The previous owner of our BMW Bavaria put in a Momo V35 steering wheel. It felt great when driving in a sporting manner. But now the leather by the top spokes is worn, so I bought a Momo Super Indy on eBay – probably because I remembered my parents’ Bavaria had the OE wooden steering wheel (the diameter of which has been likened to a bus steering wheel). The Momo steering wheels are a nice 350 mm (~13.78 inches). I’m not sure if the Super Indy looks right, with... Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t really talk to anyone, but when your newest car is 30 years old, it’s good to have a cell phone, in case on-the-road-repairs aren’t enough. I bought an unlocked Motorola MOTOFONE F3 for about $20 at Amazon.com. With a prepaid plan, there isn’t a contract or monthly charge, just refills every now and then. The GSM (850/1900 MHz) MOTOFONE F3 is a basic phone that seems to be targeted at the third world market. It’s good for calling someone; don’t expect... Read the rest of this entry »
When I bought my De Rosa frame in the early 80’s, I built it with Campagnolo Record and Super Record components. When the new C-Record group came out, I upgraded some of the components piecemeal – cranks, Delta brakes and derailleurs. I’ve been riding the same bike all these years and time has transformed it into a “classic,” according to a guy who rode up next to me. I had the chain off the other day for its paraffin treatment and when I turned the cranks, I heard... Read the rest of this entry »
Moon Jellies, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium: “These alien-looking creatures are named for their translucent, moonlike circular bells. Instead of long, trailing tentacles, moon jellies have a short, fine fringe (cilia) that sweeps food toward the mucous layer on the edges of the bells. Prey is stored in pouches until the oral arms pick it up and begin to digest it.” Nikon D70, 18-55 f3.5-f5.6, 18mm, f5.6, 1/4 sec, ISO 400. 2-25-10, 3:17:19 PM PDT. Read More →
The Big Picture (from Boston.com): Dakar Rally 2010. (37 photos total) The 31st running of the Dakar Rally is being held in South America for the second year, instead of the traditional African route, due to ongoing security concerns. This year’s race began and will end in Buenos Aires, covering a looping 9,000 kilometers between Argentina and Chile over 14 stages. 362 Teams began the race with 176 motorcycles and quad bikes, 134 cars, and 52 trucks. The race is just over halfway completed... Read the rest of this entry »
Spot Prawns are the largest shrimp on the west coast of North America. I stuck a ruler in the photograph at the left so you can see that these shrimp are no shrimps. They are over 8 inches (20 cm) long. The Spot Prawn (Pandalus platyceros) have four white spots on the abdominal segments – you can see one of them in the photo near the top of the first segment. A few of these happen to have roe, also. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, “Spot prawns change sex as they grow. They spend... Read the rest of this entry »
I got a nice Black Friday deal on a JETBeam RRT-0 flashlight from the people at LightJunction.com. I read bondr006’s great review on Candlepowerforums and it looked like a really nice little light. The main feature of the JETBeam RRT series is the ability to adjust the brightness to different levels by turning the Rapid Response Control Ring at the base of the head. The RRT-0 is also versatile because it can use 3.0V CR123 primary batteries, 16340 3.7V rechargeable Lithium batteries, 1.5V... Read the rest of this entry »
I follow @twisst on Twitter. twisst gives you alerts from its Twitter account when the International Space Station (ISS) will be passing over your exact location. The International Space Station AND the Space Shuttle (STS-129) flew over our house tonight at the same time. I made a 30 second time exposure and the ISS and the Shuttle each made their own track. There’s a bigger version on Flickr. Read More →
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