Duck Pond Redneckery

[Electric Chicken]

On a serious note, I'd be THRILLED to have 550 in my Mack.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Well there's no front brake. Just a rear, and it's cable operated. The cable housing shrinks in length slightly, just enough to make the brake not work well.

With it adjusted so the shoes are almost dragging on the inside of the drum when released, it won't lock up on pavement with the handlebar lever pulled all the way in so it's touching the grip.

That's OK if there's a front brake doing most of the work though.

There's a front brake kit, but it's for a different brand of minibike. I need to find where they sell Coleman mini bikes and get some measurements from one's front fork to see if it'll fit my Massimo.

With a good working front brake, yeah maybe then I can tinker with the engine a little. I'd like more power but at the same RPM.

It's only good for back road cruising here in flat Illinois. It would suck if I took it somewhere hilly.

Is ANY of this a consideration when you're drunk?

 

[Duck]

Is ANY of this a consideration when you're drunk?

Depends on HOW drunk.

Last week I got drunk enough I looked at the minibike and said "nope" and I went up 40 feet on the bucket lift instead. It was like 3AM.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Depends on HOW drunk.

Last week I got drunk enough I looked at the minibike and said "nope" and I went up 40 feet on the bucket lift instead. It was like 3AM.

So like 66%

 

[389 Hood]

Idiots. I'd be perfectly okay with 695hp.

Mine has 365HP/475 torque. I don't really need more than that anyway.

On a serious note, I'd be THRILLED to have 550 in my Mack.

You said you have 455? in it now. Ge the torque up to 2050 if the rest of your drivetrain is rated for it and you'll see the difference in the hills. Torque is the power, not horsepower.

 

[Duck]

Mine has 365HP/475 torque. I don't really need more than that anyway.

You said you have 455? in it now. Ge the torque up to 2050 if the rest of your drivetrain is rated for it and you'll see the difference in the hills. Torque is the power, not horsepower.

Small engines used to be rated in HP.

I learned as a kid, what 3.5 hp would do on a minibike, and what it would do on a push mower.

Then later on I learned the difference between a 3.5 and a 5 hp on the same machines.

Now they're all rated in torque and I have to learn that shit all over again.

It's as bad as having to switch to the metric system.

 

[Duck]

Another crash at that intersection by my house.

A northbound semi swerved to miss a car that blew the stop sign on the crossroad. OR, it hit the car and that's where it ended up.

It either hit the house there or stopped just short of hitting it. It was too dark to see.

I posted about it in the local Facebook gossip circle and this is one of the replies:

 

[389 Hood]

I wish I knew what people were thinking about as they hurtle 2 tons of vehicle down the road and what just might happen if they were to let their guard down for just a second.

 

[Electric Chicken]

I wish I knew what people were thinking about as they hurtle 2 tons of vehicle down the road and what just might happen if they were to let their guard down for just a second.

Probably blue screen of death a la Microsoft.

 

[Reptar]

You know there sure are a lot of collisions still happening even with all the collision mitigation crap they have on stuff these days....

This proves the theory, a friend of mine came up with. Either every vehicle needs to be full automation or no automation at all. Because the half way world can not handle the chaos and the systems are causing drivers to be way too complacent.

Hope all involved made it out ok.

 

[389 Hood]

That's just it. Any electronic device has to be automatically shut down when in motion over 3mph. I might make an exception for a GPS system, but it can't be touchable when in motion. No one is looking further than their hood and they are driving little s*hitboxes with no hood.

 

[Duck]

You know there sure are a lot of collisions still happening even with all the collision mitigation crap they have on stuff these days....

This proves the theory, a friend of mine came up with. Either every vehicle needs to be full automation or no automation at all. Because the half way world can not handle the chaos and the systems are causing drivers to be way too complacent.

Hope all involved made it out ok.

They always put new technologies on the market long before they've had enough time to work out all the bugs.

With emission controls, it's government mandates that don't give them enough time.

But with all the other electronic gizmos it's like they're racing their competitors to get it out on the market first.

Any new tech is going to have problems for a while.

My 2003 Buick Century I think was one of the first years of GM putting the little chip in the ignition key for extra security. But it caused problems and locked me out twice. The 2nd time I had them bypass that shit.

The first collision avoidance systems would slam on the brakes if it detected a leaf blowing across the vehicle's path.

The first auto-shift truck transmissions would go into higher gears while descending a mountain grade.

Eventually they'll have this stuff figured out.

 

[Reptar]

They always put new technologies on the market long before they've had enough time to work out all the bugs.

With emission controls, it's government mandates that don't give them enough time.

But with all the other electronic gizmos it's like they're racing their competitors to get it out on the market first.

Any new tech is going to have problems for a while.

My 2003 Buick Century I think was one of the first years of GM putting the little chip in the ignition key for extra security. But it caused problems and locked me out twice. The 2nd time I had them bypass that shit.

The first collision avoidance systems would slam on the brakes if it detected a leaf blowing across the vehicle's path.

The first auto-shift truck transmissions would go into higher gears while descending a mountain grade.

Eventually they'll have this stuff figured out.

The forward radar still causes ghost braking in my 2024 579. No warning or nothing just all of a sudden bam slams on the brakes. I drove a 2023 freightliner with lane keep assist on it. Imagine driving a truck with a drag link about to come apart. That's what it felt like. It too if you didn't put in enough steering input about every 30 seconds it would put a warning up to grab the wheel. If you didn't comply fast enough it would hit the brakes.

I get it new things come out and they have bugs and people have to get used to them, but man what happens when this shit goes off in winter on a road that is traction compromised? For our company makes the smart choice that if your cruise is off those systems are off but not all companies are that way.

 

[389 Hood]

All of the above garbage, along with the phone zombies, is what caused me to take an early retirement.

 

[Duck]

Another crash at that intersection by my house.

A northbound semi swerved to miss a car that blew the stop sign on the crossroad. OR, it hit the car and that's where it ended up.

It either hit the house there or stopped just short of hitting it. It was too dark to see.

I posted about it in the local Facebook gossip circle and this is one of the replies:

Fire chief called me today because they were talking about him in the local town gossip Facebook group and I sent him a screenshot because it was funny.

Three local women are leading the resistance to the Chinese lithium battery plant, and they keep doing Freedom of Information Act requests and posting the town officials' emails.

They dug up one from June, from the fire chief to one of the village board members about the need for a better fire alarm in the plant under construction. Then another one about a week later asking if it's been upgraded.

The post containing the emails said "from the FC, this is scary".

I said "emails showing the fire chief is doing his job correctly is scary?"



Anyway so he said that semi did NOT hit the house, and the people in the car that pulled out in front of him only had minor injuries.

And sometime this week or next, they're gonna purposely make my lithium RC car battery blow up for scientifical edjumacational purposes and he'll call so I can go watch.

(I was charging a pair of them, and I gave the chief both of them, including the one that did not burn up, because it's identical to the one that did.)

 

[Duck]

More pictures for @GAnthony to b* about.



I pulled up the plywood and put 3 coats of spar urethane on the framework even though it's treated "ground contact" wood. This was the first side. It's done & the plywood is back on.

Then, since nobody is ever gonna see this wood unless wind blows it over, I did an experiment.

I cut an empty prescription pill bottle in half to mix up a small amount of John Deere Green Rustoleum in with spar urethane at a ratio of probably 10% paint, 90% clear spar urethane.





They dried flat. This is after a coat of clear was added. I'm gonna just rub it smooth with steel wool, blow it off and put on a 3rd coat of clear tomorrow.

I've tried staining pine with fabric dye but it never works. The colorant is powder and it doesn't dissolve.

Menards has like 30 shades of brown to choose from. Why not other colors? What if I want purty colors but I still wanta see the wood grain?

Mix paint with clear stuff.

I'm gonna try it sometime with blue and purple.

Pine isn't exactly the best wood for staining though.

 

[Electric Chicken]

This is a curious question and not an insult question but do you work anywhere these days? Oddly enough I don't actually know anything about your career as a trucker other than last knowing you did some Van Wyk truck recoveries.

Other than the Grand Caravan and the batteries, your life is what I hope I can retire into sooner rather than later. I'm trying to get motivated and gung ho so I can pay off the house super early then diddle daddle and make some random shit to fix or manufacture to sell to pay the living expenses.

My neighbor seems to have the same goals so I think it's an Alpha male thing. He's a firefighter stud. I'm not but like little dogs looking at big dogs I think I'm a big dog. We see eye to eye 35 feet apart.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Fire chief called me today because they were talking about him in the local town gossip Facebook group and I sent him a screenshot because it was funny.

Three local women are leading the resistance to the Chinese lithium battery plant, and they keep doing Freedom of Information Act requests and posting the town officials' emails.

They dug up one from June, from the fire chief to one of the village board members about the need for a better fire alarm in the plant under construction. Then another one about a week later asking if it's been upgraded.

The post containing the emails said "from the FC, this is scary".

I said "emails showing the fire chief is doing his job correctly is scary?"



Anyway so he said that semi did NOT hit the house, and the people in the car that pulled out in front of him only had minor injuries.

And sometime this week or next, they're gonna purposely make my lithium RC car battery blow up for scientifical edjumacational purposes and he'll call so I can go watch.

(I was charging a pair of them, and I gave the chief both of them, including the one that did not burn up, because it's identical to the one that did.)

Karens are so Kareny.

 

[Duck]

This is a curious question and not an insult question but do you work anywhere these days? Oddly enough I don't actually know anything about your career as a trucker other than last knowing you did some Van Wyk truck recoveries.

Ain't been trucking in over a year. Just been getting a small stipend from Aetna for being Sarah's caretaker and sometimes I fill in for the state workers who tend to old & disabled people. And I been doing lots of miscellaneous home repair jobs with a neighbor who is too stupid to do anything but plumbing, but takes on remodeling jobs anyway.

And I take care of 3 elderly people's yards when they need stuff done they can't do themselves & can't afford to hire people, like when they get tree limbs down or something. Those people are cared for on a daily basis by paid state workers, but the state workers are not allowed to do yard work. Only housekeeping type of stuff. I don't get paid for that, I just do it because they need it done and nobody else will do it.

When I ain't doing any of that stuff, I tinker with projects like the chicken coop.

 

[389 Hood]

There is also a pretty wide variance in living expenses between urban PA and rural IL. If I got rid of property insurance and property taxes, I could probably lounge on a cruise ship a few weeks a month. But, I also don't want to be on one of those floating disease boxes with the masses of asses the way they are today.