I was devoting my hour per week to scouting real estate. Craigslist is still a resource for owner-financed offers and there are three mobile homes for sale with the land. Listed at $47,900 and $55,000 and $60,000 they are still too expensive by half. It’s as if the owners feel their house fell in value but not the land underneath. But it takes all kinds and shucks, America, we don’t mind being constantly reminded of that.Scooter work means keeping the Znen on the road. (Znen is the company Chau is the model. My scooter is a 2008 Znen Chau, though it is rarely called that when you try to find parts or manuals.) Another half day just got plowed into that missing bolt on the undercarriage. We’ve so far drilled it straight through and it will not loosen. We are running out of simple explanations and I’m thinking maybe the factory didn’t really drill the bolt threads all the way through. That would enlighten why a case-hardened bolt broke inside the frame instead of at a focal point. We may be trying to twist a plug of metal instead of a screw.
I’m learning plenty about fixing scooters, meaning the important parts about troubleshooting and figuring out what now. It’s not like the engine is under a convenient hood with the odd fan belt in the way. I’m exchanging computer maintenance for the all this knowledge so the hourly rates approach equilibrium. If I ever write my confessions, the imbeciles who use instant messaging and AOL are going to hate my guts. As soon as I see these things, my rates double. Like what, they’re going to catch on?
But don’t go thinking the time is wasted, heck no. I’m content to hang out at shops and small businesses where networking is quickly rewardable. This fact is already covered that I don’t know a lot of people who work for a paycheck. Face it, I will always have more affinity toward shop-owners than laborers and contractors. It’s largely a matter of business sense, general smarts, and the self-recognition of mistakes.
I’m working with another musician toward more modern and difficult selections. Around 89-ish the electronic disco beat was incorporated into rock, t'was a sad day for all. This “electrification” of bass lines provided a shortcut for programmed muzak. Rule #1: Ain’t got the brains or talent to write a real bass line? Thump it out on Cakewalk and forever accept your fans will be stoned clubbers. I cannot recall a single disco tune from that entire era. This new fellow musician needs a nickname, so for now I’ll call him Britman.
Trivia. The Qattara Depression remains best known for blocking Rommel from a flanking attack in WWII. I was looking at the cost projections for building a canal to the Mediterranean, which was considered too expensive and I was curious why. Don’t we build highways through thousands of miles of mountains? If the depression was flooded by digging a 35 mile long ditch, the result would be new beachfront the size of Lake Ontario. I still don’t know why this ditch would cost so much, but I learned plenty else.
One supposes a nice lake in the desert would be pleasant as it would cool the surrounding area and become cloudless waterfront property. I was surprised to learn they wanted to generate electricity. The inflow of water would be constant in order to replace that lost by evaporation. This would begin after the ten years it would take for the initial fill. Now I’m even more perplexed. If the undertaking could also produce income, what makes it so expensive? There was even a plan to relocate the Palestinians there as a workforce, and as permanent residents and fishermen thereafter. There are even abandoned British minefields in the area to give it that homecoming quality.
The downside is the salt. Evaporating seawater leaves salt. Wiki says the nearest freshwater lake is at Rosetta, 320 miles away. I looked but, this being only 2012, there are no good maps of the Qattara or Rosetta, or even northern Egypt available on the Internet.
And, in WWII trivia, the later models of the Mosquito, a British airplane built primarily out of glue and plywood, was carrying 4,000 pound bombloads. That puts in the same league as a heavy bomber. The Mosquito frame was built of birch, which apparently had been stockpiled in England for use in building pianos. The Merlin engines, built by Rolls-Royce, were each held onto the airplane with just four bolts. (Damn, I need one of those for my scooter.) The Germans for some reason did not copy this remarkable aircraft. The Australians operated them against the Japanese, who would have had no defense whatsoever against them, being it was 84 mph faster than the Zero.
Additionally, the Mosquito was armed with rockets, something normally associated with the Thunderbolt, an American aircraft. The rockets were unguided but with a payload of 480 (8 x 60 lbs) pounds I don’t suppose much precision was required. Most sources point out this aircraft flew tens of thousands of raids. Why are there no more than a few short clips of these rocket attacks? While looking for footage, I was surprised again. For some reason, I’d thought these Mosquitos worked alone or in pairs and then I see them massed for bombing raids. Interesting, that, balsa wood taking on rockets and jets.
