in and out...

Fast half day in Alpine.  Started with an early morning hot shower courtesy of my new on demand water heater that I set up yesterday.  Popped into the dentist office and she popped out a tooth and filled a small cavity.  Ran straight over to Oasis Tire and got my safety inspection (only had to wait a half hour), then over to the DMV for my new truck registration (only took five minutes)  Cut it a little close this year - certainly don't need to be on the highway with an expired registration during Chili Cookoff.  Groceries, feed, and home by three.  78,89,51,0,B

to them that perish...

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;

but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 

1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

into the outback...

Took a ride out to the Solitario today to GPS a corner for my friends Jon and Liz.  They treated me to lunch at the "other" BBQ spot in town - Don Baucham's joint where Kathy's Kosmic Kowgirl Kafe used to be.  Thumbs up!  80,88,56,0,B

step three...

So far so good.  Even without any extra reinforcements, the rig handles me plus the motor (260 lbs) pretty well.  Still a lot of fine tuning to go.  Made an executive decision this afternoon to beef up the wheel size from 10" to 13" (which adds 3 more pounds I have to shave off from somewhere else).  Luckily, my hand truck has been in desperate need of new wheels for a long time and the ten inchers are a perfect fit (including a spare since I have 3 of them).  The tricky part will be piecing together the front fork...and I will have to wait for the bigger tires before I figure that one out.  78,84,57,0,B

step two...

Cut and bent the rear axle pipe to give me a little more ground clearance and a jaunty angle for the rear wheels.  After jigging that and the front shaft pipes together, I tack welded the bits and took a break till this evening.  Finished it off once it cooled down a bit.  80,84,56,0,B  

very rough draft...

Laying out parts with my paramotor to see what I need to do when it comes to cutting, bending, and welding.  84,92,62,0,C

more parts...

Just got the rest of my parts in.  Somewhere in this pile is a PPG cart waiting to happen.  Although I am kind of winging it, I do have a precise plan in mind.  83,91.61,0,B

Live feed...

Have you been missing the live stream of dinner with Ben?  Broadcasting nightly from 6:30-7:30 PM central time.  How often do you get to see a longhorn steer being mouth fed a carrot?  82,88,55,0,B

The Flying Preacher...

2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Randoff's Big Bend BBQ

My friend Randy De La Fuente has been doing the smoked meat / barbecue thing on Fridays and Saturdays for awhile now, located at Far Flung River Tours.  I don't get out very often and it takes a lot to lure me away from TFL.  This morning, Randy posted a video on Facebook of today's slab of beef brisket and I suddenly got really hungry and just had to try one of his sandwiches.  It tasted even better than it looked!  79,85,48,0,B    

road repair

A nice neighbor has been using a bobcat to do some work around his place and brought it out to repair the road damage caused by an inconsiderate neighbor - a trench and berm that creates a new path for water during storms.  Rather than flowing across a wide area, the trench fills and channels all the excess right across the road.  Since the water caught in the trench only lasts about two weeks, it really serves no purpose other than destroying the road.  Since he doesn't have to drive on this portion of the road, he never lifts a finger to repair the damage and the inconvenience it causes to the rest of us who have to pass through here.  I came out ahead of the repair vehicle and pulled all my wood bits I had thrown in the ruts.  Now it is smooth sailing again...till the next rain storm.  76,81,53,0,B

The Frank Chronicles...

Guess who showed up again today?  Turns out when Frank got returned last week, his owner has since decided he didn't want him after all so he just turned him out.  The folks who came out to take him home to his irresponsible owner came out again and are taking him in and will give him a good home.  72,81,60,0,W

Hoop visit...

Long time TFL follower David Hooper (The Hoop) dropped in for a visit yesterday.  It has been four years since he last stopped by.  He brought 10 pounds of carrots - for Ben (and a little something for me).  Ben has never had a carrot nor have I ever even thought of giving him one - even though I constantly feed them to the burros and the rabbits.  Turns out HE LOVES THEM!  Thanks Hoop for enhancing Ben's quality of life.  87,97,56,0,C

somehow they just knew...

Got my wheels and axles today.  Will also be using a couple of the fiberglass rods as structural framing.  Finally settled on a metal order for the rest of the rig from my favorite one stop shop for metal bits in just about any type, size, or quantity - Speedy Metals.  I thought I had it figured out and placed an order late Friday afternoon with them, but changed my mind over the weekend.  You have to call them to cancel an order and can only cancel bits they haven't cut yet.  I frantically called them at 7 AM Monday and caught it before they had begun which was lucky because they are very "speedy" when you order from them - the order I placed today will most likely ship tomorrow.  About an hour after confirming my order, I just happened to get one of those reminder emails from Amazon Prime - new recommendations for you based on your browsing history.  Low and behold they had just the suggestion for the exact part I needed but forgot to order.  88,95,56,0,B

time and temp

My buddy Brandon showed up this morning and took a couple of short flights.  After he packed up, I installed the tach/hour meter and the head temperature meter on my paramotor.  Both worked like a charm. Gotta love YouTube How-To videos - tach and temp.  Good thing I decided to add the head temperature meter because I discovered that my spark plug was barely finger tight which is bad enough and any looser would have been a very bad thing.  Something to add to the pre-flight checklist.  87,97,59,0,B

Be the 1%...

Luke 15: 7  I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more that over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

the dry season...

Looks like the rainy season is over.  87,92,62,0,B

the fiberglass option...

A paramotor cart option has been tormenting me for over a year now.  There are plenty of options available and a few have tempted me but they are all way overpriced for what you get.  It isn't rocket science after all.  My silly go kart I bought years ago was $2600 including delivery and included an engine!  A lot of the options available for paramotors cost about as much and they are just a frame with some wheels.  I recently made the decision to DIY - we like DIY here at TFL.  I have ordered parts to build my own cart and so far it looks like it will come in at under $400.  Making is structurally sound and keeping the weight down is the trick.  The interesting thing about what is commercially available is that they all utilize 1" fiberglass rod for the axles which provide a lot of springy suspension for a heavy load coming in for a hot landing.  Much more spring than I am willing to trust to my mended leg bones. 87,93,64,0,B

dental update

Something about my last dentist visits left a bad taste in my mouth.  The dentist I saw initially didn't have very good "chair side manner" and seemed more concerned about moving on to the next patient than about the one she just yanked a tooth out of.  Decided to get a second opinion on the work I still need done from a local favorite that has worked in the area for years.  It was like night and day.  I hate going to the dentist but this one was very accomodating and willing to make a little effort beyond just digging around in my mouth and getting paid.  Cancelled my further appointments with the first dentist and got printouts of my xrays for the new dentist (that saved me a hundred bucks right there).  I go back in 2 weeks to get a major cleaning, filling, and extraction from someone I actually like for $300 less than the first dentist was going to charge me.  Another plus - I am Facebook friends with the hygenist who will be scraping my teeth to the gums.  82,89,67,0,B

pang...

I guess I have finally lived here long enough now.  Since moving to the area almost nine years ago, I felt a pang of nestalgia today.  After being sold recently, the building formerly known as H20TOGO has been dozed to the ground.  89,96,66,0,B

got parts...

Got a nice long chunk of pipe to ram into the ground to support Ben's birthday backscratcher (which he has yet to enjoy).  Also got my new paramotor parts.  85,92,66,0,B

Lost Donkey

Thought I had made a new burro friend yesterday...although I did happen to think he was awfully tame for a wild burro.  He even made an appearance during my nightly dinner web stream.  After posting a photo on Facebook, I discovered that he was an escaped donkey named Frank.  He came back in this morning for breakfast and I was able to get a rope around his neck and some friends of the owner walked him home.  81,86,63,0,B

getting down and dirty...

The true leader in the polls is Satan.  There is no middle ground, no third option.  Everyone is part of God's kingdom, or of Satan's.  The whole world - its' politics, economics, education, entertainment, and, above all, its' "religion" - lies in the power of the evil one.
John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
James 4:4...know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore well be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

warm bunny

Cloudy and cool this morning so I ran the generator for a little while to bump up the batteries.  Lately I have noticed one TFL bunny has grown rather fond of the heat put off by the generator. He hunkered down as soon as I started it up.  69.72,59,0,B

a walk around the block...

My morning stroll is up to 2.29 miles now.  67,76,65,0,W

PASS

Paramotor engine test...PASS!  Drained out about a half gallon of the 2 1/2 year old fuel that was in the tank and mixed up a new batch of 100LL avgas & Castrol 2T Synthetic 2-stroke engine oil at 50:1.  Had the oil on hand and I had picked up 4 gallons of aviation fuel at the airport in Alpine during my last supply run @ $4.07/gallon.  Brought it back to life on the fourth pull.  Purred like a really angry kitten and ran smooth throughout the power-band.  Ordered the replacements for the rubber bits that had cracked from the importer of my unit.  As long as I am at it...I also ordered a tachometer/hour meter and a head temperature meter to mount on my machine.  86,91,68,0,B

pimpin' my ride...

Detailed the Fresh Breeze and did a full inspection.  Even though it has been housed out or the sun for 2 years, I found a few rubber bits that need to be replaced.  Other than that it should be good to go.  Engine test tomorrow.  87,91,61,0,B

TOTALLY AWESOME

Came across this cleaning product on of all places - a YouTube paramotor maintanence video.  Grabbed two bottles at the Dollar General in Alpine today during my supply run.  If it really does such a good job on carbon fiber propellers, it will probably work just as well keeping my kitchen counter top clean.  87,90,64,0,B

hot water

Contemplating a shower upgrade for this winter.  The whole outdoor shower thing has lost its' charm and I still (eventually) plan on moving into one of my shipping containers - although the other part of the plan is to have the shower in the courtyard.  The key to finding the right on demand water heater is pressure.  I would rather not have to add a pump to the mix.  Most need 20-80 psi for the input line. This one might just be the ticket for a gravity feed system.  86,89,61,0,B

this is NOT the solution to abortion...

Recently a female "friend" posted her absolutely ridiculous
conclusion that this could somehow be a possible solution to abortion.

Proverbs 20:17  Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

confused cryptantha...

Another part of my daily morning walk ritual is a flower count.  I am up to 22 different flowers I have spotted on my morning walkabout.  Some I have never noticed before but the most interesting I have spotted are a very few Terlingua Creek Cat's-eye plants that have decided to shoot up an inflorescence way off schedule.  Normally, they only bloom once per year in early March.  81,85,62,0,B