Project Sumo: First Run

Today I dismantled the whole bike for repainting. Foday decided we should paint it bright red and black. We spent the afternoon cleaning and repainting. We got it all back together and it looks sweet. There is a problem with the clutch but it did make a few runs in the yard. The killswitch hasn't been wired yet so it shocked me pretty bad a couple of times. The rest of the team thought that was pretty funny. It really did hurt though. Jennifer got video of the maiden voyages. I like how she is mad that I didn't get shocked again.

Project Sumo II

I have been continuing work on project Sumo and I am pretty stoked by the results I have had. I met up with George on Tuesday in Redlight and he gave me some parts that he had stashed away. One of them was the very important CDI. This little gizmo is the brains of the bike. I am happy he had it because it would have been very difficult to track down a new one. So Wednesday I rewired the CDI and the spark unit, hooked up the gas tank, and kicked it over until it started. It didn't take long before she was running.

Armed Forces Day

We had a great time at the beach on Armed Forces Day here in Liberia but Deb summed it up better than I could. Click here to read what she said.

The Four Colored Pen...

The four colored pen tore onto the scene at some time while I was in middle school. They quickly ballooned to as many as twenty colors in one pen. The things we have acheived in my lifetime are outstanding. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the four colored pen in particular. This morning at our ORR devotionals Deb was using what seems like it could be an original issue four colored pen. Blue, black, green, and red, just the basics. Instead of paying attention to what was going on I focused on the pen. What are the imlpications of the four colored pen? Has it really improved our life? I pondered this for a few lingering moments. My thoughts are transcribed for you here.

At first I felt like the four colored pen was a great invention. It's only one item in your purse or pocket and if one color runs out another one can easily be clicked in to replace it. I feel now that the benefits stop here. How much space are you really saving? There is no practical use for green ink in the real world so already 1/4 of your investment is useless. Red has a very limited use unless you are an educator grading papers. So that leaves us with blue or black. The two colors that can actually be of use to the everyman. Even a pen with two colors takes up more space than two separate pens and besides one color dying I can't think of another instance where one would need two colors at the same time. If you have one two colored pen you couldn't share with a friend in need. This leads me to believe that if you must use multiple colors of ink in a day you are better off carrying two pens. Then at least you can share one. I just thought of this too. If you are going to lose one pen wouldn't you rather lose a single color and have another ready to go or lose four colors all at once. Your choice.

A final thought. A twenty colored pen, while bulky, would be of some use to an artist that employs the medium of pens. Otherwise, I pose this. You can't write a check out with pink or orange. So what's the point.

Project Sumo?

I have taken on a new project that I am calling Project Sumo. I got this pathetic looking 125cc motorbike from my friend George and since I have nothing else to talk about I am going to bLog through it's repair. There is basically no electrical system hooked up so I am researching how to rewire the whole thing myself. I think I have a good idea of how to do it but i just need to find the parts. This would seem easy except only Africans run the motorbike salvage yards so my white magic won't get me any deals. So I either pay through the nose or send one of my guys to get the parts. That could go wrong fast because we use different technical jargon. Anyway priority one is a new gas tank, the old one is rusty inside and finding a CDI to get the starting system going. I know you probably don't care about this but you have read this far so it's your own fault if you are bored. Once I get it running then brakes and cleaning will happen. Finally I have some visions for the way it should look and Momo is still coming up with a name. He calls my 750 "blafunda" Thats Liberian Momo for Black Thunder. Once she is named we can get a bottle of sparkling grape juice and christen her. Thats a long way down the road though. Oh and Andrew wants to learn how to ride on it before I give it back to George. So stay tuned for that.

L.A.C.E.S.

This is a video I made for a friend here in Liberia. It is a great program. Enjoy.