@rusty-vandura

I must say all that cycling is doing you well.

My son and I were walking through the store and passed by the toy section. I was teasing him about wanting a toy (he's a teenager, so toys aren't on his radar anymore) and he, joking back, said something about getting a new Hot Wheels car. So, I went with it and immediately turned down the aisle to the Hot Wheels. Only one car caught his eye.

I'm so proud! I've got a true jalop on my hands!

Of course, we bought it.

As I mentioned in another post, I noticed yesterday that my son had parked on the street, so I told him to move it to the driveway. His excuse? My car was parked in the spot where he usually parks and there "wasn't enough room" for his truck to park behind it without hanging out in the street. He suggested that I move my car and he'd move his truck. I just grabbed the keys to the truck and backed it in myself.

Today, when he got back from school, he excitedly asked me to look out the window. He decided that if I could do it, he could do it too, and he backed into the driveway by himself. That picture is the result of his driving, not mine.

It may not seem like a big thing, but it was a big step for him. He's been somewhat reluctant to drive and now he's taking on challenges on his own.

Next up, backing the trailer!

We had to say goodbye to our little Chuey today. He's been suffering with congenital heart problems for the last year or so, but things took a turn for the worse this week. He's been getting steadily weaker over the last couple of months and he finally reached the point where he could no longer walk. He was in a lot of pain every time he tried. We've had to carry him outside to do his business for the last couple of days. The medication he was on made him need to do his business every hour or two. That was rough on both him and us.

We couldn't stand to see him in pain any longer, so we had to say goodbye.

It was a great run, little guy. Thanks for being part of our family for the last 12 years.

[Edit] Thanks to everyone. I'm finding that this loss has been harder than I expected. This little guy has been a fixture in our lives for so long. Unassuming. Quiet. Never demanding, but always there. Despite his size, he was never a lap dog. He just wanted to sit on your feet. Yes, ON your feet. That was his happy place.

He was a sweet little dog, but also somewhat grumpy. He didn't put up with any BS from the other dogs. He'd also take your finger off if you tried to give him a treat by hand. I think his bug- eyes messed up his depth perception, so in his haste to grab the treat, he just bit in the general direction and hoped for the best.

We're dropping off his stuff at the shelter today. Bad weather is coming in and they need all the blankets, sweaters, and bedding they can get. We'll miss him, but our loss will help the other pups who need a hand.

Take care and keep being excellent, Oppo!

My daughter came home from college with a new friend.

I don't think she's settled on a name yet, so I'm not sure what to call her. The pup is half teacup poodle, half maltese. She weighs next to nothing and is smaller than Rocky's head. Speaking of Rocky, he's super excited to have a new pup in the house, but he's so big and rough, introductions are moving slowly. She's quick to yelp if she gets even a little scared, so her exposure to the big dog is being carefully metered. If there's ever been a lap dog, this is it.

My neighbor. He keeps being stupid and I've had enough.

What's this all about? Kids riding ATVs up and down my street.

I went outside to grab my cup from the truck and spotted him loading up four (!) kids onto their big ATV for a ride down the street. The 10-year-old was driving with his little sister riding in front of him and two boys on behind - one on the seat, one on the rack. Nobody had helmets. This isn't the first time it's happened and they aren't the first parents I've had to talk to about it.

I enjoy riding ATVs and I've given my own kids opportunities to learn how to ride them even though we don't own one. But we did it on private land in the country. Not on public streets.

So, I walked four doors down to talk to him. I'd love to give a word-for-word accounting, but I'll just stick with my main points to him:

• Riding ATVs on the street is illegal.
• It's neither tagged nor insured.
• Kids aren't allowed to ride two-up.
• Louisiana has a helmet law and none of those kids are wearing helmets

His response? "I know it's illegal. But are you going to be the guy who makes it so kids can't play outside?" Then he started yelling at me about being that guy. About how I was ruining kids. Wouldn't stop yelling about it. Finally he stormed off toward his garage and since he'd stopped yelling, I got a chance to say something. What did I say? "You're a fireman, you should know better."

That led to another round of ranting and then an invitation to step onto his driveway so he could kick my ass. He'd even give me the first punch! Yeah, right, buddy. I'm not stupid. You want to kick my ass because you're embarrassed about being wrong. If you want to kick my ass, come do it. Don't try to bait me onto your property so you can have some lame excuses about it being my fault for stepping onto your property and taking the first swing.

So, he backed down again and started off toward his garage again. Never being one to miss an opportunity, I said, "I'll call the sheriff if I see it again."

There were more words exchanged, but he did say that he wouldn't let them ride on he street ever again. Of course he said it like I was ruining their lives and they were destined to turn into slugs who do nothing but play video games and watch youtube. I walked away after he finally retreated to his garage again.

On my way home I noticed the neighbors standing outside watching the whole thing. The couple next door to the fireman just moved in. I welcomed them to the neighborhood. It's been my experience that people like the firemen are misogynistic buttheads who are usually racist. One of my uncles is a cop and he's one of the more racist people I know. Did I mention that he fireman wouldn't let his wife speak? Yeah, he wouldn't let his wife ask me a question or speak her mind. Anyway, the couple who just moved in next door to him are biracial. I'm sure that I sure hope the fireman doesn't live up to my expectations and that the new couple don't have any trouble with him.

The other couple lives a two more doors down, just across the street from me. They knew exactly what was up since their kids play with the fireman's kids. Their kids aren't allowed to ride the four-wheeler for the same reasons I gave. They weren't surprised at his outburst.

So, now I've made an enemy. At least it's for all the right reasons.

I hope everyone else's weekend went better than mine.

@essextee

There are plenty of cyclists on here who will disagree with you. First, is that a designated bike path? Second, is there a law that says a cyclist must use the bike path when available? Third, are there police enforcing the laws relevant to the bike path (i.e. dogs on leashes, designated directions, etc.)?

To me, that "bike path" looks like a sidewalk and in many places it's illegal for a cyclist to ride on the sidewalk. There's not a matching path on the other side of the road and the pavement isn't marked for bidirectional traffic as a true bike path would be. Even if it's a designated bike path, it's often safer for the cyclist to ride in the street. Remember, bicycles are considered vehicles under the law and have all the rights and responsibilities due to the driver of a motor vehicle.

This fellow, a private pilot and certified repairman (A&P), bought a Seawind 3000 amphibious aircraft which was was being sold in California. He was trying to ferry it back to his home airport.

June 26th - Woohoo! New plane! Let's land it on a runway with the gear up! To be fair, it's not clear exactly what happened. There are a number of reports of these doing belly flops when the landing gear didn't fully lock into place. I could see that happening with a new owner who isn't familiar with the plane. It appears the damage was minor and he got it back into the air the next day.

June 27th - Time for caution. Left KPOC (just east of Los Angeles) and flew 494 nautical miles (nm) to KFMN (San Juan County, New Mexico). This is about half of the maximum range for this aircraft, so it was probably his first landing of the day. He claims there was an electrical problem, but I'm not sure why it would result in him running off the runway. He spend the next couple of days making repairs.

July 2nd - Third day flying. Flew 559 nm from KFMN to KONL (Holt County, Nebraska). Again, this is well within the range of the aircraft, so it was probably the first landing of the day. And again, this fellow had an off-runway excursion.

The airport manager (link to source below) helped him out. He apparently tried to land 5 times. The last one resulted in the excursion which resulted in damage to the right gear. While repairing the aircraft, they discovered that the aircraft's center of gravity was too far aft (an extremely dangerous condition) and that the trim wasn't operating properly. He was told to have someone else deliver the plane (perhaps by truck if necessary), but he ignored the advice. He snuck away on Saturday and didn't pay his bills before he left.

July 4th - Final leg - getting home. He left KNOR and traveled ~600 nm, bound for somewhere near Charlevoix, MI. He had TWO incidents that day. The first, the engine quit over Lake Michigan and dead-sticked it to a nearby airport (not clear which one) where he broke the nosewheel.

He repaired it, added fuel, then took off again. Made it halfway across the lake again before the engine quit (out of fuel or trash in the system, again not clear). When he went to land on the lake, he did it with the gear down and flipped the plane. The Coast Guard rescued him while the plane made its way to the bottom of the lake.

Goodbye, Seawind.

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2021/07/seawind-3000-n8uu-july-02-2021-june-26.html

My daughter just survived her first automobile crisis far away from home!

For those that don't recall, she's going to school about 9 hours away from us. When she went out to her car this afternoon, she discovered that the remote locks wouldn't respond. So, she opened the door with the key, then tried to start it. Not even a click. The dash lit up, so the battery wasn't completely dead, but there wasn't enough juice to turn over. Time to call Dad!
She broke down the symptoms and I told her to get a jump start then take the car to Autozone for a new battery. Jump starting the car safely was a skill I required her to learn before I allowed her to get her license. I put a set of cables in the car as part of her emergency kit. She managed to find someone in the dorms to give the car a jump, then drove it over to the Zone where she got a new battery.

Success!

I was sitting in the left turn land and was lucky enough to snap a pic as he passed but. I really wanted to follow, but lunch was calling.

@wheelerguy said in I reckon Veritasium makes a good point...:

Rest of Oppo, here's the sudden question: how do you make both self-driving cars and mass public transport equally viable options? My answer would be ill-informed and not worth typing; what do you think?

What makes you think they are mutually exclusive? There's no reason we can't have both. I wouldn't be surprised if the buses are automated long before the general fleet is automated.

@neil-in-nomi

When I built my fences, one neighbor paid for half the materials for our shared fence and helped with the labor. I appreciated the former, but didn't appreciate the latter. He was more of a hindrance than help.

The other neighbor agreed to pay for half, but never did. She ended up losing the house in a Sheriff's sale, probably for not paying her mortgage.

@aestheticsinmotion said in I reckon Veritasium makes a good point...:

Our school just gave the kids bus passes for public busses. Made it the cities problem.

That's a great solution, provided there are public busses available in the area.

@wheelerguy said in I reckon Veritasium makes a good point...:

...but better public transport is still the better, more scalable and economical solution to move people. Yes, even in countries with immense landmasses like you Americans have over there.

No, it's not. Just look at the school bus routes for a good example. Before I was old enough to safely ride the roads on my bike, I rode the bus. It was a little over five miles to my school. Because the route had to be efficient, they had to pick up as many kids as possible with each bus. That meant my bus ride was an HOUR long either in the morning or the afternoon, depending on which direction the driver took. I also had to walk the last half mile in the heat/rain/snow (uphill both ways - hah!). The only reason the rides weren't longer was a state mandate which didn't allow a bus route to be longer than an hour.

That route didn't cover the entire area. No route covered the entire area. They only went where the kids were. They also didn't go anywhere but the houses and the school.

There's just no way to cover everywhere with public transportation. When people say "just move to town," they don't realize that the rural areas support the urban areas. Without people out there, the urban areas wouldn't have food or building materials among other things.

There will always be a need for people to live somewhat remotely, so there will always be a need for "individual" transportation.

@mark-tucker

I spent my morning shoveling gravel, but my results are nothing like yours. Looks like a lot of fun!

@rusty-vandura

One could only hope for video with a subsequent identification and conviction.

@thomas-donohue

I'm glad you made the joke for me.

@silentbutnotreallydeadly said in late night oppo:

Based on our Nissan Patrol tipper...I can hazard a guess.

Thanks for providing some insight. I think having a dumper trailer might be a better way to go. I still have a trailer load of gravel I need to unload and I'm not looking forward to it.

@huzer said in Things you want but would never pay for?:

...but I could not fathom spending that much on a vehicle.

I had the same thought on the way home today when I spotted a rare convertible Ferrari in Baton Rouge. I don't even know enough about them to name the model.

@rusty-vandura

It ain't Jed without a Granny in a rockin' chair on top!