Free 2022 World Cup Score Sheet Poster Download!

 It's that time again and I know there's at least a few people out there that know to look here for your next World Cup poster.

Well, hopefully, I haven't disappointed anyone.  I will say that I didn't bother looking for another high resolution World Cup appropriate image for the background.  I simply used the one from 2018.  Other than that, everything else got updated and I'm hyper excited now for the games to begin.  Bummer that we have to wait until November, but oh well.

Here's a link to the PNG version.  Also, I should mention that I put the time to the games in Central Daylight time zone (USA).  It's where I live, so sorry for all of you out there who live somewhere else.  You'll have to learn to convert to your time zone from this one.

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Conscious vs. Sub-Conscious

Yesterday, Lyric and I were discussing a topic that I find very interesting; the difference between conscious thought and sub-conscious action.

There is much that we don't know about this subject and probably even more that we think we do know about this subject but don't really know.  In my experience, I have found that humans generally lack the humility to honestly admit that we don't know how things work, especially in our own minds.  With exponentially less humility than the general public, the so-called scientific community is far less likely to utter the phrase: "I don't know" with regards to the functions of the brain.  And, why should they?  They're professionals (meaning that they get paid to make statements with absolute certainty), and, the general public wants to believe them.

But, I like to marvel at the unknown mysteries of it all.  The concept of sleep, for one, is a subject for which I have spent hours contemplating in complete fascination.  Think about it.  We lay down at night and relax, and before we know it, we lose consciousness.  Does that not bewilder you?  It should.

Consciousness appears to even have stages.  There is "being half asleep", which is a state of semi-unconsciousness, where you are still partially aware of your surroundings and perhaps even privy to conversations happening around you, and yet still somewhat in a state of mental rest.  Even though you can rouse from this state on demand, you also feel an unknown force that's wishing to keep you physically in suspension.  Unlike sleep, your brain seems to still be keeping track of time.  When you do "wake" from this, you may have a fairly accurate sense of what time it is and how much time has passed since you entered this "half-sleep".

Then there is sleep, which is a state of unconsciousness from which you can be relatively easily roused if needed, but will also fade back into consciousness on its own when your brain sub-consciously decides that it's fully rested.  During this state, your sub-conscious is free to do what it wants without the direction of the conscious mind.  We call this dreaming.  Meanwhile, your consciousness is on vacation and cannot be reached by phone or email.  Otherwise, the factory is still in complete operation.  Blood is flowing, digestion is still doing its thing, etc. All systems are a go.  Only the CEO is out, but what does he do anyway, right?

Then, there is what I call being: "knocked out".  This is usually caused by a physical trauma to the brain or is drug-induced (which is probably also a trauma to the brain).  In this state, you may not be able to be roused at all for a time.  Or, you may be able to be roused with some extra effort from others.  In this state, your sub-conscious may have also gone on vacation along with your conscious mind.  They're off drinking martinis on some beach while your body is left with its most basic auto-pilot functions still working, like breathing and a beating heart.  You may also be spared the embarrassment resulting from a loss of muscle control of holding in your bodily waste in this state, or you may not.

Then, there are various degrees of a coma where you may have some auto-pilot functions working and some not.  This state differs from the aforementioned ones in that you cannot be roused by others.  You may come out of it, but it's anyone's guess when or if that may happen.  There are drugs that can induce a coma and we understand that the majority of people come out of said coma when the drugs are ceased to be administered.  But, like all good medical disclaimers, there is the slight chance that you will not come out of this state if put into it, and therefore will be plenty of legal documents that you (or your power of attorney) will have to sign acknowledging that you understand this risk and others prior to a doctor agreeing to put you in this state.

Then, there is what most of us refer to as being a "vegetable" or "brain-dead".  This is when your brain might be performing some auto-pilot tasks but otherwise there is no real activity.  Doctors generally won't give the family of anyone in this state any hope of coming out of it.  They'll point to some statistics that equally provide no hope and usually recommend to the family that they no longer make any effort to keep the body alive citing that the 'person' who inhabited that body is already elsewhere.

Lastly, there is death.  The body has no pilot nor auto-pilot anything.  It's simply what was a biological vehicle that is no longer manned.  Depending on a lot of circumstances, it may be good for a few parts, otherwise it should be buried deep enough where none of us can smell it.

To be clear, this wasn't the conversation I had with my son.  I've gone off-subject, which I do a lot when I write.  He and I discussed how most of what we do is run by our sub-conscious.  For example, we don't think 'left, right, left, right' when we walk; we just do it.  We don't will our heart to beat, it just does it.  Our muscles are constantly making tiny adjustments to keep us upright when we are standing, despite no conscious thought being applied to the effort.  When driving, the vehicle becomes an extension of our bodies and we make adjustments to all the controls without conscious thought.  It's our sub-conscious, mostly, at the wheel.

We also discussed Rubix cubes since he's a cuber.  The conscious mind is deciding which algorithms to apply based off of the cases that it sees, but the algorithms are being executed by the sub-conscious.  Cubers call this "muscle memory" but the ability has little to do with the muscles, but more the sub-conscious.

I had the funny thought yesterday: since so much of our lives is governed by the sub-conscious, which do we think is more popular with others?  My sub-conscious or my consciousness?  Perhaps people like my sub-consciousness more, and my consciousness is just the nerd that comes along in the package deal.

Chew on that about yourself for a while.

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9/11 Reflections

Today is September 12th, 2018.  Yesterday marked 17 years since the "September 11th attacks" and it didn't go by without some thought.  For those of you who have read my past blogs surrounding the events that occurred on September 11th, 2001, you know that I don't believe the official story which is what has become the historical narrative of what did occur that day.  I won't be going into the many details why I don't believe it.  That's not the point of this blog.  What I will be sharing is the epiphany that I had this past week as I reflected on the events that day.

(For those of you who believe the official story is what actually happened, bear with me for a moment.)

I was thinking about how it was possible that so many people could be lied to about something and believe it.  But, as I stewed on it, I realized that we all do that with new information as long as it doesn't conflict with our current beliefs.  Very few of us would have had any reason not to believe what we were being told at the time and certainly not those who didn't live through it and have thus only learned about it from the official narrative.

This willingness to accept a story as truth is dependent upon our beliefs already matching the background of said story.  In other words, it can't be too far fetched.  It has to fall in line with what we already believe reality to be.

There is a long-standing debate whether or not people are generally good or inherently bad.  I could easily get distracted by starting this now, but I will restrain myself.  Instead, I will state that, universally, all of us want to believe that people are generally good even if we fall into the camp that don't actively believe that to be the case.  This can be proven true simply by observing our expectations with social interactions.  We expect people, generally speaking at least, to adhere to a set of social norms and when people don't do this under our watch an emotional reaction takes place whether that be surprise, sadness, anger, annoyance or any combination of many emotional possibilities.  Ultimately, we want to believe that people want to be good and will be generally good.

So, all that said, it is easier to believe that a handful of bad people got together and coordinated a very successful attack on a country with a very capable defense system manned by a collectively incompetent set of people.  It's easier to believe in a small amount of evil and the incompetence of the many because that fits relatively close to what we all want to believe, as aforementioned.  Conversely, it's incredibly difficult for us to fathom the possibility that many more people were involved, had foreknowledge of what would happen, and even assisted in it being carried out.  And even more difficult to believe that these people were from our own government, assigned to protect and serve us.  We feel justified by our doubt because we also know that others would have found out about this along the way and we believe that all those "good" people would speak up and the truth would come out because that's what it always does, right?  The truth shall prevail.  Goodness will shine.  The good guy always wins.

 Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have been taught a worldview where goodness wins in the end.  And, we believe that we can just be lazy, sit back and let the truth come out and take over and when everyone else sees it and is on board then we can get on board, too.  "I won't believe it till I see it", they say.  But, what they really mean is:  "I won't believe it till I see that everyone else sees it, too."

I have really strayed from my intended subject which was considerably shorter.  What I wanted to share was the epiphany I had.  As I wondered how history could possibly be written incorrectly, I realized that 9/11 is hardly the only place that this has happened.  Then, I realized that I have many beliefs that fly in the face of the "official" historical narrative.  I believe in a history that others don't.

I believe that there was a global flood.  I believe that all humans are related to the first two humans, one who was formed from dust, the other from the rib of the first one, most certainly not from a previous less-human version which came from a previous even-less-human version and so on.  I believe that all material and immaterial was created by the God of the bible.  I believe it was created in 6 days.  I don't believe that any of it formed "naturally" which really only begs the question of "What is nature?".  I believe miraculous events happened throughout history including the rampage of ten plagues upon Egypt, the parting of a sea, a man born of a virgin, the instantaneous healing of blindness, leprosy, the lame.  I believe the corpse of a man named Lazarus was made to wake from the dead and be alive again.  I believe that Jesus was crucified, died and yet rose again by his own power confirming that he was and is the Son of God.  I believe that Jesus walked the earth and visited hundreds of people after his well-publicized death.  I believe the earth is thousands of years old, not older.  I believe that the earth is a few days older than the universe.  I believe that life begins at conception and that we are fully human at conception and are thus afforded basic human rights at that time.  I believe that angels exist.  I believe that demons exist.  I believe that heaven is real.  I believe that President Kennedy was murdered by factions of the United States government that couldn't control him.  I believe that governments have utilized terror events to manipulate civilian consensus so often that it has assumed the name of an old pirate tactic, false flag.  And, yes, I believe that large factions of the United States government were directly involved with the coordination of the supposed terror attacks on September 11, 2001.

None of the previous paragraph's content can be found being taught in public school's textbooks as actual history and yet I believe that it to be just that.  But, it's not just a set of beliefs.  I have evidence.  I have proof.  I have extensively studied all these subjects and know why I believe them to be true.  I didn't just blindly accept it due to some sort of upbringing or education.  Rather, I believe them despite my upbringing and education.

It's easy for people who don't agree with my beliefs stated above to assume that I've been led to believe these things by others and that I'm simply a gullible person.  They might even figure that I believe these things in blind faith.  I get it.  I grew up much like everyone else and I remember believing quite strongly about things I didn't even really know much about.  I trusted what was taught to me through repetition.  I know others do this, too, so I don't blame them for sticking to what they think they know.  I only fault people for resorting to ridicule when presented with something that they don't believe to be true.

9/11 for me will always be a time to remember the lives needlessly lost and grieve for them and the families that lost them.  It will also be a time that I strengthen my resolve to teach the next generation in my circle of influence the true history of the world.  Without knowledge of the truth of where we came from, we cannot understand nor prepare for where we are going.

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Free 2018 World Cup Score Sheet Poster Download!

I've pretty much stopped blogging altogether.  However, it's that time of year life again for another World Cup!  I created a free World Cup 2018 Score Sheet Poster (mainly for myself) and for all others to enjoy!

2018 World Cup Free Score Sheet Poster Download

Here are links to the full-sized, high resolution PDF and PNG versions of the score sheet pictured here to the right.  They're pretty big files because I designed them to be printed at 24 inches by 36 inches.  Staples will print this as an "engineering print" (black & white) at that size for only $3.  Printing in color is best so that you can see all the flags correctly, but it's more expensive.  So, to each their own.

If you haven't used this sheet or one like it before to keep score of all the games then you are missing out.  By keeping track of all the outcomes for all the games, it adds a level of excitement to the entire tournament.

I've also added some links in the drop-down menu above (as pictured to the right) just in case.

As always, this is free of charge.  I hope you enjoy it!

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New Roof

We are blessed to be able to put a new roof on our house.  We're especially excited about it, because our house needed it both practically speaking as well as aesthetically speaking.  We had a few shingles blow off entirely after a super-windy night and had several others that broke their seal and flipped up, creasing them to the point of breaking.  Upon further inspection, the vast majority of the shingles had had their seals broken and were thus subject to damage with future winds and likely had their nails securing them partially pulled up allowing for potential future leaks.

Our first obvious challenge was that we were provided enough money to buy the materials, but no more.  So, that left us with two options.  A: We would not put a new roof on the house and begin to experience problems in the future.  Or B: We could put on a new roof ourselves.  We went with B.

So, with that decided, our first order of business was to pick out and order our shingles.  That went fairly well.  We had to wait on them to be ordered, arrive at the store, and then be delivered, but it went pretty well.  Our next challenge was getting them on the roof.  We wanted rooftop delivery, but, apparently, our local Home Depot doesn't have a truck for rooftop delivery.  So, they have a third party company do it for them.  It's not cheap for this service.  And, I feel like Home Depot knows it.  So, rather than Home Depot telling you the delivery charge for rooftop delivery, they just change the price of the bundles of shingles you're buying.  You know, to muddy it up because they don't think that their customers can do math.  It worked out to just over $450 for them to rooftop deliver.

We were kind of floored with this price because I was hoping that delivery would be free or at the very least would be greatly reduced.  We were buying 123 bundles of shingles after all.  That adds up to a pretty hefty price tag.  Most box stores boast free delivery when you're spending thousands of dollars.  But, alas, there would be no foreseeable compromise.  So, we opted for the normal delivery which would still be on their pallets on the ground.  To their credit, they did put the pallets right on the ground exactly where we told them that we wanted them.  So, there's that.

My ingenuitive nerdiness came out with this challenge.  I designed a "shingle elevator" in Sketchup from materials that I knew I already had.  It went together fairly quickly and worked really well.  It's limitation was that it required three men.  One guy (my friend, Rodney) would have to pull bundles off the pallet and load them on the elevator one at a time.  Another guy (my friend and neighbor, Brian) would have to pull the elevator up using the rope and hold it while the last guy (me) would need to pick up the bundles and go spread them out across the ridge of the roof.  My use of the term 'elevator' denotes a sort of effortless tool.  I cannot stress enough how poor of a choice of terms this was.  None of the three parts to the job was, by any means, effortless.

I bought dinner for the guys, but, besides a lot of spent energy, that was our only cost to getting the shingles on the roof.  That was the evening of Thursday, April 6th.

We employed our son, Lyric, whose agreed upon paycheck would consist of a Playstation 3.  He had been wanting one for some time and we figured that this would be a great opportunity for him to A) learn how to roof a house, B) learn some more work ethic, C) earn the item he couldn't afford to buy, and, lastly, D) help complete the roof at a much faster pace than it would have taken me to do it alone.  He did a fantastic job and I officially changed his affiliation with it from "helping me roof the house" to "roofing the house with me."  :)

Finishing the job was an awesome feeling.  We got it done on Sunday, April 23rd, just two and a half weeks from the start date. Not too shabby for such a small crew.

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Blind Faith

Last Monday night, we were watching the third episode of a television show on Netflix called "No Tomorrow".  The show is a little quirky.  I really enjoy most of the comedy of it, though I am annoyed at the usage of over-sexualized humour.  But, this isn't a review of the show.

There are no spoilers in this blog (in my opinion) in case you're worried about that.  I'll only summarize the basic plot that you would've known anyway if you had only read the tiny description of the show in the Netflix browser.  The premise is basically: girl meets boy, boy/girl like each other, girl falls for boy, boy tells girl that an asteroid is coming to destroy the earth in 8 months, girl thinks boy is crazy, girl goes on liking boy anyway.

Now, I come to the reason I am writing about this show.  In the third episode, the boy, accompanied by the girl, presents his research and subsequent findings to a scientist.  The camera backs out and the scene closes so that the viewers don't get to hear the spiel, but later it does come back in at the end of the speech and we hear enough of his close to understand that he got a proper platform for which to present his arguments uninterrupted.  Later in the show, the girl is confiding in her mother that he "sounded so smart and insightful and passionate" when he had the chance to present what he had found but that she's feeling conflicted because she still thinks he's crazy.  Then, for some reason I can't explain, she finds solace in her realization that his belief in the impending asteroid-earth collision isn't religion but pure math.  Armed with this new epiphany, she explains to him that she admires him for living by his convictions, admits that his way of life is positive, contagious, and adds real value to others.  She realizes that it doesn't matter if she believes what he believes.  She can continue to have a relationship with him and support him in his beliefs whether she believes them or not.

The real-life applicable takeaway I learned here is this: You can aptly present factual arguments, even in an inarguable mathematical format, and even those who love you the most may still choose to believe the opposite in blind faith.

I'm not saying that the boy is right about the asteroid.  It's a tv show.  I'm saying that the girl sat and listened to the boy, admitted that he made intelligent arguments, has personally witnessed the benefits of harboring this belief, and EVEN understood that it was simply a matter of mathematics.  She did all this but goes on to claim she believes the event won't happen.  Take notice that she didn't make this decision because she looked through a telescope, examined the research, plotted the course of the earth herself, determined the trajectory of the asteroid and found his math to be full of errors.  She simply and blindly chose to accept something else to be true.  Her decision to believe he is wrong is a purposefully uninformed decision.  She's knowingly choosing willful ignorance.

Now, perhaps the boy is wrong, in fact.  It still wouldn't justify the girl's decision to believe that he is wrong without first exploring the issue herself.  Ironically, she understands it only to be a matter of math, but doesn't bother to look at the math to look for the error.  She just assumes it's wrong.

I can mathematically disprove the supposed age of the earth being in the billions of years.  But, in showing people this math, I can't expect to convert someones belief system.  It's a very useful tool in reinforcing people's belief system who already believe the same things as me.  But, it's unlikely that it will serve as a very useful tool of conversion.  Most will just convince themselves that there is some unseen trick in the math or will just simply do like this fictional girl did and write it off through willful ignorance.

The reason why it won't help to convert people is because our belief systems are not necessarily grounded in facts.  We would like to think that they are, but our beliefs go deeper than that.  They're not intellectually born.  They reside in the heart.  No one is without bias.  Our bias' steer us.  If you want to see someone in inner turmoil, find someone who believes differently from how they think.  Regardless of what they may "know", they are a slave to their belief.  Belief and thinking can't indefinitely be out of line.  Eventually, one will win out.

That reminds me of something.  In recent years, I've heard the slang term "whip" used to describe a nice car in hip-hop songs.  The term is derived from a chain of slang starting with the first automobiles where the steering wheel was commonly referred to as the 'whip' since the steering wheel of the car served the same purpose as a whip did to a team of horses pulling a wagon.  Later, since the Mercedes-Benz emblem looks like a steering wheel, urban slang for a Mercedes-Benz became a 'whip'.  Even later, it would be used for any luxury vehicle.

Our beliefs steer us.  Like a whip, they control us.  We can break free of their bondage.  But, it takes something much more powerful than a thought, a desire, a well-delivered speech, a sermon, or a presentation of facts.  It takes an act of will.  It's a matter of the heart.  You can hear one of the aforementioned things like a sermon, for instance, and respond by willfully choosing to break free of your previous beliefs.  But, make no mistake.  It doesn't happen to you.  No one can force you into freedom.  You have to take those steps yourself.

It's a backwards concept to most of us.  But, in Christianity, it requires that we first come to God and accept Him, before you will find it intellectually sound to do so.  Until then, the spiritual blinders are still on.  And, no amount of intellectual pursuit will get you there alone.  If you, the reader, are one of those who don't believe in God, would like to, but don't feel like you can because intellectual roadblocks exist in your mind that are keeping you from accepting His existence, the relief I have to offer you is this: Once you surrender your will and choose God, there is a seemingly infinite amount of intellectual pursuits that stand to justify the choice you made.  Again, it sounds backwards.  But, what I'm suggesting to you is that, despite what you may think, your roadblocks are not intellectual ones after all.  It's completely a matter of your will to choose to step away from the beliefs you've held many of which are baseless.  So, make the choice.  You won't be disappointed.

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'59 Slow Progress

I've barely seen my truck in the last ten days or so.  I've had some other things going on.  For example, last weekend, my only real goal was to clear out some space in the shop so that I could move some of our "project" furniture being stored in the garage out to the shop.  It has been getting cold here in the Ozarks and I was determined not to spend another winter morning scraping the night's precipitation of my car windows.  Up until this last weekend, we have had this oversized two-car garage with only one car and a whole lot of stuff being stored in it.  Though, I'm happy to announce that after just 367 days of owning this place, I finally have spaces for both our main vehicles indoors.  :)

With that not-so-little project out of the way, I'm happily back to doing '59 stuff. Yesterday, I worked out a deal with a guy who was selling this front bumper on Craigslist.  It's for an 87-91 GMC van but it fits beautifully across the front of the '59.  Those vans were called a "square body" which works out perfect on the very flat front end of my truck.  Before I bought it though, I wasn't sure how it would look on my truck.  There was no way I was going to drag my truck to Springfield to dry fit it to see and it was highly unlikely that the seller would let me borrow it until I made a decision.  It's in situations like these that GIMP comes to the rescue.

I went online and found a photo of one of these vans that was taken at roughly the same angle as another photo I found of a '59 without a front bumper.  With GIMP, I copied the front bumper from the van and superimposed it on the '59.  I had to do some resizing, rotating, and perspective shifting to get it all lined up and believable.  With the end result looking fairly convincing, it was easy for me to make a decision on whether or not I thought this bumper would be a good look for my truck.  I decided that it was and proceeded to wheel and deal for a good price.

I also found a nice chrome rear bumper yesterday, as well.  It was priced to sell for sure but I was the first one to contact the guy and still managed to knock the price down a bit.  The guy I bought it from couldn't remember which of his many vehicles he's owned in the last several years that it came from.  I don't really care, I guess.  It's in great shape.  Most of the '57-'60 model Fords didn't come with a rear bumper.  It must have been an option at the dealerships because I've seen several online that do have uniform rear bumpers, but the vast majority of ones that I see in person or online have no rear bumper.  Some people even go without a front bumper.  I don't like the look of the front without one, though.  It's a bit too cartoony and feels lacking.

I like the rear without a bumper just fine but I have a good reason for why I wanted one anyway.  When I drove the '59 it was at stock height.  I was able to reach over the side of the bed and touch the bottom with ease.  I could grab almost anything out of the bed without getting in it.  But, now, with it's lift on the '84, the top of the bed comes up to my armpit.  So, not only will the rear bumper provide some balance of chrome from the front to the back, but it will also make getting in and out of the bed a world easier by providing a step.  And, of course, it will serve its actual purpose of protecting the truck from potential fender benders, I hope won't happen.

So, in the above's poor example of a well-lit photograph, I've got the bumper being propped up to almost the height it will be when installed. I couldn't get it all the way in place because I have to notch out the bumper on each side as indicated by the blue line in this photo.  This cutout will make the bumper appear as if it were custom for this truck.  Once cut, I can slide it up another couple inches and there won't be any gap left between the bed and the bumper.  That will make it look a lot more natural.

The rear bumper already has brackets that appear like I can just bolt them right on to the back of the truck's frame.  I'll know for sure once I make the aforementioned notches in the bumper.  The front, on the other hand, is going to need brackets.  I removed my OEM '59 brackets and they won't fit.  However, I think that I can modify them.  More on that later, I'm sure.

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'59 DIY Instrument Panel

Example of a '59 instrument panel

One big challenge I was sort of dreading even thinking about with the 59' body to '84 frame/drivetrain, was how I was going to get the electronics to work.  Obviously, the '84 wiring harness wasn't going to just plug into the '59 gauges.  And even if it did, then I'd still have the minimal information that the '59 had: gauges for speed, fuel level, engine temperature, and two dummy lights for the generator and oil pressure.  That limited knowledge would leave me guessing what's going on underneath the hood more than I would like.

Forum photo with four new analog gauges accompanying the OEM speedometer

I found a forum online where a guy shows how he kept his original speedometer by buying an adapter to the sender, and then replaced the other four gauges with new gauges from Summit Racing.  His OEM dummy lights were replaced by proper analog gauges and looked great.  I loved the finished look and quickly rushed over to Summit Racing to look for some gauges.  I found them.  And, they added up quick.  I am not prepared to spend $350 on replacement gauges.  My original plan of keeping everything one can see looking like a '59 has been tossed out in favor of getting everything working properly and functional on a nickel & dime budget.  I just couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money when I already two perfectly operational instrument panels.  Surely, there was a low budget alternative.

My solution was to make a new instrument panel plate to match my '59 dash from scratch and insert the gauge cluster from the '84 in it.  This way, I can simply plug in the '84 wiring harness to it and BOOM, working gauges!  I took a piece of thick aluminum plate that was left in our shop by the previous owner of the property.  I traced out the shape of the '59 instrument panel plate on it and cut it to size with metal shears.  I cleaned up the edges afterwards with an angle grinder, cut out the holes by drilling 3/8" holes in all the corners to the "windows" then connecting those holes with a metal blade in my jigsaw.  Then, I used a steel brush in my drill to give it a brushed aluminum look.  It's a little rough and I'll spend some more time on it cleaning up the cutouts.  By no means is this the finished product.  I also, haven't decided if I will leave it like this or if I will paint it.  It's pretty reflective right now which may hinder visibility of the gauges while driving.  But, due to the angle of it while installed, I don't expect direct reflection of sunlight to the driver's eyes.  So, I'll probably leave it unpainted and try it out.  I can always pull it off real quick and paint it later.

I also have 5 indicator lights that were part of the '84 dash.  These were in the rectangular holes above the gauges shown in the photo here.  My issue is that the little plastic pieces with the words on them were long gone when I bought the truck.  I'm fairly certain that the outside ones were for the left and right turn signal indicator lights.  I know for a fact (because of a photo I saw online) that one of them is the seat belt indicator lamp.  I will refrain from installing that one.  I don't know what the other two lights are for.  Perhaps, engine light and high beam indicator?  That sounds logical.  I'll figure it out somehow.  Either way, that means I have four more little holes to cut in my DIY instrument panel plate.  I'll put the turn signal indicators near the top corners and then put one of each of the remaining indicators (whatever they are) centered on each side.

I like that I chose to use the OEM '84 gauge cluster because I'll like having a tachometer and analog gauges in place of no tachometer and the '59 dummy lights.  I think that the gauges will look a lot better in the '59 than they did in the '84, too.  Ah, the 80's and its love affair with wood grain paneling as far as the eye could see.

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'59 Ford Inspired DIY Forge

I bought a piece of 3/16" thick stock steel last week to make a couple of custom brackets to mount my '59 bed to my '84 frame.  These are the last of the brackets that I need for the body.  Woo hoo!  Mounting the body has proven to be a challenge and I'm glad that at least this part of the project is coming to a close.  It's been a fun learning experience, but I'm ready for the part that actually begins to make the truck functional again.

I already have the front two custom bed mounts and the rear two custom bed mounts in place and bolted.  The bed isn't going anywhere.  That's for sure.  However, I wanted to give the bed two more mounts in the center to ensure that there can be no allowance for warping it in the event I wind up carrying a heavy load which, inevitably no doubt, I will.

I measured and marked the pieces of metal where I wanted a 90-degree bend.  I began to shape it using a hammer and a large, thick piece of angle iron as an anvil.  I started to get the bend, but it wasn't going to be anywhere near a 90-degree angle.  It was going to curve instead with a fairly large radius regardless of how much I would try to convince it otherwise with the hammer.  I needed heat.

I watched a couple YouTube videos of people creating makeshift forges of their own with some pretty commonly found household items.  I looked around a bit and realized that I could make one.  If for no other reason at all, I'm glad I did this exercise just to know that it is now an option for me to create other items in the future.

The video is a small non-polished documentary of me trying it out.  I had never done this before and I openly admit in the video that I don't know what I'm doing.  However, it was a success.  I needed a compound bend with both brackets.  One is a mirror of the other one.  It's hard to tell from this photo, but I got the exact compound bend I was aiming for.  The only way I was going to get this 3/16" steel to bend this sharply was with heat or a very large metal brake.  Since I have no such metal brake (nor can afford one) but can make heat, I only truly had the one option.

With the '59 body mounted and ready to go, my next step is likely getting the steering column installed and secured to the dash.  Keep an eye out for the next update.

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YETI Hype

I don't normally write about marketed items that I find silly.  Though, if I did, I would have a seemingly infinite amount of topics to write about.  If you really consider most items you find in your local market for very long, you will likely conclude very quickly that the majority of what you see, you don't need.  But, there are also those items that clearly go beyond the 'unneeded' category and well into the realm of 'ridiculously unnecessary'.

I feel that the entire YETI line of products easily falls into this category.  I've been seeing this stuff everywhere.  First, there was a guy in my office who was showing off his new cup that he got from Sam's.  It's a YETI knock-off, but works just as well, he says.  Something about the acoustics of the office space I work in results in my ability to hear virtually every conversation that takes place on our floor.  So, I ended up being marketed by my co-worker's tales of keeping ice all day long in his cup despite multiple refills of water.  Over and over again, I overheard the boasts as he told everyone individually.

Then, on a visit to Race Brothers, a local farm & home store, to pick up some bolts and washers, I saw a large display of YETI products, most of which were wearable gear sporting the brand name, not the actual product.  I was confused.  Having a desire of keeping your drink cold, I get.  But buying a $50 hoodie that proudly displays the brand name of your $40 cup that keeps your drink cold is a bit asinine.

A couple days later, while waiting in traffic at a stoplight, I noticed that the Jeep in front of me had a YETI sticker in the back windshield.  This wasn't a graphic like you would see on a sales representative's vehicle, this was just some boob that was proud of his discretionary spending choice.

A family member of ours recently commented on the trend of water bottles.  It was a good observation.  She humorously pointed out that many people these days take a water bottle with them wherever they go.  "What are we?  A bunch of babies that can't be without our bottles?", she mused.  "We never carried bottles of water with us when we left home and none of us ever died of dehydration."

So, with the YETI, not only must we never be caught without our most beloved beverage, but we'll be able to keep it cold all day long for the low low price of a ridiculous amount of money.  Craigslist is even teeming with new and used YETI products.  When I saw this soft carry cooler for $350, I didn't doubt that this was probably a "deal" in comparison to the cost of a new one.  I found that they sell the new ones for $400.  These hold 32 12-ounce cans and keep them cool for $400.  I've never paid as much as $400 for a refrigerator let alone a cooler.

I also ran across this ad on Craigslist.  This person evidently left their $400 YETI cooler in the back of their truck while they slept at a local Days Inn.  Someone capitalized on the easy pickens along with their 6' aluminum ramps.  While I feel bad for them and hope that they do miraculously see their stolen goods returned, I sort of think that they should simply purchase some replacement steel ramps at Harbor Freight with a coupon for $50 and a nice cooler of similar size for $40, and save the remaining $410 they are offering for a reward. 

I don't mean to call anyone stupid for purchasing anything YETI.  I'm sure if someone looked at my life and all my purchases they could find plenty of things that I spent money on and didn't need, too.  I'm no better than the next consumer in the grand scheme of things, I'm sure.  I guess it's these moments in life that I realize the extent of the frivolous nature of American consumerism that I am floored by how meaningless some of our materialist fads can be.  And, perhaps, in my own way, I'm just trying to get others to practice some introspection of their own.

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'59 Progress

The actual application of the front cab mounts have worked out exactly as planned.  I'm really happy with them.  They're really stiff and give the cab just the right amount of support.  I was a little worried that the offset would allow the cab to have too much vertical flex, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the cab to be just as solidly mounted to the new frame as it was on the old one.

I made the upper bushings out of an old tire.  This is an old trick used by all the older motorheads.  The resulting "bushing" is a little stiffer than the original rubber ones.  You can stack them like shims in the quantity that you need to get just the right height.  All you need is an old tire you don't mind destroying, a drill, and a 2" hole saw.  Also, just a tip, I stopped just short of cutting the tire all the way through with the hole saw all the way around.  If you cut it all the way then the resulting bushing goes up into the hole saw and has to be laboriously pried out.  Stopping just short allowed me to pull the drill out and then easily cut the last remaining threads with a utility knife.  I love a time saver.

The rear cab mounts are as solid as a rock.  I used two spare bumper brackets I had lying around.  I painstakingly managed to long bend both brackets to a 90 degree angle.  The cab is now level and fully secure to the frame.  Afterwards, I started leveling out the bed that my friend, Rodney, and I wrestled into place last Wednesday.  There's a line that runs the entire length of the 57-60 model Ford trucks that helps to get everything in proper alignment.  It also betrays you if you didn't line things up properly, so I'm taking my time getting it just right.

This part is getting pretty exciting because it's beginning to take shape and actually look like a truck again.  I can't hardly believe it but it's been since May of 2014 that I initially dismantled the body from its original frame.  Two and half years ago!  Some people don't own the same vehicle for that long let alone just the body parts to one.  So, needless to say, I'm getting more and more motivated with every new step that gets accomplished.

Check back soon for the next update.

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'59 Ford Update

Firewall cutout to accommodate engine placement.

I was pretty nervous about cutting into my Ford, but after checking the measurements over and over again I finally worked up the courage to do it.  It was easier to cut than I thought it would be.  Between my angle grinder and my reciprocating saw, I knocked it out in about 30 minutes.

With the freshly added cutout, I was able to walk the cab into the position it will be in when mounted.  So, the next step was to get the precise measurements of the front cab mount offsets. 

Theoretical driver-side front custom cab mount ('59 cab to '84 frame).

This was a little tricky to do in a three-dimensional environment where there's an offset in every direction, but I figured it out.  As sketched out here, I'm using large steel brackets I bought from Race Brothers to cover two of the three dimensional offsets (forward, inward).  It's fabricated out of 3/8" steel so it's total overkill but better safe than sorry.  These brackets will be mounted to the original 84's front cab mounts and turned back towards the frame and towards the front so that the 59's cab mount points will be directly above the brackets' centers.

Borrowing some metal from a useless Chevy. :)

Another challenge was reinforcement.  The 59's front cab mounts, like pretty much all trucks up through the 80's, were exposed to the front wheels so decades of water being thrown up by the front tires had rusted away much of the original structural integrity of the mounts.  It was necessary to add some sheet metal to the inside corners of the cab just above the mounts.  The passenger-side mount was so bad that I had to fabricate a bracket out of 1/4" steel to wrap the underside of the original mount.  Luckily for me, I was able to pick up a '79 Chevy K20 tailgate for only $10 on Craigslist last Friday.  I wasted no time cutting out of it the metal I needed to reinforce my floor pans.  It requires more work getting metal from this since I have to "unshape" it before I can shape it, but getting this much automotive grade steel for only $10 is a no-brainer.  Already, it's saved me about $10.  Thick steel sheet metal isn't at all cheap.

I'm pretty proud of the floor pan reinforcements.  This exercise has also managed to make me pretty confident that I can effectively make a removable cover for the cutout in the firewall.  After picking up the drill bit I need today, I should be able to drill the holes in the mounting brackets and get the cab off it's temporary stands and mounted on the frame where it belongs.

Driver-side floor reinforcement.

Passenger-side reinforcement.

I should have it mounted for my next blog.  I'll take some pics of them and hopefully they will look like my drawing above.  Until next time...

Grinding on metal makes for a pretty cool photo opportunity.

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'59 Ford Project Update

In my last blog on this subject, I talked about the removal of the '84 F-150 body from its frame complete with some photos.  Since then, I sold the complete body to a young guy from Carthage, MO.  Pictured here is the body sold, all loaded up, and being carted away.  I got a good price for it and was thrilled to have both the cash in hand and get all the body parts out of my shop and out of my way.

That was almost 3 months ago.  You'd think that I'd be eager to get to work on my '59, but my wife's birthday took priority.  The truck got rolled out of the shop to make room for all the work I would soon put into making things for her party.  More on that in an upcoming blog, I'm sure.

Back to work on the '59, I changed my strategy some.  Before, my plan was to clean and paint the entire frame before putting the truck together.  If I were building a show truck that would be a great strategy but since I am building something to be driven and used, it seems more a monumental unnecessary effort.  So, I remounted the newly-painted fuel tanks back under the frame and got to work hoisting the cab into the air.  I spent a lot of time trying to accomplish putting together a system for lifting the cab while I would be on the ground, but neither of my two theoretically-sound designs realistically worked.  In the end, I hoisted it using pretty much the same system I used to remove the '84 cab off the frame in the first place.  The big difference was that this time I was up in the rack operating the winch on a platform I threw together rather than dangerously standing on a ladder right by the cab being lifted.

With the cab roughly in place on the frame, I measured how the front clip and bed would line up to the wheel wells.  They didn't.  My measurements would require the cab to be scooted forward seven inches.  The problem is that the firewall-side of the engine is sitting about two inches from the firewall.  In an effort to gain stability and better handling through improved weight distribution, Ford began mounting the engines closer to the center of the vehicle in later model pickups in comparison to the 57-60 model.  As you can see from these two photos, the '84 cab has a nice indentation in the firewall to accept the engine being mounted further back on the frame.  The '59 doesn't have this.

So the best solution I have is to cut out a section of the '59 firewall.  Then, I'll have to fabricate a panel to cover that hole.  Initially, this reminds me of the E-150 vans I once owned.  The engines of the E-150 vans intrude so much into the cab that they have a removable panel so that it's easier to service the engine from the inside of the cab.  What I have to do to the '59 will not be near this dramatic.  It should only be about four to five inches deep of a bump.  In fact, from the inside of the cab it would look similar to how the '84 looks in this picture.  The '59 has no bump, but I'll have to change that.  However, unlike the '84, I believe that I'll make my panel removable so that the engine is much more accessible when in need of maintenance.  Also, the '84 bump extends into the floor in the form of a raised hump to make room for the top of the transmission and driveshaft. I won't need a raised floor in the '59 like shown in the '84 because I am forced to give the whole body a minimum 3" body lift.  This is due to the fact that the '59 frame rails are flat from the front to the back.  The '84 frame, however, has a 3" drop between the axles.  So, to get everything to mount and line up I have to ignore the drop and raise the cab to level out with the bed and front clip.  This will consequently remove the need to fabricate a matching hump in the floor of the cab since the '59 cab will sit above that requirement.

Cutting into the firewall is no small job.  I'll be busy with that for a while since I will want to measure thirty times before I cut.  I want to remove the least amount of firewall as necessary but ensure that any required maintenance has the space it needs to be performed whether that be the removal of the valve covers, spark plugs, etc.  Once that is complete, I can then move my cab into its future location and start working on fabricating my custom cab mounts.  I'll post an update here when I have one.

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Phone Upgrade

A couple months ago, it occurred to me that Jodi and I would be up for our bi-annual cell phone upgrades this fall.  My initial reaction was excitement only to be immediately followed by confusion.  We both have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4.  And, frankly, I couldn't imagine a phone that would be an upgrade from what we already had.  So, my momentary excitement dissolved almost as quickly as it arrived.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has been out for some weeks now and normally I would be considering it my no-brainer go-to for an upgrade.  But, aside from its well publicized potential for exploding, I have several deterrents that are based upon the features that the phone boasts.

First, and most impacting to me, was the removal of the removable battery.  For years, most Android phones have had two major design advantages over their rival Apple products.  Those advantages were expandable memory via a micro SD card slot and a removable battery.  Apple still charges a high premium for their products with more storage well above the market cost of micro SD cards with that same storage capacity.  This is designed to benefit Apple with a higher profit margin and more big-brother-control over their devices rather than bring any value to their customers.

Samsung had removed it's expandable memory micro SD card slot it the Galaxy S6 and quickly realized its mistake.  They corrected it when they added it back for the S7.  So, I couldn't understand why once again they were removing such a prominent feature, this time the removable battery, that had helped catapult them and other Android based phone manufacturers into the top tier of mobile devices.  As a matter of fact, much to my dismay, most of the phones that I would have been normally considering for this upgrade also did not have a removable battery.  I was appalled.

Then, it occurred to me this morning.  Water resistance.  These companies have not figured out how to have both a removable battery and have the ability to be submerged in water.  And, evidently, they have prioritized water resistance.

Jodi and I watched several review videos last night trying to figure out which direction we would likely go when we did upgrade.  Every time I saw someone texting in the rain, or laying their phone down on the bottom of a shallow pool, or rinsing it off in the sink like a dinner plate, I couldn't help but wince in shock.  Granted, these were promotional videos and the majority of people will still make every attempt to avoid water ever becoming in contact with their phones.  I get that.  But, I still don't understand why water resistance has become a higher-perceived value over having the ability to change the battery.

We all know that rechargeable batteries have a finite number of charges and cycles it can handle.  I have had to replace batteries in several mobile devices in my lifetime.  Off the top of my head, I've bought a replacement battery for my Macbook Pro, a Dell laptop I once had, my Samsung Note 4, my wife's old iPod Nano, my wife's Asus tablet, and several batteries for my Canon camera.  That's six devices.  And, the only time I had a device ruined by water was a point and shoot camera I got for my son who accidentally left it outside just before a rain.  I think he was seven years old at the time.

So, aside from my child having an issue with water and electronics, the adults in my household have far exceeded the need for water protection by the ability to change an old worn out battery.  So, I'm afraid that I won't be moving up the Samsung ladder this upgrade.

Which brings me to my next point of irritation.  Why are Apple users so loyal?  Over the years, my wife and I have had phones by Nokia, Pantech, LG, Motorolla, and Samsung.  When we have the ability to get new phones, I do a full comparison of phone features and price.  I watch and read reviews and find customer comments.  I want the best device to compliment our lifestyle that we can afford.

Some features are a requirement for us.  It has to have an Android operating system and it has to have expandable memory.  When I added these two filters to my search on Verizon, I got a result of 18 phones (pictured here) which are produced from six different manufacturers.  What sort of choice does a die-hard Apple customer get when its time for an upgrade?  Exactly.

I've already mentioned how I was turned off by the Note 7's non-removable battery.  I am also not a fan of the rounded edges that the phone sports on both sides.  I suspect that it limits the phone's aftermarket availability of covers.  But, even if it doesn't, I have a co-worker with the S7 Edge who showed me why if he had it to do all over again, he wouldn't have bought the Edge model.  When operating the phone with one hand, the bottom part of his thumb gets detected by the screen and causes issues.  His only fix: use two hands.  Yeah, not cool.

So, I believe that we have settled on a phone choice: the LG G5.  The screen boasts the same resolution on its 5.3" screen held by the Note 7 on it's 5.7" screen.  This means that there is greater pixel density at 554 ppi versus the Note's 518 ppi which will provide a crisper, more detailed display.  It's an LCD as opposed to an AMOLED screen, so the colors are less exaggerated, less cartoonish and more true to life.  The camera has a 16GB rear/ 8GB front (with wide angle) versus the Note's 12/5, respectively.  I realize that megapixels aren't everything but the camera got great reviews and out-performed several of its competition in almost all categories particularly in low-light scenarios and in bright landscapes.  The camera is probably the most important requirement of all.  Coming from a DSLR owner, I have even occasionally preferred my phone's camera over my Canon's in some conditions but mostly due to the fact that I don't usually have my Canon on me, but I always have my phone.  So, my phone captures more of my actual life.

The LG G5 won't have the built-in stylus that I am used to but I only rarely used it with my Note for some tasks that didn't necessarily require it.  I can only recall one game that I played with my son that it really came in handy and helped us.  Aside from that game, every other use of it was more because I was trying to justify having it.

LG's G5 is also a less expensive choice for us.  So, that's a bonus.  The G5 has 4GB RAM just like the Note 7.  My current Note 4 only has 3GB RAM, so I'm looking forward to the increase of speed.  The glass of the LG G5 is the same Corning Gorilla Glass 4 used on my Note 4 that I, unfortunately, dropped a lot yet never had so much as a crack.  The G5 is 11% lighter that my Note 4 so I suspect that a drop of the G5 would be even less likely to result in damage than my Note 4.

So, while I'm disappointed with the Samsung Note 7, I'm not at all surprised.  I couldn't imagine how they were going to get better.  In my opinion, they only got worse.  One bit of curiosity is that the Note 4 had a 16 megapixel camera and the Note 7 has a 12 megapixel camera.  I'm surprised that they did this.  Again, I know megapixels aren't everything, but the general public doesn't really know that.  I wonder how they spun that in the marketing department.

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Observations

I may not be on social media, but that's not to say that I don't ever go online.  I just don't do it as much as those of you with social media accounts.  I frequent Craigslist, always keeping my eye out for a good deal.  Also, once or twice a day, I'll roll through the headlines on KY3.com and Google News.  Rarely do any of those headlines actually prompt me to read an article, but it does happen on occasion.

Among my online travels I spot things that I find amusing.  Sometimes I remember to screenshot them so that I can share them later.  These are some of my finds.

I've never given away a puppy before, but I understand that it may be difficult to find new homes for mixed-breed animals.  The person seeking a home for this mutt evidently thought that mentioning it's special talent might expedite the process.

The prefix 'pedi', meaning foot, in combination with the word 'stool' does make sense, I guess, if these were footstools.

This generous fellow is either giving away a very scary mattress or trying to dispose of evidence from a crime scene.

This was a review for the Christian movie "God's Not Dead 2". Though doubtful that this reviewer even watched the film, he doesn't hesitate to criticize it, which wouldn't be out of the ordinary or at all humorous except for the fact that he/she states within it "Don't criticize those whom do not share your opinion" yet, by criticizing a Christian film he/she disagrees with, that is exactly what this so-called reviewer is doing.  (I also smiled at their improper usage of the word 'whom'.)

You'd have to have read the article about Jay Nixon's defense of his vetoes above to get why I am amused by this.  The proximity of these two articles was the source of the humor.  One of Nixon's vetoes was a bill that would require state-issued IDs to be shown at the polls in order to vote.  The second article here was about voter fraud where an unknown person(s) had turned in an undisclosed amount of forged voter registrations altering the addresses of already registered voters.  This would prompt new voter registration cards to be sent to these new addresses where their recipients could use the cards to vote in addition to their legitimate voter registration card.  A photo ID requirement would obviously block this.  Nixon's defense of his veto was "there is not a documented case of the type of voter fraud the bill aims to stop".

I'm pretty sure this guy meant to type FPV for first person viewer goggles.  I don't think anyone has invented human papillomavirus goggles.

This was from our dinner last night.  I'm a numbers guy and so when I find instances of electronics making mistakes in calculations I can't help but be incredibly amused.

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