Here We Go Again...

Kinda stuck in a hole for a bit. Been trying for three days to put up a post. But the vaunted technology of Verizon hasn't been up to the task.

They seem little concerned. My money is locked in for the forseeable future... and they know, poor as their service is... ever'body else's is worse. So they do nada.

The air card won't stay hooked up. They say it's just a "bad spot" where I'm at. Not the jetpack.

Hmmm... really? Then explain why this overpriced under performing phone can operate in the same exact location?

Yeah... they already have the money soooo... :-/

On occasion I guess I'll email in a post from the phone... unless/until Verizon chooses to back it's marketing hooey.

Till then I'll just keep on sucking down coffee and building the next book.

Brian

***Edit/update***

After multiple tries slogging through there oh so helpful automatic phone system... I finally managed to get to the right gal... who led by by phone to the place buried deep in the computer... where somebodies update... be it Verizon or Microdud... landed an update that flipped a switch best left un-switched... arrrrgggghhhhh. and things are once again working... 

... so I believe I'll just turn the dang thing off and go kick a pig... and hope the buggers in silicone valley will stop with the updates to improve things... that only dig the hole deeper!

The Second Death Valley Video Installment With #3 Soon to Come

Finally stumbled by accident onto a spot, with 4G/Four bar signal... half way between town where the signal is weak and slow and camp four miles or so away where the signal is gone... and it actually seems to be working! HooYa!

Makes me feel kinda foolish for sittin' outside the itty bitty laundromat waiting for the second Death Valley Video to load... since it only took 134 minutes! ;) Ahhhh... the lengths I go to to keep my readers happy! Kinda reminds me of Rodeoin'... bustin' bones and banks all for the glory of applause! :)

So... This second installment of our Death Valley Journey is a few shots of another Bike run down into the park and then Titus Canyon, which we explored on the way back from a fuel run back out to Beatty, Nevada.

That makes more sense than it might sound. Diesel inside the park was/is $5.44 at Furnace Creek and $5.98 over to Panamint Springs. Roll back out 35 miles or so to Beatty and it's $3.99.

Now, the part that makes it have a lil' bit of sense is that the start of the one way road down into Titus Canyon turns off just six miles or so out of Beatty... So it didn't take a whole lot of rationalizin' to make that work...

We're boondocked in the Alabama Hills now just a rock chuck out of Lone Pine. Pretty country with camps all around. As soon as I get caught up from Death Valley I'll start shippin' some pics of this country.

The weather above us in the high peaks, 14,000 feet and a bit is looking pretty stormy this evening. Though down in camp it's still 70 or around there so I'll not complain.

So here's the latest of the Death Valley sojourn. The third Video is built... just gotta get it uploaded... I'll try and do that in the morning... Charge up the laptop and the air card... fill the thermos... and come down here and take a nap while the meter goes tic... tic... tic... tic... :)



One fella already asked me if that 96 degrees in the video was real... Uh Huh... I think it supposedly broke 100 in a couple of spots that day... Juuuuust a mite warm for March! ;) but then broke right back down into the seventies the last couple of days there... so... Nice!

One benefit of being in such a poor cell reception area is that it removes any excuses to do other work and not tap away on the book. As a Consequence the #2 Ben Jensen Story is making some significant progress in working his way through the latest difficulty.

With modest luck and a miraculous application of discipline I might could have the first draft completed in another month! Ha! That's only something better than six months or so behind schedule. I'm improving! ;)

Camped Where the Movie Stars Played
Brian

RV Tow Vehicle Weight Loss Program

I'll bet there's a lot of folks that wish they could lose near to 200 lbs this easy :) At least I'm guessin' that much. I KNOW it's up at 150!
 

I've been lookin' at that "Headache Rack" with a jaundiced eye for some time. Ever since I whacked my hand on it over in Utah loadin' the bike one day...

I figured it to be heavy to boot so losing weight wouldn't be a bad thing...

But... it's still one of those deals where you kinda grit your teeth as the sparks start to fly and ask yourself; "Was this REALLY what I wanted to do?!" :)

I'm waiting on some new saddlebags to improve the bike for long rides... The thing with them is that with the new exhaust pipes that went on a few weeks ago, they're gonna sit a lot lower on the scooter ~ a Good thing... but...

The current bags hang over that cargo box on the left  an inch or so and the right hand bag is up against the headache rack on the right... SO... the problem was I needed more space just to clear that...

I can't push things back because the fiver is there when we're hitched up...

The only solution was Amputation! ;)

Uh Oh... Smoke and Sparks!

Josh inherited hisself a Plasma Cutter not long ago... So, bein' a Guy... I started schemin' ways we might could put his new tool to work. Talk about somethin' burnin' a hole in your pocket! :)

Nothin' like four red necks sittin' in the driveway with a truck... a plasma cutter... a cooler full of beer... and... time on their hands...

Guaranteed to generate smoke, sparks and traditional comments like; "Watch this!"

... and; "Uh Oh. Is that s'posed to be smokin' like that?"

But it worked out pretty good. We even remembered to disconnect the battery for "Just in case" protection of the trucks electronics...

and we didn't light up the fuel tank!

And now I've got maybe six more inches of room... a whole lot less to whack my handle bars and saddlebags on...

With the side benefit of the truck is likely close to 200 lbs lighter! That chunk of steel was heavy!

Just some clean up grinding to do... some wire brushing and some fresh bed paint and I'm good to go... Oh yeah... and a pair of new Motorcycle Tie Down Points bolted in to improve and simplify the tying down of the bike when I load her!

I remember getting a new bicycle when I was maybe 8. I had that thing in pieces before the weekend was over... wonderin' what the inside of the pedal workings looked like. ;) Won't be long before this Ol' truck is scattered around some meadow up in the back country somewhere...

Curiosity can be a dangerous thing! :)

p.s. just a lil' side note. That Jetpack 4g air card from Verizon I got two days ago really seems a heavy improvement over the MiFi 2200 that was 4 years old. We're still sitting in a "Dead Zone" right on the edge of town as we finish up required "Business chores". Hard to even maintain a phone call here. The MiFi was almost unusable. This Jetpack is workin' like a champ... I'm hopeful when we get back out in the hinter lands it's performance will maintain at a high level. (fingers crossed)

Always tinkering
Brian

One of Those "This and That" Posts

Started the day off yesterday finding out that the coons have continued to outmaneuver us disciplinarians...

They keep changing their "schedule" and continue to avoid a rendezvous with destiny... That's ok... the longer they hold it off... the stiffer their discipline for chicken thieving is gonna be :-/

Editing on "Heart of a Man" is progressing... shooting for 3rd quarter of July release.

Then... the MiFi2200 air card I got back in 2009 has been sinking slowly... the battery was pretty much shot... not to mention that it being a Grandfathered UNLIMITED data plan Verizon was unhappy about... SO... they slammed us back in April and had it knocked down to Dial Up Speed... The Dark Ages of Technology for sure! Try to upload pics or videos at that!

Since I spend some little bit of time online working... something about wanting to eat once in a while :) I HAVE to have a functioning system. Well... yesterday I went down and got the newest and latest Bell Ringing air card... The Jetpack data card by Verizon... a 4g data card that does ever'thing but make coffee... yeah... right... ;)

It is a hell of a lot quicker...'course now that they have me hooked in on another two year plan and no Unlimited Data ... I ain't slammed any more either... Devious buggers... That and 4g... hmmmm... out where we Usually are parked... there is no 4g... not yet... so that isn't gonna be a big advantage... but the battery is replaceable in this one and the antennae seems to maybe function a lil' stonger... so I'm hopeful...

Having had enough "Stuff" in the past few days ... I put the Raider into the mountains yesterday afternoon... When the world is weighing on my head... putting my knees in the breeze is ALWAYS a salve on my wounded spirit.

Poudre Canyon has been off limits and closed for days due to fires as is the country up to Red Feather... The past two days the dry weather has finally broke a bit and they've gotten a handle on the burns... for a little while anyway... there's still a few hundred million acres that are going to burn... though it might could take ten years...

But yesterday... I leaned my way up the Big Thompson River toward Estes Park. There was a little thin smoke... I expect coming from the burn near Boulder... or that down at the springs... but no matter... Running along the river through a light rain the air was freshened and the day was fine.

I managed to time it right so traffic was thin as well. When you're fortunate to hit it right like that; it is a fun canyon to ride. You lean into a right hand curve and as the bike stands back up coming out you continue right over into a left hander... and then back again into a right.

 Back and forth the bike just dances as you sweep up the mountain... THAT... is a sweet ride. Not pushing fast or hard... It's just a rhythmical, dancing movement with that engine rumbling under you, the wind in your face... the scent of the river and the pines.. the cool fresh feel of the rain... The worries of the world fall away and for a time you're in that sweet place that you wish would never end.

All the things that make dogs stick their heads out the window. :-))

All the things that if you "Get It" you understand... if you don't... it can't be explained...

Today we're gonna take another run to Denver... there's a dog "thing" of some sort... but my main mission is a Surgery on the Truck...

Anybody who's been reading here for long knows I've wanted to do a major rebuild/reorganization of our rig for a bit... but dinero... or the lack of it is juuuuust a lil' bit of an obstacle ;) so... as always I'll make do with what I got for a while longer.

To that end, I'm gonna amputate the headache rack off the bed. It doesn't do anything, it's more weight I dont' need to carry around... and... with some changes I'm making on the Raider... I need a few additional inches of clearance. I can gain those if I take off those 2X4 beams of the headache rack...

Removing it will also allow me to modify, improve and simplify how I tie the bike down... all good things.

My son-in-law just got himself a plasma cutter... so I'm gon' give him something to practice on! There'll be pictures eventually... hopefully NOT of the fire that the plasma cutter started in the driveway! :)

Gotta get it done though... we should be moving off the front range again in about 8 or 10 days... 'nuff chores and business done to hold me for a while... maybe come back when I'm 83 or so to do the rest.

Time to roll. The big city awaits... ooooffffff.

Writing, Riding and Cutting
Brian