It's Coming

Here's a look at some of the Dogwood blossoms starting to come out. We have a number of these trees scattered around in the woods here. Ours are a bit behind the ones in town though. These still have that kinda green look to them.
It's been cold and rainy here the last few days, so there's been no motorcycling. But it could be worse. At least there is no snow, or earthquakes, or tsunamis, or meltdowns.
But, we are expecting nicer weather soon.

Effseven

3 The Water Plant*

Finster started his car again.
The water plant was across town. But there was no traffic, and he was there in a few minutes. As he pulled into the parking area he could see a couple of trucks there. It looked like the lights were on inside. He unbuckled the 45 and slid it under the seat. Then after some thought, he pocketed the 380, just to be safe. Then, he headed for the office.
The outer office was empty. No one was at the receptionist's desk. That was no surprise. He could hear someone talking inside Mr. Porter's office.

"Yes, we've been all though the city. There doesn't seem to be anyone here... Well, of course we could have missed something... Yes, we'll be closing down soon... We'll make another quick sweep and leave in the morning."

Finster heard a phone snap shut. There must still be at least one carrier up. He was glad to hear another voice, but the conversation seemed odd. It put him on guard, and there was that odd memory of what he'd seen when he had been sick.

He knocked on the door, and heard a startled voice.
"What the hell?"
It sounded like Mr. Porter, and he sounded surprised.
He heard a chair being slid back, and heavy foot steps approached the door. There was a hesitation, and then it opened a crack. A man Finster didn't recognize peered out at him. Behind him, Finster could see Mr. Porter sitting at his desk.
"It's OK, Larry," Porter said, "Let him in."
As Finster entered, he was aware of the comforting weight of the pistol in his pocket.

"Finster," said Mr. Porter with an odd smile, "Where have you been?"
Finster noticed that the other man had shut the door, and was now behind him. It made him uncomfortable, but he didn't want it to show. There was a cell phone on the desk of a type he didn't recognize.

"I've been sick, Mr. Porter."
"Ah, yes. There seems to be a lot of that going around."
"What's going on, sir?" he asked.
"Well..." said Porter. He hesitated, he seemed to be searching for the words. Finally he began again.
"It seems to be some kind of Flu, a new type of Influenza we didn't know about. Highly contagious they say. Were you very ill?"
"I was bad sick. My roommate is dead."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Finster didn't think he seemed all that sorry. He asked,
"You didn't catch it?"
Porter glanced at the man behind Finster and said,
"No, we were lucky."



*The Fuzz realizes that if someone were to actually read this stuff, they would be getting it sorta backwards. There is a link in the sidebar, "Finster", that will take one to another page with this mess in it's proper order.

Motorcycle Issues 2

Continuing with these Motorcycle Matters-
Now that the tank had been removed, The Fuzz could finally see what he was dealing with (a little) better. In checking out his shop manual, he had come across this interesting little note.This was something new. It also helped explain what was happening. It appeared that somehow this device was malfunctioning, allowing extra fuel, when it was no longer needed!
Here is a look at where the Choke Cable enters this little device. This is the port side carburetor. It turned out that there was a broken spring in the starboard side "Bystarter" Choke preventing it from returning to the "run" position.
So now, it appeared to be a simple matter of replacing a spring.Here is a look at how things were. At A you can see a diagram of this intriguing little device. At B is the little plunger that is supposed to close up on warm up. C is the broken spring (or what's left of it).
The Fuzz did not have a replacement spring handy. Of course, he does have a number of these odds and ends saved from various projects, but they were all at the Old Place, many miles away. With His Sweetie gone, there was no way to get one. At D you may notice a spring from a ballpoint ink pen. This was an unsuccessful attempt at "rigging" something.
But we are happy to report that The Fuzz was able to catch a ride with a friendly neighbor, and a hopefully suitable substitute was found.
As of now, it seems to be working OK.

Motorcycle Issues 1

It has been mentioned that The Fuzz has been working on getting his motorcycle back into service. Now he had the forks serviced, with new seals, and a brand new tire. But there was still an issue remaining. He had been having a problem with the motor not idling down once it was warmed up. This was embarrassing at best, and probably harmful to the motor. It was not a mere adjustment of the idle screw. The Fuzz suspected something Choke related.
But there was an inconstancy. Normally, if a Choke is stuck, the motor won't run at all. But there is usually a method of stepping up the idle during warm up. This was where he suspected the problem.
In order to address this situation, it would be necessary to have access to the carburetors, located beneath the tank. This was not a simple project. First the tank must be drained. Then, as can be seen, the seats and some other stuff had to go as well.
And here's another of The Fuzz's exciting Techno-Tips*! To assist in removing stubborn hoses and such, (like this one which had probably never been off) use Your Sweetie's hair drier to soften things up!
Well, The Fuzz did finally get that stubborn tank removed. We'll continue with this mechanical matter in the next post.

*Techno-Tips are a useful feature of Kinda Fuzzy. By sure and watch for them.

The Menu For The Evening

The Fuzz's Sweetie had taken the Young Daughter for an eye exam & new glasses. We won't go into exactly why at this point. But there were some complications, and The Fuzz was left to fend for himself.
The Fuzz is not exactly a gourmet chef. Here is-

The menu for the evening:
Bacon
Refried Beans
Fried Rice with:
Onions
Eggs
Garlic
Red Peppers
Tortillas
Kim Chee

Washed down with liberal quantities of cheap wine.

If this gets posted, you can safely assume that he survived. We do regret to report, that that Gluttonous Fuzz ate it all before we could get any pix.

On The Road Again

It may be remembered that The Fuzz's little motorcycle had been taken over to the shop. He was wanting to get a bit of work done on the forks.Well, it turned out that there was a bit of a delay, waiting for parts. And then, that Tsunami hit Japan. He began to wonder if it was a lost cause.
But then, the call finally came, and it was time to go get the beat-up little thing. Of course there was still that little matter of the dead tag. He asked His Sweetie to help out with that, since he has no time after work for these things any more. She did. And now we are thrilled to report that The Infamous Fuzz, is back on the road!

Effsix

Finster continued.*

He thought of his car. Did it still run ? But then, why shouldn't it. It started right up for him. He put some clothes and a sleeping bag in the trunk along with some of the canned goods. And then, he set out for the water plant across town.

Finster saw some dogs digging though the garbage, but still no people. He stopped to check on a wino sitting in a doorway. But when he touched the man, he fell over. He too, was dead.
He was in a rather run-down part of town. As he was walking back to his car, he caught what he thought was a movement, from the corner of his eye. But when he turned for a better look, he saw nothing.
Then, he heard a faint scuffling sound, and what sounded like something falling. The sound came from an ally between two buildings. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
Finster stood at the head of the ally. He could see that it ended in a small courtyard behind a rundown apartment building. There were a number of trash cans, overflowing with garbage. He entered warily.
Again he thought he saw a movement. This time a flash of red, or orange in one of the windows. But again, when he took a better look, it was gone. But now his attention was diverted by a sound behind him.
Several large dogs stood between him and the street. One growling menacingly. Finster looked franticly for a weapon. All he saw was a flimsy broom handle by one of the trash cans. He waved it at the dogs and they let him pass. They were more interested in the garbage anyway. From the street, he could hear them knocking the cans over.
Back in the street, Finster felt it would be a good idea to find a real weapon. Just down the block, he noticed the sign for a pawnshop. The door was locked, but he easily gained entry by breaking a window with a brick. The alarm didn't work. But under these conditions, he would have been glad to see the cops.
There was quite a selection to choose from. Finally, he selected a nice 45, and a pump action shotgun. As he collected some ammunition, he also slipped a small 380 into his pocket. It would be easy to carry. He added these to the collection in his trunk. Except for the 45, which he wore in a holster, under his jacket.
On the way back to his car, he stopped by the ally again. The dogs were still there, but they were busy, and payed Finster no attention. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. But as he scanned the windows, he could see no one. He felt like the last man in the world. He was sure that it was his nerves, and that sooner or later he would crack.
Finster walked slowly back to his car.


*The Fuzz realizes that if someone were to actually read this stuff, they would be getting it sorta backwards. There is a link in the sidebar, "Finster", that will take one to another page with this mess in it's proper order.

New Kitty

When we moved here, we brought a number of Kitty Cats with us. But over time the population has become somewhat diminished.
Life here in the woods seems to be hard on little Kitties. We were down to 2 of the furry little things. So when one of the fellows at work came up with this little thing, The Fuzz took her off his hands. This fellow was already dealing with 13 dogs of his own. A sort of a One Man Critter Rescue Operation as it were.
At any rate, The Fuzz would like to present to all his loyal readers, Gracie, the Kitty Cat.

Party Feets 5

And that's all, folks !

Party Feets 4

Effive

Finster spent the rest of the morning wandering though the streets, looking for someone, any living person. He remembered how those religious fanatics used to go around talking about how they would all disappear someday, and there would be car wreaks, and chaos everywhere. This wasn't like that at all. It was just that everybody was dead.

Everybody but him. It must have been that sickness, some kind of an epidemic or something. But why was he still here? And was there anyone else?

Well, at least he wouldn't starve. There was plenty of food in the stores. Some had been broken into, but not much was missing other then liquor and cigarettes. It was funny what people thought was important, even when they were about to die. Finster helped himself to some canned goods and put them in a bag. He was sure they would be OK to eat. The meat didn't look too good, and the produce was wilted.

He made his way back to the apartment. He tried the gas stove, and was not surprised to find there was no gas. Then, he thought to try the water. It worked. Strange, he thought, and wondered if anyone was down at the plant. Then he remembered Mr. Porter. But now he was not sure if any of that had actually taken place. It was so bizarre. What would Mr. Porter be doing in his apartment, and what was this "plan" they were talking about. He must have been delirious.

He tried his cellphone again, but there was no signal. The land line was still dead. All the utilities were out, except the water. He worked for the water department. He knew there was a backup generating system. But who was running it ?

He was eating cold beans from a can, when he decided he would have to check the water plant. There had to be someone there. And besides, he wasn't sure he wanted to spend another night in the apartment with dead bodies in the next room. In fact the whole building was full of them.

Party Feets 3

Party Feets 2

Party Feets 1

Here's
a
few
feet
from
Young
Granddaughter's
Birthday
Party!

Another One Bites The Dust

The weather has been getting warmer. But there is still the need for that little bit of extra warmth, and hence, Firewood.
We have been getting by all winter, by cutting some of the dead trees still standing around here. Well, we have pretty much got the easy stuff already.
This was one The Fuzz had had his eye on for some time. It was at the edge of the woods, along the road. But there was a bit of a complication involved. The tree was quite dead, and really needed to be taken down. But it was not quite vertical. It did have a bit of a lean to it. And that lean, would bring it down, right on top of the power lines.
This can be seen at the arrow in the pix at the right*.
And so, that resourceful Fuzz got out his 100 ft rope, and his trusty Comealong. His Sweetie helped out there, at the critical moment, and the tree was dropped where desired, thus sparing those important power lines.

*As always, Click on the Pix for an even better look!

Tarped Up

The winter had been hard on our Patio Tarp. But really, it was already old and quite warn out. But, we would be wanting one before long. So The Fuzz stopped in at the local Cheap Surplus Tool Etc. Place, and grabbed a few cheap ones.It turned out that "Cheap" was certainly the correct description. They are about as heavy duty as toilet paper. But since we already had them, The Fuzz put them up anyway. He and His Sweetie put their heads together, and came up with this confusing arrangement of tarps and ropes. It was in part inspired by something seen on a visit to one of those Big Cities, the Home of a Famous University.
The theory being, that 3 smaller tarps would catch less wind. Thus, being less likely to be torn to shreds. Well, time will tell. The Fuzz figured that even if these flimsy things tear up, it will be a relatively simple matter to replace them with some similar sized ones of better quality.

Sign of Spring

Friday and More

It's a rainy weekend here in the woods. And, one would suppose, on the road. But The Fuzz and His Sweetie did enjoy another Free Friday with the new work schedule and all.
They wanted to find a place where they could enjoy a small "Second Breakfast" and some coffee. They like to just hang out a bit for some sketching and perhaps a bit of writing.
In an effort to find a new place and a change of scene, they stepped into the local IHOP. As they were seated, and scanned the high priced menu, they realized this was not what they were looking for, and cut a trail out of there.
Their next attempt worked out a little better at Jack In The Box. It seems to be more their speed. The Fuzz's Sweetie even had a "buy one, get one free" coupon that came in the mail! And, they had Kona Coffee! So they did get to enjoy their Friday Coffee Outing after all.
The picture here, has nothing to do with that, of course. This is The Fuzz's Brother, and Family's little home away from home. We were pleased to enjoy a visit from them this weekend. It was a bit wet out here in the woods, but we had a good time, and were glad to see them.

Effore

By the time it was getting light, he had found some canned ravioli in a cupboard, and managed to open it somehow with a kitchen knife. He only cut himself once, and that wasn't too bad. He was hungry enough that even the cold ravioli tasted good. And he couldn't see the blood in the dark.

He still didn't know where everyone had gone. Even if the power was out, there should still be people out and about. The quiet was starting to get to him. And where was Jeffry, his roommate?

He found him in his bed, stone cold, with Cheryl beside him. Finster's blood ran cold. He backed out of the room. He needed to get out, but was afraid of what he might find in the passage outside. It seemed empty, looking though the peephole, so he got his nerve up and opened the door.

It was empty. He walked to the stairwell, and down the flight of stairs to the ground. Outside was empty silence. He walked to the strip mall at the end of the block. The stores were all locked. But it was still early, he reasoned. Crossing the street, he entered the Quickie Mart on the corner. The door had been open, but still, he saw no one. Then, in the back, he saw Raffi, the owner, asleep, sitting with his head on his desk. When Finster went to wake him, he found that he was dead too.

He began to panic. Running back to his apartment building he began pounding on the doors. No one answered. Finally, he used a cement block to break down one of the doors. Inside, he found nothing but corpses. Now he was sure he was mad.

In March

In March
the wind
blows down
the door
and spills
my soup
upon the floor
it laps it up and
roars for more
blowing once
blowing twice
chicken
soup and
rice!

Thank you, Maurice Sendak