Waiting on the last race of the F1 season, on Wreck-Free Sunday

First of all, today is the 6^th anniversary of moving my blog to WordPress as my blogging service provider. Of the other two places this blog has existed one remains an adult dating site (the original place where I just put down my random thoughts much like I do Sundays here) and the other is pretty much a desert with spam blogs filled with spam comments. What is so funny about it is the reason I left that provider was my posts were getting censored for having excessive links and being a possible phishing post. I was getting more than 300 site views a day on a bad day, up to 1000 views a day on a good day, and then my posts were either not showing, or my links were blocked. That was when I checked to see if WP would work with the computer and OS I was using at the time, because when I tried to post at a different site they were not compatible and trying to open the compose page caused my browser to crash. Obviously that doesn’t happen there any more, but as I have established a following at this URL I am loath to abandon here for a new site. I like you guys 😉

I saw a funny on the comments of another site that I had to share: Now, wait a minute
I’m pretty sure Canada is a U.S. territory. As I recall, Dudley Do-Right seized it from the evil Russkie villain Snidely Whiplash in the Battle of Moose and Squirrel. We needed it because the fabled lost Atlantean capital of New Orleans had sunk so we plunked all of our people who spoke Frenchie-talk down in the middle of Canada someplace, so they could provide us with maple syrup. This comment was in response to another comment that the KXL pipeline would not do anything for domestic oil supplies because Canadian oil is still foreign oil.

Well, the race is over and Lewis Hamilton won the race and the F1 driver’s championship. Of 19 races this year Hamilton won 11, his teammate Nico Rosberg won 5 and the other 11 teams combined won 3. Red Bull, last years’ dominant team, barely registered this year, and Ferrari did not have a single driver in the top ten. I’m sure everyone except Mercedes and their power unit customers are exceedingly happy that the rules are getting a major overhaul next year. I don’t pay a lot of attention to the rules package in F1 any more so I’m not sure what the changes are, but if what I have read from unofficial sources are true the engine spec is remaining the same while the amount of fuel allowed for the race is getting reduced from the current spec, and the number of engine changes allowed has been reduced, as well as aerodynamic changes to the nose for improved driver safety.

I forgot to include the column hanger for the steering in the last order for the Sprint T, so I will remedy that mistake when I order my grandson’s Christmas present Flamed Hot Rod Pedal Car. It will be next to the stride bike I built over the summer from a discarded (literally) sidewalk bike. Anyway, steering column and wheel, still trying to cobble up something that will let me bolt the steering wheel to a piece of tubing the same size as the column I’m going to use so I can figure out what length of steering column to buy. Part of me wants to buy the racing collapsible steering column that prevents the steering column from stabbing me in the chest, and also comes with its own mounting drop. I will be running the switches for the indicators on the steering wheel including the turn signals, horn, and high-low dimmer switch, and maybe a set of paddle shifters for the transmission. Lots of switches to mount, and not many places to put them. This isn’t an F1 car where they have a µC in the steering wheel to control all of the functions and interpret the dozen or so switches and send the results down a cable to the MCU for the engine and transmission. Also I’m not the kind of guy that will build a cockpit mockup, and sit there for hours blindfolded touching controls as directed until I can, for one thing that takes at least two people to do and I’m one short on the roster for that. I have already determined that left thumb for left turn signal, right thumb for right turn signal, left finger to down shift, right finger to up shift, lower center to toggle high/low beams, and dead center to operate the horn (something else I have to make a decision on what to get) is about all that I can handle. The upside of this is I can tell the EMU that unless the connections to the steering wheel are right the engine won’t start making taking the steering wheel out roughly equivalent to pulling a minor ignition part so that even if the thief has a steering wheel on a quick release they still can’t steal the car without doing something to replace the switches on the wheel.

Now we are getting ready to leave for the annual patron auction at my church, where we select the deity whom we will honor and learn about for the coming year. This is one of our biggest fund-raisers of the year and also our biggest contribution to local charities from the food items part of the voting. Briefly we have three rounds of questions for the people representing the deity, and based on their answers we give money in one round, food and toiletries in another round, and votes indicated with rocks (from the Stones of Joys and Concerns basket) for a third round. The food and money rounds are obviously the provenance of the better-off financially members of the congregation, but everyone gets the same number of stones to vote with so that how much money you have doesn’t decide everything. There is a point system that awards 3 points to the winner of a round, 2 for second, and one for third. That means if the same deity wins second in all 3 rounds they still lose, but it your choice can get second twice and then win the votes round you can still win if the other two split winning rounds.

This year the candidates that survived the penny auction were Aphrodite, Athena, and Loki. Each has their plusses and minuses, beyond the obvious. The one who wins will be dependant on how well they are presented by their Earthly Representative.

My ride is here, I have to go now.

PSA, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

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Watching 3 races on the idiot box, on a Wreck-Free Sunday

There are 3 races going down today, so the idiot box is going to be very busy in Casa de El Poeta today. There are 2 races from Texas, one just down the road a couple hours by bicycle in Ft. Worth, and one a long day or short 2 day ride away in Austin. Both are going to be major in championships in their respective series, the Sprint Cup race in Ft. Worth, and the F1 race in Austin. I’m rushing to get this post done so I can watch the races better (I can’t see the TV without my glasses, or the computer with my glasses), but the cat has other ideas, and is sprawled across my lap and putting his claws into my leg every time I move. The cat has just been relocated back to the end of the bed. I have removed my glasses and devoting the next block of time to completing this blog post.

We are currently in the scariest time of the year, that span between Halloween and Election day, when the future of the country hangs in the balance. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, because there are too many races out there for me to know the stands of all the candidates, but I will give you a hint about what to look for: transportation progressives tend to be progressive in other areas as well. If you want bicycle infrastructure look for progressive/liberal stands in other things. Tea Party candidates tend to be virulently against anything that has any whiff of being good for the environment or personal health, so they are out. Even “moderate” Republicans tend to view bicycle infrastructure as “something from Agenda 21 and the UN”…

I have reached a minor impasse in the Sprint T construction plans. I need to buy the steering wheel I plan on using and something to simulate the steering column with something to stand in for the gas and brake pedals so that I can locate the steering column where it won’t interfere with the pedals or have the steering wheel hit my knees when operating the pedals. I do have the seating position pretty much worked out to get my body aligned with the theoretical centerline of the driver’s side of the car and putting the brake pedal someplace the master cylinders will fit and still allow brake pedal travel. I’m looking at a UK made brake pedal box Electric Car Cockpit Fit Pedal Box OBPESU003 for cars without clutches. The master cylinders are toward the driver allowing for easier access during maintenance, but the available master cylinders are a touch on the small side for the potential brakes I’m planning on using on the back. The GM Metric rear calipers need a ⁷/₈” to 1″ diameter master cylinder, and the biggest one available from OBP is 0.75″. The fronts will work with the available sizes from OBP no problem. Anyway, I’m going to order the steering wheel pretty soon, also the windshield posts and steering column hanger, to work out the wheel location as I described at the start of this paragraph.

And the F1 race has started, so I’m outta here.

Oh, and this is the picture of Mrs. the Poet’s cake from her retirement party.

PSA, Opus the unkillable badass Poet