Latest Happenings
   This web page is now over five years old.  While I try to keep it fresh, I also have a life and am not a computer nerd.   I get a surprisingly large amount of views considering what an obscure little part of the web this is.  So, I thought that a good addition would be a page telling the latest things.  This is that page.
May 2008, I now have a motorcycle.  No it is not a mid-life crisis, thank you very much.  Just a good deal.  She is a 2004 Harley Sportster Roadster, 1200cc.  I laid it down on my leg the third day I had it pulling out through the compound.  Limping around behind my kids while on vacation in Madrid convinced me to get a lowering kit to correct the silly high center of gravity that is the design flaw of the Sportster.  That did the trick.  Next I am upgrading the chrome.  It is a lot of fun.  Judy likes riding it as well.  This adds to the fun as I like being that guy with a cool ride and a hottie on the back.
   In Qatar, the locals hate buying anything used.  This bike had 1000km on the speedometer so that means that the last guy barely rode it.  It still cost me about half what you would pay in the USA or Europe.  It is actually the first Harley I have ever owned.  I could never justify the cost before and quality has much improved since the company went employee owned. 
  There are fancier bikes out there, but the Sportster hasn't really changed in overall look for fifty years.  The engine has changed and there are the nice updates like a dependable electric start but I like that old school look and simplicity to it.  Everyone has their own idea in their head how a motorcycle should look.  For me, this is it.
November 2008.  I now have a mean truck.  The first real truck I ever owned was an International Harvester Scout, something like this.  So ever since, that has been my mental ideal of a truck.  The Land Rover Defender General Service Military model comes pretty close to that and you can actually get parts for it.  Also, I think military vehicles are just awesome.  See this page for a look at the vehicle in general.  Mine is a 1990.  The Qataris would not be seen dead in such a monster and so I got it for a song, even though it only has 24000km on it.  There is some work to be done.  It needs new tires and the lack of air conditioning in a Gulf country is a real problem that needs to be looked into.
   The girls love it even though they all seem to understand that it is kind of a guy thing.  Some interesting facts about the beast:
1) Beastly as it is, it is only a four cylinder.  There is a V8 version, but militaries prefer the fuel efficiency of this model.
2) It is decommissioned Qatari military, thus the reason it was so lightly used.
3) The wierd panels on the side (both sides) Are intended to hold standard military petrol      cans, two on each side.  The accomodate Krispy Kreme doughnut boxes perfectly  perfectly.  However, they are just a little too small in area for a Popa John's large pizza box.  Medium is okay, but who buys those?  Being kind of practical, I will eventually fill them with tools and stuff.
4) The former owner knew so little about it that he didn't understang that the fitting on the hood was to hold the spare tire.  He had the spare tire in the back and told me that the fitting was a gun emplacement.
5) The Land Rover Defender is one of the world's last hand built vehicles.  You can take the thing apart with siple hand tools, no unibody.  Plus for over two decades, year after year it was virtually unchanged, giving you a lot of spare parts availability.  I love once again having a vehicle that when I look under the hood, I know what everything in there does.  I can do everything from overhaul the engine to changing out the rear axle.  It is mechanically tough and simple.

   I am at heart a simple person.  In terms of vehicles, all I have ever wanted was a mean truck and a cool motorcycle.  Now I have those things and right now, as I write this, life is really, really good.