Pushing Silver

I made it to Tucson

i arrived in town last night after spending all day on the road.  I did take time out to see the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, but I skipped my trip to Taliesin West since it's only 2 hours away and I was running out of daylight as it was.

Today I'm off to Green Valley to meet the people I'll be working with, and then it's back to the housing search.

Check out the Arizona photo album for pictures from yesterday.  The scenery out here is great!!

Sorry about the dirty windshield

Today's drive was absolutely gorgeous!  I love how the New Mexico scenery sneaks up on me.  From afar, I'll see low lying hills.  Up close, I realize it's just a rock formation.  As quickly as I get a glipse of the rock edge, I'm through it and looking at something completely different.  Could be a hill or a valley, curve or straight away, or even nothing for 18 miles.

I spent a lot of time taking pictures through the windshield.  That'll be one for my generation to tell the grandkids... "I remember when we took pictures with film!  Before the advent of LCD screens, we couldn't take pictures while driving 70 miles an hour..."

Pictures today are just from random shots taken on the road, the Very Large Array, The Enchanted Mesa region, and a few other rock formations I failed to record names for.

I should be in Tucson tomorrow night.

I'll keep it short

Check the New Mexico photo album.  Today I went to the International UFO Museum in Roswell, and White Sands National Monument.  Both were cool, and I found the alien eyes on all the streetlights in Roswell very amusing.  The van is still running, but it's very sluggish and I wonder if it doesn't like the altitude.  I think tomorrow morning I'm going to get brave and tinker with the oxygen sensor - but nothing major, I don't need to spend another night in Alomogordo.

I have a lot of gripes!

I was really excited about today.  I had some good stops planned, and a timezone jump that gave me an extra hour, so I had enough time to really see some things without cutting down my mileage.  So I got up and hit the road early (well, early for me).

When I got to Clinton, OK I found the Route 66 Museum closed.  It was mentioned as one of the better stops on Route 66 by a guide book a friend loaned me.  Nowhere on their website did they mention that they were shut down for the first week of January for renovations.  Thanks, guys...

Next, I set out for the Devil's Rope (barb wire) Museum in McLean, TX but on the way was distracted by the National Route 66 Museum.  If you're passing through, don't waste your time (or five bucks) - they didn't have what I'd consider Route 66 related antiques (and virtually nothing in authentic memorabilia), and the spaces were poorly lit (hence all the dark pictures).  They did have some recordings that would play locally when you walked by a display, but if you wander around too much, you'll set off 2 and 3 at a time.  If you don't heed my advice and visit anyway, make sure you have a lot of time to kill while you're there.  The staff are all very nice, but are starved for conversation and will talk about anything...for a long, long time!!

When I finally got to the barb wire museum, I found them to be "shut" as well.  The website said something about winter hours varying due to inclement weather, but the sign in the window said "see you next spring."  Once again, thanks guys!

From there I went a little west of Amarillo, TX to see Cadillac Ranch, and it was almost as tacky as I hoped it would be.  I prefer the older pictures when the cars still had their original paint.  Even when they were all repainted the same color, it was still neat.  But today, it sits in a new location, and has been declared "public art."  The creators invite visitors to bring their own spray paint in the h

Leo Kottke

I can't quite quote a song that's purely instrumental, but LK has a song entitled "Can't Quite Put it Into Words" and that's how I feel about this post.  The tune would make a perfect sound track to it as well...

Yesterday I headed into Tennessee.  Right across the border, I saw a billboard for Sad Sam's Fireworks "Beer sold on sundays!"  Talk about one stop shopping!  I looked for a hospital sign at that exit, but was let down.  When I got into Memphis, I rode past BB King's Blues Club, the Gibson guitar factory, and made my way to the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.  Unfortunately, it was an all day drive to get there and I didn't have enough daylight left to take the time for the tour.  My patch job on my headlights (soda can and duct tape) fell victim to the elements.  Against the highway wind, the heavy rain, and having to run with the headlights on (heats and therefore weakens the adhesive), duct tape was no match.  I settled down for the night in Forrest City, AR which is named after Nathan Bedford Forrest.  The motel literature credited him with being a Confederate General, and brining the railroad from Memphis to Little Rock in the 1860s.  There was no mention of him dressing up "like a spook." (watch Forrest Gump if you're confused)

Today I just drove most of the day to get to the Oklahoma City Memorial, but again I was too short on daylight to go into the museum.  I've also noticed that the van likes to quit on me after these long days.  After about 6 hours, it starts to cut out.  It hasn't left me stranded yet, but I'm always nervous at stoplights.  It's always happy in the morning after a night of rest, so I'm confident it'll start right up tomorrow and take me further west.

For tonight, I'm in Yukon, OK whose only claim to fame as far as I can tell is that it's the home of Garth Brooks.

Tomorrow I'll head out towards Clinton, OK and pick up some of old Route 66.  I promise I'll be creative and come up with my own stops soon instead of emulating the route of the movie Elizabethtown.

Sheer Curiosity

I recognize that I am completely out of touch with popular culture.  I don't get out to the movies much, I don't listen to the radio, don't watch TV and don't follow the news.  As I make my way across the country, I spend a lot of nights in motels, and I can't help but be glued to the TV.  It's as if I have a hidden hunger for TV since I typically deprive myself from it.  But that doesn't mean that there's anything on that really attracts my attention.  That is why my mind wanders and I come up with dumb questions to ask.  Feel free to answer by submitting a comment - I'm interested in opinions and actual facts (if anyone feels like doing the research)...

Do the networks depend on the income from food advertising more than the food companies rely on the advertising medium?  I mean, sitting on your ass and watching TV while stuffing your face is the official American hobby, isn't it?  So which half of the equation is holding the cards?  Fast food?  Pizza?  Chips, candy soda?  Would the networks survive if each of the accused didn't pay such stupid money for Super Bowl advertising time?

Dirty Road Trip

There's nothing like driving a Westy in the mountains!  Today I left the annual New Year's celebration in Deep Creek Lake and headed south west.  I'm in West Virginia, almost at the Kentucky border.  The van ran pretty well all day, and I drove it really hard.  Route 50 between 219 and I-79 is now one of my all-time favorite roads!  If you're in to hills and hairpin turns, that's the place to go!

For those of you that don't know, I'm heading out to Arizona to start a bicycle mechanic job.  The shop is in Green Valley, but I'll most likely live in Tucson (more available rentals/roommates).  I'm working on a place to stay, but that part hasn't solidified yet.

What has solidified is my dependence on duct tape.  Just before i pulled away from home, one of my headlights collapsed into the grille.  Apparently, the plastic threads in the headlight adjuster blocks tend to dry rot in 20 years.  I was able to find a replacement part my first day on the road, but when I got around to trying to install it, I found I'd bought the wrong thing.  Instead, I've gotten creative with more duct tape and a soda can.

I have a few touristy stops to make on my way west, so I'll probably post again en route.  Until then, it's time to get some rest in preparation for an early morning (I need to squeeze in an oil change tomorrow).

UBI Week 3

Monday and Tuesday we covered wheel building.  Lots more theory, and this time we got to play around with measurements so we understood how to come up with spoke lengths.  Tuesday was our hands-on practice where we were timed on our wheel build.  Mine went pretty smooth until the last few minutes when the tensiometer (measures spoke tensions) fell apart in my hands.  The screw that held the indicator in place completely fell out, so I have no idea how I did.  I know my wheels are true (laterally and radially), that they're dished pretty well, and that the overall tension is good.  But much of our grade was based on the consistency of our spoke tensions, and I have no clue how long my tools were giving me faulty readings.  But I feel good about the written test and in general feel good about my abilities as a wheel builder.

Suspension took up the latter part of the week, and by then I had just packed too much information into my head.  I'm glad that the suspension course was pretty low stress.  Again, lots of theory, and a lot of hands-on suspension service.  We'll get the results from these last two tests in about a week.

I'm home now, and I've gotten the results from the pro mechanic course back.  I can now say I'm a UBI Certified Pro Mechanic.  So if you or someone you know has an old bike that sits in a shed, unloved, let me know...I'd like to collect a few project bikes to wrench on while I'm looking for a job.  Or, better yet, if you know of a bike shop near you that needs a mechanic, feel free to leave them my email address.

Check out the Oregon photo album when you get a chance.  I didn't take many pictures, but there's a shot of the mountains from our balcony, and a shot of the Bike Library (the community bike program).

Bike School Week 2

Well, we all graduated the Pro Mechanic course yesterday.  The exam results that will determine whether or not we each got certified have to be mailed, so I won't know how I did until I get back to Virginia.  This week we ran through brakes, headsets, frame prep (including facing and chasing of bottom brackets and headsets) and we got to touch on suspension forks.  Thursday was new bike assembly day and Friday we talked about the ins and outs of managing or owning a bike shop.  Then we all went out on the town to blow off some steam!

Most of the people I got to know really well over these last two weeks have a certain catch phrase that I just can't help remember them by.  Some will make their way to the website over the upcoming weeks, but for now I'll just share one.  I got this from Sheila during our bike assembly.  Just when I'd made a mistake multiple times and then realized it, she washed away my frustration by saying "just remember the 6 Ps.  Persistent Practise Prevents Piss Poor Performance!"

This weekend is a little chilly and all the mountain tops around us are covered in snow.  I've been lazy most of the day and don't plan to change that trend.  No plans for tomorrow yet either.

Next week is the Advanced Wheel Building class (2 days) and a more in-depth course on suspension (3 days), and then I return to Virginia to await my test results and ramp up my job search.  I've applied to a shop in Arizona, but am still waiting to hear back.

And this is probably my last post until I get back, so check back in another week!

I must find him

I saw a guy last weekend panhandling on the street.  He looked like a local college student (Southern Oregon University), with dreadlocks and bummy clothes.  He was on the corner with a carboard and marker sign that was so creative, it was worth a pint of beer (maybe two).  BUT - I need a photograph first.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at the time.  If anyone sees him, tell me where to find hiim.  His sign simply read:

Ninjas have kindapped my parents, need money for kung fu lessons...