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Showing posts from November, 2017

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...

American Cat Museum

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Some pics from our drive from Ohio to Georgia. Bringing the new truck to Georgia.
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I have just purchased my 5th new Chevy truck. I bought the first one in 1984. I say I buy a new truck every ten years whether I need it or not. This new one is a bit of a unicorn and we had to drive to Columbus Ohio to pick it up. Its a beast for sure. It is a full-ton with single rear wheels, 4x4 with the 6 liter gas engine and 6 speed auto trans. It has electric stuff and electronics. Ready to pull with a top of the line service body. It is not for the discotheques nor raves. ref old blog post I traded-in the 2006 truck and we have them both side to side here. The other pic was taken as we stopped in front of a former apartment I lived in Columbus Ohio many years ago.
SpaceX is launching the secret ZUMA project today. We know it is not a spy satellite. I think the secret is right beneath our noses. Forbes Article below from Oct 2015. First Private Moon Mission Set For Blast-off In 2017 Brid-Aine Parnell , Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Tweet This The magnitude of this achievement cannot be overstated, representing an unprecedented and monumental commitment for a privately-funded organization The first private mission to the Moon plans to launch in just two years, as Israeli non-profit SpaceIL aims to win Google’s Lunar XPRIZE of $30m. SpaceIL has become the first of the competition hopefuls to actually book a place on a launch to get its uncrewed rover on its way to a private soft landing on the Moon. At a press conference in Jerusalem, the non-profit organisation said it had signed up with Spaceflight Industries, which recently bought a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to facilitate the ridesharing launche...
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Tuesday morning this week I woke up early for some meetings (I have a global job after all) and I spent some time reflecting. I remembered a book I read some time ago and some of the messages and started doing some cyber thinking -combination of googling and remembering. The warrior book. what was that? --"The Way of the Peaceful Warrior". the author? Yeah, Dan Millman. What is he up to? It turned out he was speaking in the Atlanta area Thursday. So Angel and I went and heard him speak and got a new copy of the book, now signed. Definitely a great book and definitely was worth our time. My belief is that it was not a coincidence he was in town at this time. He jumped in just as the main character Socrates jumps into his story. Og Mandino, Paulo Coelho, Dan Millman. These are my kind of authors. I remembered the individual that recommended the book to me at The Raymond Corporation. He was my right hand man. My boss told me he was getting fired. I fired him over the phone. My...
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We went to a cat show-- likely the best in NA - I have heard today. It was just a few miles away. It was fun.