Found an authentic Hawk emblem for the Packard

Posted By on July 12, 2016

A week or so ago I posted a "to do" list item that I really should helped my dad with when he asked. He loved all old cars and in particular showing his off. PackardTrunkHawkEmblemI remember him asking if the Internet could be used to help search for  a missing a trunk emblem for his (now mine) 1958 Packard Hawk. I regret now that I didn’t put in a little more effort into finding one for him — he would have appreciated it.

After my buddy Tim posted a link in the comments, I decided rather than take the easy way out and buy an aftermarket knock-off, that I would do a little more serious shopping to see if I could find an authentic emblem. The discussion on a few old car forums is that most re-makes aren’t even close to the original, so I really wanted to hold off a bit. As is common with older parts if you find them, they are usually less than perfect.

I found one on eBay  from a guy who collects and sells them and decided to offer $15 and keep looking. Sure enough, he accepted the offer without even countering and didn’t even ask me to pay for the shipping? As a millennial would say, "SCORE."  
Winking smile I think with a little TLC that this one will be perfect. (thanks again Tim, your link was the swift kick I needed to put a little effort into searching).

The 2010 BMW X5 35d is finally ready to be my daily driver

Posted By on July 11, 2016

BMW_X5_35d_newexhaust160709Spent a few hours under our 2010 BMW X5 35d this weekend to finish up the rust treatment and before reinstalling the shields and skidplate. The procedure was the same as I used on the old Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel, Skyco’s Oxypho, except the BMW only has a little light rust on the frame. I’m really partial to the Oxypho product, particularly for treating after wire-brushing and/or grinding any loose rust and before paint.

Once completely dry, a light wiping with paint thinner then the black Miracle Paint in order to to protect the rust spots from reappearing all over again (new paint photo below). Too bad I didn’t take care of Brenda’s old Rav4 like this in the earlier years?

While under the car I also took a photo of the new stainless steel exhaust (left) after replacing a couple of parts (60 lbs worth!)

I think all the projects are finished for now … she is ready to drive.

BMW_X5_35d_touchuprust160709

Before passing more laws, enforce existing ones!

Posted By on July 10, 2016

If liberal politicians really wanted to reduce gun violence, they would enforce existing law in the cities suffering the most … and the complicit left leaning media would be holding their feet to the fire. Instead, the ultimate objective is obvious: dismantle the 2nd amendment granting the right to bear arms to all law abiding citizens.

https://youtu.be/qgr2lj7jwr4

Archive: A relaxing night on the backporch with a fire

Posted By on July 9, 2016

image

What a beautiful night to hang out on the backporch with a fire in the outdoor fireplace.  The air is cool, the moon out in a clear sky (in top of photo above) and bugs are at bay.

Unfortunately I’m looking at my iPad … hm, if I can only learn to put down these tech gadgets! 🙃

image

Music: Who was Kent LaVoie? Look at that hair!

Posted By on July 9, 2016

This content is restricted.

My anger is boiling over today after the killings in Dallas

Posted By on July 8, 2016

I can’t stomach posting anything polite today after the horrendous targeted sniping of police officers in Dallas, Texas Thursday night. It is an policeriskingallabsolutely senseless murder of 5 police officers (6 wounded) after a relatively peaceful Black Lives Matter protest/rally. These were officers who were just doing their job of crowd control and keeping citizens safe, even if the movement was critical of their profession. There is no justification imaginable for any American to condone or try to justify the act of killing police officers … yet there are plenty attempting to do just that on social networks – it is disturbing! I’m doing my best to contain my anger and frustration, particularly towards those politicians, from President Obama on down, who continue to divide the country at every turn; they are fanning flames of hate.

I don’t know if there is any reasoned Rules_for_Radicalsor subconscious motivation behind dividing America along our many differences … I don’t want to believe that our elected politicians or my fellow citizens would purposely do such a thing? Unfortunately it is seeming more and more likely that the teachings in "Rules for Radicals" are being implemented by the extreme left as a way to achieve their ultimate objective in the United States.

There was a time I thought these Sal Alinsky principles were used by those on the political "right" to neuter their left leaning opponents (like article below), BUT I’m starting to believe there might be something more to it? Those who have studied or written about Sal Alinsky (Obama, Clinton) … or those who justify their own ethical consequentialism and aggressive political activism … may believe the ends justify the means? Scary stuff to think this might be happening.

BewaretheUsefulIdiots

Safeguarding Chrome from quantum computers

Posted By on July 8, 2016

Will Internet transactions be secure when relatively affordable quantum computers show up? Google is not taking chances and is working on their Chrome browser now (according to The Verge).
image

Google is working on safeguarding Chrome against the potential threat of quantum computers, the company announced today. It’s doing so by implementing post-quantum cryptography in an experimental version of the browser. While there exist hardware defenses against the vastly superior computing power of quantum machines, Google is using a new so-called post-quantum key-exchange algorithm. This software, called the New Hope algorithm, is enabled in Chrome Canary, a kind of testing ground for new browser technology, on only a small number of connections between the browser and Google servers.

Although quantum computers of this variety are only small and experimental at this stage, Google is taking precautions for the worst case scenario. “While they will, no doubt, be of huge benefit in some areas of study, some of the problems that they [quantum computers] are effective at solving are the ones that we use to secure digital communications,” writes Matt Braithwaite, a Google software engineer, in a blog post. “Specifically, if large quantum computers can be built then they may be able to break the asymmetric cryptographic primitives that are currently used in TLS, the security protocol behind HTTPS.” In other words, quantum computers could undermine the security of the entire internet.

More

The politics of being a connected Clinton #TooBigToJail

Posted By on July 7, 2016

Every public official who has spent decades under the bright lights of public scrutiny are in one way of the other connected to the political machinery, but few are protected as much as the Clintons. The deep Arkansas doo-doo surrounding Hillary and Bill Clinton never goes away and whether you support their political philosophies or not, all with a "nose to smell" know the corruption and cover-ups are there.

clinton_too-big-to-jail.

This past week semi-closed a long investigation into Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server to handle all of her government and personal email while she was employed at the State Department. FBI director James Comey decide the actions of Hillary Clinton were "reckless," but were not criminal (#TooBigToJail). A day or so later, the Obama Justice Department’s announced they would not be prosecuting the case. The political camps either were relieved (Democrats) or outraged (Republicans) … and those without a "dog in the fight" were likely disgusted at the Presidential ballot options for November 2016 … and yet the email situation doesn’t even begin to bring to light how political connections have enriched politicians "serving the publics interest." (cough, cough)

Why the decision to put a personal email server in a personal residence wasn’t nipped in the bud by those charged with protecting our nation’s security is beyond comprehension, but the practice continued hillaryclintonquestionedfor 30,000 or more of her emails during the time she was Secretary of State. It doesn’t take much more than a 6th grade education to know an official at that level of our federal government would likely be a target of sophisticated hacking, that emails would likely contain sensitive data and in all probability held classified material either after it was classified or well before it became classified. One would think it just commonsense … and it is difficult to believe that someone who was First Lady, a senator and Secretary of State didn’t know, or care, what she was doing?

To elevate the poor judgement, Hillary Clinton then spent a year defending and excusing … and in my opinion … "lied" about the reason she opted for a personal server instead of using a more hardened and protected government server. She spent over a year covering up what was contained in the emails (many of which were deleted — surprise!). Those who have been prosecuted in the past on know that its not just the act one is being charged with, but the attempt to lie and cover up the activity. All are true in this case … as well as the many past decision the Clintons have covered up in the past. The list (and pattern of cover-up) is long for those who are willing to acknowledge it.

Frankly, none of this really surprises me when it come to high profile politicians in the rough and tumble world of politics … but what does surprise me is the willingness of Americans to accept it. To be honest, I disagree with the direction of the Democratic Party nowadays anyway, so the "trust factor" as it relates to Hillary Clinton would not have made the difference when voting. Unfortunately if elected, she and her ethics and poor judgement, will represent the United States … not that the current other option is all that appealing to me either (for very similar reasons). We are living in politically sad times.

Archive: Phantom 3 quadrotor-drone video from Iowa

Posted By on July 6, 2016

My daughter Katelyn and husband Drew were in Iowa over the July 4th holiday weekend with his family. Since they were visiting the old farm homestead, it was a perfect time to get his new Phantom 3 quadrotor out and take a little more video. The time to visit northwestern Iowa is obviously the summer — simply gorgeous.

The engine bay of our BMW X5 35d has been put back together

Posted By on July 5, 2016

NewPlasticPartsInstalled160

As mentioned on Saturday, the project over the July 4th holiday was to put the new plastic parts shielding the engine bay from the cabin air and water drains back under the hood of our 2010 BMW X5 35d. I’m not sure it quiets the diesel engine all that much, but should be an improvement in filtering outside air into the cabin. I replace the cabin filters with the more expensive carbon treated ones in hope to eliminate some of the leftover smells … I don’t think the previous owner was a heavy smoker, but more than likely someone may have? (either that or the leather seats have that peculiar smell … our 1987 Mercedes Benz 560 SEL had a cabin smell from the leather).

My only reservation in putting all the under the hood parts back in place is thatBrakeDustGood160703 I haven’t really tested my latest exhaust temperature sensor fix … prior to putting in a new sensor on Saturday, the SUV continued to "throw codes." Here’s crossing my fingers … but just in case, I’m not putting the skidplates back on just yet.

The new ceramic brakes seems to be great … no problem with the special break in procedure or stopping. After adding a new sensor and resetting the warning code, everything has been perfect with the brakes AND so far no nasty brake dust on the wheels!

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog