NickDG

Sorry, Karen, A November to Remember . . . NickD

Um, Lisa . . . NickD

She liked you too . . . I meant to post this vid I saw the other day. It's the "Chain Bike" and it's an amazing piece of work. I can't imagine the fab work that went into it. Plus, he's figured out a way to stop people from hot wiring his bike and riding away. Whilst standing at the bar he's wearing his gas tank! And yup, that rear tire is a bit much . . . http://www.youtube.com/user/rkconcepts#p/a/u/1/MN4ZLx5saEQ NickD

Yeah, it feels all right. After all gotta have that "parachute position" going on. Nina's got brakes! Well, front ones anyway. I still need brake pads for the rear. But I roughed in all the brake lines. I'll move them around after I paint her, but for mock-up she'll be right for a few trips around the block. All Nina needs now is a belt drive, starter, battery and wiring. And a few detail things before me and her are going down the road - I can't wait - it's been a long courtship. It's funny, but I've been looking at Nina "clean" and now every time I add a line or a wire I feel I'm spoiling her lines. It's like putting clothes on a woman, what's the point? On final assembly though I'll run all the wires through the frame, so it should be good. NickD

My sister called with the news my Father passed in his sleep this afternoon as I was coming home from Paramedic school. I'm leaving for the east coast in the morning for his service. I guess it hasn't fully hit me yet but I knew the man for 55 years and it's very hard to wrap my arms around the fact I'll never see him again. He always called me Nicky and I always called him Pops. I hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving last year, but spoke with him on the phone about two weeks ago. He told me he loved me and I said the same to him. I'm thankful he went peacefully and I thank god he never had to bury any of us, his five children. So long Dad, I love you . . . NickD

I've pushed Nina around the garage so much I had to run the millage back so I wouldn't screw up the break in . . . ! NickD

I'm not going to rev it down enough for potato-potato so it should register all right. I'd love to make Sturgis 2010 but as this is now "Winter Build" winter number II all I can promise is a good try . . . Thanks for the invite! NickD

Yes, a tap would do the trick, but one that big would be way too spendy for my budget . . . I had a few minutes this morning and gave Nina an oil pressure gauge. NickD

Finally got it off . . . A bigger impact wrench would have saved me some time but I just kept hitting on it with the smaller one I had. Then spent a good amount of time cleaning the red locktite out of the pulley nut threads, that was a bitch. Boy, it takes a lot of faith you're turning the nut the right way after the first hour or so . . . Thanks for the advise and offers of help! NickD

Sweet Dreams Brother . . . NickD BASE 194

Very cool, and so very apropos. Elsinore should be sending her a monthly check . . . NickD

I needed to change out the tranny belt pulley that came with the transmission I bought as rear drive belts are for fags but getting the main nut off requires a special tool. (And why does this all sound so sexual?) Julia's been back home in PA for two weeks as her Mom is ill, so that must be it . . . So I looked online and found a Sears that had a 1 and 7/8s socket in stock. It was in Glendale so I fired up the GPS and drove down there. Man, it's getting late early now, it's only 5:15 but pitch dark. This is one of those older stand alone Sears stores so I find a place to park on a side street and walk around the corner. And right into a pretty good looking hooker. "Looking for a woman?" she asked sweetly. "No, I'm looking for a socket, but thanks anyway." "That's cool, but my name's Missy, and I'm always around." The damn socket thing cost me 26 dollars, and while offering up my credit card I couldn't help thinking Missy would have been cheaper and a lot more fun. Back home I cut the socket in half with my chop saw because the transmission shaft it too long for it to fit any conventional tool. Then I added a piece of steel pipe and welded it all back together. And that went alright. The main tranny nut is a left hand thread so it's backwards and comes off clockwise, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't budge it. I made a block so the pulley wouldn't move when I was pounding on it. And I've got a good impact wrench but a wimpy air compressor so that didn't work. I then tried beating it off with a hammer and a hand impact but that didn't work either. I then cut up a piece of steel pipe for a long breaker bar but still that didn't work. So I gave up for tonight and instead had a few beers. And just so the night isn't a total loss I'm gonna head back down to Glendale and see if I can find Missy . . . NickD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Bicfc9dp0 NickD

Yes, most of us were using BASE rigs by then. But no one was really mass producing them until the early 90s. So we made our own. I spent a very long weekend picking the stitches out of a skydiving rig to remove the containers. Then I sewed on a 4-flap Velcro closed BASE container. It was ugly but it worked . . . NickD

>>Lemme know when Adrianne Barbeau shows up at the barber shop, and I might think of cutting my hair

I had to go through some boxes of stuff to find it but here's the original photo and caption from BASELine (a BASE magazine by Phil Smith, BASE 1) published in December of 1988 . . . NickD

I don't now if anyone else noticed it, but in the Commandant's birthday message there was an odd line, it's this one: "ONE DAY, WE WILL RETURN TO OUR NAVAL HERITAGE AND PATROL THE HIGH SEAS WITH OUR NAVY BROTHERS. SUCH IS OUR FUTURE." I think we finally have a Commandant that wants to go kick some pirate ass!!! NickD

It's a double direct bag B.A.S.E. jump from a 150-foot ship channel bridge here in So Cal from the late 1980s. We called them rodeo jumps. The top guy was direct bagged while holding the bottom guy's direct bag. Nobody hurt, it's over water. I made a ton of jumps from that bridge, but always at night! NickD

>>I hope you don't mind a greeting from an Army guy

Only in LA! I went down to see Steve, my barber, this morning for a haircut but knew something was up when I saw all the trucks and trailers parked along his block. I knew it was a movie or TV shoot as you see enough of them around here. I was about to turn around and leave when I saw Steve among the crew and he waved me in. They had redone the front of the barber shop to look like a food place and the new sign now read, "Spuds." It's a little one chair shop and when we went inside Christian Slater was there all alone taking advantage of the air conditioning. He introduced himself and sat in one of the waiting chairs while I had my haircut. We chatted about the kinds of things men talk about in Barber Shops and I saw he was a relaxed very cool guy who knew how cut up. He asked Steve what he charged for a haircut and when told he said, "Damn, I pay a lady ten times that much!" So I said, "You have your hair cut by a lady?" "Yeah, sure," he says. "Well, see," I replied, "that's why you have girl hair." And he jumps right up and looks into the mirror, and goes, "Oh my god, you're right, I've got girl hair!" We spent the next few minutes belly laughing about girl hair until a PA poked her head in to say they needed him on set and he says, "I can't, I can't go on, I've got girl hair!" The PA was puzzled and Steve and I were dying! Anyway it was a TV series they were filming, it's called "Forgiving, or Forgotten, or something like that. NickD

That's the one! NickD

Got a day off from school (finally) so I went and fabbed up a timing cover for Nina. Came out okay . . . NickD

Once again on November 10th each year we celebrate the fact each and every Marine is a link in the chain that fouls our coveted Eagle, Globe & Anchor. Here's the scoop on this year's gala: NickD's Annual Marine Corps Mini-Ball! Nov 10th, 2009, 1630 Hours La Crescenta, Ca P.O.D. I've laid on plenty of beer and pogie bait for the big day! All current and former Marines, or future recruits, that care to attend are welcome at my quarters. Dress is uniform of the day or jeans and t-shirt. Woman companions are welcome and will be formally presented to the camp commander (that's me) in the order of their arrival. Polaroids will be taken for the Hog Board. Featured events include the cutting of the birthday cake with the youngest and oldest Marines aboard getting the first two pieces. Back again this year the always popular "Silent Broom Team Competition" and after we've drank enough beer "The Recite your 11 General Orders Contest." And extra points this year if you know the 12th. Note: Unfortunately due to an incident at last year's mini-ball, where my neighbor's favorite flower pot was blown away, no loaded weapons are being allowed this year! Midrats will be served consisting of shit on the shingle and coffee for all still standing their posts at midnight. RSVPM . . . Happy Birthday and Semper Fi, my brothers! To err is human To forgive divine Neither is Marine Corps policy - - - - - - Gary Douris, Ret, USMC NickD

You gotta hand it to the extreme guys of yesteryear, as they always wore a nice hat . . . NickD

While I wouldn't call it a fad (because it didn't catch on) there were some jumpers wearing them on the back of their gloves in the 1980s. The were those small mirrors you could get at the auto parts store. But they weren't used to watch or check deployment, they were for clearing the sky above you before deploying. Didn't really work that well though. Another fad around that time was an annoying one. Everyone carrying whistles. And under canopy they'd blow and blow those damn whistles for collision avoidance. Spend the day on the DZ and you had a headache by sunset. I'm glad that one went away . . . NickD