College football starts - tomorrow!

Are you ready, Bulls fans?

I hope I didn't miss da fun(k)!

Recently traded on the heavily commerced otherworldly arena of mass consumerism and... consumerism:

This fine, albeit funky Ionic Steelhead 853 frame, $229.

We had top people, and I mean TOP people, on this sale here in the gleaming towers of One Utahdog Center, World Congress of the America's, but then I had to get get up to get yet another PBR and while in transit slipped on some unidentified party puddle and well, a week went by and another and another and then after I finally woke up on the cold marble floor of the executive washroom/shooting range/snooker parlor (EWSRSP) with a concussion I noticed that the listing was done! I need to get a softer floor installed in the EWSRSP. I'll also have somebody in legal get that party puddle cleaned up. Those boys in legal do a magical job of making our party puddle evidence disappear.

And the fine folks at the Pro's Closet managed to squeeze almost $14 out of this SDG Saddle. Hey, Comp Ti, in blue? Rare combo, comparatively. Might as well say "Shimano Pure Guts" on it.  Funky.

And because the funk never runs out on this fat-booty shaggin waggin, here's another random picture of the Saab SPG.

Funk.

Tail of the Dragon - US 129

Met the fellas a week ago in GA/NC/TN and drove up to knock this one off the bucket list...

Unadulterated mayhem on US129, aka "Tail of the Dragon", so named because within 11 or so miles there are something like 300 curves on the road. We also spent the weekend tooling around other neighboring twisties and listening to my radar detector squawk. Good times.

Shed 2.0 - Part 4, The "Z" Door Detail

I talked about adding a Z Detail to the door in phase 2 of Shed 2.0. Well here it is. The purpose of the Z is to emulate the construction of a gate or plank built door, where instead of plywood the door is made from plank wood instead of one sheet of ply. On a plank door the Z takes the weight of the door and distributes it to the lower hinge. On my plywood door, the Z does still add some stiffness to the door and also some weight to the lower hinge, but mostly it is a decorative feature.

And then I hit the Sweetwater "Tacklebox" for...

...a "Waterkeeper" Heffeweizen...

...a "Take Two" Pilsner...

...and the old standby 420.

Bacon

Goatsurfer, over there >>>, hooked me in to this little GoPro nugget.

The Execs here in the Hallowed Halls of the Gleaming Towers, etc etc, LOVES us some Bacon. Whats better than bacon? Surfing Bacon! What's better than Surfing Bacon? Nothing, except maybe if the Surfing Bacon had a little hat made of bacon or something, maybe a bacon thong, but that would just be silly. Plus were we to shamelessly gank interweb content and repost tawdry crap like videos of pigs in slinky outfits, One Utahdog Center World Congress of the Americas would surely lose our family friendly blog status.

If we still have it.

Which we probably don't.

America.

VW - #2 all time vintage 4 Cylinder Engine?

From Petrolicious...

http://www.petrolicious.com/these-are-the-ten-best-vintage-four-cylinder-engines

Thank you, Captain Obvious. But production for seventy years, in everything from planes and sports cars to simple cheap sedans and one ton chassis service trucks, maybe earns the ubiquitous VW flat 4 the number one spot? Don't forget, the 36horse VW shares more with the 356 engines than most Porsche-files would prefer you remember.

And the Alfa Twin Cam is 3rd?

Look, vintage BMWs are awesome, but methinks the BMW is ranked at least 3 spots too high. And the Honda B was a game changer, still heavily influencing vehicle technology today, which should put it in the top four. And, no Saab? Only Saab could take a lump of iron like the Triumph slant and turn it into one of the best engines of the 80's, the H family, single cam 201 and DOHC 202. The last true Saab engine. From the last true Saab. When BMW went sideways with "eta" , Saab filled the void.

Long liveth the Saab SPG!!

The picture of 80's awesome. Last one left the City of Trolls in 1991.

Saab made louvers cool. Suck it, Camaro.

The rolling shovel.

No consideration for the VW 16V?

The 16V, powering a Golf with stones and a Scirocco worth driving.

OK, that last one is probably more representative of my age more than anything, and of being a complete Flock of Seagulls 80's homer, but I'm standing firm on the Saab B202.

My top 5:

5) Saab 'H' (both 201 and 202)

4) Honda B

3) BMW M10

2) Alfa

1) VW Flat

Read more good stuff from Petrolicious right over there. >>>>>>>>

Flea - the Passage of Time...

So this is what we get.  Management goes all limp, caves to the demands of the fairer sex, invests time money and energy in the 'Powder Room' facilities here in the Gleaming Towers of One Utahdog Center, World Congress of the Americas, and life completely passes us by...

Altek levers, $48!!

Minty (as the Brits say) Beast, sold for somewhere south of $450 complete. This thing looks like a Cannondale ad from 1993 right down to the 'Torpedo' grips.

And not one, but TWO...

Cook Bros Racing Authorized dealer stickers! How did this happen? Where were our financial watchdog gurus in the Accounting Department?!? 

Holy mother of God make the emptiness and pain go away.

Shed 2.0 - Part Three!

Close to finished. Upper management and I hate waste! Chop Chop!!

This is the siding detail. 5" reveal, lap-sided with pressure treated 6 and 8 foot rough sawn pressure treated pine fence pickets. These simulate the texture of the rough sawn cedar on the house but cost much less and also mean that I won't need to paint!

Note the last siding board on the top is too thick, and prevents the 5" reveal for he board below it. I will remove that board and trim it down.

In this picture and the last before it, you can see that the 1x2" fir drip edge has been added to the fascia on the gable ends, and not yet to the front fascia. Front fascia will also get a strip of galvanized drip edge.

Corner detail coming together.

Some shots to give perspective to the shed and it's location in the yard. Beats the heck out of the ugly aluminum thing in the neighbors yard behind us! Here on the front of the shed you can also see that I've cut down the last siding board to maintain the 5" reveal, something I didn't do originally on the back, but will before I call the shed finished.

Door up and ready for lawn crap! The galvanized drip edge is there, screened gables are trimmed out with 1x2". There is a "Z" type door detail to come, a trim piece for the inside of the door jam, a casing piece for under the jam, the soffits need to be enclosed to keep critters out and I need to shingle the roof, but you get the idea.

Shed! 2.0!

Shed 2.0 - Part Dos

Progress soldiers on here in the hallowed halls of the gleaming towers of One Utahdog Center, World Congress of the Americas.  I should say that to assemble the shed we are using structural hardened and coated screws suitable for treated wood and for outdoor framing and structural applications where increased shear resistance is necessary. To facilitate the screwing, because here in corporate America we are all in favor of indiscriminate screwing, upper management approved the embezzlement of funds so as to allow for the purchase of new tools! The new hammer driver and drill combo. 20V, compact, and ridiculously powerful, and made in-country. Model number is DCF885. It is a jewel to use.

We go vertical. Walls framed 16" on center, pressure treated base plate and top plate. The diagonal in the below picture steadies the wall plumb and straight in preparation for the additional walls to go up.

Side walls and rear wall up.

Framed for a simple plywood door.

The gable ends are screened and trimmed out to allow for ventilation and light. There are no windows in my design.

Roof rough-framed and sheeted with 1/2" PT Plywood.

Next up, siding! And a door!

History is Yours!!

Old beat truck days are going on now on the Interwebs! The esteemed executive management here in the gleaming towers of One Utahdog Center, World Congress Of the Americas, is tempted....

Oooohh!

Dig the skins!

And if your wife balks?... Buy a shiftknob instead.

America.