WTF? Why is it moving??
...closer inspection revealed that the luggage rack had cracked on both sides, almost all the way clear through the tubing. A thin hinge of metal was holding it on the bike.
Put my folder back in the trunk and carefully rode home.
Let the pics tell the story:
The motorcycle is only really usable as recreation if I don't have a way to carry things, so I pulled the rack off the bike. Went to the bank, then stopped at the welding shop here in town; I'm told it'll be ready by 11 AM tomorrow.
*sigh*
I'm pretty depressed by having to take more money out of my IRA. (Comcast was supposed to hire me, dag nab it...) I'm really hoping one of the leads I got yesterday bears some fruit, because WTF. Having yet another thing go wrong with the motorcycle does not help matters, even if it is something relatively simple to have repaired.
I figure that once I get it back I might clean up the welds, then take it to a nearby place that does powder coating and have that done. Maybe a nice metallic blue, to match the gas tank.
...re-chroming it would probably cost more than the rack is worth.
Anyway, the guy's going to put some tubing inside the tubing to reinforce it, so hopefully this won't happen again. Still, it's an annoyance I didn't need.
I then went to the grocery store. The position I was going to apply for has been filled already--big surprise. I was able to exchange the salsa, anyway.
Lastly, I got a couple of shorter bolts for the bike so I can ride it without the luggage rack. The bolts that hold the luggage rack on also hold on the rear turn signals and the seat; the rest is left as an exercise for the student.
*sigh*
* * *
While I'm at it, here's pics from the El-Hazard Brain Transplant:
Old case on the left, new case (empty) on the right.
Old case disassembled, with parts laid out. Mobo on the left, others nearby for scale. I'm still amazed at how small the thing is even as it has enough computing horsepower to do just about anything that's not graphics-intensive.
The motherboard itself. I didn't get a picture of it when I originally built El-Hazard, so here it is.
The new case, ready for installation of components. The rectangular piece of metal on the right goes into the case and is where one of the drive rails for the optical drive go; but it has to be removable in order for one to be able to install the motherboard. The case is a pretty nice design, I have to say, and it was actually cheaper than the original case was.
The new case has a much smaller footprint, but it lacks the extra 3.5" drive bay that the original case has. The only complaint I've got is that the new case has an active cooling fan in the power supply, and it's a little noisy. Probably I will not notice it when El-Hazard is working as a set-top box in the family room, though.
* * *
Around all this I have to decide what I'm having for dinner tonight, and I don't feel like doing a dag-blasted thing. What I really want to do is to lay in bed and have my personal chef with big tits bring me fajitas and a margerita while wearing only an apron. Since that would require me winning approximately half a billion dollars in the Powerball, after taxes, I guess I might as well wish for a pony while I'm about it.
*sigh*
* * *
And Lemonzen would get a mite upset with me if that actually happened, so I guess the pony would be a safer wish to boot.
* * *
Seen on Borepatch we have this cat cartoon that made me laugh out loud:
This is what cats are like.