Recent Pictures and Projects

Went to see some tulips in Washington for a weekend trip recently...
Saw some very pretty ponys along the way.

Meeting of the Broncos :)

Then on to the tulips

Saw a street artists paints all spread out on the road... How does he know what colour is in which tube???

Bought an old camera from an antique shop... Its a Zeiss and is about 100 years old and is in pretty good condition (lense is not damaged and there are no holes in the bellows)

Its a "plate" camera that was designed to expose images on glass plates... Im going to modify the plate carrier packs slightly and use it to do some direct exposure photography on printing paper. That will get me "negative" images which I will then "contact print" to create positive images.
I did a bit of "pin-hole camera" photography when I was a kid and I liked the simplicity of it. This will be pretty much the same thing... All do it your self whith minimal fuss and no "middle-man" to process the film... Just me and a couple of trays of simple chemicals and a darkened room.
Its not going to happen immediately but it'll be another of my projects for the future :))

And one more project Ive been working on is to build a new bicycle. Ive got an old rigid-frame mountain bike that I commute to and from work with during the summer months... and it works perfectly well as it is. But I saw a very nice lite-weight "track-bike" frame for sale at a bargain price, and I thought I might like something a little nicer to ride :)

Again, Ive been sufing the web and slowly collecting parts to build my "perfect commuter" bike, and its nearly done. The wheel set were very expensive at about $700 but Ive got an internal 8 gear hub on the rear with a built-in "coaster" brake, so the bike will have just a single cable on it from a gear shifter on the handle-bars and no messy external brake levers or callipers... Clean and simple and effective ... Just how I like it :)

More Tinkering

Update on the bike project...

Ive been searching the internet for parts for the project bike and over the last couple of months Ive acquired most of the bits that I want and have started to install them ... Now that I have some room to work down in my garage since Ive sold a couple of my othe bikes :)

First up, here is a picture of the old carby arangement:

... And here is the new arangement:

 I got rid of the old engine cover with built in air filter box and have replaced it with a new "lower profile" fibre-glass engine cover and external air filters that attach directly to the carbys. Ive also removed the cable assembly for the choke and built two individual choke knobs directly on the carbys... I think it looks much cleaner over all :)

 The "sleek" new engine cover.

And then I replaced the rusty old exhaust pipes and headers for some new and shorter ones (again I like the look of the new ones more than the old ones on the "cafe style" bike. Ive also added "rear-sets" which move the foot controls about 15-20cm back on the bike which helps with the riding position for this style of bike.

 Picture of the new exhaust, rear-sets, and engine cover all installed.

And finally Ive decided on the seat style that Im going to go with... Classic "cafe". Its a solo seat with a fibre-glass tail cone (The starter battery has been moved to hide in under the tail cone section). The seat is not uphoulstered yet but you get the idea of what it will look like all the same...

The rear light has been changed but the original indicators are still being used (for the moment at least)


So, here is a picure of the bike as it was when I got it, followed by one of the bike as it is now.

Still quite a bit of work to do... but getting there :)

Exercises in non-Attachment

I've been doing some "letting go" recently... Some of it voluntarily and some of it not :)

Over the last couple of weeks there have been a number of changes that have all come along at about the same time for some reason...
The first thing to "go" was my little blue motorbike. It was the one that I was going to sell a couple of months back that caused me to "accidentally" buy the old BMW that Im working on.
It was a great little bike and was the same make model and year as the little yellow one that I modified a few years ago. I had been keeping it as my "back-up" which worked out well last year when the yellow one got damaged. But since then I bought the big black one and didnt need the little blue one... It was just going to sit there and slowly deteriorate without being used, so I decided that it was better that it "move on" and be appreciated by someone who would actually use it... So, I advertised it and after a couple of weeks I managed to sell it... and Im happy with that choice.  :)

Next thing to go was my beaten-up old touring bike... Yes, the bike that I rode all through the Americas for about 200,000Km... It was a great bike and Im sure it had lots more Km of life in it too... But, Ive done the big touring that I want to do in North America, and like the blue bike, it was sitting around not being used and slowly deteriorating.
But I had developed quite an attachment to the bike despite its decrepitude and un-aesthetic appearance, and it took me quite a while to come to the decission that I should "let it go"... But at the end of the day its just another piece of hardware that I have accumulated and that no-one else really cares about.
So, I advertised it and then waited for several weeks while the occasional person showed some interest, till eventually the right one turned up and I sold it... again, for not much money but Im happy with this choice too :)

Off to follow a new future with someone else! ...The old DL650 with the new owner.

And the next change was that my cat dissapeared! :(
I think I mentioned about 18 months ago that I got a couple of cats... And that all went well for a few month but then one of them dissapeared one night (I put in a cat door so they could come and go as they chose). The first cat to go was the very "flighty" one, and I have to say that I was not that surprised (though I was dissapointed).
But the other cat was much more friendly and stable... And after over a year of outdoor access without incident I thought she had probably figured out how to survive safely... But it seems I was premature in that outlook because a couple of weeks ago, she went out late one night (after I went to bed) and I have not seen her since... And it makes me sad that she is gone (and probably gone to a Coyote's meal too!)... But again, I dont regret my choice to let her have access to the outside (despite the dangers), and I certainly dont regret having decided to get the cats in the first place... Id do it again though it wont be immediately since Im planning to go on another big motorbike tour next year so I dont want to have to find a home for the cat while Im away.

The first cat to "go"... She was called "SuDon" and was very flighty!

The second cat was called "Alergen" and I miss her :(

And then the most recent "change" is that my current contract ended... I was expecting it to end of course, but there was a little miss-communication about the date, and it was a week earlier than I expected. But I have no problem with that because Ive been working pretty solidly for the last couple of years and I am well and truely ready for a bit of a break at the moment...
The only problem is that I dont really know what to do with my break...
Talk about a "first world problem"!  :)

Yes, I recognise how fortunate I am to have the dillema of not knowing what to do with my-self  or where on the planet Id like to spend my holiday time (rather than struggling to pay for a roof over my head and enough food for my-self and my family just to survive like most of the rest of humanity! ... I am so spoiled!

So, Ive been practicing "letting go" but Im
really not sure to what end just yet ??