A thread about nothing at all....

[B.D.F.]

Then you should be studying for the test right now.

I did that on my last drug test (studied for two weeks straight) and passed with flying colors!

Brian

I'm getting tested for TB tomorrow.

[B.D.F.]

My Eyes! My Eyes!

They shaved me before they stuck on the probes, in fact they sanded down the skin with superfinishing film (like very high- end sandpaper). I had me some beautiful, soft and smooth skin.... in 1/2" blotches all over my chest.

Brian

The glue isn't so bad, it's when they don't shave you first that causes the pain.

[B.D.F.]

We can probably file this one under the heading "Just when it could not get any worse.... an odd thing happened."

Betty Lou Oliver got up and went to her usually boring job as an operator attendant in the Empire State Building on Saturday, 28 July, 1945; this was supposed to be her last day on the job. Things took a sudden turn for the 'exciting' when a B-25 bomber crashed into the building on the 79th floor, badly burning Mrs. Oliver. Rescue personal gave first aid, put her on a gurney and put her in an elevator for the trip to the street and the ambulance. What they did not know was that one engine of the plane had greatly weakened the elevator cables, which snapped when the elevator doors closed, allowing the elevator car to plunge more than 1,000 ft. to the bottom of the elevator shaft. Now rescue workers had to dig through the debris to recover the body of course but to everyone's' surprise, Mrs. Oliver survived the fall; in doing so set a Guinness world record that still stands today of the longest elevator fall that anyone survived. It is suspected that the tangle of elevator cable inside the shaft along with the rapidly compressing air in the shaft may have cushioned the impact of the car. She broke both arms and her back in the fall and had to be cut out of the wreckage. Five months later, she returned to that very elevator shaft and rode in it to the top of the building along with an elevator inspector who complimented her on her "guts".

She returned to Ft. Smith, AR, with her husband, had three children and seven grandchildren. She died in 1999 and is buried in Ft. Smith, AR.

Brian

[Rhino]

We can probably file this one under the heading "Just when it could not get any worse.... an odd thing happened."

Betty Lou Oliver got up and went to her usually boring job as an operator attendant in the Empire State Building on Saturday, 28 July, 1945; this was supposed to be her last day on the job. Things took a sudden turn for the 'exciting' when a B-25 bomber crashed into the building on the 79th floor, badly burning Mrs. Oliver. Rescue personal gave first aid, put her on a gurney and put her in an elevator for the trip to the street and the ambulance. What they did not know was that one engine of the plane had greatly weakened the elevator cables, which snapped when the elevator doors closed, allowing the elevator car to plunge more than 1,000 ft. to the bottom of the elevator shaft. Now rescue workers had to dig through the debris to recover the body of course but to everyone's' surprise, Mrs. Oliver survived the fall; in doing so set a Guinness world record that still stands today of the longest elevator fall that anyone survived. It is suspected that the tangle of elevator cable inside the shaft along with the rapidly compressing air in the shaft may have cushioned the impact of the car. She broke both arms and her back in the fall and had to be cut out of the wreckage. Five months later, she returned to that very elevator shaft and rode in it to the top of the building along with an elevator inspector who complimented her on her "guts".

She returned to Ft. Smith, AR, with her husband, had three children and seven grandchildren. She died in 1999 and is buried in Ft. Smith, AR.

Brian

Interesting indeed! I wonder why the Otis automatic brake didn't stop the plunge.

[B.D.F.]

Excellent question and I wonder the very same thing! As far as I know, the Otis design is 'fail safe' and does not and never has used the car's cables or anything else mechanical to wedge the car in place. ?? Just a guess but perhaps the car itself was damaged?

It certainly does set a new level to the possible answer to the age- old question: "Anything new happen at work today honey?"

Brian

Interesting indeed! I wonder why the Otis automatic brake didn't stop the plunge.

[B.D.F.]

The USCGC Eagle. America's 'Tall Ship'. Beautiful, isn't she? A steel- hulled, three masted Barque; her fore masts are rigged square, her aftermast is rigged fore and aft. She is nearly 300 ft. long and displaces just over 1,800 tons. Her home port is New London, CT and she is a training ship, used to train future officers of the U.S. Coast Guard in the ways of seamanship. She is the only steel hulled sailing vessel commissioned in the US (Government owned). She is the seventh US Navy or Coast Guard vessel to bear the name Eagle in a line that reaches back to 1792.

Even her launch was 'big deal'; far more so than most military vessels. As usual, there were politicians there but in this case, the highest ranking politicians rather than the more usual local sort; in fact, Rudolph Hess gave the speech and even Adolph Hitler was in attendance.

Wait.... what? Why was Hitler attending the launch of a US ship? Well, it wasn't a US ship then, it was German. The USCGC Eagle was built in 1936 by Bloom and Voss shipbuilder of Hamburg, Germany, and christened the Segelschulschiff (SSS) Horst Wessel, after the Nazi martyr of the same name. She was built to be used as a training ship for the Kreigsmarine and her home port was Kiel, Germany. She was even fitted with anti- aircraft guns and is actually credited with shooting down 3 Soviet aircraft.... and one German aircraft (yeah, that was a little oppsie but I digress.....).

So how did a Nazi vessel used to train German naval personal end up as a US Coast Guard Cutter, painted white with the CG's red sash across the bow? Easy- she was a war prize. At the end of WWII, when everybody 'squared up' regarding what went where as payment for what cost who, the US got the Horst Wessel as part of the reparation package. A little paint, a little refitting (got rid of those pesky flak guns, etc.), a new crew (after the German crew and her new American crew sailed her, through a hurricane (!!), to the US from Bremerhaven) and viola! American has herself her very own Tall Ship in June, 1946!

The world is a funny place, ain't it? I wonder if there is any German graffiti left in any of the bathroom stalls....

Brian

[MrPepsi]

Freaking awesome, thread winner.

[VirginiaJim]

It's a beautiful ship.

[Son of Pappy]

Synthetic or dino oil?

[B.D.F.]

Don't know but to be honest, she is almost certainly running one of the fleet oils and my bet is on Rotella. 15W-40 if I had to guess; she does not said in cold water enough to make the 5W oil beneficial. She is running a Cat D339 diesel engine, a V-16 four- cycle rates at 1,000 Hp.

If you have ever seen the Tall Ships sail into narrow passages (easy boys!), you will note that they often run a large amount of sheet but to keep the hull speed down, the engine is engaged in reverse.

I got to see the Esmeralda, the Chilean Tall Ship riding at anchor one night in Newport RI. We sailed a mite close to her but I have to say, she was absolutely beautiful. One of the larger Tall Ships, all her rigging is lighted while riding at anchor and with just a touch of sea- mist, she looks like an aberration from a distance. Not sure about that one, perhaps synthetic for her.... :-)

Brian

Synthetic or dino oil?

[Conrad]

I bought a used MC trailer yesterday (Magneta --- M.P.T. SERIES # UMCT1XHD - low profile). Yes, I know. I should be riding my bike and not trailering it. Some times it can't be helped though, like towing the bike behind the RV...

Anyways, I got a good deal on it. It needs a lil TLC before it's ready to go.



Stores vertically.

[gPink]

What are the slanted uprights by the fenders?

[Gumby]

What are the slanted uprights by the fenders?

Those must be the legs that come down to store it vertically.

[Conrad]

What are the slanted uprights by the fenders?

In the top pic? Those are the caster mounting thingies.



These slide into the tubular frame at the rear of the trailer and allows the trailer to be tilted up on end and moved around in the garage or where ever. The tongue of the trailer is removable so that the thing can fit inside of the garage if there's not enough room overhead. The whole thing weighs under 300lbs and is very easy to move around.

http://magnetatrailers.com/motorcycletransporttrailers/openmotorcycletrailers.html

[gPink]

Looked like a good price too.

[Conrad]

Looked like a good price too.

Did a lil snooping did ya? 

They were asking $825 for it, I paid $600. it's a 2008 model, just like my C14.   

[gPink]

You're going to have to paint it Silverdammit or it will drag down the tow vehicle.

[Conrad]

You're going to have to paint it Silverdammit or it will drag down the tow vehicle.

I know it! It was dragging me down on the way home. 

I wonder if ZG has any of that green paint left? Green fenders might be cool.

[VirginiaJim]

No.

[Conrad]

Yeah, that's what my wife said too.