"Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases. Neither is it merely the opportunity to chose between a set of alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices - and then the opportunity to choose." - C. Wright Mills
A bicycle frame was delivered recently. It's the one that I had mentioned in the previous post, a mid 1990's Merlin Titanium. The bicycle frames made during that period of time were made from aerospace-grade tubing, because at the time, lower quality consumer-grade titanium tubing did not exist. You got titanium tubing from rocket engine suppliers or used a different material.
The geometry of the frame is by the legendary Tom Kellogg, and the welding is immaculate. Welding Titanium is difficult, and has to be done in the complete absence of Oxygen. The welds on these bike frames are gorgeous. I'll post some when I've got a little more time than right now.
It's an incredibly light frame. You can hold it up with a pinky finger. The fork is steel, and weighs more than the bike frame. I'm going to see about getting a Vitus aluminum fork, which ought to be much less expensive than a custom titanium one.
The frame came with the original tote bag, owner's manual, and "grease guard" pamphlet for the crank assembly. Pretty cool. That's in the safe.
I managed some time to bring in the wasp traps. They were about twice as full as any other year.
I dumped them all into a container, then washed all the bug parts out in the deep sink - that way they will be ready for next year and not be disgusting.
Which left me with a container full of dead bugs, which they are trying to tell us that we must eat to save the planet. Anyone want the main ingredient for wasp stew?
I brought one of the battery-inverters indoors. I think of it as a quiet and non-polluting portable generator. Next time the power goes out, we can plug stuff into it, since I've not yet hard-wired it to the house. Pay no attention to the pellet gun - that's for ground squirrels, not for self defense.
On the right side of the box is the outlet receptacles: 120 volt, and 220 volt at 30 amps and 50 amps.
The plant is *finally* running once again, and we have nearly a week of run-time now. It's time to stop eating antacid and maybe relax just a little. I can't discuss the situation further because of the potential for litigation. Don't want to be out in the middle of that by sharing stuff that I should not.
Let's just say it's been - far and away - the worst year of my long and undistinguished career. Outage and follow-on trouble from April to November. Hopefully we don't have a repeat next year - fingers crossed!
***UPDATE*** November 18,
I'd mentioned earlier in the post that I'd share pictures of the beautiful Titanium welds on the Merlin frame, so those will be below. Also a few images of the Ink Transfer Labeling, some damaged, some in pretty good shape.
The wasp traps are now dried out and ready for refilling with bait.
Below: About to roll the truck forward and attach the plow. It's currently on the truck and tested.
The studded tires have been added to the Subaru, and now I'm set for bad weather. Unfortunately I was not able to get an Autumn burn completed due to the work situation, but I'll take just being able to get prepared...
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