January 22nd 2008
Good Morning.
I need to make haste this morning because I have been spending way too much time working on my web pages. Please go to
http://outfitnm.com and register. Eventually I will use the Newsletter publisher to produce the BMN, but for now I have to do it the same way I have always done it, since all of you are on the email mailing list. I have added lots of pages to the web site, so please go and browse through it. The menus along the top will eventually be the only menus, for now you have to use the side menus. I am proud of the process of moving the Forest Management pages from the old web site to the new, particularly Jack's pages, I also have a few of Dad's Las Tusas Ranch pages there as well. All the images are in the proper places and I am beginning to get the hang of using Joomla Web based editors, proving again that we're still not too old to learn new things.
I was planning to go for firewood yesterday, but it didn't happen. First, my buddy Slim dropped by and we spent an hour or so looking at a site http://sawmillexchange.com I think Slim has just about had enough with the sawmill business. So if you or anyone you know is interested in buying a fully functional semiautomatic circular sawmill please let me know. We need to put the old guy out to pasture. I don't mean any old field, but a golf course would suit him just fine.
Yeah, but maybe put the golf course in a forest.
So instead of a firewood run, I worked on my new 1982 VW Rabbit Diesel. Aw, you know I'd rather play with a unique fixer-upper than run a chainsaw for hours on end. Not to mention that my son never showed to help with the firewood loading. I don't blame him, he probably went snow boarding, bless him. That's okay I worked on the woodpile we have and came up with a weeks worth of good firewood, so we're cool. And besides I love having the chance to work on the Rabbit. I charged a battery, and used compressed air to clean the cobwebs out of the engine compartment. Actually this little VW is in great shape considering that it has 265 thousand miles on the odometer. I checked the oil, installed the battery and turned it over. She started right up. Sweet. The engine re-builder did a great job on the motor. It seems like it has super high compression. It's a noisy little car though, pretty much what I remember my old VW Beatles sounding like.
When I was 18, my girlfriend's father said my VW Micro Bus sounded like a thrashing machine. I later thrashed his garden attempting to appease him by shutting off the engine when I brought his daughter home late one night. It was a brilliant move I thought at the time. As I made the turn into his driveway I switched off the ignition, unfortunately this also locked the steering wheel and I took out most of the flowers along one side of the driveway. Whoops. This maneuver pretty much cemented his hatred for the long haired hippie kid. Indeed, her father was a methodist minister and the flower garden was part of the church manse. Sigh, sometimes ya just can't seem to win. Anyway, the Rabbit reminds me of the Micro buses I used to run. Noisy and precarious feeling. I remember thinking while I drove my VW Buses (I owned several) what protection do my legs have? None.
I took the VW for a test drive up the valley. Considering that the Rabbit has a 1.4 Liter diesel engine it felt fairly peppy, possibly because it only weighs 2800 pounds. Nevertheless it ran great, but dang is it a rattle box. It was making so many rattles I couldn't determine where all the noises were coming from. Some in the front, maybe middle, all it sounded like were underneath the little car somewhere. 2800 pounds though, I did forget how much easier it was to work on small mechanical components. For instance the transmission is right there in plain sight, easy to get to and looks like it weighs all of 45 pounds. This is definitely the smallest four cylinder diesel engine I ever saw. It is tiny and cute. No wonder it is fuel efficient. I wonder if America can ever go back to fuel efficient vehicles? Seeing this VW it is obvious that all the comforts Americans are used to were omitted to keep the weight down. With the rest of American's driving like asinines in their huge over weight, over protective, eight cylinder behemoths, I'm sure it will make the driver of one of these old 40 MPG VWs very insecure. Oh it gets up and goes, better than either of our other diesel powered vehicles, but dang, you feel like your are exposed to the harshnesses of the road.
For sure the VW is a keeper, once I do some restoring. I get the VW registered sometime in the coming weeks, until then it is the ranch dune buggy.
We are still with out water, sigh. If patience is a virtue, we are doing well.
Yep, that's my plan. Wait it out. How much longer can Winter last?
I know, never say that.
See ya tomorrow.
Don't forget to go to http://outfitnm.com
Brian Rodgers
