Good Morning!!!! 43F @ 6:30AM. Clearing skies after some morning light rain. High 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%
Even after Kalifornia bumped both vehicle registration fees and fuel taxes, my heart still goes out to Eric and everyone else across the pond for the way politicians levy taxes on things people just can't do without. Last time they tried it here, though, the then governor lost to a Republican Gubinator, Arnie, in the next election. This time around, gas taxes got a big bump, and Diesel fuel an even larger one. That wasn't deemed good enough, though, and they also added at least $25/year to the vehicle registration fee. That will effectively double the registration on some of the smaller motorcycles in my garage. And as expected, the Republicans in Sacramento are vowing retribution next November, and I hope they get it. We already had some of the highest registration and fuel taxes in the country, and they were supposed to be used to maintain the transportation infrastructure. Instead they're being wasted on stupid initiatives like the Bullet Train. And apparently we need a constitutional amendment to prevent the same thing from happening with the new taxes, and that'll be on the ballot next year, too.
California gas tax increase - what it costs and what it does | The Sacramento Bee
As expected, not much had happened on the van in the last two weeks, and the mechanic wasn't even at the shop. We spoke on the phone and I let him know about his former partner wanting to buy the engine, which would finish his involvement on the project. That triggered another littany of excuses, and a promise to start work on it again, but I told him we've been through all that before and it hasn't worked. He's still going to see what he can finish this weekend, but I doubt it'll be much as he keeps running into problems with parts not working or not fitting. I also spoke with the partner yesterday, who is still interested in the engine, so likely after the holiday we'll all sit down and decide how to tie this off.
Got home and tried the modified wheel truing stand, but the hub wasn't running true and I don't see a way to correct it. I don't think side loading ball bearings was a very good idea, and the steel hub ends are digging into the aluminum cones so the hub isn't free to seek its center. I have the parts needed to reassemble the bearings into the hubs now, and think I can support the wheel on the axel and hold it in a vise, so I just need to figure out how to indicate off the side of the rim. Probably involve a heavy piece of steel on the bench and a magnet base. Two steps forward, one back...
Burning the wood stove to stay warm pretty much every day now, and it works as well as ever. This is the fourth season for it and it shows no signs of wear and it's still kicking out the BTUs.
TGIF gang!:drink:
