Modern Vespa

March 1st, 2024. Made it up to Deadwood coffee two days in a row, probably tomorrow as well if the weather holds...possibly on the GTS300.

Unless, of course, you were a Mac user.

I was both a Mac user and an Apple engineer writing OS code for macOS at the time.

This!! The only reason nothing particularly bad happened was because of all the warnings and pressure from those who understood the risk. It was a big win and also annoying to hear people claim it was a hoax.

And exactly why I mentioned it.

IIRC, Mac OSs from 7.5 and up didn't have any issues with the Y2K scenario because Macs used a 4 digit date. (I was running 9.2 on a 300Mhz beige G3 (and also a Performa 475, a 6360, a 638CD and a Mac Classic with various OSs) at the time.) I continued to run 9.2.2 for quite a while because I was still running Audiodesk. Still have all the disks because I have issues letting go of the past. If you know anyone who needs a 7.5 install disk, just let me know.

Early PCs used a 2 digit date for efficiency, because bytes were expensive, and it bit them. But, as you said, bad code can ruin good hardware. I think some MS Office products had issues even on Macs.

But I certainly don't have even a small fraction of the inside scoop you did. I would pay money to sit with you over several cups of coffee (or tea) and talk about it for hours.

Those were the days when being a Mac user was still fun.

5070 days 17 hours 26 minutes to go untill the next one.

START WORRYING NOW.

Funny (not really) to note the correlation to COVID. Funny (not really) how science seems to work. Funny (not really) how the annoying people still can't figure that out.

Chris from CLE

Fresh snow cheers me up! Especially in a year when there hasn't been much snow.

Just finishing a week-long group psychotherapy conference (AGPA Connect) in National Harbor, Maryland. I led a two-day, twelve-hour process group for ten attendees and attended some excellent presentations. Dropped in on the dance last night and enjoyed a dance group called Step Africa at the luncheon today. I even got up to dance with them and learn a few steps. Spent some time with friends I see once a year.

I have attended this conference every year for the past 30 years.

Got around to changing the oil and filter on the LX today. Only had about 1,000 miles since the last change but it's been a year.

The oil was a bit darker than I expected.

Dune 2. Totally lives up to the hype.
And due to some terrible scheduling I wasn't able to take both kids so will have to take the other one during the week.

Oh. Bummer.

Does Christopher Walken Know He's in a Dune Movie?

Yessir! Trenit was great for our February adventure; going to go with Italo in October just to see what's what, try all the options, etc. Going to just book us the Salotto and be done with it, get mum up into the lounge before departure, big comfy chairs, not lots of enthusiastic teenagers chatting loudly, etc.

Has anyone seen the new BMW ad with Christopher Walken ?

Weather's nice so I get to scoot down to Jack Rose for today's Old Forester tasting. (lots of food and water as well, five pours of 1oz each, and it's a three hour event so all worry can leave your heads )

Maybe I'll take the new-to-me 6D2 and get a few photos.

A ride out on the Old Knocker today. It ran for 2 hours. This could be a record.

Part One seemed like a short. The Atreides' came, they got slaughtered, Paul and mom meet the Fremen. It didn't feel like a two hour movie. Part Two was epic in scale. Two thumbs up. (I'd give it three thumbs up if I was gifted a third hand.)

Tasting daaaayyyyyy

nope

It's specific to Bill.

nope

nope

nope

Skids, your wish is my command. Give me a few days.

Ramblings of a Madman Stella Owner

It was a super busy weekend. One of those weekends where I come to work on Monday to get some rest. Cleaned the truck inside and out because it was embarrassing, got the fam out on the bikes (bicycles) for our first ride this season, but also had time for a ride myself.

I was ging to grab the Aprilia just for time's sake. The Stella was right there, but I've been having battery issues and I just wanted a relaxing ride ... but I had both keys in hand because I can never remember which top-case I left stuff in.

I decided to see if the Stella would fire up. It was a little warmer Sunday morning, if 41º is what you consider warm. She did start, so I thought, "Ok, ok ... let's go for a ride."

So the short story is, when I bought the Stella back in early 2018 my plan was to flip it. I mean, come on ... I paid a whopping $250 for a bike with less than 700 miles on it. (See this thread for the longer bit) It's been a complicated relationship, and it seems like I'm always selling it.

But it was a good day for some perspective. Chilly, cloudy, Sunday with no traffic. That seems to be my favorite time to ride. I was out for about an hour and a half. These are some things I thought about.

I originally got into scootering for transportation. To save gas. That's no longer why I ride. My daily work commute used to be forty miles, now it's five. And it's technically cheaper to drive the FIAT than ride a scooter. So I ride for different reasons.

I have contact info for a guy that I know through family with a GTS 250 for sale with almost no miles on it for about what I could sell my two bikes for. And that would make sense because it's a great bike, lots faster, fuel injected, it's a real Vespa, etc.

But as I was riding up Grand River Ave out in the twisty areas where people sell firewood by the bundle, I noticed just how good the Stella felt. And I thought, "Will I ever NEED to ride 70mph?" I rolled that around in my head for a few minutes and realized that if I ever need to go faster, it means I'm late getting somewhere and I'm not enjoying the ride. I looked down at my speedo and I was cruising at a comfortable 45mph. There was lots left, for sure. She'll push north of 60 without any issues, but between 45 and 55 it's a very comfortable ride.

She's not perfect. Definitely not the prettiest bike. Someone painted her with a brush using some Ford blue paint they bought on sale. But she runs well. Sometimes it feels like I'm riding a Farmall tractor amongst Ferraris, but if I stopped comparing it against *shiny* bikes, would I really be all that motivated to move on?

By the end of the ride I had fallen back in love with the Stella. She never missed a beat and there's something about hitting exactly the right RPMs, just touching the clutch and feeling her fall effortlessly into forth with hardly a blip in revs.

I think I just need to hang some more chrome on her, tell her she's pretty and maybe take her camping this spring. And just be happy with what I have.

That's where I am today.

The short version is that I bought a broken 1997 R1100 RT from a dealer as the owner didn't want to spend any money on the bike when the ABS broke, so I bought it for £1000 knowing just much needed fixing.

I got everything repaired and then I used it for a 1000 mile ride which popped the driveshaft output oil seal but as that's a gearbox out job I had the clutch replaced while the back end was in bits.

I got it back but then it started to cut out so then I had the hall effect sensor replaced which appears to have worked.

I've left a lot out such as many dealerships not wanting to change the oil seal as it's very labour intensive, including many Motorrad shops and 4 independents.

I initially bought it to break a personal mileage record but the more it broke the less interest I had in using it and I even invested in a Kawasaki KLV to take it's place while it was being repaired but every time I went to Europe to attempt it the weather turned bad so that idea is currently on hold.

Even if it's cost me a pretty penny I don't have any regrets as it's easily the best bike I've owned.

There, I said it.

nope

Oh if I'd known just how much it was going to cost me I wouldn't have bought it but because it's now a keeper rather than selling it on post ride I have to view its rather large bills as an investment rather than a regret.

They are incredible to ride in a way that my two previous Moto Guzzi's and the Kawasaki weren't.

Both competent but neither of them are as rewarding as the RT to ride.

My beautiful 2005 Vespa GT, Razzo, wouldn't start after sitting for a few weeks in early January.

I replaced the spark plug but still no fire.

Tried starter fluid spray and it wouldn't fire.

So I took it to my trusty mechanic, Alex, a couple of weeks ago.

He found no spark accompanied by strange electrical readings.

He changed the coil with no change and suspected the CDI.

So I pulled the CDI from my parts GT and took it to him.

He installed it quickly and still no spark with the flashing lights on the instrument panel reading that it wasn't working.

We thought it may need the key from the parts scooter to activate the CDI but holding it close didn't help.

So he put the old CDI back in.

The scooter has had a balky starter for the past three years so I bought a new one and took it to Alex with a bendix that Russ had given to me.

He installed both today.

When he put it all back together, he tried the starter and found that it had a spark and started.

He doesn't know what changed, so that is concerning, but it started.

That cheered me up today.

Bill

Another 180 miles to the tank on the Kymco.

This is actually better than the Kawasaki.

Hmmmmm........

My wife came back home last night from taking care of her mother.

She'd been in Arkansas since Feb 21, and was up there on my birthday (2/28).

While I enjoy being alone, I did miss having here there. I sleep better knowing she's in bed next to me. I also eat better when she's home. When I'm alone, I don't think about eating as much, so I tend to wait until it's too late to get healthy food.

Her mom's situation is improving. She'd gotten a bad case of the flu, and ended up becoming dangerously dehydrated. She spent a day at the hospital, and barely had enough strength to be able to get to the bathroom, let alone take care of herself. Cynthia spent the last 2 weeks helping her get systems in place to help her. She has two physical therapists visiting every week, one to help with upper body, the other to help with lower body. Cynthia also set up a support system with her nephew and his GF, since her brother can't seem to be bothered.

tl;dr: My wife and our 4th cat, Toby, are back home, and I'm happy about that.

Sandhill cranes are back! Early season this year, but hearing their primordial calls marks Spring for me!

Got to use my lock picking skills at work to help a guy who's at a class at Maxwell AFB. Opened a few eyes with how quickly i was in lol.

At some point late-midway through my career at Apple, I became a manager and built a sizable team ("sizable team" at Apple means I had 8 people reporting to me).

Being the subversive person that I am, I bought each of them a lock-pick training kit -- the kind with a clear acrylic lock so that you can see the pins that you're learning how to manipulate. We spent an entire staff meeting sitting around the conference room table, watching lock-picking videos on YouTube, and learning how to pick locks.

It was great fun. And one of my prouder moments.

Moved Estoril to May.

There's more racing on

If you are looking for maximum miles per tank, you may want to try a Yamaha Xmax.

I have averaged 210 miles on each tank for the past two years.

And several times I have gotten past 250 miles with a top of 293 while riding in the Mountains.

It is fun to ride too with nice handling and brakes.

Bill

I've started putting together plans for a long (really long) PTW adventure this summer. This will be 4-5 weeks in duration and probably cover 8,000-10,000 miles. I'll be riding me 1949 Harley-Davidson chopper. With old machines you have to plan for some issues. I've done a similar ride on this same PTW (2011) and was super fortunate to have no big breakdowns. I did replace intake manifold o-rings and a shorted kill switch on the journey. But those are pretty minor repairs.

I assembled my tool rolls today. This is version 1.0 and will be modified as I think of things I forgot and more importantly, assess whether some tools are really needed or if they can be left at home.

Getting a head start on some of this planning is cheering me up today.

That's impressive. I'll be eager to hear reports from the field on this one.

(and the pictures of tool organization make me warm inside).