It’s a good day to ride

July 21, 2011 RF Leave a comment

Updated July 2011: Scooter Tramp Scotty has more to say about his riding life over on bikernet.com. Here’s a link to his description of life on the road. If you ever wanted a big picture of what it’s like to wander the highway highs and lows on a motorcycle, check it out.

* * *

Contrary to this guy and his wrong-way Corrigan Mexico motorcycle trip, Scotty Kerekes, a long-time rider and old Mexico hand, knows how to do it right. Ignore the typos, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. I’ll listen and read about Scotty’s adventures before those of almost anyone else.

Scotty used to have a web site a few years ago, but it’s long gone now as he continues to ride across North America and Mexico on his overloaded bagger. Occasionally, he’ll stop long enough to write something and post it on the web, usually with photos.

Here’s Scooter Tramp Scotty’s Mexican Winter adventure.

And here’s another: Return to New Orleans.

Baja

The Mar de Cortés makes waves

July 4, 2011 RF Leave a comment

Erik One of my old stomping grounds is in the news, and not in a good way. I have been on the Sea of Cortez–or Vermilion Sea–when she decides to rock and roll, and it’s not a pleasant experience. When el torito struck the Erik, I’m sure there wasn’t much, if any, notice. Fortunately, it wasn’t far offshore, and some were able to make shore and walk for help.

The Erik runs out of San Felipe, Baja. It’s not a small craft, and was built by the Dutch to handle the often chaotic North Sea.

I can highly recommend the somewhat isolated and small fishing village of San Felipe as a quick weekend cross-border ride. I’ve always enjoyed my time spent in San Felipe. The Sol was good, the fish tacos were excellent, the water was drinkable, and the ambiance wasn’t bad either. As always, a smile and some ability to speak the local language wouldn’t hurt, but most everyone you’ll encounter can speak some English.

I’ve ridden the Baja from north to south and back again many times. In particular, I enjoyed being in La Paz the most, and wouldn’t hesitate to return in the slightest. La Paz is a city of around 250,000, but it maintains a vibe that is much smaller. It’s off the beaten path of the more popular Cabo destinations, and thus escapes much of the revelry and party atmosphere that Cabo visitors have come to expect. In other words, La Paz is a joy to experience, but as always, your mileage may vary. Baja, California

Hardware/Software, Popular

Weather Center Gadget

June 29, 2011 RF 40 Comments

Weather Center Gadget

Update March 14, 2014: How to add Windows 7 gadgets to Windows 8.1

Update November 18, 2013: Fix for Gadget display issues after IE11 Installation on Windows 7.

Update for Windows 8.1, October 18, 2013: Following the install of the Windows 8.1 update, I had to completely uninstall and then re-install 8GadgetPack‘s v8.0 to get the sidebars to show. No big deal, because they now work just as well. Remember, though, that these gadgets are for the Windows 8.1 Desktop. They are NOT for the Windows 8 Start Screen.

* * *

Update January 11, 2013: Looking for gadgets for Windows 8? Look no further. 8GadgetPack has a 3-page collection that can be loaded onto the Windows 8 Desktop. I’m using some of them, and they work perfectly, especially the exact same weather gadget that’s on this page.Yes, that’s right. This weather gadget can be loaded onto the Windows 8 Desktop.

No, they’re not for the Windows 8 Start screen. They’re for the Windows 8 Desktop. If you spend the majority of your time on the Win 8 Desktop, as I do, then these gadgets are for you, too.

* * *

I like having a weather gadget on my desktop. When the simpleton Windows 7 weather gadget stopped showing me the little sunshine icon in the top left for the city in which I live, I was annoyed. I experimented with every city in the world and discovered that mine was the only one without the little sun shining brightly down upon me, even when the sun was actually shining brightly down upon me.

Obviously I searched for the solution to the problem. If you’re having the same problem, don’t bother searching. The morons that write about these things in blogs (for example, this one) and forums don’t have the foggiest notion why the OEM Windows 7 weather gadget has stopped shining down upon us all. Furthermore, they all have absolutely no idea how to get it working again!

But don’t despair, dear reader. I have the solution. It’s called Weather Center gadget. You can obtain the latest version here.

Don’t look on the official Windows Gadget page. It’s not there.

* * *

To change the number of days that show up:

click on the gadget and then use the scroll wheel to choose the number of days that are displayed.

* * *

Note that this gadget is NOT a solution to the “Cannot connect to service” that sometimes appears on the Win7 weather gadget.

Stupidity plain and simple

TSA humps love to do shit like this

June 26, 2011 RF Leave a comment

Ninety-five-year-old women with soiled diapers beware!

… security personnel then came out and told her they would need for her mother to remove her Depends diaper because it was soiled and was impeding their search. —by Lauren Sage Reinlie, newshearald.com

“TSA cannot exempt any group from screening because we know from intelligence that there are terrorists out there that would then exploit that vulnerability”. —Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, Miami

Let’s see now, when, exactly was the last time that some 95-year-old wearing a diaper tried to blow up an airplane? Oh, no. Saints preserve us. It was a Muslim who tried to blow up an airplane while wearing his reinforced boxers. Has anyone told the TSA?

I know you’ll all feel safer knowing that some of the ~~finest, most understanding, intelligent, alert and aware~~ stupidest humps are employed by the dumb-asses at the TSA.

Hardware/Software

I’m finally in the 21st Century

June 21, 2011 RF Leave a comment

Motorola V262 — I have replaced this antique

(Phone-wise, at least.)

I avoided it for as long as I could, but it was eating batteries, and at 50 buck$ a pop, I just got fed up. It was good to me though, and traveled around North America well. The perfect traveling companion–no space in the luggage racks was required; no change of underwear necessary; no makeup needed. There was never any complaining.

I have moved on to ~~someone~~ something newer. Call me fickle if you wish, but admit it–you’re jealous.

Politics, Stupidity plain and simple

Continuing TSA stupidity

June 16, 2011 RF Leave a comment

Tell me why, dummies:

Mechanics are not screened. Caterers are not screened. Cabin cleaners are not screened. Baggage loaders and apron workers are not screened. They are subject to fingerprinting, a 10-year criminal background investigation and cross-checking against terror watch lists, but they receive only occasional, random on-the-job checks. Many employees say they have gone years without ever once being screened. —The future of airport security by Patrick Smith, salon.com

Politics, Stupidity plain and simple

You won’t find this in the Alberta media

May 26, 2011 RF Leave a comment

Cables sent from the U.S. embassy in Ottawa in 2003 and 2008 show that Alberta politicians offered to export power to the United States using excess electricity generated by oil sands facilities. —thetyee.ca, Wikileaks Shines Light on Alberta’s $16-Billion Electricity Scandal, by Andrew Nikiforuk

Are you looking for information on the Alberta government’s draconian Bill 50 and why it was passed? Are you fed up with the answers given by lying political hacks of the Alberta government?

What’s Bill 50, you ask?

That bill took away the public’s needs assessment hearings and shifted all decision making to the back-room of Alberta’s provincial cabinet. —thetyee.ca

You can read all about it at thetyee.ca.

Riding farther, seeing more