Sunday, March 30, 2008

Continued Failure to Like This

This is unacceptable. It's March 30th. Spring has been here over a week.

At 7pm (when we left for dinner) it was cold and raining. By 9:30 there was 2-3 inches of snow in the yards and it was sticking to the roads. This morning there are at least four trees that snapped under the weight of the slushy snow. I had to clear my own driveway with a chainsaw. I couldn't let the dogs out this morning because I wasn't sure if the fence was intact after the neighbors tree fell on it.

This is stupid.

This is not conducive to the convertible and motorcycle lifestyle I aspire to.

It's just stupid.

It's bad enough to be cloudy and wet in late March. But snow? And downed trees? Really? That's what this is about?



Excuse me, I have to go to Lowe's to find a generator. The forecast includes more snow today and tomorrow and I suspect I'll be losing power.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

What's That Wagon You're Draggin'?

I bought a trailer yesterday. After looking around for the better part of 6 months I finally ended up settling on a 6x12 box trailer from Home Depot.

In the end it came down to a few options:
- a used box trailer (~$2200)
- a new box trailer (~$3000)
- a used aerodynamic trailer (~$4500 if you can find one)
- a new aerodynamic trailer (~$6000 + shipping from Tennessee)

I figured I probably won't use it enough for the aerodynamic one to pay itself off. (It might save me $0.10/mile.) Then I figured the peace of mind of a new trailer was worth the difference in price. So I ended up with a cheapest new one I could find.

I have some tie-down anchor points and a second motorcycle chock on order. Hopefully they'll arrive sometime this week. I'm hoping to have it setup so I can test it out at a local track day on April 12th.

Why don't trailer manufacturers make trailers short enough to fit under a typical garage door? Why is that such an unusual thing? Not only does it mean you can get your trailer out of the elements, but it also means it's a foot taller than the typical tow vehicle and acting like a parachute brake. I'm not saying *all* trailers should be short, I'm just saying it shouldn't be a special order for 50% extra just to have 8 inches lopped off the top of a box.

...

Why is that *nobody* seems to make exactly what I want? Seems like I have to settle or modify everything. ... You probably think I'm too picky. I prefer to think I'm right and everyone else is slipping into mediocrity.