August 30, 2009 by Ceolwulf.

So yesterday I finally got the WRX out of my garage, although certainly not in the way I would have liked.

Here is what I gave:

and here is what I got:

+ a bit of cash.

So as you know I’m used to a bit of refinement in my machinery.  The bike of course is a precision instrument by nature.  The WRX was laser-accurate, pulled like a train once the boost came on, and felt generally hewn from solid.  The Q45 is heavy, silky smooth in every detail, and has a revvy V8 that sounds glorious at 6500rpm.

This thing … feels like Dad’s ‘49 Ferguson tractor by comparison.

Guy at work was trying to convince me that once I’d tried some serious off-roading I’d be completely sold on the idea, but, I just don’t know.  I think driving a tractor at a steep angle is still driving a tractor.

I guess it’s a nice enough truck though?  The only truck I’d had was the rusted-out ‘87 Nissan 2WD that I bought in an emergency (and ended up driving for nearly two years, after which I sold the remains of it for $500.  The wheelarches had considerable additional clearance versus the factory spec.  Yay all-natural free mods) and you can’t really compare.  This one is a four-cylinder with a manual.  I think it’ll feel a whole lot better once I get that nasty squeaky cap off there (anyone want to buy a cap?  It’s a very nice cap!).  That is causing a lot of unnecessary noise.  On the other hand it would be nice in winter, to keep the box clear of snow and ice.

Anyway it’s already got for sale signs on it.  Should be easy to sell.  Lots of people seem to like these things.  But I’m not one of them.

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August 23, 2009 by Ceolwulf.

How can you handle the flood of updates on this blog???  I’m sure I don’t know how I manage.

Anyway, things have been happening.  Among these things is the acquisition of a power velocipede, as follows:

This was a long process, starting with buying the bike in June and then waiting for half of Manitoba to get their act together.  First I had to wait for the bike to be convinced to actually run, since it had been sitting for three years.  Then after we got it I had to wait for the new rider’s course because the one I had wanted to go to was full up so I had to schedule it later.  Then when that was done and I officially had my learner’s license, I had to wait for Morden Motorsports to find time to bring it in.  That took a few days, so then I brought it in and commenced waiting for a rear tire which was on back order.  They’re good guys at Morden Motorsports, but they don’t seem to talk to each other at all, so it was a bit hard to pin down what was happening, but eventually it transpired that the tire might eventually show up but certainly not right away and no-one knew just when.  So I got tires via mail-order, which entailed - yep, more waiting.  As soon as they showed up I brought them to the shop and they had them on the same day.

At first I limited myself to cruising slowly around town (yes, it is in fact possible to ride a bike like this slowly), and lately I’ve been out on the highways more.  Today was the first time that I did something approaching “sport touring”, which in this case consisted of only about a hundred kilometers, out to the valley south of Darlingford and back.  I took some pictures.

Not very good pictures, as you can see.

Oh, that’s another subject.  I’ve done virtually no photography since last year sometime.  Not sure why - just wasn’t in the mood for it.  I guess I’ve been a bit down much of the time.  Lately though I thought that surely it seemed a great waste to throw this away, and resolved to pick things up where I left off.  However the other decision I came to was that I was completely fed up with waiting two or three weeks to see what I’d actually taken.  Processing film is a serious nuisance these days.  So I’ve been selling off my manual gear and have purchased a Pentax K20D.  No lenses yet but I have a 17-70 f/4 Pentax on order.  So you may soon expect to see my name under most of the pictures that are actually worth seeing.  (right …)

And one more thing: set your sundials to remind you of the weekends (what, you don’t have sundials with multiple alarms? you really should upgrade.) because for the foreseeable there will be an update here every weekend.  Maybe more, but not less.  I also have a new road bike (Campy!) to natter on about, among other updates, and various existential angst and other rubbish.  So look forward to a fine post every Sunday night to help you start a good night’s sleep.

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