Pretty unbelievably humid for March in Hawaii.
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Update on the kitchen sink mod. Finally got around to working on chopping the sink to make a custom engine belly pan. Destroyed one carbide tipped hacksaw blade labeled good for stainless cutting the flanges off. It worked, but things got difficult as more parts got chopped off. The sink got more floppy and it got more troublesome to secure down pieces. Switching to the cordless demolition saw actually worked better, went through one standard bi-metal blade. I’m sure the neighbors love me, cutting sheetmetal is always a horrendously noisy deal.
After dinner, I set about pounding in new lip. I’m not entirely sure of what I’m doing, this metal forming business is new to me. I make some ugly tears in the corners, but I do get the lip formed. Here’s how it looks for now, it’s begining to look a little more like the plastic shield I’m trying to replace.
Derek made a suggestion the other day about finding a better way to store all the wheels I’ve got, I hadn’t given it much thought before. He’d suggested using the same rack/shelf units I got for the closet and using them for tire storage. Took some quick measurements and it looked like it would work, so I ran down to City Mill. Got them, set up and here it is! Works quite well for my car tires. 
Truck tires are too big to fit a complete set, and actually if you go wider than 195 tires a complete set of four does not fit on one shelf either. But stacking them like this is much more efficient.
Cleans up a bunch of space!
This Belgian dark ale produced by A-B/InBev at the Stella Artois factory in Leuven is typical in manufacture to most Belgian “abbey beers†in that they are brewed by major commercial breweries “under license†from the original abbey brewmasters, or are named after an abbey that no longer exists to cash in on the popularity of abbey beers (in this particular instance the former). The recepie for this ale goes back to 1240, and even though it is no longer produced in the monastic tradition, it is still a good dark ale with a rich, slightly smoky malt flavor. There is a hint of fruitiness and spice, with a mild trailing bitter. It’s not quite syrupy, but this doppel does carry a thicker mouthfeel than a standard ale. A higher alcohol content and abundance of phenolics ensured a good cranking headache afterwards though. I had it with lamb, which was a good pairing with the strong flavors of this beer. Those stronger flavors, along with the slightly heavier mouthfeel make this beer almost a meal in itself, but also would tend to make it not a very good “beginner beerâ€, although people who don’t care for bitter beers may appreciate this one. Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Leffe Bruin Belgian Dark Ale’
If you want an example of poor implementation of technology, check out the electronic directory boards on the third floor at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. It’s a case of old school paper/poster far superior to expensive LCD board. For one it displays each level of the center a page at a time, you have to wait the designated seconds for the screen to scroll to the next level. Looking for a shop, you’re likely to stand there looking though all four pages, and then some because it’ll go past your screen by the time you look through the listing and find your store and the legend code. Have fun finding store if you don’t know its name. Once you find it, the screen scrolls off, so you wait for all for screens to scroll by again. And then you see the screen, frantically look for the legend code on map, then stare at map to try & figure out where you are since it’s not marked, the screen scrolls away so you sit for yet another four screens, and then try to figure which way to go since the map is not oriented in the position you are standing. It’s a frustrating mess!
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Last week Saturday was something of a historic event for the local auto racing scene. After years of abscence of a track and much infighting and what not, they finally managed to open a parcel of land in Kalaeloa for a racewat park. Currently it’s still dirt surface, which was just fine for this event, the first ever Hawaii SCCA Rally Cross! It was being kept low key, intentionally, since this was a first for everyone, and the field turnout was thirty soon to be dusty, grinning, laughing, and giggling racers. I have to say I had an outrageous good time. Sliding around your car in the dirt amd not get in trouble? Yeehaw! Don’t tell me you never skidded your tricycle, BigWheel, BMX, banana seat bike when you were a kid? Same thing, except with big people sized toys now. Yes, dirt everywhere, I’m still cleaning it out. Anyway, I’m happy to report that it went of without a hitch. No major problems, a few hicups to iron out, but that was expected. And everyone is looking forward to the next one! More pics here.
Damn you amazon.co.jp! You keep sending me ads for stuff that you wont ship out of country! Like all the cool kitchen gadgets I want!
(0)I like that, car with Share The Road with bicyclist and pedestrians bumper sticker making left at intersection with left on green arrow only, but light is red, pedestrian crossing street had to motion and hold out hand for car to stop. And then car continues on as soon as pedestrian is out of way. Oh, and I caught up with that car at the next red light.
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