Okay sassies, here is a fuel purchasing PROTIP and some MAD SCIENCE in this time of economic distress and high gas prices. Buy fuel with the octane rating specified for your vehicle. Seriously, buy fuel with the octane rating specified for your vehicle. If it says "91", buy 91 octane fuel. If it says "87", buy 87. Here is why:
Engine timing depends on the fuel's octane content being at a certain level. If you run fuel with a lower octane rating, you can experience engine knock and detonation. As you might have guessed, "detonation" is not good -- unless having a hole punched in a piston is something you rejoice about. Many engine ECUs will retard the timing of an engine if lower octane fuel is present, but the engine will run poorly and get worse fuel economy. "How much worse, Josh?" Worse enough that any money you save by dropping from 91 to 89 will probably be exceeded by the drop in fuel economy. Also, you're abusing your engine. 'Grats!
Want to save money? Retard the timing of your right foot. Alternately, take a bus.
Feds seize bank - once a leading mortgage lender. It may turn out to be most expensive collapse ever. One thing is sure: The credit crisis is still with us.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In what could turn out to be the most expensive bank failure ever, troubled mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. was taken over by federal regulators on Friday.
The operations of the Pasadena, Calif.-based thrift - once one of the nation's largest home lenders - were shut down at 3 p.m. PDT by the Office of Thrift Supervision and transferred to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
About 95% of the $19 billion in deposits in the bank are insured, but that leaves $1 billion that was not covered by FDIC guarantees. According to the agency, 10,000 IndyMac customers could lose as much as half of that amount, or $500 million. The agency says the failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund between $4 billion and $8 billion, based on preliminary estimates.
Fuck yeah. Thanks again, real estate speculating assholes! Also, thanks to our government for the past eight years. Go slit your own throats, you worthless shitheads. Finally, some special thanks to Alan Greenspan. Great job, jackass.
I... man, it's hard for me to even start on this. Okay, unless you think that the job of the president of the United States of America is actually like Metal Wolf Chaos, no, flying a fighter plane and getting shot down is not actually a good qualification for being the president.
Among some other things that suggest you may be good at being the president: being involved in legislative government at some level. Coincidentally, John McCain has done this as well! John McCain was also an officer in the military, which would be arguably be good for a commander-in-chief! This is in addition to the fact that he was a pilot, shot down, and a POW -- things that, while inspiring, are totally fucking irrelevant to being the president. Now, it's arguable that McCain's experience as a legislator and military officer do not guarantee that he would be the best choice for our next president, but at least it's relevant.
There is somehow this bizarre notion that military experience == qualification by fiat due to our collective national debt to veterans. Maybe John McCain should be a heart surgeon. HE WAS A PILOT AND A PRISONER OF WAR YOU CRETIN, OF COURSE HE'S QUALIFIED TO BE A HEART SURGEON.
More than this, I'm astounded by the fact that the one thing that McCain's POW experience actually does make him qualified to speak on -- being tortured as a prisoner of war -- is effectively ignored by people who think that enhanced interrogation is more than a-ok; it's awesome!
WOO-HA, YEAH MITT ROMNEY SECOND GUANTANAMO LET'S IGNORE THE DUDE WHO ACTUALLY WAS TORTURED FOR YEARS AS A POW BOOYAH!
Today I decided to get to work on my CL350. My father had already pulled the tank and knocked out a bunch of rust while popping a dent, but it still needs a serious POR-15 treatment.
At least here in Wisconsin I have a nice workspace.
The Fonz looks on in approval.
I disassembled the carbs and what did I find? A load of crap.
Varnish everywhere, a blocked pilot jet, a torn slide diaphragm (with cracked temp repair from a previous owner) and a smashed in float. How the hell does a float even get damaged like that? I have to imagine someone took it out and hit it with a shoe.
Nice battery tray. There wasn't an acid drip hose in sight.
New rectifier on the left, old on the right.
Yay.
So basically, I accomplished one thing: hooking up a new rectifier. I ordered replacement floats, gaskets, and diaphragms but they will all probably arrive in Wisconsin when I'm chillin' in Orléans. I did clean out almost all of the varnish and I blasted the jets with an air compressor at 120 psi, so hopefully the next visit will actually result in a running motorcycle.
On the cosmetic side of things, I looked at the front fender again and I don't think I necessarily need to replace it. However, I may want to do a CB350G front wheel and brake conversion. I'm not a big fan of the drums on my R60/5 even though they are very good for exercising my right forearm.
I went shopping for clothing today for the first time in quite a while. I'm always on the lookout for casual jeans, t-shirts and similar slobwear, but it's rare that I actually go shopping. Shopping is reserved for special occasions e.g. spending time with Beth Schwindt or going to France.
The latter is the actual occasion that prompted this shopping trip. I now weigh 185 lbs. and have very few dressy clothes that look good on me. I went shopping on my own, as I like to do things at my own pace and select things according to my own tastes. My goal was not to buy clothing that would help me fit in with Parisians or even those Occitan rascals, but to be a good-looking, well-dressed American.
I went to South Coast Plaza for my shopping, which really clarifies my income's position on SoCal's totem pole. I can shop at about half of the stores there (e.g. Banana Republic, DKNY, Armani Exchange). The other half are so astronomically expensive that looking at a single price tag makes my eyes water (e.g. Hugo Boss, Versace, YSL).
So I wound up buying a nice outfit at Banana Republic: a pair of pinstripe slacks, a navy and grey striped v-neck sleeveless sweater, a nice white shirt, and a semi-glossy solid grey tie. None of the blazers at BR fit me, so I went across the way and picked out a Donna Karan grey blazer that had a quaint charm to it. DKNY stuff is weird to me because so much of it has a "rustic" cotton construction. I also haven't had a blazer in a very long time, so it was hard for me to determine if it looked good. I tried it on with the matching slacks with my just-purchased shirt and tie underneath and the combination worked -- though I think I need to find a bolder tie to break up all of those neutrals.
That was all I really had time for, but I decided on one more stop: the accursed Diesel store. Diesel is accursed to me because in my fatty bo-batty days, not a single pair of Diesel jeans would fit me. It had been six years since I tried any Diesel pants on, so I figured I'd give them another shot. Sure enough, they actually fit me. I liked them so much that I bought them without even checking the price tag.
Whoops. Well, at least they look good. So here is the shopping lesson for today: unless you roll joints in $100 bills, always check the price on things when buying at South Coast Plaza.
I sold my CB350 today to focus on my R60/5. Even though I had intermittent problems with the CB350 for my brief period of ownership, they magically disappeared when I transferred ownership to my friend Linda.
She took the MSF course several years ago and got her M1 license, but hadn't been riding since. I strongly suggested she go take the course again, and she agreed. Of course, that didn't stop her from riding 30 miles within three hours of me leaving her house.
My 325cc twin days have not ended, though. Not by a long shot. I'm heading back to Wisconsin this week where a sad '68 CL350 awaits a bunch of "easy" restoration work.
In a stunning blow to the Bush Administration in its war-on-terrorism policies, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay have a right to pursue habeas challenges to their detention. The Court, dividing 5-4, ruled that Congress had not validly taken away habeas rights. If Congress wishes to suspend habeas, it must do so only as the Constitution allows — when the country faces rebellion or invasion.
The Court stressed that it was not ruling that the detainees are entitled to be released — that is, entitled to have writs issued to end their confinement. That issue, it said, is left to the District Court judges who will be hearing the challenges. The Court also said that "we do not address whether the President has authority to detain" individuals during the war on terrorism, and hold them at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba; that, too, it said, is to be considered first by the District judges.
The Court also declared that detainees do not have to go through the special civilian court review process that Congress created in 2005, since that is not an adequate substitute for habeas rights. The Court refused to interpret the Detainee Treatment Act — as the Bush Administration had suggested — to include enough legal protection to make it an adequate replacement for habeas. Congress, it concluded, unconstitutionally suspended the writ in enacting that Act.
BOOYAH! Holy cow how long has it taken to address this? Now look at this load of horseshit from Mark Levin at National Review Online:
While I am still reviewing the 5-4 decision written by Anthony Kennedy, apparently giving GITMO detainees access to our civilian courts, at the outset I am left to wonder whether all POWs will now have access to our civilian courts? After all, you would think lawful enemy combatants have a better claim in this regard than unlawful enemy combatants. And if POWs have access to our civilian courts, how do our courts plan to handle the thousands, if not tens of thousands of cases, that will be brought to them in future conflicts?
Oh gee willikers, if only POWs had some method to redress their imprisonment through established conventions from a city in Switzerland! Detainees at Guantanamo Bay are designated unlawful enemy combatants through fiat. The Bush administration has effectively circumvented all established rights for those they imprison by declaring them to be exceptional criminals that fall outside the boundaries of recognized protocol. They have no way to contest this because the administration has suspended all avenues of redress for them.
This was so painfully similar to the suspension of normal rules of prosecution under the crimen exceptum designation used during Early Modern European witch-hunts that Kramer and Sprenger were probably getting boners in their graves every time someone was thrown in Guantanamo Bay.
I will fistfight anyone who disagrees with this ruling.
paige and the cultists/zombies and my triumph
Category: Pets and Animals
I had one dream last night... though it may have been two, back-to-back. I was in a city on (I think) the east coast. I was with some other dudes whom I did not know. We wound up getting into some fights with cultists/zombies. We then went to another city. I went into a store and Paige was there. She warned me not to go to the next city. For whatever reason, I ignored her. In the next city, I could tell cultists and zombies were going to come fuck with us. I pulled my Triumph out of a van because I wanted to ride that sucker around while killing cultists and zombies. I turned away to talk to someone and when I turned back, all of the spokes on my bike's wheels had been broken. I was like, what the fuck? That was a pretty bizarre way to mess up my bike, cultists.
This actually is the second dream I've had in which Gypsy Den waitresses have attempted to save me from supernatural forces. In a dream I had several years ago, Michelle and Erin were cutting off vampire heads with machetes and shooting submachineguns at swarms of attackers that were trying to kill me. Pretty sweet. Thx ladies.
How late did you stay up last night and why? Midnight. I watched House and then hit the sack.
What is the first thing you thought when you got up? What is Sesame doing?
Who were you with last Friday night? No one.
Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? Probably.
Whens the next time you'll see your best friend? Geez, I don't even know who that is.
What were you doing this morning at 7am? Sleeping.
What is the reason you last cried? I can't remember the last time I cried.
Have you ever talked to someone when they were high? Of course.
What are you listening to right now? Imogen Heap - Not Now But Soon on Melissa's profile.
Who were the last two people to text you? Paige and Cuevas.
What's the 13th text in your inbox say, and who's it from? MY IPHONE doesn't organize text messages in that way, so I'll just count down 13 in the "Paige set": "ooohhh....so close! damn!"
How many red lights have you ran? A shitload, though never flagrantly. On my R60/5 I did it a bunch because the drums are scary.
What high school did you attend? Fort Atkinson Senior High.
What is your least favorite season and why? In California? Winter. In Wisconsin? Summer.
What were you doing at 11pm last night? Watching House for crying out loud.
Who was the last person you talked to last night before bed? Erica.
Will you be driving in a year? Yah.
Is there anything that you are craving right now? No.
When did your last hug take place? I hugged Sesame a few hours ago.
Do people ever make stupid mistakes when spelling your name? Instead of answering this question, I'll tell a story. I went down to Pacific Beach (dump) a few years ago and went into a Moroccan store. The man looked at my ID and said, "Joshua? What kind of name is that?" I said, "Hebrew." He looked at me strangely and said, "Are your parents Jewish?" And I said, "No." He was more confused. "Why would they give you a Jewish name if they are not Jews?" I said, "Well, Joshua is the Hebrew form of the Greek name Jesus." He nodded and smiled. "Ah!"
Have you ever started a sentence with "No offense, but..."? Yes.
Do you drink tea? Yes, sometimes.
Have you ever been arrested? No.
Have you ridden in someone else's car today? Yes, Erica's Rav4.
Have you made a mistake this past week? Of course.
What do you hear? The hum of computers.
Who were you last with? Erica and Mary.
Do you miss someone? Yes.
Are you happy with your life right now? I have more reasons to be happy than unhappy, by far.
In the past 72 hours have you been under the influence? No.
What was the last movie you watched? Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Pretty funny imo.
What do you need to be doing right now? Going to bed.
Who do you hate? Anyone hate-worthy isn't really worth the energy.
What do you wear to bed?
A t-shirt and some jammy pants.
Do you think you will be married in 10 years? No.
What were you doing at 6pm last Friday night? I was still at work.
Do you know anyone with the same name as you? Not the exact same name, though there was a much younger Joshua Sawyer in my hometown. I had pneumonia several times when I was in high school. I went in for a lung x-ray and the nurse brought in an old x-ray (I had been there before) and said, "Oh yeah, you had a broken arm." I said, "Wow, I really grew a lot in six months." Then she realized she was looking at the broken arm of the eight year-old Joshua Sawyer.
