Name - Mike Smith

I enjoy computer(ing)(s), my guitars, my motorcycle, gaming in general, all kinds of music, sci-fi, reading, and just generally being lazy.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Quick Pics

Just a quick set of pics of my add-ons. I need to quit taking them in the garage, get it out in the sun because the chrome doesn't show up well under flash. I'll take some next weekend maybe since I'll be gone helping a friend move this weekend.

Front:
Front_Before_After

Rear:
Rear_Before_After

Others:
Fender_Side
DSC_0584_a
DSC_0581_a
DSC_0585_a

Nickel & Dime

Why can't I buy a "kit" with everything needed for my device to work the way it was intended? Electronics should come with basic cables necessary for different applications. To be specific, I just got around to installing the Sirius Sportster radio that I bought several weeks ago. I ran the antenna and the 12 volt power cord through the dash and out right where I wanted to mount the dock. The kit has the receiver, antenna, power adaptor, remote, dock, and suction cup mount included. Even though my truck radio doesn't have an aux in jack, how much could it have been to include a male-male mini cable and a mini to RCA cable? Those things are like 2 bux at Radio Shack? And if you know your device has a crappy FM transmitter, go ahead and include the FM direct adapter that plugs into the radio's antenna jack. I know electronics can't come with EVERY possible cable needed, but these should have been included here. Now I'll need to buy the FM direct adapter, and once it gets here, run another wire through the dash.

Typing about the FM transmitter made me think about another issue. I hate the radio available around here where I live. There are about 15-20 channels that come in clear, at least 7 or 8 are crap country, 1 is classic country, 3 of them are classic rock, and the rest are pop, soul, or talk/public. I like the classic country station, NPR, and maybe one of the classic rock stations. There is just no great radio available. So with that in mind, let me tell you this. There is not ONE selection on the FM dial that is sufficiently static-free for me to use the FM transmitter in the satellite radio receiver... There is some kind of crap bleeding onto every friggin' point on the dial, and there still ain't jack to listen to. One of the reasons I bought a Zune and the Sirius receiver in the first place.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Ben Dover... Glad to meet ya, Ben

We have an internal website on the company intranet with various news articles from the operating companies. This morning, this picture accompanied one of the articles.



At first glance, I thought it was an article about my raise. ;-)

Monday, March 24, 2008

Gettin' on my lazy butt

Well, since Mojo has updated his blog twice since my last update, I figured that I needed to get off my lazy catookus (or on it, I guess) and write something.

The first update to give is my Dad's status. If you are reading this, then you probably already know that he had a heart attack a few weeks ago. They kept him in the hospital for a few days and then let him go home. This is his third, and with the damage done by the first two coupled with the fact that he had quintuple bypass about 7 or 8 years ago, along with the current blockages, they decided that surgery isn't an option. It poses too great a risk and not really any benefit at this point. He is going back next week for his tests to see if he has healed enough to insert a defibrillator/pacemaker under his skin.

He needs to take better care of himself by eating right, exercising, and quit smoking. I really only get a one-sided story because I talk to my Mom mostly, but she is complaining because he continues to sit around, and he is a bit afraid of any exertion at this point, when really, he needs to be exercising. He just needs to be smart and take regular breaks and not over-do it.

As far as the sister stuff goes, I took Furg's advice and went for a ride to clear my head. I've been enjoying the bike immensely, and the weather keeps getting better and better. I've added some chrome pieces and I have some smoked blinker and taillight lenses and a chrome piece for the front fender in-transit via UPS. I'll post some pics when the last of it is installed.

Glenda and I, my neighbors Justin & Val, and my coworker Gene all rode into Tuscaloosa on Saturday for lunch. We were going to eat at a Japanese steakhouse, but they were closed. We ended up at Wilhagen's Sports Bar for burgers and beers. We went back to the house and I dropped Glenda off and Gene and I decided to ride about 60 miles south of my house to a bike rally. The directions we had were bad, and we ended up going about 1.5 miles down a dirt road before deciding to turn around. We figured nothing was down there, and if it was, we wanted no part of it. :) When we made it out to the main highway, we decided to go a little further. Not even 2/10 of a mile up the road was the sign pointing to the actual rally. So we got all happy and headed down there. Well, about 5-600 yards down, THAT road turned into a dirt road. We decided, "Screw this!" and turned around and headed home. The drive was incredibly nice, though. When I got home after 120 miles, that aftermarket seat with the driver's backrest for $799 was looking like a helluva deal...

American Ironhorse OutlawAnd just to make Furgs extrememly jealous... Gene now has 3 bikes! He has an American Ironhorse "Outlaw" chopper that he bought in Knoxville. About 3 months ago, he decided he needed something for cruisin', so he bought a brand-spankin' new American Ironhorse OutlawHeritage Softail with a 103 kit and some aftermarket pipes on it. Then, about a month ago, we were in the Harley dealership, and he decided to make an offer on one of the Thunder Mountain "Keystone" choppers they had in the dealership. Man, that thing is sharp. I need to get him to send me a pic so I can post it.