New Desk
Got this custome desk from ebay.
152.50! solid oak. It rocks.
came out of a million dollar house in southlake.
that is all go back to work.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Burning Man
I was suppose to mail this to my Mom from Burning Man but I forgot. I figured I should post it here.
Dear Mom,
Hope everything at home is going ok. I thought I should write you and tell you about what its like at burning man. You always are asking me about it and I cant ever explain it right so maybe a letter will help.
We arrived on Sunday during a nice dust storm. The 2 ladies that took our tickets were real nice. One from Australia wasn’t wearing any clothes, the other one I think was from England. She was just topless. I guess they make them wear bottoms in England.
After we gave them out tickets and they said we could drive in we gave them presents. At burning man it’s a gifting society. There is no selling of anything. So we gave them tequila and Texas beer. They loved it.
The next stop was greeters. The lady there was topless also. But she was from the states. She asked us if we had been before and Katy said yes it was her 2nd time and my 3rd. She said then she didn’t need to spank us or explain things. We agreed although a spanking during the middle of a dust storm by a topless lady cant be bad can it? We also gave her some gifts, this time some vodka from Russia and Texas beer. She loved it.
We arrived at camp and wouldn’t you know it, but the ones that had already arrived had been setting up all day and were already tired and had started to party. It was hard to get them to help unload but we finally got everything unloaded. Katy and I started building our shelter that we would live in for the next 6 nights. It didn’t take long to understand why everyone was either naked or topless. Its hot out here!
We got our shelter up and then we laid out the stuff for out theme camp. Our theme camp was to decorate peoples bikes. Since you cant drive a car there (unless its an art car) everyone rides bikes. Well since its an arts festival its real cool to have a decorated bike. We were there to help you make your bike into an art piece.
We were tired so we went to bed early. About 11pm I think.
Monday morning I awoke before sunrise and watched it rise. Wow it was really awesome! Katy got up, we ate some breakfast (I had tequila sunrise, that’s tequila and orange juice with a splash of grenadine, need my vitamin C just like you taught me)
We got the rest of the theme camp together and finally opened at noon. Wow we didn’t realize how popular we would be. Very quickly we learned we had to get people in line.
Lucky for us we had a guy that had a bullhorn (it’s a model cmg6666 and its really cool, plays some funny stuff on it) We got to decorating bikes. People would come in and we had cloth they could use or fake flowers or pipe cleaners plus some little LED lights. It was really fun. If the girls were real pretty I would find my friend Wayward (they call him wayward cause he can dress up like a real pretty lady) to come help them as he is single and likes helping pretty girls.
Some of the problems we found out real quick were that more people wanted to decorate there bikes than we had space for. We got one of our campmates to control the line with his Bullhorn. At one point the people camped across the street from us sent there 10 yr old boy over to ask him to stop talking on it as it was messing with his dads tripping. It was at that point I realized that nothing my dad ever did to me was that bad. Can you imagine…”son go tell the neighbor to stop mowing his lawn as I am trying to trip right now”…that would have been funny.
We figured that the neighbor was joking so we asked our campmate to make sure he talked on his bullhorn all day long. I think our neighbors loved it!
Katy and I got real tired working in the camp all day and didn’t have enough energy to drive our bikes out into the “city” so we just set our chairs up in front of camp and watched everyone go by. Just as we were talking about how it would be nice to ride in an art car Naked Jim drives up in one asking if we want a ride. WOW what great timing.
Katy and I rode in the front with Naked Jim and went out into the city. It was dark and kind of hard to see all the people walking around without any lights on. For some reason people get stupid at Burning Man and think that everyone else has night vision or something. It took Naked Jims and my full attention to make sure we didn’t run over anyone. We got to calling people without lights on “darktards”. Not a real politically nice term but after a bit it got frustrating. By the end of the week I was calling them that to there face…
We saw some awesome art! I can’t explain it at all, but there are some imaginative and creative people in this world. WOW (by the way, naked Jim got his name cause he goes around naked all the time)
Tuesday morning about 4am during a total eclipse someone decided to burn the man a little early. So when we got up Tuesday morning the man was all charred. Was really exciting to here all about it and get everyone’s opinion of it. They took him down and started rebuilding him so they could burn him again Saturday night. Made perfect since to us.
Tuesday we did pretty much what we did Monday. We worked in the theme camp all day then just chilled at night. You see a lot of weird or wild things at burning man, but after the first day it really does not seem wild or weird anymore. I didn’t see anyone “tripping out” but I did see a lot of happy people. There are a lot of people that do drugs and a lot of drink, but you don’t have to do either one to have a real good time. Katy and I don’t do drugs at all (well alcohol but in moderation) and we had a blast. Some of our campmates don’t do either one and have a blast. Its hard to explain but there is a lot of live and let live and that fosters a big since of community? Or acceptance? No matter how weird, ugly, pretty, overweight, skinny, you are you are accepted for who you are and welcomed. Our campmates were from one end to the other! Me and katy the conservative married for over 20 yrs couple to the young artistic couple (katy adopted the girl as her burner daughter.) to the guy older than all of us. We had teachers, to waitresses to students in our camp and we all accepted each other. It’s a shame the rest of the world cant get along a tenth as well as we did.
Wednesday we decide we were not going to work in the theme camp that day, and let some of our campmates do it. At noon the World naked bike ride started going by. I asked them were they were going and they were heading to “our lady of schlongs” who were at 4:30 and landfill (the streets have names) so I asked katy if she wanted to join and she said sure. So did Tigger. So we took off after them. We caught them and went on the world naked bike ride. From our lady of schlongs we went to Barbie death camp and wine bistro. Then we headed over to another camp but forget the name. (that wine was stong!)
I got to see a 65 pontiac hearse and remembered you making the red curtains for mine! Was really cool. I got to missing my hearse.
I forget what else we did Wed. I think we had a lot of fun.
Thursday was a march for male rights, sorta. The name is not something I want to tell my mom but it was very fun. Our camp was one of the places they stopped and we serverd them Texas beer and water. It was way fun.
Then the real dust storm hit! Wow 40 to 50 mph wind and white outs it was so dusty. We had to do some major tying down of structures and actually had to take some down.
Friday….we went and saw some of our friends at various camps and went and checked out the art. Then we had another dust storm, then some slight rain, a triple rainbow then more wind. For some reason it was fun.
Saturday….the weather was nice and we checked out the art work all over the city. Then that night we watched the man burn again. It was not near as exciting as the last year, maybe because they had already burned him once that week and we figured out that we didn’t need a man to burn to develop a since of community with people?
Sunday morning early Katy rode out with Disco Deb and another lady and they all flew home. I drove back with Button and arrived home Tuesday.
There are many many many stories and details I left out. Sure a lot I would not tell my mom, but nothing I am ashamed of just embarrassed to tell mom. And yes it wasn’t all rose’s…..there were trials and tribulations…but we all got thru them and still had a great time.
If there were not so many naked people or if the dust storms were not so bad or if wasn’t so hot I would try and convince you and dad to rent an RV and come out. Well that and you have to bring in your own water and take out your own trash and you cant leave a trace you were ever there and you have to use porta potties all week, and the music and sounds are real loud all night long…and your 2 hours from the closest hospital, and and and…well guess its not for everyone but if you did go you would be accepted!
Mike aka ESE that is long for SA which is short for swiss army, my burner name given to me cause I am always fixing things, kind of like a swiss army knife, many tools.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Finished
heres the finished trike!
It will never be truly finished, as I will be adding to it forever!
you can sit on the top!
I spent less than 200 bucks on this one! (not including the new tools I bought!)
its very stable, turns great, holds alot of weight. very nice trike!
Seat covers and headrest
Everyone that rode this said it needed headrest!
so we did!
how about those hippy seat covers!
rear brake
My rear brake.
instead of spending bucks for disc brake I "engineered" this.
works ok. along with front brake it will stop the bike.
steering and front brake
Thanks to some testing (thanks Circe and Dan) found out my front tie rod was to weak.
added bar to it and its pretty tought now!
front brake works ok.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Chase does brakes...
Katys truck needed rear breaks, what better person to do that than the 15 yr old that just got his learners permit.
Yes son, its lesson 27 subsection C. You must know how to change out break pads before you can get your license.
We are doing the parent taught drivers ed. So we make up our own lesson plans. Being the smart guy I am I figured that hands on instead of slides would be best.
Next is oil change.
HIllary knows how to put oil in her car. Although she did put 1/3 of a quart of tranny fluid in last time at least she caught it. She also knows how to change wipper blades and change a tire.
Teenagers can be good if you know how to work it!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
burnt arms...
I burned both arms...welding on my new pedal car.
I was working on the top, observation part and had finished welding and went o jump up on top.....didnt mean for my arms to lay on the hot just welded metal...
Sad thing is I wear safety glasses at all times (never did growing up)
and I have about 20 pairs of gloves that I make everyone wear when they come over....including myself...
Just took a little slip and next thing you know I am saying words that would make my mom blush...
well that was lesson number 25,678 for me....
of course 4 hours later I cut my head on a pipe and bled some...and I have had that lesson before heck!
Friday, May 18, 2007
Been working on wheel
This is the hub I made for my new pedal car.
The pedal car is going to be a two seat recumbent with a 2nd deck...
I am making the wheels. I had to manufacture the hubs as in this pic, then take a wheel apart and attach it to this hub. its pretty difficult.
but it worked.
Having a clean garage helps!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Did you call your mom on Mothers Day?
I did. I had to leave a message. Called later and it just rang. With over 10 brothers and sisters I figured she was talking to one of them.
so called the next day...(or 2 days later I am getting old) and had good chat.
Until I ask if all my brothers and sisters called her...Holly bat poo, four YES four did not call!
You know who you are you slimy piece of cow poo! She would not tell me exactly the ones, I think she is scared I might go George Bush on em and declare war...but I did figure out all but one have kids of there own...
How do you not call your mom on mothers day? I would have to ask but I dont think I ever forgot to call. Even when I was knee deep in the chit in Vietnam hunting Charlie I would stop down and call mom on mothers day!
Not only should you fell like crap, you should have a thousand flees infest your armpits!
Yea maybe good idea not to let me know who did not call...
Monday, May 14, 2007
I am my grandfathers grandson...
My moms dad was a huge do it yourself type of man. In his tradition, I needed a tool to take off a sprocket from a bike. They sell a real nice one at the bike shop for 22 bucks...yea right
I took a 26 cent bolt, ground it to the right size and welded it to a wrench...
the wrench cost a buck at any flea market..
now I have a buck 26 tool that is worth 22 bucks!
ha!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Your gonna be my *itch...or April fools
So Hillary turned 17 today....one year and one day from today and I can kick her out on her own, but until then we shall have some fun.
On april first I was at some friends in Dallas and get this call from Hillary, "Dad, snob snigg, you will have to get my truck towed home.....I had a wreck...sniff..."
ok Hillary what happened?
Well I got in a fight with a girl at work and got fired and mad and pealed out of the parking lot and hit a car and and and...
So yes I fell for it....
Hillary since she was 4 years old has lived for April fools day. and she got me good.
Her and her Grandmother (read MY MOTHER) like tricking me. Mom one time painted a sign and overlaid it on store sign saying "mikes moms crafts"...
well payback is a witch with a B
Yesterday at dinner I realized we had not done her TAXES...ooops
so we did them real quick (she gets a 10 dollar refund) we made mention of how we hoped she didnt get in trouble for doing them late etc...
she then drove over to my buddies house to get some garage sale items. I called my buddie and asked him to give her a story of a friend of his going to jail for not doing his taxes on time.....he did aweseome. gave a great story of "jack" not doing his taxes on time and spending 4 months in federal prison and becoming someones "Witch" with a B....
so Hillary calls me on her way home in a panic..."yea ohh I remmber Jack, yea he went to prison for a bit...yea I forgot about him...dang..well Hillary all we can do is get you a lawyer and maybe we can work something out with them" about this time she starts crying...so I say "hillary....I got you!"
she hung up on me...
ahhh life is good!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Dog House
Chase is building a dog house for his Aunt. She got the plans and we printed them out and he is doing all the rest.
Good thing his dad has allot of tools!
Its funny, up until a year or so ago I was always calling him to come hold something when I was building something, now the tables are turned. He has been calling me, "will you hold this up so I can attach this to it"
Now I am the gopher and he is the one in charge...
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
4 wheel car bike
Chase taking it on a test drive.
many issues. The front left wheel is welded crooked.
the steering does not work right.
its too tall
Its pretty heavy but not too bad. I can improve that.
But I think what I will do is take what I have learned from this and transfer that knowledge into a 2 person 2 story bike. I have parked this in the backyard and started building dirt bikes to sell, so I can have that money to build these weird things!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Tall bike number two
You take 2 20" bikes. weld one on top of the other. you lengthen the steering post. you redo the chain.
You get a kid to test it for you.
You have a tall bike!
I have 2 now so the kids can joust on them.
There pretty neat. you sit up twice as high so you can see much more.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
new washer and dryer
After 18 years of using the washer and dryer my father in law gave us for a wedding present (we didnt get it until a few years after we were married since we were living in apartments and moving all the time)
We finally broke down and got new ones.
Front loading, energy effecient stackable ones!
These uses 60% plus less water than the old and half the time to wash and mucho shorter to dry!
I picked them up one at a time on sale from Lowes..one was a return and I got it over half off.
also makes tons more room in the laundry area as you can see they stack and I built a bench to fold etc on.
Wish my mom had these when we were growing up, she would have loved them. You can wash more clothes at once plus they dry as fast as they wash.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
It drives (sort of)
I just finished driving it down the street.
1. front left wheel is not straight. Have to reweld it.
2. Steering wheel as you can see is not straight.
3. Have to reweld the front pedal. Its not attached real well.
overall it pedals and rides better than my pvc one from last year. You sit up mucho higher and thats nice.
This design is gonna work, but will be best with 2 to 4 riders (IE pedalers) its pretty tough for one man.
The idea of being able to take it apart for transporting it is also going to work.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
steering on!
Got some steering going southern engineering style!
took some work and a used "Razor scooter" but steeering looks to be working.
I have to move one crank forward and weld one more on then some chains and might be able to do some test driving.
this is the 4 person pedal car that I am making and should be able to break it down to smaller size for transporting.
we shall see
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Runaway, 9, sneaks on flight to Texas
This headline makes you believe the story is that a kid snuke onto a flight...but the real story is deeper..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_us/airline_runaway_3
What gets me and what I think is the real story is the fact he stole not one car and was caught but it was the THIRD stolen car he had been caught in! 3 stolen cars and caught in a month! Holly cow! and his mom blames it on playstation 3 and the fact he hated where he lived! Wait just a redneck minute mom. Just what in the h e double hockey sticks are you doing as a parent. Your kid steals 3 cars? I say lock the mom up, move the kid to the marines (hes a bad ass and would be good at fighting the Iraq bad guys) and tell southwest to stop worrying about reality TV and get there ticketing correct.
And I bet donuts to bacon that his momma will not pay for the last stolen car because the neighbor had it running with no one in it. Oh its there fault for leaving there car running around my son who is known for car thievery, as a matter of fact I am getting a lawyer and suing them! and southwest and the San Antonio police and the Taliban...woohoo I hit the lottery!
Ok back to your boring lives, that is all.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Insert anything here
A tourist walks into a curio shop and sees a life-like bronze statue of a rat.
He asks the salesmen, "How much?"
The salesman replied, "12 bucks for the rat and 100 bucks for the story."
The tourist says, "I'll just take the rat, thanks."
As soon as the tourist leaves the shop rats started crawling out of the sewers. There were a hundred rats, then a thousand, and then millions.
The tourist was running as fast as he could. He ran to the end of the pier and threw the bronze rat as far out into the lake as he could. All the other rats jumped after it and drowned.
The tourist walked back to the store.
The salesmen says, "Came back for the story, eh?"
The tourist replies, "No but I was wondering, do you have a statue of a Republican?"
Friday, January 12, 2007
new cutting torch...
I have always wanted a cutting torch but couldnt afford one.
they make a small kit (like the one pictured) for 300 bucks.
Me, I live by the rule of it should be at least half of retail.
So I put this one together from pieces bought at a flea market and a discount tool store for 145 bucks!
It rocks.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The war and history
I have been thinking alot about the war in Iraq lately. Being a fan of history and realizing that GW didnt take history I always thought he was just clueless due to that fact. But as I myself try to figure it out I come to a fork in the road.
I try to compare it to Vietnam. They are so close. In vietnam you had north and south fighting each other. One was supported by the russians the other by America. In Iraq you have two diffrent religous secs. One supported by alkaida the other by America.
So looking back on history one could say get out, look at nam we lost there after 9 years of bloody fighting. Or, you cant win someone elses civil war.
But then talk to soldiers that were in Nam. "they wouldnt let us fight the way we needed" or "It was a politcians war"
There are thousands of blogs discussing this by people that drink starbucks coffee and listen to NPR so if you want some deep discussions go read them. Me, I just say "we dont know the correct answer, history isnt much help" Either way GW goes (and I am writting this after he commited another 21k troops) he is gonna lose more than likely. If he trys to keep the fight going we will get a new administration in the next election and bail out like a cat at a dog fight. If he bails out now and iraq goes into a total mess (think Iran taking it over? could happen) he will be dished for that.
I dont want to say "support our president" cause personally I think his dumb ass got us in this mess, but now that we are in it we have to work together to figure out a way out.
I got in a fight with an older kid in the 5th grade. The sob was twice my size and was picking on all of us smaller kids. I stood up to him and we went at each other. The teacher broke it up and sent us to the principal. On the way to the prinicipals office we worked together to come up with a good lie to keep both of us from getting spankings. We hated each other 10 minutes before but still worked together to keep our butts from pain. Isnt it a shame that a 5th grader and 6th grader can work something out but those of us that Listen to NPR or Rush Limbaugh and have this great 4 to 8 year college degrees cant come up with some good lie to get our butt from getting spanked?
Ok back to you 8 dollar coffee...me I am gonna make a cheap bourbon and coke
Monday, January 8, 2007
A mans got to have the right tools
I get tools all the time as gifts...I got this one called a Rotozip about 3 years ago. I used it one time to put a door in about a year and half ago.
But the big use and saved me hours of time was this weekend when chase was replacing the front door handle and lock. when the low rent scum sucking pigs built this house they didnt cut out for the latches etc using the correct tool. The rotozip did it correctly in about 5 minutes!
Friday, January 5, 2007
New hot tub building.
This is the new building housing my hot tub. Me and the family poured the slab, and I built the rest. Its all cedar with a metal roof. Its not airtight on purpose, if the hot tub is open it puts out tons of humidity so I need the building to breath.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
New pump and control unit.
This is the new control unit and pump. Was a big pain to install but after about 10 hours of work its in and working awesome!
Much quieter and uses less electricity.
Old pump and control
This is the old pump and control unit from my spa. It lasted about 2 years longer than what is normally expected.
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