From Stastisa. Texas is in the lead (no surprise there). What I find odd is that the map doesn’t seem to mirror the traditional Red State map. Was expecting more rioters from the deep south. Perhaps they just aren’t arresting people.
I shouldn’t be surprised by this sort of thing from our elected officials, after all, I live in Texas. I’m sure Louis Gomert (“America’s Craziest and Dumbest Congressman”) believes even crazier stuff than this. I like the way the UK tabloid The Sun seems a bit concerned by this one. This is by folks who make their living off things like Elvis and Bigfoot sightings. Being Jewish, all I can think is: can I get access to one of these lasers? BTW, wildfires started by flashes of light from the sky might be — lightning?
I didn’t know Carl Hiaasen was still writing newspaper articles. Ran across this the other day. I had to read it twice.
I was starting to get a bit bored with the mower project. After all, the exciting part was actually getting it to go. But as I said, this isn’t about just basic functionality. So I’m adding a few bits.
First, a word about safety. The original mower had a few safety features. I don’t think I will replicate some of them. For instance you could not mow in reverse. I don’t know why, but the engine would stall if you tried. I assume it was safety related. I’m not concerned about this sort of thing. One safety feature was a switch on the seat that meant you had to be sitting on the seat for the mower to go forward. Probably a good idea. Don’t want unmanned riding mowers plowing through the neighborhood. Especially with an experimental vehicle like this, I am concerned about this issue. I was thinking of ways to use the existing seat switch, but it would mean running some wires places that I didn’t really want to run wires.
A few nights ago I had a thought. Jet skis have a little wrist strap that is attached to a kill switch. I could use something like that. Found one on Amazon. My wife also tells me the treadmills at gyms have similar switches, but I can’t imagine what these are for. Have a nice spot on the dash and I think this is my solution. Should be able to wire it into the forward / reverse / neutral switch.
Also had some thoughts about charging. Right now the plan is to use a little 12V trickle charger one each battery as necessary. A bit clunky. I see Amazon has a smart 12V / 24V charger that would be nice. Tried it out and it seems to do the job. For now I’ll just use the clips, but installing a port is an option.
On the blades: today I’m thinking four blades on one piece of 2″ PVC pipe. Put them as close as possible and then offset it a few degrees so that there is some overlap when mowing (so there isn’t a stripe of unmowed grass between the blades). I need to think about mounting and controls. The deck up / down mechanism is pretty heavy duty and probably overkill. Probably time to buy the motors, blades and PVC pipe.
Oh, found a site that makes an adapter that I ought to be able to use for direct drive, eliminating the chain drive. Should make it very fast (maybe too fast). Not high on my list but will probably eventually try direct drive out. I figure I can always go back to the chain drive.
A good one from the Boston Review of Books. I’m have wondered about this for a long time. The basic Trump supporter is often portrayed as a West Virginia coal miner. This doesn’t seem to tell the real story. A bit academic but filled with actual data.
Started to read this article by Stan Van Gundy, the Pelicans coach, expecting something about Lonzo Ball and JJ Reddick and how having Steve Adams changes things. Not about that at all.
Mounted the controls into the dash. Left side is going to be for the blades, right for the drive motor. A volt meter is on the far left to keep tabs on the batteries. Also found the right PVC part, a 2″ plug, that ought to be what I need to hold the blade motor. Shopping on-line is a bit tougher than being able to root around at the big box stores for parts. Looks like I’m pretty much done with the electronics. Onward to the blades.
From the Guardian in the U.K.:
My ramen has gotten a bit complicated, baroque even. Yesterday evening I realized I had forgotten the sauerkraut. So I made some ramen today so I could get my kraut fix. The usual broth: garlic, ginger, soy, sesame oil. Used flat Vietnamese rice noodles instead of packaged ramen. Some chopped carrot and onion and an egg. Added sauerkraut, togorashi, furikake, chicken, beef and pork, with a bit of avocado at the end.
A good read for anyone looking for a different perspective on the economy of the US, and the world. About the depression era ideas of John Kenneth Galbraith. From Foreign Policy.
Steven A. Guccione 