ANOTHER PROJECT BUILD!

Been a long time.

Say your awesome bullet-style tail light on your cafe racer is too small and you live in the wild west where drivers are all maniacs: You're going to need MOAR TAIL LIGHTZ! (how did I survive two years without getting rear ended?)

This particular example was found on ebay for a low, low price and was claimed DOT compliant, but was still lacking. Seen here in all it's daintiness:



I first tried to fix the problem the simpliest (and therefor best) way I knew, with a bigger bulb. Somewhere outside of Montreal, sitting in traffic, the lens melted. (it remained deformed for several years)



Cheapness turned out to be the ultimate asset because I was able to buy a second victim unit to use for mock-up purposes. Obviously LEDs were needed. (i do that you know. LEDs. Professionally) The problem was packing all the photon punch into a small package.

Step one was smaller components. This relay on the right looked pretty small... until I found the one on the left. (why did I need relays? It involves science)



The relay was combined with a resistor-adjustable constant current driver, a heat sink (which in this application is more of a heat... capacitor) and some wires, in a boxy-bullet shape.



The innards of the old light needed to come out, but I was able to practice the surgery and test fit the bits on the second unit. Started like this:



This all came out:



Hook up some wires...



Jam it in the HOL!- Insert cautiously. Pack perimeter with foam. (Like I said, Heat capacitor. Though hours of bench testing reveals that the running light does not produce a perceivable temp change in the heat sink, and since these things are fine to like 90C, my judgment says we'll be operating "within spec.")



Conclusion: MOAR BRIGHTNESS. Obviously I finished with a new red plastic lens cover but pics do not convey the red lumen face punch. The three points of light are obviously discernible so I've lined up a diffusion material to smooth it out, but that shit robs lumens, so I may leave it be for now. And because the light is pointed slightly downward, I'm pretty sure followers will not be blinded. This weekend's cross-New Mexico adventures will reveals the truth.

rarrr

Check out more of this awesome here. Get yourself something nice.

The Electric Car Industry is Melting Down. Again.

A recent trip home allowed for a brief survey of former coworkers, revealing two things: 1) Battery and e-car suppliers are getting smaller and/or facing hardship & 2) None of these companies have any projects lined up for next year. This information, taken in conjunction with the recent blow-ups of Bright, Azure, A123, Fisker... Things are obviously going to shit and by my count this is the third time EVs have failed to blow up. Here's my (current) theory why:

Any new technology left to a natural progression will undergo a predictable "adaptation lifecycle," Assuming of course that the technology in question actually survives to full adaptation. Here's a picture of what it looks like:



I prefer to think of the graph in terms of total market penetration, or the summation line in yellow. The time to adaption may vary (the internet took 15 years but singing fish were there in 6 months) but the curve always looks the same. Note the lower "tipping point" (transition into full adoption) and the upper swing into saturation, for future reference.

The problem is electric cars never had the opportunity to naturally progress through this adaptation curve; The whole market is fuxored because there are too many artificial forces repressing or propping up the technology, so it's impossible to know if they are market viable. Subsidies were used to (in theory) jump start the industry past the gestation tipping point which in fairness, has worked before (GPS, anyone? Okay, that's a little different, but still). But as much as I'd love to see a world of electrics, all that free money leads to shoddy start ups and rushed products. Maybe the cost of key components like batteries, needs to come down beofre the math actually works? Who knows... This early flood leads to the bigger problem, distortion of the overall picture, making it difficult to say "yes the world is ready for electric cars" or "no, we need to make them better than we can sell them."

Of course there's the old argument of "once EVs are being built in the same volume as internal combustion cars, the costs will come WAY down! Volumization can only do so much to drive down prices because lithium is expensive and neodymium magnets for motors are expensive AND being gobbled up by China. These materials DO NOT follow moore's law, unlike the internet. And singing fish. So jump starting the industry can MAYBE expose people to the tech and hopefully cause them to fall in love, but it will not necessasrilly drive the prices into the floor.

So now you're trying to introduce a technology into un-holy and un-natural market conditions, but wait: the electric car is a displacement technology. And the tech it is trying to unseat (gasoline) is the MOST un-holy market of them all. Subsidies, taxes, fuck.... WARS to maintain and control supplies. whether you're for or against them, any forced influences will have ripple effects when you're trying to introduce a competing technology. Remember the GPS analogy? Map makers didn't have the world's largest lobbyist group.

Here's the take away: This noise in the system makes the market picture fuzzy, people make mistakes, companies fail.

A vehicle like the Chevy Volt could be the perfect litmus for the new technology but nothing can be learned because it is a political cluster fuck and half the country would now rather suck a Middle Eastern Cock before they'd touch one of them, thar ObAma-Cars. You think GM had any idea what kind of shit storm they'd land in when they started designing this car A DECADE AGO? YOU want to be the NEXT company to sink a few hunderd million into an EV?

Oh but wait- Now gas is $10/gal... All of a sudden, riding around in your Obama-made, Middle East Cock-suck mobile seems pretty reasonable when it only costs $0.50 to charge it up, right? Ha- just kidding; Gas up the bombers.

not very effective

As I was Saying, The 80's RULED, but only sometimes

Unicorn cars: Rare, American, affordable, manual trans, and easy to work on. Here's a list of them.

Stating with the 80's

Dodge Omni GLH. More turbocharged cars have been brought into this world under the Chrysler brand name, than any other manufacturer, ever. This drive train was available in other (arguably better looking) models, but this was the lightest and fastest. And unlike the next few decades, this machine was mostly designed and built in Detroit, not Japan. Only available with a manual trans, I believe... and even better (and more rarer) the Shelby GLHS added an intercooler. Here's a standard GLH.

GMC Cyclone and Typhoon. Not available with manual trans but being AWD and built for drag racing, you can't really beat having a torque converter. Prices are falling like pants at a Sophist Party. Lots of examples for sale online.

Thunderbird Turbo Coupe and Mustang SVO and i guess, Capri. Only worth while with a stick shift but hard to find. Featured rare for the time turbo, RWD 4 bangers. Not known for reliability or driving straight when throttle applied liberally.

Buick Grand National. Darth Vader approves.


Honorable mention: Dodge Caravan turbo. I wouldn't put much energy into owning/restoring one of these but there's something undeniably cool about a first generation minivan that, with a few mild mods, can walk your average modern sports car. Plus, it's a mini-v with a manual.


The 90's

C4 Corvette ZR-1. 375hp for an option that ADDED $30k to the base price of the car... It was amazing performance in '89 (technically sold as a '90) Luckily for us used ones are now affordable, though I think the price curve has passed its low point and may be heading north. Still easy to find and the digital dash makes me pee my pants with awesome.

Oldsmobile Achieva SCX. featured the highest output version of the GM Quad 4 engine, featuring awesome-to-look-at Camshaft towers. Here's a nice one.

Ford Contour SVT. This car wasn't so rare, except the ricers have latched their value-degrading claws into it, making nice examples hard to find. Seems many ads feature the word "fast" and "furious" somewhere in the text. I don't know much about these mainly because I swore off Ford vehicles early in life, and still feel that way about anything built by Henry's team after 1980 and before 2008.

Speaking of Ford, the Chevrolet Impala SS would allow you and your family to outrun anything made by Ford or Chrysler. featuring an engine with "LT" in the name, hard to find an ACTUAL SS model, unmolested.

Saturn SW2. What? I love wagons. And this one, every so ofter, could be found with a manual trans. The manual trans was mated to the same dual overhead cam, 125hp engine found in all the "2" designated Saturns. Of course, without the auto tranny sapping power and because it weighed, like, 7 pounds, it was a quick little wagon. Also sometimes popular with the tuners. With all saturns, earlier years is better years and not only because they somehow got uglier, later.

ANOTHER Capri? Yes, with even less displacement. People really dig on these things. See my previously cited rule re: Ford


...

What did I miss?

God's away

A Thesis on Human Suffering

Now that I have a job, I'm required to devote many hours of my life to soul-sucking life maintenance: things like setting up a local bank account, registering vehicles and sorting the catch all "documents."

My soul was particularly damaged when I tried to register the motorcycle in the state of New Mexico. See, progressive New Mexico has both the tradition, state-run Dept. of Motor Vehicles offices, PLUS privately operated "DMV Express" or "DMV To Go" or whatever. The private places impose a cost premium of say 100% but can get you out the door in like 20min. Unless You are me, trying to register a bike. The thing is, my bike (being from a state where vehicles actually age from things like road grime and shitty weather) has a damaged "Nader Label." On a car this label is located on the driver's door jam, but on a bike, its a sticker near the bottom and susceptible to damage. And even though the VIN is printed on the bike frame, the engine and ANOTHER label, the privately-run, follow-the-rules, high-cost office would not allow registering the bike. They recommended a "level-3" VIN inspection requiring involvement of the state police (never a good idea), multiple return trips and $50 worth of inspection.

Libertarianism fails New Mexico and I declined this option.

I recognized immediately that I needed an office that was a little more gritty. Not a "by the books" rookie, but a gristly veteran that got results, no matter how hard the chief was riding his ass. GOD DAMMIT, THE MAYOR SAYS SHE IS TIRED OF CLEANING UP YOUR DEAD BODIES. I knew I needed the state run offices. I needed to be amongst the people, the offices of the proletariat. THE PEOPLE"S OFFICES.

That's the problem with these God Damn high brow establishments, they have too much time to scrutinize the details. Too much time to live in their own heads, seek the righteous life and seek out the fucking Nader Label. IT WAS THERE, IT'S JUST TORN!

At the state-operated office, I was calm. It was four times larger than the private places and featured maybe ten times as many customers. I was there at lunch and arrived moments before noon. At 1pm my number was called for the first time; #234, this initial trip to the window was merely a vetting process. A simple formality to establish who had the gull to move forward so as to weed the weaker, paper-work deficient, and those who did own the cognitive functionality and delicate touch required in a room full of maniacs like this.

Hours 2 and 3 were trying times. I maintained a zen state, knowing that small inconveniences like this needed to be shouldered for the good of the people's office. In fairness, the whole damn state is like a century old so I suppose some leeway can be given in the "they're still figuring these things out" department. It was saddening however to watch the other people in the room, like animals being beaten with a stick, not knowing what they had done to deserve such harsh treatment or how to make it stop. The blood pressure of the room was so high it made my ears ring.

The situation came to a genesis deep into hour three. I almost didn't notice because I was so calm, having figured out the convoluted digital numbering system that placed my "out of state title transfer" into the lowest rung of plausible execution and as such making me a third class passenger on this Titanic among the strip malls. But I was comforted by knowledge, where my temporary associates were left to wander in the dark, no hope of finding a state I.D. card or English language translator they so desperately needed. But the roof fell in when an employee announced a failure of the licensing system. License renewals, new applicants, I.D. card seekers in the dark- they were all out of luck.

I thought the crowd was going to tear her apart. Literally, just for a moment,I expected to see the mobs full fury. Why weren't they rioting? They had been there for hours, like me, but instead they shuffled out the door, cursing under their breath. CHOOSING to leave, rather than wait, perhaps as a last attempt to take some control back in their lives.

Leaving of course proved most damning, as the system "came back on line" just moments after the last broken soul had given up all hope. (Had there ever even BEEN a system failure? Maybe.)

And that was it. Later, I had my yellow New Mexico motorcycle plate but I was too to appreciate it. What had I just witnessed? Why were those people so defeated? I couldn't stop thinking about abused domestic partners and engorged aneurysms. Why hadn't those people burned that place to the ground?

I got back to work by 4pm. No one commented on my absence.

Let's see what you've got in the bag...

this makes me strangely happy.

Also, we are very small. Yet also very large. Or something.

Now I have a sad

The first space shuttle launched in 1981, less than one year after I was born. Through out my conscious life, in the background, on the news and in the papers, there has been the constant roar of space shuttle missions. Now this currently is the last one.

Before the ubiquitous internet presence, I remember being pleasantly surprised in middle or high school when I'd read that a shuttle mission had launched. The best times were when I'd stumble across a Nat Geo (or similiar) article in say the dentist's office, describing the tech behind the crafts. Then in college with the internet at hand, I would eagerly follow the building of the space station, hardly believing it could ever become as large as it did. I wasn't necessarily aware of the mission particulars, other than maybe "adding another module" or "solar panels," but I was always extremely happy to know it was happening. And Extra extremely happy to know they were building a science-lab-trailer-park in the sky. Its hard to describe but I felt warm inside knowing more shuttle launches were coming... like spring times.

Now I have nothing to look forward to, from our friends at NASA.

Here's a good link.

And a wonderful infographic.

comming soon

Let me summarize:

Still got it

(okay, so the official video is not available to U.S. youtube users.)

Companies hate makers

I suppose lawyers are the blame, but I'm not really sure. It might have to do with a general dumb-ing down of America.

Case

Case

Additional examples: Apple plus any company that makes cell phones, including Androids. (iCloud = Fascism)

Everyday I'm hustling

Being unemployed, I've been too busy with the things I work while unemployed, to document what it is I do when I'm unemployed.

I've been building things. Some things I've made to sell, trying to turn a profit. I haven't been hugely success in making money, but I have caught some eyes. I've also been working on car weight scales, a new battery powered welder, helping a friend bring a turbo car back to life and converting some big old used RC planes to electric. Also, learning how to fly RC planes. Turns out it is little harder than i thought, especially in the New Mexico wind, but foam plane I'm practicing on is easy to glue back together.

All these projects are awesome and whatnot, but I don't have the time to document the work. Come visit New Mexico and you can lend a hand.

Also, I spend a lot of time looking for a job, sending out emails, updating linkedin profiles and the like, but that stuff is just depressing.

the desert

View Larger Map

I have returned from here. Unfortunately there is no known conventional way to capture the vast scenery, so details will only be relayed in person and at a bar.

i need a job

Check out these pipes!

Before presenting the fourth and likely final installment of my Introduction to Albuquerque Series, a brief interlude.

MOTORCYCLE PARTS!

(I know, you're saying something like "I thought you were poor and unemployed..." to which I would say "shut up.")

Turns out I found these rare, Japan-only-aftermarket, light weight and low profile exhaust pipes on ebay. USED!

Here's what came off the bike:



I previously added the black tape, that now looks a little beat up due to the harshness of being moved across the country in the back of a truck. Stock weight, 30lbs.

Here's what It looks like now:



and on the other side:



New weight: 10lbs! Also it looks way cleaner and sounds like awesome grenades. Overall the bike still looks a little too shiny so I may add the black tape to these as well. Also, in the last picture, now that the fat ugly mufflers are gone, the center stand is hanging out under the bike. This is kind of like walking around with your dingus hanging out... Convenient, but really you should do something about it. I'm thinking about removing it to save more weight and give the bike an even cleaner look. (This is where the dingus analogy breaks down)

Albuquerque pt 3: Unemployment

First, let us reflect on all that we've already learned about Albuquerque.



Why is it that every time I graduate from college, I must then fall into a state of un- and under-employment? I've been in New Mexico over a month and suspect I am no closer to jobiness than, say, a month ago. No matter I suppose, since I would always choose unemployment in New Mexico over Ohio.

On the up side, I've not before experienced the freedom of several weeks without daily classroom or work responsibility. I've been almost overwhelmed with the possible projects I could work on and seem to find myself split between "house," "hobby" and "money schemes."

House projects have been numerous and mostly small, almost always focusing on organization, but I'm currently in the midst of some hardcore staining of naked wood bookshelves.

Hobby projects have mostly been pushed aside or geared towards crazy money schemes. I've taken to selling things on Etsy and Ebay (perhaps more about this later) and I'm trying to get my crazy vehicles scales made, since I think I could sell them for about 4x the cost of parts. Though the big payoff would come from a welder-kit design that may or may not be in the works.

There's so much to do and so much that could be done, it's hard to stay focused. So I put in some work on the projects and the body every day. (Did I forget to mention? I'm not a fat grad student slob anymore, which is nice.)

unfortunately there is a down side and funemployment is not all beer and skittles. Severe cash drought causes of desert of untended hopes and dreams stretching as far as the eye can see. Fireproof race suits sit on shelves while race cars race without me. Light weight, extra wide Miata wheels lean against garage walls waiting for new rubber and naturally aspirated engines go un-boosted. Vacation plans are pushed back, rare/crazy southwest cars are un-purchased and sometimes... cheap beer is drank.

They say Hunter S. T. would pawn his typewriter in thin times, only to buy it back later. Now that I'm an ipad owner, I can certainly see the parallel, but it just doesn't have the same romantic twang. Or something.





It all kind of makes me want to do something like this:



Though I don't think cactus will stack up quite as nicely...

4 the lulz

Albuquerque pt 2: The cars

Subtitle: Death and Life of the Euro Sports Wagon.

(pronounced SpÖrts "VA-gun")

From my single previous and brief visit to New Mexico, I knew that the American South West was a good place to be a car enthusiast. I mean, this place has a junkyard pretty much devoted to Cadillacs! Imagine: a place where your large metal machines rust away over several decades, rather than the meager several years I was accustomed to. Sure, the sun will rot the interiors and the dust storms dull the paint... but who cares about that stuff?

I already have a solid mental inventory of the interesting vehicles that live around my house... There's the guy with the new Challenger and New Vette, I think he's a bit unusual here, owning two newer awesome cars and no classics. There's the guy with the Fox Body Mustang and old, minty Mazda 626, plus new Mazda 3. There's the house with the pair of matching, late 90's red Camaros (one with a trailer hitch), plus a vintage Camaro under the cover. Or at least that's what Challenger guy says- I've never seen the cover come off. Then there's the House with the two old VW Beatles, PLUS a new mini and a first gen Miata. Also there's the House with the old Ford Pick up (BRIGHT YELLOW!) and old dodge panel van, both looking about perfect. Anyway, this list goes on.

The only real problem I see with this place is the absence of jobs, or at minimum, jobs for me. I'm surrounded by old and unique cars, many for sale at discount prices and I can't afford to collect them! (Expect updates on the job situation in part 3 of this 4 part series) See, every time I venture into the streets (cyber, e.g. Craigslist, or otherwise) I'm assaulted by a litany of Fiats, Cadillacs and quirky hatchbacks that I NEED to experience. Also, there appears to be a high number of Ford SVT Raptors (think of it as a limited production baja truck) and Dodge Magnums. The Raptors make sense because, well, this is a good place to practice you baja-trucking, but I want to talk about the magnums. Dodge magnums are wagon versions of the Dodge charger/Chrysler 300 platform. (some countries received a Chrysler 300 wagon, but not us).

The magnum is a great car because its big, power, American, and wagon!. You could get it with a V6, a V8 and a BIGGER V8, the last being the SRT model. I would always see them in Detroit, but when it comes to cars, Detroit is something of a rare bird, which is why I was surprised to see so many here in Albuquerque. See the down side is, the magnum was never offered with a manual transmission, which brings me to my second point: The Death of Euro Sport Wagon.

See, the European-style Sport wagon (not to be confused with the Eurosport Wagon) is that traditionally European-made wagon, often based on a sedan platform, featuring decent power and handling and at least OFFERED with a manual transmission. The Physicist has a Euro Sport wagon; A Saab 9-5, turbo charged with a 5spd which offers the best compromise of utility and fun to drive. the problem is, the Saab in question is a 2002 model and getting a bit tired. Plus, being a Saab, it is just this side of impossible to work on. So what can replace it? The European companies (BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Saab) are still making wagons, but the manual transmission has gone the way of formal dating and sensible shoes. Of the four mentioned, only Saab will still offer a manual wagon this year, but they can't even afford to pay their suppliers. The Magnum has long since gone out of production, making room on the platform assembly line for the new Challenger. This is the winter of my automatic transmission discontent...

And yet...

Hope springs eternal for there are new wagons to be had. Cadillac brings a wagon version of the CTS, available with a 3.6L V6 and, briefly, the manual transmission (though this combo axed next year). Also, revealed at the New Mexico Auto show (which, as far as i can tell, was attended by me and approximately 180 other people) is the new Acura TSX wagon.

It seems that Acura recently released a redesign of the sporty TSX sedan. The sedan, which IS offered with a manual trans, was then followed by a wagon version, which according to the hot Acura booth girl, will almost CERTAINLY be offered with a manual transmission in the next 9 months. {shrugs} She seemed to know what she was talking about.



TSX wagon- as luxurious and sporty as the 9-5.


Also revealed at the New Mexico Auto show, what an interior should look like:



(I wonder what they put for the fourth panel when you have a manual trans?)


Anyway, for now and with my limited resources, I'll be happy with the vehicular selection at hand. I'm not so sure the Miata is a good fit for these vast, wide open spaces, but the motorcycle seems to fit in well. they could both stand to have some forced induction added, what with the high altitude an all (which the Saab HAS!), but that's a battle for another day.




...
somebody should buy this

Albuquerque pt 1: Training

Now I live at an elevation of 6000 feet. On the other hand, my old training grounds were somewhere in the 600 ft range with elevations changes few and far between. This was not obviously a problem until I arrived in New Mexico and tried to walk. Or ride the motorcycle.

In fairness, grad school left my fitness laughable, so the disadvantage was all mine. Perhaps accounting for this, the cosmic forces chose to relocate me to a great mecca of fitness, with bikers, hikers and yoggers all around. And more importantly, geographically interesting and diverse challenges upon which to bike, hike and yog. Of course "geographically interesting" means "elevation changes." Big 'ems. Now that I've had a couple weeks to hike around and acquaint my calves with the steepness of this place, it was time to get back to running.

Today's run went some thing like this: First, we live on a hill. So upon entering the street, one can run up or down the hill. Unfortunately down doesn't lead anywhere you might particularly want to run to. Plus, there are amazing, mountainous trails that start just 3/4 of a mile away. So you (I) start by venturing up the hill. This is my second attempt at jogging here and last time i made the mistake of running right off, as I would in, say, Ohio. This made me quite useless once I'd reached the trails, so I start today by walking up the hill.

Shortly there is a cross street that travels along the mountain, rather than towards or away from it, so this street is relatively flat. It's the only street I know of in the area that behaves as such, and this is where I begin my run. I'm at almost exactly 6000 feet above sea level and I want to ease my body into the suffering, starting with a flat surface. But soon, another cross street and I turn again, up hill, towards the mountain. This is the road to the trail head, about half a mile up. This is also where the locals with their hiking canes and $5k mountain bikes part their (old school) VW Beetles and (new school) 350Z's. I'm already feeling the uphill/high altitude punch, but I need to maintain the facade at least long enough to pass by these well-tanned, well-to-dos, and make it fully off the pavement.

I've been jogging for near half a mile and it's been a while since I've looked up... But now I'm running in gravely. Noting the change, i look up and see the geography ahead now fills my field view. Some the left extreme to the right and most of the way up, is the mountain. It is the type of grandeur that cannot be captured in a photograph, but It looks something like this: the base (except closer, and bigger)

Now that I've arrived at the mountain, all trails will be, well, up hill. Exhausted, now I take a walking break. As I slow down i realize i have a headache and my calf muscles are burning. And walking up hill is putting extra stress on my knee caps. either way, i continue around the gradual, back path behind Nipple Hill. I don't think that's is the official name, but it is what we know it as. Walking, walking, walking... Finally i reach the crest hind Nipple Hill, meaning a down hill stint and back towards the trail head... TIME TO RUN! (This time is also called "why does it hurt do much when i breath?) Either way running down the hill feels like a breeze, but that might be the 30mph spring time wind, which seems to always be fighting my progress. Now i just need to make sure my feet move fast enough to keep my down hill jog from turning into a down hill stumble.

At this point i like to black out for a while, until I near the house. If I time things right (which i never do) I could arrive right in time to catch the Albuquerque Sun set over the city, as seen from our street. It looks something like (but not quite as good as) this: