Bighanded

I like that.. "billboard miles"...grin. yeah, friend of mine has a 6cycl eco ford 150..and he was worried about pulling his new 22ft pontoon. well under the advertised capacity, but still he says it really seems to work that motor. my 2004 silverado 1500 was also a king cab (suicide back doors thing..)my 3500 is full 4 door crew. but that lil 327 in the 1500 was a hard working motor..made many many trips pulling the camper with it and that old Nash 26ft is a heavy box..nothing "lite" in the name on that model. Full H-beam under body and old materials make it a chunk. I of course used load leveler bars on the 1500 and it sat nice and straight.

happy 4th gents! monday now, and happy to have the day off from work...but enjoyed a lot of family time over the weekend...was good to hear the various boat radios on the lake last night all playing their favorite patriotics while the air filled with color and bang.

circling back. just got back from holiday weekend...visited with the wife's family..sorta family reunion that they do each year. anyway...the old 1996Nash TT made it through another run...as it gets older, I get more nervous about trips. If I were taking a long one, I'd go ahead and put all new tires and repack the bearings. it pulled nice n quiet and with a lot of road construction, I basically wasn't holding folks up, keeping my speed around the 62mph mark. trip average was around 12mpg...hwy was running around 15. I like that I can put the 3500 on cruise control and I'm not nearly as tired pulling with the big truck as I used to get with just a 1500...the camper would wag the truck...with the larger truck, it's pretty much near like driving without a load. you guys running 1980s campers give me hope. I know my roof is beyond age..and all I've done to date with it is keep making sure to put silicone around the edges. with Elsa promising to bring us some rain, and the summer heat to bake the roof, I will go ahead and retarp it later today...just too dang hot right now we actually got in around 4pm yesterday..but that gave us just enough time to park it, unload it, and then hitch the boat and pick up kids/grands for some fireworks on the lake last night..so both toys are parked, and I've got everything clean and ready to be out of the heat for a bit. I did vacuum the pool just now, so the wife and I can enjoy a swim later, but I'll let the sun get down to tree line, cause man, summer is here!

next door neighbor (we go camping together) still has his old motorhome (no slide) big long beast though...454 in it. He also pulls his jeep behind it. Our regular runs to the mountains includes a pretty nasty long climb that has all the semi's in the right climb lane and they are working hard to do about 30-35...he has to do the same and that engine is puffin when he reaches the top. used to be about that way for me when I had my silverado 1500 327 gasser pulling my old 26ft (heavey H-beam full body) travel trailer. We would both be happy to stay far right and reach the top. When I upgraded to my chevy 3500 duramax.. I put it cruise on 65 and it climbs that hill like almost nothing on the bumper. Eventually we have plans to a larger TT with triple slides, so I expect even my duramax will be working hard, but what a difference in that low end torque.

yep..that's what they are...but we really do feel like we've gotten a lot of our money's worth out of it...it's a 1999 model, bought it new in Feb of 2000. it made multiple trips down to key largo area for scuba on the reef, central florida and my second home on the coast of carolina. but most of it's use has been on the lake..ramp just 7 miles from the house. 4 kids growing up, with all their friends, meant lots of tubing time. 2years back it got a much needed upholstry job and had a new build from block up, of a 350 that replaced the 305 that was in there, and a lot of pain rewiring and cabling...years definitely deteriorated most everything. I'm too old to take it to the keys again...we just charter for scuba now, so I've got folks to help me with tanks and be sure they are there when I surface. But it was a lot of great adventures over the past 20 years. The 350 really roars.. I can't say it needed that extra hp, but it is fun. now I'm enjoying grand kids, so it feels even more special to have the next generation creating memories on it. I can't imagine the debt to take out a loan on similar size boat at today's prices...ouch! so while my ol gal has plenty of dings and scratches, she's mine and I hope the upfit will last til I'm too old to be the captain.

put the fourtrax in neutral, pushed it out of the garage so I could get to the boat cushions , life jackets, and dock bumpers. Finally! it's end of June and I'm just now dropping the boat on the lake. I swear, there's been something every week here. Large family, so birthdays, holidays, family reunion, chores. anyway...had a really nice cruise on Sunday evening...and we always try to be on the lake for fireworks on the 4th, so that's probably the next time it'll see water. I did take the lil Trail 90 for a quick spin before I realized that the front tire was going flat...put some air to it, but it's leaking just as fast...so time for a tube patch, but likely it's failed at the stem, they seem to do that...and more tubes on the way..so work before play again.

one of the things I learned early on in my business exec career, was that the Asian is a patient person. they think in terms of generations. Whereas Americans think in terms of the next commercial break, the next fad/trend, the latest model. I had always postulated that China could embed firmware code into the chips that they sell us..waiting over time for multiple generations of product to be distributed and then simply by an encoded date routine , simple shutdown. our infrastructure, our communications, our transport, etc...all simply going dark on a specific date...not just the latest, stuff, but chips dating back to say, 2010 chevy trucks and laptop computers etc. There would be no backup system, like we do with hacker hostage today, even our backups, even our older products, would have already been loaded in the firmware and go dark. but that conspiracy sci-fi stuff aside, they simply can choose not to send us the good stuff..build their own superior products and sell us the cheap low prices that we seem to crave. topic of radios has come up before.. Baeofeng is a good exampl.. we'd rather buy 2 hams at $39 than one good japan built or us built radio at $120. Great aunt is still using a vacuum cleaner that looks like it fell off of the Rocket Man's backpack...70 years that vacuum has been there for her.. I changed out the contact brushes once about 20 years ago...that's the only service it's had. but we are on our 7th cheap plastic vacuum cleaner...when something breaks, it's not worth the repair and parts cost..you just run to walmart and buy another piece of junk. we've been screwed for a long time....now it's coming due.

happy dad's day gents. I'm an anti-Hallmark guy, so i try to run low key on this "holiday".. I do make sure to over do it for mom's day etc... anyway...rain from this storm system came through today, so even less than normal...had one grandkid that is crazy as me, so even though it was raining, she and i spent about an hour in the swimming pool, various family units (I have 4 kids, all grown and grands) ..made a point to stop in at various times.....just nice to feel the love.

nuttin special, but any day that includes Hondas is a good day...wife's family reunion - we decided to host it at our place this year. Pool, pond fishing, etc. with only 2 4wheelers, I knew they'd stay in use, but I'd want to go out back on the trails and supervise a bit, so for the first time since last October, I pulled out my 79 CT90. Was very surprised that the battery still had enough charge to light the headlamp and provide the needed juice to allow me to kick it over...the tank/carb had been drained, so it did take a dozen kicks to get it going, but she purred to life and I went for a spin saturday morning before parking it among the Fourtrax. I have names for the other hondas, but as this was my first machine, it's always just been called "the honda"...but I think I'll rename it to "Therapy" cause as underpowered and undersized as it is, the thing just makes you smile when you twist the throttle. anyway..3 generations of riders out on the trails this past Saturday..all having great fun on machines aged anywhere from 10yrs to 40 yrs old.

made this investment 2 christmas's ago. Flux Defense MP17. it meant purchasing the Sig M17, the flux brace system, the Delta optics and a Streamlight. also meant buying a fist full of spare 21rd mags and a couple cases of 9mm, since my primary pistol cal has always been 45 for my 1911s. no regrets at having gotten into this incredible system the market has started to calm down a bit and last month I was able to grab the Sig M18 as the sidearm to this rig, so the mags are common.

yep..the lil hondas can be very handy and a lot of fun to ride. while I know you're talking scooters, I do have to give my usual shout out to Honda for having done it right for so many years. here's a pic of my 1979 CT90. It is tagged and is a legal motorcycle, albeit an around town bike cause with this big ol boy on it, she'll struggles to get over 45mph. most of the 8k miles were grown in Key West Fla, putting around. The last decade or so, it's been here on my property for some trail fun, and down our country blacktops where cars are rare. it has made camper bumper rides across about 15 states and I always enjoy taking jaunts to explore after we get camp setup. with the dual range 4 speed transmission, it's amazing what a little 90cc can do. there's a couple Rukus guys in town that I see on the street. They have their moped tags and seem to be keeping up just fine in traffic.

yeah...those doves can be hard to hit !! LOL

the big 47cc brush cutter is their largest unit..and yeah, it's heavy. I need to remind myself to start at the back of the 2 acre pond and work my way towards the house, cause when I do it backwards, i'm tired and it's a long hoof with that unit on my shoulder back to the garage. the smaller PAS system is a little 20 something cc rig...nice and lightweight...works surprisingly hard on tall grass and the pole saw..just have to go a little slower, but it gets it done with a lot less weight. but being honest, everything seems heavier these days..gettin old.

just arrived yesterday...an item that I ordered first of March!

they mess with my coffee...things gonna get ulgy (grin)

yeah, it was a toss-up between Stihl and Echo..both great brands....it came down to me having a local farmer's exchange shop that also does their own repairs just 3 miles up the road and no Stihl dealer close by, so I went the Echo route few years back and have been very pleased. the smaller weed whacker has the attachments, so, weed eating (surprised at how tough it is) and then the pole saw gets a lot of work. both units will run longer and harder than this old boy can these days.

hey Mark...first off..welcome (belated) to America. and yeah, I tend to like doing basic math myself (do if for a living actually). so i did a quick study... counted the firearms here in my house counted the rounds of ammo/(magazines*capacity) trend over time (years of ownership here and prior to me buying used models manufacturing date) and darn if the calculator didn't come back with Zero(0) I rechecked, crossed the numerator with the denominator, multiplied by the square root of the dimensions of a 1911 pistol and still came up with zero...as in zero people shot/killed by all these guns and bullets. I must be doing something wrong with my algebra. maybe if I try Trigonometry (grin) i've even left the safe door open and put a security camera to watch it and the guns just sit there, not once has one crawled out of the safe and gun on a rampage.

yep, Echo here for me too. Spent a couple hours Sunday afternoon around the pond edge. with the lack of rain, the water is about 2 feet off bank so I've been able to get down into the thick stuff. my echo is the straight steel shaft 410 unit..big ol 47cc beasty that just doesn't give up. I did grin and think about our forum though at one point, the screw that holds the trigger grip on the handlebar had vibrated loose (note to self, locktite)..anyway...I had the option of stopping my progress and trying to find a replacement screw and nut, or, grab a zip tie out of the utility basket on the Fourtrax.... Ya'll know which repair route I took. (grin)

nice Jeep....yeah, our Academy has basically cleared their ammo shelves and simply use that space to try and sell other product now. their gun cases are also down to mayby 5 pistols last time I looked. I don't even bother. my LGS has always been very strong on inventory and they were incredibly well stocked when I stopped in a couple weeks back. Ammo of course, still a major issue, so 1 box per customer..but the 9mm price was down to $26. so at least they were polite about doing what they could without gouging. They had sales in progress from SIG and Smith (M&P line ). long guns, shotguns, AR style platform racks were full. pistol cases were full..tight side-by-side display full. I was happy to support them with a Sig M18 purchase, and while I didn't need ammo at that $26 price, they asked me and I said , sure give me my box. I'm basically hybernated til this craziness calms down. Family reunion on the calendar for next weekend and they are already asking if they can go out back on my range and plink.. told em just bring their own ammo (grin). I can enjoy the occassional range session as well, but just keeping the round count down. last week, to just check out the new M18, I dumped a 17rd mag and a 21rd mag, enough to figure out the POA for the sights, enjoy the new tool and ensure it was functioning properly... then quick clean and tucked it away for a rainy day. other than that, we have numerous 22lr platforms in both handgun and rifles, so plenty of plinking fun. I've held a few $ back so when ammo breaks down into my price point I'll grab some more, but for now...enough for the zombies

Ted is making (reading) all the expected talking points.. and he ain't wrong. Guns have been a simple topic in my family household. 1) Dad enjoyed hunting. A shotgun, a deer lever rifle and a pistol for the bedstand..even in the days when nightime meant you latched the little hook on the screen door and that was all. Ammo on hand at any given time might be a partial box of shotgun shells, maybe a 100rd stick of 22, and a sandwhich baggy with a handful of 30/30 rounds (swear ta God..it was a glad wrap sandwhich bag with the rounds in it!) If you were planning to hunt or enjoy target fun, you stopped by Western Auto and grabbed a box. But guns never had a mystic, nor some hyped up wannabee hollywood thing about them 2) Fast forward - The closet, the safes now hold pretty much something in every platform. pistols for daily carry and personal protection. Larger platforms for home defense. Even more aggressive platforms for civilian defense. and stacks of ammo and extra magazines, an inventory of which many gun stores can only dream of having on hand to sell these days. so, what's changed? Govt leaders that send signals to badly behaving people that those people are in fact victims, oppressed by guys like me. they send signals to them that they can and should rise up and cause mayhem and that they in fact will get away with it. Then they tell folks like me that I best just accept that I'm the bad guy and that I have no right to own a tool for personal defense. The media frenzies us, along with hollywood help and govt podium vultures, leveraging any piece of bad news as The Reason why all guns should be outlawed. They threaten to take, they cause supply chain shortages, etc. Hollywood continues to make gazillions of $ on movies that glorify gun violence, really all violence. Video gaming is beyond obscene in doing the same. Schools are happy to teach the oppressed marxist mantra and decades of democratic socialism programs and spending have only deepened the generational slavery to those programs and driven gangs and street violence to new levels. no, my family, my home mindset would still be pretty simple when it comes to guns. I'd rather buy another nice guitar, or amp, or some old lionel trains. but then ol Dianne Fienstein gets up on the camera, wielding an evil black rifle telling me that I'm the only class of human that should not be allowed to possess deadly , destructive force to defend against rioters tearing my world apart, or career criminals invading my home at night..and well, my response is again, "pretty simple" . I go to the store, I buy a higher capacity firearm, buy extra mags for it, buy plenty of ammo, and amazingly enough, not a single one of those guns, mags, bullets has yet to commit a crime..darn things just sit there behaving themselves. I even open the safe sometimes at night and shine a flashlight in there to make sure they haven't snuck out of the house to go commit some horrible act. so, what's changed? I am afraid of my own government. I am confident in their desire to transform my nation. and so, i prepare. stock up, and I only ask that they THEY choose to leave this old hound dog lay on the porch. don't make me get up, and all will be well.

I live just outside of a fairly small town, but have always been amazed at how many auto parts stores there are. sometimes need to visit more than one, but can usually get the basics of oil, hose, clamps, simple electronics. I think things will get tighter throughout the year. I'm staying disciplined about keeping my preps well stocked. no rain lately, means the lawn hasn't been mowed in 3 weeks. And I work remote, so a tank of gas lasts a long time. I've not even uncovered the boat yet..just seems like there's been other things to do...but that tank is full, so I'll be able to enjoy some nice outtings when we do hit the water. my bit of running around on the property is a mix of golf cart and the honda...so again, not a lot of gas. I'm amazed month after year, that I can pull the fourtrax out of the garage, touch the start button and it fires right up. I'm easy on it. Respectful to not abuse. I won't have reason to complain if it does wind up needing something, and not sure what parts availability will look like on a near 3 decade old machine. But for today, it works, it makes me smile.

thanks for the Beartooth pics...amazing country!! While I have many family members that have passed on, none of them fell in battle, but of course I still make time to set myself apart from the world, even if it's on the back deck or deep in my woods (did both yesterday) and just reflect. weather was cooler parked just under 80. for over 15 years, Memorial weekend was our heaviest concert time. Used to refer to it as the near death experience weekend. And more than once, I did try to kill myself in the heat, no sleep for 4 days, etc. I would have so many stages and bands that I would have to bring in 2 other shops from out of state. these days, after selling the biz, my semi-retirement years include small town USA festivals and weddings etc. So this past Saturday was covering just one band at a town carnival /festival. Pulled about half my normal PA rig into service and about half normal pay, but I know the band and the promoter and the small business owners are just doing what they can to reboot their economy. So I was happy to be a part of it all. sunday was some property chores and yesterday was quiet downtime and a few laps out on the property on my 93 Fourtrax. Funny how new toys have come and gone, but the old ones seem to just fit and feel best.

thought I had the long weekend off..yard work, etc...but got a last minute call to roll my PA out for a band I know..so tomorrow will be hoofin it a bit..make a couple bucks and then enjoy the balance of the weekend..here...no traffic, no craziness on the lake..just my back yard.

electronics - yep. For years, it's been horrible having to source and use cheap chinese crap components. I have a collection of vintage guitar amps. Most dates range from 1967 - 1971. original components lasted for decades...when I had to replace something, the new cheap stuff doesn't last..and many times it'll be enough off spec to cause a major chase through the entire signal/circuit chain...at some point it's not worth the time and money to salvage an amp to where I can say it is performing 100% of it's intended output. I don't do but basic work on my end...for years I had a national concert company, so on stage, heat of the moment, I might diag and swap out a tube, quick resolder job of some cheap wave soldered current product. I had a pro that made his living, doing all my more involved bench work. he retired same year I sold my biz, but he still has a man shed in his back yard where he'll do work for close friends. He churned through 9 of my old Kustom solid state rigs across this past December/Feb time frame. and I had one old tube amp that had a power tube short and their design allowed that to blow the power transformer..dumb...anyway...the parts are no longer made in the USA and sourcing it from overseas took several weeks. 6 months later, I'm not sure I could get much of anything from those parts houses now. it's gonna be a bit of a dry spell for supply chain for pretty much everything out there. it's part of the plan...tell everyone they don't need to work, don't need to pay their bills, keep them in fear, say there is a shortage of everything, drive up costs...it's the worst kind of inflation...never mind the devaluation of the $ by flooding the economy with fake trillions that creates debt that our GDP simply can't support....this is easy math, and they've done it. I worry for my kids and grands..they have worked hard to continually build their own worlds..homes, jobs, portfolios. I'm on the down hill... have enjoyed my life. Have acquired the toys, had the adventures.. happy to sell and pass things on. my preps for the past several years, have been about continuing to enjoy normal living. And covid shutdown proved that I wasn't wrong in stocking up various things. We had meds, regular food, gas, and yes even toilet paper on hand when this mess hit. There was no panic to get to the store for my home. but riding something out for 6 months is far different than the longer term storm they are brining our way. I expect to loose my day job this year and while I'm coming up on 65, I'm not ready to retire. I want to keep working. but I'm not the consumer that I once was... so I'm not contributing to this failing economy. my cars are older,but paid for. My boat, camper, ATVs, guitars, guns, you name it in the usual toy box, are all purchases in the past and no new money is going to be spent. So I've got some wiggle room to ride this one out. But for younger folks that still need to commute to work daily, car wear n tear, fuel, clothing, new home mortgages, furniture, the list is long and we all are familiar with it. Life is good. It's just getting some pressure that really isn't warranted. It's fabricated by bad people.

costs are definitely up, supply issues are getting notably worse, and socialist pressures are running rampant all the more value placed on staying healthy, providing as much independance as possible for myself, and enjoying the lifestyle I've built while it's here. my wife and I struggled through some tough times financially when we were young. We know what matters in life and while I certainly wouldn't want to be in tough times again...we know how to walk that path.