Graveyard Shift
On the night of the Superbowl a few weeks ago the guy who sometimes rakes the leaves in my yard came by and asked for exactly $2.25 so that he could buy the beer for his “Superbowl party”. He had come up with this figure based on the cost of a 12-pack minus what he already had. He’s not homeless but he’s not far from it. He calls himself Graveyard for reasons I didn’t ask about and says he used to be in the navy. There’s a lady in one of the neighborhoods around here who lets him live in her basement so long as he walks her dog. He promised me he’d pay back the money. I gave it to him and thought nothing else of it. Today he came through on his promise leaving the $2.25 with a “tank you” note (above). I had written off the loan, and in so doing had written him off as well, assuming I’d never see the money again and not really caring about it. I shouldn’t have made the assumption. A man of his word is a man of his word no matter what his circumstance. I hope he enjoyed the beer.
They Don’t Get Any Cuter As They Grow Up
Jeep Tinkering
Recently made my first couple of modifications to the Jeep. First I removed the backseat.
Because nobody wants to sit there. Then I replaced all the factory mats with heavier duty plastic mats. Simple.
The Jeep has a big front bumper these days, wider than the basic metal strip that came on the YJ I used to have. I prefer the shorter bumper on the JK too because it looks better and allows for larger tires. I also prefer the d-rings to the old style tow hooks. So I put a new front bumper on.
To put on most of the aftermarket bumpers with recessed winch mount you have to remove a pump that is hidden behind the factory bumper on the inside of the driver-side frame rail. You can see the little silver canister just right of center here with the bumper removed.
Like magic, its gone. Well, magic and a little wrenching, little wiring, and a lot of dremeling to remove the bracket that held it to the frame.
The electrical lines to the pump have to be extended and routed. The kit comes with plain wire so I bought some conduit to protect the wires (not shown).
Here’s the bracket that was removed.
I used the OR-FAB relocation kit to move the pump under the hood. This is a better location anyway as its out of the elements and not so low to the ground where it can get dirty.
And here’s a close to the end result. It was raining yesterday afternoon and getting dark so I had to hold off on routing the battery cables to the winch until today. The bumper is a Rugged Ridge XHD. The kit came with a relocation bracket for the pump but it mounts it under the frame rail at the the sway bar bracket which I didn’t like.
I didn’t take too many pics during install because there’s not a lot to see. I made a little movie though. Unfortunately Flickr requires the Flash player to play it… so I’m not embedding it here. But you can watch it on Flickr if you want. Also the last minute or so was cut off by Flickr for some reason. Will probably have to move to YouTube.
Rerouted the battery wires today for the winch, hooked up all electrics. Everything works good.
And a couple of items to throw on Craigslist in case anybody wants them.
Erik Johansson: Impossible photography
Some of these awesome “photos” were making the rounds last year. This is how they were made.
Goodbye Clyde Jr.
Lots of turnover lately in the fleet. Clyde Jr.’s role as haul-about has been superseded by the arrival of my Universal Appliance/Italian convertible/Jeep. Therefore Clyde Jr. has moved on to a new role… in the movies. We wish him well. No doubt there will one day be a Clyde Jr. II and maybe the 460 project will then be resurrected. Until then the focus is on the remainder of the fleet.
Expert Reviews On “The Bark Side” Are Now Online.
This one looks like Riley’s twin!
Live From The Cooplex
The chicks have finally moved from their box out to the coop. Its a little cold today but they don’t seem to mind. They’ve enjoyed pecking around their new enclosed outdoor space and hanging out in their half of the cooplex.
Brigette In Camo
Can see her new feathers coming in around the neck and head.
Versus when she first arrived.
FitBit vs CrossFit: So-So.
I really enjoy the FitBit but not so sure its great for measuring the effort of CrossFit WODs. Above in orange at 6pm to 7pm is time spent on the routine plus the warmup and form checking, etc. All listed as moderate activity even though the CrossFit workout will kick your donkey. For comparison I took the FitBit rock climbing the other day, which is tiring but not decimating like a CrossFit workout. Because climbing in general has more movement (the FitBit was on my ankle), the activity was registered as high intensity. So its not perfect but its pretty close. It would probably be more accurate for WODs with a sprint element, less so for the lift-centric ones. Need to try it with cycling to see how that registers.
Just Another Winter In Germany, 1955
Could be worse. They could be cycle-skating like the French.
