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October 29, 2014

I'm not clear that I'm leaving...

I'm not clear that I'm going anywhere on my KTM right now. Was planning a ride into Mexico, but after some discussions yesterday, I think I'm probably not leaving the country any time soon.

I got my 2010 KTM 990 Adventure back from the KTM dealership in Loveland yesterday. Here's what they fixed:
1) Fixed oil leak on bike.
2) Replaced slave cylinder on the hydraulic clutch. (Clutch wouldn't work).
3) Replaced both tires with the stock tires.
4) Changed out oil and oil filter.
5) Replaced spark plug.
6) Replaced air filter.

So, in a nutshell, that's what was fixed. But then, when we tried to load it up, it was dying when you put it in gear. I was like..."Oh yeah...it does that...I forgot to mention this..."

Sam actually helped me diagnose this while I was on the road. It first happened in Yellowstone. What happens is that there is a sensor that can tell if the kick stand is down. The bike will start, but when you put it in gear, if the kickstand is down (or the bike thinks the kickstand is down), then the bike shuts off. After some close analysis, and comparison to a KTM 990 Adventure R, it was determined that the sensor was too far away from the kickstand. Like, probably it got bent away from the kickstand position. So, they bent it back into place, and now the bike is running again.

So, after 26,000 miles with the bike, outside of routine maintenance issues (brakes, tires, oil, chain, sprockets, etc.), I have had the following issues (this year):


So, in summary: KTM threaded the rear view mirrors backwards by design. There is no excuse for this. There is a vibration in the engine. Not clear why. There is an electrical issue that I've not resolved.

On the Honda XR650, these are just cables. There are no hydraulics. Simpler=less maintenance=less headache. Also, the kick-stand switch is not something I need. There's also not a DC power outlet.

So, the Honda XR is a lot simpler, and therefore easier to maintain/operate.

The jury is still out on the KTM. I like the bike...it's a better ride on the highway than the XR. It runs faster and smoother, but it's not like my life got better when I bought the KTM. It has it's own issues, obviously.

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 29, 2014 at 11:07 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 27, 2014

Sign In to FaceTime

I'm not clear what's going on with my iPhone 4S. Today, it's twice given me this message out of the blue:

Sign In to FaceTime. Enter the Apple ID password for "xxxx@gmail.com".

Where "xxxx@gmail.com" is some random email address that I don't use. Not sure why it's doing this to me.

I hate Apple so much there just aren't words.

If you go to Settings - Facetime - There's an AppleID. It's tied to an email address I've never used, to the best of my recollection. I don't even use the stupid facetime. So I just turned it off. God I hate Apple.

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 27, 2014 at 6:17 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

Getting Ready for the Next Ride

I'm trying to get ready to leave on my next ride down into Mexico. The bike should be ready to go by tomorrow, Lord willing and the river don't rise. I've paid off all my outstanding tickets (in the USA, anyway). Hoping to get away tomorrow. The general plan is to ride down to Mazatlan. Nothing beyond that, really. I'll consider it a success if I can make it down there, threading the needle through parts of the country controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel.

Export Events off of iPhoto 11:
iPhoto - Events - Select all events - File - Export:
Kind - Original
File Name - Use filename
Subfolder Format: Event Name.

Most of these have already been exported to my Synology Diskstation. However, when I try to export some of the events from iPhoto 11, I get this message:

"You have selected one or more Aperture photos that iPhoto does not support and cannot be put into the iPhoto Trash. Deselect the unsupported aperture photos or use aperture to delete them."

Not sure what this means. But, I can Click 'OK', then go into the event, select all of the photos, and delete them all that way. Not sure what's going on here.

When I export my photos from iPhoto onto my 12 TB Synology DiskStation DS413, for whatever reason, the process hangs, occasionally. Like...it just freezes up. Stops copying files over. At this point, you're really hosed because of the following:
1) It's difficult to determine which files were copied over, especially if they were in multiple Events and you were exporting by the Event.
2) You can't restart the process.
3) If you try to repeat the same steps, you get an option to either "replace" or "cancel", but I'm not even clear what these options mean, really. "Replace" is no good, of course, because it means you're starting over, and you only get to answer the question once...it's assumed to apply to all x thousand of the photos. "Cancel" doesn't help you because it cancels the process.

So, once it hangs up, you're royally screwed. The best solution, so far as I can tell, it to export only one event at a time, or to export 4 events at a time....limit your losses, as it were. And you at least know where you are in the process if it hangs up. It sucks, but it's apple, and we're doing the best we can, right?

The other thing I've noticed is that there are little odd marks in place of the space characters in Event Names when it appears under Windows. So, for instance we might have three Event in iPhoto all named "Canon 07/23/14". These will come across into Windows as "Canon 072314", "Canon 072314-2", and "Canon 072314-3".

The "-2" and "-3" are counters added on by Windows to prevent duplicate folder names. As for the weird sub-script dots in the folder names, apparently this is because Apple allows characters which are illegal characters in Windows. So...somehow Windows converts the slashes (/) into a little dot that appears below the normal text line, and one character before where it was on the Mac. So...yeah....this isn't confusing at all, really.

http://www.theutilityfactory.com/summaries/mac-ios-filenames.htm

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 27, 2014 at 12:57 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 24, 2014

Obola Patient Released

Nina Pham -- the Texas Presbyterian Hospital nurse who was the first health care worker to contract Ebola from Thomas Eric Duncan -- was declared Ebola-free and released from NIH hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, this afternoon.

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 24, 2014 at 7:00 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 23, 2014

And then there were 9

10/23/14 - 9th ebola patient in the USA is Craig Spencer, a 33-year-old emergency room doctor who treated Ebola patients in West Africa, has tested positive for the virus in New York City,

10/26/14 - Craig Spencer gets blood transfusion from Nancy Writebol at Bellevue Hospital.

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 23, 2014 at 11:02 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 21, 2014

How Deadhorse, Alaska got its name

I heard different stories about how Deadhorse, Alaska got its name. Here's the
definitive explanation.

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 21, 2014 at 8:13 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink

October 20, 2014

R.I.P. Alistar Farland


Photo: Stuart Philkill


Alistar Farland was a young man on a 12 month motorcycle ride from AK to South America. Sadly, he passed away in a motorcycle accident on I-95 2 days ago. Sad to hear of his passing.

Facebook Tribute Page

His website: www.whilstiwasout.com

http://www.fayobserver.com/news/crime_courts/motorcyclist-killed-on-i--near-lumberton/article_a65fbbb4-7126-533d-bedf-17bc167eabef.html

LUMBERTON - A motorcyclist was killed Wednesday after running into the back of a truck hauling a horse on Interstate 95, the Highway Patrol said.

The driver of the truck had slowed to get into the weigh station lane when the motorcycle hit it from behind, according to a report by Trooper C.S. Covington, who investigated the case. The wreck happened about 1.5 miles north of Lumberton.

The motorcyclist, Alistar John Farland, 24, was ejected. He was pronounced dead at Southeastern Regional Medical Center, the patrol said. Farland had an Australian driver's license, and his motorcycle was registered in Anchorage, Alaska.

The driver of the truck, Scott William Alexander, 60, was traveling below the speed limit, the patrol said. The motorcycle was traveling 65 mph and did not appear to brake, the patrol said.

No charges will be filed.

- Lorry Williams

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 20, 2014 at 2:31 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 18, 2014

Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist

I'm going back and watching the poorly animated TV show "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist". The animation is not good, but the lines in it are pretty funny:

Season 1:

Season 1: Episode 1 - Dr. Katz - "Bill can we talk about your earliest sexual experiences? Anything that comes to mind is OK....
Bill - "I remember the first time I had sex...because I kept the receipt."

Bill - "My father smoked a lot...he's been smoking for years...he tried to quit...he tried hypnosis and it didn't really take...and then he tried that thing with all the needles...what do they call that? Heroin? He loves it. He loves it. We can't get it away from him."

Dr. Katz - "Why is it that you require so much dental work?"
Bill - "My teeth are crooked...you know...I was supposed to get braces when I was a little kid but my parents didn't have enough money....left over from their trip."

Dr. Katz - "How'd you like Hawaii, Bill?"
Bill - "Hawaii was not like what I thought it would be like...at all...I thought everyone would be wearing grass skirts and eating macadamia nuts and wearing coconut halves on their breasts, but...boy...I was the only one..."

Dr. Katz - Did you have a problem with bedwetting when you were a kid?
Bill - No...not as a kid.

Season 1 Episode 3:

Joy Behar: "Last year I spent $850 on panty hose. Men are still wearing the same socks they wore to Junior High School. They call them their lucky socks."

Season 1: Episode 4

Dave Attell:

You know when you you're young you think your dad's superman. And then you grow up and you realize he's a just a regular guy who wears a cape.

He never left me have fireworks.All I had was sparklers. Sparklers. I think a flashlight is more dangerous than a sparkler. My friends have M-80s, bottle rockets, sticks of dynamite. I'm walking around like the Special Olympic torch-boy. Now I'm a moving target.

I remember at one time my dad was wearing pants. It must have been Thanksgiving.

I have a friend....I went clothes shopping with this friend of mine. He's even worse than me. He bought a pair of overalls. He's like "Dave. What goes with this?"
I'm like..."I dunno...they're overalls. I guess a banjo? I dunno...I know what doesn't go with it - jobs and women."


Season 2
Season 2 Episode 11

Brian Kiley: "We were told that we were unable to have children....by our landlord. And it turns out he was completely mistaken."

Brian Kiley: "I used to play doctor with this little girl in my neighborhood all the time. One time we got caught. Luckily it was a Wednesday, and we were just playing golf."

Season 3
Season 3 Episode 1:
Dr Katz - Richard have you ever considered marriage?...that maybe there's a Mrs. Jeni in your future?
Richard Jeni: No. I've never really even been drunk enough to get a tattoo.


Season 3 Episode 2:
Cathy Ladman - This might come as a shock to you but I'm getting married this year.
Dr Katz - Hey Great.
Cathy Ladman - I can't wait to tell him.


Season 3: Episode 3
Dr. Katz: You say that...even within the city...you're still able to find a little oasis...a haven...
Emo Phillips - I go to the park...I like to...have fun...you know...rip out nose hairs...Those sleeping winos hate that.


Emo Phillips - I weigh about 140 pounds...naked...I mean...if that scale at the train station is anything to go by.

Season 3: Episode 4

Kevin Nealon - "I've been married 6 years. I got married after a two year...ah....I want to say 'argument'...engagement..engagement. But I had dated enough and I finally met that "Miss Right". Miss "always right". And uh...I thought That was the one.I met my wife at a costume party one halloween. she came as a slinky. that was her outfit. and I remember the first time I saw her...she was coming down the stairs...she was amazing...she was taking them 2 at a time. she was pretty good."

Kevin Nealon - "My father though...I've always got along well with my father...sometimes he'd lose his temper and he'd get very angry....but he would control it...he would slowly count to 100...then he would let my head up out of the water..."


Season 3: Episode 5

David Feldman - "When my wife and I got married we had one simple rule, no cheating. Unless our wildest fantasy came true. And we each got to pick someone. She picked Kevin Costner and I picked Cindy Crawford. After a couple years, I suggested that maybe we should update the list. So she picked Brad Pitt. And I picked...our babysitter."

Kathy Griffin - "Oh...like you've never had a day where you've wanted to kill your parents....and reload."

Women have a better grasp of language than men.
There are no synonyms in a woman's vocabulary.
Every word has its own shade of meaning.
"I didn't say that I was mad.
I said that I was upset.

Season 4


Date Attell - I don't have a girlfriend sometimes I like to pretend I do.
I just stand in my apartment screaming "That's Not What I Said! No! I didn't say that!
Easy! EASY!"


Season 5, Episode 47 of 81 - "It kinda reminds me of the first time I ever got undressed in front of a woman...it was horrible...she started screaming...and then they kicked me off the bus."


Posted by Rob Kiser on October 18, 2014 at 10:11 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 16, 2014

This is why we don't trust the authorities...



Posted by Rob Kiser on October 16, 2014 at 1:25 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 15, 2014

Ebola in the USA

1. Late July Dr. Kent Brantly, 33 , received a unit of blood from a 14-year-old
boy who had survived Ebola because of Dr. Brantly's care in Liberia.
July 31 Dr. Kent Brantly gets the first dose of an experimental drug called ZMapp,
though it was unnamed at the time. Although doctors initially thought there was
only enough for one person, Writebol was administered the drug as well.

The experimental drug, known as ZMapp, was developed by the biotech firm Mapp
Biopharmaceutical Inc., which is based in San Diego. The patients were told that
the treatment had never been tried before in a human being but had shown promise
in small experiments with monkeys.

Aug. 2, 2014 - Dr. Kent Brantly, 33 ,is flown from Liberia to Emory University
Hospital in Atlanta for treatment.
Aug. 21, 2014 - Brantly discharged from Emory in news conference in which he hugs
several members of the hospital staff.


2. Aug. 5, 2014 - Missionary Nancy Writebol, 59, flown from Liberia to Emory
University Hospital in Atlanta for treatment after being given an experimental drug
(ZMapp) to fight the virus in Liberia. ZMapp is an experimental serum designed from
the antibodies of people who had survived Ebola,
Aug. 19, 2014 - Writebol quietly discharged from hospital after she tests negative
for Ebola.


3. Sep 3, Dr. Rick Sacra, 51, of Worcester and member of the SIMS Clinic
Organization is the third American doctor infected with Ebola.
Sep 5, Dr. Rick Sacra lands in the U.S. He is treated in Nebraska.
Sacra, 51, got two transfusions of blood serum from Ebola survivor Dr. Kent Brantly,
who flew to Nebraska to donate his blood. He's also getting an experimental drug
his doctors won't say what.
Sep 25, Dr. Rick Sacra, was released from the Nebraska Medical Center.


4. Sep 9, The third patient being treated for Ebola at Emory University Hospital
The patient arrived at Emory on Sep 9. (1=Dr. Kent Brantly,2=Nancy Writebol,3=? )
The patient has elected to remain anonymous, and is only being identified
as a doctor who was working with the World Health Organization in Seirra Leone.
Patient arrived at Emory on Sept. 9 and has been hospitalized in an isolation
unit set up to treat patients with infectious diseases.
He said Wednesday that he is recovering from the disease and is expecting to be
discharged very soon. They have never said if this patient received ZMapp.

5. Sep 20, Thomas Eric Duncan, lands in Dallas from Libera.

Oct 8, Thomas Eric Duncan is the first person to die of Ebola on U.S. soil,

6. Oct 2, 2014 - A freelance American cameraman, Ashoka Mukpo, 33, diagnosed with
Ebola in Liberia.
Oct 8, 2014 receives blood transfusion from survivor Dr Kent Brantly.

7. Oct 12, 2014 - Announced that a nurse had been infected in Dallas that was working
with Duncan.
Nina Pham is later identified as the first person to contract ebola on US soil.
Oct 13, 2014 receives blood transfusion from survivor Dr Kent Brantly.

Oct 17 2014 - Nina Pham flies from Dallas to Maryland's National Institutes of Health's state-of-the-art facility in Bethesda, Md.


8. Oct 15, 2014 - Amber Vinson, Dallas nurse, becomes the 2nd person to contract
ebola on US soil.

Oct 10, 2014 - Amber Vinson flies from Dallas-to-Cleveland on Friday.
Oct 14, 2014 - Amber Vinson flies from Cleveland-to-Dallas on Tuesday.
Oct 15, 2014 - Amber Vinson was flown from Dallas to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital, where she is "feeling OK."

Workers at that hospital -- which previously treated Americans Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol for Ebola -- are also caring for an unnamed person with Ebola who came there September 9.


Posted by Rob Kiser on October 15, 2014 at 7:58 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 11, 2014

2010 KTM 990 Adventure Tires

2010 KTM 990 Adventure Tires

The tires I currently have on the bike are Pirelli Scorpion tires:

Front: Scropion A/T 90/90 21 M/C 546 Pirelli MT 90 Front
Rear: Scorpion A/T 150/70 R18 M/C 70V Pirelli MT 90


I want to replace them with Michelin Anakee 3's.

I've noticed that the Anakee 3's in both an S (112 mph) and an H (130 mph) rating.

I want to get the H rating (130 mph), [Not S rating (112 mph)]
Front: 21"
Rear: 18"

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 11, 2014 at 11:49 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink

This guy...

I'm not sure who does the voices, as they're not credited on either show, but I was watch an episode of Bob's Burgers tonight, and recognized the following uncredited voice:

Bob's Burgers: Season 3, Episode 23 - The Unnatural:
The Pawnshop owner says:

"Look, the kitsch craze is kind of played out....No one likes babies...Maybe if you had some fine art or antique coins or firearms."

I think that this is the same voice as the Bartender Instructor (also uncredited) from Home Movies, Season 4, Episode 11, Definite Possible Murder. (My assumption is that the voice is done by H. Jon Benjamin):

00:00:01 Folks, say hello to rob.
00:00:02 What's rob? it's the rules of bartending.
00:00:04 And the first rule of bartending is this: G.b.t.b.
00:00:08 Go beyond the book go beyond the book.
00:00:11 see these books you bought?
00:00:13 Get rid of 'em. throw 'em out.
00:00:14 - You made us buy it.
00:00:16 we're going beyond the book.
00:00:18 - It was $35 for the book.
00:00:20 ..
00:00:20 - What do you mean, throw it out?
00:00:21 - Second rule is a.f.a. - what's that?
00:00:24 - Uh, get the book.
00:00:28 Ahem. a.f.a.
00:00:30 That's not right. hold on.
00:00:32 - Uh, I have a question, sir.
00:00:34 - Yes?
00:00:35 - I have a question.
00:00:36 How do you make a manhattan?
00:00:39 - Manhattan? - yeah.
00:00:40 - You know, we're gonna get to that later on, because this class right here is not about mixing drinks.
00:00:44 Any old joe could put a manhattan together.
00:00:47 What you're gonna do is, you're gonna be making something more than drinks.
00:00:50 - Right, but what are the ingredients that you put in the manhattan?
00:00:54 - You're gonna learn that later on.
00:00:55 - Do we eventually get another teacher?
00:00:56 Are you here for the day, or are you the whole class?
00:00:59 - I'm afraid we're stuck with each other, huh?
00:01:01 - All right, let me backtrack.
00:01:02 I paid $145 for this-- for this two-day seminar.
00:01:07 - Uh-huh.
00:01:08 - Can I get my money back?
00:01:10 ..no.

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 11, 2014 at 1:17 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink

October 10, 2014

Maybe October

And maybe in October, the leaves changed and the days grew shorter. The grasses died and the hummingbirds no longer came to the feeder. The cats pushed down the grasses and moved quietly through the yards, wondering what came next.

The rains came and turned the Scrub Oaks an orange-brown color. Everyone set about preparing for winter. Soon, the snows will come. They will be here. No one speaks of it, but summer has sailed and we're all sitting around, fearing the winter. The loneliness of a long cold winter.

"Look...there....did you see that?" I ask Jennifer. "That was a bluebird." I turn the truck back to see the bluebird, in dull fall plumage.

"Those birds migrate. What's he doing here this late. He should have flown by now."

I wonder if the bird won't migrate. Why hasn't he flown? Maybe he lost the will to live. Maybe he's committing suicide.

"Here...take a picture of him" I tell Jen.

"No...it's just a stupid bird..." Her voice is defiant.

"He's a bluebird though..." I explain..."He's not supposed to be here."

"Dad...it's a bird. Get over it."

And we drive away with a picture of the bird.

Posted by Rob Kiser on October 10, 2014 at 4:18 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink