Photo From Ebay Listing For Ad
I'm in the last nine weeks of the school year which means they all turn stupid from here on out. I mean even the good ones go bad. Once the weather warms up and they can feel the end of the school year is close, they all act like their in rut. That being the case, I've learned over the years not to take any big projects unless I want to finish them myself. So I've got a couple of little things I started the boys on to keep them busy. Nothing too difficult and I'll work on getting a few of the other things tidied up around the place.
A couple of them are finishing the handrail on the spiral stair. They did real well on the first section but after taking the week off for Spring Break they seem to be struggling a little on the second piece. As I stated, this was to be expected a little. I've got a couple of them making a cart for the new TIG welder and a couple of them making a little shelf to put a MIG feeder on in one of the welding booths. I got the little race car chassis finished up and we've been fixing desks for the middle school - about twenty of them. Fixed a little cart for the lunch ladies. That's always good because they pay off in cookies.
Hopefully I'll have some time to work on a couple of my own things yet this year. I've got some school teaching things I do with the vocational guys at the end of the year - resumes, job applications and some writing assignments that they need to complete - but mostly it's them screwing off until the last minute and then there's a mad dash to get enough stuff done to get their credit. Nothing new here, I was pretty much the same way when I was in high school.
I got a registered letter in the mail from the school corporation about shortening up my contract. As long as I have health insurance they can shorten it up all they want. I'm not crazy about the reduction in pay but I've been through this kind of thing in the past. With all the other people that are laid off out there, I'm pretty fortunate.
Gas prices are almost $4.00/gallon again (put $100.00 in the truck and almost filled the tank), so I think I'm going to drag out my little Harley Rapido like in the vintage ad above and see about getting that running. I was considering getting a motor kit for a bicycle but I might as well ride the Rapido around. It should get about 70 mpg and it's just going to rust away otherwise. It ran last time I fiddled with it. It needed a couple of things but I think I've got everything I need - new air cleaner, etc. Surly drug it out the other day to take some photos of it for a project he's working on and that got the wheels turning. It'd be a fun ride back and forth to work or to the gym. I don't want to start another project but this one would be just get it running and not worry about a restoration. I could have this thing running and get it plated for about the price of one tankful of gas in the truck. Three times the mileage at least and a lot more fun than the truck.
Ordered my chickens the other day and bought some seeds for the garden. Time to get going on that project. I want to get either some cedar boards or some cement blocks and make a raised bed for the new addition. I bought a well point and some pipe a couple of years ago. I want to get the well put in this year to water the garden and the animals. Plus I'll have a backup if the power goes out. The Building Trades class is about done with their house, so they'll be back on my barn project again. I'm glad the weather's turning. Time to get outside and get some things done. If you don't have a garden, it would be a good time to get one going, food prices are going up and you can't beat a good home grown tomato or a fresh cantaloupe right from the garden. Might be time for me to reread Five Acres and Independence. It's dated but there's still plenty of good info there.
I noticed quite a few errors in my last post, mostly the there/their deal. I usually try to write a post and then revisit it before I post. The last couple I've just typed up and went with them instead of giving them a cooling off period and a rereading. I fixed the most obvious errors so you might want to read it again. I really need to watch that stuff.
A couple of them are finishing the handrail on the spiral stair. They did real well on the first section but after taking the week off for Spring Break they seem to be struggling a little on the second piece. As I stated, this was to be expected a little. I've got a couple of them making a cart for the new TIG welder and a couple of them making a little shelf to put a MIG feeder on in one of the welding booths. I got the little race car chassis finished up and we've been fixing desks for the middle school - about twenty of them. Fixed a little cart for the lunch ladies. That's always good because they pay off in cookies.
Hopefully I'll have some time to work on a couple of my own things yet this year. I've got some school teaching things I do with the vocational guys at the end of the year - resumes, job applications and some writing assignments that they need to complete - but mostly it's them screwing off until the last minute and then there's a mad dash to get enough stuff done to get their credit. Nothing new here, I was pretty much the same way when I was in high school.
I got a registered letter in the mail from the school corporation about shortening up my contract. As long as I have health insurance they can shorten it up all they want. I'm not crazy about the reduction in pay but I've been through this kind of thing in the past. With all the other people that are laid off out there, I'm pretty fortunate.
Gas prices are almost $4.00/gallon again (put $100.00 in the truck and almost filled the tank), so I think I'm going to drag out my little Harley Rapido like in the vintage ad above and see about getting that running. I was considering getting a motor kit for a bicycle but I might as well ride the Rapido around. It should get about 70 mpg and it's just going to rust away otherwise. It ran last time I fiddled with it. It needed a couple of things but I think I've got everything I need - new air cleaner, etc. Surly drug it out the other day to take some photos of it for a project he's working on and that got the wheels turning. It'd be a fun ride back and forth to work or to the gym. I don't want to start another project but this one would be just get it running and not worry about a restoration. I could have this thing running and get it plated for about the price of one tankful of gas in the truck. Three times the mileage at least and a lot more fun than the truck.
Ordered my chickens the other day and bought some seeds for the garden. Time to get going on that project. I want to get either some cedar boards or some cement blocks and make a raised bed for the new addition. I bought a well point and some pipe a couple of years ago. I want to get the well put in this year to water the garden and the animals. Plus I'll have a backup if the power goes out. The Building Trades class is about done with their house, so they'll be back on my barn project again. I'm glad the weather's turning. Time to get outside and get some things done. If you don't have a garden, it would be a good time to get one going, food prices are going up and you can't beat a good home grown tomato or a fresh cantaloupe right from the garden. Might be time for me to reread Five Acres and Independence. It's dated but there's still plenty of good info there.
I noticed quite a few errors in my last post, mostly the there/their deal. I usually try to write a post and then revisit it before I post. The last couple I've just typed up and went with them instead of giving them a cooling off period and a rereading. I fixed the most obvious errors so you might want to read it again. I really need to watch that stuff.
2 comments:
Funny how machines from that vintage out perform the modern ones. Both in top end performance and fuel economy.
Regulations have eliminated most small enduros from the highways, sad.
Question is "why"
Motorcycles have never really been the utilitarian vehicles here like they've been in Europe or Asia. Ever since Honda introduced the 50cc "meet the nicest people" bikes in the early '60s the bikes have gotten bigger and faster. Around here, other than HD's the biggest thing you could buy until the '70s was an English 650 and guys would think nothing about riding them coast to coast. Now a touring bike is at least twice that displacement or bigger. However, a $25,000 Gold Wing is not going to get a young guy fired up about buying a bike. The pendulum is starting to swing back a little. I'm sure we'll see a nice selection of small bikes coming along in the next few years. Honda just came out with a nice 250 street bike to compete with the 250 Ninja. Small bikes are appearing now from India and China. Now people just have to buy them.
While I'm not really much into dirt bikes, I've ridden a couple of the old 175 enduros and they're just plain fun to ride. A modern update with fuel injection could get great mileage and performance. The problem is everyone wants to go fast on the dirt or they buy a quad. Maybe it's just time for everybody to drag the old bikes out of the barn and just have some fun.
Post a Comment