This year we returned to Big Bend National Park for a few days of camping in Olly. On the way out we stopped over in Del Rio to visit Melina’s parents. The trip was uneventful with the exception of picking up a speeding ticket in Bracketville. Yes, a speeding ticket in a VW Vanagon. We …
Big Bend 2013
We went to Big Bend again, this time in our Vanagon. Here’s a video recap of the trip, set to the song “And So They Shall Remain” by Markley and Balmer. We saw them at the Starlight theater on this adventure. Their music is available on Soona Songs.
Gas Can Carrier Mount Improvised
I’ve got a Gary Lee rear hatch rack with bike load bars for Olly. Mainly I use it for carrying bikes, but I wanted to see about mounting a jerry can carrier on the rack. Gary’s got a removable gas can carrier for the multipurpose rack, and it looks like a quality piece of work. …
On Community
One of the more interesting threads on the Vanagon List this past week had very little to do with Vanagons. Ostensibly about beverage holders and Canadians (are they one in the same?), I say “interesting,” not because any reasonable person should care in the slightest about either of these phenomenon. Although a well designed cup-holder …
On Documentation
I am fortunate to have a workshop attached to my garage. That being said, the space is more conducive to clutter than doing actual work, so this past week I’ve begun remodeling it. As such, building codes have been on my mind, and specifications in general. Keeping things to spec goes a long way towards …
On Fixing Things Right
This past week I finally got around to fixing a couple of sheet fed-scanners we use in the office. They were both making horrible clacking noises, but eventually I got the scanners whirring quietly again, much to the nurses’ joy. The magical fix? A couple pads made from multiple layers of scotch tape, wedged next …
On Previous Owners
I am coming up on six years of Vanagon ownership in March of this year. Olly came to me by way of a dealership in Colorado. Before that he lived for a bit in the Pacific Northwest, but he began life in Texas like so many German immigrants. I take some measure of joy in …
Butterflies and Jellyfish
Mustang Island State Park, located on one of the Texas barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico. According to propoganda provided by the TPWD, hundreds of wild horses once roamed the island. They are no more, but have been evolutionarily replaced by jellyfish and sand crabs, which we did observe in quantity. The van drove …
September 21, 2012 Date Nite Line-up
Sometimes we just stay in and share Internet findings with each other. This week I have a treasure trove for Melina: Open the evening with XKCD: http://xkcd.com/1110/ West Wing Reunion Political Ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v52FLMOPSig And for world news, from CGP Grey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ROpIKZe-c&feature=g-all-u (might need to rewatch this first) A musical interlude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYtYCNkR1Yo&list=UUYEnCCeFBCbrlmuNVzs21LQ&index=0&feature=plcp More education. With cats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtWbpyjJqrU Some art. More Picasso …
Bostig Installed
A month later than originally intended, the Zetec is installed in Olly. The delay was due to hold-ups on Bostig’s end, but to be fair, I had quite aggressively high expectations about the timing of the project. When I expressed my frustration to Jim about the teasingly slow trickle of parts, he was quite apologetic …