Hey, Battered, and TANC Project

Hey All!

Been AWOL again. Work has been very slow and I have been off work for a full month. I really have to find some work here soon. Even looking outside the construction industry.


Battered and Bruised!

Found this article today about the guy that should have never messed with this ex-boxer. I love these kind of stories! Story here...


TANC Project info

If your not informed about the TANC transmission product then here is what it's all about..

In a nut shell, some of the larger (and not so large like Redding Utilities) have gotten together and are trying to put 2 more 500kv electric lines through the North state. they claim that it will help with bottlenecks and that they are going to tie into "Green" energy. What it's basically all about is that they are trying to get some of the Obama stimulus money and in reality, there is no plan for an "Green" energy to tie into.

The proposed lines are going from Santa Clara to Ravendale and stopping. We have been fighting it for sometime. If you live anywhere in our valley, you could be affected by this project.

There are three proposed routes that are all on the valley floor. If you end up on one of the routes, you may have to have high power line towers on your property. Don't like the idea of that? Tough! they are planning on taking the property they need through Imminent Domain. Yo will be paid a small price, and they will put towers on your land, and you will have to live under these lines. Your property values will drop significantly and you will be stuck.

DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOURSELF OR YOUR NEIGHBORS!

Come out and helop the fight, or at least get informed. There will be a meeting in Redding at the Cascade Theater on July 8 at 5:30 PM. There is also plans for another meeting in Red Bluff later in the month.

If you need more info in this travesty, you can get it at this website or you can leave me a comment here and I'll get back to you.

Still MIA, Ansel Adams

Sorry all, still MIA. But now back in town and ready to do some blogging here soon.

A quick quote from one of my favorite photographers...

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter." - Ansel Adams

Another Day in Berkeley, Car stuff, Work

Still working down here, though getting closer to finishing. Currently sitting in a Peet's Coffee shop hammering their Internet and having a cup of decaf so I do get ballistic on the Berkeleyites.

Finally picked up a couple of small jobs in town. Haven't had much of that in awhile.

Not much else going on right now. I have some good car show photos from the Corning car show that I have to get off my camera and onto the blog. It's a nice little car show that I like to attend. Will be heading to the Restomods in Reno show next month. I have never been to that one, so I'm looking to go. Plus the ride to Reno/Tahoe should be a fun one in the Cobra.

Need to do some repairs on the Cobra here soon. One of my door lock actuators went bad and need to replace it. Got a window motor getting bad also. And possible will be doing a clutch in the near future. Always something...

Working, Car parts and Car show weekend

So I have been back working in Berkeley (hence the reason I have the Berkeley photos) and have been working on the Lobby of the Hotel Shattick Plaza, which is a large hotel remodel.

Here is a photo of part of the lobby we are working on. The white and black checkerboard is white marble and black granite. Should look pretty nice when it's done.




Been doing some work on the Cobra. Has some stuff polished and installed new performance rotors and brake pads. Made a big difference in braking power. Got a smoking deal on a set of cryo treated rotors on Ebay. Still can't understand how the guy can sell them that cheap, but I'm not going to complain. Here is a photo of what they look like...





Previously, I mentioned that I went to Knotts Berry Farm to a huge car show last weekend as well as a show and shine and a photo shoot of a friends car that will be in Muscle Mustang magazine. I will be posting photos of this in the days to come.

Here is one that I took when I visited the Kenne Bell shop in Rancho Cucamonga on Monday. They built the supercharger that is on my car. I parked my Cobra in front of their shop and snapped a few photos.

Back, More Berkeley Fun and some Car Stuff

So I'm back! I hope I can get back into the swing of things and post here daily if possible. I have lots of material and photos to share that I have been collecting as of late.

So, getting back into it, I have a new installment of "Only in Berkeley!" We will start out with this photo that I took of a business that had just moved.





But as I pull back with the camera, this is what someone decided to add to the scene...





And for all my car and truck friends, here is a video of a way cool Ford lightning sent to me by my friend Billy in Colorado Springs.







That's it for today. I have some really good photos from a giant car show I went to over the weekend at Knotts Berry Farm with over 1700 cars! Stay tuned...

Sorry all, new notebook,

I have been long gone from my blog as of late. I will try to make it up to you with some photos and stories here soon.

Been working out of town and have been busy.

I am going to try and put an RSS link here on the blog so everyone can just subscribe to it and then you will be able to get updats without having to check with the blog all of the time. Should be a good addition.

I purchased a new notebook a couple of weeks ago. It an HP Pavilllion dv-7 and seems to have all of the bells and whistles that a person would need. It's my first Windows Vista machine, although I have set up one or two for other people. I like Vista so far, but it seems a bit bloated and memory hungry. But wioth 4GB of RAM, a fast SATA hard drive and Vista 64bit, it seems to run good.

Don't give up on me. I'll be back here with some new stuff.

Frank

Weather, Only in Berkley and Why I carry a Gun

The weather has been incredible. It's the middle of January and it was near 80 degrees the last couple of days. Soon the crawly creatures and flowers will be out and I can ply my skills at macro photography with my new Nikon 60mm micro Nikkor lens. Bring it on!


While in Berkley this last time for work, I spied this interesting graphic scratched into the concrete around the corner from the job. While this isn't the only city you might see it in, it certainly could be seen "Only in Berkley!"

(click photo to enlarge)

I visited with a friend, David who has a technology business in Corning called California Technologies He also does photography using Nikon equipment as I do. We were doing some testing with external flash units and wireless connections. I have to say, the Nikon flash units work very well. I am thinking of getting another flash so I can use the wireless function for some portrait work and off camera macro work.


I got this in my email a couple of days ago and thought it was good.

Why I Carry a Gun

My old grandpa once said to me, "Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he becomes too old to take an ass whoopin'.

I don't carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don't carry a gun because I'm angry. I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to Heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because, unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don't carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

"Police Protection" is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves. Police do not protect you from crime; they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'."

Remember the average response time to a 911 call is over 4 minutes.
The average response time of a 357 magnum is 1400 FPS.

Weather, Freak of Nature and Valkyrie

The weather has turned bad today. Rainy and gloomy. Not much fun when you have a day off. The forecast is for a bit clearer Sky's tomorrow, but I'm not sure if I will have the day off to do anything fun. We shall see...

I had a few photos sent to me by one of my friends. I thought this one was interesting. I have seen albino deer before, and there is actually a strain of white dear. But I have never seen one like this whitetail buck in my life! Freak of nature, or something that is more common than most think? who knows...

(click photo to enlarge)


Over the weekend I went to the movies and seen Valkyrie with Tom Cruise. Since I have not studied World War II, I was not aware of this story, or the other 14 attempts of Hitler's life.

The movie was good, and the story line (based on a true story) was well written. I thought Tom Cruise did a good job in the movie. The sets and wardrobe were excellent also. Venture out to see it if you like this type of movie.

Photo Gear, Ninjas, and Drag Racing

I finally got around to getting a new camera bag. It's a Lowepro Nova 5. About 3 times the size of the bag I originally had been using. Much more room and protection for my gear. A couple of cool features with this bag is that it has a built in rain flu that you can pull out of a hidden pocket and cover the bag in case of inclement weather. The rain fly stays attached to the bag so you can't loose it. It also has built in belt loops in case you feel the need to install it on your belt (it's much too large for that) or buy Lowepro's harness set and wear it like a fanny pack, which may work okay. Here are a couple of shots of it...

click photos to enlarge




A friend sent me this photo today and I thought I would share it. You have to be carefull these days as Ninjas are everywhere!



A few months back I went to the Redding Drag Strip to try my hand at drag racing. I have always wanted to try it, but never had the opportunity. Now that I have a car that is worthy, I gave it a try. While the car is worthy, I'm not as a driver. But I had a blast, and that's why I went.

Here you will see me and my teal Cobra running against a friend with his black 03 Mach 1. Can't wait until the track opens again for the street legal drags and test and tune nights...