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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

"billy bike" comes back to life....kind of sorta

I gave the "billy bike" to Frank. Do ya remember that? Frank broke it. Then he throwed it over there behind that dilapidated old building. Left there to wither away in the extremes of south Texas.

Yesterday morn'n when I got up, it was hot. My usual back pains were there. But I feeled pretty dad gum good. My coffee was excellent, an' the aspirins did wonders. Ate me up a big ol' pancake an' a couple over easy eggs. Now, speak'n of eggs....eggs piss me off. I've tried every way in the world to fry me up a perfect fried egg. I don't want no shriveled up crispy edges on my eggs. The white has got to be done. None that run all over my plate. But shoot, I either git me a few chunks of shell, burn the hell out the edges, white shit all over my plate or the yoke is cooked to a crisp. Yesterday was no exception.

Now what the hell was I talk'n bout before we got on eggs??? Oh yes....I feeled like a hunnert dollar bill....an' it was hot in "da house". Too dad gum hot to be sit'n round "do'n nuttin". Please take note....the old Billy Bob does a lot of sit'n.
Outside I sit down in my camp'n chair. My coffee mug is sit'n next to me, along with a full pac of smokes. While sit'n there, I got to think'n...."billy bike". I can fix that. Me an' Sadie Mae drag that thing up in my yard for a Texas safety inspection. "My god Frank, what the hell did you run into"? The back derailer thingy is bended up against the spokes. One brake lever is bended all to hell. The front sprocket is at a angle an' the crank bear'ns are all wobbly. The seat an' handlebars are out of kilter. Do ya got a good picture of what I got to contend with if'n I'm gonna fix this thing? Rust....did I tell ya bout the rust??? The chain is stiff as a board.


Three hours I worked on that thing. I got dad gum grease on me from head to foot. Smashed a finger. Parts lay'n all over the ground. Bended parts are removed an' straightened as close to original as I can. Bearings are replaced. The little low geared  "extreme off road" sprocket is removed an' replaced with a bigger one. Now the chain is too freak'n short by bout 6 links. Frank will be proud of his uncle Bill.

Frank shows up for a visit. "I fixed the "billy bike" Frank". "I ate fish for supper".....that's all Frank has to say. No "thank you uncle Bill". No "that's a awesome job". No nuttin bout the "billy bike". But he did mention "when are ya go'n to Walmart an' buy me a new chain"? Now that kind of appreciation pisses me slap off. I threatened to go down to Ace Hardware an' buy me up a stick of dynamite an' blow that "billy bike" to smithereens. I rekon a trip to Walmart is in order.

Yesterday's test to not touch the "Alice" project worked out well. It just sit there on my desktop all day long. But I swear, I could see a little tear in one the windshields. Long bout midnight, my thoughts were to check some measurements. Millimeter an' centimeter measurements is took off photos in the computer screen an' calculated to fit the model. Yup, I was correct, I need that 1/4 inch back what I had cut off the bottom.
I'm think'n this may be close enough. Bumper needs set back just a bit, but that's a easy modification. Ain't nobody gonna know it but me anyhows. God I hate screw ups.


Boy howdy, let me tell ya bout computers. Ever since my computer was upgraded to Win 8.1, I ain't had nuttin but trouble from it. Ive done two restores in the last 2 months an' it still gives me "pull yer hair out", scream an' cuss a little. Yesterday night, the freak'n touchpad don't do nuttin (this ain't the first time). The curser is gone. I got me a old mouse, so's I plugs it in. Do a reboot...all that good stuff, an' still no touchpad. Google is yer best friend. Go to device manager, touchpad an' change driver back to original. That worked....or I suppose it did....I have a touchpad again.

Oh yeah, them batteries. Wouldn't ya know it, they were low on water again. When I finally burn these suckers up, I'm gonna get me some maintenance free AGM batteries. Won't be no more this check'n battery water shit. "Set 'em an' forget 'em". Hmmmmm....betcha a dollar Robert still has them 4 AGM's he was gonna give me.       

13 comments:

  1. You done good on the model. Of course I knew you would.

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    1. Jesus Dizzy, it ain't even done yet. You are look'n at the scale photo of the real Alice. Look right behind the photo....what ya see???? A unfinished Alice.

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  2. System Restore sometime helps fix problems. Use to be I could restore months back but with this Windows 7 , a restore will take me back a few hours or at most 2 days. Doesn't help one bit. Now I see the pointed ends in front you cut off. Doing good Billy Bob. Take your time. Often I get burned out before a project is finished. Best call Robert and remind him about those batteries, eh? Turning cold here again. Two days of 'purty' spoiled me.

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    1. Yeah, it looks much better with them points cut off. Hey, don't tell nobody, but I moved the bumper mount back an' builded the front an' back bumpers......Shhhhhh!!!!

      Know'n my wonderful son, the batteries are still there wait'n on me. He knows I need an' want 'em...he would never throw 'em in the dumpster.

      Shoot, all it take is ONE day to spoil the crap out me. Sorry it's gonna be cold up there again. But then shoot, what the hell do ya expect in the middle of winter?

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  3. I've been told Win 8.1 was the pits but there's an update that makes things MUCH better. You might want to check into that.

    Glad to hear you fixed the bumper. It bothered me. But I knew you'd get around to it eventually.

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  4. I love my Mac and don't have half the problems that folks using Windows have, but I've noticed that Mac is updates more often. When I look at the update details, they are for programs I don't even use - something "sync with your iPhone and your iPad and God knows what all". I don't sync with anything and don't even have an iPhone if I wanted to! I'm sick of computers and would give it up except I would miss all my blog friends too much.

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  5. The Alice model is coming along real good. Your skill and craftsmanship show, even before final finishes and touches are applied. There's something special about a scratch-built model. Continued good luck.

    I'm sorry that Frank thinks he is so entitled. I've seen it in my own children and grandchildren. A lifetime of making do, using up, repairing before replacement is simply discarded along the wayside by the next generation. Makes no sense to me, either.

    Keep on keeping on.

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  6. Turn the heat down on those eggs, and be sure to have enough oil or bacon grease (but not too much).

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    1. That's what I was gonna say, gotta be LOW heat, let the white kinda set, then flip over for a few seconds.

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  7. All Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 computers are going to be updated to Windows 10 in the fall for free. It will be one of those middle of the night updates. Go to bed with 8.1, wake up with 10.

    Eggs - have a glass with a half ounce or so of water in it and a lid beside the frying pan. Put butter in the pan, heat a bit. Break 2 or 3 eggs into the pan and pour in the water. Put the lid on the pan and let them steam away. take the lid off and slide the perfectly cooked eggs onto the plate. In Canada we call these "basted". A glass lid lets you watch what is going on and help judge when they are ready.

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  8. Getting things done a bit at a time.
    For eggs, I spray a bit of pam on the pan, heat it up, crack the eggs, let them go for a minute or two or three, with pan hot, add a bit of water and put lid on fry pan, and 30 seconds to a minute the white is steamed firm and the yolk perfect. Call them basted eggs, not crispy either.

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    Replies
    1. Ooppps did not read Crofts reply, he said the same thing. works wonderful.

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  9. They are good this way George. Glad an expert agrees!

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