if at all, it's winter-ish out, so the motorcycle isn't getting much use and the GKK is nice, gas-mileage wise, but that's all it's nice for. We had discussed our options for replacing the truck, since it's now paid off, and while there are cars out there that might be ok (Honda Civic, VW Jetta TDI, etc), they're trading at a high premium on account of the high gas prices, so we had pretty much resigned ourselves to living with the car options we have currently and selling the Truck to put the money away and use it to fix up the GKK.

Then, early last week, like a bolt of lightning, the Benz struck. I've been talking to another one of my co-workers that's thinking about upgrading his BMW from an E46 3-series to an E60 M5 and I was looking at MAM's website when I saw the Benz wagon. I decided to email Greg and see if we could strike a deal of some kind, which we did, and made plans to go see the car and test drive it on Saturday. Mrs. Nut and I went out to Harrisonburg and checked it out, signed the papers, and drove 'er home! She's no Hammer, but she's quite the Teutonic powerhouse. I was concerned that the weight of the wagon combined with the 4matic awd system would drag 'er down, but she cruises quite handily on the highway or the backroads. She's not perfect, needs brakes (warped rotor) and better tires (loud, cheap ones), a new motor for the driver's seat headrest and a few little things here and there, but for the price and for the void it filled, it really works for us. Additionally, it's got a "Way Back" seat, a jump seat that flips up out of the cargo area and has shoulder belts and cup holders, so this thing seats 7 adults. First things first, however, gotta make the stereo swap. The Benz came with the factory stereo installed, with phone and CD changer, but unfortunately the phone requires a service plan and the fiber optic circuit that connects the changer seems to be interrupted somewhere (a common problem with the W210, I've read), so I've gotta put the Sony iPod control/CD deck in that Mrs Nut got for me last Xmas (it's been in the Truck and the GKK, EvoMan is getting tired of soldering the wiring harness!). After that it's brakes and then eventually tires!

Update:EvoMan got the wiring harness soldered up, and we got the head unit installed with the iPod cable coming out in the armrest console. WOOT!

Update 2: Sold the GKK to the family across the street (Kevin #4, father of The Boy Who Mows), so the Nut Fleet is up to 66% Peanut-friendly transportation!

Update 3: yes, we are now a family of two silver station wagons. We're officially old.

Scraping the Tubes

2008-10-22T13:15:00.005-04:00

A couple of interesting things found on Boing Boing this week:

Why The Republicans Must Lose, from Reason, a discussion of how the GOP has changed from its original "Limited Government" message and how a defeat in the upcoming election could help right the ship, so to speak.

Brain Surgery and the Banjo Player. Eddie Adcock, a legendary figure in bluegrass banjo, had developed a right-hand tremor which began to affect his playing, so he went to Vanderbilt University and had them do some deep brain stimulation and implant electrodes in his brain. While he was awake. While he played the banjo and directed them where to go. Crazy stuff.

More Nanny State Ninnery. Cory Doctrow, a Canadian living in the UK with his UK-native wife, has been documenting the absolutely Orwellian levels to which the UK's various attempts to fight "terrorism" are beginning to affect its citizenry.

Not found on Boing Boing directly, but via a few clicks, Bruce Schneier has been taking the TSA to task over its progrom of harrassment of innocent travellers that does nothing to deter truly motivated and intelligent terrorists from gaining access to our transportation grid. His blog has all kinds of good things on it, but this story, from the Atlantic was especially interesting in that it showed just how porous airport "security" actually is and how much of a charade it is.

Boing Boing is a very interesting place to keep up on all kinds of things, and while we're on different sides of the political spectrum, I truly enjoy reading probably close to 90% of what they choose to post.

All links courtesy of Boing Boing.

A New Name in the Cloud

2008-10-22T13:09:00.003-04:00

My good friend, Phocion's Progeny, has started a blog to discuss this, that and that other thing, and I invite you, my reader, to check it out. Heroes of the Republic aims to be a gathering place where those of us lean to the right can gather to discuss what's on our minds in these uncertain times and promises to be a thought-provoking exercise for all involved. If your flag flies in that direction, I encourage you to stop by and leave him a note and check in occasionally to take part in the dialogue.

Items of Interest

2008-10-15T15:11:00.002-04:00

I found a couple of interesting items in my web-scraping today and I wanted to share them with you. I haven't done this in a while, mostly because there hasn't really been that much out there, honestly, that really struck me. Today, however, we have two items:

Quethe is a guy who has implanted himself with an RFID chip meant for a dog, which he's currently using for instant access to his handgun safe (no fumbling around with keys or buttons in the dark). He's posted a video on how he did it and some interesting editorial content trying to pre-empt the Bible-thumping literalists who will say that this kind of thing is a portent of the end times.

Video and description of a guy implanting an RFID chip in his hand (courtesy Boing Boing)

Bruce Schneier wrote a pretty insightful essay for Wired about how airport security screening is doing the forbidden carry-on items thing all wrong. He makes a very good point, and does so rationally, which is quite refreshing. It really makes you wonder what the Hell is going on in the TSA that they come up with these bizarre and irrational regulations that do nothing but upset and harass innocent travellers.

Security Matters: Airport Pasta-Sauce Interdiction Considered Harmful (courtesy Boing Boing)

The 800 lb Gorilla

2008-10-14T19:39:00.002-04:00

I didn't want to post anything political here, because I feel that this isn't the appropriate arena for it and the majority of people who read this don't agree with my politics anyway (no sense in alienating my reader, y'know?), but I have to say that I'm deeply concerned about the upcoming election.

I'm going to out myself here, I'm a card-carrying GOP'er and I've been a McCain supporter since the 2000 primaries. I think that the McCain that was around then and was a crusader for campaign finance reform would have made an excellent President of the United States. Unfortunately, that's apparently not the guy that's running for POTUS this year, and the people that he's surrounded himself with have made it their ultimate goal in life to make sure he doens't get elected to this or any other office for the rest of his life, however long that turns out to be.

The simple fact that they didn't take 5 short minutes to properly vet Sarah Palin is evidence enough of this, on top of all the other missteps and missed opportunities that have made this campaign look like the gag reel to a Marx Brothers movie (McCain being Zeppo and Palin Harpo, apparently, I don't know who the "mastermind" or Groucho is). Apparently the GOP honchos, or whoever is running the campaign, decided that the near-success of Hilary Clinton meant that the voting public wanted to see a woman in one of the highest offices in the US, period. It's like they don't really want McCain to win (a conversation for another time, and something for which there is precedent, actually).

Whatever, it's beyond me. Obama is going to win, whether it's a landslide or not, and there's nothing we can do about it at this point. The consolation prize is that he's not really going to be able to pass any of his radically socialist crap without a serious Dem majority in Congress, and even then it's going to be tough, if they want to be re-elected.

Alright, that's enough politics for now. The world isn't going to come to a fiery end on November 5th no matter what happens in the general election or with the electoral college, so it doesn't really matter. Honestly, if the earth's magnetic pole reverses itself in 2012, it'll be more monumentous.

GKK Update

2008-10-04T14:47:00.002-04:00

I drove the GKK up to Prince William County for a double-purpose Saturday night of fun (engagement party and hang with Mr & Mrs Friend, The Best) and it was an adventure, to say the least. Once I hit US 15 between Gordonsville and Orange, the car started to shudder like the transmission was hunting for the right gear. It did this consistently when cruising at "highway speed" under partial throttle (50-65 mph, 2300-3500 rpm), causing me to think that maybe there's something seriously wrong with the trans. Not good.

I made it home, with the shuddering getting worse and worse and even happening at idle, but only when the selector was in drive, not when it was in neutral or park. I took it to a local tranny shop to have them look at it for me, and they said it needed a "transmission service" and tune up. Rather than pay them the $500+ they wanted for the total package, I had them flush and fill the tranny and replace the filter, figuring I could tune it up myself. The parts were are available at Advance Auto locally, for just over $100. Total spent: $126.70 for transmission service, $118 for parts, 2.5 hours of my time on a Saturday afternoon. Not too bad.

I'm not sure exactly what's going on or what this means, but the #2 and #3 spark plug holes were FILLED with oil. It's probably a bad seal on the valve cover, I suppose, which will need to be addressed. Not sure if I can do that or not. Hopefully between EvoMan and myself we can get it done. Needless to say, the next step is to drive it and make sure it's working better.

Btw, it's very, very, very important to make sure that the spark plug wires are connected to the right terminals on the distributor cap, otherwise the cylinders try to fire in the wrong order, causing all kinds of problems. Also, make sure when replacing the fuel filter to fully tighten the inlet banjo, otherwise fuel sprays all over the ground and out the bottom of the engine bay.

Geek Plushes

2008-09-22T13:49:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of Wired's GeekDad blog,

Plush toys are wonderful things. They're like pets that you don't have to feed or clean up after, and that you can play catch with without fearing injury to them or yourself. If you're a parent, the odds are pretty good your kid(s) have quite a few of them.The 10 Geekiest Plush Toys Money Can Buy, Sep 2008

As a GeekDad in Training (GiT? GDiT?) looking to raise the best Geeklet I can, I love this blog and it's posts like this that make it worth reading.

AMA Superbike, VIR

2008-09-19T21:50:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile, but I can still recall enough about our adventure to tell you about our trip to VIR for final day of the AMA Big Kahuna Pro National event. Mr. Moose and I (and his buddy, Steve of the Lake) rode down to Alton, VA from our cozy homes in Mr Jefferson's village for a day of two-wheeled fun and to get in some good riding. The weather forecast was good (upgraded from a chance of rain earlier in the week), the bikes were fueled up and the road was calling.

I got up early (especially for a Sunday), helped Mrs. Nut get the Peanut going for the day, and hit the road, on my way to get Mr Moose. He was riding Steve of the Lake's extra bike and we had to go to his house first to pick it up. The plan was to head down towards Lake Monticello from town and take 15 from there down to US 58 and then over to the track. The back roads from Troy to the Lake and from there to Zion's Crossroads to pick up US15 were fabulous. Smooth, lots of visibility, very little traffic (it was still relatively early). We rolled down to Dillwyn to gas up the big bikes (Steve was on a Honda VTX 1300, Mr Moose on a Star/Yamaha Warrior 109 cu in) and hit the head. It was a decently long stretch to start the day, about 80 miles total from my house and it was still a little cool, so a stop, stretch and fill/empty was nice. We got back in the wind and commenced to put the miles behind us.

I cannot stress enough how nice a ride US 15 is. There's very little traffic, it goes through a couple of nice small towns, and the speed limit is just right for the terrain, if a little slow at 45 mph (for the most part). The road surface is excellent, something that I've come to expect riding around Cville, but something that I know isn't a given, based on experience with C roads here and up in Loudon County. US 15 is well-paved, has good visibility, fairly obvious speed trap possibilities and lots of options for stopping, if necessary. Definitely the best riding surface I've had the pleasure to experience in smiles per mile.

We were running a little later than I hoped, due to a later start than I intended and the needs of my butt and our gas tanks. We stopped at a station just before US 58, as the motorbike traffic had been picking up significantly. We picked up another Steve at the station, as he hadn't been to the track before and wanted to follow us. We rolled out and made our way to 58 and then on through the country to VIR. We made our way to will call and on into the track area. I had been to VIR several times for race events, but always for sports cars and always working. CDOC had always had a big presence at VIR for PCA and Grand Am events (as much as we could) and also for private events when possible, and now operates the trackside store/pro shop in the paddock.

We arrived during what the schedule said was the AMA Red Bull US Rookies Cup race, but the track was awfully quiet to have 20 125cc two strokes buzzing around. As we crossed the track, I noticed a couple of ambulances on track cleaning up a wreck, never a good sign (see my post of 8/22/08). We parked in the smaller free bike parking area inside the paddock proper (the larger one, on the skidpad, was already full when we arrived) and secured our gear. The day had warmed up considerably, and carrying around a leather jacket and full-face helmet in addition to wearing GoreTex boots and jeans didn't seem all that enticing.

I had never been to a motorcycle race before, at any level, and I was both impressed by the volume of people and vendors and a little disappointed. I guess I had been expecting something along the levels that I would see at a European round of World Superbike or MotoGP, which just isn't reasonable in the US, for a racing even that isn't NASCAR (although AMA Pro Racing has just been purchased by DMG (Daytona Motorsports Group, I think), which is the "brains" behind NASCAR promotion and their governing body). Hopefully the numbers will go up, the money will increase, and motorcycle racing in the US will grow as a result. We'll see.

We missed the start of the Rookie's Cup race, which we later learned was red-flagged, but were in time for Superstock, Supersport and Superbike. We walked around, checking out the various vendors (I met Earl Hayden, cool guy, and expressed my condolences for Nicky's injury (I was wearing my Nicky MotoGP hat) and wished him the best at Brno and beyond) and occasionally finding a good vantage point to watch the race action. The snack bar was near turns 4 and 5 and offered an excellent view of the action, so we spent quite a bit of time there, in addition to walking the cold pits and checking out the turns leading back to the front straight.

I honestly don't know who won the races leading up to Superbike. I have had a really hard time caring about AMA Pro racing for a long time. It's pretty much broken, and DMG is working on a fix (which may or may not work). Suzuki has won something like 8 championships in a row in Superbike, with at least 6 of those being Mat Mladin. Only in the last two years has Mladin been unseated, but it was by his teammate, Ben Spies (rumored to be moving to MotoGP in 2009). Needless to say, AMA Superbike has been manufacturer-friendly to the detriment of competition and privateer teams. I wasn't there to root for anyone specific (although it would be Suzuki if anyone), but instead to enjoy a new experience and a day at the races. Needless to say, the Superbike race was an all-Suzuki affair, with Mladin, Spies and Hayden (the three factory 'Zook riders) taking the top three spots. Later, it would come out that Mladin's bike failed a post-race inspection for having an illegal crank, and his win was stripped. I can't remember who came in 4th, but it was probably one of the factory Hondas.

After the Superbike podium celebration we left the track and headed back to US 58, heading West this time to take US 29 home for a nice big loop. We figured 29 would be faster, being as the average speed limit is 60mph and there are way fewer stoplights. Now that Lynchburg and Danville have both finished their bypasses, 29 isn't nearly as bad a drive and the only problem is getting a little bored with the flat-out, no stopping pace. It's kind of easy to get into a rut doing that and Mr Moose proved this by missing one of our exits on the Lynchburg bypass. We stopped for him and decided maybe we should stop for dinner and a break soon.

I arrived home at a reasonable hour, some time between 7 and 8 PM. All told, I had covered just at 350 miles for the day, by far my longest day in the saddle. We'd seen some good racing, looked at a lot of cool bikes and gear, met some interesting people, and had a great ride. I really couldn't ask for more. Check out my Flickr stream (link is to the right) for pictures. It was an experience I hope to repeat next year, maybe even expand upon (Indy MotoGP 2009?). I know EvoMan is up for it...maybe we can wrangle in Friend, The Best and Mr Moose?

Ghetto King Kamry - pt 2

2008-09-17T16:12:00.003-04:00

Sorry, dear reader, to take so long to finish up this sordid tale of automotive adventure, but what can I say? I'm a really lazy and easily distracted dude. Football season has started and my boy is growing like a WEED. I didn't know that if we kept feeding him, he'd keep getting bigger. Why didn't anyone say anything?

Anyway, where were we? I ordered the door handle and radiator from CarPartsWholesale and awaited their arrival. I picked the car up in May, remember, and it had been darkening my driveway pretty much ever since. It's not very attractive, very dirty, in dire need of a thorough detailing (yeah, right, like I'm going to pay someone to clean the hell out of it) and some fairly minor body work, but it's black. I like black. My truck is black, my bike gear is almost entirely black (from the neck down) and my bike is only red because they didn't offer it in black. Ever. So the parts show up about a week later and I head over to Advance Auto for a thermostat and a Haynes manual. Let me tell you something: if you have any mechanical ability or aptitude, the Haynes manual is just about the most valuable tool you can buy after you buy a car. I've bought one for every used car I've owned and the sub-$20 investment has saved me THOUSANDS of dollars in shop fees over the years. I've done everything from changing the oil and bulbs to replacing axles and struts with the help of a Haynes manual (and some good friends).

I decided that simply replacing the radiator wasn't really that much of a challenge, and I am no-one if not one to rise to a challenge, so I waited until just about the hottest day of the summer to go out on my black asphalt driveway and bang around under the hood for 2 hours. It was actually more difficult to get the old radiator out than to put the new one in, thanks to 16 years of corrosion on the bolts and fasteners. Radiator hoses handle an extraordinary amount of heat and thus begin to adhere to their mounts with a Herculean effort. I think I lost a couple of pounds that day, but I got everything swapped out with relatively little hassle or collateral damage. I did break the electrical lead off of a water temp sending unit when I misjudged the location of the thermostat, but that was a cheap replacement part from NAPA. I put in the new thermostat, made sure all the connections were solid on the radiator, there were no loose bolts or nuts lying around, filled the radiator with the rest of the jug of pre-mix we'd gotten when it died on the road on the way home, and reconnected the battery. When I went to start the car, however, no dice. The battery was deader than disco. Not having a charger or jumper cables (I know, but give me a break, alright?) I borrowed a charger from EvoMan and set it up while I changed the dino juice in the truck. In addition to the new radiator, I had procured new OE brake rotors and pads, because the old rotors were rusted pretty heavily and the brakes didn't really feel all that stout. It's a good thing I did this, because taking out the old pads revealed the thinnest layer of brake material I've EVER seen. It seriously looked like it had been painted on. I didn't bleed the brakes because, well, I'm lazy, and I didn't have a power bleeder. Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is to bleed brakes by yourself? I'll do it eventually. Maybe.

The next day, nothing seemed to have happened to the battery, at least nothing good, and I still needed a new water temp sensor assembly, so I closed 'er up and decided to get the necessary parts that week. I picked up the sensor and a battery terminal brush, tried to get the battery going again with my trickle charger and EvoMan's charger, and getting nothing decided to take it to Advance for diagnosis. All of this is happening over the course of several weeks as I'm lazy (remember?) and we've got other things to do sometimes. It's now sometime in July, at least, maybe even August. I can't remember exactly when I got the new battery at Advance, but it was definitely still summer time. I got the new battery in and did all the little things I could figure out needed done (new wiper blades, bulbs in a few places, cleaned the floormats and windows) and decided that it was ready to be registered, so I got the DMV stuff done. Now that it had a plate, I could get it out of my driveway and park it down on the street, where it wasn't as obvious that it went with my house. Fully legal, minus inspection, I decided to drive it to work the next day to get the state seal of approval for my own little death trap.

Surprise, surprise, on the way to work the engine started to overheat. Rapidly. I dumped it off with the heater, but it was bad. I couldn't hear the cooling fans at all and the needle would rise rapidly, then slowly fall when I blasted the heat. If I was moving at highway speeds, it wasn't a huge problem, but in stop-and-go traffic, it was miserable. I did, however, make it all the way to the service station without major incident and got it inspected. The only things wrong were a burned out bulb I couldn't find and that the belts were "close". Not close enough to fail, thank God, but close to needing replacement. Luckily, I don't have any long trips planned for this car. I nursed it home, taking a back road for less stopping, more going, and parked it again, scratching my head in wonder. The cooling fan thing really scared me. I didn't want to have to deal with replacing a relay or fan unit. That's getting into much more serious money than I wanted to deal with. EvoMan and I discussed rigging a bypass switch so I could manually start the fans from the cabin, but he first asked if I'd burped the system when I filled it. Heh...

Taking EvoMan's advice, I got the bottle of WaterWetter I'd been saving for the bike out of the shed and a 2Q pitcher out of the kitchen, full of water. I started the car and began adding fluid, watching it fill up the intricate guts of the radiator and slowly fall away. I kept pouring water in slowly, burping the system and putting more in, the car running the whole time, at temp. Suddenly, the cooling fans came on!! I couldn't believe it. It dawned on me, then, that when I'd installed the new radiator, I had only put in about 3/4 US Gallon of pre-mix coolant, the remnants of the road-side savior jug. The capacity of the system was more like 5.5 Litres or something. Way to go, smart guy. I let the car run for a while and noticed that the needle never even tried to go above halfway, meaning the cooling system was fully operational. Nice.

During this time I also attempted to replace the left-rear exterior door handle. The Haynes manual has finally let me down. I knew it was inevitable, really, but I'm sorely disappointed in it this time. Removing the interior door panel was a huge pain in the ass and the mounting bolts for the exterior handle are so far back inside the door that I couldn't see them and could barely fit my fat Gaijin hands in there holding tools to remove them. Not only that, but the replacement handle is of just slightly different design and the OE bolts aren't long enough to reach the holes. Needless to say that still isn't done, but I did get longer bolts that look right, so that's just a matter of doing it. Maybe I'll see if the Peanut's hands fit better.

So now the Ghetto King Kamry is rolling. I haven't washed it yet, or vaccuumed it out, but I clean and ArmorAll the dash and cockpit so that it wasn't sticky anymore. Ewwww. I've been driving it awhile now and have only used 1.5 tanks of gas, getting over 500 miles out of it so far. I haven't driven my truck to work at all since getting the GKK legal and it's saved us a BUTTLOAD of money on gas. Between the GKK and the SV, I'm paying $70/month for gas instead of $270/month. That's math you can use!! I'll take some pictures of the car and post a good one here, but if you see me out on the road, don't laugh, just remember, I'm driving a 16 yo car with no A/C and a window that won't go down (Passenger-side Front, discovered on day 2 of driving regularly) that fogs up like San Francisco when it rains and has the original tape deck radio, with only 3 working speakers. Have pity.

Filler

2008-09-08T14:27:00.004-04:00

Check out the post I wrote for cVillain today: It's Time to Make the Donuts

Fantastic Contraption...more like FUNtastic!

2008-08-28T16:00:00.003-04:00

I got into Fantastic Contraption as a way to pass the time waiting for voicemail to pick up during my day job today and boy, is it cool! It's a fun little online physics game where you use basic shapes and tools to move an object into a target zone. I got stuck on this level. Any ideas?

Check it out for yourself at Fantastic Contraption. The first 10 or levels are free to play!

RIP Toriano Wilson

2008-08-22T13:27:00.005-04:00

I was going to save this and make it part of my VIR trip write-up, but I realized it wouldn't be right to tack a tragic event like this onto a travelogue like an afterthought.

On Sunday, Mr Moose, one of his friends and myself rode our motorcycles down to Alton, VA for the second day of the AMA Big Kahuna Nationals race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). I had been to VIR many, many times for various sportscar events, but never gone as a spectator and had never been to a motorcycle race (for shame!). Needless to say, I was psyched for the day's activities! The ride there was fantastic, as was hanging with Mr Moose, his EMT buddy and thousands of other motorcyclists and enthusiasts from all over, but that's a subject for another blog post (which I promise to write ASAP, with pictures!).

As we arrived at the track and worked our way towards the free bike parking, we had to cross over the track using a bridge near turn 7 (bikes use the 2.25 mile north course layout) and saw several ambulances and, more tellingly, didn't hear the Red Bull Rookies Cup bikes, which should have been running. It's never a good thing (in any form of racing) to see ambulances on the track. It almost always means someone is seriously hurt. In this instance, there were two someones, as we discovered later. We continued on, found parking and began to explore the infield attractions when Mr Moose ran into another EMT friend who had come back to VA for the race weekend. She said that she went to the area after turn 6a where the crash happened and watched them recover the riders. Apparently Toriano Wilson (14 yrs old, Bermuda) had crashed and was attempting to move himself and his bike out of the way when he was hit by another rider. The friend said that the paramedics got the second rider boarded and prepped immediately and into an ambulance very quickly, but were just kind of looking at Wilson, which is never a good thing. Our hopes were not high. All through the day, there were murmurs that he was already dead and it was said that they were airlifted to hospitals in NC (the track is right on the border). The AMA didn't say anything (that we heard) the entire rest of the day and the Rookies Cup paddock was sealed up tighter than a duck's butt.

After the Superbike race, the original end of the day's program, the Rookies Cup race went off again, as it was red-flagged on the first lap previously. I learned the next morning that Wilson had died at the hospital early Monday, as a result of his injuries, and the second rider (Luciano Ribodino of Argentina) had suffered several broken bones, including his femur. It was sad to read confirmation of Wilson's death for many reasons. I didn't know Wilson personally, I had never heard of him before and I had never seen him (or any of the other Rookies) race. I was primarily saddened because he was only 14 years old and was just chasing his dream. I understand that accidents happen in racing and some of those accidents are terrible. I've seen some really bad accidents in sports car racing in person, and a number of horrific accidents on TV in motorcycle and formula car racing. It's never the same, however, when you learn that someone has died as the result, you always hope that the safety equipment was enough, as it often is. You see people survive these amazing shunts and offs, they just pop up and walk away, and every now and then, something tragic happens like this.

The Rookies cup is a great series, Red Bull is truly giving these kids from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean an opportunity and career-path that they wouldn't have otherwise. They have great equipment from KTM, great safety gear from Alpinestars and Arai and one of the best Grand Prix champion riders available as their coach in Kevin Schwantz. What they don't have, however, is experience (obviously). There are very few ways that a young person can get experience road-racing motorcycles in the US. There just aren't any places to do it. Plenty of options exist for dirt racing, from flat track to motocross to enduro, but there's very little opportunity in organized road-racing. That's the great and unfortunate part about this new series. 13-16 year old kids are getting a shot at moving up the ladder and becoming the next Barry Sheene or Valentino Rossi, a shot that generations of kids haven't had before. They're also exposed to risks that they haven't been exposed to before and that's where the judgement call comes in.

Should there be a National-level racing series for kids this young? I don't know. 13 years old if AWFULLY young to be racing anything other than a kart at a professional level. Karting is still dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as a motorcycle. You can't get run over by a kart with 4" wheels. No matter how much safety equipment you have on, it's hard to survive being struck by a motorcycle at race pace, even one as small as the KTM RC 125. I feel like the Rookies Cup is a great option for young kids, but it could be greatly improved by the addition of some serious and intensive training. I understand that these kids didn't just wake up on Sunday morning and join the series. There were selection rounds and all kinds of other scrutineering procedures. This wasn't even the first race, it's nearing the season finale, but still, they don't have the experience to be out there like that. I say keep the series open to 13-16 year olds but the first year, at least, is nothing but training. Getting used to the bike, race pace, race tracks, etc. Riding at a high speed with 12 or more other bikes around you (this was a first lap incident, the field was still bunched up) looks to be very difficult and distracting. There are enough things to think about when you're riding by yourself, but adding that many other bikes seems like a sensory overload.

Regardless of what happens to the RBRC series, and what (if any) changes they implement as a result of this incident, Toriano Wilson needs to be remembered as a brave and talented kid who was chasing his dream. His passing is incredibly unfortunate, and my thoughts and prayers and deepest sympathies go out to his family.

A memorial fund has been created to help the Wilson family's expenses and will assist the families of future racing accident fatalities. Please take a moment and consider donating.

Thanks for Nothing, AT & T

2008-08-16T09:52:00.004-04:00

So back in April, just before the Peanut was born, I got a new cellphone, an LG CU720 Shine. It's very pretty, has a cool camera mode, takes good pictures (even at only 2mp) and is pretty small. It's a slider-phone, which means that the screen slides up to reveal the keypad. I've had the phone for right at four months and hadn't had any problems with it, so I was pleased. I was a little less pleased when AT&T started promoting the Shin as their cheap ($49) give away phone for new customers. The retail price for the phone is between $300 and $349 (as I would later discover) and I paid $149 with my equipment upgrade in April. Needless to say, I was a little pissed that I had basically been snookered.

All this is leading up to our recent trip to Louisville, KY for an annual family reunion/August birthday extravaganza, etc. This year, my Dad's youngest sister was also renewing her vows after 21 years marriage to her husband, at their new farm. It was a combo-trip weekend, also being the first time the KY folks would get to meet the Peanut. While in KY, I was moving some cars around and put a set of keys into my pocket with the phone, not really thinking about it. Later that night, however, I looked down at the phone to see if it needed to be charged and noticed that the LCD was shattered, from the inside. Not a scratch on the lens surface, but the LCD looked like someone had shot it with a BB gun or hit it with a hammer. The phone still worked, but without the screen, I couldn't send or receive SMS messages, which is a large portion of how I communicate with friends and family. Needless to say, I wanted to get it fixed as soon as possible, and as cheap as possible. I didn't understand how it happened and was sure it wasn't my fault.

We got home late on Monday (we drove the 8 hours instead of messing with air travel) and I called AT&T first thing on Tuesday. They said since I didn't have insurance on the phone, I would have to pay $300 for a new one or send the old one in and pay $210 for a "refurbished" one. Since I hadn't dropped or abused the phone at all, I wasn't buying this. I spent over 3 hours on the phone with various levels of AT&T "customer service" people getting the same scripted response over and over and over again, and getting no consideration for Mrs Nut and I having been AT&T customers for a decade. The only concession I received, and it was incredibly difficult to get, was that they would give me an "exception upgrade" and "let" me get a new Shine for "only" $220. Yeah, thanks for nothing. I even called LG to see whether they would warranty the phone. Apparently the AT&T and LG "warranty" doesn't cover "Physcial, Cosmetic or Water Damage." WTF? What the hell kind of warranty is that? Give me a friggin' break. The LG rep said I could send the phone to them and they would fix it and send it back (minimum 90 days turnaround, who knows how much money). Luckily, EvoMan had done a bunch of web work when I told him what happened and found replacement LCD screens cheap from a couple of places, as well as step-by-step instructions on replacement. Apparently these phones are a little more fragile than I expected, as it seems that many people have had problems with them. Maybe LG is using crap LCD units? I told the LG rep I could fix it myself for about $30 and he said, "yeah, you should probably just do that."

Since LG and AT&T were a friggin' waste of time, and EvoMan was so confident that we could make my LG Shine again (you see what I did there?), I ordered a replacement LCD from a vendor on eBay and looked up the instructions for disassembly. One problem, all the disassembly instructions on the internet are for the KE970 (Euro) version of the Shine, nothing about the CU720. Luckily, there's not that much difference between the two models and after getting stuck and frustrated on the very last part of disassembly (separating the two halves of the screen to remove the LCD), I called EvoMan who was oot and aboot with his pops and they came over and saved me from myself. Total time: maybe 1 hour, moving slowly and carefully. Total investment: $32 and change, including shipping. I cannot stress how easy it turned out to be. If I'd had insurance, a replacement phone would have been $50, but we'd be paying an extra $5/month or something like that. And you know, of course, if I had insurance, nothing would have happened.

It's nice to know that some things in this world are engineered correctly and aren't "sealed for your protection." A simple removal of 18 screws (three stages of 6 screws each) and some patience and a slightly delicate touch, and I was back in bidness. Very nice.

My Mistake

2008-07-29T13:17:00.005-04:00

I realized after reviewing last night's post that I haven't kept you (my reader) up to date about my most recent vehicular addition. Back in May, one of my co-workers sent out an email that a friend of hers was graduating from La Grape and moving back to DC but didn't want to take her car along, so if anyone wanted it, it was free. The car in question was a 1992 Toyota Camry in black with AT, power everything and the venerable and nigh-indestructible 2.2L inline 4cyl engine of lore. The important thing to remember here is that when I'm unable to ride the motorcycle (bad weather, primarily, and the fact that I'm a huge wussy about riding in the rain) to work, I have to drive my pickup. I like my pickup, for all of its flaws, but it's very expensive to commute in it in these days of $4.00/gallon gas (for my readers from the UK and Europe, I know that's not that much, but it feels like to us when less than a year before it was under $3.00). The economics are simple. One week of commuting on the motorcycle costs me (at most) 3.4 US Gallons of Unleaded gasoline. Even at $4.05/US Gallon (the most I've paid in this area), that's only $13.77. One week of commuting in the pickup costs me at least 15 US Gallons of Unleaded gasoline (this is all for 87 Octane) and $60.75. That's not very hard math to figure out. The problem is, here in Central Virginia, in the dead of summer, thunderstorms appear out of nowhere and literally will sweep cars off the road at times with lashing rain and hail. Not a happy place to be on a motorcycle (believe me, I got caught in one back in 2005; it was unpleasant). There are weeks where the forecast calls for at least a 50% chance of rain or thunderstorms. 1 out of 2 is more of a chance than I'm willing to take on a bike these days, so I end up taking the truck. And paying through the nose to stay dry. As you can see, a fuel-efficient commuter car option was something I was interested in, and so Mrs Fif and I decided that if the free car didn't work out, we could just donate it, sell it for scrap, or get maybe $100 for it. EvoMan and I rode over to check out the car. The first thing I noticed was the generally poor condition of the exterior. I'm not going to lie, this was no cream puff (conversely, the first thing Mrs Fif noticed was the Kappa Delta sticker on the rear window and that it had to come off POST-HASTE!). The car was dirty, the paint faded, the fenders somewhat buckled, the wheel covers mismatched and severly gouged, the glass was smudged and cloudy, the upholstery was stained and the car was pretty much full of dirt and trash. So basically, it was like my car in high school. My mom had nearly exactly the same car (different color) back in 1993, so I felt like I knew what I was getting into.

We popped the hood and fired up the engine, noting the clattery valve sounds, but the engine revved freely when I fiddled with the throttle linkage, and the car had only 109K miles on it (from new) and was being given away by the original owners. All in all, not bad. I gave them $1.00 (they had a bill of sale typed up already for that amount) and told them I'd be by to collect it after work. The girl giving it away did mention that there was a problem with the car stalling out intermittently when driving around town, and a local mechanic had told her (when she mentioned the symptoms) that it would be around $500 to fix, something to do with the distributor. Well, I'm not Mr Goodwrench, but I know how to install a distributor cap and rotor, so I wasn't too worried about it. The car got from it's previous place of rest to my sister-in-law's house no problem (wobbly steering, especially under braking, dim dash lights, various external bulbs out) and I parked it there to be picked up after a weekend trip.

EvoMan drove me back into town to pick the car up a few days later and the fun began. I was legal, with my VADMV Transit Tag displayed in the rear window and DC inspection good for a few more weeks, so we made our way up US29 North to Greene County. I was busy learning all the quirks and eccentricities of the car and didn't notice the engine temp needle steadily climbing beyond what could be even remotely considered a safe temperature for what was (in reality) a fairly hot afternoon until we were just passing the last stop light "in town" at the airport road, when the car began to act up. Stalling out intermittently, as it were. I immediately looked at the temp gauge, saw it was pegged to the top, straining to burst its delicate mooring and turned the heat on full-blast to dump some temp off the engine. This didn't really do anything, so I pulled off with EvoMan behind me and got out to see what might be the problem. Oh yeah, there was now white smoke billowing out from under the hood. I hadn't seen it before because we were moving at a fair pace, but as soon as I stopped, it was like I was standing behind the burnout pit at a drag race. I got out, opened the (hot) hood and steam and smoke continued to pour out of the engine compartment. My first thought (obviously) was the cooling system, and I used a towel to open the radiator cap. No burst of steam or hiss or anything. Hmm, I thought, that's a little odd for a car that's boiling over. The next step was to check the oil. There was NO OIL ON THE DIPSTICK. That's right, the car was completely devoid of oil and apparently of engine coolant (the catch tank was empty too, and had been for a LONG time). EvoMan (thank the gods) ran up to Target and picked up five quarts of oil and a jug of 50/50 Prestone, which we immediately used to try and bring the car back to life. No wonder the valve clatter was so loud, they were completely dry! Oil and coolant added, it was time to fire it up again. Smoke/Steam immediately began to pour out of the sputtering, spitting radiator. There were HUGE cracks and chunks missing from the top portion of the radiator. No wonder there was no steam, there was no way for it to maintain pressure! A failed attempt to limp up the road led to a call to AAA and the car being towed back to the homestead, now with a cracked turn signal lens, courtesy of the 17-year-old tow truck "operator" who kept saying that he was unfamiliar with the controls of this truck, since it wasn't his usual rig. Whatever, you owe me 15 bucks man (which he paid, actually).

A few internet clicks later, it was established that I could procure an OE replacement radiator and door handle (the left rear door handle was broken) for under $100 (shipped) from WholesaleCarParts.com, along with pretty much any other part I needed for the car. The determination was that I would replace the radiator and thermostat, see if that did the trick and then drive the car as long as I could with this minimal investment of funds. In part 2 we'll learn how that worked out for me. Stay tuned...

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

2008-07-28T22:01:00.005-04:00

Not a whole lot going on lately here in Cville, just mired in the dog days of summer. It's been grotesquely hot of late, with heat index temperatures rising well into the low 100's (Fahrenheit) and bucket loads of humidity. The past few days have actually been a reprieve of sorts, with highs in the low 90s instead of around 100, so riding to work has been a little more comfortable (for a couple of reasons, one of which will be explained later!) and it hasn't been as bad wearing jeans and boots at lunch time downtown. Hopefully we're on the downward slope temp wise and it won't get back up into the hellish inferno of July.

The other reasono that it has been nicer riding in to work lately (and mostly riding home) is that my wonderful wife, Mrs. Fif (with the input of EvoMan and Friend, The Best) presented me with my birthday present a couple of weeks early. She hit it out of the park (as usual) by picking up this for me:
This is my new two season jacket, the Alpinestars ACR Air Flow Textile Jacket. This is a fully ventilated cordura jacket with elbow, shoulder and back armor (a little softer than the near-GP-level armor in my TZ-1 leather jacket) with a full-sleeve rain liner. It also has the same 3/4 circumfrence waist zipper that the TZ-1 has, which means it'll zip into the Teknic Aquavent Pants that I got earlier this year (I had a local tailor put half the zipper from the leather jacket on the pants) and give me a full rain suit for four seasons (my Teknic Aquavent jacket is a wind/waterproof jacket for when it's too cold for the leather). I've been using the ACR since I got it, for about a week and a half, and it's been great. It's still hot sitting in the sun (it is black, after all) but not as bad as leather, and when I'm moving, the difference is night/day. The only things I need now are some short gloves (my GP Pro racing gauntlets are a little warm and block too much airflow with the jacket) and some spring/summer boots (my Ridge GoreTex boots are a little warm in the summer) and I'll be fully kitted out.

Since the Ghetto King Kamry doesn't have A/C, it's nice to have a more comfortable option for commuting when it's really hot. And how much more fun is the motorcycle? If you have to ask, you'll never know!

We're getting too old for this sh...

2008-07-11T19:14:00.005-04:00

Holy crap. I thought I was supposed to get wiser as I got older? Yeah, guess not. Divorce-a-Palooza Episode IV: A New Hope was legend-airy. Easily at the top of the list for DaP's and probably in the top 5 parties I've ever been a part of. We had somewhere between 30 and 40 people in attendance, despite a Wrath-of-God-style downpour, and we polished off 3 full 1/6 barrel kegs (~5.15 US Gallons each), a bunch of food and some cigars.

As this was Mrs. Nut's first opportunity to cut loose in just about a year, one of her pre-requisites was a keg of Woodchuck Draft Cider, which she tackled with gusto, as you can see. Unfortunately, the only pictures we have of the event are the one above and pics of our surprisingly fun ride home, courtesy of a local taxi service called Wahooptie. Wahooptie is a company created by a UVA grad that runs some pretty interesting vehicles. We got a lime-green Lincoln Continental stretch piloted by Al, who kindly allowed us a few extra minutes to get the kegs and jockey box into the back to take them to the hotel with us, where we polished them off.

The point this screed, finally, is that after nearly 12 hours of continuous drinking and carousing, we were STILL drunk when we woke up at 9:30 the next morning and had to get home to relieve the Grand Nuts who were watching the Peanut. Let's just say that the next time we do this, we need to have the party on Friday and arrange for a full day of Peanut watchers post-event. When I was in college, this kind of party would have been nothing, no matter what night of the week it was, but especially on Friday or Saturday night. Now? It takes at least 24 full hours to recover from one late night of drinking and hanging around with our buds. Getting older really does suck!

The Wonderful World of Parenting

2008-06-26T17:10:00.003-04:00

I had been warned, I heard and understood the warnings, I even knew (in my heart of hearts) that it would definitely happen to me (at some point), I just didn't think it would happen so fast. Everyone that I know that has a kid in daycare says that I'm going to get the most powerful colds I've ever experienced because he's going to bring them home with him. I don't know how he got this one, but the Peanut has a cold, a nasty little sinus infection/head stuffed up/hard to breathe at night/hard to eat head cold. I feel really bad for the little guy cause it's not like he can just blow his nose and carry on with his day. I can't even hold a tissue for him cause the blowing part is the problem, not the holding part. The solution: sucking the crap out of his head with the aspirator bulb. Yeah, he likes that, believe me. Likes it about as much as I might like sticking my head in the Diaper Champ. So he's got this cold, he's been up at night (unusual for him, of late) and it's been making him a fusspot, which sucks for everyone. I do feel bad for him though, because there's really no way for him to say "gee, Dad, I really don't feel very well today, could you maybe figure out a way to help me clear these pesky sinuses?" Which, in a way, is good, because DAMN, that would be creepy. Especially if he sounded British. I also feel bad(ly) because now I have the damn thing. It started with a little ache in the back of my mouth, followed by the half-head sinus drain of fire, followed by the throat-on-fire-head-clogged-up-and-pounding-God-please-kill-me-now feeling that I'm currently experiencing. I only hope that Mrs. Nut doesn't get it, or at least doesn't get it while us guys have it. Now we just need to figure out where he got it. It's not like he goes out at night and hangs with sketchy characters down on the corner.

Hopefully he doesn't give it to Bebe and GranPop tomorrow night either, or they might never babysit again, which would throw quite the monkey wrench in our plans for the future.

Thanks, Gov!

2008-06-20T18:15:00.002-04:00

The NHTSA has released a series of Motorcycle Awareness posters that are very clever, not all "motorcycles and the people who ride them are dangerous and deviant!" and hopefully will help cage drivers keep their eyes open and look out for those of us on two wheels.

Here's the whole series: NHTSA Campaign

thanks to Highwaylass for the link!

First Father's Day

2008-06-19T11:42:00.004-04:00

Well, it's official. I'm a Dad. Not only that, but I'm one of "those" dads. My cube is full of pictures of the Peanut, who is just about the cutest damn thing I've ever seen. He was busy for Father's Day this year, using his little mitts to click on over to Snapfish and creating some REALLY cute gifts. My desk is now adorned with a great framed 8x10 collage of his first couple of months, a mousepad with one of my favorite pictures of him and I slurp my go-go juice out of a mug with the same collage on it. I love it!

Developmentally, things seem to be going really well. The Peanut is starting to sleep between 8-10 hours a night on a regular basis, which is great. He's still a pretty noisy sleeper, but I don't know that there's anything we can really do about that. What we do need to resolve is his unwillingness to nap in his crib during the day. He'll do 30 minutes here or there, maybe an hour if Mrs Nut is lucky, but he prefers to fall asleep on her chest after eating. It makes it tough for her to get stuff done around the house and it's kind of driving her a little crazy.

He's just one sense of balance away from standing, and a little arm strength away from crawling. The little dude is a HOSS and has really strong legs. He can easily support his weight if we keep him upright, and is starting to figure out what his arms are for, but not to the point that he can use them for anything (except for sucking on his fists). He's very vocal, and chats with us every chance he gets, and is super smiley these days. Definitely one of the best moments ever is when he looks at me and smiles. Just completely melts me.

Divorce-a-Palooza

2008-06-15T00:54:00.006-04:00

It's that time of year again, when the top sports car teams are circling the Circuit de La Sarthe for 24 hours (the 24 Heures du Mans, June 14th/15th) and the first sounds of Divorce-a-Palooza are in the air. This year's celebration looks to be a promising one, as it's our 4th edition (Divorce-a-Palooza, Episode IV: A New Hope), honoring Friend, The Best's divorce (yes, we have now known someone who's getting divorced 4 years in a row. We're bucking the curve), F,TB's marriage (Elope-a-palooza 2.0) and Babypalooza 2008 all together in one big party. As usual, we've created the DaP webstore, because no annual party is complete without SWAG. And there's no SWAG like limited edition SWAG, which DaP SWAG is by definition. As F,TB is a Star Wars baby, like me, DaP E:IV is Star Wars themed, the full title being "Divorce-a-Palooza Episode IV: A New Hope" and this year's slogan is "I have a GREAT feeling about this". Should be tons of fun.

Honestly, we're looking forward to having a year when we don't have a divorce to "celebrate". It'll be nice to just have a party in honor of the memory of bad marriages ending, rather than observing the end of bad marriages.

Looking forward to this...

2008-06-10T10:36:00.003-04:00

Even after reading the oral bio, and the collection of recollections by Braudis and some of the other people, I still want to see the new doc about HST, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S Thompson. I missed the HDNet Movies preview, so I'll have to trek to RVA or DC to see it on the screen, or wait for the DVD. Johnny Depp narrates, and there are some great scenes in the trailer:

It comes out July 4th and will experience a limited release for about a month. Look it up!

Fun with dubbing

2008-06-05T11:12:00.002-04:00

Some great re-dubbed videos today, courtesy of Boing Boing. They're both variations on the same scene, a confrontation between Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro in Casino, but re-dubbed over muppets and children's toys. I love it.

I think we might be able to work something out...

2008-06-03T11:54:00.003-04:00

I hate to bitch about high gas prices, but today was the first time that they really reached up and slugged me in the gut. I had to fill up my truck on the way to work this morning and it cost $60.47 for 15.50 gallons, or $3.899/gallon. This is the most I've ever paid for 87 octane unleaded gasoline and the first time I've paid more than $50.00 of my own money for a full tank of go-go juice. What makes this worse is that today (this week, really) the weather forecast calls for a near certainty of thunderstorms and other assorted means of water falling from the sky this afternoon, making riding the motorcycle to work a fantastic option, if I don't mind drowing or being run off the road by an unaware idiot in the rain on my way home. Not worth it. Driving away from the gas station, I was reminded of the scene in the 1991 film LA Story with Steve Martin where he applies for the opportunity to eat a fancy French restaurant and the Maitre 'd and head chef go over his credit rating, job, etc and tell him what he can order. I looked for the scene online but could only find the trailer. Definitely check out this movie if you haven't seen it yet. Unfortunately, there's a short ad before the clip.

visit videodetective.com for more info

Always late to the party

2008-05-31T00:41:00.002-04:00

So apparently this has been around for a while and I'm just now finding it. Why is that exactly? It really might be the best 5 second video on the web. And I'm all about carrying on the memes.

Dramatic Chipmunk is very dramatic!

New Venture Brothers, plus a bonus!

2008-05-29T12:32:00.006-04:00

I'm terribly excited (perhaps inappropriately so?) for the new Venture Brothers episodes which start this Sunday (11:30 PM EDT on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim), but to add extra Venture-ish-ness to the mix, Astrobase Go!, the creators of the show, have decided to create a series of limited edition, Venture-themed t-shirts that will be released one at a time as the new episodes premeire over the next 13 weeks. There's even a bonus 14th shirt if you subscribe to the whole series. This is utterly fantastic and has both my t-shirt and VB receptors tingling. I'm a bit of a t-shirt junky, so this is great (and torturous) for me. The first week's shirt is awesome and features the logo of the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Sweet. If you sign up for the subscription (USD $289 including shipping, I think), the bonus shirt features the logo for Brock Sampson's dojo.

Go Team Venture!

Edit: apparently i'm a complete moron and have chosen the smallest blog settings in the world, so you're not getting to see the awesome, amazing, stupendous banner link I wanted to use, or even the awesomely amazing second best one, no, I have a tiny blog, so I have to use the merely awesome button link. oh well, click it, sign up, or at least get one cool shirt!

To the Murdermobile!

Phun With Grafs

2008-05-22T14:45:00.002-04:00

Or something like that! The LOLks over at I Can Has Cheezburger? have created a new lolmat, and I spent some time this morning exploring it. LOLGraphs are a trip. It's fun to see what different users have chosen to graph or visualize, and there are some great music-related ones on there, like this great visual interpretation of "Once in a Lifetime", by the Talking Heads:

more graph humor and song chart memes

So head on over and check out GraphJam!

The future?

2008-05-16T13:24:00.002-04:00

Found this today, courtesy of Fark, and my future flashed before my eyes. Hopefully the Peanut won't be as melodramatic as the Melon Ball, but who knows. He is my child, after all. The cage definitely wouldn't be bright pink, however.

Also, I love how the daughter's list of animals she wanted really only had one correct answer. Very cunning, little one, very cunning indeed.

What day is it?

2008-05-13T22:44:00.003-04:00

Seriously, I have no idea. It's not as bad as it was the first two weeks, when I stayed home after we brought home the Peanut. During those two weeks, our sleep schedules got all screwed up and we had no idea if we were waking up in the morning or the middle of the night. We've come a long way since then, but he still has his moments. Sometimes he'll sleep for 5 or 6 hours, but then wake up every 2 hours after that to cluster feed or complain about gas pains in his little tummy (which holds a surprisingly large volume of milk!). It's been really tough on Mrs Nut being the one who has to get up in the middle of the night to take care of feeding, burping and changing him. She always trouble getting back to sleep, so ends up getting one or two hours at a time, at most. Luckily (for her), that all changed on Friday night as we introduced bottle feeding and he took to it like a CHAMP! He's a big boy and has a BIG appetite. At the 1-month doctor's appointment we found out that he has gained 18oz and 1.5" since his 2-week appointment. Boy is growing like a WEED! Anyway, introduced the bottle, he took about two seconds and then latched on like he'd been doing it all his short life. So, for Mother's Day, I took the 3AM feeding for her. I have to tell you (my vast, anonymous, worldwide audience), I already thought Mrs Nut was a super hero, but after spending all of Sunday walking around in a zombie haze and trying not to burn the chicken and burgers on the grill for our guests, I realized that she's not a super hero, she's a GODDESS. I can't believe it. I got up at 3:30 to feed him, put him back down around 4:30 and got up again 20 minutes later for the little Gassy Gus, and was then up pretty much the rest of the day. He fooled me, too, because he went to sleep when we got home from dinner at about 10:30 and didn't really wake up until 3:30. I really thought he'd just eat and then go back to sleep. Oh well. The good news is, I can now give Mrs Nut a break from time to time, which she needs and deserves.

Here's a pic of the Peanut's first bottle. We're trying to keep him down to one a day, but we'll do two if we have to.

Back to the grind

2008-04-28T13:44:00.002-04:00

Well, it's finally happened. Today I had to go back to work. I'm not going to lie, it was tough to leave the house this morning, and I've been looking at the Peanut's picture a LOT today. Luckily, he's been pretty good for Momma Nut today and it sounds like he slept for most of the morning. Hopefully that keeps up and she's able to get some rest as she didn't really get much last night. I'm really looking forward to being able to help out with the feedings in a few weeks and relieving her of some of the load. I know that I can't do everything, but if I can take over a few (especially some of the overnight ones), then that will help some.

We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Breakthrough!

2008-04-20T14:13:00.002-04:00

After a week of vigilance and late-night/early-morning shift changes to keep an eye on the Peanut while he slept everywhere BUT his crib, we had a breakthrough last night. After feeding him and changing him around 1:30am, we put him down in his crib and he put himself to sleep. He went about 8 hours in total, with a feeding break around 4:30am. This advancement allowed Mrs Nut and I to get real sleep in our bed, together, for the first time since coming home. Yay!

Hopefully this is a sign of things to come!

It's a Boy!

2008-04-14T22:24:00.002-04:00

Not like we weren't expecting that, but still, it's nice to have him here finally! Mrs. Nut went into labor around 6:45 on Saturday morning (4/12) and the Peanut made his appearance just before 3:00 that afternoon. Short labor, relatively quiet baby, he's very agreeable and all systems appear to be functioning properly. The little man is a MACHINE. An eating, pooping and sleeping machine so far, but a machine nonetheless. 8lbs, 7oz at birth, 20.75" long, he's a robust little fellow. It's hard to believe he was in Mrs Nut's belly, really, as big as he seems.

I'll probably be laying low for a while as we figure out just how to handle this thing called "parenthood". I'll update when I can.

Radio Silence

2008-04-09T15:04:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to update you, my reader, on the reason for the lack of posts around here lately. It's nothing as noble as Matthew Baldwin's reason for not posting for over 3 weeks, it's merely that baby-prep takes up a lot of my mental energy at the moment, and everything else is devoted to Lego Star Wars on the PS2. Seriously. This may well be the best game ever. I can't wait for Lego Indiana Jones. It's going to R0XX0R my 50XX0r5.

Oh yeah, I'm a geek. Wanna make something of it?

Ska, Soul, Punk and...Baby?

2008-04-04T19:13:00.004-04:00

Well, tonight is the Pietasters show at Satellite Ballroom here in the 'ville, but the Peanut may have other ideas as Mrs Nut has been having effective contractions all day (and was getting a head start this morning when we saw the OB: 4cm and 50%!) and could go into "active" labor at any point. We'll see when that happens. Brother the Younger is on his way up from North Cackalacky to go to the show with me. We'll see what happens.

UPDATE: yeah, nothing happened. False alarm (so far). BtY and I went to the concert, had fun, came home to a sleeping pregnant lady and no emergency.

Book Review: Gonzo

2008-04-02T14:45:00.003-04:00

I'm a huge Hunter S Thompson fan. HUGE. I read everything I can find that's written by or about him, I've read all of his collections multiple times, I actually enjoyed Where the Buffalo Roam and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and have the latter on DVD (Criterion Collection, even!), and I have a 12" long 'GONZO' fist tatoo on my back that peeks up out of my shirt collar. You could say I'm a fan. I'm not like some HST fans, however, who idolize the man. I understand that he was a many of many vices, had some severe personality issues and was abusive of everyone in his life, especially those he cared about. I've recently begun re-reading some of his collected works and his first collection of letters, which I received for my birthday last year. When taken all together as a portrait of the man, the picture isn't especially pretty. His letters were the first indication of what kind of person he really was, something that doesn't really come out in his writing (his Raul Duke persona is his character under the pen) and so I began to really gain more of an appreciation and understanding of who he was.

Then I read Gonzo. This is an "oral biography" compiled by Jann Wenner, HST's Rolling Stone publisher patron, and one of his former editorial assistants at RS. The image painted by the anecdotes related in this book by friends and acquantainces of HST is not one that anyone should look up to. It's a picture of a man who was completely unable to function on any level, personal or professional after gaining a semblance of fame. After publishing Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Thompson self-destructed, becoming completely consumed by the Raul Duke character and image. He became deeply paranoid that his friends and associates were plotting against him both personally and financially. He spiraled ever deeper into substance addiction, getting so bad that he had to quit traveling due to his chemical dependencies. He nearly died after two seperate orthopedic surgeries when his body went into detox during recovery and he had to be adminstered an extra drip for alcohol. As I continued to read these first person accounts of living with HST on a daily basis, what these people went through, I felt such sympathy for them and disgust for him as a person. It was deeply disturbing to read about his violent tirades, his nearly deadly practical jokes, his complete and utter disdain for the safety and feelings of others, and all of the hell that he put these people through. What was even more remarkable, however, was how these people justified his behavior by saying "well, that's Hunter for you" or something of that ilk.

I guess I always knew, deep down, that HST was like the person portrayed in Gonzo, and that he wasn't really a legendary figure that I could look up to and emulate. I didn't really even want to emulate him on any level, but reading this oral biography really drove home the point that while his writing may be legendary, he was not deserving of elevation. The good thing is, I don't think he would argue. He seemed to be completely aware of his flaws and narcisscism, and completely unapologetic. I guess that makes his suicide even more fitting. He was ready to die, never mind what anyone else thought or had to deal with afterwards. I'm still a fan of his writing though. He was truly an original in that regard.

Weekend Fun

2008-03-28T16:05:00.003-04:00

Homework time! Over the weekend you should take a look at this quiz and see how many you can get right without cheating. I will gladly reveal that I scored 50% correct with no peeking, but I'm a bit of a music geek. It's all explained in the lead-in, but basically this guy (Matthew Baldwin of Defective Yeti "fame") took all the lyrics to 50 popular "rock" songs and alphabetized them, then got rid of any repeats. It's an interesting way to look at rock lyrics!

And Great Lyrics Quiz Rock Roll The via The Morning News

Fresh Gear!

2008-03-28T14:14:00.003-04:00

In my quest to beome a better equipped motorcycle rider and extend my riding season, I have finally acquired a pair of Teknic Aquavent pants to go with my Teknic textile jacket that's my backup and cooler weather standby. I'm not going to kid myself, they're not the most attractive pants on the market, and I look like a storm trooper when I zip them to the jacket and put them on with my Astars Gore-tex boots, but I will be a warm and dry puppy on the bike, which is a pretty big deal. My biggest issues regarding riding while cold/wet are not so much being cold and wet (which REALLY suck) as much as the fact that when you're not feeling 100%, you're not concentrating 100% on riding. When you're cold, your reaction time increases, your extremities don't operate as well as they should (especially vital for motorcycling: two hands and two feet doing four different things at once) and with cold comes the possibility for injury via hypothermia or exposure.

I've ridden in what appeared to be fairly warm conditions only to get up to highway speeds and start losing feeling in my legs and fingers. My usual gloves are pretty thin GP racing gloves which are heavily armored, highly venitlated and are thin for better feel on the controls. In the summer, this is great as it's like wearing a second skin at times. In conditions below about 55 degrees Fahreheit, however, it begins to become an issue. I read somewhere that a motorcyclist travelling 60 mph at an ambient temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit experiences a wind chill equivalent to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Extended exposure to that temperature without the compensation of a warm spring or summer sun SUCKS. Ditto for legs encased only in a thin layer of denim, or even with long underwear, hence the need for protective gear not only for preventing road-rash but also for protecting oneself from the elements.

Wet is an entirely different proposition for me. I am completely uncomfortable riding in the wet because I no longer trust the tires, the road surface or myself. Visibility is also compromised, which means other drivers are even worse at recognizing that there's a motorcycle there. It doesn't help that nearly everything I wear is some shade of black or grey. My helmet is red/white/blue, and my bike is red, but there's not a lot of red on the bike.

I'm stoked to have the right gear, and will probably take the rain liners out and wear the pants even when it's not bad out just for the extra protection. I might even look into having the mate half of the zipper sewn into my Astars leather jacket so that I can pair it up with them too. That or get some super sexy suspenders.

True Men of Madness...and Speed

2008-03-26T15:05:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Dinosaurs + Robots for introducing me to this particular drag racing/hot rodding phenomenon from the '60s and '70s. The Turbonique rocket-propelled diff. Wow. Nothing like adding nearly 1000 hp to an already blown Galaxie 500, which is a great car in and of itself.

The idea of these amatuer makers deciding this was a good idea, engineering it and then actually putting it on the car just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I love the smell of JP4 in the morning. It smells like...Victory!

NASA Budget Cuts

2008-03-26T14:49:00.004-04:00

I'm not going to really get into this discussion, the facts are out there as is the speculation. All I'm going to say is that I think it's a crock. We have a genuine opportunity to obtain real knowledge about a planet other than our own, perhaps enough upon which to base a decision to colonize, and we're slashing the potential in half. These rovers have surpassed all expectations about how long they'd last, what kind of stuff they'd send back, etc. It's criminal for the government to take away money from this program, especially if they're using it to bail out Bear Stearns (or other troubled financial institutions), which is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

I do like the idea of Bill Gates, Paul Allen or some other tech philanthropist sending NASA a check to keep the lights on. Of course, NASA honcho Cheney would probably divert it to a space laser or something.

My $.02. You can read more here, here, here or here.

Update: they're not going to turn it off! That's good news.

The End Approacheth...

2008-03-25T16:25:00.005-04:00

Well, we're truly counting down the days at this point. 36.5 weeks in, we're seeing the OB every week and we're basically just holding our collective breath. Hopefully the Peanut waits until at least April 3rd, that's when Mrs Nut's parents are back from their vacay. If he can put off appearing that long, then everyone will get a chance to meet him.

I don't know if it's the Peanut's impending arrival or any number of other things, but my ability to get a solid night's sleep has been even further eroded lately. I've been putting off taking anything because it's usually so late already when I discover it's time to go to bed that it's too late to take something. Additionally, the lack of sleep is making it very difficult to get out of bed in the morning and adding a chemical fog certainly wouldn't aid me there. Maybe my body is training for the Peanut's arrival and the very real possibility that no one will be getting any sleep for a while? I would say this is it, but it's been going on for many years now, so that's unlikely. Mrs. Nut says I should find a sleep study and that maybe they could help me understand the problem. I guess I've just gotten used to not being rested. Ever. As much, at least, as one can adapt to that kind of lack of rest. Some of it can almost certainly be blamed on my last job. Being on the road made sleeping hard enough. Going out and drinking at night, after long days, and getting up REALLY early made sleeping nearly impossible. Passing out isn't sleeping. It's shutting down. And it's not nearly as restive.

We'll see what happens. Maybe a sleep study isn't a bad idea. I would say it'll probably have to wait a while though. Ambien, Unisom, Benadryl and booze to the rescue until then. We've already stopped using the TV in the bedroom, but haven't taken it out yet because of Mrs Nut's impending baby-leave. And I don't read before bed, at least in bed.

In the meantime, maybe I just need to start listening to these?

Post-St Patty's Day revelation

2008-03-18T11:00:00.002-04:00

This looks like the best dessert I've ever seen. Just sayin'.

Guinness Cupcakes, via Boing Boing

And it begins...

2008-03-17T21:07:00.003-04:00

Formula One kicked off their season in Australia over the weekend, as did the American LeMans Series with the "56th Running of the 12 Hours of Sebring, Presented by Mobil 1" or whatever it's called. Our previous engagements kept me from watching more than the first 45 minutes or so, but EvoMan kept me up to date throughout the day with text messages. Needless to say, I was shocked, SHOCKED, when he told me that Audi and Peugeot had both fallen out of contention for the overall win. Porsche managed their first overall victory at Sebring since 1988, first overall victory for a "lower" class in who knows how long (I'm sure someone knows, but I can't be bothered to look it up at the moment). Corvette won GT1, surprise surprise, and our buddies from Sonoma, Flying Lizards Motorsports won GT2 over Ferrari after last year's near-miss. 5 of the top 6 cars were LMP2, which is a first for an endurance race, and there were a bunch of cool new cars in GT2. Some of Porsche's diehards switched to Ferrari over the last couple of seasons, so it was nice to see the Evo version of the 997 RSR dominate like it did.

I tried to stay up once we got home from DC to watch the F1 opener live, but I just couldn't do it. Too much wine. Instead, Mrs. Nut and I watched the race from the DVR on Sunday night after we got home from our trip and had picked up the dog. Wow. What a crazy race. 22 cars started, 7 finished. I've never seen a dry race with so much attrition. EvoMan said that the drivers were having trouble adjusting to the loss of traction control (mostly under braking) and there were many moments when driver error and some combination of other factors contributed to shunts or offs, and occasionally the cars just plain blew up (see S.Bourdais, penultimate lap). Ferrari had a bad day, which was kind of nice to see, and McLaren came back strong from their season of ups and downs to a win and a nice points position, although Kovalienen's pit-lane-limiter mistake on the penultimate lap led to Alonso taking a point or two away from his old team. It was nice to see such a diverse podium full of young, up-and-coming stars (all proof that the feeder series system works). Rosberg and Hamilton were so excited in the post-race room, they were jumping up and down together. It's nice to see professionals that are so passionate in their pursuit of perfection and being at the top of their game, and then taking advantage of the opportunities and tools at their disposal.

The old guard is changing. Ferrari is strong, McLaren is strong, but Williams and BMW are coming up fast. Red Bull and STR are two of the strongest rear-pack teams that have a true and honest shot at podium places this year. Honda is experiencing a resurgance of technology and confidence under Ross Braun, truly the shot in the arm that they needed after last year's disaster. Toyota have finally given the boot to their biggest financial drain and showed moments of brilliance this weekend. It is going to be a great season, full of exciting racing and new faces at the front of the pack. Let's hope they can leave behind the silliness of last year.

The Home Stretch

2008-03-17T20:53:00.002-04:00

Well, we're well on our way to the end. Mrs. Nut is in her 35th week, closing in on the April 18th due date. The Peanut's arrival is HIGHLY anticipated, on both sides, as he's the first grandchild for the Nuts and also for the Nuts-in-law. We made our last road trip over the weekend, to DC to hang out with some of Mrs. Nut's college friends we hadn't seen in a while and to finally meet soon-to-be Mrs. Friend-the-best. We had a fun-filled and action-packed weekend with great meals, neat little dogs and good friends. Once we arrived back at the homestead, we settled back in to the final preparations for Peanut. Car seat install, bag packing, re-hang the quilt...that's it. We're just about ready. It's crazy that we're so close to having a baby. In no more than 6 weeks (at the outside), we're going to meet a new person, that no-one has ever met before, and he's going to be a wholly unique person. Crazy.

Movie Review...sort of

2008-03-13T19:46:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to be a little healthier, lose a little bit of weight, lower my bad cholesterol, live longer, you know the drill. My main exercise is to ride a stationary bike, and to make it a little less boring I usually watch movies while doing so. Over the last two days I watched a classic cult film called Vanishing Point.

I don't know much about this movie, other than some tribute talk in Tarantino's Death Proof, and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. It was better than the original Gone in 60 Seconds, which is of approximately the same vintage, but arguably only because it has a higher production value and some bigger names. The car is the star, only this time it's a 1970 or 71 Challenger R/T with a supercharger that "gets over 160" according to Kowalski, the mysterious, quiet, man with a dark past that's ferrying it from Denver to San Francisco. There are a lot of unexplained (until later) flashbacks, lots of hippies, a few boob shots and some casual drug use. Overall, it's the early '70's. I was wierdly drawn in by this movie. Kowalski was a pretty cool cat, Super Soul (Clevon Little) was a great character, a blind DJ that helps Kowalski out over the air by listening to the Police Band and passing on info. There are some social issues addressed, like racism, and the filmmaker does a pretty good job of putting you in Kowalski's head from time to time. I need to read more about the movie (and the UK version, to see if I should bother watching it too) and I think I need to add it to the car-movie collection.

I'd give Vanishing Point 60 ft of burnout (out of a possible 100 ft). Better than Roadside Prophets, but not as good as Le Mans.

The Brotherhood Grows By One...

2008-03-13T16:11:00.002-04:00

...And then there were (more). EvoMan's quest to join the two-wheeled brotherhood seems to have come to fruition! He's joining the darkside and buying a 2001 Ducati Monster 600 Dark, which is a bad-mofo of a middleweight naked. I'm very much looking forward to riding to work with him on the 'Zook and possibly hooking up with Friend, The Best for a "red oreo ride" (two Dark Monsters with a red SV in the middle).

Congrats and welcome, EvoMan!

Irregular Thursday Web Scrapings

2008-03-13T14:11:00.003-04:00

In lieu of a real post, here are somethings I came across today in my travels around the tubes:

From Boing Boing:

The story of the greatest collection of Golden Age comics and how they came out to the public, saved comic collecting and the life of at least one person in Colorado in the mid-70's. I had heard bits and pieces of this story before, but reading Chuck's first-hand account (as laborious as it sometimes is) was very cool.

A list of some of the dumbest things ever done in the music industry, like Decca passing on the Beatles, squashing Napster, the fire-sale of Motown, etc.

From GeekDad:

A pretty cool weekend project I might test out to see if it's worth filing away for when the Peanut is old enough. Building your own autonomous robot.

From io9:

A really cool gallery of models that span fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, etc and are just plain neat-o. I really like the steampunk tank and the little starfighter being refueled.

A list of the toughest SOB's from Sci-Fi to make up your unbeatable squad of super-soldiers. Mostly good choices, no glaring exceptions that I can think of, but I'm not a huge geek like these people. I'm only a medium-level geek. A geek-prentice, if you will.

From friend and occasional commentator HandRail's blog:

HandRail spotted what he believes to be two WWII-era P40 Warhawks flying over Charlottesville yesterday around lunchtime but was unable to get a good picture. I'm inclined to believe him, because he has no reason to pull my chain on this one, and he's a good guy. Plus, the Flying Tigers are WAY cool.

From Gizmodo:

A very interesting "digital" clock that displays in a physical/analog format. Their source was Technabob, which has a slightly better post about it.

An eBay auction that just made me giggle. Who doesn't need a Zombie Survival Kit? Honestly? This is something every good American should have in their home in case of Zombie Uprising.

The Art of Manliess is a nice place to spend a while, has interesting posts about how to live like a man (not Man Show men, real men).

From Notes from C-Ville:

A fun day-trip idea for those of us who make our home in Central and Western VA, or for those of you elsewhere in the state that don't mind travelling a bit for a fun day out. Seeing real maple syrup production is fun, educational and tasty!

And my new favorite blog, Dinosaurs + Robots, written by one of the founders of Boing Boing and Mr Jalopy, they explore found items, weird tools, and all kinds of other stuff. They're also Makers, so they will from time to time post cool instructable type things and have a "dispatch" full of neat stuff.

Have fun out there, and don't fall into any tiger traps! (Thanks AM!)

More Star Wars Goodness

2008-03-12T10:43:00.003-04:00

There must be something in the air...today's (actually last night's) Star Wars geek-out comes courtesy of iO9 and a guy named Avi, who created a photo-mosaic Last Supper using Star Wars characters, made from over 69k movie stills from all 6 films. It's very cool.

Star Wars photo-mosaic Last Supper via io9

Time to Geek Out

2008-03-11T16:19:00.005-04:00

Fark came through today, with a seriously geeky link courtesy of Blasphemes. The content is something that is VERY close to my heart: Star Wars. The question is, just how long is the timeline for Empire anyway? There are some interesting points in the post (anyone with govt. contract experience can vouch for how long it must have taken to get all those bounty hunters to the Super Star Destroyer!) and even more in the comments, including some links to maps of the galaxy that don't come in as handy as you might think.

Pressing Issue (Blasphemes, via Fark)

Mo' Moto Madness

2008-03-11T11:23:00.002-04:00

After scrupulously avoiding any and all references to the outcome of Sunday night's late broadcast of the MotoGP season-opener in Qatar, Mrs. Nut and I settled down to watch it last night. Wow. It was a great race, although the outcome was a bit of a foregone conclusion. Stoner truly picked right up where he left off and before the halfway point started to walk away from the rest of the field.

Some of the suprises (both good and bad) were:

Dani Pedrosa's start. He truly got the hole-shot coming up from what looked like the third row of the grid and just blowing by all 4 factory-supported Yamahas, at least one other Honda and Stoner's Ducati.

Pedrosa's race. After amazing everyone with his start, he then led for several laps and hung with the front group for a much longer time than he should have been able to.

The Rookies. As a class, the Rookies did pretty darn well in the opener. 2007 World Superbike Champion James Toseland impressed in his debut even though he was at a significant (and obvious) disadvantage, running an old metal-spring valve engine (as opposed to Rossi, Edwards and Lorenzo running pneumatic valve engines). When he gets the PV engine for the Estoril race (Round 3), he should be running right up front. Dovisioso hung with the front runners for most of the time on his B-Squad Honda, and Jorge Lorenzo was the top of the class, making the podium in his MotoGP debut, putting some excellent passing moves on his teammate, Valentino Rossi, and truly shining.

The Veterans. Disappointing all around, really, as Rossi hung with the guys at the front for a little while, even led for a few laps, but couldn't match the unrelenting pace of the Ducati and even that of his rookie teammate, eventually falling back like he was dragging an anchor and finishing just behind Dovisioso, with whom he had an excellent scrap over the last couple of laps. Edwards hung back from the fight at the front, but it wasn't apparent that he had the bike to get up there anyway. The rest of the field was filled with familiar names in disappointing places. Capirossi's first race on the Suzuki (and his teammate, Vermuelen) wasn't anything spectacular, and hopefully they'll get back to their late-2007 form soon. Hopkins Kawasaki debut was mind-bendingly dull, riding around in 9th-12th place and just generally looking lackadaisical, much like Nicky Hayden, the man he "diced" with the most. Hayden seemed to be unable (unwilling?) to match his teammate's pace or drive in this round, although he was saddled with a 2007 spec bike, which he felt was going to be an advantage going into this season. Guess not. Melandri, de Puniet, Elias, and all the rest just kind of cruised around in the back, not making any impact at all on the result. It will be interesting to see what happens at the next round in two weeks.

The lights. The opener at Qatar was the first Grand Prix (on two or four wheels) run at night under lights. F1 will run under the lights at Singapore later this year, and is trying to get Australia to put up lights, as well as the rest of their Asian races, to better suit their European and UK viewers. The result in Qatar, where both 250cc and MotoGP ran under lights (125cc? don't know), seems to be positive. The riders seemed to adjust quickly during the practice sessions, with the loudest complaints being about the sand blowing across the track (always a problem at Losail). We'll have to see what the result was for viewership in Europe and the UK, but the later start played havoc with the US broadcast, even though it's tape-delayed anyway. I don't know why SPEED skimps so badly on their MotoGP (and WSBK) coverage, just buying the cheap (and crappy) feed from whoever is there. They do the same thing for F1 and it gets really frustrating. I have a nice TV with HD capability and HD from DISH, yet when I watch motorsports I usually have to squint to tell who I'm looking at. DISH needs to buck up and get SPEED HD now that it's available (assuming Rupert Murdoch hasn't screwed everybody by giving it to DirecTV only).

That's about it for now, Sebring 12 Hours and F1 season opener (Australia) are this weekend, so another good racing weekend to look forward to. Sebring should be especially good, as Peugeot is kind of whupping up on Audi in the pre-race testing. This could be the year that Audi loses the top spot. It would be the first in-class defeat for the R10 at all and the first time in many years that Audi has lost at Sebring.

Moto Mojo

2008-03-10T11:23:00.002-04:00

The weather and SPEED TV conspired against me yesterday. They both propped me way up and then let me fall way down. It looked like such a nice day, and really it was, so I took out the 'Zook for a little spin, fill up the gas, run up to the auto parts store for some stuff I needed. The trusty weather station in the bedroom said the outside temperature was somewhere in the mid-60'sF. That's pretty nice, it looked nice out, had been decently warm when I'd gone out earlier, etc., so I decided to brave it. The bike needed it, I needed it, why not.
Yeah. It wasn't in the 60s, wasn't even close. I first noticed a bit of a chill in the air when I went out the door, but attributed it to a breeze and the fact that I was in the shade. Got the cover off the bike, it fired right up eagerly and settled into a rough but steady idle. Rolled out down the driveway and up the street and it started to hit me. The COLD air coming in my raised visor, through my jeans, my thin leather racing gloves. I had been duped. I gutted it out (I'm not that big a wuss and I wasn't going very far) and hit the Sheetz for go-juice and Advance for wiper blades for the truck, but skimped out on swinging by EvoMan's house to check out his new stereo install. It just wasn't worth it. As sunny and clear as it was, my fingers were starting to freeze, my teeth were starting to chatter...did I mention that I'm a huge wimp and a fair-weather biker?

The MotoGP season opener was supposed to be broadcast (on tape-delay) at 6:00 EDT on SPEED, according to my DISH programming guide. EvoMan called up earlier in the day (we were going to watch it together) to say that his programming guide (DirecTV) said that it wasn't on until 10:00 EDT, to which I scoffed, saying that my guide was much better than his (it is, really it is). Mrs. Nut was so tired that she just might die (B-day fast approacheth, less than 6 weeks left) and so I ventured up the road solo (in a fully-enclosed conveyance, for which I was especially grateful later) to watch the race and enjoy Evo and Mrs Evo's company (and Mini-Evo). Suffice to say, SPEED pulled a Rick-Roll as well, changing the program description several times from 250cc WC to "Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing" which didn't tell us anything. The time came for the lights to go out and who's on the grid? 250cc. Just not nearly as entertaining a series. The bikes just don't impress like the MotoGP machines and we don't know any of the riders. Oh well, still had a good time swapping music, eating yummy food and hanging with the Evo's. MiniEvo was on a roll with the talking and the walking and we worked on spatial awareness exercises (put the blocks through the right holes). I went home to Mrs Nut around 9:00 after the mercury had dropped considerably (see my relief in re: full-enclosed conveyance expressed above) and trundled home to make her some dinner.

Of course, while watching the new History Channel program on PacNorWe Lumberjacks, we checked SPEED to see what was on, just in case they had deceived us (the progam guide listed a show called "Setup", about Grand Am Cup racing) and they had! Luckily, we tuned in on the first lap and got the DVR going in time.

Doldrums

2008-03-08T11:00:00.002-05:00

Not much going on this week, it's rainy and cold and it's pretty tough to get motivated about anything. MotoGP starts tomorrow from Qatar, so that's exciting, and then ALMS and F1 next weekend, so we've got that going for us...which is nice.

The dogs are lazy, Mrs Nut and I are lazy, the weather's kind of lazy. We'll see what happens next week.

Moto Blues

2008-03-04T11:35:00.002-05:00

After my cathartic rant yesterday, I decided to go home and give the old 'Zook another chance before just diving in and replacing the plugs. Partially I made this decision because I have fouled them before and this didn't sound like that, also because it's a truly horrendous pain in the butt to get to the plugs (thanks to the L-Twin design), which means having to remove the gas tank and airbox to reach the #2 cylinder head. Suzuki isn't alone in this design, having copied it (sorry, just being honest) from Ducati because it works VERY well. Anyway, not feeling like opening up the bike without a good place to work on it (my driveway just isn't that good), I went home and tried to see if it was just being tempermental due to the cold weather when it refused to start yesterday morning. Whaddya know, IT FIRED RIGHT UP! Needless to say I was tempted to go out for a spin right then because it was still quite nice out, but I didn't (should have gone up to Sheetz and filled 'er up anyway). Instead I let her idle for a while while I tweaked a few little things like brake lever travel and finally solved (hopefully) the tach light issue which seems to plague many a first gen SV650. It appears that the blub wasn't quite seated right in the socket, causing an intermittant connection. It was really strange to see the tach light up, as it hasn't done that the entire time I've owned the bike (nearly 4 years). I've just gotten used to only seeing the speedo at night and guessing at the revs by engine noise and vibes.

If I can figure out the headlight problem (it's either aimed too high, the reflector is farked or in upside down or the bulb is upside down), it should be ready for some post-sundown riding. I just need to find a good flat space with enough room to test the headlight.

@!#%$&@*!!!

2008-03-03T10:48:00.002-05:00

So the weather finally agrees to cooperate, I spend an hour on Sunday afternoon bleeding the brakes and making sure that everything's working right on the bike, even letting it idle for 15 minutes or so and then cool, checked the oil, added a bit, got it all sorted out because today was going to be 65 degrees F and sunny. Perfect riding weather, no? Of course I'm not allowed to ride when the weather's nice. I get all kitted out, go out, take the cover off, key in, ignition on, choke open, clutch in, thumb the starter, nothing. It's trying, it's trying hard, but it's not turning over. There's a little burble as it starts to catch, but now I'm just wearing out the battery (still hooked up to the trickle charger) and the starter. Turn it off, close the choke, let it sit for a few minutes, try it all again. No dice. Repeat.

After 30 minutes of this, and the debate as to whether it's worth trying to bump start it down the driveway (having to push it half-way back up the street and up the steep driveway if it fails) and deciding it's not, already being hella late for work, go back in the house, get out of the kit (wind-proof leggings, thermal undershirt, GoreTex boots), get re-dressed, jump in the pickup and drive to work all pissed off.

What a great way to start the week! And the window was so short. 65F tomorrow, but with severe T-storms, 40's the rest of the week. Nice. At this rate, the Peanut will arrive before the motorcycle weather does. This is what I get for being a fair-weather biker, I guess. And for not having indoor storage for it.

Fire up the Flux Capicitor Doc!

2008-02-28T16:51:00.004-05:00

We're going to LA! This is truly a great idea. The Time Travel Mart in Los Angeles is one of many stores that are the brainchild (brainchildren?) of Dave Eggers. The pics alone are worth the click. Other stores include the Pirate Store (San Francisco), the Superhero Supply Store (New York) and the Space Travel Supply Company (Seattle). Oh drat, the Hyper Slush machine is broken. We'll have to come back yesterday.

link (courtesy io9).

It's Meme-a-rific!

2008-02-28T14:58:00.003-05:00

I'm all for promoting Internet Memes, especially if I think they're even remotely funny. This certainly could evolve into something funny. This link does little to explain, but lots to instruct. As someone who has been in a band (come on, it wasn't that bad) and loves music in general and album art/liner notes specifically, this is rad on a whole 'nother level to me. This reminds me of the old Pornstar Name and Jedi Knight Name games, where you'd take the last name of your cat, the third street you lived on, your best friend's third cousin's favorite food and your elementary school janitor's nickname and put them all together and get your pseudonym du jour. This, however, is more fun, is visual, and can be done over and over with different results.

The CD Cover Meme:
1. quotationspage.com/random.php3The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first article title on the page is the name of your band.

3. flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Here's my quick and dirty MS Paint version:

see, that's just fun!

here's the original photo

Movie Cars

2008-02-28T11:54:00.005-05:00

Spotted on Jalopnik today, something that hearkens back to the discussion that Hand Rail and I had a few weeks ago about whether James Garner in Grand Prix was manlier than Steve McQueen in LeMans (shya, as if!). This isn't exactly as all-encompassing as that particular discussion, but it does give us a good starting point.

The question is, which is the more desirable/better/cooler movie car? The Mustang from Bullitt or the Porsche from LeMans? If this were about the 917K that McQueen drove in LeMans, this would be an easy choice. Instead, it's about the 2.2L 1971 911S that his Porsche Factory Driver character drives to La Sarthe to get ready for the race. It's barely even a minor character, compared to the 'Stang from Bullitt, but it's a cool car nonetheless.

To get back to the Garner/McQueen comparo, didn't Garner drive a Mustang at some point in Grand Prix? I feel like he did, going to one race or another.

Use the comments to add any other movie cars (or motorcycles) you wish you had in your garage, and to weigh in on the Porsche/Mustang debate.

Catching up...

2008-02-27T12:01:00.004-05:00

Time flies when you're having, what's it called, fun? Sure, why not. It's been a busy few days here at Mr Fif Industries HQ, with our new product launch fast approaching (April 18th is the projected street date for the Peanut model), Mrs Nut and I have been busy trying to make sure that our marketing materials are up to date, our test and storage environment is set up properly (according to government spec) and that all contingencies are accounted for in our planning. The last pieces are starting to fall into place nicely, as the Maternal Comfort Station was ordered and should arrive soon. The MCS is the last piece in the test and storage environment puzzle and will hopefully tie it all together nicely.

Not much going on otherwise. World SuperBike kicked off in Doha, Qatar over the weekend, with Bayliss and Nietto taking the doubleheader podiums respectively. Ducati is back and bad in WSBK this year, showing their early form by taking something like 7 of the top 10 places in the first race and several spots (including 2nd and 3rd) in the second. Their streak of not winning at Losail is now over. Now that bike racing has started in earnest, the rest of the racing series will start to crop up on the radar. ALMS starts in two weeks at Sebring, followed immediately by the broadcast of F1's opener from Melbourne, Australia. That should be interesting. Ferarri and McLaren have been trading fast times all throughout testing, so I'm excited to see that battle. MotoGP kicks off the week before (3/9/08) at Qatar, which should also be interesting. Nicky Hayden has shown good form in pre-season testing. Can Stoner maintain the pace and consistency that won him the '07 championship? Will Rossi come back to assert his dominance with his switch to Bridgestone? Will Suzuki's Chris Vermuelen find the top step more often this year now that his confidence is up? Will the switch to Kawasaki help or hinder John Hopkins' efforts to reach the top step in 2008? Lots of questions for MotoGP this year, and I can't wait to start seeing the answers come in.

Mrs Nut and I will be on the road a little bit the next couple of weeks, trips to Richmond and DC probably being the last travel we'll attempt before the Peanut's arrival. Hopefully we'll get to see some of you out-of-towner's before the arrival, if not before, then definitely once Nut Jr is ready to roll out. We're touring the maternity ward of the hospital we're going to use this week. It's going to be interesting to see all the rooms and the nursery and stuff, and try my hand at changing the nappy, as it were.

I'll try and post again this week, if anything catches my eye. It's been pretty slow, however, so who knows.

Champ Car/Indy Racing League Merger Announced

2008-02-23T16:53:00.005-05:00

It's been rumored to be on-again/off-again for years, rumors picked up again a few weeks ago on SPEED TV's website and in Autoweek, Tony George (for once) almost came across as the reasonable party, blaming silence from Kevin Kalkhoven for stalling negotiations while Kalkhoven blamed the media for putting the kibosh on proceedings. They're going to call it the Indy Racing League (they're going to absorb CCWS teams and events) and the Indy Car Series, which is pretty much what it was called before the schism, when it was the Indy Car World Series (or something like that).

George is basically buying out the whole works, giving teams free engine leases, free chassis and $1.2M USD if they compete in a full season, which will help CCWS teams decide to switch, having already spent money on new Panoz chassis and Cosworth Mazda engines for their series. It would be great to see an amalgam series featuring both the naturally-aspirated Dallara Hondas and the turbo-charged Panoz Cosworths competing against each other, some sort of equivalency formula or something, but for now, it's great to know that US open-wheel racing is going to be re-unified under one banner.

It's also going to be interesting to see what they do with the feeder series, the Champ Car Atlantics and the IndyPro series. There are so many great opportunities here, I just hope that they explore some of them. This could be the beginning of great things for open wheel racing in the US, or it could be the beginning of the end (again). Either way, both series are now better positioned against stock car racing, but it's still a long, uphill battle. Hopefully this stronger, single open-wheel series and a combination of the two major sports car series will enliven the racing fans in the US to open their eyes, minds and hearts to options other than stock cars.

Click here to read the IRL's announcement, on their website, and click here to read the Wikipedia page about CART, which includes the history of the schism.

Avant is German for "I Want That!"

2008-02-20T13:22:00.004-05:00

Surprise double post today, as I just found pictures and specs on the new-for-'08 Audi A4 Avant. If the base model looks this good, I can't imagine what the S/RS are going to look like. I've been a fan of the four rings for a long time, but hard-core since first generation bi-turbo S4. I know they've had their reliability problems from time to time, but they seem to have overcome that, and now they make really attractive, well-built, solid and safe cars that are fun to drive.

I want one. Audi has done a lot to make station wagons cool in the US (like they always have been in Europe).

2008 Audi A4 Avant breaks cover ahead of Geneva unveiling, courtesy of MotorCities

Car Logos, Redux

2008-02-20T12:12:00.003-05:00

I was pretty disappointed, all things considered, with the car logo history page that I posted here last week, so I've scoured the intertubes to find a suitable replacement. Sort of. I found this courtesy of Jalopnik today and thought I should pass it on to the "masses" (if I can call you that, can I? thanks.).

This comes to us courtesy of Neatorama and is more in-depth, with pictures of old logos as well. The KdF-era version of the VW logo is particularly creepy, but I guess that's to be expected. I always liked the gear-surround of the early Type-1 logos though.

So anyway, for all you car guys out there, Neatorama presents an examination of the evolution of car logos.

Y-Chromosome-Appropriate-Alternative-Activity-for-Baby-Shower-Spouses

2008-02-19T13:34:00.003-05:00

Saturday came and went pretty quickly, all things considered! The shower participants gathered at the Humble Abode at the appropriate time, and we got on the road to Blue Moutain Brewery nearly on time, arriving in bulk just before the folks we were meeting there. We had a great time sitting on the deck in near perfect weather, sipping tasty tasty brews, eating a really good pizza (sliced bratwurst, carmelized onions, thin and crispy crust with a great sauce and non-descript cheese that complimented, rather than overpowered, the other toppings) and chatting about things related to babies and children, as well as things not. It was nice to be able to hang out with folks that I don't often get to see or hang out with in such a mellow environment. Everyone seemed to have a good time and was able to find a beer variety that agreed with them, and everyone seemed to agree that a pizza with bratwurst on it was just about the best guy food ever.

I cannot recommend highly enough the Blue Mountain Brewery experience. If you're in Charlottesville already or are planning a trip to this area (or Wintergreen Resort), you'll read all kinds of stuff about the excellent area wineries and the Monticello Wine Trail, which is an excellent way to spend a few days, don't get me wrong. The problems with wineries (as I see it) are as follows:

not everyone likes wine
not everyone likes the kind of wine that a winery has or specializes in
wine people aren't like you and me, and oftentimes can be downright unpleasant to be around
wineries don't typically have food, and when they do, it's not cheap
wineries don't serve exquisite hand-crafted beers
did i mention the beer?

Seriously, Taylor Smack and his wife and partners have created a true oasis in Nelson County. I knew his beer was good from drinking it at South Street brewery and restaurant in Charlottesville, and I heard very good things from Hand Rail and his wife about the place (but they're friends with the Smacks, so it was hardly unbiased!) as well as reading excellent unbiased reviews online and in various local print media. I had also purchased Blue Mountain beers at the grocery store and had it on tap at places like Beer Run and Mellow Mushroom (another great beer and pizza place, but they don't brew). I guess the overall experience was just tremendous and exceeded my expectations, though how that was even possible is beyond me. The facility they've put together there near Afton Mountain is very comfortable, even when full (as it apparently always is). The only thing it needs is more parking, but then it'd be even more full (apparently they're already discussing an expansion of their current facility)! Every employee we talked to was friendly and helpful, the beer and food were excellent (I already said that, right?) and the weather almost couldn't have been any better (maybe a little warmer). We had to take some beer home with us and luckily I had brought along a couple of growlers just for that. The Kolsch and Nectar Pale served us well throughout the poker game and dinner later that night and were just the right amount.

Pictures will be in my Flickr stream later.

The week in cars

2008-02-15T10:48:00.003-05:00

The last few weeks have been pretty car heavy for me (not unlike most weeks, come to think of it!), thanks to new race cars debuting, the Detroit Auto Show, some of my favorite race series doing their spring testing, and interesting discussions of classic racing movies and what can and can't be inferred through their viewing (yeah, I'm talking to you, Carl Weetabix!). Here are a couple of things that stuck out for me.

The 2008 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Evo. This is the most bad-ass 911-based Porsche race car EVER. Flying Lizards, our friends in Sonoma, are going to be campaigning three of these monsters in the ALMS this year, thanks to Porsche Motorsports contracting Wolf Henzler when Tafel switched to Italian Iron this year (or is it Italian Carbon Fibre?). The GT2 class in the ALMS is going to be VERY interesting this year, with Aston Martin, Ford, Porsche, Dodge, Corvette, Panoz and Ferrari all fighting (and BMW joining later in the year with the return of the V8 M3, thanks to Bobby Rahal) for class honors. I can't wait for Sebring!

Hemmings Sports & Exotic has been running a new feature in the last couple of months that examines the history of car logos (I've seen Fiat, Alfa and Mazda, so far), which dovetails nicely with this site, found via Jalopnik: The History of Car Logos. It's not nearly as in-depth as the Hemmings 1-page columns, but has links to further resources about the brands, which is nice.

Also, there is the stunning (and most likely heart-breaking when it doesn't happen) rumor that the IRL and Champ Car World Series have finally got a deal on the table to re-unite this year. Last week's issue of AutoWeek said specifically that this wasn't going to happen, citing the same details as this agreement, and said that Kevin Kalkhoven reportedly hadn't talked to Tony George in over a year. Whatever. They both are floundering, IRL only less so because of the 500 and Danica Patrick. When your "driver of the future" wins your feeder series and turns down $2M USD towards a ride in the big leagues for the next season (ending a career-long association with Mazda) to jump to your only domestic competitor's feeder series (and switch to Honda), you know you're in trouble. One of the major stumbling blocks is scheduling and the other is the chassis/engine they'll use. I long for a hearkening back to the good old days when you didn't need a spec car to run a series because there was enough manufacturer and fan interest to drive development. I say use the turbo Panoz/Cosworth for road courses and the n/a Dallara Honda for ovals. How much simpler does it get?

Anyway, have a great weekend, I'll have a report on the Y-Chromosome Appropriate Alternative Activitiy for Baby Shower Spouses next week.

Whither the Weather?

2008-02-12T11:30:00.001-05:00

Sorry, I really couldn't think of a good title for this one. I want to know what the heck is going on with the weather this year. It needs to make up its damn mind. Seriously. It's winter, I accept that it's going to be cold in the winter. What I don't accept is three days of 60+ temps (with or without motorcycle-canceling precipitation) followed by a week of sub-freezing, windy crap. Either stay cold like you're supposed to or get warm and stay warm like 232:=6;<=878=XROQDF>232349:49;3:;ot1lsi">Al Gore (coughASSHATcough) wants you to so that he can make more money telling people that the world is going to end and the poor polar bears are going to drown or starve or both.

I don't like having to get up, look at the weather station, watch the weather channel, look at the intertubes, then choose from any number of jackets/coats/hats/gloves. I want to wake up, know it's going to be cold, dress appropriately (don't even get me started on the crappy climate control in my office!), grab my big wool coat and scarf, jump in my truck, and brave the cold walk to the office. I don't want to do all that, get to the parking garage, boil on the way to the office, see it be sunny and 70 degrees at lunch time (when I could be on the motorcycle on the way to lunch in the country somewhere) and then have to lug a huge wool coat 6 blocks back to my car at 5:00. I'm all for early warming. I'm all for anything that gets me on the motorcycle sooner rather than later. I'm against seasons that can't make up their damn mind. Winter=cold. Spring=warmer. Summer=hot. Autumn=a nice mix of warm and cool. Period.

End Rant.

"Smart" Moto Helmets coming?

2008-02-11T10:44:00.001-05:00

I found this on Gizmodo today, and it looks pretty cool! The only problems I can think of would be in the areas of poor cell phone coverage, although maybe the particular band that it operates on has more penetration.

Motorcycle Helmet That Calls For Help

2008-02-09T14:07:00.001-05:00

So apparently,

I amNyarlathotep!

The 999 forms of Nyarlathotep are a point of meditation for the true initiate. It is through these manifold faces that the secrets of the universe are made known. Called "The Crawling Chaos", Nyarlathotep is the disembodied ego of Azathoth and thus the universal "I" of known reality. Some of the many documented forms are; Father of Knives, Nephren-Ka, the Black Man, the Beast of the Lashing Tongue to name a few.

Which Great Old One are you?

can you believe it? I had no idea!

Hmmmm...

2008-02-08T10:43:00.001-05:00

Found this today and immediately thought that I need to clear a space in the shed for it. I don't know if Mrs. Nut would consider this an appropriate use of approximately $1,000 (for the cheap one), however.

Ferrari FXX Pedal Car

Random thoughts on parenthood

2008-02-08T09:40:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Nut and I had our third week of child birth prep classes last night. We discussed the stages of labor, various pain relief options that are available to her and that kind of stuff. One of the things that came up is "what will you, the S.O., do to be her rock?" That's what I've been struggling with the most over the last few weeks. I have NO IDEA how I'm going to react to her going into labor, being in pain, etc. It's going to be crazy, to say the least. We talk in class about figuring out before-hand what kinds of things she wants you to say to her (encouragement-type stuff), how she wants to be touched/massaged, what kind of positions she wants to use to get through the contractions, etc. The most consistent answer was "I don't know how I'm going to feel during labor and can't tell you what to do or say right now." That's understandable, and I can't expect her to be thinking about that right now when she's got so much else on her plate. I guess the biggest thing I took home last night was that I have to be flexible and light on my feet, ready for anything. It's going to be interesting.

One of the nice things about the classes is that they begin to de-mystify the whole process a little bit. I'm still completley blown away by the fact that my wife has this built in functionality and it appears to be working as it's expected to. That's something else we're told to keep in our minds. This is normal. People (women) have been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years (at least) and often without any kind of medication or fancy beds or anything resembling a clean environment. We're going to be just fine. I think.

Sad note, Brother, The Younger (aka, Brother, The Only) adopted a lab-mix dog from a shelter near his house in NC and got her home only to find out she has Parvo. She's been at the vet for a few days now and is supposedly doing better, with as bright an outlook as you can have in that particular situation. He found out from people at the vet's office that that shelter has adopted out a LOT of dogs with Parvo. They're not taking any responsibility, however, which is extra douchey of them. They said he would have had to bring her back within 5 days to "get his money back" (like that's his primary concern at this point), and he called them on day 6. Thanks for your help guys. Ass. Anyway, keep Brother and Grace (the dog) in your thoughts, if you would.

The Clash

2008-02-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

Mrs Nut has gone to bed, the Peanut has been giving her a lot of trouble today and she needed to lie down, so I'm watching the Clash doc, "Westway to the World". It's great to see these guys talk about what it was like to meet each other, form the band, work out the sound, etc. Joe Strummer was easily one of the coolest MF'ers of the 20th century. Hands down. Mick Jones is a prat (but a brilliant arranger). Paul Simonen seems to have gotten kind of the short end, really, but he's the most active at the moment. Between this movie and "The Future Is Unwritten", there are fantastic bits of archival footage showing the early days.

I've been re-discovering the Clash lately, along with lots of other punk and hardcore, and some days it seems like that's all I listen to. I've also been tooling around with some of the songs on the guitar, which is fun and frustrating at the same time. I'm not nearly as talented or committed to it as I need to be, but I have fun with it at the same time.

I could listen to these guys all freakin' day.

Clarification

2008-02-06T12:53:00.000-05:00

I realized after posting last night that there are a couple of things that could cause confusion here. This blog is called "Wingnuts & Bolts" yet is addressed as Mr Fif's Place. Posting is done (so far) by Wingnut (and I've mentioned Mrs. Nut and the impending arrival of the Peanut), yet the Flickr stream goes to Mr Fif's photos. Depending on how long you've known me (for those of you that do), you'll know that Wingnut is something I've been using as an alias for many many years, since high school. Mr Fif is the handle that was pasted on my person by Mrs. Nut's cousin's husband (cousin-in-law?) at a poker game and has stuck with her family and friends. I answer to both, or either. Actually, I answer to pretty much anything (seriously, try it some time). Also, I use a lot of parentheses when I write (seriously, have you counted?). Sorry.

Welcome!

2008-02-05T19:39:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Wingnuts & Bolts. I can't promise anything profound will ever be posted here, it'll mostly be a collection of thoughts, reflections, links I find interesting rumors and spoilers for books, movies and TV, some stuff will be re-posts of things I find in my daily web-scrubbing routine, etc. I will try my best to post regularly, but obviously I can't promise anything.

A little bit about me: I live in scenic Greene County, VA, just outside of Charlottesville. Apparently there was some guy named Thomas Jefferson, and he lived in the area. I think he was pretty important a couple of hundred years ago, he may have been in politics or something. I spent the majority of my formative years in Virginia after moving around alot as an Air Force brat, and went to Virginia Tech and graduated with a BA in English. After graduation, I moved to Pennsylvania for 4 years. Not an experience I'd recommend to anyone, although there were times that weren't completley tortuous. I've had a vareity of jobs in a variety of industries, all boiling down to working with external customers in one fashion or another (definition: sales). I'm now settled down, back in Virginia, in idyllic splendor with my lovely wife, Mrs. Fif, and we'r expecting our first child in a couple of months. I ride my motorcycle whenever possible, watch as much racing (no oval or circle track, real racers turn right AND left) as I can, listen to a wide variety of music, read books, and host Divorce-A-Palooza.

Come on in, get comfortable, kick off your shoes, grab a beverage and queue up for some video games. We're having a racing movie festival later on, and we'll make an emergency pizza.