fro and the cowboy monkey

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged. Sorry 'bout that.

It's been an interesting intervening few weeks. Aside from the usual dilemnas of life, I had an interesting weekend being pit crew for an Improved Production car at Eastern Creek this weekend just gone.

I'd never have thought to make a Datsun Sunny into an Improved Production race car. I don't think I contemplated just how far you could improve a Datsun Sunny (!) but an FJ20 Turbo is certainly an improvement. This was the car's first outing at an actual race meeting, being the final round of the NSW State Series.

I've watched Improved Production racing before, but being involved was a different experience. I certainly learned a few things, and maybe took a few things away that will help me become a better rallyist.

Spending some time in the Pulsar driving the road to Sydney and back solo gave me some time to think as well. I'd forgotten the simple pleasure of thinking on the road. The last time I got some good navel-contemplation going was on a solo trip a while ago so it brought back those memories, and inspired a few revisions of thoughts I'd had in the past.

I've also been contemplating a new motorsport event that I'd like to organise, but am still formulating in my mind. Navigational in nature, an adventure, a test, open to everyone, achievable with whatever vehicle you have available, yet a challenge. We'll see if it gets off the ground.

Oh, and I've been contemplating where I'm heading. What am I doing? Why am I doing it? A lot of inner reflection.

That, and a lot of interest in Irish/Celtic mythology, particularly focussed around Cuchulainn and the Ulster Cycle...

Yes, welcome to our irregular series of tales of moronity, and idiotic adventures. In which our heroes take the everyday tasks, and using their powers of stupidity, manage to balls them up completely.

Things like taking an unladen car trailer from a residence in Weston Creek, to a house in Belconnen. A simple task. How could I balls it up, in a new and invenive way, I hear you ask?

Well, I can do it before I even get out the driveway. As I pulled out of the driveway, with the TrendTrailers car trailer attached, I heard a peculiar noise. And the ute temporarily lost traction. I didn't think much of it, until I'd gotten further down the road, and the same thing happened again?

Now, I'm sure that I had wound up the jockey wheel, and moved it into the "transit" position, but I don't remember it locking in. But when I stopped the ute and looked, it was locked in the "non-transit" position. Meaning that the wheel was out, ready to take the weight of the ute, and the trailer.

Which it must have done, even if only briefly, because it is now bent into a very peculiar shape. And the wheel no longer goes round and round.

So, looks like I'll be buying a new insert for the jockey wheel. I've already pulled it apart to see what's required, and it looks like I'll be able to get the parts from a generic auto-parts store tomorrow.

Sorry, Anna!

As pointed out on BoingBoing, watermelon becomes really cool when it's Godzilla's unhatched offspring. One of the few occassions that I'm glad I can't read what's on the page. I'm interested, and scared, all at once...