One year ago today: April 27, 2014.
Five years ago today: April 27, 2010.
Six years ago today: April 27, 2009.
MORNING
Midnight last I heard the crunch. Sure enough, out on the highway, a car upside down on the pavement. Clear, well-lit, no other traffic. Another single vehicle, I mean, how do you roll a vehicle on flat, dry tarmac? Texting? Drunk? Drugs? There is something about flipping a late-model car down the roadway that defines Florida so well. By the time I walked over for this picture, the noise had attracted plenty of rubberneckers.
What he did do was replace the battery pack and reports the thing will now top end at 26mph. He drove it all the way to Ft. Lauderdale. This is the same guy who flies all the drones. And that fancy helicopter unit he had? Right smack into some high tension overhead power cables out near Countyline. Fried the drone to the tune of $1,400. And people laugh when I put half that amount into my motorcycle?
Has anybody else noticed a lot of old pirated movies won’t play on Win 7 and above? As if we don’t hate MicroSoft enough, now they start playing vigilante. It’s a good thing same said movies play perfectly well on old pirated versions of XP. Right? Well, I wouldn't know. Nobody ever has actually seen me install anything pirated, nobody has ever seen me do anything illegal, not that I would. But there are benefits to always working alone, or so I'm told.
NOON
“People are always trying to tell you how they feel.” --Sam Halpern
Now, for my next practical invention which will go nowhere. First, define the problem. We all have a shirt or something we’d like to wear one more time before we toss it in the wash. That means in the next short while, so I don’t mean go hang it up in the back room. So you drape it over a chair. Problem, chairs are designed by twisted individuals who take care to make sure whenever you slide the chair back, it will snag on the garment. Every. Damn. Time.
Say, don’t those look a lot like the hangers from my unsuccessful bike carrier of not that long ago? Listen, I’d like to stick around and chat with you about that, but I have to nip over to the clinic right about now. Hooks are hooks and we can talk about that some other time. Is never good for you?
And to those who say my model plane looks a little rough, hey, I was designing the thing, not perfecting it. If I wanted precision, I would have used an exacto knife instead of a scroll saw. I happen to like the plane just the way it is. Besides, I have not had the opportunity to compare it to anything that my critics designed and built (got that) in two or three hours. Until that day happens, talk to the hand.
AFTERNOON
This is the Omni-Cruise, a throttle control* that works by holding the hand grip against the brake lever. The screw adjusts the force, which I know does not have to be all that much. To release the device, you push your thumb upwards against the tab on the far upper right. I’ve been exploring these on the side and this is the simplest concept found. I’ve seen several versions.
Noon finds me still in the waiting room reading magazines I would not normally use to, um, change the oil on my scooter. Yeah, that. I used the time to ponder my proposed $83 vacation this month. Can’t let a month go by without some kind of adventure. Contenders are Naples with JZ and the new truck, Winter Haven, and Jupiter Beach. But these places lack the tourist attractions I like. While I don’t care for amusement parks, I like restored mansions, train museums, used book stores, and cafes open late that don’t overcharge like Starbucks.
Actually, I would not mind paying the extra as long as it was not Starbucks. I like a place with a little class and that is one commodity Starbucks has successfully avoided since day one.
So work with me here. What’s to do for $80? Don’t worry about the costs of food and accommodation; that is all paid for extra. All you have to do is find a place to hang out that is not as godforsaken boring as St. Petersburg. Oh, and I’ll need some way to get there. JZ just called and he is broke until May 2 and I’m not driving the batbike until that alternator is replaced. That repair job is going to take a week, you know. So you better come up with something or here we sits.
* When I specify throttle control, I wrongly use the term interchangeably with cruise control. I have no intention of putting a true cruise control on the motorcycle. What I really need is a device, like the Omni, which takes the “squeeze pressure” off your wrist when doing long stretches at a uniform speed. Regardless of what the people say, I do NOT encourage anyone to drive a motorcycle one-handed. Cruise control provides that temptation and it is plain foolish.
While one-handed operation is okay with a sidecar, the unit can often adopt an “attitude” for an hour at a time where a slight but constant back-pressure must be applied to keep the unit traveling true. It isn’t much and will eventually go away. I suspect it is a bias that all sidecars cause by merely being there.
EVENING
Here’s something you’ve never seen before. The street blocked off due to Xmas lights. This is over at Himmarshee this evening. That’s the riverfront section up in Ft. Lauderdale that has dozens of bars, cafes, and restaurants which I am informed all belong to the same owner. That partially explains why the entire street has a overhanging canopy of those Xmas lights that, when place thirty feet up there, resemble the starry, starry night.
You see, instead perfectly utile barricades or traffic cones, you get squads of police on overtime. This is one of the more lucrative public service scams in Florida. When they say “happy hour”, they really mean it. All this was fine, because we got there long before and had our weekly planning meeting (WPM) for the first time in a few months anyway.
The pedal pub topic came up. It was about to be pushed onto the back burner when Trent instantly recognized the potential. It is not the construction, but the operation of the unit as a business that presents the challenge. I’m informed that there is already such an outfit working Los Olas. I did not find any of their advertising when I sought those facts last month. Hmmm.
These rigs are expensive as hell. The problem with financing the projected $55,000 startup cost is classical—the moment you try to stop for a breather, the expense of just standing still starts closing in. Instead, I had mapped out the welding of one of these wagons for under $5,000. I expect breakdowns and mistakes, but my design could, in a pinch, be towed by the sidecar while the fat ladies pedal all they want. We are back to the 12-seat model.
The concept is to provide a unique experience. That requires imagination. Well, guys, means we already have the edge. For example, the rear plank for seating three is tentatively replaced by that elusive guitar player who will come out of the woodwork as soon as money is involved. Anyway, I committed to go over the startup costs again within the next few days, time permitting. This business is far from an easy thing to get off the ground.
Last Laugh
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
