Sidecar

Since I was able to finish up several projects around the shack, I got back to work on the sidecar project. I've got the fender pretty much finished up now. It still could use some planishing to smooth it out more but it's time to move on beyond that. I can do that next winter.

I needed to make a bump-out for clearance on the axle. Originally I thought I'd try to bump out the sheet but decided against that and went the make it out of a separate piece route. Of course this still involved making a piece to make the piece, but it came out rather well. 

Finished fender looks pretty sexy. The more I shine it up the more obvious the need for further planishing but even if I leave it as is, it's not too bad. Besides, it's supposed to be the kind of thing the passenger would be clambering on and about so you wouldn't want it finished to too high of a degree. I do like the solid rivets rather than "Pop" rivets holding things together.

While drilling the holes for the rivets, my Milwaukee 3/8" Hole Shooter quit working - I think the switch gave out. Of course the switch is no longer available so I grabbed the old Van Doren to finish up the job. This monster is actually only a 1/4" drill motor even though it's about twice the size of the 3/8". Grabbing this one was easier than walking out to the other barn and getting my cordless but it's tough to handle one-handed. Especially without breaking that small #30 drill bit. 

I looked at replacement corded drills on Amazon from both Milwaukee and Dewalt. The only Milwaukee I saw similar to what I have has a keyless chuck. While those are handy, for a heavy duty drill I'd prefer a chuck that requires a key. What I'd really like is to just be able to replace the switch on mine and move on from there. This is the second Milwaukee tool that's broken that I haven't been able to get parts for. Of course both of them are old enough to vote. The new Dewalt I looked at has a little less power and it's made in China. I'll do some shopping and see what I can come up with. I could probably get by with the cordless drill but when working in the shop having to have a cord isn't much of a handicap and they are a smaller than a cordless with comparable power.

Next up on the sidecar is the wiring. I've got the two lights that fit in the tubing that I need to wire in for tail and brake lights. I get that done and I'll be ready for powder coating or paint.

Memorial Day 2017

Photo From Here

Busy couple of days. Saturday morning I ran the boxing gym and then Cuzzin Ricky and I did the dead relatives tour, cleaning up the markers and planting flowers at the cemeteries. It was a beautiful day to be out and about and the cemetery where our fathers are buried has been around for quite some time so it's almost like a park with big shade trees and lots of plantings. Both of our dads were veterans of the "big war" so have the bronze military markers. We always trim the grass back from the edges and plant some flowers. It's not much really, considering what they did for Rick and I as well as the country.

Sunday I did a 5K walk. My running buddy did the 10K run. Neither event was a competitive event just for funnzies. I was the first walker in, but again, it wasn't a competitive event - good thing because my time wasn't all that good. However, in my defense, after passing everyone I opened up a pretty big lead on the rest of them so I slowed down a bit. It was a good morning to be out. The weather forecast was calling for rain but it was nice and clear. Two good days in a row. Kind of a rarity around here lately. 

I watched most of the Indy 500 later. I tuned in right after Scott Dixon's horrific crash. It's amazing he came away from that one with only very minimal damage, probably pretty sore today, however. I watched until the half way point then cut some grass before the rain was due. It got pretty cloudy and looked like it was going to just as I finished the front yard, but it never did rain. I came in and watched the finish of the race. Not quite as exciting as last years on track finish, or the ambulance ride later with the cousins, but congrats to everyone on the Andretti team.

Today's the actual holiday, so we should all pause and give thanks for all those who have served and gone on but give thanks also to the Boy Scouts, members of the American Legion and the others who plant the flags on the graves every year. If we can remember all those who have died in the service to our country, maybe we won't have to keep having wars. 

50 Mile Challenge

Looking for a workout? Howza 'bout walking 50 miles in under 20 hours? Saw this interesting item at The Art Of Manliness about Teddy Roosevelt challenging Army officers to walk 50 miles and later JFK picked up on the theme and brought the challenge back again. I remember lots of people taking Kennedy up on the challenge. Maybe it's time to bring it back again. The Art of Manliness is going to do some kind of Strenuous Life thing, of which the 50 mile walk will be part of. They apparently haven't fleshed all the details out yet about what's what with their Strenuous Life, but it looks to me it will somehow be a take-off from Roosevelt's idea that every man should be physically fit and not always take the easy way out.

If you follow the link back, you can get a better idea of what Roosevelt and Kennedy had in mind and their rationale behind it. Might be a worthwhile goal. It'd be nice to see some of the young adults getting out there and doing something. Walking the 50 miles would be tough enough but probably harder still while trying to look at the screen on your phone while doing it. Of course the phone would be handy to order carry-out along the way.

Halcyon

A former student of mine sent me info on the Janus brand of motorcycles. Like with so many things, I wasn't aware of them but they're offering two models of 229cc bikes and they're made in Goshen, Indiana, which is only a hop, skip and a jump from the shack here.

That's the Halcyon model pictured. Pretty cool little bike. The Janus folks are offering ride days, which if you buy a ticket will give you a shop tour, test ride and who knows what else. A ticket is $25.00. I've been wanting to get over that way and check out the Studebaker Museum anyway. Looks like a good way to squeeze in a two-fer.

Thanks for the tip, Tim.

As I'm sure all you motorcyclists out there have heard, Nicky Hayden succumbed to his injuries from the accident he was involved in. RIP "Kentucky Kid".

A Couple of Good Guys and a Bunch of Bad Guys

I'm just finished reading Good Friday On The Rez by David Hugh Bunnell. In the book the author mentioned the Native American runner Billy Mills.

I had forgotten all about this. Of course, I was 14 years old at the time so it's been over 50 years ago but it was one of the most stunning upsets in Olympic history. Watch the clip - amazing finish! And when you finish the clip you might want to seek out Good Friday On The Rez to read. Lots of good history about the area around the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation including the 1973 Wounded Knee incident/occupation. I do remember that happening. I might have to re-read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It's been years - I could do with a little refresher.

I read Crooked Politics In Northwest Indiana by Jerry Davich before I started Good Friday On The Rez. As the title implies, there's been some shady politicians in my corner of the state for a long time. The only real surprising thing is the fact that it's a short book. When working in East Chicago I had the dubious honor of doing some work for a couple of the headliners. I made a couple of wrought iron pieces for Mayor Pastrick's summer home as well as dealing with a couple of the double-dippers that worked for the school city as well as the civil city. A couple guys I was familiar with did some jail time and a couple of them went into witness protection. If I remember correctly, one guy was an athletic director or something and he fled the country when the Feds got too close. Interesting years. Pretty good book, also. 

I've been doing well on the book count - 27 so far this year. I took Hero Of The Empire by Candice Millard with me when I went to Louisiana and got that one knocked out. I've read some on Churchill in the past but didn't know a whole lot about his involvement in the Boer War. Seems he was pretty arrogant as a young man and could be rather grating but you can't argue with success. 

I'll have to take a couple of the books back to the library this week and see what else they've got on the shelves that strikes my fancy. Surly gave me a book on the Shackleton Expedition to read and my buddy Kevin, who loaned me the Millard book, gave me another one to read as well. Maybe try those next.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

I looked into the details of the Nicky Hayden accident and it appears he's in very critical condition with multiple fractures as well as a serious head injury. From what I read he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle in Italy. Hayden has had a very successful racing career and been very popular with the fans, me included. Let's hope for the best.

While watching the flat track race last night, they mentioned the AMA Class of '79 and the charity they set up to help injured riders. I heard about this last year when Surly and I attended the race in Peoria. They've raised quite a bit of money so far but when it comes to the types of traumatic injuries motorcycle riders sustain and the resultant medical expenses, there's always going to be a need for a bit more money. You can make a tax deductible donation here.

Looks like today is going to be much nicer. The sun's out now and it's mid 60's. We must have gotten several inches of rain yesterday and from all reports, there was a tornado sighted not too far south of me. As soon as it dries up enough I need to clean up and mow the dog's "poop park". I've come to the conclusion what with taking care of the dog, cats and chickens, and of course the recent dealings with the raccoons, I spend way too much time dealing with poop. Spending Sunday afternoon on the business end of the pooper scooper and the old reel mower is a good way to keep me humble, I guess. Like the old joke about the guy cleaning out the elephant pen at the circus when asked why he didn't get a better job and replied "What? And leave show business?"

Have a good week and be safe out there.

More Things

Photo From Here

I don't need anymore rolling stock around here but I'd love to have one of these. I'm hoping the new Jeep truck will be something I can love - 2 door, 4 wheel drive, suitable for a plow and pulling a trailer, and reasonably priced. I wanted to get a new truck before I retired but since I won't be driving much after December and the truck won't lose much more in value being 14 years old already, I can wait another year, I suppose. However, if all they offer is a 4 door or some kind of extended cab, I won't be happy. I'm not at all in favor of a truck that has a cab longer than the bed but that seems to be most of what you see on the road these days. 

The weather went from 90 degrees and sunny to 50 degrees and rainy with a few more rainy days on tap for this upcoming week. Kind of limits outdoor activity but it's time for me to get back in the shop and start doing something constructive anyway. Getting back to work on the sidecar and the VW would be a good thing. I have been picking off some of the easy things on the list. 

Of course if I sit on my ass and watch motorcycle racing I won't get much done. I tuned in to the Sacramento Mile flat track race on FansChoice TV last night. It came on at 8:00 PM local and the main event finished up a little before midnight. Indian once again filled the top three spots with Smith winning for the seventh time in a row. As a bonus they had the Robert's TZ750 out on the track before the race. I got a chance to see that thing run a couple of years ago in Indy. That's worth the price of a ticket. Also, they mentioned that Nicky Hayden has been involved in some type of accident and is in a bad way. They didn't give any particulars so I'll have to look into that later today. It's bed time now.

Things On A Saturday Morning

From the Indian e-mail I received, Indian once again swept the podium at Phoenix. Racing today at Sacramento. There's a live stream available. If I can remember, I'll see if I can watch a bit of it later today. With the success they're having, I would imagine Indian is working on a street bike to capitalize on that success even as we speak.

I had some success taking care of the last, hopefully, clean up from the raccoons in the shop. I replaced the ceiling sheets and most of the damage was in fact limited to just the two sheets. Judging from the amount of poop, it was either one raccoon that had been getting up there for a long time or it was a whole gaze of raccoons that had been visiting. Quite the mess. It was a little tricky putting the replacement sheets up by myself but I managed. They're 1/2" foil faced foam so they aren't heavy but they are a bit unwieldy when working off a ladder by yourself. I managed, however, with the help of a "Tee" stiff leg I made up out of scrap lumber. Job's done, shop's cleaned up and it smells much better out there now.

There was an editorial in the Wall Street Journal the other day once again addressing the issue of whether college education is really a necessity. The article mentioned welders again, which just warms the cockles of my heart, the amount of money that can be made and the why people are attracted to going into the trades rather than continuing with higher education. Why, most of the young people chose a skilled trade because they didn't like school. No kidding? What a surprise. 

I also saw a story on the internet (but forgot to book mark)  about Baltimore schools. Seems that at several of the schools, no student scored at grade level in math or English. Not a single one. I wonder if the curriculum in those schools includes shop classes? Not STEM or Project Lead The Way but good old fashioned shop classes. If your graduation rate is 50% and no-one is passing the "big test", maybe it's time to rethink the education philosophy and go back to the 3 R's and basic hands-on education - Practical Arts, Manual Training, Industrial Arts, whatever works to get the young people interested enough in school to attend and stick around long enough to graduate. Not to mention, if you can read a tape measure, add and subtract fractions, work with the tools and are reliable, you also are employable. 

I read the other day that Ariens, located in Wisconsin, can't find enough qualified help so they're bringing in Somali refugees to fill the positions. Maybe they should be bringing in refugees from the Baltimore School District, where they spend $16,000 per student per year to educate them, by the way. If you gave me ten of them and the $16K each, at the end of the year I guarantee you as long as the students were willing, I could teach them everything Ariens is looking for at their welder job posting. 

And to cap it all off, the new Secretary of Education gets booed at a commencement ceremony where she's the headliner. This at a Black college, when the Secretary has spent a size-able chunk of her fortune trying to get vouchers and charter schools to help students like those in Baltimore get a decent education that will allow them to get into college. 

It's about time we all start pulling together in this country, whether you're talking education or national politics. Put aside our differences long enough to hash out workable solutions. Sometimes you have to take one for the team. Ask Indian the key to their success. I'm sure teamwork is number one. It sure would be nice to see a "podium sweep" in K-12 education sometime.

Five Years Gone

Brother John in a photo I took about 40 years ago. He's sitting on the back of my old 50 Chevy truck I fixed up. Those were good times back then. Johnny's been gone 5 years now as of today. It's always a shame when someone is taken from this earth too early but to me it seems especially bad when you're so close to being able to retire and enjoy the fruits of your labor.When you finally have time to relax a bit and spend time with the grand-kids, go fishing, travel or whatever else that brings you joy. In John's case, he squeezed a lot of living into his time on this earth - just as it should be.

Me? I'm spending way too much time dealing with raccoons. I left the doors of the shop open the other day, thinking I was going to go back out after supper and do a little something. The wife went up town, I fell asleep in the chair and when she came home she said she heard something in the shop. Groggy old me heads outside to close up the shop and put the chickens away and sure enough there was another coon up on top of the shop. It went down inside the wall somewhere and I locked things up. I didn't notice anything the next day but if it went out, that means it could get back in again. The only place I can think of is a gap along the front of the wall and the roof. I made a couple of sheet metal pieces to close things up. I'm hoping that will do it finally. 

I made some rhubarb bread the other evening. The loaf on the right side is missing a couple of pieces. As soon as it was cool enough to eat, I cut a slice off, buttered it up and chowed down. Tasty. So tasty in fact, I made a couple more loaves the next day as well. It freezes well.

I need to get the SV uncovered and operational sometime soon. It's time to ride. Past time, in fact. Same thing with the fishing pole. I haven't been fishing in a long time. Need to re-order my priorities a bit. And quit the job. 

I spent half a day trying to get my contract for summer school taken care of with the new electronic signature jazz. I finally gave up and went to school to try and resolve it. I pulled it up on the computer there and the secretary tried to make it work but didn't have any better results than I had. She finally gave up and just printed me off a copy to sign and then sent it on its way. We've also got a new learning management system going into effect soon. I went to an orientation meeting and wasn't at all impressed with the change. If it wasn't for the fact I promised my boss to finish out the year, I'd just drag up at the end of summer and be done with it. I've been down the "change for the better" road too many times without things really improving much. I'm pleading ignorance on this new change. When someone other than me gets it up and running, give me a shout. In the meantime, I'll wait in the truck.

Vacation Time

Still playing catch-up from the Louisiana trip it seems. I had to replace some of the plants in the garden that got frost killed. I sketched up a design to help with the high school team that is going to a welding contest. Welded up some parts for the ring at the boxing gym with some more pieces still to come. The pieces in the photos are to hold the planks for the ring floor down. I still need to make four wall brackets for heavy bags. Did some more yard work and managed to get an eighteen mile bike ride in on Sunday morning. I've still got a stack of magazines to work my way through but I've managed to keep up on the book count. I've got 24 read so far this year, that being the only thing I'm ahead of schedule on.

I'm officially on vacation for three weeks until summer school starts. I haven't prioritized the to-do list yet but I think I'll just wing it. Whatever I feel like working on when I wake up in the morning, that'll be it. As long as I see some progress every day, that'll be good enough. I looked for a couple of race walks to compete in but a couple of the ones I've done in the past no longer offer race walks, just runs. Maybe just devote my exercise time to training for the bicycle race in July and see what I can find for a race walk after that.

Lots to do - some fun stuff, some not so fun. I got serious about cleaning up the mess from the raccoons. Respirator, rubber gloves and Pine-Sol. I threw a bunch of stuff away and scrubbed the sidecar down real well. I would have done it before I left for Louisiana but I didn't want to take a chance on coming down with the hantavirus or some kind of gunga-lunga while I was gone. It's a lot cleaner and it smells a lot nicer out in the shop now. I didn't even want to go in there with what I had going on. I still need to replace a couple of the ceiling sheets. Fortunately, the ones that need to be replaced are right in the middle and won't require any trimming or anything special. Take two down, nail two up, throw the clothes in the washer and shower up.

I do want to get in good enough shape to ride the Panhandle Pathway this summer. Actually, I'm pretty close to being in shape for that already. Ride down, camp for the night and then ride back the next day. Won't be like Bronson but I've done my share of cycling around the country. Just human powered rather than V-Twin powered. I'd still like to do that motorcycle trip, however. I know it wouldn't be the same as when I was an eighteen year old kid. I should probably reconcile myself to the fact that boat's already sailed but I doubt if I'll ever truly get over not having gone. Should have replaced the stolen Sprint with the 500 Triumph and hit the road regardless what it took to make it happen. One of the few regrets I've got for something I didn't do - got plenty for things I did do - but only a few for the ones I didn't do.

RIP Mike & Joe

Michael Parks passed away recently at the age of 77. He's best remembered for his starring role in the Then Came Bronson television show from the late 60's. Bronson was must see TV at Shop Teacher Bob's house back then. I had my Sprint and he had his Sportster but when the going got tough on the TV show, the Sportster morphed into a Sprint. There was also a feature length movie and a Bronson book that I remember reading. That was great entertainment for a guy right out of high school who dreamed of doing just what he did. My dream never came to fruition primarily due to someone stealing my bike right before I was planning on booming out, but I still might be able to make the big trip some day.  More likely, I'll order up the TV series from Amazon with my gift card I got for Christmas. 

Photo From Here

Joe Leonard also passed away recently. While Bronson was riding around the country, Joe Leonard was racing around the country. He was a successful motorcycle racer starting in the 50's and then switched over to cars. He ran at Indy as well as on dirt tracks. His Indy car rides included Offy and Ford powered cars as well as a ride in one powered by a Pratt and Whitney. Again, for a young man who followed motorcycle and auto racing, I knew the name Joe Leonard. Unfortunately, like many Indy car drivers back in the day, he kissed the wall and sustained career ending injuries.

Rest in peace, gentlemen. For the rest of you: "Well, you hang in there."

Education Rant - (But Just A Short One)

There was an editorial in the Wall Street Journal last week concerning the apprenticeship model BMW is using in South Carolina. "In Germany, half the graduates of high schools and junior high schools choose a track that combines training on the job with further education at a public vocational institution." Hard to argue with the success of the German education system, that's for sure, but one thing that's never mentioned is the role unions have played in education. Companies relocate to the South to get away from unions but historically, the unions are the ones that have been supporting the apprenticeship programs. If you move away from the unions, where are you going to get qualified people for technical jobs? Sure there are vocational schools, but with the rising cost of secondary education you are going to be shutting more than a few people out. Also with the elimination of many vocational programs at the high school level, it's not surprising that young people aren't thinking about a skilled trade as a viable career option. 

It seems the movers and shakers in education always want to use "best practices" but only if those practices agree with their personal philosophy. That philosophy being more testing and less skills based education. After watching a couple of twenty-somethings a couple of weeks back attempting to use a hack saw, it's obvious that we've neglected to teach any type of hand skills in school. It's also no surprise that it's hard to find qualified people when you don't teach skills in schools or through apprenticeship programs any more. Maybe the big muckity-mucks will start looking at the best practices of Germany and Finland so we can get our education system back on track.

National Teacher's Day

Today's National Teacher's Day. I had some really good ones as a student and I worked along side many a good one - ran across a few turds as well - but every profession has a few of those. I know first hand the role we teachers and coaches can play in the lives of those we teach/coach and it's a tremendous responsibility but also a tremendous opportunity. In spite of all the damage that has been done by the politicians in the last few years, teaching is still a very rewarding career and one that I still enjoy after over forty years in the profession. 

Thanks to all my teachers and coaches I've had over the years. I'll share all my successes with you and take the blame for all my failings - after all, you're teachers, not miracle workers. To the rest of you teachers and coaches out there, keep up the good work and thanks for all you do.

Fight Wrap-Up

"Bazooka Joe"

We arrived in Louisiana on Sunday after the "interesting" drive down. Joe didn't have to fight until Tuesday, so we had a chance to get settled in and relax a bit. The fights started Monday with half the weight classes, the others having to weigh in and compete on Tuesday. Weigh-in went well - never a worry with Joe. I was a little concerned because I didn't get my passbook signed. Apparently it wasn't an issue because rather than initialing the book,  they had little stickers printed up but they weren't distributed until Thursday.

Joe's fight was good, other than the outcome. He lost a 3-2 decision. I had him winning the first round by a close margin, losing the second round and then winning the third round by a huge margin. He must have hit his opponent with 100 jabs the last round snapping his head back each time. I would have scored it a 10-8 round if I was judging, but of course, that's not how it works. Joe took the loss well. He was disappointed, naturally enough, but he was extremely well pleased with his performance, as well he should have been. It was the best he's ever fought. Most everyone one on the team believed he should have won, including Sugar Ray Seales who came along in a coaching capacity. If you don't recognize that name, Seales was a Gold Medal Olympian and a serious middleweight contender. He knows boxing. 

Sugar Ray has taken a shine to Joe and offered up a lot of good advice to both Joe and I. Two pearls of wisdom that stuck with me were: "When you're doing nothing, do something." "When your coach tells you to run three miles, run three for your coach and then one for yourself."

There seemed to be a lot of split decisions at the tourney, including 4-1 decisions. It makes you wonder what the judges are looking at if four of them score it for one fighter and one of them scores it for his opponent. Also one of our fighters was involved with a dirty fighter in his bout. The opposing fighter head butted him, put his forearm across his throat, he even hopped up so he could hit our guy with a shoulder under the chin. The referee didn't call the other fighter on any of the infractions and our fighter totally lost his cool. Needless to say, that didn't turn out well. The opposing fighter got his comeuppance the following night but that didn't help our guy since he was already eliminated. I came away from the fights a little perplexed. It's hard to coach someone when you don't know the criteria the judges are using to score the fight. I know what they're supposed to be. It just didn't seem like there was any consistency to the scoring. 

The Indiana Golden Gloves franchise is nothing but the greatest in its treatment of the fighters and their coaches. They gave us a very generous per-diem  for our meals and they were very generous with the travel money. They're always professional and it's a pleasure working with all of them. Also they have scholarship money available for fighters that can be used for college or trade school. All you have to do is compete in the Indiana Golden Gloves and fill out the paperwork. If you're from the northwest corner of the state, get in touch with me and we'll get you in shape to fight next year so you can help defray your education expenses. 

All in all, it was a great experience for both Joe and I. Next year's event will be held in Omaha - hoping to be there!

P.S. I wasn't able to participate in the 5K race walk due to going to Louisiana but I looked up the results. I definitely would have won an age division award. They were giving medals out for the top three finishers and there was only one contestant in my age group. Would have finished no lower than second. Actually, he had a pretty slow place, so I should have been able to easily win my age group. No complaints, though. Not often do you get a chance to compete at the national level in amateur boxing.

Throw The Jab, Baby!

I must have heard "Throw the jab!" at least a thousand times this past week. Always good advice, of course.

Quite the trip. We left a week ago Saturday mid-afternoon for Louisiana and the National Golden Gloves tournament. Lightly raining in Indiana when we left, hit Illinois and the rain intensity went up and down. Rained hard while in Missouri - gully washer hard in fact. We stopped for the night and the storm woke me up. I looked outside and it looked like a hurricane. Wind howling and the rain coming down in sheets. The power went out in the hotel while we were eating breakfast, so we had to finish in the dark. Rain continued to plague us as we journeyed south. I-55 was one lane in Mississippi about 40 miles north of Jackson due to downed trees across the road. I didn't hear for sure but I'm guessing it was a tornado that might not have have touched down that caused it. The weather finally cleared up about the time we hit Lafayette, however.

The trip back was pretty much uneventful - just long. I drove straight thru with only a bit of rain. Mostly it was beautiful sunny weather with temps in the 70's. We left at 8:00 Saturday morning and got home at 2:00 this morning. Over 1000 miles. We took a different route coming home to avoid the flooding along the Mississippi River even though it was longer. I don't know if that was necessary but for everyone's peace of mind, seemed prudent. Couldn't avoid the road construction but at least I didn't have to try and navigate through construction zones in monsoon rains in the dark - just construction zones in the dark. I'm beginning to think there is never a time I-65 is not being worked on. However, we made it home safe and sound. That's what counts.

I'll fill you in on the boxing next post. I've got laundry to do and grass to mow.

Cajundome

The Cajundome. The Golden Gloves finals will be held here on Saturday night. Hope to be working a corner but we'll have to see how things work out. It'd be nice to have a national champion from the club. We've had quite a few state champions in the lower divisions but this is the first time our club has a guy fighting in the nationals. This is my second trip to the nationals as a coach - Jimmy won the state title when I was coaching him way back when and we went to Denver for the nationals. Good experience for both of us.