My Pope

Here is one of the major reasons that I purchased the van. I hope to get back to the church that I belonged to for many years. The church had a shitty leader but the stain glass was amazing! This is Mt. Matier and it is a simple ski mountaineering sojourn. We will see.

Van

Roshi and I purchased a new (to us) van a couple of weeks ago. I never thought that a vehicle could make us/me so happy but it does. It is semi camperized and we have already been camping in the Squamish area with the van. It runs amazing but does not like to get moving fast when it is cold. Neither do I. I hope to have stories to report on our travels and experience with the van. I also hope to change the nature of this blogg into a happier more up beat version. We will see what the road ahead holds.
D

Positraction

In your every day car there is a clever piece of technology called the limited slip differential (LSD). The most popular form of LSD was put out by Chevrolet and was called POSITRACTION because it allows for some difference in rotational speed of the output shafts, but does not allow the difference in speed to increase beyond a preset amount.

The main advantage of a limited slip differential is found by considering the case of a standard (or "open") differential where one wheel has no contact with the ground at all. In such a case, the contacting wheel will remain stationary, and the non-contacting wheel will rotate at twice its intended velocity –the vehicle will remain stationary. In everyday use on typical roads, such a situation is very unlikely, and so a normal differential suffices. It is only rough roads that we get the benefit of this.

LSD is a great piece of technology, therefore, because it allows continual motion when the road gets rough. I think I need to find something like this in my life. I am tired of the creating momentum, movement and then stalling phase of things in my life. More than anything I ate when my science starts to stall.

The problem is that we need to first admit that things are slipping somewhere or in the very least be aware of them. Another version of the problem is that when need to find another wheel to get some momentum from.

As a kid I always could swallow a big spoon of turnips and peas in order to get my dessert but sometimes I am not even sure what I need to swallow in life to move forward as an adult.

Productivity

I have been extremely productive the last few days. Part of this is because Roshi has been in T-dot. No No NO, I am not saying she decreases my productivity but rather stating the obvious that relationships take a lot of time and are obviously worth the investment.

I have completely rebuilt a bike from it's original shit heap. Only purchased tires, cables, and part of a derailleur and did all the labor myself. Fun.

I also fired a batch of my jalapeno pickled eggs. I also stared a new blog that I hope takes off and I am sure that it will come to fruition.

I also went shopping for guitars and was bleakly disappointed. Seems like the ply tree is still the most common material for guitars. Yuck.

I think that I will grab a burger (bad boy!) at Vera’s and fade the night away. I have started programming lately and forgot that I kind of like that geeky stuff.

D

Friends

I have been a little glum lately. As some of the previous posts have eluded I think this is because that I don't have balance. I am not even sure what the idea fucking means. Maybe no one has a clue. I have also been a little sad that I don't have some of the great friends around me that I enjoy. A lot of this is because a good buddy of mine recently moved away. Another part of it is that I miss a lot of my old friends.
On the weekend I had an old chum of mine over for dinner and wine. I have been drinking wine lately because 1. I really like the taste and 2. I seem to be a little less crazy/juvenile in comparison to the effects of spirits. However, Paul brought over a huge bottle of vodka from Russia and a couple of shots had us doing some old school judo in my backyard. Paul beat me 7/10 times in the old days and spanked me soundly on the weekend. Maybe good friends are where you make time for them and find them. Maybe this is also the answer to balance.
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Wine

Had an amazing bottle of wine this weekend. It was Penfolds BIN 707 Cab. Sauv., 2002. We started the evening offf with a local bland pinot grigio and then progressed to another cab. sauv. (Yalumba, 2001). The wine Penfolds was by far the best wine I have had in 6 mos. Be warned, it is costly.
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Friends

Just wanted to post and say that good freinds are one of the greatest things we experience in this world. I have had the great honour to know my buddy Sean for the last year and a half and am extremely happy that he has landed a faculty position and is moving on. However, it is only now that I realize that good friends do not come along every day. Maybe this will make me more aware in the future. Hopefully it will make me into a better friend to those around me now.
D