Vid 1

Vid 2

The camera dramatically shifts the center of gravity of the car. Instead of being somewhat low, this moves it way up and makes the car even more unstable than it already is. I took the camera off to see just how much it affects the car. Good thing too!

Because I broke it pretty soon after.  It didn't break after the first rollover.  Nor the second.  The third one did it though.  I'm just happy to have gotten some video this time.

I did give back Andy his Baja 5b.  It was just way too much temptation to go out and get one of my own!  Driving it out on the pavement just made me want it even more today.  Quite fun.  Loud as all heck, but quite fun.

Currently contemplating modifying my current car, or getting a Traxxas Revo.  Fun things to ponder.

The car is also incredibly loud.  Like I turned it off after ten seconds since I didn't want to annoy my neighbors loud.  Still, it was gratifying to see the buggy roll around in the grass under its own power.  I need to find a space big enough to let this little guy stretch its legs.  That will probably prove to be a challenge.  Not too many places where a 25 pound RC car with a weed whacker engine can roam where I live.  I am thinking of taking it to a forest preserve.  I'll need to get the studded tires from Andy before I do that.

I am also looking for some denatured alcohol.  I plan on giving this car a thorough cleaning.  A trip to the big box store is in my near future.

On Sunday, Andy and I went out to goof off with our RC cars.  On my second test run, I promptly rolled my car over and destroyed the camera mount and the headlights.  I was doing a high speed pass in the parking lot and made too sharp of a turn in a small depression in the surface.  The car slid about four parking spaces across the parking lot.  A good thing the car has a roll cage!  Unfortunately I didn't get any video.  A video of the crash would have been great, though I'm not sure the camera would have come out of that unscathed.

I managed to get about three tanks of fuel through the car.  It's running pretty well I must say.  The tires are definitely hooking up and giving me a lot of traction.  On hard cornering, the car is picking up the front inside tire right off the ground.  Not bad!  But it does immediately make it apparent that I need a rear antisway bar.

Andy's car wasn't having a good day though.  It simply wouldn't start.  His car is also huge.  A HPI Baja 5b.  It dwarfs mine in every aspect.  But no matter what we tried, it simply wouldn't start up.  Starter fluid, choke on/off, and countless pulls on the starter string wouldn't get the beast to wake up.  So, I took it home.  We'll see if I can coax it back from it's slumber.  Plans are to get rid of the old gas, clean the car and engine, and tune the carburetor.  It'll be neat to see just how this big behemoth is put together.

Sam had extra tickets to the Cubs Braves game on Friday.  We gladly took him up on his offer.  The trio spent a glorious day at Wrigley field watching the Cubs face off against their former compadre, Derrick Lee.  It was weird seeing him step up to the box and start swinging against Ryan Dempster.  But oh well.  In true Cubs fashion, they lost convincingly in the 9th.

All was not lost though.  Because we got to have some of those talked about Bison dogs.  It seems the Rickels own High Plains Bison and brought in some of their product.  There are a few places where you can get them.  Look for the foot long and get it with sauerkraut.  Here is the regular bun length dog smothered in onions and mustard.  Not bad!  It doesn't have the snap of a vienna, but it's got a smoother flavor.  Now if the Cubs could just win a game...

This weekend was a great weekend.  It was super hot.  It was super humid.  The mosquitoes feasted on my blood as sweat soaked my clothes.  But in the end, it was worth it.  I passed my Basic Rider Course!  That means I can take this card to the DMV, and get a class "M" added to my drivers license.  "M" for motorcycle.  I did surprisingly well.  Though I really blundered my way through the U turn test, and made a silly mistake on the written exam.  Doesn't matter though.  I passed.  I got my card, and I'm good to go.  Sort of.  There's that little matter of actually purchasing a motorcycle...

So, I got to thinking.  I want to put a camera on my RC car.  I think it would be fun to have a video clip of that.  But how to put a camera on my car?  At first, I wanted to go buy a small one and somehow attach it.  But then it dawned on me.  I already have a point and shoot that does video.  It's also pretty indestructable.  I'll use that!

Mounting it was a challenge.  I didn't want to use the tripod mount in fear that the constant jostling about would snap it off or crack the camera bottom.  So instead, I made a cradle from some scrap acrylic plastic.  I held the plastic flat against the bottom of the camera, and slowly bent the acrylic while heating it with a mini torch.  The silicon case would protect the camera.  This method is not as good as a strip heater, but good enough for my purposes.

I then zip tied the acrylic down to the roll cage.  I also some what loosely zip tied the camera to the cradle as well.

And lastly, I lassoed the lanyard to the buggy just in case it got free from the cradle.  At this point I should be outside testing it out.  But I'm not.  Why?  Because our backyard is currently swarming with mosquitos.  Every time I go outside to the backyard, I get bit something fierce.  I think I've got close to ten bites on me right now.  Ridiculous.  But soon there will be more videos!

Lately, I've been playing with Mike K, Minyang M, Sam C, Pablo, and a collection of their friends.  it sucks up much of my free time.  Good times!

The car runs!

There are some problems with the car, but otherwise, it works remarkably well. Not bad for a twenty some odd year old car.

I like little black notebooks.  Not all are made alike.  Moleskines are definitely the best.  They have the best covers, the best paper, the best elastic, and all are exactly the same with high quality construction.  They are even durable!  But, you get what you pay for.

The notebook on the left is a genuine Moleskine.  On the right are notebooks by Piccadilly.  That stack is less than half the price of one genuine Moleskine.  They aren't made as well.  The large one is perfect except that the black vinyl is peeling away from the paperboard.  The middle one is great, except that the elastic is just too small.  The one on top had a cracked binding that I had to tape together.  But, each of them are quite useful.

Does this make me a hipster?  Man I sure hope not.  It's just so satisfying to use something that is totally devoted to one purpose, and looks good doing it. In the age of smartphones and texts, a pen and pad is sometimes the most efficient way to record your thoughts.