Random Things I Do

[popeye]

Today I was observing my obsession with cars once again. I am always looking on craigslist for cars and trucks. Mainly searching for a cheap 4x4 that I could afford. I have found so many possible 4x4's in the last 2 years that if I ever get the money I am going to get into trouble buying and fixing these trucks up. My current dream is this 1948 military jeep with a plow on it. They only want 800 bucks for it but because of my financial situation I cannot afford to do it.

I know a bunch about jeeps now since my reconstruction of my grandfathers 1952 jeep pick up. I started working on that jeep when I was 12 years old. I saved my lunch money and money I earned from mowing lawns to buy parts for the truck. When I was 15 when I finally had it in running order. I miss that truck so much that I want to build another jeep like it. I spent 3 years working on that poor jeep. It was so badly rusted that after I got the engine running and the transmission fixed that one day when we were going to plow with it, Dad fired it up and put it in gear and the truck literally ripped itself in half. The frame was rotted so badly that it broke in half because the rear of the truck was frozen to the ground.

One day I would like to own another truck like that and rebuild it. I enjoyed that immensely and cannot wait until I get the opportunity again. I hope to make the truck with my son because it is a dream of both of us to make a functional 4x4 mud truck. I have most of the tools here and a bunch of know how. Plus if it's mainly a mud truck all it has to do is run and drive.

I know this post doesn't have much to do with my previous posts on this thread but I figured I would share with you my constant search for the perfect truck.

 

[popeye]

My best friend called me a few days ago and got me thinking. My Dad has an electric assist 3 wheeled bicycle that he uses up at his trailer. Well the motor on it doesn't have enough power to pull him up the hill all the way. It gets him about half way up and then he has to pedal again. But since dad is not as strong as he used to be it's pretty hard for him to do.

So my friend being the genius I believe him to be called me and asked me what if I use a car starter motor. It makes sense a powerful motor that can turn over a v8 engine should be able to pull dad up the hill. The problem is car starters are not designed to run for long periods of time, and so began my research.

I found a bunch of videos of guys making starter motor bicycles that seemed a bit insane. There was absolutely no safety measures in place for alot of those bikes. I did find one eventually of a guy that figured out a way to cool off the starter motor using antifreeze (coolant) from a car. It is an interesting idea. There isn't much documentation along with the video but I think with a little bit of thinking I could figure it out.

While looking up this stuff I also thought what about an electric trolling motor from a boat. I called my friend back and he agrees that might also work. The problem again would be cooling the motor but it might be less difficult.

The only reason I am even considering building a different motor set up is because it's just too expensive to buy a new one. Starter motors and tolling motors are easy and cheap to come by.

 

[popeye]

First of all it's been awhile since I posted on this thread. Almost a year it looks like. Anyway back to the purpose of this post. I read this blog about this guy who talks in his sleep. Well apparently he and his wife had been at a sloth sanctuary volunteering. They posted a picture of this giant 25ft tall Sloth statue and put a caption below it saying that sloths in prehistoric times were that large. To prove them right or wrong I began a search.

Apparently sloths were that huge until about 10,000 years ago. Basically they were the size of African bull elephants. And something else I found interesting is that they walked on the side of their foot because the claws on their feet make it impossible to walk flat footed. Another noteworthy fact was that Thomas Jefferson was sent the foot bones and claws of one of these while he was vice president and since they were an undiscovered animal he assumed they were claws of a lion. Later on the type of sloth he had named took on his surname.

So along with the sloths during my search I found a reference to another animal called glyptodont. That is basically an armadillo the size of a volkswagen bug and weighed about the same too. Apparently prehistoric man sometimes used the "shell" from a glyptodont as a shelter in bad weather. Just interesting to read about.

let me know if you guys have done any random google searches lately.

 

[popeye]

Had a random thought today. Bats hang upside down right? What happens when they pee?

 

[amethist]

:roflmao: Either they or their neighbour gets wet. :oops:

 

[Jen93]

I was wondering- if women are from Venus and men are from Mars- what about those who are both? Do they come from Mercury? :O_o: I've spent a month trying to figure this out- I mean no disrespect, but the person who made up the saying obviously never thought of it- or I'd have an answer by now. I'd rather come from Jupiter myself- It's the biggest planet! :D

I also watch kids shows like Bugs Bunny, "Anamaniacs," and Looney Tunes on Saturday mornings! I really do love those shows. <3

 

[freakofnurture]

Eating meat helped humans evolve to the level of intelligence where some of them condemn just that.

 

[712xx]

Actually, larger brain size is probably due to other things besides protein (our brain uses sugar mostly for its energy -- in the form of glucose). If you compare our tiny canines to a real carnivore, you can't really say we are true meat eaters. Plus, we have to cook it or we get sick.

I'm not against eating wild meat, but I can't eat the mass produced stuff pumped with artificial hormones, bulking/fattening them, causing their growth to be faster than they would naturally; add in the unsanitary conditions they live. The hormones the bulk of farms use that mass produce chickens, cows, pigs ... etc, might be a cause of so much of the mental illness epidemic, low sperm count in men, and in ability to have children in women -- all on the rise that matches the changes in the grocer business.

Besides, lots of other mammals eat meat; why didn't their brains get larger? I've never bought into the 'humans are superior to animals' myth. They all have their own language, use tools, build shelter (even bees & wasps build communal houses), gather food, store food, play, have their own mating rituals just like we do. They also kill each other, grieve over their dead, love their family group (some do), etc.

This [DLMURL="http://drstevebest.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/now-online-debut-of-new-anti-speciesist-film-the-superior-animal/"]documentary link[/DLMURL] is really good if anyone is interested in this speciesism topic. Click on the box with the title 'Environmental Animal Rights...'

 

[freakofnurture]

If you compare our tiny canines to a real carnivore, you can't really say we are true meat eaters.

That's because we aren't. We are omnivores and we have the teeth of omnivores.

I've never bought into the 'humans are superior to animals' myth.

That's an oxymoron since humans are animals :D

Also, I never said humans were in any way superior to their more hairy or scaly sisters out there. The reason other animals don't have as much brain power as humans is that the random paths of evolution just never led them there. Our brains are a product of genetic drift and natural selection acting on random genetic mutations; being omnivores just made it possible for our species to catch that one train going into the direction of big, powerful brains. Take the meat or the lucky coincidence out of the equation and we're right back in full-blown wilderness.

 

[712xx]

I didn't say humans were carnivores, I just said to compare the canines. It isn't nice to assume lack of education from a off-hand post, or twist someone's words to make it seem as if they are not intelligent.

 

[popeye]

I must seriously have too much time on my hands. I have spent the majority of my day today debating on youtube a 60 year old energy source. During world war 2 there was a gas shortage due to rationing and other things. So people came up with the idea of basically breaking wood down into it's basic gases and using that to run an internal combustion engine. To explain it simply they figured out a way to use the smoke from a fire to make an engine run.

Now the reason they did not continue to use wood as a fuel is because basically it equates to 16lbs of wood per gallon of gasoline. So let's say you have a 20 gallon tank and want to go as far using your wood gas. Well you would need 320lbs of wood. and just think of the size of a storage container for that. But again there are other variables that would increase or decrease your fuel efficiency. Such as the type of wood used the dryness of that wood, the size of the motor you want to run the weight of the gasifier in general. Then there is refueling and all that stuff so basically it all comes down to can you "store" woodgas fuel?

Well that's the real question. It would depend on what type of fuel you are making and how much of that fuel is methane. Lot's of math involved there which is more than I can do. Then the other question could you compress that fuel into a small fuel tank like propane? And everything that I have read so far would mean no you can't. But of course some guy on youtube claims he has done it. So hence my reason for the debate.

 

[Zef]

Apparently, if you eat a polar bear's liver, you will die of Vitamin D poisoning. Never tried it, so I can't be sure. . . :)