Charged With Battery

It didn't cost much, $32.95, Walmart. Not only did I get charged but I also had to charge the battery.

It often happens with things mechanical that you get the euphoric feeling of accomplishment only to be stung by a reoccurance of the same old malfunction. After crying to my new friends at KLR650.net and getting a dozen different diagnoses it all came down to a weak battery. But not before I was served many an interesting story from bugs in the tank vent to a bug that caused a flat (wedged in the valve stem at speed). There is nothing like a bunch of guys talking who have been riding for a while to get one's imagination running wild. One guy said that an old deisel mechanic told him that whenever a starting problem crops up, try the battery. I assumed that that the old mechanic's advice was from experience not just because he was old. Anyway, I knew that my battery had to be recharged after about 4 or 5 start attempts so it sounded like the best and cheapest advice. I also found out that my KLR was a CALIFORNIA BIKE!!!! Extra hoses, extra canisters, tubes that no one can explain, and all. But fortunately Tex Earnhardt, a local car dealer and previous owner, had someone yank all that good stuff so that all there is left are hoses going nowhere.

To celebrate and check out the fix I rode out to 7 Springs, started it various times, and tempted fate since it was an area with no cell phone service.

Get'r Done

The job I had been dreading wasn't all that bad and was actually kind of satisfying. Last week I skinned both knees when I fell push-starting the KLR. It had a hot start problem and down deep I knew it was probably not a serious sign but .... the fix was going to be a pain, not as bad as road rash on the knees though.

I tried the easy stuff, checked the battery and electronics. There is a great resource on the web KLR.net, a forum of owners who help each other. After signing up a quick search told me what I suspected, a valve adjustment. There are a lot of easy things to do to the KLR but adjusting the valves requires removing the seat, tank, head cover, and both cams just to make an adjustment. You see, replacing the shims under the cams are what needs to be done.

An old Fiat 128 that I owned back in the early '70s had the same kind of adjustment but the shims could just be popped out without removing the cam so this was not my idea of a well planned out engine. It took all day but turned out nicely. Tomorrow it's time for a ride.

Public School Propoganda

I run a computer lab after shool most days. Yesterday I had the arctic sea ice site up and a couple of students noticed it on my screen. They asked what it was so I explained that during the summer I heard a report that the arctic ice would be gone in a few years so I was keeping an eye on it. When they asked how it was doing I told them it was much better than last year and didn't look like there was a problem. They were surprised, but no wonder. They never hear anything other than the planet is in trouble, us humans are to blame, and we need to fix it.

A teacher friend was in the lab at that time and overheard the conversation. He looked at the screen but then said that the glaciers were still in retreat so the information about the arctic must be inconsequential. I mentioned that the glacial retreat has been going on for the past few centuries and was occurring before there was a United States. That apparently was inconsequential too. He then went on about, of all things, Fox News and political agendas as though bringing up inconvenient truths was somehow sinister.

Another Democrat. Is there some kind of talking point that anything that calls into question the modern orthodoxy must have come from Fox? I didn't get into a further conversation since I was talking to a true believer and no amount of evidence would matter. This is who we have teaching our kids.

UPDATE: The science teacher I spoke with in a previous entry has looked at some of the evidence and was surprised to see that it has some validity. I think it shook him that the conventional view may be wrong. He liked Michael Crichton's speech about aliens causing global warming.

Who Will Bail Out the Government?

Let's see, every business in sight is looking for a handout because someone thought that propping up Lehman, AIG, and then Fannie & Freddie was a good idea. It reminds me of the scene in "The Jerk" where the rich guy with worn out seats in his airplane is hitting up Steve Martin for money to replace them.

What did we expect? Bailing out every company in the country will not fix this problem because the issue is not as much whether or not we can trust capitalism but can we trust our own government. When push comes to shove the politicians and the people do what they always do, one makes a promise and the other believes it. But isn't it getting a little hard to believe that guys (and gals) who buy votes with other people's money can actually keep their promises?

After all the lies are told and the money is spent who will bail out the government?

Junk Science and Arctic Sea Ice

If nothing else it is entertaining to work with liberal (oh, I mean progressive) Democrats. It is almost impossible to keep up a blog that even touches on what it is like working in a public school and engaging in truly insane conversations.

The other day my "free" bicycle recipient (future) friend told me that people who make over 3 million dollars should be taxed at 90%. I asked if he thought that would raise money and he looked at me as though I hadn't heard him. So I asked him just how long would a person bother to make that kind of money if he couldn't keep it and would that have an effect on the economy. You know, some really deep thoughts.

Then there was the conversation about the election turn-out. Apparently it wasn't that big turn-out we had all been primed for. In fact, it was about the same percent as 2004 because 1.3% less Republicans bothered to show up. One of my colleagues asked me if I got that from Fox News (since it is so biased, you know) and I said that actually it was CNN.

Then there is the constant propoganda about global warming and the total lack of interest in any explanation other than it is caused by Republicans. That was a joke. So when I asked our science teacher if he remembered that the Arctic sea ice was due to disappear and wanted to know if he had been keeping an eye on it, he was surprised to see that it was still there. That's a little exaggeration. But he would not believe that it was growing from last year. He wanted to know if I got that from Fox News (Fox or Drudge might report a story since failure to report defines bias). I told him that actually it was from a University of Illinois website. Well you really can't believe your lying eyes you know.

There will no doubt be many other interesting conversations in the future that involve pulling one's self up with one's own bootstraps (economics). I'll keep you posted.

A Dream

Last night I had a dream that I was riding a bicycle down a forest trail. Ahead of me was a large rattlesnake lying across the road apparently asleep. I stopped and looked for a way around but then became aware that all along the trail and even within striking distance were various vipers that blended in with the foliage, all in a state of stupor. I carefully turned the bike around and rushed back along the trail. That's where the dream ended.

A Time for Healing?

I was on the playground the day after the election and a little hispanic girl came up to me on the verge of tears because some other kids were calling her a racist because in the voting at school she was for McCain. I gave her a high five and said I voted for him too. Her face lit up.

The same day a couple of 8th grade hispanic girls asked me who I voted for. Since it was after the election I decided to answer. When I said, "McCain," they asked me if I was a racist. I said that I wasn't and then they proceeded to explain to me that McCain wanted to send all the illegals back to Mexico. I decided not to bother explaining that he actually sponsored a bill to allow them to stay and become citizens if they wished because I then might have said that it was something I strongly disagreed with him about.

I guess it is probably time to not say what one thinks.

Congratulations Obama

An Israeli airstrike on Gaza
A rocket attack on Israel
A warning to the US from Iran
Russia to place missiles on the border of the EU
and
The stock market drops 500 points

Welcome to the big leagues.

The 95% Solution

I got in a fairly heated discussion the other day with my liberal buddy (the one who is looking forward to the new bike we will all be buying for him). Anyway the topic of how much is too much came up. You know, the $250,000 limit. Anybody who makes more than that should be taxed more since obviously it won't keep them from taking care of life's necessities.

I answered with, "We should tax the poor!" It stopped him in his tracks.

He answered that it wasn't fair. To which I responded, "It wasn't fair that a person who only had something to gain got to choose." If 95% of the people will not see a tax increase that translates to, "Let's gouge those other 5%."

Making a deal with someone who has nothing to lose (and a lot to gain) is not fair ..... unless the goal is to buy votes with other people's money. Could that be the game? Ya think?