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| So I Almost Wrecked My Car Today
(Simulated re-creation of what happened Photoshop by Cody Hilpert)
On my way to school, it had rained just a little bit, making random portions of the roadways slick. This is the third or so time that I've lost traction while driving in the rain, however, it is the first time I've actually gone off the road.
I was coming around a tight 90 degree right turn at around 25mph, about the same time an SUV was coming from the opposite direction. My front wheels stopped responding to input just as the SUV began to enter my immediate field of view. In a desperate effort to correct my course and avert disaster I gently turned the wheel to the right, no use. This all occurred in the time span of a few seconds, it was at this point, still out of control sliding in the direction of the on SUV's path that I passed the SUV by a matter of a few inches! With no more than half a foot of clearance I shot past the SUV and flew into the ditch, at which point I'd like to assume my front tires dug in and took off in the direction that the wheels were jamed into, HARD RIGHT. The next thing I knew, my car had fishtailed 70 degrees to the right and shot back onto the road.
It is no small miracal that my car mannaged to doge the oncomming SUV, not hit the rocks lining the ditch on the opposite edge of the road, not ramp over the ditch into the houses acrossed the way, and course correct in the span of no more than 60 feet.
 (Rocks are just out of frame 5 feet to my left)
All this in under 5 seconds with only a blast of mud up my driver side to show for it on the car.
Now that you're done reading about my near wreck, you should totally read the update about my Sail Boat Just Below!
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| Boat's Fixed!
The Comp-Tip Mast Head went on rather nicely. This time around, Aaron and I found the drill out and riveting process to be much easier, and the action as a whole, was complete in under an hour, a milestone for the boat so far. To date, we have had one moderately successful sailing trip, here's how it's gone so far:
First Trip
Costs: $4 (pain killers) & Our Pride 
Tried in vain to get her out to show off to Matt and Michelle,
but my hangover, the persistent rain, inability to get the sail
past half mast and the sun setting before we could get it
resolved meant no sailing for that day.
Second Trip
Repair Costs: $12 (rubber o rings)
After resolving the sail issue as having some leaves stuck on
the mast head pulley, We headed out to go sailing, but a huge
thunderstorm delayed our adventure. When it looked like it was
going to clear up, we ventured out to the lake, bringing
Two girls with us, in hind sight, these extra passengers likely
pushed the weight limit of our boat. We got out to the lake and rigged her up,
then set sail, it was all glorious until we got a mile off shore,
and after much argument about which way the wind was coming from
we discovered, that the wind had died, we all paddled for about
15 minutes, before a passing sailboat offered us a tow, I was
in the water rigging the tow line to the frame, while everyone
had gone to the back of the boat, unbeknown to all of us at the time
the hull plug o rings were cracked, and all the while the hull's
had been taking on water. with everyone at the aft of the boat,
it pitched upwards bringing the bow out of the water, I yelled
for everyone to scramble forward, and it reset itself, after
loading it back onto the trailer and having opened the plugs,
it drained water all the way home.
Third Trip
Repair Costs: $58 (base plate)
Repair Video Here
After having repaired, replaced, and re-caulked the hull plugs,
Aaron and I set out on a picture perfect day, 70 degrees, clear,
and with a 10 mph wind. We ran into difficulty stepping the mast
(raising it upright and seating it to the frame, and attaching 3 guide wires)
Attaching the fore stay ( front most guide wire ) proved impossible.
While our A-Team'esq plan to use the trailer winch to bring it forward
worked for a while, the which cord eventually broke sending the rope
across my neck, and the mast hurtling backwards slamming into the frame.
After the dust settled, we were awestruck to see the base plate joint had
sheared off completely, promptly cutting our adventure short, and bringing
the first major repair to light.
Fourth Trip
Repair Costs: $117 (comp tip mast head) + $67 (main sheet halyard rope)
Nearly half a year later my brother was due in town, the boat having sat
through the winter without repair, suddenly had priority. Aaron and I
having never drilled aluminum, or riveted embarked on an adventure of
hazardous proportions. Long story short, in around 4 hours we successfully
drilled the broken base plate, drilled the new one and riveted it to the
base of the mast. When we got it out to the lake, the mast stepping process
went without a hitch, baffling Aaron and I as to why it was so difficult the
previous time. But just as things were going so well, we ran headlong into a
brand new problem, the sail wouldn't go up all the way, we assumed it was an
issue with the halyard cleat at the head of the mast, and instructed Matt who
was holding the Main Sail halyard line in front of the boat to haul out and
pull hard. A couple of these maneuvers resulted in the sail becoming hard stuck.
Unable to tip the boat over, we lowered the mast with the sail still on it, an
extremely dangerous task. After we got it down, we inspected the mast head,
to our total dismay; we realized that in our efforts to force the sail up,
the 30+ year old plastic mast head pulley had shattered under the stress,
bringing yet another promising day to an abrupt end.
Fifth Trip
Next Tuesday....
Aaron did sustain a minor injury to his hand while using the pop rivet gun though as a result of the damned stainless steel rivets. A combination of the strong rivet material and the probability that our cheap rivet gun is going soft, made riveting a strenuous activity, and required considerable fore arm and wrist strength. It was this necessary force that Aaron, exerted while his hand was over one of the finger ridges that caused a subtle lump of plastic to penetrate his skin.
After the mast head was on, we ran the new all rope main sail halyard through the mast threading up and over the comp tip mast head, and down to the cleat. A job well done in my opinion.
We plan to take her out Tuesday next week as a test ride, and if all goes well, a fantastic adventure!
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| What in the FUCK is this shit!?!? I present to you two articles of note, written by me, a destiny prevoked and aggrivated 24 year old. First: I suppose that with Xanga's faltering popularity, it has likely had to cut some staff, otherwise I would like to
presume that the Xanga staff would be hard at work stopping spam bots from sending ads under the veil of an
authentic Xanga user. This shit I dispise almost as much as Chain Mail which reigns supreme as the biggest
fucking waste of time, data and money.
Here is what I received this morning, a message from a Xanga user, that looked and is truly from and through
Xanga:
" LindaCox has sent you a message! | ![Profile Photo]() | Hey Zepcono! LindaCox just sent you a message. Greetings!, Zepcono ! I`m Linda
I really feel shy, but I have to tell u, Zepcono, that you`r just so coool )... I was lucky to find ur profile but currently I am sure it`s a destiny!!!))
You`r so pretty... but I am sure that in ur real life u`l excite me more and more:again and again!! ))
btw that`s incredible... but I`m from too!!
So... I`d like to get closer to you, Zepcono!
This site doesn`t accept my photos... :(
so the most revealing images I hosted here: http://menmatcher.com/account/851813827/
Zepcono, I think you`ll take a look at them and will write me something 2 start our challenge :))
ki$$ you tenderly :)
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Can you belive this bullshit!? I'd expect it on Twitter and I get plenty of "followers" that are there just to post ads, but not from Xanga. Second: Xanga? Are you owned and operated by the same people that manufactured my car stereo head unit? If so, I can make
sense of the poor control and maintainence of your website.
Roadmaster USA is an east coast based car audio and electronic manufacturing company. With a strong line of
impressive products that have features that competing well established name brands can not match, especially at such
affordable prices. At the onset of spring, I set out to achieve my high school dream of installing a stereo, amp, and sub woofer in my car,
then roll around thumping my brains out with delicious low frequency audio. I did just that by hitting up a local liquidation sale,
where I purchased a 600 watt amplifier and installation kit for just under $140. Then borrowed a set of boxed and ported 8''
sub woofers from a friend, then tooled over to Wal-Mart and picked up my Roadmaster USA VRCD500SDU head unit, for
the beautiful price tag of $89.00, complete with SD, USB, CD and Axillary ports, SD and USB being features that few
competing companies can offer, much less for a price anywhere near Roadmaster USA's.
(A separate detailed post about the installation can be found by CLICKING HERE) I bought this product, the VRCD500SDU, because I was looking for a bad ass stereo with a lot of features,
and for four months it did just that. Wowed by my friends, was envied by my neighbor and went about smoothly
sending signals to my speakers, remembering my presets and reading any memory card/stick/cd/aux I could give
it. Then one day, without provocation the unit wouldn't turn on. I popped off the faceplate and hit the reset button,
then it sprung to life, but had forgotten all my presets, and settings. I pulled the whole thing back out and checked
all the wires, they were providing the correct current, including the yellow "constant power" memory wire. This
process repeats every time I turn off the ignition. My only conclusion is that the head unit has an internal
malfunction.
Don't bother trying to call or e-mail Roadmaster USA for help. I have sent two e-mails, it has been 5 weeks,
no response once so ever. When you call, you will be placed in que, and told there is a heavy call load, and your
wait time is over 25 minutes. I got a hold of the operator, and apparently, Roadmaster USA, has ONE (1)
functional tech support phone line for the entire nation to funnel into. Madness! from California to Maine, 1
SINGLE phone line!?!??! I couldn't get a true wait time, but I would estimate 2 years to eternity. If you like short
lived bliss, then buy this unit, because for a short while it will deliver soundly. However, if you like reliability or a
strong backing from the company when something goes wrong, seek something else NAME BRAND. Do not
make the mistake I did, DO NOT be wooed by the low cost and surplus of incredible features. Roadmaster USA
has gained a crackerjack seat on my Shit List.
In Conclusion: What the fuck Roadmaster!? What is your deal, the economy is bad sure, maybe you picked
the wrong slave shop in china to manufacture your products, maybe you should have paid the workers two Shastas
in place of 1, maybe you shouldn't pass the buck on to the people that buy your products, MAYBE you should
get a couple more phone lines and make yourselves worth a shit. Maybe, not likely, but anything worth doing
ought to be done right DAMMIT. | | |
| Working at The Firework Stand
Roy Nelson, the owner of the firework stand chain Nelson's Fireworks, is by far the coolest boss I've ever known. He's down to earth, realistic, and has that rare blend of cool and old that is hard to come by. After the end of the 4'th of July sale period, everyone that worked at the North Texas stands is invited to go to an IHOP in Haltom, where he buys everyone midnight dinner. Something like 40 people come from all over North Texas, the majority of which come from the mega stand I work at.
This "mega stand" as I term it, is comprised of 15 combined Fireworks Stands, each of which are over 15 feet tall with 5 shelves each, housing the full gamut of firework types; from small ground based fun for kids and adults alike, to huge aerial displays. There is a separate section that run's along the wall where the doors are, that has a picket fence and AstroTurf, here customers that are not looking to spend their time picking things one by one, can buy small or massive assortment packages. There are also 2 different large LCD screens that display the fireworks in action one by one so that the customers know what they are getting. When you go to checkout, you can pay in cash or card, and it's all done on computers with full print outs receipts. All of this is housed under a steel ridged building that is insulated and air conditioned, which in the 100+ degree Texas summer heat, is a blessing for both employee's and customers alike.
There's something special about Firework's stands, I can't really place it, but you just feel happy around them. This year was not unlike any other, with exception to my intentions. Every previous year, I aimed to work long and hard and use that money combined with my half off employee discount to collect as many high end fireworks as possible. This year, I wanted to have fun selling thousands of dollars of explosives while getting paid to do it. However, my intentions were to not purchase any fireworks, that held true until about hour 10 of floor sales, and stocking. Then I began to let the thought creep into my head that I would just stock up on a couple boxes of Little Dynamite, since I was running low at my home stash. This was the beginning of what would become a near full repeat of all my previous years.
By the end of the 11'th hour, I had convinced myself that i was low on nearly everything smaller than a Little Dynamite box. When the register clerks announced that midnight was approaching, I abandoned my post and ran to the back room were all the used boxes were kept, I grabbed a modest sized box and moved along the 15 consecutive indoor stands, methodically selecting and ordering the items I felt I was lacking. By the time I made it past the register and out to my car, I realized that I had filled the box to the brim.
With my 50% off employee discount it only cost me $28 ish lucky for me. Anyways, when I got home I unpacked it to see what I had gotten, I was a little shocked as it filled a large portion of my bedroom floor, here's what it looked like.
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| Bruno gives Conan O'Brian a lap dance...
I strongly believe that this new movie will be funny, in the:
"Vat are you tauking about zis is vundabah!!!"
market, just watch this interview from the Conan O'Brian show, the lap dance is at the end.
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