Yule Blog Catchup!

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living Room Shelves
Click for a closeup

The holidays were very busy time for us. I’ve been working through a number of pre-holiday projects putting up new shelves to finish the Living Room, trimming out and painting the TV room – but the finished look was worth it.

There wasn’t a lot of shopping heading towards Christmas – Emma and I keep the presents low-key so its make it more a time of family and love (and cookies!) than any big consumer spend-fest.

We’d made plans for my Dad to came over Christmas Day, and we fixed a classic dinner with turkey and ham and all the sides … then the next morning we headed to Richmond to be with Emma’s family.
Her dad is a Methodist Minister, retired after 50 years in the pulpit!
This fall Emma’s mom was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis – basically,
her lungs are failing. Its a slow slide downward – but they’ve
already signed the living will and have contacted the hospice folks.
They live across the street from her sister – which is a lot better than when they lived in Roanoke, nearly 5 hours away.
Anyway we travelled to see them, and to give her sister some well earned time-off. We zipped down there again after work Weds to be with them on New Year’s eve. We came back late New Years Day – and I was looking forward to relaxed weekend. Weather forecasts were calling for warm days in the 60s! I had visions of pulling the bike out of the shed for some New Year riding – but instead I came down with the flu, and stayed indoors all weekend – congested and sneezing and miserable. Yuck ….

Tax Credit for Incinerator and Extravaganza?

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Just a questions to follow up on – as time allows …
I hear that SUVs (SportBrutes) above a certain size (GVWR) get a tax credit … yes, a tax credit …! I want to know what happened to the so called Gas Guzzler tax that used to exist on inefficient vehicles, and why there are incentives to get folks to buy such inefficient oversized behemouths as the Hummer, Lincoln Navigator, and Cadillac Esplanade. If we want to cut our dependance on foreign oil, why encourage such vehicles with a tax credit??
Similar stories at http://www.tbotcotw.com/archives/001260.php

quaked

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I got home from work early and sat in the living room chair, catching up on the paper (the Washington Post). I’ve been redoing the living room over the last month – throwing out the old Doxsey shelves from the Door Store, putting in new floor to ceiling shelves, so it was nice to sit in the open space, put my foot up on a cushion and open the paper. And when my cat Dolly jumped onto my legs a few moments later, it seemed the perfect time to put down the paper, close my eyes, and rest a bit before Emma got home.
Some time later I heard the furnace kick in, and then I heard a rumble starting up. Now, we are near a hospital, there are ‘copters flying in day and night, and we are close enough to Dulles Airport that we hear the air brakes kick in for some of the incoming flights … but this rumble was closer. I actually thought it was bearings in the furnace motor failing … the floor shuddered pretty good for 20 – 30 seconds … and then it faded away. 5 minutes later the phone rang, but I was pretty comfy and drifted back into that half-asleep state …
Emma got home 20 minutes later, and as we fixed dinner, she told me she’d felt the rumble a mile away at church. We figured it was an earthquake, and a few minutes later when I turned on the evening TV news, they confirmed it – a magnitude 4.5 quake near Richmond VA.
We didn’t even lose any of the glassware on our shelves – but between this and all the rain and winds we’ve had this year, it sure has been strange …

Psalm 2(00)3

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I found it on The Right Christians web site – they said:
Making the rounds and courtesy of Democratic Veteran:
Psalm 2(00)3
Bush is my shepherd, I shall be in want.
He leadeth me beside the still factories,
He maketh me to lie down on park benches,
He restoreth my doubts about the Republican party.
He guideth me onto the paths of unemployment for the party’s sake.
I do fear the evildoers, for thou talkst about them constantly.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy deficit spending,
They do discomfort me.
Thou anointeth me with never-ending debt,
And my savings and assets shall soon be gone.
Surely poverty and hard living shall follow me,
And my jobless children shall dwell in my basement forever.

Its ALIVE!

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I put the black and white tank on the bike and put some gas in it … and it actually fired a few times! It would fire and rev for 4 seconds, then die. I pulled the float bowl off the card and was surprised to see the plastic float jet still in there! I’d made a deal on eBay for some Norton owner’s carb parts just to get a viton tipped metal jet .. guess with all the projects I never got it installed, so I dug through the cartons of parts, found it, and put it in the carb. Tinkered for another hour or so and finally …. I had it running. Granted, I need to rev it to keep it running … but I popped the cap on the oil bottle and saw a healthy stream of oil from the return hose, so the oil pump is working. Jiggled the cable and got the tach working. The ammeter shows things are charging …
I went inside and I grabbed my license and helmet, then I headed up the driveway for a test drive!
I know I still have work to do – I need to fix the horn button and make sure it works. The original non-sealed beam headlight seems pretty iffy – I got a 6024 style Halogen headlight ready to go – but I need to get a 3 pin socket to wire it in. And I need to dial in the timing and get the card set better …
But its still daylight … its actually a nice day, 55 degrees, no wind and a bit of sun, and I’ve been working on this bike since I got it in July – I want to ride – at least a little!
So – off I roared to terrorize the neighbors! A quick stop and I tightened down the rear brake rod and off again …. Now, common sense prevails – I just ran around the block a few times – never got past 3rd gear and I can tell the clutch needs adjustment, the tires probably need more air, and I’m sure there are other things. But I’m riding a bike that I put together … what a feeling!
And what a long way from first seeing in Merrimack, NH mid-July http://www.thewebgal.com/blog/archives/000038.html

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Vetter -x75 Hurricane and beyond

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Photo courtesy RealClassics website

I ran across a story on the RealClassics UK site about the Beezumph 12 rallye – a gathering of BSA and Triumph Triple bikes from the mid-70s. http://www.realclassic.co.uk/rides03071500.html ln the article they mentioned the fun that was had, how many of the bikes gathered for the event, and how they were luck to host the bike’s designer, Craig Vetter!

Craig Vetter – an American legend – I knew him as the wizard that redesigned the BSA/Triumph 750 Triple into the X75 Hurricane for the American market. And what a gorgeous design! Styling that was years ahead of its time, all I could do was dream about one when they were new in ’72-’73 … After that success he went on and created another legend with the Vetter Windjammer Fairings …

Now, he’s got a website at http://www.craigvetter.com/ I’ve always loved the style of the Hurricane – so when I saw he had a T shirt of the bike … I just had to have one!

I got a white t-shirt – and I’m sorry the image here doesn’t do the shirt justice, but it IS a gorgeous image of the bike! He’ll even autograph it if you ask nicely!

While ordering the shirt, I wound up having some conversations with Connie Vetter, and she is just the sweetest thing – very pleasant to deal with …honest – – go buy a shirt or photos or something from them – RIGHT NOW! (smile) …

Diebold Financing Republicans …

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There have been a huge number of news stories recently about the Diebold Voting Machine equipment. I read Salon reports on investigations by Beverly Harris alleging that Diebold voting systems use an unsecured Access database; which anyone can get to, change data, and erase logs. Diebold has been trying to censor her, as well as some other sites that were hosting some leaked Diebold memos. The materials were first obtained by Bev Harris, who is writing a book about modern-day ballot-tampering. According to published accounts, she found the materials on an unprotected Web site while doing a Google search. Links to those memos can be found here though Diebold is trying to censor the whole issue by issuing takedown requests to many of the site and claiming a violation of the DMCA !

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Marriage Lobby Week!

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Both Sides In Same-Sex Marriage To Hold National Lobby Week”
by Doreen Brandt – 365Gay.com Newscenter Washington Bureau
Article Posted: September 25, 2003 12:01 a.m. ET
(Washington, D.C.) Organizations in favor and opposed to same sex marriage have earmarked the same week for national demonstrations to promote their views.
Southern Baptists, Jerry Falwell, Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family and other conservative churches and lobby groups announced Wednesday that they had earmarked October 12-18 ‘Marriage Protection Week’.

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