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At its basis, this Boortz bit is about how the Democrats want to raise taxes. That really is it: the Democrats don't want to cut spending by so much as a penny, and they're going to raise taxes if we let them.
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What in the hell...? From the article Missorah.com links to:
A federal indictment states that Dawkins started to fill out a passport application in 2004, didn't complete it, then filled out a new application two years later....huh?
On that new application, he checked a box "no" for the question, "Have you ever applied before?" according to the indictment.
To my way of thinking, if you partly fill out a form and never submit it, you're not applying. "Application" would involve filling out the form and submitting it. Undoubtedly that's what this poor guy thought as well.
Does our federal government not have anything better to do but start felony prosecutions against clerical errors?
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Time magazine makes factual misstatements about the Constitution. Big surprise.
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Also from Ace: "There were two depressions in the 20th century. Interesting reading.
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The eye is still a little irritated, but it's also still no worse than at peak allergy times (cottonwood season in the spring and ragweed in late summer) so I think everything's okay. A bit more gunk at the corner of the eye than usual upon waking, maybe.
Thinking about it, I figure that most of the drop was stopped by my glasses (as I said previously) and some splashed--but of that splash I think most of it landed right on the corner of my eye, not in my eye, such that a little bit actually contacted mucous membrane and most of the rest of the irritation was due to vapors from the drop that hit skin.
Basic first aid tips worked well: don't rub it and flush with water immediately.
Basic safety prevented worse: wear glasses. I've worn glasses since I was 10; eyeglasses work very well as basic safety glasses--though not perfectly, as we've seen--but if you don't wear eyeglasses, wear safety glasses when you're doing this kind of stuff. Always-always.
I remember my brother was working on this same motorcycle once, using carb cleaner on the carb, and he ended up getting a faceful--and he was wearing contact lenses. Yeah. The contact lenses were ruined but I'd wonder if they didn't save his corneas from some real scarring, because carb cleaner is nasty stuff.
Put something over your eyes, seriously, even if it's just a pair of glasses.
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Anyway, the motorcycle started; problem is, I had to keep the choke on to keep it running. It won't run without it, which means that it's not getting enough fuel even after the engine's warmed up.
After fooling around with the bike last night, I realized that I wasn't getting anywhere with the motorcycle and decided on a break; seeing that my neighbor across the street was sitting on his front porch, I went over there to talk to him for a while. We chatted for perhaps half an hour or so, and it was pretty pleasant. We started by talking about my tinkering, and he told me, "Sometimes you've just got to leave it sit overnight, and the next time you touch it, it'll go."
He seemed a lot less confused about his wife this time than when I spoke to him last; none of this "she's not here" or "they tell me she died" stuff. That's good. Sounds as if he's going to move to Mokena to be closer to his daughter; he sounded as if he liked the prospect even though it meant leaving this neighborhood. He likes it here, but said he doesn't need a three-bedroom house when it's just him.
True enough.
Anyway, after that I put everything away and played WoW for a while; then I had a shower and hit the hay. And danged if I didn't think of something.
I realized that there's one passage in the carb I didn't clean, because I didn't have a screwdriver that could reach into the deep hole where the screw was. I saw that, thought, "I should get a screwdriver that can reach that, and clean it." And then I forgot all about it--well, I'm going to have to modify one of my screwdrivers to reach that damn thing and get it out, because that's probably what's causing my problem now. I bet the passage behind that screw is full of varnish.
...and I've got my Bible study group in about 1.5 hours and I haven't shaved and showered yet. *sigh* So I won't be able to do anything with it tonight; that group lets off about 9 PM.
If that motorcycle was not so damn noisy I'd go ahead; but being a two-cycle bike with a missing exhaust stud and a couple holes in the muffler, it makes a fair racket.
*sigh*
The exhaust stud is broken, actually, not missing. I need to take the cylinder off and get it to a machine shop; I don't trust myself to remove the remains of that stud without ruining something important and I'd rather pay someone a few bucks than have to find a new cylinder.
It's fine as it is for now; but that's just one of about a thousand little jobs that need doing to make the bike 100% nifty again.
Some of them are just a matter of replacing parts, like the speedometer; others are more involved, like getting that one air cleaner mounting tab welded on. I'd like to get a new exhaust system, or (failing that) fix this one. I want to get a helmet rack behind the seat, like it's supposed to have. There are a few turn signal kits on Ebay which look good to me; I'd like to install those.
Clean, clean, clean, clean, clean. I'm going to be going after the chrome with a toothbrush and Ajax. I don't know how much of it can be brought back, but I'll try.
New chain, because this one's got serious slack in it.
...none of this is getting done before the 4th, though--and here it's been more than a week and I still haven't called about the motorcycle riding course, dang it--because I only need the thing to be running well for those festivities.
The seat's got a small tear on one side; I think if I were to get a piece of duct tape on the backside of it, you'd never know it was there--it'd look like a scuff mark. But I might see about getting a new seat cover for it.
I actually had this idea: once I've gotten my license and plates and such, and cleaned her up and made her extra-pretty, I could take the thing to the cruise nights. That'd be fun.
But right now I've got other things to do, and I'd better get at them.