Escape From the Prison Planet

[DRIVEN]

Inslee and Brown are in a neck and neck race to the bottom. It's a shame. Washington and Oregon were great states to grow up in. Sadly, I fear the incoming refugees may continue to demand that "fundamental change" that ruined the coast.

Someone had to bring that up too.

[Ni10]

did you hear that southern Idaho just got a bunch of illegal immigrants just last week.

shit is getting real ugly in America. I'm smelling civil war is a coming and well it's not going to be good for some people .........

[DRIVEN]

Didn't hear about that specifically. Realistically, half the people in Idaho are probably illegals anyway.

I'm in a shithole country right now saving the lives of the ungrateful. Don't get a lot of the local NW news unless I go looking for it. As for civil war? All I'll say is that 2020 might get interesting.

[DRIVEN]

Saturday morning ramblings...
I've finally got a new phone to replace the one I broke about 10 days ago. I got back into town late last Sunday night, just in time for the crappy weather. The weeds and grass were completely out of hand. It finally dried out enough on Thursday that I was able to get everything mowed at least. Certainly not manicured but definitely will be easier to manage in a couple weeks.



I mowed the lower pasture areas as well.



Since it's the beginning of irrigation season, a bunch of sediment ended up in the run-off ditch so I got to dig the out yesterday. That will be a yearly task but I'm going to eliminate a couple land bridges and culverts to minimize the obstructions.





I put down some weed killer before I left two weeks ago that seemed to work pretty well. That area will eventually be an RV spot. Power is denoted in yellow, water in blue, septic in gray. The green arrows are low spots I filled in with ditch soil.


I've got an idea to put together a little landscaping trailer that I can drag around with the BroHauler. It'd be pretty handy to keep the mower, weedeater, leaf blower, chain saw, gas, fencing tools, shovels, rakes, etc. all together and mobile. Currently, that stuff is scattered all over. It's ridiculous.



Also, one of neighbor Jack's peahens decided to nest in the middle of my field. She came within inches of being mowed and scattered on Thursday. This morning there was no peahen, no eggs. Just some feathers.




Bonus photo. Jack's herd.

[DRIVEN]

I realize it's probably a little hard to visualize how this place is laid out so I figured I'd drop a little map. From the looks of it I'd say this was probably late last July. Old house is still there and new house isn't done yet.


What I'm doing is maintaining the area at the bottom and finishing the spot where the old house was as an RV spot. There's a lot of reconfiguration ahead. Future plans are somewhat illustrated here...

Green is the park area. Orange will be the upper pasture. Purple will be the lower pasture. Blue is the run-off ditch that dumps into the canal. Yellow is the future shop site. Gray is future driveway/shop landing. Purple lines just below the new house is where I'll plant a couple rows of grapes as a wink and a nod to the rumor that was going around that it was going to be a winery when we started construction.

[wayno]

If that were my place I would have a complete garden and not just grapes there, kind of a step garden with several different levels but I would use railroad ties or some other type of medium to make the steps instead of rocks, maybe cement blocks but that could get expensive.

[DRIVEN]

I have a spot spec'd out for that. Where it's greener.



That spot is fairly level with a bit a of a slope toward the canal. Gets full sun except for about an hour at noon. I planned to use the cyclone fence panels (red arrows) to surround it and there is water at the back of the well shed. Probably a combination of raised beds and ground level. The season is getting away from me.

That spot where I'm planning grapes is really, really steep.

[wayno]

That is why I said steps on the side of the hill like the Inca's did at Machu Picchu but not use rocks.

I like the taste most the time of the stuff I grow in my gardens, the tomatoes are better, the lettuce is better this year(I already have harvested lettuce), the strawberries are WAY BETTER than I can buy at any store, the blueberries are slightly better but way cheaper if I grow them, the broccoli is about the same, the Kentucky pole beans I had last year were awful/stringy, only ate them one time, I tried a couple different types this year, I am hoping my grapes do better this year.

Yes it would likely be way easier to have your garden down by the canal where the water is, I like just going into my back yard and grazing, not a long walk so I do it all the time.
If you do a raised garden and bring soil in you likely will not have weed issues, clean dirt always does better that first year, but way down there it is harder to keep the animals away from the garden.

[DRIVEN]

Yeah, I figured the fencing and some chicken wire should help keep them out. I'll be lucky to get it set up this year, let alone get anything grown. I need to get a couple fruit trees in the ground too.
There's really no shortage of fresh produce around here but I can tell you that the Willamette valley strawberries are waaay better than what we get.

[wayno]

I will not buy strawberries in stores anymore unless it says locally grown which I have only seen a couple of times at Chucks, and they have to smell like a strawberry also.
It's been years since I bought a good tasting avocado also, they all are blah.

[DRIVEN]

Managed to blow off some yard work today in favor of Indian work. I've had the saddlebags and mounts in my basement for at least 6 months and finally decided to just do it. Planning a couple trips this summer and these are a must.
I learned that I was completely wrong about how these fenders are put together. I bought hardware assuming that I'd just drill through the fender and use a nut and bolt to attach the eyebrows. I came to discover that there is a reinforcemenr strut on the inside making it almost an inch thick. That meant drill and tap. Of course I only figured that out after I drilled the first hole. That meant a heli-coil in the right rear. Luckily I had just one in my drawer.














The bags are supposed to be 40s era replicas but my wife and daughter won't stop making fun of the bedazzlement. They aren't really wrong, I guess. There's a lot going on there but I think it works.
So now I have them mounted on locking quick release bases and can be installed/removed in about 10 seconds. I still need to figure out a passenger backrest and maybe a rear rack so I can haul a week or two's worth of gear.

Also, I need to address the pushrod tube seals soon. Looks like maybe my right fork seal is oozing too.

[Laecaon]

The bags definitely fit the bike. But yes I have always thought the tassels and riveting are a bit much, like bedazzlement.

[DRIVEN]

No argument here. The fact is, Indians have a pretty traditional appearance so some stuff just gets a pass. The bags that came with it were allll wrong and the correct bags are really expensive. The original supplier still makes them but they list at $1650 pair. They have the obligatory fringe and studs though.


The pair I used are '48-'53 replicas and they run close to $1000 pair when you can find them. I got lucky and snagged them off Ebay from someone who didn't know what they had for $200. I actually bought another set right before I found these that I planned to use. Really, they're nicer but these are more correct-ish.

Shrug. They'll be okay, I guess. They probably will spend 95% of the time on the shelf anyway.

[flatcat19]

When I think of vajazzled bags...motorcycles is not the first, or even the second, thing I think of.

[DRIVEN]

Thank you for posting no illustrations.

[DRIVEN]

Got back from Puerto Rico last night and was greeted this morning by tall grass and filthy vehicles. Mowed the lawn up at the house then Brohauled the mower down the hill and mowed that section.
I found where one of the peahens is nesting. The other two dummies just followed me around and ate bugs.


There should be two more hens but I'm 99% sure a fox or coyote got one and the other may just be nesting somewhere I haven't found yet.

After a lunch break I started washing and detailing the twins. Interior, exterior, and under the hood. I have appointments first thing in the morning to (ironically) have the Takata inflators replaced on the passenger sides.


Finished the day out by washing the bedazzled mistress.

I've got a trip to Portland coming up and had been planning to ride but may drive and tow a trailer if I can pin down a deal on a 425 for my Cutlass.

[Laecaon]

Sunroof car is far superior!

[Taterhead]

Not for bald fuckers like me.

[wayno]

I had a 1979 Mustang2 with a sunroof, I never opened it and the hang gliders covered it anyway.

[DRIVEN]

Sunroof car is mine. I've opened it exactly 1 time. Honestly, I forget it's even there.