The controversy still swirls around whether or not Christopher Columbus should be remembered/celebrated.
I don’t know about you, but I am content with Columbus Day. Call me old school if you like.
It has been suggested to call this day instead “Indigenous People’s Day”.
Columbus was a slave trader, according to most of the published history of his travels, and even in the late 1400s, slave trading was not approved by everyone…even the queen, who returned his gift of 50 slaves to her.
How can one impose today’s beliefs on something that happened over 500 years ago?
Most working folks still have to work on this day; only government, post office, banks, and certain huge corporate concerns give the day off to employees.
For the rest of you, it’s downhill to Thanksgiving..or again if you’re lucky, you get Veteran’s Day off. Again, few regular folks get that off as well.
I am wondering if my two-bit trash company will take the day, and thus make me wait again for a later pickup date.
I spent some time yesterday in the shed. I replaced the throttle position sensor in the pickup. I have not had it on the road yet, but there is a certain piece of mind that comes with preventive maintenance.
I found my favorite screwdriver, a magnetic Vaco with multiple bits that fit nicely into the handle. I thought I had lost it, but it was right where it left it in the primary tool box.
I also found a corroded negative terminal on the battery, which I cleaned up with a piece of crocus cloth.
I worked on the KDX too, putting a zip tie on one of the gas containers for the rear shocks that had lost its rubber band. The rubber bands are available for $80…fuck that.
I was going to remove the carb, and realized that the rubber boots that attach to the carb from the reed valves on one side, and the air filter box on the other side, were cracked slightly.
I seem to remember on my old KDX that yanking the carb just meant loosening the circle clamps around the boots, and just pulling the carb past them.
Given that this bike is 40 years old, I am looking at a harder alternative by removing the filter box, so I can pull the carb out and away from the jug, without damaging it.
The carb will likely only need one cleaning to clean out the old gas left inside it, so I want to do it right.
I did kick it some and it popped and ran a few seconds before dying, even with fresh gas. I noticed that the carb still overflows as my guess is that the needle and seat in the Mikuni float bowl carb is goopy.
The wife had another episode last night where she went to the toilet, and had some kind of seizure.
I heard her go into my bathroom, and something fell down as she reached for the garbage can to throw up in. Her speech slurred and incomprehensible, her eyes went wide open and glazed, body rigid, and limbs limp as she breathed through the saliva that had gathered in her mouth. She was unresponsive to my voice, and I had to hold her from falling between the toilet and the wall.
As usual, she recovered somewhat after a minute or two, and I got her back to bed with a cold cloth on her head, where she went back to sleep.
All the doctors just shrug “dunno”…”see the receptionist on the way out.”
“That’ll be $35, and we’ll bill your insurance company $235…NEXT!”
And they wonder why people “go postal”.
I think I’ll fill the rest of my .556 NATO mags today.
