Steam Powered....

Since I got back from Tennessee, which was most amazing btw, Ive been piling up the projects and knocking them down before I run out of any kind of motivation and before I move to California, which, again, is another matter completely (six commas, one sentence). Allow me:

Ordered some glass doors for the fireplace, and installed them.


Put a new starter in the Apocalypse.


Wiring that inverter in is always a treat, s'been mounted for over 6 months now.


Regluing the rearview mirror to the windsheild, fell off in Nov.


Testing a new jacket for Outside, havent taken it off yet, slept in it once already.


Installing new shocks all'round, and painted them too. A total bitch in the front, ugh.


Warrantying most of my gear and sending it back.


Pretending I didnt cut off access permissions to ALL my files on the server. Im special like that. If you know how to fix that please do tell.

Lappy Mount....

How to build a car laptop mount in a few easy steps:

1. Find wood in yard.
2. Sand it.


3. Drill strap hole, sand some more.
4. Varnish a couple of times.


5. Wire in inverter for constant battery power.
6. Strap on armrest, use it.


I personally like the wood grained mouse pad, ftw! This thing is way more stout that I thought it would be, by a long shot. And the dog, I like her too.

You might be wondering why I do this? Well Im doing some major river surveying in Abq and will be spending 2 weeks ground truthing some imagery. This way I can map objects of interest real time while driving the access roads.

Quiz....

Can you name these feet?

You Cant Fix Stupid....

Yesterday afternoon I did something stupid. On the one day where I had a pile of things that I HAD to do I decided to go up to the mesa in search of a festivus log. I swear, less than 35 min into the adventure I was stuck in thigh-hip deep snow. 5 hours of digging and rigging JBobb shows up to pull Pete and I out. Lucky for us there was an emergency stash of Busch Light in the back.


Note the awesome curl the tow hook did to the push bar. I was more than impressed to say the least.


More pics coming--->

Automatronics....

It sucks sometimes that I thought I enjoyed mechanical work. Now Ive figured out too much to go back. I sat with a beer in front of the stove for an hour

Last night I replaced a failing starter (new one sounds rad like transformers!). Replaced steering dampers. Got ready to replace front shocks, later.

Recently Ive upgraded the trackbar, wheels and rims, valve cover gaskets, fog lights, jack and mount and other stuff.

Rebirth....

Found this old nasty rusty skillet, and since Ive been looking for a skillet for some time now I was pretty stoked to begin the procedure. Rebirth:

The initial part was bad looking. So I took a dremel brush to it.

Right after the heavy brushing. Im adding some olive oil to make a rusty paste and then continue dremeling the hell out of the inside.

Give it a huge cleaning with oil and paper towels a couple of times and then fry up some old bacon grease and cook some more rust out.

Preheat oven to 400 and grease up the pan for hearty seasoning with some crisco. leave in there for at least an hour and let cool in oven.

Look at that amazing nonstick surface! Rust be gone.

Just to test things out I fired up some grilled cheese. Works like a charm! (whatever that means?)

Recipe of the Day....

When I woke this morning I had intentions of cooking. I had been to the store and come home with crackers, bacon and kale the day before. Digging through the cupboards I finally had a roster of my potential ingredients. After making some paint-removing coffee and eating some toast with egg fired in the middle I started the 5 lbs bacon. Then came out the crockpot.

Bacon, potato, mushroom, and green leech soup!

-Cook up all the bacon and remove as much fat as possible.
-Fire up the crockpot on low with about a liter of water and big helping of seasoning salt.
-Cube 4 potatoes and add em in
-Add cooked bacon
-Add 3 cans cream of mushroom soup
-Slice up an onion and toss it in too
-Add an unhealthy portion of chicken bouillon
-Toss in a can of peas
-Chop kale and chard and add near the last couple of hours (looks like green leeches!)
-Serve with buttered toast for dipping



Freak out as you slurp the leech like kale in your mouth and enjoy this craziness to the very end.
My portioning made about a weeks worth or enough for 6 people to have double bowls

Road Trip, Post Haste....

The NW adventure pre GC was a complete success. I covered in excess of 5000 miles in 4 weeks. I tried to make a map where the lines are colored relative to their elevation, but didnt quite work as expected. Oh well.

Pro Deals....

I remember when I was in college all I wanted was a prodeal. Now that Ive been guiding for 7 years I finally get em. But how is the funny part. After seeing a friends Marmot pants on the GC (which he never took off) I commented on how awesome they must be and he agreed. When I returned back to the world of internets I spent considerable time researching gear. Thats when I noticed that I cant afford any of it. About that same time I noticed the link for Pro Purchase programs. I started applying to every company I could think of and then, amazingly, I start getting emails back that Im approved! Being a downtrodden underpaid river bitch has finally swung back in favor. Stoked. So far, I have these great deals that I can flaunt but not share: Marmot, Cloudveil, Columbia/Mountain Hardwear.

Will somebody please give me a job now?

Big Ass....

Replacements....

If I remember correctly, the sixth trackbar is waiting patiently in the back of the truck. But, weather dependent, in two days is the arrival of the cure, a dual heim joint trackbar and relocation bracket. Apparently this is gonna actually fix the problem of premature failure of the ball joint. I have heard nothing but good things about it so I had to get it.


I also have to get the link arms at some point bc after 200k miles I have noticed that the original rubber bushing material is disintegrating and falling out.


If you have a dodge, heres your fix. DT Profab. There will be a full writeup on the installability and driveability of the kit, so dont worry. Funny thing is that the day I was leaving for the Grand Canyon, the intake heater relay got stuck on and almost caught the engine on fire. Fuck.

$$ I need a job.

Other potential projects of note:
-5 speed tranny swap in the yz450
-grouting the fireplace tile
-rebuilding (repair) my bike collection
-learning to spell (spellcheck)

All of the above and more are in need of assistance, so come on over.

Something I learned on the month long NW roadtrip: On Demand Water Heaters are the shizzle. Get One!

Life Above Lava....

Just got back from rafting the Grand Canyon yesterday. Life in the canyon is amazing and re-entry to society is not recommended for most. Its cold. I want to go back. pics on the way.

Support: Living Out of Balance....

Trackbar #5 has been semi successfully installed. Officially it has been almost two weeks since the last one went on in Missoula. The operation took place in LA at Brians abode and fixit while drinking shop. I like that shop. The Hilift I bought in Livingston has proved itself invaluable for roadside steering surgeries. In a couple days I get to go to Flagstaff again and hike down to the river for 2 weeks of pants peeing adventure. Im sure theres gonna be a flip in there somewhere and I bet its gonna be friggin frigid. Stoked.

If you run across a cheaper stock trackbar for a 2003 or newer dodge 2500/3500 4x4, get it or call me or both!

On the bright side I gots the new installment of panoramics processed and considerable too big to publish so far....

Welcome back to Northern California, hopefully my new home for grad school!

Its Official....

.... as of yesterday, the apocalypse is on trackbar #4. I have become officially a master at replacing these. With a Highlift, a hammer and Garrett and Brad, 20 minutes and rolling. Stoked. Remember that I purchased this truck in January.

Oh My Gawd....WTF Version 19.7....

Finally Im getting somehwere. I think. Just balance and oil change and I think I might be on the road. Heres the 12 steps to drive yourself crazy in a single installment over the course of 1 week:

1. Break rim x 2
2. Order new rims
3. Recieve new rims, order new lug nuts
4. Swap tires at local shop, take home, leave out in rain
5. Cuss, invent tool to remove water from inside tires
6. Inflate tires with ether
7. Receive new lug nuts
8. Install new wheels on truck
9. Step back and gaze
10. Painfully remove stuck jackstands
11. Tighten lug nuts with wrong tool
12. Cuss a lot, go pack

Step 1

Note the nice long 2 inch crack in the middle of the four welds....

Step 5

Ingenuity = vacuum + tubes + wine bottle.
Suck for the WIN
Yeah, thats a clay pigeon thrower...

Step 6



Bobber taught me this trick down in Costa Rica, we actually used it a lot. Spray tons of ether in tire, light, enjoy! Ponder smell of burnt hair and find source on back of own hand...

Step 9

I likey!

Project Success due in part to: Eldorado Automotive, Eastside Custom Truck Parts and Fabrication, Brandsport Inc, Juan Valdez' Homebrew, Nitro and Tools, and Keith's Flaming Pallets!

Noticing....

....when you look at the pics that the goods are in, yet flat. Turns out I decided to support my local peeps to mount the tires bc the folks in town are typically incompetent as proved doubly again by this weeks affairs of lack of service. And Im not going back. From here on I need to do this myself, a classic bitter old white guy slogan.

Using fire. Yup. Fire, and something with a high vapor pressure. Done it before, gonna do it again!

Either way the black is awesome and I still have a bunch of wheels Im gonna sell cheap, so come and get em.

Scary Thought....

What if this thing fell over? According to the door sticker it weighs in at just shy of 12000 lbs. The jack I used made considerable squeaks and noises of disapproval. One of the jack stands isnt even resting on all four legs. And to think on this day I hadnt gotten coffee til afternoon...wtf?

Well I got the new rims in, and unlike what the dude said, I DO need new lug nuts. Nobody in town has em, and the ones who can order em cant get 32 like I need. One lady quoted me 13 bucks a nut, which all said and done would cost close to $450, more than the price of the wheels...shipped. So looking back online I find that I get a discount for a quantity order of more than 15, and can ship quick for $.60 a nut. $20 is way better. People in SFe are dumb. Like yesterday, nobody wants my money. I go to the tire place and theyre busy. Instead of telling me to just drop off the tires and hell get to em later, he tells me to come back some other day! The guy at the other tire place was quoting me rims and saying how much Im gonna save in shipping as I watch him add $29 per wheel in labor. Apparently the $70 I paid and the $120 he wanted for a week later delivery are the same thing. I am completely unaware.

When will this road trip ever start? I now have a plethora wheels for sale, come and get em.


Note: Zambi is so guilty at everything last night she had pasta hanging out of her mouth and looked at us like, "what?"

Neato

The Layout....

River 'Secting ....

Over all
Back in action. That was till my rim broke again. Last night. Anyways, about this last weeks job.

Beautiful skies and ginormous downpours accompanied by flash floods. Deep canyons and tamarisk. sometimes sparce, sometimes so dense and youre crawling on your knees and you cant see the sky and you start to lose your mind when you realise you have no idea where your going and the gps doesnt work in vegetaion this thick. I better pee on something. As soon as I hit a wall of russian olive Im done. I give.
One day I was out measuring a point when I heard something on a nice brisk breezy morning. I turn to my left and see a handful of pronghorn, huge antelope only 150 feet away. Down in the river I hear a lot of elk bugles. Pretty awesome birds too. And I got the Apocalypse stuck in leg deep mud and had to get chained out.

The start of a new day...storm enroute

Sometimes the caps Im looking for are a little hidden,
considerable since they were put in in 1949

And some get the base eroded right out from underneath em,
thus fall over and get buried

And then theres one that is really hard to get to, dirty SOB!!

Saturday Morning Shenanigans....

After getting some coffee, I decided that Zambi and I needed a little nature therapy. We headed up to the national forest by Cananda de los Alamos and just kept going down this trail. At a certain spot I had to get out and look to see if we could actually drive down the rocky bit, and then we did. After some chilling in the sun and a walk with the roll of paper towels, we headed back. At the rocky bit I noticed how it looks so much steeper going up than it did coming down. Either way we couldnt make it back out bc of the loose rock. Nows the point where I wish I had a beer. We might be here for a bit.
I found another trail and slowly but surely tiptoed out way up and out of the drainage. The cool part is I mapped it. But I forgot my camera.

Map soon.

Duck Season....

Hunting is here and its time to go get my license. Always practice safe shooting.

Back from the Dead....

The lappy survives another day. I never realized how awesome it truely is to be super disconnected. I got so much done the day after the HDD dropped. Amazing. But now its back, and time to pay some bills.

Not impressed.

I Peed my Pants Again....

So Dan puts this address up and insists that I go there frequently. I did. This is what I found:

"i just threw up repeatedly
on the entire entire walk down A1A
to the pizza place....
then on the way back slipped and fell in it "

I enjoy laughing....

Gear Testing is Fun....

With rainy weather and lack of any significant flow in the river I have decided to test waterproof gear in another creative way.... So far so good.

Thats the new SeaVault Cube from Outdoor Research holding up well.

Another test is also holding its own: 35" BFG MT's! It seems that everytime I put larger tires on one of my vehicles that this is how its supposed to be. The death wobbles have not shown theyre ugly face, the ride is smooth and the bumps in the road eaten up no problem without that weird scary pre wobble shimy. The weld seem to be holding as well.

The Watery Tart....

Everything that you think a moistened bink is and should be. Plus shes heaving swords.

The Moistened Bink....

More wet and sultry shots from the coast:

Potential....

If this isnt the image of a future canadian, than I dont know what is.... I think I should go pro hockey this winter!

McMudder....

There are pros and cons to great deals no matter what they are. Sometimes they can be serious and sometimes not. The first set is a before after comparison..... and yeah those are 35's with no lift....tight.


Right now my sweet Craigslist deal is in the testing phase....

The Coastal....

Note: dog is swimming and somebody keeps getting in my pictures somehow....

Top Ten....

In There....

Finally make it to Cali via the Mojave (sucks) and into the San Joaquin (sucks) and drive right through this oil ranch. I dont think you could get them pumpjacks any closer if you tried. Mind you the temp in the SJ valley is a solid 10 degrees hotter than the Mojave, which was quite unexpected (108F). You could say the jacks, the heat, us, and everything was "In There".

On the Coast all was good. Temperatures went down to the 60's, there was water and Zambi could get out and freak out. Shes perhaps the best travelling dog in the world. She slept from Flagstaff all the way to the California coast. I wish I couldve been doing that.

Dog Mountain....

Perhaps the coolest escape from the world of ugh to the the world of ahh.... Up in Colorado lies this little gem. The yucca and myself still have issues to work out, and we found all kinds crazy relics like Lime Kilns and bleeding feet from yucca, wait, uh.
You will also start to notice that I have a panoramic fetish, and cant shoot images in a flat horizon (click to see full size).


I almost forgot to mention the crazy house:

I wouldnt recommend standing near these as something might fall off at any time!

Serious, Biblical Giving....

So on my way to California (thinking of gold panning) Moriah and I got to a town near Loma Mar where we saw a bunch of free signs. We stopped, and noticed everything had a similar theme. It seems somebody wizened up and decided to get out of the extreme christian following, which is where we found this (note superfluous comma):


This is just a baiter till I get the Pacific Coast Highway pics processed....soon. BTW if your down for some good tunes, try Bonobo in Pandora, super chill.