DMV - Excuse for a ride...

I needed to take care of some paper work at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Since it was 62 degrees I decided to ride.

The hill's are turning green. Looking east toward the lower Sierra mountains.

As the map shows, the route I took around the county took me through a lot of orange orchards, grape vineyards and farm land.

Is there any other?

The hills are green now, but wait for a couple of months and they will be brown and ugly.

The road up though the hills.

Is there any other, really?

This shot is looking over the San Joaquin Valley in the direction of Arvin and Lamont

And some of the farm land. As usual always hazy.

There is a saying in the valley, "where the water flows the food grows" Water is very critical in the valley and it seems like the farmers are always having to fight for water. Seems like the Delta Smelt is more important than human life.

This is the way water was pumped in years gone by.
This is the way water is pumped today.

Eighty miles later, I got my DMV taken care of including a great ride

Do you feel lucky? Well do ya...

I know what you're thinking. Did he fire six shots or only five? Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum - the most powerful hand gun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question--Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk!
Dirty Harry

The Pueblo Incident

A few days ago at work a song came on the radio, my work buddy Tim asked me if I knew the words to this particular song. After listening to the tune for a few moments I knew I had heard the song before but admitted not knowing the words. The song was performed by the one hit wonder "Blues Image"

An international incident 42 years ago remains shrouded in mystery.

On the bitterly cold morning of Jan. 23, 1968, an American intelligence vessel, USS Pueblo, was operating in international waters off the coast of North Korea. It was surrounded by four North Korean patrol boats, with two MiG aircraft flying overhead. The boats ordered the Pueblo to stop and let the North Koreans board. The order was refused. The Pueblo headed further out to sea. The North Korean boats immediately opened fire. Armed with only a 50-caliber gun secured from the freezing temperatures by a tarp, the Pueblo was unable to fight back.

With more North Korean boats appearing on radar and heading its way, the Pueblo had no choice but surrender -- the first U.S. Navy ship since 1807 to be captured by a foreign power.

One Pueblo crew member was killed in the attack; the remaining 82 spent 11 months in a prison camp before being released. The Pueblo remains in North Korea.

The Pueblo was immortalized in song; 'Ride, Captain Ride' and is played to this day on radio stations across the USA, yet few Americans realize the true meaning of the popular 70's song.

Some people think the song was written in response to the "Pueblo Incident"

Listen to the song

Welcome to 2010

I think 2009 was pretty hard on most folks! I wish 2010 will be better in all aspects for everyone.

Merry Christmas, 2009

Have you been naughty or nice?

I bought a new vehicle!

Unfortunately it was not a Red Corvette :(
...but is was a van like this. If your in the market for a new car you owe it to yourself to go to Three Way Automotive Group and talk with Ted. His staff makes the automotive buying experience a breeze.
Three Way Chevrolet has been the #1 Chevrolet dealer in the State of California for over seven years!

This Day in History, December 12,1986

Happy Birthday, Honey.
You have given me many happy memories.
I Love You.

December 7, 1941---Never Forget

Aircraft and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy began a surprise attack on the U.S. under the command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Despite long-standing assertions that this attack could have been predicted and prevented by the United States Military, the U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor appeared to be utterly unprepared, and the attack effectively drew the United States into World War II. At 6:09 a.m. on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 planes composed mainly of dive-bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 7:55 a.m. The first wave attacked military airfields of Ford Island. At 8:30 a.m. a second wave of 180 Japanese planes, mostly torpedo bombers, attacked the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship Arizona was hit with an armor-piercing bomb, which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, blowing the ship apart and sinking it within seconds. Overall, nine ships of the U.S. fleet were sunk and twenty-one ships were severely damaged. Three of the twenty-one would be irreparable. The overall death toll reached 2,350, including 68 civilians, and 1,178 injured. Of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were from the Arizona. The first shots fired were from the USS Ward on a midget submarine that had surfaced outside of Pearl Harbor, the USS Ward did successfully sink the midget sub at approximately 6:55, about an hour before the assault on Pearl Harbor.

Top-end Rebuild, The Assembly

After the gaskets on back order were received, the parts were all cleaned and ready for the install, I got started with the assembly. I realized that the assembly was just the reverse of the disassemble so I didn't take any pictures and just concentrated on the job at hand.

Getting the pistons into the cylinders with the proper orientation was about the only stumble I had. The pistons are marked "Front" or "Rear" with an arrow that needs to point to the front of the engine. After I got the rear piston/cylinder mounted to the connecting rod I looked into the cylinder and noticed I had mounted the arrow pointing rearward instead of forward! When transferring the assembly to the engine, I hadn't taken into effect of working backward on the bench and then transferring the assembly to the bike. One picture I did take is of me putting oil on a head bolt just before installation. The torquing of the head bolts is a series of four sequences in a cross pattern ultimately getting all head bolts torqued to 42 ft. lbs.

This is one of four push rod tubes that was assembled and ready for installation. They are two piece with "O"-rings on each end and one in the middle.

New spark plugs, this one is getting a coat of anti-seize. Anytime you put steel spark plugs in aluminum heads you should apply anti-seize.

Top-end Rebuild, Part 12

While waiting for the base gaskets to arrive I repainted the cylinder heads.
So, I taped off all the pertinent areas.
The EPA will not allow the MoCo to ship acrylic paint to the great Kommunist state of Kalifornia.
Therefore I was unable to use the paint that may have been the best.
So, I purchased a can of high temperature barbecue paint.
The finish of the paint is suppose to "texture". I tested a small area and
then helped it along with a heat gun.

The head on the left is done and the head on the right is ready for the tape to be removed and the edges to be cleaned.
I was happy with the results that I was getting. I gave the heads three heavy coats of paint.

After 15 minutes I got a rag and some denatured alcohol, rubbing the
machined edges to expose the shiny. I allowed the heads to sunbathe
in the California sun (75 degrees) for three full days to cure.