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Pictures of the 6

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:03:00 GMT

I just realized that I never posted any post-lift pics from when I put the 6" Hell Creek suspension lift on my Grand Wagoneer. This post actually belongs back on May 12 when the lift was completed, but better late than never:

Redneck radiator fix - black pepper

Tue, 27 May 2008 20:25:00 GMT

Let me start by saying that yesterday I reaffirmed that wisdom often comes from unexpected sources. We pulled out of BMRA about noon yesterday and started west down 154 out of Gilmer towards Quitman. About 10 minutes into my ride my temp gauge started climbing, which was pretty disconcerting considering I had to drive all the way out to Lake Texoma to drop my camper and then head back home, which is about a 4.5 hour drive. I pulled into a little gas station 17 miles before Quitman and found a small but forceful stream of coolant shooting out of the top front of my radiator. After asking a few locals if there was any chance of getting a radiator repair done on Memorial Day around there I quickly learned that I was on my own.

I went inside the station and asked the pregnant cashier (with her pack of smokes on the counter behind her!). She said "Why don't you put some table pepper in there?" Ummm... "Like black pepper?". She confirmed that is what she meant and sounded surprised that I had never heard of this fix. She continued by reassuring me that it is a common fix for small holes and won't damage anything. Given my situation and knowing that I had very little to lose in this situation I skeptically took a large bottle of black pepper to the counter and she rang it up along with a jug of coolant. After letting the engine cool off a bit, I refilled the coolant and proceeded to put about half of the bottle of pepper in the radiator.

Knowing dang well that I was likely to be stopping on the side of the road in about 5 minutes, I started back on my trip home. 17 miles later the engine was still cool and I stopped for a moment in Quitman to see how bad the leak was. Nada... nothing! Not even a wet spot on the radiator where it was shooting out 20 minutes before. I decided the next goal would be Greenville. If I got at least that far, it wouldn't be that bad for my wife to come rescue me. In Greenville, it was still dry! The engine continued to stay cool the rest of the way home and I had no further issues.

So... next time a pregnant cigarette smoking woman from East Texas gives you auto mechanical advice, don't immediately discount it. She may have torn down more engines than you!

Jeep lift update and more compressor woes!

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:26:00 GMT

Last week I received my Hell Creek Suspension 6" lift for my Grand Wagoneer and set out to do the installation. When I went to get all my tools ready, I discovered the check valve on my air compressor had failed, so I decided to hold off on the work until I could get it fixed. A completely awesome IFSJA member that works on/with compressors hooked me up and sent the part I needed for free! As I waited for the part to arrive, I got restless and decided to start taking apart the front end sans air tools in the mean time to prepare.

The package arrived yesterday, so I hurried home to put the valve in and start on the work. The part was exactly right and my compressor was kicking again. However, as it started building up pressure I heard a hiss coming from the bottom and found that there was a small rust hole in the bottom of my 60 gallon tank! Craaaaaap. Now at best, I am looking at finding a tank and swapping over the motor, pump, etc from my compressor.

With that knowledge, I figured I should just accept the fact that I would be using hand tools only on this lift! Last night I almost completed the front end, with the only exceptions being replacing the pitman arm (need to get a pickle fork), hooking up the extended brake lines (needed brass washers for the fittings), and torquing everything down (need a torque wrench!). The front end is definitely more work than the rear, so if things keep moving according to schedule, I should be able to wrap it up Friday night or Saturday morning.

My new diesel-sipping 1979 Mercedes 240-D

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:35:00 GMT

I have never been one known for going to car lots and purchasing a shiny new car that loses value as soon as I turn the key. In fact, just this morning a friend was commenting that my vechicle collection is somewhat eclectic in the fact that other than the ones I own, you very rarely (if ever) see the same model on the road.

Case in point is my previously most recent addition - my 1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, complete with woody panel sides. I truly love that truck and it is surprisingly awesome to use as a daily driver, except for one issue. Its 11MPG is an absolute killer, especially when coupled with my 62-mile daily round trip commute. Based on this morning's gas price of $3.15, that is $17.75/day just to get back and forth to work assuming I never take a detour going to or from the office.

This week, a coworker showed up in her new Prius that gets somewhere around 40MPG. Additionally, I have seen numerous articles this week talking about how gas prices will quite easily peak (assuming the ever actually do peak) substantially higher than they are today. My problem with getting a new hybrid is that the break-over point before I would actually see any real savings would be years if ever! I started looking into other options and quickly narrowed my sights to the early Mercedes diesels, specifically the 190-D and 240-D models. Both get somewhere around 35MPG as opposed to their gas versions which are in the low 20s. Both have motors that have numerous reports of a million miles. I found several somewhat decent used vechicles in the 1200-2000 range. Non-running vechicles in these models were still getting around $800.00. I did a lot of searching for owner satisfaction and couldn't find anyone who didn't like their 240-D. In fact, my favorite testimonial was "I've had my '83 since 2000 and it has helped make me a better person." Who doesn't want to be a better person?!? :)

So, knowing the general target of what I was considering, my friend Aaron whipped out a spread sheet to help me calculate cost analysis. I wanted to see how long it took before I was saving real dollars only using the new vechicle for my Monday-Friday commute while still using my Jeep the rest of the time, and I was really surprised at what we found. Here are the variables that we took into consideration:

Miles per Day: 62
Gas Price: $3.15
Diesel Price: $3.89
Current MPG: 11
Projected MPG: 35
Work Days per Month: 21.72
Car Purchase Price: $1200.00
Worst-case re-Sale Price: $850.00
Registration/Inspection: $60.00
Monthly Insurance: $30.00
Monthly Maintenance: $50.00

First, what it told me is that my current Monday-Friday gas cost is $385.63! What in the world?! If I swapped to a 35MPG diesel even at $3.89, my monthly gas cost alone would be down to $149.67! Now before I get all crazy I need to bring in some reality by throwing in insurance, maintenance, licensing, etc. Even after factoring all that in, I am still at a monthly cost of $229.67, netting me a monthly savings of $155.96.

So based on this information and based on the fact that at any moment I could walk away selling the vehicle for $850.00, here is what the accumulated savings look like over the next 12 months:

- $254.04
- $98.08
$57.88
$213.84
$369.80
$525.76
$681.72
$837.67
$993.63
$1,149.59
$1,305.55
$1,461.51

That's right, after 1 year I will save almost 1500 bucks by purchasing an additional car! Plus, I love the fact that I am not wasting good miles on my Wagoneer by driving it to and from work every day.

So, last night I went and picked up a new-to-me white 1979 Mercedes 240-D. It is by no means a looker, but then again it is a 30-year-old car I got for 1200 bucks. but it is pretty comfortable to drive and feels even better knowing the effect on my wallet. Here is a shot of it that I just took out of my office window...

If anyone is interested in using the spreadsheet helped create these numbers and helped me make my decision to purchase the Benz, you can access it here and modify it as you need to suit your needs.

Cool 3D painting!

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:18:48 GMT

This is a short video showing a 3D painting in a gallery which appears to to move as you walk past it:

[youtube lbJTM_luB1g]

When I found this video, I also stumbled across some 3D street artists whose work is nothing short of amazing, using chalk on the sidewalk. Check these out:

[youtube pEDSTqN9qfY]

[youtube 115qBlK5s5o]

[youtube hfn8Dz_13Ms]

Removing the NP231 transfer case from a Cherokee XJ

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 11:51:34 GMT

This past weekend I grenaded the inside of my t-case, so last night I spent the evening in the garage pulling it out. I thought I would share my steps here since there were a couple of gotchas.

First off, the space is really tight around that t-case. I had been spoiled with the easy access to my Dana 300 in the CJ - of course I could sit straight up under the CJ as well! Without the space issue to contend with I probably wouldn't bother posting this, but hopefully this will ease someone else's frustration down the line.

Start by removing both the front and rear drive shafts. Remove the axle end of the rear shaft and slide it out of the slip yoke on the t-case. Then remove the t-case end of the front driveshaft and let it rest on the crossmember.
click to enlarge
Next you will want to remove the 4 nuts that secure the transmission to the crossmember from the bottom.
Remove harness connector from the t-case, and the t-case shifter linkage. I have heard some say to remove the speedo cable and vacuum line as well, but neither of those applied to me.
Now you will need to put a floor jack under your oil pan. I put a short 2x4 board on top of the jack lengthwise on the bottom of the pan to help distribute the weight a bit. I placed the jack as far forward on the oil pan as I could so I would have room to place a jack stand behind it (more on that in a moment).
click to enlarge
With the floor jack supporting the back of the drivetrain, you can now safely remove the crossmember bolts from the subframe and drop the crossmember.
click to enlarge
With the crossmember out of the way you will need to remove the tranny mount from the bottom of the transmission.
click to enlarge
Now it is time to lower the rear of the engine/transmission. You will want to pull it down as much as you can to give yourself some room at the top of the transfer case. *SLOWLY* lower the back of the engine until it stops dropping, then raise it back up a small amount to relieve pressure. Now place a jack stand under it to support the back of the engine.
click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Now, find the 9/16" wrench in your toolbox that you like the least and get out a dremel or die grinder. Cut off about 1/3 of the open end of the wrench (at least on mine this was the right length). As close as you can to the chopped off end, grind out a small notch. Now take some strong wire about 1-2' long and tie it to the end of the wrench placing it in the notch. This will allow you to pull the wrench using the wire and will give you decent leverage. I found a small 1" diameter pipe to wrap the other end around to serve as a handle. Since some of the nuts are harder to reach than others, you may want to leave your handle only loosely secured so you can vary the length from the wrench. Now you can use your new wrench contraption for all the hard to reach nuts around the transfer case.
click to enlarge
Once all nuts are removed, you can gently slide the transfer case off and lower it to the ground. Please note that it is not exceptionally light. While it is a simple bench press for many people, you may wish to use a jack to lower it down when you slide it off.

Good luck!

Parker singing 'Jesus Loves Me' in the Talent Show

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:06:01 GMT

On our cruise aboard the Carnival Conquest last week, my 4 year old son Parker sang in the children's talent show in front of a *big* crowd. Here is the video:

[youtube ejgn2mFvnvw]

Let are kids walk!

Sat, 26 May 2007 01:10:16 GMT

In my home state of Texas, high school kids are required to pass their TAKS (Texas Assesment of Knowledge and Skill.... I think!) in order to graduate. In Ft. Worth today, some parents were protesting the fact that their kids did not pass the TAKS test, and therefor were not allowed to walk the stage to receive their diplomas in the upcoming graduation ceremony, even though they had completed their class requirements with passing grades.

In the picture below, you will find a fine example of the fruits of our education system, supporting her beloved scholar with a sign "LET ARE KIDS WALK!". Any bets on why she had free time in the middle to the day to stand around holding sign?

Amazing video - storm drain eruption!

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:56:15 GMT

This is amazing!

[youtube yF-RM4A7J_E]

Video of the Greek Cruise Ship sinking

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:19:19 GMT

Below is a video of the Greek cruise ship sinking April 6, 2007, 13 hours after it struck a reef and tore its hull. Considering I am leaving on my first cruise in just under 2 months, it particularly caught my interest!

[youtube Lp3m5xfBpsg]

Lugnut's wheelie picture from last weekend

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:04:41 GMT

Someone from the Jeep club just posted up some new pics from last weekend. One of them was of my buddy Cary (Lugnut) pulling his front wheels in the air on a climb. He had a new long-arm suspension on this trip and was so flexy he didn't realize he had gotten any air until we told him. Here is the shot:

It is really hard to get perspective of the terrain in shots, but this one actually shows how steep it is. Here is a shot of me cresting just a few feet above the same point and it just looks like a dirt road!

Wheeling trip report from the LSJC Election Run at BMRA 3/9/07-3/11/07

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:40:36 GMT

This past weekend was the election run for Lone Star Jeep Club at Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area in Gilmer, TX. There were somewhere around 80 Jeeps at the event. In addition to our club, the Hummer club was out there, plus a large number of ATVs, so it was a pretty busy weekend in the park. The weather was perfect with highs in the 70s during the day an lows in the 50s at night, so it couldn't have been more ideal for tent camping. The boys and I camped on Friday and Saturday night (more on this later) and we had 3 pretty full days of wheeling.

Friday -
We got checked into the park about 3:00 and made our way down to Old Camp. I have a number of good memories of camping down there and it was the first place I ever camped with Hudson. Even though the majority of the club was camping up in New Camp and in Camp LSJC, we thought it was a good choice. As we rolled in there were only about 6 or 7 people on the far end of the site. We set up our camp and headed out to wheel. We did a warm-up on a short 4-diamond trail named Jeep Eater that takes off up and out of Old Camp. I was prepared to be disappointed by my open diff, but to my surprise and pleasure the the XJ just clawed its way to the top without any issue. From here we headed back on the main road towards the top of Clyde's Ravine.

Heading down Clyde's we met up with a group of Jeeps heading down ahead of us. We fell in with them and made our way down toward the base of the infamous Dewoody, which is generally considered the hardest trail in the park. About the time we came around to the top of Dewoody to gaze down it, we began hearing some of my friends from Van Alstyne who were headed toward us. We negotiated a meeting point and intersected on Spider Ravine. Before long I saw James Clark make his way over the hill in my old CJ which he is buying from me. It was the first time I had seen I had torn it down and turned it into a 1-ton rig. It was really hard seeing someone else in it, but at least it was one of my buddies! Our now larger group headed up and around Venom Loop. As we made it around we began taking the fairly challenging climb out of Spiders. If you happened to read my trip report from December, this is the climb that I simply couldn't make it up. On that trip, I ended up taking my only body damage at this spot, taking out a front amber light and bezel, pushing the front fender back a bit and putting a small knock into the rear quarter panel and taking out the brake light. This time being open I figured I was going to have to take a strap and get helped up. This time around, when it became my turn, I went hard and kept the throttle pretty heavy. The Swampers dug in like crazy and we bounced and rocked our way up and out. Hudson had backseat bets going on with his brother that we weren't going to make it and I was glad to prove otherwise.

James was a few Jeeps behind me and I got out to watch the CJ hit it. James got to the exact same spot that owned me in Decemember and begain having problems. When it comes to problems, James' answer usually comes in the form of an accellerator and this was no exception. You could hear that Vortec spinning up and James began hopping up and down in the CJ. On one of the drops there was the all-too-familiar sound of metal shattering. In that one moment James ended up with breakage that took the CJ down for the weekend, including a broken driveshaft u-joint, a destroyed carrier bearing on the skid plate, and a busted front output shaft on the transfer case. Big... big.... bummer.

We headed on back to camp after this and began dinner. I noticed that the small group of campers across from us had grown to about 20 college aged kids and the beer was already flowing pretty hard. They were just barely getting warmed up. I made Ramen and sandwiches for the boys and myself. As we were eating, loud partying was completely filling the air. I cringed as I heared such colorful phrases as "I t*tty f*ck*d your mom, you b*tch *ss mother f*ck*r!!!". Not exactly the best spot for me to have my 4 and 6 year olds. By this point the bass was occassionaly rattling the gear in my tent. About 10:00 or so (which is the cutoff time for wheeling in the park), they all decided that it would be a good idea to go wheeling in both 4x4s and ATVs. As they pulled out Hudson said "I wish they wouldn't go wheel after all that beer. Don't they know they could get killed?" Yes, my 6 year old said this, which told me he has really been listening to me all along.

Thankfully during this next couple of hours the boys went to sleep... and slept hard. As I went to bed sometime later, the group returned just as I was zipping into my sleeping bag. Things went back to full party mode. It was ridiculous. At one point about 3:30, one of the guys got on an ATV and started doing donuts in the middle of Old Camp about 40 feet from my tent. After he shut it down, he convinced his buddies that it would be a great idea to go on another wheeling run. They departed at 4:00am blaring "Sweet Home Alabama" in one of the rigs, which was followed the only hour of sleep I got. I went to sleep thinking... "Man, I hope they go try Dewoody. I really really do." Unfortunately this wasn't the case and they made it back alive at 5:00am. The party was BACK! This went on until I finally got up at 7:00, completely enraged. I got the boys up and made ziploc omelettes us all. We then headed up to the front of the park 8:30. As we started out of Old Camp the party crew was just getting their second wind, and heard a loud "WHOOOOOOOOO!" and when I looked over the guy next to him was doing a beer bong.

Saturday 8:30am -
As ragged as I was, it was great to go meet up with a bunch of Jeepers I hadn't seen in years. Everyone was shocked at how much Hudson had grown, and most had never even met Parker. I relayed the story of the previous evening to a few people and they just nodded like "Duh... Old Camp is just a drunken party camp now days." One guy who knew them mentioned that not only were they staying, but more were coming on Saturday. Well sweet..... noted.

I ended up in a medium group lead by club president Mark Gregory (Parker said "Is he a *real* president?!?"). An old buddy of mine nicknamed Lugnut was tail gunning. We hit a lot of 3-rated trails early on before lunch. The only breakage that day was pretty insignificant with one of the TJs ripping an air line that controlled his rear locker. It was the first time I had wheeled in an organized group of more than 10 Jeeps in a *long* time. I had forgotten how much less ground gets convered in a large group, but it was still very cool nonetheless. We hit Sierra's Skyview, Spider Ravine, Venom Loop and Green Lane (maybe a couple others) before breaking for lunch about 11:45am. The club was hosting a cookout at the front gate from 12-2 followed by a big raffle. After finding out earlier that the party crew was going to grow in Old Camp, we decided to risk missing lunch to go tear down our camp and find a new spot. We made it back to Old Camp about 12:00, and I had the entire camp in the Jeep by 12:10. We hurridly took off up to Camp LSJC but the last spot had just been filled. I then started towards a small, very remote, and very private camp at the end of the park that Harold and I had discovered on our previous visit. When we got there we discovered just a couple of day-tripping ATVs that were getting ready to pack up and head out. We quickly picked a spot, set up the tent, threw the gear into it and took off back to the front for lunch at the front gate. We arrived just before 1:00 with plenty of time to eat the huge spread.

After lunch LSJC put on their raffle with a HUGE amount of prizes supplied by a number of vendors. During the raffle a guy named Dave that I had met and wheeled with the day before won a Tuffy center console for an XJ. He drives a really nicely built LJ and had no use for it. Rather than stick it on eBay as I would likely have selfishly done in his position, he offered it to me knowing that I have and XJ. I wasted no time and installed it the day I after we got home. Very cool free upgrade!

That afternoon our group reconvened, but this session we hit some notably tougher trails, including two I had never done before. We started out by doing Binder Boulevard entering the opposite direction that most people take, climbing out the rockier end with the ledges. Just before we dropped in at the trail head, a brand new Jeep owner with a fairly new stock Rubicon LJ came up and wanted to find an easy group to run with. Several people convinced him to go with our group to see how capable his Jeep really was. He was pretty jazzed after the climb out of Binders and stuck with us the rest of the day as the trails got harder.

The next trail we hit was Chaos Canyon. We entered the trail at the end with the big drop-off ledges leaving the rock section at the exit. This was a nice long trail that winds through the treas and crosses a little wooden bridge before reaching a very different terrain at the exit. The last couple hundred yards consist of a sweet set of big rocks under the trees giving a break from the loose and dusty trails that are more prevalent at BMRA. I got a little hung up on a ledge, but the driver in front of me came back down and spotted me. With his help I found a better line and came on up. This is definitely a trail I want to revisit.

Next we hit what would be my last trail of the day, and another that I had never done. Near the entrance of the park we entered a trail labled Wile E. Coyote, which almost immediately turns into Sidewinder. It begins with about a 45% drop that ends with a drop-off ledge at the bottom making some of the short wheel base vehicles feel pretty light in the back end. When you reach the bottom, the transition is so quick that it looks like you are about to drive into a wall. As the vehicle pitches back skyward, the longer wheel base vehicles with a protruding back end like mine dug in in the rear. You are then immediately faced with a tough loose climb with a little stump in the middle. I noticed most Jeeps were taking the line to the left of the stump, but for some reason the right looked like the answer to me. I ended up having a tree temporarily remove my passenger mirror, but I made it up without too much trouble. The trail winds back and forth crossing that ravine and finally climbs back up and out of trees.

The boys (especially Hudson) was so set on having a fire at our camp that night and with daylight slipping away quickly we set off for a hunt for firewood after that trail. We remembered that we had pulled aside a faily decent log down in Old Camp, so I figured we would go grab it if it was still around. We dropped in through Jeep Eater and passed the party people, pulling into our previous camping spot. The log was still there so I strapped it on top of the Jeep and we took off again. Hudson remembered us collecting wood on Spider Ravine from a previous trip and really thought I should check there. Sure enough, there were two somewhat recently felled trees toward the top. I was able to get one decent sized one onto the roof, but the bigger was more of a challenge. Considering I was stopped in the middle of a climb, I strapped the log behind the Jeep and pulled it up to the main road. In the open I was able to place it up onto the rack more easily and we headed off for our camp.

As we pulled in, we found that no one else had come into this site to set up camp. After the pervious night of insanity, the boys and I had about a square mile around us all to ourselves, other than the packs of coyotes that began yapping that night. After getting the fire going, I began dinner by cooking some ground beef browned with red onions, then mixed in potatoes and carrotts. The boys and I really enjoyed dinner which they eagerly chased with a bag of marshmallows. Hudson decided that he was going to try to stay awake the whole night. Parker crashed about 10pm. At 11:16pm, Hudson was out and I was only about 15 minutes behind him. We all slept like rocks and woke about 8 .... well, 9 with the daylight savings change.

Sunday -
Sunday morning we woke and talked quite a bit about what a better night we had than the night before. I made omelettes and oatmeal and we just took our time getting ourselves going. After cleaning up breakfast I decided we would have some nice and easy solo wheeling, then come back and break camp and get on the road. I heard some friends of mine from ExpertOffroad.com were camping in the X-Terra camp at the end of Angry Jeep. We headed down there and caught them packing up. Justin told us that Kevin and (forgetting the drivers name) were headed to Dewoody to give it a shot. We decided to go try to catch the action, but got there just a few minutes after they had successfully made it to the top. We then went to hit our last trail, Twister. There is only one really challenging spot on Twister, which is a ledge to climb within 100 yards of the entrance. I started up it, but took a bad line and my Jeep felt really tippy for a minute. I hopped out to see if I could get a better line and cracked up when I looked in the backseat. Parker had his hand across the seat and Hudson said "What about us!!!!" thinking that I was just bailing out. After evaluating I saw that I had placed myself in a spot that would crunch my back end if I backed up, so I knew I had to continue forward up the ledge. I took a line a little more to the left and with some burning rubber and some bashing and bumping, I made it to the top. That was the biggest adrenaline charge of the weekend. After the obstacle I put it in park, shut it down and we got out to look back at our line. Hudson thought it was cool he could still smell rubber on the wall. I went back to go start it and.... nada. It was acting like the starter was out. After a few more turns of the key it started and I decided I would just pretend that didn't happen.

It was starting to look like rain, so I decided we would break camp and get on the road. We broke camp and then grudgingly left it behind us and our full Jeep. One the way out, we went down Clyde's Ravine again, and then headed to Scorpion Overlook at the request of Hudson. Parker fell asleep about this time. On the top of Scorpion, Hudson and I got out and took in the view as you can see for miles both north and south. We left and made a last pass though Old Camp. The partiers were gone but had certianly left their presence (presents) behind. Hudson hopped out and picked up bunch of beer cans, styrofoam cups and more. We headed up Jeep Eater for the last time of the weekend, then I put it in 2WD and started down the main road toward the office. I took a shower, cleaned up the boys and checked us out of the park. We loaded ourselves back into the Jeep to get on the road and.......nada. The Jeep wouldn't start again. I tried a bunch of times but just couldn't get it to turn over. Hudson was going to help me diagnose by turning the key, but his hand isn't strong enough. I was just showing him how to start it using the leverage of an udjustable wrench when it started! We never turned it off again (even through a fuel stop) until we got it in the driveway. I was never able to start it again that night.

Monday -
After some quick troubleshooting determined that my starter was never getting 12 volts, and my starter relay was never engaging I enlisted the help of my Dad who spent the majority of his life working as an electrical engineer designing radar systems. When it comes to problems like that I could have no better crutch than him to fall back on! Within about 20 minutes he determined that the ignition switch was sending power to the relay but it was never grounding. Do to some earlier work I had done, I knew that the ground was supposed to be provided by the neutral safety swtich on the side of the transmission. When your vehicle is in N or P, it allows you to start the engine. At the time of this posting, it appears that I jarred the NSS out of alignment and that the switch was not matching up with my park and neutral positions. We bypassed this safety mechanism by just grounding it 100% of the time to the chassis and "fixed" the problem. Monday night I installed my new center console and it is sweet! Thanks Dave H.!

So, here we are... back to reality... back to work... and looking forward to the next trip. :)

Mike Modano scores his 500th goal

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 12:07:12 GMT

On Tuesday night, Mike Modano joined a very elite group of athletes becoming only the 39th player in NHL history to net 500 goals. Given Mike Modano's early career when he was known as an offensive-only player (if somewhat of a liability), he was on pace for hitting this mark ealier in his career. However, through influences of Bob Gainey and Ken Hitchcock, Mike Modano modified his game considerably to become a strong 2-way player, giving up potentially higher total numbers in an effort to be a more well rounded and stronger player. The goal was also a big moment for John Klemm who clocked his 100th assist on the goal, although it was certainly overshadowed last night! I am sure it is cool for him to be a part of that moment though. Modano is now one of only 2 US-born players to reach this, the other being Joe Mullen with 502. Barring some career ending disaster, I think it is safe to say that Mike Modano will soon hold the record for US born player.

Why you should never try to rope a deer

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 20:45:49 GMT

I picked this story up off of a local forum. I have no idea how much truth there is to it, but it really doesn't matter.... great tale!

I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, Feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that since they congregated at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away) that it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, who had seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes my deer showed up - 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it...it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope and received an education.

The first thing that I learned is that while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope. That deer EXPLODED.

The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope with some dignity. A deer, no chance.

That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I originally imagined. The only up side is that they do not have as much stamina as many animals. A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head.

At that point I had lost my taste for corn fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope. I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual. Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in, so I didn't want the deer to have it suffer a slow death so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand. Kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody so I was very surprised when I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist. Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head - almost like a pit bull.

They bite HARD and it hurts.

The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective. It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now) tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing up my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.

That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day. Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp. I learned a long time ago that when an animal like a horse strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape. This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond I devised a different strategy. I screamed like woman and tried to turn and run.

The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and three times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down. Now when a deer paws at you and knocks you down it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.

I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away.

Now for the local legend. I was pretty beat up. My scalp was split open, I had several large goose eggs, my wrist was bleeding pretty good and felt broken (it turned out to be just badly bruised) and my back was bleeding in a few places, though my insulated canvas jacket had protected me from most of the worst of it. I drove to the nearest place, which was the co-op. I got out of the truck, covered in blood and dust. The guy who ran the place saw me through the window and came running out yelling "what happened"?

I have never seen any law in the state of Kansas that would prohibit an individual from roping a deer. I suspect that this is an area that they have overlooked entirely. Knowing, as I do, the lengths to which law enforcement personnel will go to exercise their power, I was concerned that they may find a way to twist the existing laws to paint my actions as criminal. I swear...not wanting to admit that I had done something monumentally stupid played no part in my response. I told him "I was attacked by a deer". I did not mention that at the time I had a rope on it. The evidence was all over my body. Deer prints on the back of my jacket where it had stomped all over me and a large deer print on my face where it had struck me there. I asked him to call somebody to come get me. I didn't think I could make it home on my own. He did. Later that afternoon, a game warden showed up at my house and wanted to know about the deer attack. Surprisingly, deer attacks are a rare thing and wildlife and parks was interested in the event. I tried to describe the attack as completely and accurately as I could. I was filling the grain hopper and this deer came out of nowhere and just started kicking the hell out of me and BIT me. It was obviously rabid or insane or something.

EVERYBODY for miles around knows about the deer attack (the guy at the co-op has a big mouth). For several weeks people dragged their kids in the house when they saw deer around and the local ranchers carried rifles when they filled their feeders. I have told several people the story, but NEVER anybody around here. I have to see these people every day and as an outsider - a "city folk" I have enough trouble fitting in without them snickering behind my back and whispering "there is the idiot that tried to rope the deer."

Video: Chris Graves (Swine) rollover at The Wheeling Ranch

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 20:33:55 GMT

Chris just finally (after 2 or 3 years now!) uploaded the video of his rollover that put his big red TJ out of commission. Man, when this thing goes, it *GOES*....

[youtube xy6WuPN5X5k]

The Earth is Flat, Humans Are Heating Up the Earth, and other science

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:02:24 GMT

I came across an interesting set of news articles about climate change over the last century. The one constant is this: We are a people driven by fear of the unkown, and there is *always* someone to capitalize on it. Does this mean I don't think that global warming exists? Does this mean I don't think people can affect it? The truth is that I don't know. Neither do you. Neither do scientists.

GLOBAL COOLING: 1890s-1930s

The Times, February 24, 1895
"Geologists Think the World May Be Frozen Up Again"
Fears of a "second glacial period" brought on by increases in northern glaciers and the severity of Scandinavia's climate.

New York Times, October 7, 1912
"Prof. Schmidt Warns Us of an Encroaching Ice Age"

Los Angeles Times, June 28, 1923
"The possibility of another Ice Age already having started ... is admitted by men of first rank in the scientific world, men specially qualified to speak."

Chicago Tribune, August 9, 1923
"Scientist says Arctic ice will wipe out Canada."

Time Magazine, September 10, 1923
"The discoveries of changes in the sun's heat and the southward advance of glaciers in recent years have given rise to conjectures of the possible advent of a new ice age."

New York Times, September 18, 1924
"MacMillan Reports Signs of New Ice Age"

GLOBAL WARMING: 1930s-1960s

New York Times, March 27, 1933
"America in Longest Warm Spell Since 1776; Temperature Line Records a 25-Year Rise"

Time Magazine, January 2, 1939
"Gaffers who claim that winters were harder when they were boys are quite right.... weather men have no doubt that the world at least for the time being is growing warmer."

Time Magazine, 1951
Noted that permafrost in Russia was receding northward at 100 yards per year.

New York Times, 1952
Reported global warming studies citing the "trump card" as melting glaciers. All the great ice sheets stated to be in retreat.

U.S. News and World Report, January 18, 1954
"[W]inters are getting milder, summers drier. Glaciers are receding, deserts growing."

GLOBAL COOLING: 1970s

Time Magazine, June 24, 1974
"Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age."

Christian Science Monitor, August 27, 1974
"Warning: Earth's Climate is Changing Faster than Even Experts Expect"
Reported that "glaciers have begun to advance"; "growing seasons in England and Scandinavia are getting shorter"; and "the North Atlantic is cooling down about as fast as an ocean can cool".

Science News, March 1, 1975
"The cooling since 1940 has been large enough and consistent enough that it will not soon be reversed, and we are unlikely to quickly regain the 'very extraordinary period of warmth' that preceded it."

Newsweek, April 28, 1975
"The Cooling World"
"There are ominous signs that the Earth’s weather patterns have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production – with serious political implications for just about every nation on Earth. The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only 10 years from now."

International Wildlife, July-August, 1975
"But the sense of the discoveries is that there is no reason why the ice age should not start in earnest in our lifetime."

New York Times, May 21, 1975
"Scientists Ponder Why World's Climate is Changing; A Major Cooling Widely Considered to Be Inevitable"

GLOBAL WARMING: 1990s-?

Earth in the Balance, Al Gore, 1992
"About 10 million residents of Bangladesh will lose their homes and means of sustenance because of the rising sea level due to global warming, in the next few decades."

Time Magazine, April 19, 2001
"[S]cientists no longer doubt that global warming is happening, and almost nobody questions the fact that humans are at least partly responsible."

New York Times, December 27, 2005
"Past Hot Times Hold Few Reasons to Relax About New Warming"

The Daily Telegraph, February 2, 2006
"Billions will die, says Lovelock, who tells us that he is not usually a gloomy type. Human civilization will be reduced to a 'broken rabble ruled by brutal warlords,' and the plague-ridden remainder of the species will flee the cracked and broken earth to the Arctic, the last temperate spot where a few breeding couples will survive."

?????: 2020s?

RIA Novisty(Russian News & Information Agency), February 8, 2007
"Instead of professed global warming, the Earth will be facing a slow decrease in temperatures in 2012-2015. The gradually falling amounts of solar energy, expected to reach their bottom level by 2040, will inevitably lead to a deep freeze around 2055-2060," he said, adding that this period of global freeze will last some 50 years, after which the temperatures will go up again."
Quoting Habibullo Abdusamatov, head of the space research laboratory at the St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Observatory. Full article at http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070115/59078992.html

Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics 95, 115-121 (2007)
"Multi-scale analysis of global temperature changes and trend of a drop in temperature in the next 20 years"
Lin Zhen-Shan and Sun Xian. The School of Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, P. R. China
Full article at http://www.springerlink.com/content/g28u12g2617j5021/fulltext.pdf

Happy Birthday Cassidy!

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:30:19 GMT

Yes, I realize reading is still out for about 5 more years, but happy 1st birthday baby girl!

love,

Daddy

Bad Valentines Ideas

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 19:02:34 GMT

In case you are looking for a way to screw up Valentines Day, Amazon has released a list of Bad Valentines Ideas. There is some really funny stuff on there, including a couple of my favorites... how about the book "You on a Diet", or perhaps they would like some lighter reading such as "All About Scabs". Maybe they can read it while they are on their Eliptical Trainer. Of course they may not have time for the treadmill considering they will be busy with their Fresh Whole Rabbit.

See the whole list here.

Courtney Love replacing Paula Abdul on American Idol?

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 07:13:35 GMT

I am by no means an American Idol junkie. I watch the show about 3-4 times every season just when it happens to be on. There is nothing particularly wrong with it, but it doesn't really get me going.

That said, I saw a story today on US Magazine that Courtney Love has said that she is being pursued by AI for a spot at the judges table. One comment I heard is that this might be some sort of reaction based on all the wacky crap that Paula pulls all the time, which many people are describing as drunk behavior.

If that is the case, then here is my take. American Idol has been in the news over and over about that Paula crap. I don't think they mind it one bit. I would be willing to bet they like that a lot more than her otherwise boring persona. In fact, I am sure a lot of people tune in just to see if she is sliding out of her chair under the table in a drunken stupor. If Paula is replaced, it is due to the fact that they *know* Courtney Love would keep them in the news. Not only is she completely unpredictable when she isn't sober (and that is just a matter of time), but she is confrontational unlike the happy-go-lucky Paula and the friction on the show would undoubtedly increase. If that happens, I might have to start tuning in just to see that.... wait.... their plan is already working!

No Blacks Allowed!

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:29:23 GMT

Below is from an article published January 22, 2007 about a caucus within US Congress that you might not be aware of. It is shocking and appalling that this can exists in our current age:

quote:

Freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, D-Tenn., is not joining the Congressional White Caucus after several current and former members made it clear that a black lawmaker was not welcome.

"I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen, who succeeded Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., in a majority-white Memphis district. "It's their caucus and they do things their way. You don't force your way in. You need to be invited."

Cohen said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be "a social faux pas" after seeing news reports that former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr., D-Mo., a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members it was "critical" that the group remain "exclusively Anglo- American."

Other members, including the new chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., and Clay's son, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., agreed.

"Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and he got his answer. ... It's time to move on," the younger Clay said. "It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear."

The bylaws of the caucus do not make race a prerequisite for membership, a House aide said, but no non-white member has ever joined.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????

This is *clearly* a group of racists. What gives them the right to exclude any other member from their select whites-only group of law makers. This is clearly an attempt to intimidate non-white lawmakers.

Oh wait!!!! I read that wrong!

Sorry, in the above the words white and black should have been reversed, as should Anglo and African. Sorry for the misprint. Here is the actual article:

Actual quote from this article:

Freshman Rep. Stephen I. Cohen, D-Tenn., is not joining the Congressional Black Caucus after several current and former members made it clear that a white lawmaker was not welcome.

"I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen, who succeeded Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., in a majority-black Memphis district. "It's their caucus and they do things their way. You don't force your way in. You need to be invited."

Cohen said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be "a social faux pas" after seeing news reports that former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr., D-Mo., a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members it was "critical" that the group remain "exclusively African- American."

Other members, including the new chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., and Clay's son, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., agreed.

"Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and he got his answer. ... It's time to move on," the younger Clay said. "It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear."

The bylaws of the caucus do not make race a prerequisite for membership, a House aide said, but no non-black member has ever joined.

I have never claimed to be the sharpest crayon in the box, but someone please explain to me how this is can exist and be accepted in 2007?