The Green Room

[Mulezen]

One of the most interesting figures of The 20th century. And one of the most conflicted

 

[Art Deco]

Adventure plus plus!

Quoting Tolkien on adventures... "nasty things ... make you late for supper..."

 

[Art Deco]

First-ever tornado recorded in December here in Minnesnowta.

Lots of "first time ever", "unprecedented", and "record breaking" weather these days. Sigh.

 

[Art Deco]

One of the most interesting figures of The 20th century. And one of the most conflicted

I don't know much about the world wars, but I think any major military man is very conflicted nowadays. We know too much about war, and the economics of war, to be sure about any war being "a good fight".

 

[Mulezen]

Yamamoto was Harvard educated and opposed openly the growing rabid right (Army) in Japan to the extent they attempted to assassinate him in the 30s. He spent quite a bit of the time before his death in the moored staterooms of the worlds largest battleship openly entertaining his favorite geisha girls

Isoroku Yamamoto - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Art Deco]

I took off on a trip in September, no bike, and thought it was going smoothly. My fridge turned off a couple of times but not long enough to spoil anything. On the way home, in Idaho, it quit working on propane for good. Something had to go wrong, I guess. It will be a spendy repair if parts can be found. Oh well, we get these things to be used.

Yep. I always expect to meet Mr. Murphy on the road somewhere.

This trip he showed up a few times besides the weather that caused a frozen and burst water filter line ... for example, it's almost $400 to replace a "glow plug" ( like a spark plug for diesels) at a Mercedes Sprinter dealer. Who knew?
And with a full load of provisions in the van, how can I run out of single ply rv toilet paper?

Murphy always gets deep respect from me.

 

[Art Deco]

@Art Deco, Welcome Back!
Hopefully your steady hand will bring your thread back on track.
View attachment 112324

"On Track" isn't really an option on EBR. That's why I like it here.

 

[ActionJackson]

for example, it's almost $400 to replace a "glow plug" ( like a spark plug for diesels) at a Mercedes Sprinter dealer. Who knew?

Great to see you’re onboard and dieseling on towards a greener planet! Me too!! To quote @kmccune ”Diesel is about as clean as coal”, which makes me optimistic for the future.

 

[PatriciaK]

Yamamoto was Harvard educated and opposed openly the growing rabid right (Army) in Japan to the extent they attempted to assassinate him in the 30s. He spent quite a bit of the time before his death in the moored staterooms of the worlds largest battleship openly entertaining his favorite geisha girls

Isoroku Yamamoto - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Wouldn't that be "openly being entertained BY his favorite geisha girls"?

 

[Art Deco]

Great to see you’re onboard and dieseling on towards a greener planet! Me too!! To quote @kmccune ”Diesel is about as clean as coal”, which makes me optimistic for the future.

My van is worse than most ... it's a 2008 turbo diesel, pre Def or Blue Tec. But I drive it so little ( the van has about 50,000 miles in 12 years ) that it's irrelevant compared to the pollution caused by making a new vehicle. There is never a really clean technology.

 

[Mulezen]

Wouldn't that be "openly being entertained BY his favorite geisha girls"?

One whom he had a deep affection for stayed with him. He was not happy with the war and the thugs (so-un samura) in control that he essentially holed himself away.

 

[PedalUma]

on adventures

It is so very difficult to stay inside today. It is 3:30 and 68 degrees. Little buds are popping with life. I am back form a second adventure but only because I have things that I need to do.

 

[Catalyzt]

My van is worse than most ... it's a 2008 tuo diesel, pre Def or Blue Tec. But I drive it so little ( the van has about 50,000 miles in 12 years ) that it's irrelevant compared to the pollution caused by making a new vehicle. There is never a really clean technology.

Exactly-- the carbon footprint (and rare earth usage) of buying a new car has to be factored into the equation. My vehicle is Japanese, built in 1991, gets 50 MPG at 80 MPH nearly stock, and has 180,000 miles on it, will probably go a lunar unit. My buddy drove it fully loaded with a drum kit and an amplifier, and as an experiment, tried holding it to a steady cruise at 65-70 MPH, and it got 55 MPG. (I don't have the discipline for that. The car really wants to go 80, and that's usually what I let it do.)

It is also quite nimble, outhandles most modern cars, and until about the turn of the century, I used to love passing German tanks (BMWs, Mercedes) on the outside of decreasing-radius curves on Sunset, seeing the shocked look on the other drivers' faces. This car has stranded me exactly twice in 30 years, and that was due to a blowout of my Michelin MXV IVs... not really the car's fault. Neither was the other issue, which was a faulty alarm system. I've run it on synthetic oil most of its life and it's insanely reliable. Smog numbers were half the limit at registration this year.

To be fair, I've driven my other vehicle 40,000 miles in 6 years, but even combining the two, it's not a lot of driving. I hope to never buy another car as long as I live, and probably won't have to. The '91 will go at least a lunar unit and the 2016 will go at least 180,000, so if I can avoid a wreck, who needs another car?

There is nothing on the road today that interests me at all. Too much e-junk, nothing with manual transmission anymore, no feel for the road, no skill required to drive = BORing.

* * * *

I became interested in the Pacific theater because the university put me in the library for my first two years there, and there happened to be an outstanding collection of books about WWII. Determined to stay off my phone, I read books at lunch instead. Given the kind of work I do, I was particularly fascinated by Kamikaze pilots... holy crap! Near the end of the war, some of the best pilots begged to be allowed to fly suicide missions, which their commanders forbade them from doing-- there were very few experienced pilots left.

I'm very interested in the connection between existential threats (climate change, new viruses, etc.) and suicidal and self-harming behavior (such as we're seeing now from the antivax/anti-mask conspiracy theorists.) The self-harming behavior serves as an accelerant to these existential threats-- kills more people faster. On a micro level, it's almost like some folks are unconsciously attempting to exercise autonomy over situations they have no control over, e.g. denying existential threats rather than admitting that they're actually overwhelmed by dread and fear. On a macro level, it's almost like once a species is overpopulated, these behaviors kill people a lot faster, and bring the population down faster.

This is the essence of the only true conspiracy -- a Ouija Board conspiracy, where everyone's hands are moving the planchette though everyone sitting around the board would deny they are acting in concert.

* * * *

Yes, some good weather today! I raised the seat on the Trek-- I think I lowered it last spring for my buddy and never put it back in position-- and it's just a joy to bomb around the neighborhood for a half hour between clients. I just love both of my bikes, they are so different, switching back and forth keeps things fresh (and prolongs the service life of the battery on the Moto.) Booster on Friday really knocked me on my ass, and today is the first day I've really enjoyed a ride or a workout. No traffic here at all mid day. I feel like I'm riding around on my own private estate.

 

[Cowlitz]

My Tacoma mileage on my trip in Sept. got up to a whopping 20MPG at one point going east. I had an excellent tail wind across E. Montana and N. Dasota. Coming back, the wind did not change and mileage in that same stretch was 11 to 12 mpb. That's pulling a tiny travel trailer.

 

[Art Deco]

My Tacoma mileage on my trip in Sept. got up to a whopping 20MPG at one point going east. I had an excellent tail wind across E. Montana and N. Dasota. Coming back, the wind did not change and mileage in that same stretch was 11 to 12 mpb. That's pulling a tiny travel trailer.

What kind of trailer do you have? A fiberglass full height or a pop-up type ? I get around 17 to 19 mph in my diesel van with always the weight of the galley, loo, and bedroom on board all the time.

 

[john peck]

I see we are still shipping power south. Good to know.
Off the top of my head, I'd say that the majority of what we PNWers send that way is from hydro.

I read a few years back that WA was 94% hydro, but wind farms along the Columbia
may have changed that.

 

[Art Deco]

Exactly-- the carbon footprint (and rare earth usage) of buying a new car has to be factored into the equation...Big Snip .... I hope to never buy another car as long as I live, and probably won't have to. If I can an avoid a wreck, who needs another car? ...

Given the kind of work I do, I was particularly fascinated by Kamikaze pilots... holy crap! Near the end of the war, some of the best pilots begged to be allowed to fly suicide missions. ... suicidal and self-harming behavior (such as we're seeing now from the antivax/anti-mask conspiracy theorists.)

On a micro level, it's almost like some folks are unconsciously attempting to exercise autonomy over situations they have no control over, e.g. denying existential threats rather than admitting that they're actually overwhelmed by dread and fear. On a macro level, it's almost like once a species is overpopulated, these behaviors kill people a lot faster, and bring the population down faster.

* * * *

Sorry for the BIG SNIPS . This idea of ignoring a threat by not wearing seat belts or face masks or getting vaccinated or washing your hands or whatever "BTN" Better Than Nothing solution of the hour is recommended is very interesting . And frustrating.
We are a stubborn people.

 

[Mulezen]

^I saw a picture today of a car with an anti-fluoride bumper sticker. The driver had her arm out the window holding a cigarette

 

[tomjasz]

^I saw a picture today of a car with an anti-fluoride bumper sticker. The driver had her arm out the window holding a cigarette

Reminds me of a fella I worked with ar The Mirage. His Ford truck(Mazda) had a “Buy a foreign carmakers and put ten Americans out of work“ bumper sticker. He never forgave me after I showed him the Mazda sticker under the hood. Special!

 

[Art Deco]

Irony ... a spandex clad bycyling boomer who lights up a cigarette at the first rest stop ... wait