RowdyRebel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL6wbsGx9qw

Same crowd, same actions... http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/occupy-boston-protesters-spit-on-coast-guard-member-20111013

The industrial strength Duck tape is my duct tape of choice....perfect balance between strength, adhesion, and price.

Why not? I've fixed just about everything ELSE on a truck with it....

LOL...I was going to say "I try not to let it turn over" ...but the picture beat me to it. I got to pull one of our company trucks out of the mud today....petercar with those stupid super singles for drive tires. He was loaded, I was empty...and I still pulled him out without even spinning my tires.

What if I use a little duct tape, too?

OK...so the new springs aren't the ones I thought they were going to be. New part number maybe? 2QK492 was the old spring that broke. New one looks like 25165365, which isn't the 2QK494 that I was expecting...

Monday I break a leaf spring on the truck. Today, I get home and the garage door wouldn't open....damn spring broke. Luckily, I was able to steal the metal hook from a bungee cord and got it to work again. Now I just gotta figure out what to do with a bungee cord that's missing a hook.

Which is different from the insurance requirements for trucks? $5,000-$10,000/year for insurance is ridiculous for a truck...but that's pretty typical. Why is it so high? Because the feds mandated $1,000,000 liability minimum, so you get the 1-800-sue-a-trucker lawyers who will sue the truck company for $1,000,000 following a minor fender bender with their "client". The insurance company might settle for $250,000-$500,000 and everyone wins, right? Insurance companies charge a little more in premiums anticipating these sorts of settlements, which is why it is as high as it is. No different for doctors. In states with tort reform laws on the books, which limit a doctor's liability to ACTUAL damages, with reasonable limits for punitive damages, and perhaps some guidance in regards to "pain and suffering"....those states have lower malpractice premiums than states with no such laws and a history of frivolous lawsuits resulting in huge awards for damages. The insurance companies, much like any OTHER business, are in business to make a profit. Without profits, there is no reason to be in business. Any expense which cuts into those profits will be made up elsewhere. Take Bank of America, for example. Dick Durbin adds an amendment to a bill which limits a bank's ability to charge retailers for debit purchases. So, since the banks cannot charge the retailers, they charge the customers. Now Dick Durbin is telling customers not to do business with Bank of America because Bank of America responded to HIS legislation in a manner which protected their profits....which should have been expected. Some people seem to think the act of government raping certain other citizens won't cause those certain other citizens to alter their behavior to minimize the effects of said governmental raping....and are offended when those certain other citizens look for ways to avoid the governmental rape altogether. Then there are those of us (the 1%) who realize that businesses are in business to make a profit, and any changes made to limit their ability to be profitable will be met with changes to their business model in order to protect the profitability of the business....even if that means packing up shop and moving to another country. Want to end poverty in America? Make sure there are jobs available for Americans to do, and stop trying to make it "comfortable" or "socially acceptable" to be in poverty. Want jobs in America? Make it easy to be profitable running a business in America. Want superior health care in America? Make it profitable for people to be in the medical profession and advance medical technology. Without profits, there is no incentive to produce anything, and mediocrity becomes the norm.

...and one more thing:

You could talk to 100 people and get 100 different responses for what the protest is about. Nobody seems to know why they are there. I did see a list of "demands" though...some of them were outright ridiculous. I guess I'm one of the 1% that agrees that capital punishment is the best way to keep violent offenders from repeating their crimes upon innocent victims. I suppose I am part of the 1% who feels that wealth is gained through lifetime of hard work and perseverance...the reward for taking certain risks when those risks pay off...and that those unwilling to take those risks have no right to any part of my rewards just as I have no right to any part of anyone else's reward. Perhaps I fall inside the 1% who feels economic and industrial growth are a GOOD thing, as that is what creates jobs and opportunities for anyone willing to take advantage of any open doors they find....even if they have to pry the damned door open for themselves. As one of the alleged 1%, I firmly believe that the only people unemployed in this country are unemployed BY CHOICE! There is no reason why anyone cannot find something to do and some way to get paid to do it and create their own job. If they are unwilling to do that, there are still plenty of jobs out there. They may not be "prestigious" or "high paying" jobs, but they will put food on the table and keep a roof over your head (unless of course you bought more house than you needed...but then why is that society's fault?) Out here in the 1%, we believe that poverty cannot and will not be cured by enabling those in poverty to continue sitting around with their hand out collecting money the government has confiscated from those who have made the effort to pay their own way through this life. When a person gets hungry, they will do what it takes to fill their belly...even if that means getting a job flipping burgers at McDonald's. I shouldn't have to give up a portion of my paycheck to buy groceries for an unemployed person who lives next door to a McDonald's with a "help wanted" sign in the window. Here in the 1%, we believe that risks have potential consequences if they do not work out. We also believe that when that risk DOES works out, it should yield rewards. As it pertains to "health profiteering", doctors spend 8-10 years (or more) going to school and learning how to be a doctor. Medical school is expensive, and it is not uncommon for a doctor to begin his/her career $250K or more in the hole. Pharmaceutical companies spend BILLIONS of dollars researching and developing new drugs to cure existing diseases. When those drugs do not work as planned, the losses are astronomical. Why SHOULDN'T a doctor be allowed to profit from practicing medicine? Why SHOULDN'T a pharmaceutical company be allowed to recover their losses and pay for their R& D expenses when a new drug does what it is supposed to do? If it weren't for these "rewards", nobody would take the risks, and there would be NO doctors, and there would be NO drugs. Hope you don't get sick. As part of the 1%, I believe that war is ended one of two ways: Either you win...or you lose. The loser caves to the winner's demands in order to stop the fight...and at that point, the fight is over. Our demand made to our enemies is simple: Stop trying to kill us and our allies around the world. Their demand made to us is not so simple: Die. The wars we are involved in will not simply go away just because we pull our troops out and bring them home. Our enemies will follow them right over here and continue the war on OUR soil until every last one of us is dead. That is not an option to us over here in the 1%. Now I cannot be certain of this, but I would imagine there is more than just 1% who feels the way I do....just like I am quite certain this nutcase group "occupying" various places does not represent even 1/2 of the 99% they claim...

That's great news. I know the fiance has been having trouble finding hay for her horses for a reasonable price. No rain = no grass growing = no hay production = prices skyrocket. I keep trying to tell her she wouldn't be having that problem IF SHE WAS UP HERE!!! (We ain't having a drought...we have the OTHER problem every spring...to much water). Every time I talk to my grandma, she's always asking about the fiance because way up yonder where Grandma is, the news only reports on the fires in Texas but doesn't give very precise locations....keep having to tell Grandma Texas is a pretty big place.

...well that didn't take me too long! You can see the '92 Ranger (at the time it was my brother's) and my mom's '95 Explorer in the background. Pic was probably taken in 2000 or 2001.

The door tag says 12,800...so I was surprised to find the springs were only rated 12,400. I'm still not going to push any more weight up onto the steers than I have been... ....and the Ranger you've seen pics of is my '92 Ranger. It just had the stock suspension until I took a trip out west and the rear fenders were rubbing on the tire sidewalls...so I added 1500# helper springs for the ride home and solved that problem. The '86 Ranger had (still has...but it ain't on the road at the moment) a MUCH stouter spring setup. I'll have to try to find a pic of that old truck... ...besides this one.

Pulling into a fuel stop & heard a loud "pop". After that, the steering wheel was 90 degrees off-center. Looked things over...tugged on every steering component and looked at the suspension...everything appeared to be OK....made a few phone calls and decided I'd just ease on up the road, deliver my load, and get it to a Mack dealer ASAP. Well, ASAP was this morning after picking up my next load. At first, they thought it was the front left spring bushing, but when they pulled it apart to change it, the spring eye was broken off. So, the 2QK492's are being replaced with 2QK494's. I figure if I'm buying new springs, I'm going to upgrade. $140 buys me an extra 3800# spring capacity on the steers. Either way, they had to be ordered...so no difference in down time. Hopefully now I'll quit bottoming them out...only clean spots on the truck are where the bump-stops contact the underside of the frame rails. Everyone seems to think it's going to be TOO much spring...especially for a day cab...but my old '86 Ranger had 4000# of spring on the ass end and 1250# coilovers in addition to the progressive rate coil springs up front. It's a truck...and as such, I have no problem with it riding like a truck. If I wanted a Cadillac-like ride quality coupled with the inability to do actual work, I would have bought a Peterbilt.

2 tries and ya still goofed up the whole quoting thing....

I swear that motorcycle cop that ended up in the pond sounds like Enos Strate...

Smokey & the Bandit is on Encore right now....just getting to Alabama.

I can't post from my phone....don't have a data plan and don't want a "smart phone". Heck, even my dumb phone is smarter than me...

Why video tape it? It's actually pretty boring...a still picture should suffice.

My mouse must be a lesbian. Not only has it never had any balls, it has no use for 'em.