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Showing posts from April 10, 2011

The Nissan Leaf Gets a New Rear Axle

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Well, I finally have a salvage title for the 2013 Nissan LEAF (Actually I dont have the title yet, but I think they mail it to me. We are far from settled with the insurance company for sure. It has been six months since Angie was rear ended. The following chart shows a very sad and disturbing trend. Insurance companies aren't paying out. It should be criminal. I went shopping for a new rear axle so I can get the car driving again. The rear ended axle was so bent, the car couldn't move. The new one with no connecting bits was over a thousand dollars. The cheapest used ones I could find on ebay were over 500 dollars. I finally scored at a local used parts place for 95 dollars (removed) and with associated bits such as bearings, bushings, parts of the brakes. It took me a concentrated day with cancelled and moved meetings to get the axle replaced and the car running again. The accomplishment felt good. I am now configuring the car with tractor tires and other modifications t...
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I am in Sevenum, Netherlands at the moment. I landed this morning at 7:00 AM local (Dusseldorf) and put in a full day. I only feel a little tired. I must be getting the hang of this. One of the tricks is to stay up after your first day is over. You have to move towards the new time zone. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/383125/facebook_biggest_bank_by_2015/?fp=2&fpid=1 I think the above article (and pasted as a image below) is important and a potenteous, and a bit scary. Especially, since it was written by the the founder of what facebook has become.
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I like this piece of music. It ties US immigrants together; New Orleans (African and French), western Appalachia (Irish), and the Midwest (German and Scandinavians). You can almost see tributaries of the Mississippi river. How shallow it is to think that we don't each come from a particular heritage. Pride (deferred or demonstrated), genetics and familiar water holes is what makes us real.
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I just received a Medal from the US Government for Service in Antarctica. Certainly, it isn't every day I get a medal. It is one of the few medals that the federal government gives out to civilians. I am not sure what to do with it. Maybe I can find an old Webelos uniform to wear it with (not that I could possibly fit into it). I would like to get back to Antarctica again someday. Early next month I am giving a presentation called "Aviation in Antarctica" to the Atlanta chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Tuesday I am headed to Dusseldorf Germany, The Netherlands, and Denmark. I will be spending next weekend in Copenhagen. I hope to rent a bicycle.