ryan's blog

Hole sawing

2012-01-29T15:19:00.001-06:00

Just putting a 2" notch in an 1.375" pipe and jamming to Tom Petty.

One of them days/weeks/months . . .

2012-01-24T18:28:00.001-06:00

20 spot for lunch

2012-01-22T11:43:00.001-06:00

Kfc hot wings. So good.

Keepin' it Real

2012-01-17T18:02:00.001-06:00

Zzzzz zzzz zip

I like how these construction workers somehow make The Village People's construction guy look totally hetero. That is no easy feat.

Institutionalized in the garage

2012-01-10T20:20:00.001-06:00

Jamming to Suicidal Tendencies in the garage tonight.

My best interest, how can you know what my best interest is?

Good Idea . . . Bad Idea

2012-01-07T09:45:00.003-06:00

Does anyone else remember the Animaniacs cartoon where they would have the "Good Idea . . . Bad Idea" segment? This video made me think of that. It's nice that someone made a specific line of ammo to kill zombies. But last I checked, zombies don't exist (at least not yet). So this is basically a video of a guy shooting ugly people. Oh sure, Hornady will make a few bucks and get some publicity (more bad than good but someone (I think it was Ben Franklin) once said "Any publicity is good publicity") and then be forced not to sell them. So if you're into the whole "zombie apocalypse" thing, you should probably buy a bunch of these because there is no way any other bullets will work on zombies.

And this will probably be the only zombie related post on here. Unless there are actual zombies. That would be worthy of a blog post (ha, like half the stuff I post on here is "worthy"? Worthy of what is the question").

Dotted install

2011-12-29T17:25:00.001-06:00

This is the dot pattern that I had a picture of yesterday. If you stand back, it is a "wood grain" but made with dots. It's 22' long x 46" high and the dots are a little smaller than 3/8". It looks really cool and I wish we would do a little more of stuff like this.

Dot matrix

2011-12-28T14:05:00.001-06:00

Like minded fellow

2011-12-25T07:36:00.001-06:00

This guy and I share a lot in common. Awesome hair, superb singing voices, and an excellent taste in sweaters. Oh and wanting Taylor Swift for Christmas. That would be sweet. And the song is kind of funny. "I'd rather get a subpoena then kick it with Angelina." Classic.

Christmas eve breakfast

2011-12-24T11:06:00.001-06:00

Or what's left (I'll finish it though). I'll get the clean plate award.

Second best Christmas show

2011-12-21T21:35:00.001-06:00

Yeah, the Woodland Critter Christmas.

After . . .

2011-12-21T21:28:00.000-06:00

Before . . .

2011-12-21T19:57:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year

2011-12-18T20:27:00.001-06:00

Cut it out

2011-12-14T20:23:00.000-06:00

Getting ready

2011-12-13T20:01:00.001-06:00

This week (or at least tonight) in the garage is dedicated to getting the snowblower ready. Very exciting. It's like watching oil drain.

Good use of money

2011-12-08T17:44:00.001-06:00

These guys wail. And the video is sweet too.

And bam! New couch.

2011-12-05T20:59:00.001-06:00

Hmm . . .

2011-12-05T19:14:00.001-06:00

Cracked

2011-12-02T19:35:00.000-06:00

Oops. The beard cracked it.

Getting the mail

2011-11-26T11:28:00.001-06:00

Spaghetti tacos

2011-11-24T18:47:00.001-06:00

This is the kind of food you get at Bucks. OK, actually it was Morgan's idea. I feel like an Italian Mexican.

FJing at Bucks

2011-11-24T16:11:00.001-06:00

Zee bars, zee bars

2011-11-22T21:12:00.001-06:00

- "Why did you buy that gun, Tommy?"

- "For protection."

- "Protection from who? Zee Germans?"

Kustom

2011-11-20T20:13:00.001-06:00

That's right, Kustom with a k. Probably won't see anybody else with something like this. And for good reason really. All that work for an '81 Honda. It's something to do.

Choppering

2011-11-20T18:18:00.001-06:00

I picked up a new front end for the Honda on Friday. Since then I've been cleaning it up. And sometimes you just have to cut stuff up. Cut parts, not wrists.

Painting at someone's new house

2011-11-19T13:39:00.001-06:00

MW3

2011-11-13T15:25:00.001-06:00

Picked up Modern Warfare 3 yesterday. It's alright. We've (as in Susie and I both (yeah, Susie plays too)) only played multiplayer so I can't really comment on the single player. And really if you're buying Modern Warfare, you kind of know what you're getting. Kind of like Madden. But with guns.

Spring cleaning (fall edition)

2011-11-07T21:04:00.001-06:00

Due to some recent acquisitions, I had to do a little rearranging/cleaning in the garage. I still need to get rid of a few things to help fund the new parts and pieces for the ol' Honda. I have so much room for activities now.

Fixing a leaky tire

2011-11-05T13:48:00.001-05:00

So the right rear tire was leaking air like a son of a gun this week. After about an hour of wraslin' the wheel off, I found the leak. No, the sharp, pointy thing in the picture was not the culprit. There was a nail in there. I didn't have anything to mark the hole so I just put that in there.

The pool is open

2011-10-31T07:25:00.001-05:00

Susie and I hauled the pool table in. We have a little rearranging to do but it should work. Stay tuned for the pool party announcement.

Droppin' Bombs

2011-10-25T18:35:00.001-05:00

So I happened upon this picture on the interwebs today. Could you imagine being on the ground and seeing all these bombs headed at you. I'd probably crap my pants. Although by the time you saw them, it would probably be to late anyway. In case you were wondering, the plane is a B-2 Spirit Bomber. There are only 20 of these in use and in the 19 years of service, only one has crashed. And apparently there have been more than 75,000 flying hours without incident. Planes are cool, especially when they are stealth and carry a metric shit ton of bombs.

Carved pumpkins

2011-10-22T16:11:00.001-05:00

Clean slate

2011-10-17T20:25:00.001-05:00

Just got done cleaning off the ol' workbench in preparation for a new project. What that is exactly, I'm not sure. There will be something though. It might even be the old Honda 400.

2011-10-08T08:30:00.000-05:00

As I was doing my usual Saturday morning internetting, I came upon these pictures again. They're from Life magazine way back in 1965. That's before you (excluding some readers of the blog, like my Mom (she's going to be 50 this year, whoa)) and me were born. And the reason I stumbled on these pictures (available at http://images.google.com/search?q=hells+angels&q=source%3Alife&biw=1382&bih=979&tbm=isch#q=hells+angels+source:life&hl=en&safe=off&tbm=isch&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=1&biw=1440&bih=785 ) is that the photographer, Bill Ray, has a book out with these images and the story of how he got them. The book is Hells Angels of San Berdoo '65 Inside The Mother Charter ( http://www.blurb.com/books/2431067 ). There are some interesting pictures, like the one below.

It just seems like it would be interesting to hear (and see) the conversation they are having. Or how about this one.

"You gotta go!" Or something like that. The guy with the mustache standing in back by the building does not look to happy. But some of the coolest pictures are the riding shots. Like the one at the top and this one.

If those don't make you want to ride a motorcycle, well, maybe you're just not American. Or they scare you. They scare me.

+ = open

2011-09-21T17:16:00.002-05:00

Clever headline, right? Anywhose, Google+ is now open to anyone and everyone. So you should join because Susie is on it, Timmy is on it, Scott is on it, and I'm on it. I just realized that's probably half the people that look at the blog. So if your name is not Susie, Timmy, or Scott P. you should join. It's an exciting new world.

Hey, I did that sign

2011-09-07T17:43:00.000-05:00

Not trying to toot my own horn, but toot toot. So last night KARE 11 had a story about saving money by going to the library. They just happened to pick the Roseville Library. It just so happens that I (and my company) did the signs for that library last fall. If you haven't been there, I highly suggest it. It's pretty cool (say that in a Miley Cyrus type of voice). And really the video doesn't really show all the cool things in that library. So go look smart and read a book (and check out the cool signs).

New tool cabinet

2011-09-05T18:25:00.001-05:00

Sears had a big labor day sale. So after some plotting and planning, this is what I ended up with. And yeah, the top section does say Kobalt. I wasn't able to find a top section at Sears that had the three draws on the top row. OK, they did have something similar but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. So I ended up paying full price for that but the bottom and middle section ended up somewhere in the 30%-40% off. Not too shabby.

Shooting Videos

2011-09-01T07:35:00.000-05:00

Here are the videos from the Shooter's Roundup. And yeah, they aren't in the usual 720p. Even though Timmy asked me about it before we started shooting (guns and video). I didn't realize it was on the wrong setting until I uploaded these to Youtube. Anyways, back to the guns. The first video we have Tim shooting 50 rounds out of the Browning machine gun (the same one that Dave and I shot last year). As usual, Tim gets a standing ovation after he is done shooting (take that whatever way you want). The second vid is me shooting the SAW. I'm a little disappointed in the video because it looks and sounds way cooler in person. And it probably would have been cooler if I shot 50 rounds instead of 25. Then the third vid is me shooting a MP5. Which was pretty sweet. This isn't all of the guns that we shot that day but it is all the video I took. I also shot an Uzi, a 5' long old style muzzleloader type of gun, and a cool .22. I can't remember everything that Jeff and Timmy shot but I know there was a .357 pistol, a bunch of shotguns, and maybe one or two other handguns. Once again, it was a good time had by all. Even though we didn't get to see a pregnant lady shoot two AK-47's. There's always next year.

Shooter's Roundup Arsenal

2011-08-31T06:59:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday Timmy and I went to the 'ol shooter's roundup. Jeff even made it out. This is a pic of the "machine gun and assault rifle and other cool guns" section.

Good advice

2011-08-21T13:37:00.001-05:00

Nice day

2011-08-21T12:30:00.001-05:00

Sooo . . . umm . . . not safe (or cool)

2011-08-19T07:48:00.000-05:00

Farmers don't let hipsters drive combines.

Dude . . .

2011-08-17T18:35:00.000-05:00

Anyone want to trade an '08 FJ Cruiser and a '91 Sportster for a Fiesta Rally car? Anyone? Anyone? Ken Block?

It runs. . . Video proof

2011-08-15T21:05:00.002-05:00

The 'ol sportster has been out and about twice now (the video was taken yesterday) and it is sweet. It runs pretty good and pretty smooth. And you can almost watch the tires wear down. There are tire marks on our driveway just from maneuvering it around, not doing burnouts or anything.

It's out

2011-08-14T15:57:00.001-05:00

Deere Power!!!1! Part 2

2011-08-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

Here is the picture that our guide, Harold, took of Buck and I. It isn't Buck's tractor behind us but it is the same type. Not pictured, our hard hats and safety vests. Looking back, it seems odd that we were able to take our hard hats and vests off for the picture but not the gloves or safety glasses. Or maybe we could have and we didn't think about. Or Harold just wanted us to look goofy in the picture. The jokes on him though. We would look goofy any way (goofy laugh).

Valleyfair at 1:15 today.

2011-08-01T13:19:00.001-05:00

Jammin

2011-07-30T13:26:00.001-05:00

Rock out

2011-07-30T13:24:00.001-05:00

Eatable mustache

2011-07-30T12:45:00.001-05:00

Finished (looks)

2011-07-25T20:55:00.001-05:00

This is the finished look. I still have a few things to work out but this is what it looks like.

I see the light

2011-07-25T20:35:00.001-05:00

Deere Power!!!1!

2011-07-24T08:19:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago Buck and I made a trip to Waterloo, IA to see his new John Deere get built. An 8360RT to be specific. It turns out that they don't allow camera's on the tour. So that is the reason for the lack of pictures. So here is a pic I found on the internets.

We were supposed to get a pic emailed to us too but I haven't seen that yet.

How was the tour? Awesome. It started pretty early, 6:45 a.m., and I think we left about 12:30. You know it's going to be good when they give you a hard hat (more of a bump hat, pretty thin plastic), safety glasses, different shoes (even though I was rocking the steel toe boots I still got the special shoes (damn insurance company forcing people to wear specific shoes)), and gloves. And this was a walking tour. We did ride on the cart for maybe 45 minutes but that was just a small part through the welding area and where they make the bigger 4wd tractors. We got to see pretty much everything, except Buck's tractor actually being built. Which was kind of a bummer but not that big of a deal. Our tour guide, Harold, actually found the axles for Buck's tractor in one of the trailers waiting to be unloaded. So it was probably going to be built later that day or the following day. How did Harold know which axles were actually for Buck? Well, good question. All of the major parts have the tractors vin attached to it with a piece of paper. So they know what goes to what tractor. Pretty cool. Some of the other highlights (at least for me) was finding out that they don't paint any black at that factory, they ship it out to another place in Waterloo. Also, they top of the roof is held on with 39 screws but the whole roof assembly is only held in place with 4 bolts. Crazy, right? Buck got to drive a "simulator" tractor. Basically they had an actual seat and controls from a tractor hooked up to a computer and a monitor. Think of an arcade racing game but instead of a car, it's a tractor. How redneck is that (actually that's a million dollar idea right there. They could be outside every Walmart.)? Oh an speaking of the controls, everything is attached to the right side arm rest. And that includes the touchscreen (about a 6" screen) for controlling a bunch of important stuff (I got kind of lost when he was going through that). Even the radio and hvac controls are right there. Very nice. And Buck is getting the leather seat. Oh you fancy, huh? I could keep going on and on but there is other stuff to do. And you're probably bored of reading this. So here is a John Deere lawnmower doing a wheelie. America, fuck yeah.

Getting close

2011-07-23T20:56:00.002-05:00

The wiring is all hooked up, the fuel line is hooked up, the throttle is hooked up, and the new "Extreme" battery is hooked up. It will only start and run if the throttle is open though. So I need to figure out what's up with that.

Tonight's fun

2011-07-21T17:24:00.001-05:00

Headlight

2011-07-17T10:12:00.001-05:00

Got my headlight mounted this morning. And finished mounting my exhaust last night. The goal is to have this ready by next weekend for the bearded lady show on Saturday and the full tilt show on Sunday. We'll see what happens.

I leave him alone for a day and look what happens...

2011-07-10T18:32:00.001-05:00

Post by Susie

Loud pipes kill afternoons?

2011-07-09T21:04:00.001-05:00

Finished mocking up (biker talk broseph) my pipes today. My original idear (more biker talk) wasn't really working out so I went to plan b. Which worked out pretty good if you ask me. Oh and don't mind that random hunk of metal on the pipes, I just needed something to hold them together for now. I'll finish welding them tomorrow.

Loud pipes save lives?

2011-07-07T21:10:00.002-05:00

I started working on my pipes last night and didn't get too far. So tonight, I cranked up a little Ice Cube - Predator and kicked butt. I have the rear pipe pretty much where I want it, except for the end. But I have to wait until I do the front pipe so I can do both at the same time (like two chicks at the same time? the world may never know. but I'm guessing it's nothing like it.). The front pipe will be roughly the same as the stock (that's what I have in place now) except the big slash cut muffler won't be there.

Tubing at the lake

2011-07-03T20:43:00.001-05:00

Buck's fireworks

2011-07-02T12:56:00.001-05:00

Its so dark because they don't have power.

8 pm on Friday

2011-07-01T20:40:00.001-05:00

This is what the sky looked like when we left IKEA tonight. We decided to hideout at the mall o America for a little bit. And to eat. We're at the Cadillac Ranch. Cool place. And they have a mechanical bull. We saw a biiiiggggg girl ride it for about .005 seconds. The bull made a soft turn to the left and she was done for. Funny stuff. I might have to go show everyone what's up. No, wait. I don't have my belt buckle on. It will have to wait.

2,354 miles

2011-06-30T18:21:00.001-05:00

I'm sure you've been wondering why the blog has been so quite. No, well, OK. Susie, Kelli, and I went on a quick trip to Pennsylvania. Their grandma passed away last week so we went out for the funeral. Not exactly the "ideal" reason to go out there but we are all glad to have went. Oh, the pic is the front of our Corolla rental car. I'm wiped out.

Hey Hey, My My

2011-06-25T07:53:00.000-05:00

This is quickly rising on my favorite songs of all times list. Although the regular (not live) version I have on my computer (and ipod and phone and Google Music (thanks again Google Music, so sweet)) I like better but I couldn't find that on youtube. So you get this. And really, this is pretty good too.

Vroom vroom

2011-06-23T20:38:00.001-05:00

Or fat guy on a little bike. Either way, the rear fender is pretty much mounted.

Connect the dots

2011-06-22T21:46:00.001-05:00

Kitty can coozie

2011-06-22T20:57:00.001-05:00

Susie's rockin' brother, JD, loaded us up with some of his bands shirts on Sunday. He also gave us a cool can coozie. I believe it is from the band Arms Aloft. I don't know. I'm still jamming to Neil Young. No really, I'm rockin' in the free world right now.

Curving the bullet

2011-06-22T19:21:00.001-05:00

So it's not a bullet but it is curved. The piece is the "inner fender support/thing I'm going to bolt the fender to".

Purple = hot. . .

2011-06-18T18:55:00.001-05:00

Just waiting for the piece I welded to cool down so I can mount it to my bike. The piece is the mounting bracket for my fender. That 12" x 12" x 1/4" piece of steel I bought really comes in handy for stuff like this. I just draw out the shape, take the trusty jigsaw and cut it out, then weld it up. Nice and easy (or should be kind of easy) when you have the correct tools for the job.

Flat Track

2011-06-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Springfield Mile I from TheFastandDirty.com on Vimeo.

This is the video today on FTWCO.com. And I figured yous guys (or people that look at the ol' blog) needed to see it. And also, mark your calendars, September 24th is when this is happening at Canterbury Park. I plan to be there. You pay for the whole seat but you'll only need the eeeddddggggeeee. Or you can pay for the whole seat and you can ssssttttaaaannnnndddd. Either way, it's a good time. If you want to come with, let me know.

Can't see the line, can you Russ?

2011-06-12T15:06:00.001-05:00

OK. You can a little bit. But the d.a. sander did a nice job.

Cut it out

2011-06-11T18:56:00.001-05:00

Susie's magic wand

2011-06-11T16:35:00.001-05:00

Sent from Susie's nexus s 4g. Omg. Omg.

Rolie polie

2011-06-06T10:06:00.001-05:00

This could be us . . .

2011-06-05T20:15:00.001-05:00

Shooting it up

2011-06-05T11:13:00.001-05:00

Bean baggin

2011-06-04T20:43:00.000-05:00

Hammered

2011-06-04T20:05:00.001-05:00

We need this

2011-06-04T19:10:00.001-05:00

Lawnmower tractor pull

2011-06-04T18:11:00.001-05:00

Anyone got a small diesel motor? Or a hopped up car motor? Anyone. Anyone. Brad?

Duck, duck, goose

2011-06-04T08:22:00.001-05:00

Guns in owatonna with Timmy

2011-06-03T21:27:00.001-05:00

Kill Whitey!

2011-05-30T18:56:00.001-05:00

I put some white primer on my tank this afternoon and I jusssst haaaad to see what it looked like on the bike. Hmmm. Something to think about.

Prepwork

2011-05-30T13:55:00.001-05:00

A little extra work now should make the end result better. Hopefully it does, or I just wasted a bunch of time.

Get bent

2011-05-29T16:49:00.001-05:00

I told my jigsaw blade to "get bent". So it did.

Here is a little "inside Ryan's blog" info for you. Most of my posts that show work happening in the garage are composed when I'm waiting for something to cool down. Like right now, I was grinding some metal and it got too hot to handle (just like Timmy). So I just need to take a few minute break and let it cool. And do a little blogging.

And that was "a look inside Ryan's blog".

Drill press lathe

2011-05-29T15:39:00.001-05:00

I got a 4" (this could go a few ways) drill press vise today from Sears so I could clamp a drill bit and then chuck up some 1/2" rod in the drill. Basically turning the drill press into a lathe, albeit a vertical setup. Works pretty sweet. No more ordering bungs (Beavis and butt-head laugh) for me, hopefully. Or at least once I figure out how to get 3/4" rod (Beavis and butt-head laugh) chucked in the 1/2" drill press.

Brakin'

2011-05-25T21:48:00.001-05:00

Cable mounting hardware

2011-05-25T16:58:00.001-05:00

Pre-party

2011-05-22T10:11:00.002-05:00

Just a couple of dudes hanging out, waiting for the party to start.

New (left) and old (right)

2011-05-18T20:03:00.001-05:00

Getting there

2011-05-16T21:57:00.001-05:00

Just need some new screws and some bungs (he said "bungs" (Beavis and Butthead laugh)) then this side will be done. The big hole at the top is where the peg and brake will be going. So roughly the top of the case will be where my foot will be. About 5" higher than stock. What can I say, I have short legs and/or it will look sweet (in my mind anyway).

Susie's loose in the garage again

2011-05-16T20:18:00.001-05:00

She's drilling holes in her balls. Yikes.

Melting metal (raise devil horns)

2011-05-15T18:06:00.001-05:00

USA USA USA

2011-05-14T10:08:00.001-05:00

Apparently I was influenced by the bin laden (he doesn't deserve capital letters in his name) killing on some deep level. Because without trying I came up with this shape for the right side footpeg/brake/sprocket cover for the sportster. I think it was Ben Franklin who said "the mind works in mysterious ways". Or maybe it was the reptilian aliens who said that.

Triple beam dream

2011-05-06T19:11:00.001-05:00

Added another 48" fluorescent light fixture in the garage. Output should double.

USA, USA, USA

2011-05-03T19:59:00.001-05:00

Back on the ground

2011-05-01T18:37:00.001-05:00

Got the wheels back on and only scratched the paint once.

Susie in the garage

2011-04-30T20:16:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's true. Susie is in the garage using power tools. Everyone still has all their fingers still.

Huffing paint

2011-04-30T19:40:00.001-05:00

I'm painting the wheels today. Doors and windows completely closed and sealed. Can't beat a spray can buzz.

OK. I'm kidding. The door and window is open. There is some fresh air coming in. It still smells good in here though.