It’ll be hot. Of that I’m certain. And humid. It was plenty hot here yesterday, although the breeze helped. Even at midnight it was still high 80sF. In fact I think it may be hotter here than at home.
In the morning I slept, did the things I needed to do, and finally got on my way. Did my pickup, and the blower is in rough shape. Didn’t try starting it yet, but it’s not one of the expensive models. It might not be worth the time to replace all the worn out things. Then I hit a Lowes store on my way and bought more trim. I’ll put that to use today.
Plan is… do more work on the window. Start outside before the sun really bakes that side of the house, then move into the airconditioned living room to work inside later. We’ll see if it goes that easily. If not, I’ll find something to do. Plenty to choose from.
Always be working to improve. Stack what resources you’ll need to keep working.
nick
Sunday. Good morning!
Lunchtime, so time to make breakfast.
The wildfires are getting worse. At least 600 people evacuated from villages neighbouring our BOL. 5000 more under orders to prepare for evacuation. My buddy near the BOL says our village is not in immediate danger, but visibility is down to 200m on account of the smoke.
3000 hectares (7500 acres) of fen and forestry burning.
If you’re the praying type, we could use some rain to help the firefighters…
Ford owned a controlling interest in Mazda, about a third of the stock, in the early 2000s, and Bill Ford was CEO from 2001 until 2006, following the ouster of Jaques Nasser over the Exploder/Firestone tire fiasco
The semi-secret bailout of Ford arranged by the Shrub Administration supposedly required divestiture of the 90s acquisitions such as Mazda, Volvo, and Jaguar/Land Rover as well as installation of Alan Mullaly, a real engineer, as CEO.
Now Ford has Tommy Boy in charge, effectively a proxy for Bill Ford.
You can get a good look at Bankruptcy sticking your head up an EV tailpipe, but wouldn’t you rather take the accountant’s word for it?
“It’s one-half day”
https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2026/08/its-one-half-day.html
Not one half of a day, one-half day. 8/16, as we write the date as a fraction, reduces to 1/2.
Sorry.
Around here in East Central Florida, also called the Space Coast, our highlight for this evening is we have a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral SFS. The launch is for the Globalstar 2-R Mission. The launch time is 9:12 PM EDT.
Ford owned a controlling interest in Mazda, about a third of the stock, in the early 2000s, and Bill Ford was CEO from 2001 until 2006, following the ouster of Jaques Nasser over the Exploder/Firestone tire fiasco
You rate transmissions in ftlbs of torque. The Mazda was rated for 160 ftlbs, perfect for their little crap truck four cylinder and the Ford Ranger.
But very imperfect for the F-150 with the 200 ftlb 4.0L V6.
The tranny did make it through 160k miles though. The clutch failed at 50k miles because the hydraulic line failed and sprayed hydraulic fluid on the clutch face.
The Ford Ranger was based on the B200.
The Number One Son “Boss” cousin in WA State had a B200 from the mid-90s when we lived up there. The truck was his wife’s college transportation.
While the exterior was in rough shape, the truck started and ran fine.
Lacking registration and insurance, the vehicle couldn’t drive on city streets, but the Chinese relations never junk/throw anything away, especially if the item is perceived as potentially valuable to Round Eye.
Every now and then, Number One Son would roll the truck to the end of the driveway to see if any Hillbilly would knock on the door to make him an offer. At least one did anytime he played the game, and that’s when the “You Ain’t Got No Ice Cream” fun would begin.
“I don’t know much about truck, but someone tell me it worth $5000.”
In his best Asian Stepin Fetchit. A**hole.
Again, anyone who think’s the original voice actor for Khan on “King of the Hill” created a cruel stereotype hasn’t spent any time around my wife’s Chinese relations. Watching the rebooted series on Hulu, Khan’s new voice actor doing a more “accurate” portrayal actually sounds like one of the Number One Sons and is a lot less sympathetic IMHO.
The F150 was a smaller vehicle until half ton trucks started becoming codpieces with the introduction of the redesigned Ram 1500 in the late 90s. IIRC, a V6 was standard.
I still see early 2000s F150s rolling around my section of Austin, and the dimensions look more like the current Ranger than the most recent generation of F150.
Very few trucks in the 90s had crew cabs even if the option was available.
A non-turbo V6.
My bad. Inline 6. Mexico market had an even *smaller* V6.
The next step up in the non-codpiece generation, 92-97 was a V8 but with only 185 lb-ft torque.
The 92-97 F150 is highly sought after right now.
the dimensions look more like the current Ranger than the most recent generation of F150.
– yep. The current ranger is about the size of an old F-150, which is one reason why I don’t want one.
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Up. Coffee in the Moka pot. Food coming.
Back of the house is still in shade so I woke up in time.
83F in the shade. Sun is out shining on stuff so it’ll get hotter.
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@ denis, I hope you and yours stay safe. Fire is unpredictable and terrifying.
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n
There were several versions of that Mazda trans, with the F150 getting the M5OD-R2. Sources are thin but the torque spec for that is quoted as 330 ft/lb, although that’s acknowledged to be somewhat speculative.
Thanks, Nick. The visuals are terrifying but, thankfully, it seems that no humans have been hurt yet, and no houses destroyed. I am most concerned for my forester buddies, whose residences are literally in the middle of the woods. They will be out organising the firefighting, and not able to protect their homes.
Beautiful forests are being destroyed and a fragile biotope will be badly damaged, but earth abides.
The irony of lighting a candle at Mass today for the firefighters was bitter.
Reporting in English here:
https://amp.dw.com/en/hundreds-flee-as-belgium-battles-wildfire-at-german-border/a-78386242
Ford could produce a Ranger on the body-on-frame platform used by the new Explorer, but, beyond Papi needing to see a “man’s” crossshop on the lot for $40k, I believe that the US consumer is beyond education about driving the class of vehicles responsibly.
I’m amazed that Jeep continues to get away with the Wrangler design, especially after my own near fatal miss a couple of months ago with a female driver taking a right turn lane too sharp coming down the offramp of one of the tollroads.
Only a lightpole shattering the left front pastic (!) fender of her Jeep and causing the trajectory to veer right, away from where I was sitting, prevented me from being t-boned in the Solara.
Earlier this week, I took the same offramp from the toll road and I saw that the damage to the lightpole was still there, with wiring exposed to the elements.
Mazda commercial truck made the body for the Toyota Dolphin (& clones) Class C motorhomes in the 80s & 90s, as I recall reading. In good shape still fetch decent money..
So they could make a decent tranny, if it was specced into the vehicle.
Astronomy night out.
Some club members went to Mt. Pinos, 9,000′, but we stayed low, at 5200′, and it was still cold overnight, 46F before dawn. I had my 40F rated bag, and it needed a blanket on top to keep me warm.
A beautiful clear still night, but I couldn’t make it past midnight.
A lot of fun, but at 0x46 maybe I need a travel trailer or RV.
Here’s a question for the radioheads:
In my haul of Swiss Army gear from the other day, there is a NOS Philips-Fluke digital RMS multimeter PM2618X, like this one:
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philips_rms_multimeter_pm2618x.html
It looks like a quality unit, but I suppose it is technically superceded. Is it of use (to anyone here)?
Start practicing for 2030.
All right, all right, all right!
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/08/15/matthew-mcconaughey-pope-leo-ai-politics/91304463007/
He’s letting the commies soften up the Dumbocrat Party. Then he can swoop in as Obola 2.0, the Savior.
There were several versions of that Mazda trans, with the F150 getting the M5OD-R2. Sources are thin but the torque spec for that is quoted as 330 ft/lb, although that’s acknowledged to be somewhat speculative.
My son and I bought a “special” run of the F-150 supercab for him back in 2003. It had the 4.0L V6 with the Mazda 4 cylinder 5 speed. They had a bunch of that exact model of F-150 that they were selling for $21k.
The service tech that replaced the clutch at 50k miles told me it that it was the same 5 speed that Ford put into the Ranger with the four cylinder motor. He told me that we needed th baby that transmission.
Which goes against Mr. Lynn’s driving style of “drive it like you stole it”.
re: Fluke meter
It would probably sell well at a hamfest, but I don’t known if it would be worth the travel expense and admission fee for just that.
If you have any ham friends, they’re probably going to a hamfest somewhere anyway, and they could sell it for you. Most hams are helpful like that.
Fluke is a powerful brand name, and even antique ham gear sells well.
But don’t expect to retire on the proceeds.
Which goes against Mr. Lynn’s driving style of “drive it like you stole it”.
Hey, you know me!
You just needed to drive that truck like an old Kenworth with an 18 speed Eaton transmission. No synchronizers and straight cut gears. Either double clutch every gear or match that engine speed perfectly.
Talarico is Obama 2.0 assuming he wins in November. Remember, Obama went from IL State Senator to the White House in two years.
McConaughey has been circling the Governor’s Mansion in Austin for as long as we’ve lived here.
The problem for both the RINOs currently in charge in Austin and McConaughey is that Gina Hinojosa could pull out a win in November, especially if ERCOT drops the ball in the next few weeks with school back in sesson and daytime temperatures still hitting 100 degrees across most of Texas.
Senate and Governor would go Dem as well as a big chunk of the Legislature following a blackout.
Attorney General doesn’t matter because “MAGA” Mays already sold out to the Islamic development interests as a State Senator so Texas loses either way.
Whew it’s hot. And working out the details of trimming out this window on the fly is taking much longer than I thought. There are elements on several different planes, that all need to intersect in (mostly) right angles… and nothing is straight, flat, plumb, or square.
I’m done with the brain teaser bit though, I think.
Time for a sandwich while I’m cooling down.
n
“And working out the details of trimming out this window on the fly is taking much longer than I thought. There are elements on several different planes, that all need to intersect in (mostly) right angles… and nothing is straight, flat, plumb, or square.”
Get her close and finish up with the Durhams and a good putty knife.
I continue to be disappointed that you aren’t writing “Is it the weather that’s hot or is it just me?”
The answer is “Yes”.
103f. 23% humidity. Sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Toasty but not horrible with a breeze while under a tree.
Mining Schools, Companies Finally Get a Boost
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/08/12/mining_schools_companies_finally_get_a_boost_1199746.html
Agriculture, mining, and manufacturing are the only activities that create wealth.
How many hundreds of billions of dollars in excess cost has been incurred by spiking our own resources and giving foreign countries like China and Russia a stranglehold on natural resources?
Which brings us to the counterpoint: There are many activities that destroy wealth.
This is Why They Don’t Make These Anymore…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJVOhX-9X6Q
Alec Steele forges a new spring for a 1907 Wallis and Stevens traction engine.
Out of 28mm square stock.
That he has to first forge from 40mm round stock.
Using his 1915 Massey steam hammer.
And at the end he tests it in a hydraulic press to make sure that it will hold its half of a 10-ton load.