Years ago I wrote a book on retirement–or at least I started to. I never finished it, never published it. But some people have read bits of it–here an in other forms. I doubt I’ll jump back into this, too many projects. I suspect a lot of it is dated and it’s all a mess, […]
The Retirement Trap Read More »
Fall is when I work. For most of the summer, the big rollup doors of my shop start ratting about ten, and by noon they are telling me it’s Fukinukin’ in the Gorge, and it’s time to drop the tools and go play. I always do. So not that much gets done. From mid-august on
A Busy Time In The Shop Read More »
I like the idea of a foil booster, and the version offered from Australia–the Foil Drive–seems effective if a bit expensive for what it is. Downwind foiling has always been my aim, but the likelihood of me being able to do it with just a paddle is very small. I have most of the parts
Debunking EV Propaganda I understand why people buy into all the propaganda against EVs—it connects to things they already believe and people like to have their beliefs reinforced. They pretty much hate having them contradicted. What I don’t understand is how the propaganda is so persistent. Most of it isn’t even slightly logical—it doesn’t even
Debunking EV Propaganda Read More »
This bike is ready to ride around the world. I bought this bike on Bring-A-Trailer because I wanted a bike capable of going anywhere. BMW has been making adventure bikes a long time, my friends have them, I didn’t, and I could easily see they were having fun that I couldn’t quite share. It’s not
2002 BMW R 1150 GS Read More »
I’m not a motorcycle collector, I’m a mechanic and a rider, and I have been for almost 60 years. As such, I’ve accumulated some great motorcycles. That doesn’t mean I have bikes hanging from the ceiling or on display. That means I have bikes waiting for me to get off my ass and do something
1956 Goldstar Clubman made rideable Read More »
Several people have asked me about my impact vest with a reel leash and a wing harness hook added. For me, it’s an ideal combination. The sewing looks like works of primitive man because I used my wife’s sewing machine in Maui instead of the brutal TuffSew in Maui. The combination is easy to use,
Impact Vest with Harness and Board Leash Read More »
On a whim, I bought a cast iron oyster pan from Sur La Table. Well, actually from Amazon. I like barbequed oysters a LOT. The heavy buggah arrived the day after I made a too-large pot of salmon and clam whatchagot chowder, effectively cleaning out all the slowly composting leftovers in the refrigerator (too late
I never order biscuits at breakfast when I’m eating at a restaurant. That’s because I don’t live in the South and I don’t like eating hockey pucks. I don’t buy scones at coffee shops–same basic reason. Those dense wedges with no inherent flavor need a lot of other stuff in them to be even slightly
The Best Biscuits and Scones Are Ridiculously Easy Read More »
I was going to say “Boomer” instead of Geezer, but that’s actually wrong. Boomers are ultra geezers. I got taken to task a few days ago by a guy on an RV forum for a grumpy post I did in which I described the participants as grumpy old farts. That might sound like some strange
You Are Probably A Geezer Read More »
As anyone who has known me for more than 43 minutes knows, I have ADD. I could be the poster boy. But lately, I’ve been doubling down. I’m kind of frantic. I might have to see if I can get a prescription for Concerta if only to shut down the circus for a day. For
I’m using my blog as a place to store information about this project. 99 percent of it will be only of interest to me. I considered making it private, but if someone wants to follow along, here’s what I’m doing: TowBot Project Brains: This is where I’ll paste all the development stuff for the
Towbot Project Info Dump: Nav System Read More »
Love this. I’ve always been a dire Straits fan, and Sultans of Swing is one of my favs. But this… …this would get my ass up on the dance floor. Crank to 11.
Update: 2/13/2021 Meshy stuff. I uploaded meshtastic onto two of my TTGO T-Beam One with everything would you like fries with that boards. OK, they aren’t really called that but they should be. Meshtastic is an open-source communications app that uses LoRa to talk at a substantial distance between two boards, compare GPS locations using
TowBots, ESP32 boards, Bugs and Other Silly Stuff Read More »
It’s a good time to practice critical thinking or at least the aspects of it that might make you bullshit-resistant. Notice I didn’t say bullshit proof. Every human has their own store of nonsense and is generally looking to reinforce their belief in it rather than exorcise it. Some people are more resistant than others,
Thinking Critically and the Value of IMBW Read More »
That could easily be the tagline for my life, but it’s actually an idea for a cookbook I’m starting to write titled Better Next Time. The inspiration came from an eBook I wrote for my friends at Analemma Wines called Tasting and Pairing Unusual Wines. I’ll put the eBook up here when it’s done with
I started learning to foil surf sometime in the fall of 2018–seems like it’s been longer, but think that’s about right. These are some shots from the early days, using a fairly huge board Dave Kalama made for me that I named Mr. Fugly. I don’t really think it was fucking ugly, but it was
Got a text last night saying Big Winds was going to do a repeat of the infamous Hellfire run of a few years ago. The wind prediction for today was off the charts in the east end of the gorge. This presents a conundrum. Unlike other years I kind of quit downwinding early. I haven’t
FFffff-rozen at Celilo Read More »
This is going to be tedious stuff, but necessary knowledge if you don’t want your solar installation going up in smoke. The voltages of most solar/battery/inverter installations are relatively easy to manage, but the currents used are not. I’ve seen all kinds of errors in installations, even from supposed professionals. I am NOT a professional,
