[Date: Sun, Sep 29, 2013 at 10:35 AM]
PN:
An optimistic note –
A realistic note –
This week’s rant features lots of Dixon Diaz (The Libtard Show)……
AUTOMOTIVE AND MECHANICAL JOURNAL ENTRY (THINGS THAT PISS ME OFF)
Which argument is true? – I am just too old to be flexible vs I’m old enough and experienced enough to know a better way……… For instance, the truck in the picture is a 1993 Peterbilt 379 model, with a 3406 Caterpillar engine (425 hp, 1450 ft.lbs. torque) and an 18 speed Eaton Fuller transmission. Very nice to drive –
Bringing it back from Saskatchewan for Dustin F., I noticed every time I shut off the engine, the air pressure in the tank would bleed off quickly. Not alarmingly quick, but uncomfortably quick. Lots of hisss behind the dash. Not good. Not comforting. Probably not safe, either. You’d think that working on such a large machine would be a breeze compared to compact transverse engine cars. Not always so……….. The picture below shows the dashboard control switch panel opened, and some of the new air lines, tees, and switches I installed to stop the leak(s) –
Quite a bag of snakes. When I started tracing the leak, I found it was plural – many, many leaks. This vehicle has 1.8 million kilometers on the odometer. In the above picture, the new ferrule type compression tees are nicely lined up and mated with their associated air switches (took 3 hours). Some of the air switches are quick connect they have a white ring vs a brass nut on the barrel (more on that below). The ones I replaced are the ferrule type compression fitting switches. Here is a picture of some of the components I replaced –
A quick connect style air switch at the top of the picture, three quick connect tees below the switch. Notice the crack in the plastic outlet on the switch. Several points to make about this entire exercise (which isn’t finished as of this rant)…..
- The white quick connect switches were ALL cracked and leaking – the black quick connect switches weren’t leak (good thing, ’cause I couldn’t find enough ferrule compression type switches in Vernon)
- The quick connect tees had leaks that came and went with the stress put on them – i.e. bend the line a bit and they start leaking (more)
- There isn’t much room behind the dash to work
- It is quite a snake nest to trace the airlines behind this panel – couldn’t pull the panel out far enough because of short electrical wires and air lines
- A number of existing tee, air switch, and connectors of the ferrule compression type indicated that this was not a new problem – i.e. air leak repairs had been performed before
There is no Peterbilt store in Vernon. I went to the Kenworth store….. YIKES!!! The equivalent air switch from Kenworth was $117 Cdn retail (negotiations got it down to $85 – still, I passed on that amazing offer). I drove to the International truck store. They had a switch that could be made to work for ONLY $47Cdn, without fittings (you’d have to buy $15 Cdn worth of brass to make it work). I passed on that deal, too.
Next stop was Cold Stream Truck Parts yard. Way out in the “back 40” I found an older Kenworth that still had some ferrule compression type air switches in the dash panel. I removed all three and used them on the Peterbilt. Cost? $5 Cdn each, or $15 Cdn + tax. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find enough to replace ALL the quick connect air switches in the Peterbilt. Now for my bitches……
- Why so many tees? An air manifold with a “home run” to each switch would be much easier to trouble shoot, repair, replace
- Why so costly? The EXACT quick connect switches I removed are about $12 USD on the Internet – the better (IMHO) ferrule compression type were slightly more money. What makes them 5 to 10 times more valuable crossing an imaginary line (border)?
- Why so difficult to work on? Surely making the electrical leads and air lines a few inches longer would enable the technician to pull the panel out far enough to analyze and trouble shoot…..
- Beer tastes better when the work goes smoother
CANADA
The CSA (Canadian Standards Association) was formed to ensure electrical materials and products were safe for consumers. They now have over thirty “offices” worldwide. WTF? In the immortal words of Elmer Fudd, they have been “vewy, vewy bad”:
http://www.restorecsa.com/news/article/follow-the-money-taiwan-edition
More specifics here: http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/renega.html#comments
Furthermore, the CSA doesn’t appreciate being outed. They have launched a barrage of law suits to stop the restore csa website from telling secrets. It’s hard to choose which entity is more corrupt – politicians or bureaucrats. I choose them both.
Wendy F. told me about an article in the Calgary Herald concerning the “Freemen on the Land” movement in the U.S. and Canada, and how one Andreas Parelli (aka Mario Antonacci) interprets that movement. Here’s the National Post article on the incident:
Wendy thought I might like to rant. Here goes….. Poor grammar and spelling aside, the article implies that this idiot declares himself “The First Nations Sovran Embassy of Earth”, and uses the convoluted legal and tax laws to constipate the courts. It apparently works. There is grave concern in Canada and the U.S. blah, blah, blah. Tell me this: if the law of the land is so convoluted and complex that it takes 10 months of bullshit to produce absolutely no result except gridlock, why is it not overhauled? If the province and the police and the lawyers and the judges and the bankers and the accountants and all the high priced help can’t make what is absolutely black and white right, what is the point? The concept of freedom is married (not the gay way) to the concept of personal property. There is no freedom without personal property (yourself is property). How many senior citizens get taken advantage of in this and other ways? I rue the day….. The reason to have a society based on the foundations of individual freedom and rule of law is precisely that – to protect the freedom of law abiding citizens. In our “progressive” culture, the abhorrent, the criminal, the lawbreaker, the outlaw all seem to have equal (or better) rights than does a law abiding citizen. Why?
I think this pensioner lady should hire some men to reclaim her property.
Mark Steyn unloads on Global Warming®. An outspoken Canadian pundit whose words always carry weight:
[youtube http://youtube.com/w/?v=Ca8YAYWh08o]
The point is that a political ideology has had 20 years of students to brainwash, at the hands of the very people who are charged with “education”. A generation of guilt laid at the feet of our children. Quite an industry that – scaring the life out of young impressionable people. Just another $$$ scam.
Shiny Pony news ‘o the week –
Q. What have these pictures in common?
A. That’s Racist®!
That Fruit Fly Guy news ‘o the week:
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/suzuki_revealed_as_complete_know_nothing_by_very_first_question_on_qa/
Here’s Ezra Levant exposing more fruit fly guy antics:
http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/david-suzuki-a-fraud%3F/2695508284001
Conclusion? Canada doesn’t take a second seat to ANY country in producing buffoons….
UNITED STATES
A review of the 2 Million Biker rally –
The following satirical picture is titled “Putin on the Ditz”. Simply brilliant –
Who will follow this clown act, this incompetent, this abject failure of a president? Hillary Clinton cannot be considered by anyone with a moral and ethical conscience. I will probably repeat the following (and equivalent factual information) until the next election is over. She is simply an amoral political psychopath. The following reveals the character of this “lawyer” who failed the bar exam first try. Couldn’t make it as a lawyer –
RUSSIA
Greenpeace might get what they deserve. The Russians are serving justice. Where can we get some?:
The original Greenpeace objectives have been lost to the radical environmentalists……….
HUMOROUS, STUPID, POLITICAL, WITTY, SIMPLY MAHVELLOUS
Horseshoe Bend, Arizona
GUNS, GUNNERY, GUNNERS
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ASTOUNDING-NESS
A 240 year old automaton that can write a letter….. Bloody amazing!:
[youtube http://youtube.com/w/?v=FUa7oBsSDk8#t=45]
A list of solar companies that no longer are viable. There are a large number of them. Government “grants” and guarantees cause this sort of excess. Taxpayers pay.:
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Rest-in-Peace-The-List-of-Deceased-Solar-Companies
Will GM rice (genetically modified) join DDT in being a major cause of death in third world countries precisely because it is NOT being used? It is reckoned that vitamin A deficiency is responsible for up to 2 million deaths a year – mostly young children and women. This caution, indeed reluctance to implement the use of this “golden rice” seems strange when other technological solutions are adopted willy-nilly WITHOUT extensive and exhaustive research, usually at great cost to the taxpayer (see the solar article above for an example). Is it politics? Is it corporate monopolies? Is it ignorance? Is it RaCiSm®? Can’t isolate the cause, so I’ll go with them all and any others I think of:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6152/1320.full
Organic food is what Penn and Teller insist it is – another religion. Q.: How many religions does it take to totally alienate every human being from every other human being? A.: How many you got? Here’s Penn and Teller on “Organic Food”:
[youtube http://youtube.com/w/?v=5amLAMRQk5I]
Didn’t mention whether the young lady’s spectacular attributes were organic……. I think it may not matter…….
PHILOSOPHERS, PHILOSOPHY, SMART THINKING
RELIGION OF PEACE (ON YOU)
So much murder so much blood on the hands of the practitioners of the “religion of peace” this week. They continue to set new records of depravity. In the news is Kenya and Pakistan, the former the slaughtering of ANY non Muslims, the latter focusing on those of the Christian faith. Hard to find any glimmer of sunshine present, future, ever for these misguided savage ignorant sub-standard idiots. No cartoons can relieve the pain.
Not enough to kill the non believer, the obscenity in Nairobi included torture of the victims, and mutilation of the bodies. That’s the religion of peace for you – never shy about making their position obvious. They are seriously psychotic and need to die. When will it be too much?:
http://www.newser.com/story/174983/nairobi-mall-victims-were-tortured-say-reports.html
Dennis Prager makes an appeal to Muslims everywhere – it’s time Muslims confront Muslim evil:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/359343/time-muslims-confront-muslim-evil-dennis-prager
The foundation documents of Islam are flawed. The fairy stories are unbelievable (Mohammed’s was a miracle “virgin birth” too – what a coincidence!) The reformation of their brand of “holier than thou” has not happened. It had better happen soon. The grass roots people will not tolerate this behavior indefinitely. Don’t believe the signs are there? On September 11th, over 1 million American and Canadian bikers drove their machines to Washington, DC. No funding, no massive rally effort by organized religion or unions, not for political fealty. People who are sick of the madness decided to show up. I support those people. The politicians had better start singing the correct tunes or they will be replaced. They are already disgraced, but haven’t the common sense to know it……
SUNDAY SERMON
Religion was invented when the first Con-Man met the first Fool. – Mark Twain
Today’s sermon is some schooling from Christopher Hitchens explaining the origins of Islam from Judeo – Christian roots, and the mutations that followed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CADoG-gu5Zk
Alas, religion doesn’t show well under logical scrutiny. Believe what you will, at your peril.
Just sayin’……
WEATHER
It has been raining every day this week. It certainly put an end to summer. Had to turn on the furnace. Had to wear a sweater. Hopes for an Indian Summer continue…………..
Joe (Semi-Soaked) Mekanic
p.s. Ramirez is a rainy day antidote –
