I need a new term for “writer’s block”

Because what I have is not reaaaally “writer’s block”, it’s more like “no news” or “not doing anything”, I mean yeah I’m doing stuff, lots of stuff, but reading science fiction on Kindle (Light of Terra: a Duchy of Terra book 1) and watching instructional video on YouTube (I’m trying to find out how to make the lighter 4L60 series transmission work without a computer, like the heavier 4L80 will do with just some shorts in the external harness and a toggle switch to lock or unlock the torque converter as desired) just doesn’t lend itself to epic thousand word descriptions. I mean it took way less than 100 words to describe it just now.

So, I will describe a typical day without Mrs. the Poet here at Casa de El Poeta. I usually wake up around 1300 but don’t get up until 1400 or so because that’s about how long it takes to get my eyes working these days. I grab a bowl of cereal or a package of PopTarts with something cold and caffeinated to wash down my daily meds and read the web comics that didn’t update before I went to bed that morning, then peruse Twitter for my daily dose of outrage to get the blood up. That usually takes me to lunch, usually something with peanut butter on whole wheat bread, when I look up instructional video on YT and maybe catch some old anime or Steven Universe episodes, or videos of cats being silly, and usually about this time I try to make a post here like I’m doing now. About midnight I fix something hot for dinner, then settle in as the web comics start to update starting at 2200 for those posted on Atlantic time and some at 2300 for Eastern, then a whole bunch that update at midnight Central(US) time, including a large batch from the UK and Europe for some reason. Then there is a lull until the West Coast creators start pushing their comics out at 0200 my time. Then I either try to build something for the Mini Sprint-T or open the Kindle for some recreational reading, and usually get to bed about 0500 to 0600. Thrilling, isn’t it?😴

Advertisement

Not done yet

I was reading on twitter that having a goal, even an unrealistic unobtainable goal, that gives you reason to get out of bed in the morning can save your life. So, I’m doing more research on the Sprint-T and the Pentastar engine and all the transmissions that can bolt to it. Right now it looks like my best option is the 845re 8 speed automatic, not because it has 8 gears with 2 overdriven, but because it’s 20-50 pounds lighter than the other two autoboxes that bolt up. The transmission used at introduction was the same 5 speed slushbox as Chrysler bolted to the Hemi for the same year.

Because new people read my blog every day a review. The Pentastar V6 is a very lightweight engine that matches the baseline hotrod engine (Small Block Chevrolet or sbc) for horsepower on 87 octane while getting much better fuel consumption figures (bsfc for you technical folk out there) and weighing more than 200 pounds less. The sbc weighs 545 pounds fully dressed while the Pentastar scales 330 pounds (326 for 2016 and later engines) with all the junk bolted on. The 845re transmission comes in at 198 pounds less fluids plus converter, meaning a stripped-down Pentastar weighs about the same with transmission and fluids as the sbc without. I’m pretty sure a car with no roof or windows can do without the AC compressor, so that’s another few pounds off compared to the sbc.

Getting back to those power figures the version of the sbc that has the highest HP on regular gas is only rated at 308HP, compared to the versions rated over 400 on premium fuel and others rated over 600 on race gas. There are 2 versions of the Pentastar rated at 305 HP, but substantially lower torque at much higher RPM than the 347 lb-ft at 3900 RPM of the 5.7 liter sbc. But with the transmission and the higher RPM it allows combined with the weight savings over the sbc I’m looking at a higher power to weight ratio on regular gas, to go with much lower fuel consumption with the 4 valve DOHC combustion chamber at 10.2:1 compression compared to the 2 valve pushrod bathtub combustion chamber at 8.0:1 on the sbc for regular gas. Now the other drawback of the Pentastar is I can only buy used engines, Chrysler doesn’t sell a crate engine Pentastar. Yet. And a shoutout to any FCA marketing types out there, a Pentastar mixing it up toe-to-toe with more traditional hotrod engines at Goodguys would be quite a marketing coup for selling base-engine Ram 1500s if y’all would like to drop a unit out of your emissions testing program on me. I promise not to sell it for street use. In fact I’ll probably get buried with it.

And over on the comic strip I have met my date out of makeup and in street clothes and nobody in the cast knows who she is. Literally they don’t recognize her without her “costume”. And I think I found my avatar for my Twitter profile in the first panel of today’s strip .

It turned chilly today

I had to go outside today, and it was a mite chilly, 49°F chilly for a high temperature to be precise, with a “feels like” of 43 when I was out in it. How chilly is that? I wore long pants to cover my knees for the first time since winter, but I forgot to grab a belt out of the closet and spent most of the return trip trying to keep my pants from falling off. That was about a mile walking with one hand holding up my pants.

The reason for the trip was I needed to get bus fare for a meeting tomorrow, and a lottery ticket. Unfortunately instead of the annuitized $18.25 million payout the ticket was for the cash value option payout of $12.5 million. So if this blog goes silent after Monday you’ll know I am taking time to manage my finances prior to accepting the jackpot. The meeting is the artist of a web comic I read, Not A Villain. I try very hard to support the creators of the entertainment I consume, even if it’s only clicking the ads on their sites.

On other subjects this blog has become known for, I went old-school to scale up that picture of the engine and transaxle and this time I found the assembly to be 36.1″ end-to-end as it sits sideways in the car, and about 2″ of the transaxle will stick out the driver’s side of the body if the CG is really on the line between the silver and grey on the forward engine mount. The accessory drive will be just inside the confines of the bucket body, and just clear the bottom frame rail.

And I still have stuff I need to do before I go to bed, so this post has to end now.

I have found

The greatest character in web comic history!

Seriously folks, meet Detective Block, first name Writer.

PSA, Opus

My co-pays are killing me, and the Feed

I thought I was going to get medical care when I got insurance through the ACA. Instead I get bills I can’t afford to pay. I was looking up my co-pays in preparation for my imaging visit tomorrow, and I thought I was going to have to cough up $50 because my total OOP is only $500 and specialist visits are $500. NOPE! I have to find $250 that does not apply to my total OOP annual limit. Thing is I don’t have $250 available at the moment. If we don’t eat this week and don’t pay insurance we might have $200 altogether. I may have to just endure not being able to turn my neck at this rate. Thank you Rick Perry. I hope you lose all your hair, except on the backs of your hands and that hair turns into a thick pelt. Your refusal to expand Medicaid has rendered me insured but unable to afford my co-pays because all the money we used to have is now going to insurance premiums. Last year’s $0.08/mon has been replaced by $112/mon, which we would have used to pay co-pays if we could have used it last year, but we couldn’t because the PCP we were assigned was not taking new patients, until this year. So last year we effectively only had health insurance if we went to an ER and coughed up a $500 co-pay, and this year while we can get an appointment to our PCP, we can’t get there if we are actually really sick because they are not anywhere near a transit stop. I can’t decide if this is Orwellian, or Hellerian (Catch 22)

Up first, I keep telling people that when a cyclist hits a pedestrian the cyclist is as likely to get hurt as the pedestrian, but do they pay attention? Cyclist critical after collision with runner in Greenwich Park and Cyclist seriously injured after crashing into runner while racing event took place in Greenwich Park The runner was uninjured in this wreck. The Dallas wreck that killed the runner the cyclist was injured enough to require hospitalization. The second SF cyclist who killed a pedestrian this century also required hospitalization. Hitting pedestrians with your bike is dangerous to the cyclist, another reason not to do it.

Speaking of Bucherre, SFPD dispenses some weapons-grade BS in the death of a cyclist. SFPD Explains: Driver Won’t Be Charged for Killing Cyclist at 14th & Folsom The driver was not at fault for running the red light because the cyclist was running it, too? Seriously?

And while we are in CA, here’s Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Serial hit-and-run driver allegedly attacks three in Venice, including two people on bikes

In FL the driver who left a cyclist to die in the streets did not do a very good job of hiding the evidence from LEO. Police find car believed tied to hit-and-run that killed cyclist The damage was not readily apparent from the street, but not hidden very much either.

More on another idiot who used a gun instead of a car to kill a cyclist. GUNMAN WHO SHOT, KILLED BICYCLIST STILL AT LARGE Some people just haven’t learned that the correct way to murder a cyclist is to run him down from behind and claim blindness (“I didn’t see him”). That way instead of charges you get grief counseling for the terrible tragedy of killing another human being. And I really wish I could put the snark tag (/s without HTML brackets), but it is a true statement.

One wonders about huge packs of motor vehicles driving down the street close to but under the speed limit. Police tell Hells Ride cyclists to stop using Beach Rd as a racetrack

Who did the registered owner sell the weapon vehicle to prior to the wreck? “Do the right thing” police tell driver who killed 15 year old West Brom cyclist

This drunk driver did not get what he deserved. Russian Drunk Driver Who Killed U.S. Cyclist Gets 3 Years in Prison Nope, he’s still alive and in possession of all his body parts, nothing close to what he deserves.

Another Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot moment courtesy of Enn Zed. Careless driver who killed cyclist can drive tractors He violated his ban twice since released from jail for killing a cyclist because he was in too big a hurry and they haven’t tossed his can in the calaboose yet? TANJ!

Boston is putting in bicycle infrastructure that is good by American standards. Comm Ave. to get less harrowing for cyclists, everyone else

I guess when you are as vulnerable as a cyclist is on the roads you have more compassion to other vulnerable people. Cyclists ride to D.C. in memory of Sandy Hook and to press for tighter gun laws and ADVOCATES OF TOUGHER GUN CONTROL MAKE BIKE RIDE FROM NEWTOWN TO WASHINGTON

Tell me again how dangerous cyclists are in NYC. Speed Cameras Net $16.9 Million From Dangerous Drivers They are not using all the cameras they are allowed, they are not allowed to run the cameras 24/7, and they still raked in almost $17 Million in one year four months?

I wonder what they were thinking when they came up with this idea. National Bike Summit 2015: Talking “Bikes Plus”

Also this is a new comic I started following that seems pretty good. Broken Telephone It’s a crime story by the guy who writes Dinosaur Comics. I used to be a call center operator (computer help desk, not cell phone) and I can totally relate to this.

And that’s all I got today, thank [$DEITY]!

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Good news and bad news after visiting the Lab Rat Keeper, and the Feed

Yesterday was fun and painful, what happened on a Wreck-Free Sunday

Yesterday I went to Zeus Comics to see Danielle Corsetto and Randy Milholland one man shows of Girls With Slingshots and Something*Positive as part of Danielle’s Slingshots Across America Tour.

The trip there was only slightly eventful as the stop I was supposed to get off at was announced as we passed the stop on the bus, but the driver was kind and let me out across the corner from the stop and actually saved me a few steps having to cross the street to get to the corner closest to the store. I got there right as the festivities were just getting started and got a free sketch from Randy of one of the kids in the comic, Davan’s son Rory. I spoke with him about the time he spoke at the church I go to and sometimes do the service for and what has been going on since he spoke. We went through a series of web comic artists speaking at the church once or twice a year for about 4 years, but we haven’t done that in a long time. I had a nice conversation with Danielle about marriage equality and the The Gay Marriage Challenge page on this blog. BTW I’m still waiting for someone to make a stab at convincing me that same-sex marriage will do anything to damage “traditional” marriage.

While I was there I was waiting for another local artist to show so I could talk to him about how much I liked his comic, Dave Barrack who writes and draws the first comic I check on Mondays and Thursdays, Grrl Power. I had to wait my turn though as the writer for Giant Girl Adventures was ahead of me in line and got to him first. Sabrina Pandora also writes for TV and the movies, but doesn’t get many chances to do so.

So that was 4 artists/writers that I managed to get names for, but there was another artist in the line I didn’t catch her name or comic she drew. Sorry, I should have been paying better attention when you were talking instead of trying to find Dave in the crowd. And before someone says anything, the DFW area is a hotbed for webcomics, there were several other artists that didn’t make it to the event because they have actual lives or they do comics as a sideline. People like Thomas Overbeck and Joel Watson the guy that does HijiNKS ENSUE. And I know there are others here I don’t know about like the young lady ahead of me in the line who I didn’t think to write down her name. I could name some more, but as I’m not a name-dropper by nature I won’t spend the rest of the time I have to do the post looking up my friends list on Facebook and linking the local web comics.

While I was doing the opening paragraphs I was watching the Sprint Cup race from Pocono where Junior was the winner, then the Indy Car race from Mid-Ohio that Scott Dixon won. So lots of good racing today, and the Indy Lights race is on after the completion of the Indy Car race, and there is an NHRA drag race coming on after the Indy Lights race (on a different channel). Woo! fun.

Mrs. the Poet has been making one of my favorite dishes she makes, roasted vegetables, and the smell has been wafting through the house. She chopped up a couple cloves of garlic this time, which means extra-yummy veggies…

I had a very strange dream yesterday. It was a very civilized version of the Zombie Apocalypse, there were the usual zombies wandering around attacking people but somehow most things managed to stay pretty much the same except with a lot higher levels of security and a lot less fossil fuels. I was driving a converted stretch limo that was solar electric powered, most of the commerce was solar powered but the semi-trailers just had so much roof space it gave them an advantage in cross-country travel. Speed was much lower than what we have now, my limo had a cruise speed of 30 MPH, and a sprint of 70 or so with the best range at 30 (the sweet spot for the motor and controller, I think) of 40 miles after sundown. BTW everybody could travel freely from sunrise to sunset, whatever was causing the zombies made them extremely photosensitive to the point that more than a few seconds exposure caused death, so the big thing was making sure that you found shelter before sunset and only in places where there were people gathering before sunset so you didn’t accidentally get caught in a zombie day shelter. Funny thing is I don’t remember much about the actual things I did in the dream, I was so busy making mental notes about the setting. There was the abandoned drive-in theater where I found the zombie shelter in the concession stand, and the motel with the barbed wire fence and guard towers on the roof, but other than those I don’t remember much about the dream. But as you can tell, there was a lot of detail in the “little things” in the dream.

And I think that is enough writing for today, suffice it to say my weekend was pretty awesome, aside from the pain of standing around at Zeus Comics waiting to talk to people. My wrecked leg does NOT like it when I spend too much time standing around.

PSA, Opus

Bully!

In honor of this comic through Tuesday 01/25/11 (US dating system) I say that the new Dallas Bike Plan is a bully good plan, as soon as they find a way to pay for it.

PSA, Opus