Keeping Busy

I buy things from Garrett Wade occasionally so I receive e-mails from them. The last one I received was promoting their blog. I checked it out and they had a piece on Fay Butler, one of the premier metal shapers of our time. I knew of him but wasn't aware of his skills in several other fields. If you're interested in metal shaping, like I am, check out the article.

While we're on the subject of metal shaping, Surly picked up a 2x8 for me the other day. I cut off three 12" pieces and glued them together for the start of a hammer form for the sidecovers on the BSA. Surly also located a pair of reconditioned Amal carbs for the project. Amals are famous for wearing out the bore where the throttle slides go. These have been sleeved and gone through, so we should be good on carburetion now. I'll try and get one of the sidecovers finished up and then we can see about clearances, etc. on petcocks and air cleaners.

I've been getting ready to head to Ireland. The tour offers a few side trips, so I signed up for the Guinness tour and the traditional Irish pub night out - should make for a memorable trip. For those of you who are on Medicare, your coverage isn't any good when traveling out of the country so you need to find some short term health insurance. I don't know what the reasoning is behind the lack of coverage when traveling abroad, but it is after all run by the government.

I also called Consumer Cellular to see if my phone will work over there. I was told I needed a new SIM  card and they'll send one out. I got a call back from them a few minutes later and was informed my old flip phone probably won't work and I need to upgrade. It's all about 3G vs 4G, apparently. A new cheapie like what I've got is only $30.00. They have a better one with more battery life and talk time for $50.00. The other option is to pick up a disposable when I'm over there but for the price of a new one, might as well go that route. I will say the people at Consumer Cellular are easy to talk to - must not be coming from a call center in India. I was able to hear them clearly, understand them and it didn't take too long before I reached a human. Much better than when I called Cabela's Capitol One and Master Card.

I ordered some Euros from the bank the other day and those are ready to pick up. I've got an appointment with the travel agent next week. After concluding my business with her, I'll pick up my Euros and get a new phone. I should be ready to go after that.