Born to be Mild

 

Surly and the boys gave me a hand delivering the treadmill last evening. It's a good thing those boys have got some muscles. That thing weighs about 2 pounds less than a switch engine. We had to go up some steps and then lay it on its side to snake it through the door. Seems the door opening was an inch less than the treadmill was wide. I had measured it prior to taking it off the truck and it was less the 36" by a couple. Unfortunately, the door opening was less by 3". Regardless, it's done.

While we were there, Surly showed me the bell collection that we, meaning me, need to work on so he can finish the job. Since it was dark I didn't get a good look at everything, but enough to get me thinking on the best way to get the job knocked out. I'll run it by Surly and if gives me the go-ahead, I'll try and get it finished next week.

Surly brought me some pipes for the Sportster he got from a buddy of his. Unfortunately, they look pretty rough and I don't imagine they're going to be all that much quieter. The one in the top of the photo is straight through, the one in the bottom has the baffles in it still but someone slash cut the end of the muffler off. If I was to sandblast the paint off, fabricate a new end for it and then paint it, it might not look too bad but I'm thinking it's going to take chrome to make me happy.

The chrome on the drag pipes looks pretty good - a little blue next to the engine but that's OK. I ordered a pair of these shorty mufflers to install after I shorten up the drag pipes a bit. They're straight through pipes but they have a perforated pipe wrapped with fiberglass inside, so they'll still be rather loud but not obnoxious. At least that's the plan. I might have to make or modify the support bracket, but at this point in time I'll get the pipes squared up, install the electronic ignition and I'll be ready to ride come spring.

I don't know what happened to all the stock pipes that came on these Iron Heads. I checked Marketplace and eBay and there are plenty of used drag pipes and plenty of new drag pipes but stock take-offs are nowhere to be found. I did see a N.O.S set but they wanted $1,200.00 for them. That being more than I paid for the bike, that was a hard no. There are a lot of older Sportsters on Marketplace, though. A few nice ones and a whole bunch that would require a pretty serious investment to ever get them to move down the road on something other than a trailer. And like motorcycles in general, who the hell loses their title? You people never heard of a lock box?

Delivery With Dignity

 

If you have a pickup, sooner or later someone will want you to haul something for them. I got the job of moving a treadmill for my wife's sister. It gets delivered tonight when I meet up with Surly and the boys to get it off the truck and into the house.

I saw the following at the Running 'Cause I Can't Fly 2 blog - link on the sidebar. Nice little opinion piece about those of us in "the productive class". 

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"The Dignity of Work"

by Paul Rosenberg

"At one time I lived close to the Field Museum of Chicago; I had a membership and spent a good deal of time there. One evening, about ten minutes before closing, I noticed that workers had begun preparing the first floor for an evening event. I had a panoramic view from where I stood at the second floor balcony, and what I saw has stuck with me ever since.


What I saw was a lone man setting up tables and chairs – simple work, the kind that a teenager could do. But what I watched this man do was every bit as beautiful as dance. He moved with integrity, with precision, and with intent. He carefully spaced the tables in a precise geometry, he moved every chair with efficiency. This was more than just work; it was art. This man knew that he was doing his job well, and, perhaps most importantly, he enjoyed doing it well. I was transfixed by it all, and I stood there until the guards asked me to leave. And even then, I moved very slowly until I lost sight of him.


There is real beauty in doing a job well, even a simple job. It is our great loss that this form of beauty is never mentioned in public these days – double-sad, because at one time, such beauty was acknowledged.


The Virtue of Productivity: It is productivity that improves life upon Earth. What I call “the productive class” are the people who build and repair our cars, our houses, and our computers; the people who provide us with air conditioning, electricity, plumbing, and food; the people who make, clean and repair our clothing; the people who treat our sicknesses and wounds.


If you can drive around town and point out places where you repaired things, or delivered things, or fed people, or made human life better in any of a thousand ways, you are a producer. And if you are a producer, there is an inherent dignity in what you do. You are actively making the world better. You are directly creating benefit for yourself and for other human beings. What you do every day is morally virtuous and worthy of respect. And you should never let anyone tell you otherwise.


And, it’s worth pointing out: Money is not a measure of your worth. Money is certainly useful, and getting it should matter to you, but merely having money is no measure of your dignity. Actively improving the world, however, that conveys dignity.


What, Really, Is Work? It’s important to look at things directly; to clarify what they really are, not just what people say about them. This is what I see when I focus on work itself: Productive work is the insertion of creativity into the world. It is the birthing of benefit into the world. It is, in a word, beautiful, and people who do it should be deeply satisfied with what they do.


Compared to productive work, status is ornamental puffery: a shiny coat with the word “Important” emblazoned upon it, worn by a sad little man. If you are a member of the productive class, please work at re-arranging your assumptions and stop revering status. Instead, start respecting things that actually improve human life. Creating things, improving things, or making it possible for other people to create… these are noble, beautiful, and important. Please start giving yourself credit for them."
- https://freemansperspective.com/

Welding in the Gloaming

 

It was a great evening for welding yesterday. It started getting a little cool when the sun went down, but my student was doing well with the 7018 electrodes. 

Yesterday was an anniversary of sorts. My buddy Kevin sent me an email asking me if I remember what we did 20 years prior. Of course I had no idea. I've never been one to remember the dates of any event of my life other than my anniversary and a few birthdays. I can remember the events but since it happened in the past, I never bother trying to remember exactly when. Anyway, the event was Kevin and I running the Detroit Half Marathon. We ran into Canada over the Ambassador Bridge and back into Detroit through the tunnel. All of the runners had an underwater mile split time. Mine was 11:11, and we finished on the 50-yard line of Ford Field. It was a great weekend for both of us, but even better for Kevin. I dropped him off on the way home to meet up with a friend of his to go to the White Sox play-off game that got them into the World Series. 

Ham radio antenna scheduled for installation this morning.

Readouts

 

The digital readout kit came when I was out of town, so I opened it up yesterday to see what I had. After thumbing through the book a bit, it looks like it will do everything I want it to do plus a whole lot more. It'll be nice to be able to do a bolt circle layout to the gnat's ass, as well as engine turn a part with accurate stepovers.

Laying on top of the manual are the snap rings I was looking for. I ordered them from Grainger. They came in a five pack for less than $5.00, and the shipping was cheaper than I could drive up and get them. I ordered them on Monday and they were here Wednesday. 

I'll be getting back to work in the shop now, but it's going to be requiring heat. Frost warnings from the weatherman for a couple of days. I got my spare propane tank filled Tuesday, so I'll be ready to spend some time out there putting the finishing touches on the trials bike and the Sportster, and getting the mill worked over. I've still got some outdoor things to take care of and the guy is supposed to come tomorrow to help me get my antenna up in the trees. I'm going to have plenty to keep me busy this winter.

Grand Canyon #2

 

A couple more shots of the Canyon. I probably should have walked back down there when the sun started going down. The evening light and shadows would have made for some lovely shots. These were taken on the Rim Trail as we approached the Kolb Brothers Studio. The studio was built right on the rim of the Canyon. I bought a book about them and their work. Those boys were something.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Surly located a set of pipes for the Sportster that look like those in the photo. Those would be just the ticket. They would look like they were made for the bike, because they were, and be much quieter than the drag pipes.

I didn't do much on Sunday - unpacked the suitcase, did a little laundry, and then went to the gym. After spending 36 hours Flagstaff to Chicago and then a few more on the second leg, I figured it would be a good idea to exercise something besides my fanny. 

Did a little catch-upon the computer yesterday - emails and a survey from the brain research group I'm in. Swapped out the mower blades and proceeded to get the mower stuck on the first pass along the edge of the corn field. Between the rain yesterday and the apples on the ground I spun the rear wheels and it sunk to the depth of the mower deck right now. I had to get old Allis out and pull the mower free. However, if you look closely at the above photo, you'll see a couple of apples still hanging on the branches and apple blossoms like it's spring. Crazy stuff happening these days. 

Grand Canyon #1

 

Made it home from the Grand Canyon trip Saturday night about 9:00 pm. There's no easy way to get to the Canyon by rail. The Amtrak runs to Flagstaff but then you need to get to Williams, and then you can catch the Grand Canyon Railway to the National Park. It wasn't too bad on the way out but on the return trip we had to catch the bus at 3:00 am to get to Flagstaff to board at 4:00. We had a roomette on the Amtrak, and they had our room all made up for us, so all we had to do was crawl in.

This is the train that runs between Williams and the Park. They give you a spiel on the way up about where to eat and things to see, as well as entertaining you with a musical act. On the way down they had some "hold-up men" come aboard and a mandolin and guitar player singing a few tunes. 

We had vouchers for the Fred Harvey restaurant where we ate a breakfast and a dinner. Big buffet loaded with just about anything you could want. Excellent service, as you would expect, since the Harvey restaurants were always about excellent service since day one.

In addition to the train taking us into the park, we did a bus tour on our first day. The bus stopped at only two places, but the views were spectacular. The following day we did some walking and got a look at the canyon from a few additional vantage points. 

I'll put up a few more photos in my next post.

Heading Home

 Surly's birthday today. Momma's and my pride and joy.

Meanwhile back in Arizona, Cuzzin Ricky and I are beginning our trek home. We both enjoy traveling by rail, but it's not the fastest way, especially when the train doesn't actually stop in the town where you wish to go. However, our traveling philosophy is similar to the toilet paper commercial - enjoy the go. 

It'll be good to be back home. Need to find the snap rings for the trials bike, try wrapping the muffler inserts on the Sportster with some packing and there's more bell hanging work to be done as well. The digital readouts for the milling machine should be at the house when I get home, so that'll be on the agenda as will be getting the antenna up for the ham radio.