July 21, 2014

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 21, 2013.
Five years ago today: July 21, 2009, bikini babe.
Ten years ago today: July 21, 2004, need coffee . . .

           Morning shift is 6:00 AM to 11:00 AM. At that time it was 98° and the humidity says it’s gonna rain real bad. I got all the wiring done, but there is one wire out of place I can’t find also that infernal off-on instead of on-off of the signal lights. I forget how I dealt with it last year. If it gets troublesome, I’ll just direct wire everything, but I’m not waiting for everything to be ready. Here is a shot of the marine battery pocket. There is more to this than just looking pretty.

           The wagon is very carefully balanced and this box is to prevent the battery from shifting around. It hasn’t given any trouble but it did move last year through the mountains. I would prefer to place the heaviest object on the centerline but it turns out there is no convenient way to do that.
           Anyway, the entire day was occupied with the cPod, I got the electrical system, except for a three hour siesta in the afternoon. Florida is the home state of global warming. It finally clouded over for the regular afternoon downpour and I was able to get back to work. Turns out the problem was one of the relays was bad. Baffling, that was. (I have since become a seat-of-the-pants expert on relays controlled by transistors.)

           Last, the Honda battery is dead and the unit won’t start. Good thing I tried it before the last minute. Then again, the last owner installed an elaborate CD player system in the fairing and it attracts undue attention when people walk up to the motorcycle. To me, it takes a bit of idiocy to require entertainment while you drive. The deal is this CD can be turned on and won’t turn off, draining my battery. Somebody was fooling with it (at the repair shop last week). What is it with you people who can’t see a car radio without randomly pushing buttons? The Honda requires a new battery every six months. I'll wager it is the alternator going bad.
          
Here’s some trivia.

           Motorola’s first product was a record player for automobiles. The best know record player at the time was called Victrola, hence for cars, “motor-ola”.
           Each day, twelve newborns will be given to the wrong parents. I could only wish.
           The hair of intelligent people contains more copper and zinc than average. That could explain my fear of soldering irons.