I started late today. I had a big to-do list and didn’t rip into it until about noon. No big deal though.

Did a lot today. Changed oil in the bus and cleaned the sump too. I wanted to do a valve adjustment, but there was so much to do.

The main project today was figuring out a way to strap down my saddlebags. Motorcycles have a frame to strap them down to. Scooters don’t have that luxury. So I invented this:

While I was under there, I noticed that the large bolt that held the exhaust bracket to the swing arm had lost its nut. This is a bad thing because it was working itself loose. I wouldn’t have lost the pipe or anything like that, but the bolt might have ripped up the tire a bit. I didn’t want that.

To fix it, I had to remove the exhaust. Not really a difficult task, but you have to remember to retighten in. I, however, forgot to.

And thinking that I was all sort of smug, I head out on a 100 mile ride.

Forget anything? No? You sure? Ok! Let’s ride 100 miles, dumbass.

Well, the ride was nice. Headed out to Centralia, home of the underground mine fire.

And I would have taken a bunch more pictures, but it was at this stop, my first stop, that I noticed that one of the bolts holding the exhaust to the bracket (that nearly came off earlier that day) was gone. The exhaust was hanging by one bolt. This, for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, is bad. How bad? Well that all depends on how long that one bolt can hold itself in there.

In my case, it was about 20 miles. Then the exhaust dropped and I pulled over in Sunbury to figure out what to do.

I was pretty baffled. I didn’t want to get a tow. And I sure as hell didn’t want to leave it there. “Luckily” I carry spare cables (for the clutch, gears, brakes, etc). I grabbed a gear cable and tied it up.

I made it home intact, I only wish I would have thought of this before I dropped it. Upon further inspection, this is the damage:

I’m not really sure how “bad” it is. It’s bad, I know that. But I don’t know if it’s a big deal or will have to be fixed in some way.

Tomorrow, looks like I’ve got my day planned. I have to figure out a way to replace two specially machined nylon washers and make sure everything is secure.

This was all my fault. I was in such a hurry that I forgot to tighten two insanely important bolts. It could have ended much worse, I guess. But this is just shitty.

Edit: I did come across this today. Thanks, Sri…

My goodly friend Jeff is visiting for the day. He rolled in last night around 12:30am. About an hour later, we were engaged in a heated discussion about the age-old believe that if something is vegan, then it must be eaten. We were talking about Tofutti ice cream, mostly. He was talking about how it’s fairly unhealthy. And it is, but I said that it didn’t matter because it was vegan, so it was immune to such thins like “bad for you” and we HAVE to eat it because it’s vegan.

“Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean we HAVE to eat it,” reasoned Jeff.

“What?!” I was astonished. “Of course we do!” [my words are in italics, btw]

“No! What about brussels sprouts? Those are vegan and just EVIL!”

“Brussels sprouts aren’t vegan, they’re vegetables.”

“Why aren’t brussels sprouts vegan?” He asked.

“Because they’re vegetables. Vegetables aren’t vegan, they’re vegetables.”

I think he saw where I was going with this.

So I continued, “In order for something to be vegan, there has to be a nonvegan counterpart to it. Like the counterpart to vegan ice cream is nonvegan ice cream. There’s so such thing as a nonvegan brussels sprout, therefore brussels sprouts aren’t vegan.”

He’s known me for about 12 years now and knows how to deal with me.

He fires off: “Tofu. There is no such thing as nonvegan tofu, therefore tofu isn’t vegan.”

He almost had me there. “Cheese?”

“No,” he figured, “the counterpart to nonvegan cheese is vegan cheese.”

Did he have me in this life-defining debate? Surely not! “But tofu,” I said, “is made exactly like cheese! We get the soy milk instead of cow’s milk, boil it, curdalize it [my word] and press it and it’s tofu or cheese!”

Oh this wasn’t at all good enough. I would definitely have to do better. I figured that since the vegan counterpart to nonvegan milk was vegan soymilk, I’d have this debate in the bag. But no. Cheese is a very different thing than tofu. Tofu really isn’t a replacement for cheese.

However, it is a replacement for…. CURD!

“HA! BEAN curd is the counterpart to MILK curd!” Oh I was giddy, oh yes. “They’re made the same exact way and the outcome is basically the same! And they’re both called CURD!!”

I was pretty pleased with myself.

And therefore brussels sprouts are not vegan because there is no such thing as nonvegan brussels sprouts.

Dig it.

One of the cutest thing in the universe is an otter. Two otters is so cute it’ll turn your tummy in all the good ways…

So what could be cuter than two otters?

How about two otters … holding hands!

DJ, Majorie and I got into a discussion today about voting.

DJ is a green, Majorie is a Dem and I’m an anarchist. It was pretty frustrating for Majorie, I’m sure. But one thing that struck me was when Majorie said “So what harm is there in voting?”

I’ve thought about that a bit. Voting is harmless. Completely.

And that’s the problem.

I could go on about this, I guess, but oddly enough, I found a post comment by Chuck0 at infoshop.org that says it better. (Go figure)

“What harm is done when I vote?”

This is a very revealing question. It more or less suggests that voting is harmless, then why should anarchists oppose the act of voting. If voting is seen as being harmless, at least in the American context, than it is certainly pointless. If voting doesn’t chnage the system in any radical way, which you don’t need anarchists to point out, then why participate at all? This is the conclusion that has been reached by many Americans who don’t vote on a regular basis. Voting doesn’t harm the ruling class–they are the ones who choose the candidates and who don’t have to lose any sleep that any changes will come from voting or the political process.

Voting won’t hurt you personally, but you are participating in a rigged spectacle that is against your interests. What have you changed through voting? I would argue that voting is disempowering and that people who defend voting are causing actual harm against the interests of the working class. Look at who still votes: mostly the white middle classes. If the rest of you who still vote would stop, then perhaps we would move towards a situation more favorable to systematic radical social change. Revolution if that’s what you want. But people who defend the indefensible are acting as a brake on radical social change. It isn’t a coincidence that the biggest defenders of voting also happen to be the biggest obstacle to radical social change: the liberal democrats and progressives.

So there you go.

infoshop link

If you’re going to open an insurance agency, at least proof-read the flier that you’re sending to EVERY BUSINESS IN TOWN!!

What the freakin’ HELL?!

Oh, and EVERYBODY knows that Cobra is good for WAY more than 20 people.

Here are some pics from Katy’s Church. Stopped by there tonight on my 50 mile ride. Woohoo!

There are some local stories and such about the place. The “accepted” story is: “Katie’s Church was named after Katie Vandine, the story goes that her Finance’, a soldier was en route home to marry her when she received word that he was killed, distraught over this she hung herself in the tree, in her wedding dress at the church. Her headstone runs opposite of all the others. Reports of seeing her walking the road between her house and the church as well as seeing her at the church.”

The thing about her headstone running opposite than the others is bullshit. It’s the same as the others.

Here are the pics.

1) Eating Fruit Loops dry will cut up the inside of your mouth. However, that will not deter me from eating the entire box in one sitting.

2) The reason that I cannot remember anything is because of all the mid-80’s rap and metal songs stored in my brain. If I turn on the “Old Skool” rap station at any moment, I will be able to rap along with whatever song is playing. Last night it was “Paul Revere” by the Beastie Boys and “Buddy” by De La Soul. The night before, it was “Rock Box” by Run DMC and “The Message” by Grand Master Flash. I haven’t heard most of these songs in 15 years. What the hell is wrong with me?

3) I am not the only one who can smell the gasoline I spilled onto my pants yesterday.

4) I’ll tell you later.

5) People who don’t bother to talk to me much anymore regularly read my blog. Interesting. Are you one of them?

6) In the wise words of Thomas Jefferson, “Back up your important files or you’ll spend every waking moment re-entering them into a new computer.” Wise words indeed.

7) I have over 300lbs. of “Hare Krishna” books.

8) Some people don’t (or at least one person doesn’t) understand the difference between “grains” and “a grain of salt.” Salt, though it is referred to as a “grain of salt” isn’t actually a grain. At least, no more than a grain of sand is. And don’t get me started on wood grain. Amazing.

9) Pet Shop Boys always make me dance. Remixes make me dance even more. You wish you could see, but you can’t. No.

10) Al Gore is a douchebag.

I never said that this was going to be interesting.