Twenty K!

March 16th, 2010

A milestone slipped by me over the weekend; 20,000 visitors to this site, as measured by my Sitemeter account. Fifteen thousand went by without much hoopla, but thought I’d at least mention it for twenty.

Looking back at my other posts celebrating other milestones, the pace is picking up a bit; 10,000 was towards the end of June last year, so it took about nine months to add 10,000. Before that, I hit 5,000 in early December of 2008; adding 5,000 took a little over six months. We’ll see how quickly 30,000 comes. The one constant is that Google is my best friend; direct hits to the site are few & far between, but there’s a pretty steady stream of referrals from Google searches. The most recent favorite is my post on the Citroen CV2 Rat Rod, but the Ford Freestar trailer wiring post and the Plymouth minivan instrument cluster post remain perennial favorites.

At the risk of letting the exuberating get out of hand, I celebrated the occasion by picking up a roll (chocolate-covered Bavarian cream-filled Long John!) from Sunshine on my way to work today.

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Yeah; I really know how to live.

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BMWotD — ’88 M5 Race Car!

March 14th, 2010

Here’s something you don’t see every day:

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One of the Fastest M5’s in the country

1988 E28 M5 VIN# WBSDC9305J2791570 prod date 6/87

Just in time for the racing season. This Race Car needs nothing to be raced next weekend.

Top Speed Over 170 Mph

3.9 6 Cylinder w/ over 370 rear wheel horsepower

  • Weighs Just under 2500 LBs
  • All Receipt’s and Complete Build Sheets Fresh S38 Motorsports Engine only 1 Race
  • Comes With lots Spares
  • Comes AMB transponder and lap timer
  • 2 Rear Ends 3:91/3:73 Precision Engineering Built
  • 8 Fiske and 4 BBS Lightweight Wheels
  • Wolf 3D+4 Fully Programmable Engine Management
  • Ground Control Double Adjustable Shocks & Struts
  • Fully Adjustable Suspension Front And Rear
  • AP 6 Piston Calipers Front and AP Rear Calipers
  • Carbon Fiber Hood
  • Carbon Fiber Air Intake
  • Carbon Fiber Air Damn

This is A Completely Sorted Race Car, Campaigned in Scca and BMWCCA. Will pass all tech inspections. Holds Many Lap records and Many Overall Wins.

S38 b38 BMW Engine, Balanced and Blueprinted, Head match ported and polished. Stillen Crankshaft, ARP Bolts and Studs Throughout. Over 370 RWHP.

Has New FIA 6 Point Schroth Belts, Current Window Net, Momo Seat and Steering Wheel. Comes with Spares. Spare Carbon Fiber Air Damn, Spare Rotors w/Hats for Front and Rear. Back-up Master Cylinder, Hydroboost, Brake lines, Various Rate Coil Springs

Comes w/2 Sets Full wets and 1 Set Intermediate wets, 3 sets of slicks; 24 tires total.

The car is (was?) owned by David Daniels, and is pretty well known to people in the E28 community. For a non-turbo engine, it’s HP output is as high as I’ve ever seen in an E28. And stripped down to 2,500 pounds? Wow. The E28 is notoriously heavy and difficult to strip down for racing, but Daniels used a lot of carbon fiber & fiberglass to help keep the weight down. Here is a video of it going up against an E36 M3 (owned & driven by Brian Watts.) In the video, the M3 can outrun the M5 in the straights, but the M5 walks right on by in the corners. Tells a lot about the work that Daniels put into the chassis and suspension! And about the driver!

The car was up for sale on eBay, but the auction ended with the final bid at $21,100, and the reserve not met.

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Pagani Zonda R

March 14th, 2010

I think I have a new favorite car; the Pagani Zonda. And this awesome piece of marketing magic does a fantastic job of making me want one. Not that I ever will, but… Enjoy.

I had never really heard of this car before buying a copy of Ambrosia Software’s Redline for the kids last Christmas; the Zonda is one of the downloadable add-ons for the game, and it’s one of the fastest & best handling cars in the game. Kinda makes sense, since it’s essentially a street-legal Formula 1 race car.

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The Slaughter Solution?

March 12th, 2010

They really can’t be serious about this, can they?

House Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter is prepping to help usher the healthcare overhaul through the House and potentially avoid a direct vote on the Senate overhaul bill, the chairwoman said Tuesday.
…
In the Slaughter Solution, the rule would declare that the House “deems” the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed by the House. House members would still have to vote on whether to accept the rule, but they would then be able to say they only voted for a rule, not for the bill itself.

This is only another attempt by the Democrat “Leadership” to obfuscate the fact that even with the huge majority they have in the House, Nancy Pelosi still is unable to muster the votes to push this thing through. The Representatives know a ‘yes’ vote would be political suicide, so they don’t want to touch it. Comically, the story from Nancy is still that the Republicans are the problem (cue rolling of eyes). Even if they proceed with this cockamamie plan, a vote to accept the rule will still have the stink of death on it, so the issue is pretty much moot.

Speaking of leadership (or the lack thereof), for the last few weeks President Obama has been insisting that Congress get this healthcare thing put to bed before Malia & Sasha’s Big Adventure (featuring stops in Guam, Indonesia & Australia; one can only wonder whether a visit to Dad’s birthplace is on the itinerary…) The Southern Hemisphere Tour was supposed to take off March 18, but has been pushed back to March 21. Again, he has drawn a line in the sand, and allowed that line to be moved. Is it any wonder that his job approval numbers have tanked? Or have they tanked because he’s pushing so hard for something so many people don’t want? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

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Ronald Reagan Was A Time Traveller

March 12th, 2010

Or at least this speech he gave in 1961 sounds like he must be commenting on President Obama’s effort to push through the travesty known as “Healthcare Reform” that’s before Congress right now. Take a listen…

I guess what it really shows is that there really is little new in the world of politics.

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Like The Hulk…

March 11th, 2010

I watched an(other) episode of My Name Is Earl, a couple of nights ago, and got a good laugh from Earl’s brother Randy:

You know I get angry when I’m hungry. Like the Hulk, only I don’t get all green and muscle-y, I just get dizzy and snap at people that don’t deserve it.

I can so relate to that!

my-name-is-randy

I don’t buy into the whole karma thing — do good things to balance out the bad things — but the show is pretty entertaining. And it’s refreshing to see sitcom characters demonstrating some honesty instead of the usual mess of trying to hide their mistakes. That and the whole trailer trash atmosphere of the show makes for some good, (relatively) clean entertainment. And Randy… He is just a hoot!

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Rickshaw USA — Sean & Coop’s Big Adventure

March 11th, 2010

The brother of a long-time friend of mine is on an amazing adventure; he’s riding a pedicab on route that nearly circles the continental US. His route took him through Baton Rouge, LA, recently, and he was featured in a local ABC news report:

Sean started out his trip from New York in the enormous Thai-style rickshaw you see pictured below, but found it wasn’t quite up to the trip and ended up being replaced by a more modern pedicab about a 1,000 miles into the trek. I’m sure he misses the built-in sunshade, but won’t miss the extra weight; the old one weighed about 700lbs and had only 3 gears! His knees will thank him in twenty years or so.

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When asked why he’s doing this, it seems there are a lot of things motivating him; from his FAQ:

Q. Why are you doing this, what is your cause?
A. My cause is because.

My buddy John (Sean’s brother) says he’s doing it to avoid work. “Because” seems to be a better motivation, so we’ll stick with that. And what he said in the interview about the importance of having an adventure rings true to the romantic in me. I wish I’d had the gumption to do something like this in the years before wifejobkidshousemortgagecarsstuff, because I sure don’t see anything like it happening in my future.

Sean is now in the Gulf states region, and his planned route will take him…

… west across TX, NM, and AZ up to Vegas then over to Cali. Up Cali and try to go as north as possible depending on the terrain then head east thru Montana (one of the states I’m really looking forward to riding thru, Big Sky!!) Head into the Dakotas, stop off at my brothers in Sioux Falls. Then hit up my home state of Iowa try to meet up with Ragbri. Hang with my folks for a week or so. And then haul butt to NYC.”

His original plan was to hook up with RAGBRAI 2010, but considering he also planned to be in New Orleans by Christmas, RAGBRAI 2011 might be a more attainable goal! It’s cool that he’s planning a stopover in Sioux Falls; should be a big party at John’s place!

Sean & Coop’s Blog

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Dingbat’s Beemer

March 4th, 2010

A 1982 320i just came up for sale on eBay that just happens to have been previously owned by Jean Stapleton, aka Edith Bunker, aka Dingbat.

Looks like a nice car; very clean, and only 85,000 miles. Too bad it’s an automatic!

I couldn’t help but think of my favorite episode of All In The Family; Edith’s Accident (also known as “The Cling Peaches Incident”.)

“Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” Proverbs 14:7

It means, “Don’t waste your time arguing with an idiot.”

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This Guy Is Certifiably Nuts

March 4th, 2010

Is this guy nuts, or am I just overly risk-averse? Photographer captures amazing images of lions after submerging himself in watering hole for three months

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Amazing photos, to be sure — kudos to photographer Greg du Toit — but the aftereffects seem a bit costly to me…

… diagnosed with deadly malaria twice after contracting it through mosquitoes breeding in the pool…

‘The doctors panicked when they noticed that my red blood platelet count was sky high,’ Mr du Toit said.

‘The first real symptom was blood in my urine, which is when I went for blood tests. The blood test confirmed that I had Bilharzia.

‘It’s caused by a type of flatworm which had spent part of its life in water snails and the other part in my liver. It left me weak and in bed for weeks.’

He added: ‘The high red blood platelet count signalled that I was carrying a lot of parasites. This included numerous species of internal worm parasites and a particularly nasty external worm parasite known as Hook Worm.

‘This worm was actually visible under the skin of my foot and would move at night. It became a game to find the worm in my foot each morning.’

After a long stint sick in bed recovering, Mr du Toit was finally given the all clear following courses of powerful antibiotics, pesticides and by spraying liquid nitrogen on the parasites visible under his skin.

To get the “frog’s-eye view”, du Toit apparently just waded into the pond until just his head was above the surface of the water. No flippin’ wonder he picked up so many bugs, being marinated in a cesspool like that! And to top off the exposure to who-knows-what unseen threats, he’s just “a leap away” from the wildlife he photographed.

The lions knew there was something in the water but we think they only recognise humans when they are upright on legs so they took little notice of me and my camera.

He added: ‘It was worth it 100 per cent and I would do it all again, worms and all.’

I wonder if he thought to use something like a drysuit to keep from becoming a large parasite-infested pink raisin. Any bets on whether he finds another pool &

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Stuck Door Locks On A BMW e32 ≠ Fun

February 27th, 2010

First, a little background:
The door locks on my ’88 BMW 735i (e32) have been something of an enigma to me; they worked, but they worked differently than other cars I’ve had. Even differently when compared to my ’84 BMW 528e.

With the early BMW’s, locking the doors generally involves pushing down on the door lock knob before shutting the driver’s door or putting the key in the outside lock and turning it to the right; that locks all four doors, the trunk and the fuel filler door. To unlock them all, insert the key and turn it to the left. And the same trick works using the key in either front door or the trunk lock.

In the late ’80’s, BMW added a new feature known as the Deadbolt; it prevents the door from opening with anything but the key. To deadbolt the car you put the key in the door & turn it one notch farther to the right. I say ‘notch’ but there’s really no notch when you turn the lock; there’s no tactile, audible or visible indication that anything different has happened at all. The doors just appear to be locked. But they will not open unless you use a key to turn the lock, no matter what. Presumably, if I were sitting inside the car and someone turned the key to put the doors into deadlock mode, I’d be stuck in there until someone with a key unlocked the car from the outside. The lock knob will not move. No. Matter. What.

As with most well-intentioned systems like this, when everything is working properly, it works great and is a decent theft-deterrent… But throw two decades of use at a system that really has no prescribed maintenance schedule, and you have the potential for problems. And of course that’s what I’ve been dealing with. Story of my life.

Help! My Door Is Locked, And I Can’t Open It!
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Posted in Cars!, Geek, Just Stuff | 3 Comments »

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