JackFlash

On 6/12/2025 at 2:03 PM, Tonik said:

Lexus or Caddy. All the old people buy one or the other.

I'll take a 1970 Jaguar "E" type, if you please, or a Porsche 944.  Those to me are sexy cars.

Lexus = Luxury EXported to the US = LEXUS

11 hours ago, Pauly said:

You left and everyone followed. You are the OR.net Messiah. 

A lot of new voices came in all at once and it seemed like the site was beginning to be overrun with snarkyness.  I had to escape like it was a bitchy girlfriend.

Thirty years ago, after getting tired of being underpaid and certainly being under appreciated, I took a test to work at the Post Office.  

I got the job and started at $10.50 an hour.  I'm a VET, so I got five extra hiring points on my test score.  If you have a disability from the military, you get ten points.  This was the best move I could have made, having no certified skills or degree.  I just retired, making nearly $86k per year base pay, being an electronic technician.  Overtime, holidays, and working nights bump up your pay as well.  Well, that's the title they gave us, anyway.  I was an "ET".  Not that I could troubleshoot a circuit board, or anything like that.  But I can read a multimeter and follow schematics.  A little electrical and a little mechanical knowledge got me through my days working on machines that process the mail.  

If being outside year-round is your thing, you can carry mail.  Or you can be what is called an Area Maintenance Technician.  They work on the buildings and their inner workings.  You could be a machine operator and process mail.  Truck driving interest you?  Manual labor?  I did that for seven and a half years before I went into maintenance.  Custodial work?  I did that for a while, also.  I moved up one step at a time until I landed my last position.  Want to go into management?  

The benefits are good, and they will match you dollar for dollar on the first 3% and fifty cents on the dollar for the next 2% you contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan.  I put in 15-20% for years.  It is very common for a person to retire with a seven-figure bank account from the post office.

Check it out.  It was well worth it for me.

 

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I see there's a fine line between being fashionably late and arriving after the party is over.  I took a 5-minute nap and now......where am I?  Though I wasn't asleep for 20 years, I do feel a little like Rip Van Winkle, poking my head back in here and questioning whether or not the site is still active.  I'm happy to see that there are still some names popping up that I remember.  They just don't seem to be popping up very often.  The post just before this one is over a year old.  Where did everyone go?

After 30 years at the Post Office, I retired at the end of April.  They offered 15k USD for people eligible, to go find something else to do.  I'm still waiting on what is called an "undeleted" DD214.  I was told it could take eight to ten weeks to get it from the VA archives.  The P.O. is getting tired of waiting for me to send it.  I'm getting tired of waiting for it to show up.  The VA still has not processed my request.  Until then, the P.O. will not process my retirement.

What am I doing with my time?  I'm staying up late, sleeping late, and relaxing.  I need a routine but I'm not ready for one, yet.  I have access to a half-acre, double city lot with a 20x24 block building with a walk thru door, and a roll up door.  Urban farming is becoming real trendy, and I've been doing a lot of studying about farming/market gardening.  I should be getting a nice lump sum for my unused vacation, plus ten of the fifteen k they have promised.  There is a farmers market two miles from where I'll be growing onions and lettuce, carrots and greens, and quick to mature produce.  I'll take the money and purchase a two wheel walk behind tractor with interchangeable implements.  If I can make enough to pay property taxes and buy a new bike, I'll be happy.

I can do without it. Things pop up and I give them a read. At times it's annoying. I have too many sites plugged in.

Installed LED's in the dash.

9 hours ago, Tonik said:

i think this is a really bad idea.

I'll take that as, with a little modification this could work. 

I'll ask you later about adding a bluetooth donut

warmer/coffee maker. 

 

9 hours ago, Disclaimer said:

Subscribed.

I picked up a Cavalier for cheap and I want to turn it into a dump truck.

I also bought a hammer at a garage sale and I want to turn it into a shovel.

Advice wanted.  Plz help.

 

I'm glad you weren't here for the discussion about turning

my bike into an office building.

 

4 hours ago, redkow97 said:

Fwiw, I scrapped the idea of enclosing my trailer and just wrap the bike in packing plastic when I'm towing through road salt...

i was going to camp in the trailer, but for the cost of the build materials, I can get a decent tent. 

Just general moving of things I want to keep weather and wind

off of is the reason for wanting an enclosure.  Plus, the

rails only come up 8" on the sides.  That won't keep things in

if they need to be stacked.

.

8 hours ago, redkow97 said:

You're adding serious weight. 

I toyed with the idea of making my 4x8 into an enclosed unit that I could take apart and stow, but you're expecting a lot more than I was. 

1/4" plywood weighs 22 lbs. per 4x8 sheet, plus you're building a giant brick.  Air drag at highway speeds will be a lot worse than the weight itself. 

If you're not dissuaded, I think 1/4" ply sides (aluminum angle pieces for the corners add rigidity without adding much weight), and then a truck cap for a topper. That sounds like the most practical option. 

 

In the alternative, building a sloped plywood top wouldn't be that hard. Hinge the hitch-end and prop up the tail while loading and unloading. 

I did some calculations about the weight.  You are right.  The wood comes to 375 lbs alone.  That doesn't count for the hardware or the top.  As for wind drag, I thought I could possibly round off the top by using fiberglass.  I suppose I'll rethink this.  A sloped top didn't come to mind until you mentioned it.  Thanks for the idea.

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Okay.  I lucked out and found a very lightweight 5x10 trailer, fairly new and hardly used, for $700.

It pulls with my 4 cyl. Subaru like it's not even there.  Nice.  What I want to do is put removable

sides and top on it in case I want to haul something I don't want getting wet, spilling out, blowing

around, or something I need to keep secure.

 

The deck is 3/4" boards spaced 3/4" apart.  Stuff will leak out if I haul mulch or dirt so a plywood

deck is going on in their place.  A 2x12 around the edges will keep stuff in and a 2x12 on top of that

will keep more stuff in.  I think stake pockets mounted on the inside of the bottom board will keep the

top 2x12 in place.  I will put a screw through the stake pocket into the wood to keep it from being

lifted off from the outside.  The side rail is 8" off the deck.  I'll secure the bottom 2 x 12 to the rail with

U-bolts.  I don't want to drill holes in the rail.  Hopefully I can find U-bolts that will line up with the stake

pockets mounting holes.  If not, no worries.

 

Now for the top.  I can haul a ton of weight, but all this wood is starting to add up.  I'm thinking of making

a lightweight removable top.  It can be in sections for easier handling but I would like it weather tight.

Actually I would like the option of having a full enclosure, 2/3 enclosure, or 1/3 enclosure, so the top

can be in three sections.  I need ideas on how to make the top as well as any other advice or ideas.

I thought about 2x2 frame work fastened on the top of the 2x12, with wire mesh used to hold the shape

of a homemade fiberglass top.  Aluminum is way too costly and so are filon panels used on the sides

of RV's.  It also has to stand up to cold weather and not shatter like some plastics at freezing tempera-

tures.  The wire mesh would offer a degree of security and the fiberglass would keep the weather out.

It would have to hold up to the pressure of the wind while driving down the freeway.  I've never worked

with fiberglass but I can learn.  YouTube is my friend.

 

Also, how tall?  What is the height at the top of the windshield on a big sport tourer? That will be my

guideline for how high the inside should be in case I want to haul something like that. 

 

Give me ideas.  I would rather not have to redo my work if I can get good ideas as usual from the

idea factory right here.  Thanks guys and gals.

.

All that sort of makes me glad I have ABS plastic fairings
which I am currently in the process of repairing and painting.
.

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This thread is worth reading twice. [emoji23] [emoji677]

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bump

 

8 hours ago, TimTheAzn said:

@whatTires/Bearings in good shape? Last time they were packed with grease? 

I may get this, this weekend.

Make sure you secure it very well.  Trailers are easy to steal.  They make

all sorts of locks for the coupler and get a hitch lock so no one steals your

tow bar, trailer, bike and all when it's hitched up and parked.  Put bearing

buddies on it and you will be in good shape.  I also have mine chained to a

tree with the heaviest chain and lock I could find.

 

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2 hours ago, TimTheAzn said:

Damnit, this is what I need but no truck yet to tow it.

This is a good deal, Tim.  Start pricing those 5 X 10's

and see what I mean.  I'm towing a 5 X 10 with my

4 cyl Subaru, but my trailer is pretty light.  Snag the

trailer now and figure out how to tow it later.  There

is always a way even if you have to get someone to

tow it for you.

 

.

It's got a radar/laser detector with it, right? I would certainly need one on that bike. I like it's looks.

I can't stand Tapatalk. I wish people would stop using it so I could remove it from the site. 

I recall when a certain fellow named Ben was showing me how cool Tapatalk was to use when I met him for the first time at a motorcycle shop near Lancaster when they were having a pig roast in the cold. It was only then that I began to use it. It helps me to keep current on the latest shenanigans the usual suspects are up to. Haha!

.

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On 7/10/2016 at 7:18 AM, Strictly Street said:

Yep, no editing of posts after a minute,

Give Casper 10 bucks to be a supporter for a year

and then you can edit whenever you like.

.

16 hours ago, JackFlash61 said:

...every time I try to come up with a cool screen name someone else already has it.

Isn't that how it always goes?  Welcome aboard my brother from another mother.

On 7/10/2016 at 4:46 AM, Tigerpaw said:

@JackFlash

Looks like we need a fight to the death over usernames.

Nah, no need for that since we are simply aligning ourselves to take over the world.

Just wait until JackFlash62 and 63 show up.  Bwahahahaha!

But first, we gots to find Jack a bike.  Can't take over the world without a bike.

.

The only reason five cop cars showed up was to

make sure witnesses were forced to leave the scene

so that cops could fabricate the story they wanted told

without some inconvenient facts tainting their version

of what really happened.  Cops are not here to protect

you.  They are only out to protect themselves and to be

third party information collectors at a scene.

.

21 minutes ago, TimTheAzn said:

Thats the problem today. Police dont hold other police accountable. 

Then you will love this article which talks about that very thing.

Police Code of Silence

 

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Is this another false flag to support a gun grab?

The elections are fixed.  The courts are corrupt.

The government has long ago declared war on

the constitution, bill of rights, and the American

people.  The media is controlled.  Not enough

of the right people are carrying guns.  Blacks

are sick of heavy handed police action.  Whites

are fed up with the redistribution of wealth through

the literal giving away of our hard earned tax dollars.

Muslims want sharia law for all of us.  And Mexicans

want to make the US a suburb of Mexico City.

What's next?  House to house searches by foreign

speaking UN troops on our own soil while our kids

are dying over in BFE to protect oil interests and

to groom an area to become a large center of

commerce like what was intended with Baghdad?

No wonder folks want to move to the sticks and

raise their own food, produce their own electricity,

and get off the grid.  The American dream has

been killed off and the struggle just for survival is

coming fast.  Fuck all.  Let's ride.

.

You could host the ride if you want to change things too. 

 

Since I don't have to put on a lot of effort in, I will not complain about the ride. Only suggestion I have is do it again next year .

I enjoy the ride and seeing peeps.

My work schedule isn't what it was before. I never know if I can actually attend until the last minute.

.

After ride comments from each Epic ride offers loads of suggestions for the next big ride. Maybe it's finally time to check them out as well.

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