#the first time I used the newly rebuilt model

[haethel]

The Aviators - Garrett (Thief 2014)

Garrett rerigged from model by Tokami-Fuko; Music: The Aviators by Helen Jane Long; Motion: Theater Terepushikora by MeganeMishin; Stage: 穹窿ステージ Ver.1.1 (Kyuryu stage Ver.1.1) by まきがね (Makigane); Skydome: Scenery 10572 by btabc; Workingfloor2 ver0.0.8 by 針金P (wire P); Primal poppy taken from Thief Wiki; AdultShader by Elle / data P; dDarkShader ver.0.50β (Carol) (includes multiple light source effect by Bimuman P); Lighter OverBright AS013 Shaders by Spakaford1; MMD Falling Feathers by Spakaford1; ObjectLuminous by Beam-man; Other effects (authors unknown): NightFog, BlackOut3, XDOF, CheapLens

[rathologic]

hey, i’m doing Whumptober with Clara, and some of the fics i’m working on require information on the Town, and you seem to know a lot about it!

for now, my first question is just: what do you think the Town does for fires? because it doesn’t seem like they have a firefighting team. do you think they just have to let it burn and hope it doesn’t spread?

(also idk how many questions i may have to ask, but if you don’t want to hear this nonsense, just lmk!)

neat, best of luck with your writing! I'll add to this if I come across any more lines that are relevant (it turns out they say "fire" and "burn" a LOT during this game, so this is mostly off the top of my head...)

IMO, we get lots of firefighting implications from the fact that post-infected districts are burned during the plague! it's mentioned early on that "only patrolmen and couriers are in the streets" (before other parties, such as the arsonists who want to burn the entire town, and the sanitary corps who want to burn the entire town, show up) -- I think it can be inferred if it's not explicitly stated somewhere that the patrolmen are managing controlled district burns. that practice is likely to have continued since at least the first outbreak, after which the Crude Sprawl was burned to the ground and rebuilt.

the demarcations vary by district, but much of the town has cobblestone or gravel ground cover; buildings aren't packed together, and they're generally made of stone, brick, and tile. there are also lots of grassy areas and yards, but scythes exist in the town and I imagine it'd be doable to create firebreaks with the tools at hand. patrolmen also accept Combustible Fluid in trade, which could mean anything but I like to think they use it :-) some wall textures pictured

in terms of firefighting during non-plague times, we have this from Rubin's portrait quote about Saburov:

Alexander is a hero. When fire broke out in the Skinners, he took a pike pole into his own hands to break into burning houses, save people, and put out fire.

we're told that saburov is in charge of organizing the patrolmen during the game, but we're also told that the size of the standing patrol force is very small; it's a volunteer force, and saburov in the above quote is acting as a volunteer (and role model). this suggests that there's at least a sense of community responsibility about fire response...

the (destruction of the) water supply is a big thing in 1, but for firefighting purposes river water would be fine, and we know the Town is not lacking in buckets -- still, we know there's a newly installed town-wide irrigation system in 2, and an expansive sewer system in 1 which extends everywhere except the Earth district. the middle town in particular has these taps/hydrants all over the place:

bonfires are also maintained on the outskirts of town - they seem like permanent constructions, but during the game they're used as signal fires to warn anyone approaching not to enter the town. implies to me some level of attending the fires as they're in the grassiest part... we can also see community relevance of fire in the fact that meat and fish are smoked for preservation, the burning of biological waste (applying to human remains in both games), the use of torches for lighting in Kin cultural areas and kerosene/oil lamps and candles elsewhere, and the fact that the town was constructed after the previous settlement burned down 80 years ago. so I think it's pretty reasonable to assume they're prepared to deal with wildfire :-)

TL:DR firefighting: probably managed by the volunteer patrol, probably by extension under saburov's responsibilities as governor

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

I was wondering if you have any fic recs where Peter ends up being the Alpha after the fire and since he's in a coma, Laura and Derek have to stay in Beacon Hills. I think its an interesting story idea and was curious if there are any fics like that already written :) thank you!!

Hi anon. @kevaaronday found these for you. They're not exactly but she found some close.

Stained Glass Windows by KouriArashi

(85,525 | 19/19 | Mature | Petopher) Peter survives the fire and suddenly finds himself trying to raise children with only a vague notion of what he's doing, while trying to cope with his own grief and find his family's murderer. He ends up turning to Chris Argent for help, and nothing goes as expected.

The Alpha and the Pack by penumbria (40,325 | 3/3 | Teen) It has been five and a half years since Peter Hale woke up as an Alpha with a pack of pre-teen, newly bitten wolves, a spark, and a banshee. Derek Hale hears rumors of a Hale Alpha in Beacon Hills. Stiles struggles with his powers and their origin. Scott is falling for the daughter of an infamous hunter family.

I Was Broken Until you Fixed Me by WaitASecondWhat (17,472 | 2/2 | Teen | Petopher) Peter was laughing and happy one second and then slammed with the alpha spark the next. He has to learn how to take care of Laura, Derek and Cora, after his whole family is killed in an ‘accident’. He had to juggle going to college to be a good role model, getting a job, and trying to find who murdered his family. And of course, his history teacher is none other than Chris Argent. 

Kind of a first season rewrite

the small steps that others can't see by thatfizzyfeeling (16,860 | 2/2 | Mature) But the day finally comes after Peter’s been Alpha for nearly six months that his eyes open and he tracks Derek around the room. His eyes settle on blue and his throat works around the tube, rasping something that sounds like ‘water’, might be ‘what’, could be ‘wait’. Derek barely has time to blink at him, startled, before his eyes are closed and he’s gone again.

In which Derek goes back for Peter and they begin to heal together.

From Ashes Rebuilt by ambersagen (12,882 | 1/1 | Teen | Steter) “You shouldn’t be alive,” Stiles finally admitted. He sounded sorry, smelled like anxiety and hunched in on himself as he fell back from Peter to land in the dented chair. “I heard the doctors telling your niece. She wasn’t quiet about it, and no one cares if I’m around anyway so I heard the whole thing, about your burns. I snuck in to see you.”

“Like a sideshow freak,” Peter sneered, starting to understand.

“Like a miracle,” Stiles corrected.

With Mars Bars, Snickers and Skittles by FeelingsDusk (5,681 | 1/1 | Gen | Steter) Peter wakes up one year and almost ten months after he managed to drag himself out of the burning Hale house to find the remaining members of his family tired, worn down, stressed and downright miserable.

The situation is unacceptable and he won't stand for it.

Echoes of Mischief by FailWolf (4,437 | 1/1 | Explicit | Steter) Peter was happy to be alive, and out of his coma. He was even used to being the Alpha he was never meant to be.

But he really could do without the obnoxious little shit who kept trapping him in mountain ash circles.

[itracing]

Walter Röhrl & the Porsche 924 Carrera GTS Rally

On the 40th anniversary of the 1981 rally season, the Porsche Heritage and Museum department surprised the two-time World Champion Walter Röhrl with the newly restored 924 Carrera GTS from back then. Together with his co-driver Christian Geistdörfer, Röhrl achieved four overall victories in the gold-and-black 924 "Monnet" in the 1981 German Rally Championship. It was the first and only rally season that Walter Röhrl competed for Porsche.

Vehicle faults caused problems for the Porsche team in the first of 7 races, the Metz Rally in May 1981, but the performance was still good enough to finish in 2nd place in the overall standings. Röhrl & Geistdörfer were then victorious in the Hessen Rally, & 3 more wins followed in the Serengeti Safari Rally, Anterior Palatinate Rally & Baltic Rally. In 1982, the “test 924 GTS” was handed over to the Porsche museum. Recommissioning of the museum piece took place in the same location where the car was built 40 years ago: in the historic racing department in Weissach. The goal was to preserve the traces of time and the special stages on asphalt & gravel.

Most expensive production Porsche of all time

The basis of the rally car, the 924 Carrera GTS, was the most expensive car in the model range in 1981 with a price of 110,000 marks, a price tag that also made it the most expensive production Porsche of all time up to that point. With the Carrera models from the 924 series, Porsche proved that the transaxle concept could also be successful in motorsport. The 924 Turbo (Type 931) provided the basis for further development. The enhanced 924 Carrera GT (Type 937) with 210 PS was presented in June 1980 and was homologated for Group 4. Its more powerful development version was the 924 Carrera GTS (Type 939). The standard GTS delivered 240 PS and the Clubsport variant 275 PS, while the GTR designed exclusively for race track use achieved an output of 375 PS. The production runs remained small: between February and April, 50 left-hand-drive 924 Carrera GTS were built, all painted in the color Guards Red. Including all prototypes, a total of 59 cars were produced.

Test car No. 5

The 924 Carrera GTS Rally built on 12 December 1980 was also one of the pre-series vehicles, and was the fifth of nine prototypes built. The installed two-liter four-cylinder turbo engine was also a test unit: it was an engine without serial number that survived a complete rally season without damage in 1981, and still propels the black-and-gold 924 to outstanding performances in 2021. It has 10,371 kilometers on the clock today. The focus of recommissioning was ensuring complete originality down to the very last detail and also preserving the car’s patina. Even the slightly sun-faded red seat belt harnesses under the large glass dome are still the originals. A large R is embroidered on the harness on the driver side, and the combination CG on the passenger side: Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer.

The patina must be preserved

Apart from wearing parts, a number of chassis components and the fuel supply system, the existing components were overhauled, rebuilt and installed again without exception during the recommissioning process – from the original 911 Turbo brake calipers through to the charge-air cooler with hand-welded housing. An endoscopic examination of the engine and connected KKK 26 turbocharger did not produce any findings, while the gearbox was dismantled and checked for safety reasons, but showed hardly any signs of wear. What is more, the Porsche Museum workshop had a race clutch in stock to complete the drivetrain, and the supplier Pirelli also had a set of tires in the size 255/55 R15 with the tread from the time.

The car still bears the handwriting of those who built it. When carrying out the work, the Weissach specialists were able to call on the experience, know-how and complete vehicle documentation of a former colleague: Roland Kussmaul, test driver, engineer and a rally driver himself, had built the car within two months for the German Rally Championship in 1981, while Schmidt Motorsport from Nuremberg was responsible for service work during the race outings. The special features of the 924 in rally trim included the rear-axle links laminated in glass-fiber plastic as protection against stone damage, thick metal plates on the underbody as protection for the oil pan and gearbox, as well as the fuel distributor from the V8 engine in its big Type 928 relation, which ensured the fuel supply to the engine at high engine speeds. The dry sump for the oil supply was located at the rear and was filled through an opening next to the luggage compartment lock.

Maximum secrecy

“The biggest problem in recommissioning the car,” says Kuno Werner, head of the museum workshop, “was not the technology, but keeping it secret.” The plan was that the 924 Carrera GTS should turn up at the front door of the two-time World Rally Champion on his 74th birthday. “But Walter Röhrl knows so many people here that it was difficult to keep the project secret.” But the rally revival was completed successfully: Together with Roland Kussmaul, the team from the Porsche Heritage and Museum department surprised Walter Röhrl with the roadworthy “Monnet” Porsche. “It was a huge surprise for me. I stepped out of the car 40 years ago and haven’t sat in it again since. So I was astonished when Roland showed up all of a sudden in this car,” said a delighted Walter Röhrl. “This car opened the door to Porsche for me. That is why I feel a particularly close bond to it. For me, it’s a journey back in time. I immediately feel 40 years younger.”

Turbocharging was new 40 years ago. And also unaccustomed, as Röhrl remembers when driving on the roads of his usual route through the Bavarian Forest. “As a driver of cars with naturally aspirated engines, the characteristics of turbocharged engines drove you mad. The turbo lag was enormous. In order to drive out of bends quickly, you already had to accelerate again shortly before the bend and keep the engine speed high.” The newly formed Porsche team did not expect that they would really have any chance against the established competition in 1981. Just finishing was the primary objective. “But the car was fast right from the start. At the beginning we had around 250 PS, later also more – but the strengths of the 924 were its handling and traction, not the power. And everything kept working. That is typical for Porsche.” The surprise was a great success.

[jcmorrigan]

blakeworther- I personally I love your hc’s so much- any au’s or anything ya got for them? I really wanna know more about what goes on.

This was once again a BAD QUESTION TO ASK

Aside from the Skyward Sword AU, which I never went back to again, there’s only one AU that I like for Blakeworther, which is the AU that I like for everything ever. I’m not even sure I consider it a true AU, even though it absolutely is. So, okay, I have this thing called the WHAM ARMY, which is a massive crossover group of my favorite villains (led by the eight who make up the acronym but this ain’t about them). Obviously, because Victor, Vincent, and Albert are all pretty firmly villains (even if they lean “those weird morally bereft people we end up being friends with somehow”), I want them to join the WHAM ARMY. So my thoughts for them here are pretty much how they’d react in a multicrossover setting, which of my other villain loves they’d get along with, and what the intro arc is for them. Keep in mind I haven’t gotten here in the fanfic yet, so some of this could change in practice, but here are my plans right now.

Cringe ahead.

-They aren’t the originals. I want to make something that doesn’t trip over canon’s current trajectory, even though I don’t know exactly where canon is going, so what happens is that Vexen (Kingdom Hearts) is going to rebuild the three of them as replicas, since he can easily find memory cores for Victor and Vincent in Myers’ storage rooms and there’s just going to be an Albert core there for no reason.

-Vexen then pulls some Chain of Memories magic and restricts the memories they have access to. They will only remember things we have literally seen in VTSOM/TWDAK, and then I can have him release more of their memory banks to them as we get more chapters. (Even if they all three get redemption arcs, my replica versions can stay little shits!)

-He DOES NOT tell them that they’re not the originals! For all they know, they fell asleep at the last day they remember and woke up here. But they figure it out on their own despite his best efforts. They still want to get their memories back anyway so they know what the people they were replicated from were like and have a framework to build their personalities from.

-Yes, of course they’re cyborgs! Cyborg replicas. Since they’re operating by KH rules, they prooooobably don’t need to eat human meat? But also I like when villains do fucked-up things and I have jokes about the others packaging “cyborg chow” to embarrass them so maybe they still do engage in a little cannibalism, as a treat

-Each was engineered with a different specialty. Vincent’s is raw physical strength; he can walk into a gunfight without even needing a weapon and still have a chance of winning. Victor’s arms have been upgraded to hold a variety of cannons; he’s the team sniper. Albert is the team “mage”; he can conjure Dream Eaters. In this AU, TWDAK Dream Eaters and KH Dream Eaters are basically the same thing. Albert has mastered a strange art of being able to draw Dream Pieces out of the Realm of Sleep and implant them in physical forms of creatures in the waking world, creating his army. They look like they do because he hates the pastel aesthetic of KH Dream Eaters and redesigned his personal ones to look more fitting with his aesthetic. He’s also a speedster.

-The intro mission involves Vexen attempting to track down a newly-rebuilt Xion (this AU is divergent from KHIII) in Radiant Garden so he can bring her back under his control with some brainwashing. I’m also bringing in the Tsviets as past experiments of Vexen’s, so he’s basically pitting his newer models of experiment against his old ones.

-The party he already has built by this point is going to be Demyx, Simon Laurent (Infinity Train), Tsumugi Shirogane (DanganRonpa), skekSil (The Dark Crystal), and a couple other people I haven’t hinted at instory yet and don’t quite want to spoil. But Simon, Tsumugi, and skekSil will all also be Vexen’s creations - Simon and skekSil are replicas and Tsumugi is an android.

-Vincent, Victor, and Albert wake up for the first time, and while Vincent and Victor remember each other as friends, they’re just like “And why is our nemesis from RMU also here?”

-Albert probably fights with Vincent for dominance of the trio and I’m not sure which one of them is the trio leader at this point.

-I moved Nine Bean Hill from World of Final Fantasy to Radiant Garden because Radiant Garden needs a coffee shop and first of all, thanks to Hunger Games Simulator fuckery, my friends and I have an in-joke about Vincent Edgeworth having an eternal grudge against Dunkacino, so I’m going to use the coffee shop to reference this somehow without having to put actual Corporate Brainwashed Al Pacino in this ‘verse

-But also I like to think Lann and Reynn play a lot of bubblegum pop, so catch Victor and Albert dancing to the PA like idiots and then getting Demyx, skekSil, and Simon in on it while Vincent and Vexen are like “Oh God why are these our friends”

-(There are reasons this particular Demyx goes by a different name instory and it’s weirding me out to type “Demyx” for this post)

-Without spoiling too much of the arc, there IS a part where Blakeworther beats up the Tsviets, there IS a part where they battle the Anima summon from FFX and win, and there IS a part where despite all of this, Xion kicks their asses across the city

-They go through this mission seeing each other as partners and friends (though Vincent and Albert are reluctant to use the “friend” word at first), but after they all get back to base, they’re just...suddenly overwhelmed with the fact that they’re strangers in a strange land missing half their memories.

-They room together, and they end up crawling into the same bed for solidarity reasons. This is actually where I first envisioned the “rough day” sleeping position - Vincent and Victor are chest-to-chest, then Albert just snuggles in behind Victor and the other two are like “Okay, we’re gonna just let this happen” and Vincent and Albert touch at one tangent point where their arms cross.

-The days might get a little rougher after they realize they aren’t even the originals.

-Eventually they assimilate into the chaos house with no problem.

-Vincent tends to hang out with the party poopers of the house. Especially Mozenrath (Aladdin: The Animated Series). (P.S. If there are any VTSOM fans out there who also know the 90s Aladdin TV series...I CAN’T be the only one who noticed the surface similarities here, right?)

-Victor Blake and Roman Torchwick (RWBY). Oh, God, this is the hell duo. They’re party animals who love to dance and drink and dance drunk. It was not a good idea to let these two redheads meet.

-Albert and Neopolitan (RWBY)! They both love stabbing people and Victorian button boots! I actually kinda have this idea that they would pick up more fucked-up serial killer types to hang out with them - Mad Madam Mim (The Sword in the Stone) is their patron despite being a much tamer example, but Albert also decides he really likes Scaramouche (Samurai Jack), Junko Enoshima (DanganRonpa), and Jerome Valeska (Gotham).

-For a real deep cut, Albert also opens up a joint Dream Therapy office with Dr. Cheshire Broach (Crypt TV). It’s either called “Krueger & Broach” or “Broach & Krueger” depending on how long it takes either to notice that the other moved his name to the front of the sign again. You should ABSOLUTELY not trust either of these men to give you legitimate therapy (though if you’re good friends with them, they can and will use their dreamon powers to help you best your nightmares in a bloody fashion).

-Actually this ‘verse is the entire reason I thought of them doing drag karaoke to “United We Stand” by Amberian Dawn because the WHAM ARMY is all about karaoke, drag, and any combination of the two

-I haven’t decided yet if their romance will be a slow burn or a faster affair. I’m expecting them to tell me as I write out the fic. But I think in a lot of respects, it’s going to be more of a friends-to-lovers story than their original forms had. The three of them are forced to become an elite cyborg warrior unit created by the same mad scientist, they had a big bonding mission together where they became ride or die (whether or not they want to admit it), and eventually...we can start revealing that they’re CATCHING FEELINGS.

-The WHAM ARMY has many, many power couples and ships of various numbers of people but Blakeworther ends up becoming yet another POWER THROUPLE around base, and it’s understood that messing with one of them will earn the wrath of the other two

-They go on to assist in many, many missions with the purpose of taking over various worlds and kingdoms and just fucking them up

-Vincent Edgeworth will kill the TBTC equivalent of Dunkacino

You have to understand that TBTC is my hyperfixation to end all hyperfixations. Every piece of fiction I touch ends up related to it in some way. At some point the majority of how I interact with Blakeworther is going to be through this AU. I’m just a sucker for crossovers and villains having a place to be bros and party.

[megwaynebrundell]

Back to the Burt Feb 2019

Oreti Beach New Zealand (8 Feb 2019)

Readers of this blog will recall that in Aug-Oct 2016 Megan and I took Meg's Australian based Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 to Europe along with 47 other Australian registered Moto Guzzis. Including pillions, more than 60 of us took off from Melbourne bound for the Netherlands where we picked up our bikes and toured.  On that occasion Megan and I travelled some 10,000 kilometres across Western Europe and most of those kilometres were not quick efficient kilometres on autobahns but rather meandering back roads so we really got to appreciate Western Europe and enjoy the bike and each other.

 I declared at that time that it was the best holiday I had ever been on.  Megan and I enjoyed the motorcycle tour of Europe so much that on the day we were obliged to return our black Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 to its container bound for home in Melbourne that we purchased a red Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 in Europe to leave in Europe so that we could repeat the pleasure of touring Europe on a classic old Moto Guzzi annually.

 The Black Lemans on which we toured Europe 2016 (22 Sep 2016)

The sad day we packed the black lemans up to send her home after spending our best holiday yet riding her around Western Europe. (27 Sep 2016)

After sadly packing away the black lemans we cheered ourselves up by buying the red lemans to leave in Europe so we could continue the best holidays ever for years to come.  (27 Sep 2016)

Given our enthusiasm for the 2016 trip with its high point of celebrating the 95th birthday of Moto Guzzi at the factory on the shore of Lake Como at Mandello del Lario, it is hardly surprising that when Teo Lamers advised he was organising a tour last year (February 2018) of New Zealand that Megan and I again loaded the black Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 into a container this time heading out from Melbourne Australia and bound for Auckland New Zealand.  The highlights of this tour would be riding from the top of New Zealand's North Island to the bottom of its South Island (Invercargill) where we would celebrate the Southern Hemisphere's largest Motorcycle event, the Burt Monro Challenge.

Riverton South Island New Zealand (8 Feb 2019)

Again Megan and I had a magnificent time and here is where a pattern in Megan's and my behaviour began to emerge.  As the motorcycle tour of New Zealand came to a close, Megan and I began to think of ways we could have a New Zealand based motor cycle sitting a couple of days ride from Invercargill.  Yes, if we could hatch this cunning plan, we would have not only all of our Australian based motorcycles with us here in Melbourne but we would also have two motorcycles based outside of Australia with one being in Nijmegen Netherlands near the centre of Western Europe and the other a couple of days ride from Invercargill on the South Island of New Zealand.  If this plan could come to fruition, not only would we have motorcycles on which we could tour the oldest continent of earth (Australia) but would could also have a motorcycle on one of the most highly populated and culturally and geographically diverse continents on earth (Europe) as well as that we could have a further motorcycle based in the true antipodean outpost with its winding mountain roads, glaciers, earthquakes and an old fashion culture of living and motorcycle racing that reminds me of the best of Australia during the 1970s.

 As time passed a plan emerged.  Our favourite New Zealand motorcycle racer Vince Burrell of Guzzi Café who races a 1970s round barrel Guzzi across New Zealand was moving his business to Christchurch which is located two days ride from Invercargill on the South Island of New Zealand.   Vince who is a great laconic New Zealand character whose needs in life are articulated simply in his desire to be genuine, decent and to ride motorcycles fast on a race track.  Yes Vince agreed we could store our motorcycle at his new motorcycle workshop in Christchurch New Zealand year round.  All that remained was to secure the right motorcycle.

 If past behaviour had been anything to go by we should have purchased a Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 MKV. Why not I already had three of them and clearly love the bike but somehow the conditions on the South Island of New Zealand when they spoke to me said something different.  The pace of life on the South Island of New Zealand is slower than Europe and Melbourne Australia.  Of course it had to be a Moto Guzzi but which model??? I can be very fussy when it comes to bikes and in that respect I am no different to every other motorcycle enthusiast on the planet.  I only like old bikes, being bikes which are designed before 1985 and to me they must have carburettors and be air cooled.  I realised all of these features are old dinosaurs which have been superseded, much like myself, by far better and more efficient models but my preference is my preference.

 Again it wasn't long before the 'correct' answer became evident.  New Zealand is a large archipelago with great mountains so a large reasonably reliable engine would be essential but the South Island is also a place that moves slowly (in a nice way) and harps back to bygone eras from the 60s and 70s when the world was a simpler place.  Yes, I would have the very first model Moto Guzzi which had the simple transverse twin cylinder engine and even old drum brakes.  The first model V700, it would have enough torque to transport Megan, me and our luggage but would lop along slowly in a way that would not be out of step with the slow lopping pace of life that exists in the South Island.

A good place to start, a 1968 Moto Guzzi V700.  The before shot.

Progress? 11 Aug 2018

Coming together, thanks Teo & Tony (24 Nov 2018)

A team effort, thanks Andy and Teo (1 Dec 2018)  Time is running out.

I even knew the perfect place to source this motorcycle.  I knew Teo Lamers of Yea Victoria Australia had a couple of these in his collection.  I had seen a perfect red and silver V700 there during the preceding year.

 After a discussion with Teo a V700 Guzzi was mine and given the need for this bike to be exceptionally reliable despite its age, Teo and I had agreed on a full nut and bolt restification that would see all mechanical parts of this bike disassembled and where necessary refreshed.

 Thanks Teo the result is amazing and so are you.

 Thanks to Vince of Guzzi Café, Teo Lamers of TLM and Mark Townsen we would have a New Zealand based beauty awaiting us in Christchurch.  The only thing we could now do to make the New Zealand Guzzi experience better would be to share it with great friends.

Ready to be shipped to New Zealand and just in time for the Burt Munro. (6 Jan 2019)

The longest close friendship that I have enjoyed during my lifetime is the relationship I have with my younger brother Daryl.  Daryl is almost four years younger than me and since we were both able to speak in early childhood we have both had an informal and sometimes formal pact to annoy and irritate those around us to our own selfish amusement.  It is true we have been detested by many over the years for this trait but it is also many others have loved us and enjoyed watching our craft.  I also owe Daryl because it was he who introduced me to Megan all those years ago.

Not only have I enjoyed a great relationship with Daryl over the years but also back in the eighties when we were young Daryl married Arlene who also became a great friend to Megan and me. Since that time we have lived in proximate neighbourhoods and our current houses even adjoin each other's. All four of us grew up together having similar aged children who socialised and went to school together. Even now our 30 year old daughters are currently sharing a house.  Our friendship has been a true lifetime relationship.

The final and significant point to our relationship with regards to this blog is that Daryl and I share a passion for motorcycles and more particularly Moto Guzzis  In fact Daryl already had a 1968 V700 Moto Guzzi. So the next step was clear.  We would invite Daryl and Arlene to relocate their 1968 V700 Moto Guzzi with our 1968 V700 Moto Guzzi at Guzzi Café in Christchurch New Zealand.  Vince Burrell of Guzzi Café agreed and the deal was done.  Let the Buccaneering Brundells Big Bash across the Tasman begin.

Buccaneering Brundells at the airport. 3 Feb 2019

There is that book which everyone has heard of but few people have actually read called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  I fall into this category where I imagine I practice the art but really I have never read the book so have no idea if that is true.  To me the idea of the book is the pleasure I get playing around with my old classic motorcycles keeping them on the road and in the process of doing that I push all the pressures of modern day life out of my head.  While I ride and maintain our stable of classic old motorcycles there is no space in my head to worry about the pressures of life including what others think or what is happening at work or with finances etc.

This trip falls into this category.  As we ride our bikes from Christchurch to Invercargill we need to iron out those little niggles that beset bikes which are older than 50 years but have many new components fitted.  Are all the recently installed nuts and bolts still tight?  It is common for rebuilt old motorcycles to vibrate a few nuts and bolts loose as the bikes bed in.  For us the newly installed points inside my bike's distributor did what points often do when they are new and that is they close up faster than normal as the felt block settles in.  For me this caused the bike to run very roughly and unevenly.  The unevenness was exacerbated after running out of petrol as this bike has no reserve (I found out the hard way) and presumably the carbies picked up some dirt from the bottom of the fuel tank.  The bike was running terribly and it appeared we would not make Invercargill for the Burt Munro Challenge.  Would we be stranded on the side of the road?  At first I thought maybe I had the choke in the wrong position as the Italian bike has two settings on the choke being A and C.  A meaning aperto or open and C meaning chiuso or closed.  I started to doubt which was open or closed and as the bike ran marginally better with the choke aperto I left it on for a while.  This improved the situation a little but a texting communication with Teo confirmed that when the engine is warm the choke should be chiuso.  So I closed it but the bike ran worse and at times it could not even sustain speeds of 70 kilometres per hour.  At first I cleaned the carburettor float bowls where I found sediment and in the left hand carburettor even lumps of rubbish.  After a couple of cleans it began to improve but it wasn't until I got to Invercargill that Teo suggested I check the points.  Of course, new points have a tendency to close more quickly when first installed. It has been so many years since I have had a car or bike with old fashion points and I had forgotten how quickly they wear out or simply require adjustment.  I opened the points and the problem was resolved quickly.

Side of the road repair to Daryl’s bike.  Makeshift gear lever. (10 Feb 2019)

The other early feature of the bike which needed to be ironed out was the propensity which became evident immediately after we took off for the first time.  The bike had an unnerving weave at speeds below 15 km/h. At first I was very concerned but it quickly became evident that the issue disappeared above 15 km/h.  My first attempt at diagnosis was tyre pressure and readers of this block will recall the issues that initially beset Megan and me when we took off in Holland 2016 with an almost unrideable bike. Once tyre pressure was ruled out I recalled that I had left the rear suspension settings on the softest setting while riding the bike two-up with a lot of luggage most of which is up high and out the back in the top box.

 I upped the suspension rating and the problem reduced significantly although did not disappear altogether. At speeds below 15 km/h it would be little more than an unnerving inconvenience.  Later I also realised that the new Ikon rear shock absorbers installed on the bike had a preload setting which I later also changed, again things improved but some weaving is still present below 15 km/h.  Oh well, something for me to work on over time.

The four of us hanging out at Oreti Beach (8 Feb 2019)

[multiverseforger]

Fictional character biographyEdit

Machine Man, whose real name is Z2P45-9-X-51, was the last of a series of sentient robots created at the Broadhurst Center for the Advancement of Mechanized Research in Central City, California, by robotics expert Dr. Abel Stack for the US Army. However, all previous 50 experimental robots went mad as they achieved sentience and became psychotic, due to a lack of identity. X-51 was the only survivor, as he was treated as a son by Stack and given a human face mask as well as being exposed to one of the monoliths from 2001. After Stack died trying to protect him, X-51 assumed the human name Aaron Stack and escaped confinement, only to be relentlessly pursued by the army. X-51 named himself Mister Machine in issue #9 of the 10-issue run of 2001.

While on the run, the newly christened Machine Man initiated contact with humanity in order to better understand it.[5] After being captured and later freed, Machine Man was found by psychiatrist Peter Spaulding. He also battled Col. Krag's troops.[6] Soon after that, he first encountered Curtiss Jackson.[7] Alongside the Hulk, he battled Curtiss Jackson.[8] Soon after that, he was redesigned and rebuilt by Dr. Oliver Broadhurst.[9] He then first encountered the Fantastic Four.[10] He then met mechanic "Gears" Garvin, and then battled Baron Brimstone.[11] He also battled Madame Menace (Sunset Bain).[12] He then first encountered Aurora, Northstar, and Sasquatch of Alpha Flight.[13] Spaulding and Garvin set up Machine Man with a human identity as Aaron Stack, insurance investigator for the Delmar Insurance Company,[14] but he continued having adventures as a superhero on the side.[volume & issue needed]

In Iron Man #168 (March 1983), Machine Man attempts to pay Iron Man a visit. Machine Man was seeking to compare notes with Iron Man, thought to be a robot by Machine Man. At the time, Iron Man was drunk, irate, and under considerable stress from the machinations of Obadiah Stane. Iron Man attacked Machine Man and almost killed two of his own employees. At the last possible second, Machine Man's extendable arm pushed them out of the way.[15]

In a meeting with the Thing of the Fantastic Four, Machine Man also first met and fell in love with another sentient robot, Jocasta. Alongside the Thing and Jocasta, he battled Ultron. However, during the battle, Machine Man witnessed the seeming destruction of Jocasta by Ultron.[16]

In 1990, Machine Man guest-starred in Iron Man Annual #11 (part of the "Terminus Factor" storyline). That story created strong hints that the 2020 Machine Man may turn out not to be the true X-51, but instead a duplicate created by Sunset Bain. The story concludes in Thor Annual #15, also in 1990.

He later fought alongside the Avengers,[volume & issue needed] which led to the invitation to become a team reservist.[volume & issue needed] Later he was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., who wanted to use his technology to create another Deathlok. He helps the X-Men and Douglock against the villainous Red Skull, who had taken over the Helicarrier where Machine Man was held.[17]

He helped the X-Men again against Bastion and his Sentinels.[volume & issue needed] As a consequence, he was infected by Sentinel programming, assuming a more robotic look in the subsequent series X-51, and losing self-control whenever he was faced with a mutant. During this series he was on the run from Sebastian Shaw, who wants his technology for himself. Because of his new programming, while seeking aid from the Avengers, he attacks Justice and Firestar. Because of his actions against Justice and Firestar, X-51's membership in the Avengers is revoked. At the end of X-51, X-51 encountered one of the monoliths and disappeared, brought into the presence of the monolith's creators, the cosmic beings known as the Celestials.[volume & issue needed]

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.Edit

Main article: Nextwave

Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's Nextwave series sees Machine Man join a team formed by the Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, or H.A.T.E. (a subsidiary of the Beyond Corporation©) to fight Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction.[volume & issue needed] Now preferring simply to be called Aaron, Machine Man is partnered with Monica Rambeau, Tabitha Smith, Elsa Bloodstone, and The Captain,[18] and the team soon discovers that H.A.T.E. are funded by the Beyond Corporation©, leading them to go rogue and carry out their mission on their own prerogative.[volume & issue needed]



Aaron Stack

Calling humans "fleshy ones" and expressing a degree of pride in his "roboty parts" — which he uses to kill Fin Fang Foom[19] — Aaron has developed a fondness for alcohol, stating "My robot brain needs beer" on regular occasions. He is not especially popular with his teammates because of his self-important attitude, and, as is learned in a flashback that after being brought to space by the Celestials at the conclusion of his previous series, he was dumped back on Earth because the space-gods considered him to be a "complete and utter ☠☠☠☠."[20] ("☠☠☠☠" representing an unspecified, but extremely offensive, profanity throughout the Nextwave series) He appears to have a rather serious attraction to Elsa Bloodstone and stares at her chest constantly, much to her chagrin.

It is revealed that, when still an agent of H.A.T.E, Aaron would often sneak into Dirk Anger's room to steal beer until he found out what Anger made it out of ("I thought Lizard Squeezings was a brewery name.").[21] He later uses his knowledge of Dirk's quarters to steal Anger's mother's dress and hold it hostage in exchange for the safe escape of Nextwave.[volume & issue needed]

Later appearances in the Marvel Comics Presents mini-series (vol.2) suggest that X-51's memories of his time with the Celestials may be skewed, as he experienced visual hallucinations (?) of a miniature Celestial helping him overcome his psychological issues.[volume & issue needed]

The InitiativeEdit

Main article: Fifty State Initiative



Aaron with his Monica Rambeau LMD. Art by Adriana Melo.

Machine Man appears in a flashback to Iron Man (vol. 1) #168 (March 1983) in Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War. In trying to convince Captain America of the rightness of his position, Iron Man tells of the time Machine Man came to visit him. Machine Man was seeking to compare notes with Iron Man, thought to be a robot by Machine Man. Drunk, irate, and under considerable stress from the machinations of Obadiah Stane, Iron Man attacks Machine Man and almost kills two of his own employees. At the last possible second, Machine Man's extendable arm pushes them out of the way. Iron Man uses this incident as the need for accountability in the superhero population.[volume & issue needed]

Aaron and Sleepwalker are recruited to aid Ms. Marvel in finding her teammate Araña as part of a S.H.I.E.L.D. strikeforce known as Operation Lightning Storm.[volume & issue needed] In the promotional cover for this appearance, he is in the costume which he wore during Nextwave.[22] His appearance is entirely in keeping with Nextwave: he wears the same costume and displays the same nonsensical and zany personality developed, in place of his previous logical and friendly self. He reveals that Agent Maria Hill from S.H.I.E.L.D. offered him financial compensation to join the Initiative, enraging Ms. Marvel, who had supported it from the beginning, for free.[volume & issue needed] He spends much of his time in Chile and aboard the Minicarrier 13, Ms. Marvel's headquarters at the time, antagonizing and criticizing every available agent.[volume & issue needed]

In addition to financial compensation, S.H.I.E.L.D. has also provided Aaron with a Life Model Decoy of Monica Rambeau, which is programmed to cry for him.[23] Keeping him in his new role of comic relief, Aaron has been shown using the LMD body as a replacement part for his damaged body, going so far to offer womanly advice to a deeply shocked Araña.[24]

Marvel ZombiesEdit

Main articles: Marvel Zombies 3 and Marvel Zombies 5

See also: Marvel Zombies (series)

Machine Man appears twice in the Marvel Zombies universe, initially in a cameo as part of the Nextwave team who engage in battle against the infected heroes and are killed off panel in Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness, and as the main character in Marvel Zombies 3. As the main character, Machine Man accepts an assignment on behalf of A.R.M.O.R. to accompany Jocasta to retrieve a blood sample from a living human from the Marvel Zombies universe, and the two are transported there by Portal.[25] At first he wants to complete his mission only for the money, until he discovers that the zombies are cloning humans for food, much as humans use his fellow robots only for their own needs. He obtains cell samples from the Kingpin's wife Vanessa, who is still alive and being kept safe by the Kingpin.[26] Machine Man delivers the samples to Jocasta, but the zombies nearly destroy him in retribution, and Portal and Jocasta are forced to leave his ruined body in that dimension.[27] After Machine Man reveals that it was a holographic projection of himself, he fights off some zombies and captures the zombie Lockjaw who he uses to teleport back to his own dimension. Disposing of the remaining zombies within the facility, Machine Man and Jocasta are assigned back to S.H.I.E.L.D.[28]

He retains his personality as displayed in Nextwave and Ms Marvel in this series, however when Jocasta describes him as different from the person she once knew, he gives an explanation. Describing his earlier, friendly personality as being linked to "unresolved Oedipal issues", he claims to have grown tired of saving people over and over again to earn their love, as he loved them. Since that never happened (he claims), he has "modeled myself after the fleshies now. I look out for Number One, just like them".[29] However, at the end of the series, as he wipes out the last remaining zombies, he declares, "No, you know what? My name is Machine Man and I just saved the ☠☠☠☠ing world!" accepting the name he spent much of Nextwave and this series denying.[30]

In Marvel Zombies 5, he teams up with Howard the Duck. They later work with and befriend Jacali Kane, daughter of an alternate-universe Hurricane. The trio travel the multi-verse fighting zombies; their intentions are to gather samples from biologically differing zombies in other to gain a cure.[31] He is dismayed by Jocasta's decision to marry Ultron.[32]

Working with Red HulkEdit

Under orders from Captain Steve Rogers, Machine Man teams up with Red Hulk, who is tracking down a Qatari rebel named Dagan Shah (whom Red Hulk believed to be behind the death of his old friend Will Krugauer).[33] Machine Man and Red Hulk arrive in Sharzhad where they find Dagan Shah in the disguise of Arabian Knight, who lets them through the force field and leads them to his palace. Once inside the palace, Dagan Shah sheds his disguise, reveals his true identity as the Sultan Magus, and imprisons Red Hulk and Machine Man, as it is shown that the real Arabian Knight is imprisoned in a crystal.[34] Red Hulk and Machine Man escape when Sultan Magus travels to Cairo after probing Red Hulk's mind to find out who could have sent Red Hulk to Sharzhad. Machine Man reveals to Red Hulk that Sultan Magus has used Rigellian technology to manipulate hydrogen, which involved providing a supply of water and terraforming a part of the desert for Sharzhad. When Sultan Magus returns, he attacks Red Hulk and Machine Man. Sultan Magus rips Machine Man in half.[35] When Arabian Knight is freed from his imprisonment, Red Hulk and Machine Man continue their fight with Sultan Magus until General Reginald Fortean arrives and ends the fight. Fortean states to Red Hulk and Machine Man that Sharzhad has been recognized as a nation by the Arab League upon Sultan Magus agreeing to stop the weapons trading and states that they are trespassing. Sultan Magus then orders Red Hulk and Machine Man to get out of Sharzhad while he secretly plans to have his revenge on Red Hulk someday.[36]

Following an altercation with Red She-Hulk, Machine Man and Red Hulk track Zero/One to her floating island base Ogygia. As Red Hulk and Machine Man are fighting Zero/One's genetically-engineered sea monsters, Zero/One sends Black Fog to fight Machine Man and Red Hulk.[37] Using a device given to him by Jacob Feinman, Machine Man disables Zero/One's drones and frees Black Fog from Zero/One's control as Black Fog leaves the area, stating that his debt is paid.[38]

Machine Man and Red Hulk arrived in Hawaii to fight a genetically-engineered Hydra that was created by Zero/One.[39]

Marvel NOW! (2016)Edit

As part of the 2016 Marvel NOW!, Machine Man appeared as an employee of Umbral Dynamics.[40] Machine Man later appears as a member of Domino's incarnation of the Mercs for Money.[41]

During the "Iron Man 2020" event, Machine Man appears as a member of the A.I. Army.[42] Machine Man was assigned to blow up the satellite dish on Baintronics only for his feelings towards a reprogrammed Jocasata to get in the way.[43] He followed her to a Baintronics facility and fought through many of the X-series robots that came before him. When he finally catches up to Jocasta, he is taken down by a new X-series robot model named X-52.[44] Despite being at a disadvantage, Machine Man defeated X-52 and beheaded Jocasta while making off with her still-active head. Though he ran into a Baintronics security personnel as he prepares to fight them.[45

[ajoraverse]

Another thing that, well, I’ll probably have to either retool or ditch. Beta AU side-story draft, taking place pretty much immediately after the last published one.

The Rose Quartz Project

The threat of red supergiant expansion and the ensuing shockwaves had chased gems off the first colony nearly eight hundred thousand years ago, for not even the sturdiest gem or their technology could survive it. The threat triggered the search for what would eventually become Homeworld, and only Homeworld's rejects returned to the first colony when it was safe to do so. They returned to a broken, burnt-out world and did their best to rebuild. Save for a few determined souls, no gem of means or worth to Homeworld would bother with it.

The temple in which representatives from the unsung pillars of gem civilization gathered was one of the few rebuilt and still well-maintained on the first colony, though much of its masonry retained scorch marks and low levels of background radiation from the sun's red giant phase. Nullification shields protected the interior from radiation flare-ups from the white dwarf remnant of the sun, making it more or less safe for occupancy.

On the way to the temple, each ancient visitor stopped at the mausoleum that housed the remains of the Great Maker and the entombed shards of the first few gems to pay their respects. The foundation stones, footings, and all wall stones cracked or shattered by the tidal forces generated by the sun's expansion had been replaced with similar masonry long ago by some unknown bismuth, and the only evidence that anything had happened was an inscription on a nearby plaque. Supposedly the interior was entirely reconstructed with materials from the new colonies, but Peridot felt too undeserving to enter the mausoleum and see for herself.

It had been tens of thousands of years since Kindergarteners last gathered like this. Peridot Facet-1F2 Cut-2AA had only been to a meeting once before, and that had been when she was newly minted as a Kindergartener and her mentor introduced her as her successor. Supervisors pretended not to notice when they traveled en masse to the first colony, and no one questioned what happened at the gatherings. Half of that was out of respect for arcane professions, half of it was out of a habit with origins long forgotten by most gems.

Peridot had gone alone and politely declined or redirected any questions regarding her new pearl's whereabouts. After all, the pearl would have been a novelty and distracted from the research issues at hand. They were here for business, not gossip.

Four peridots gathered around the small table set in the center of one of the four rooms of the temple. Four groups of gems for the four pillars of Homeworld society: peridots produced gems and maintained mechanical systems, bismuths built structures, anorthites provided physical labor for jobs no other gems would take willingly, idocrases wrote the programming that kept their technology functioning. Sixteen gems in all. There had always been sixteen, for the number was tradition. It represented the double magic number of oxygen-16. Eight neutrons and eight protons in the nucleus. Exceptionally stable. Oxygen-16 was a primary product of stellar evolution, formed by stars exclusively from hydrogen. Peridot thought the reasoning was a bit esoteric, maybe a bit pretentious, but she was hardly going to make an issue of it. She was the youngest and least respected of the sixteen gems, well aware that she had her position only because her mentor liked her and saw some potential in her that she never understood, and she certainly had no business questioning anything.

The eldest peridot--not the first, for the first had been shattered by White Diamond eons ago for too many instances of challenging her--spoke in the slow, sonorous tones of epochs as she discussed the new injector models, their improvements and problems compared to older models, recommended practices, and so on. As if she was reading strata and had hit a unconformity, she switched topics abruptly to orders from the Diamonds: larimars would be discontinued until further notice. They were finally deemed obsolete and production on them halted until a better use could be found for them.

Peridot said nothing, though she did do her best to ignore the regret starting to swell within her. She had enjoyed the process of making larimars. They were tricky, requiring cooled lava beds or igneous intrusions into limestone injected into just so and at a slower rate than typical, but lovely all the same. She had taken pride in the fact that all the larimars she made were perfect.

Still, it was not her place to speak up.

The eldest peridot opened the floor for discussion over some little detail of pressure requirements for beryls. Peridot remained silent, because ultimately the scales over which they were arguing were inconsequential in light of the fact that they could not control the native matrix to the extent their thought experiment required. There was only so much a Kindergartener could do with the geology of a given site.

Finally, after what seemed like entirely too long spent dithering over the tiniest of details, the discussion turned to the fact that Pink Diamond was expressing interest in starting a colony. Again. Peridot almost disregarded this, but Yellow Diamond's peridot seemed more certain that something was going to happen this time around. Yellow Diamond was hardly one for futile gestures, and certainly not one to order an exoplanet survey in another galaxy entirely without first having a plan for the results. The younger of the two White Diamond peridots mentioned that Pink Diamond would probably want a properly themed court, and euhedral pink quartzes were such a pain to produce well while still maintaining a degree of quartz sturdiness. Their colors were too prone to fading in sunlight, they did not handle extreme heat well, and an amethyst was more useful. And wasn't it a shame that the fibrous rose quartzes had been discontinued hundreds of thousands of years ago?

That brought Peridot up short. The issue with fibrous rose quartzes was that the dumortierite-like borosilicate fibers that gave rose quartzes their color also had the unintended side-effect of instilling a degree of independent thought and capriciousness that was unwelcome in quartzes. It was for similar reasons that blue quartzes had also been discontinued before Peridot's time: their coloration was caused by the same ilmenite inclusions that made Peridot off-color, but at concentrations so high that they could barely function in their assigned roles. But if they could tame those fibers...

"Why can't we file a proposal to reinstate rose quartz production for Pink Diamond?" Peridot asked at last, once she managed to find an opening.

"My Diamond discontinued rose quartzes because they started getting ideas," the younger White Diamond peridot, Peridot Facet-3C Cut-416, said in that superior air of hers. Peridot 416 certainly didn't like her and took every opportunity to needle her. "Those inclusions only ruin what might be a perfectly fine gem."

Peridot recognized the jab, for her own inclusions were no secret to them, and spoke before she could fully process it. "All the studies suggest that the problem with the inclusions was that the Mark was never programmed to take them into account. If we can establish pre-defined parameters for the Mark to build along those inclusions, we give them a purpose beyond simply getting in the way of Mark pathways developed in the crystal lattices. We can use those inclusions to program additional skillsets, or--"

"It doesn't matter." Peridot 416 sneered, making her wish she'd never spoken up. "They'll still be off-color."

The eldest peridot lifted a hand to stifle the argument. Peridot 416, who looked as if she wanted to continue, bit back whatever was on the tip of her tongue and settled back onto her stool. Peridot 2AA tried not to wring her hands under the table. Speaking up had been a mistake.

"There is no mineral that is completely free of impurities. It is the same with gems." The eldest peridot turned her attention to Peridot 2AA, who felt as if she was being examined. "We used to be more accepting of off-colors than we are now. For this reason, I agreed to allow Peridot 4DF's apprentice to take her place among us. Now then. You were talking about skillsets?"

Peridot started with a stammer that was so bad that she bit the side of her tongue. She took a breath and tried again. "I--I tested a hypothesis with the help of Idocrase Facet-9Z Cut-3GN: that the Maker's Mark can be reprogrammed to repair minor fractures in gems with the assistance of a mineral-rich liquid medium. The documentation is on the research network under the Gem Development Studies heading. The first few attempts on dud gems worked well, so I repaired my pearl with it. My pearl reports no lingering pain from the fractures, so I am confident in concluding that the experiment was a success. I thought, perhaps we can program the Mark to build repair nanobot factories within those inclusions. It's a simple adjustment in the programming--"

"Why go through all that effort when it's just easier to inject a new gem?" Peridot 416 asked, her expression almost bored and dismissive. "We already have suitable injection formulas and materials, we don't need to play around with the software just because we can."

Yellow Diamond's peridot leaned over the table towards Peridot 2AA. "Fascinating. Does the alteration of the gem's chemical makeup with new mineral latticework change the pearl's behavior any?"

"I... I really wouldn't know. The fractures were small enough not to be immediately noticeable." Peridot hadn't really thought on what side-effects might occur from replacing missing minerals. "I doubt it would be much different than having a few small inclusions."

[annnd this was supposed to go on to the elder WD peridot taking the idea to WD because Peridot 2AA has little real standing, having the project eventually passed to PD and approved despite WD's disagreement, and eventually result in the entire cut of rose quartzes having some ability to heal.

Buuuut, lol, PD = RQ so oh well]

[glass-kilimanjaro]

Hugh Everett

Hugh Everett III was born in 1930 and raised in the Washington, D.C. area. Everett's parents separated when he was young. Initially raised by his mother (Katherine Lucille Everett née Kennedy), he was raised by his father (Hugh Everett Jr) and stepmother (Sarah Everett née Thrift) from the age of seven.

At the age of twelve he wrote a letter to Albert Einstein asking him whether that which maintained the universe was something random or unifying. Einstein responded as follows:

Dear Hugh: There is no such thing like an irresistible force and immovable body. But there seems to be a very stubborn boy who has forced his way victoriously through strange difficulties created by himself for this purpose. Sincerely yours, A. Einstein

Everett won a half scholarship to St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. From there, he moved to the nearby Catholic University of America to study chemical engineering as an undergraduate. While there, he read about Dianetics in Astounding Science Fiction. Although he never exhibited any interest in Scientology (as Dianetics became), he did retain a distrust of conventional medicine throughout his life.

During World War II his father was away fighting in Europe as a lieutenant colonel on the general staff. After World War II, Everett's father was stationed in West Germany, and Hugh joined him, during 1949, taking a year out from his undergraduate studies. Father and son were both keen photographers and took hundreds of pictures of West Germany being rebuilt. Reflecting their technical interests, the pictures were "almost devoid of people".

Princeton[edit]

Everett graduated from the Catholic University of America in 1953 with a degree in chemical engineering, although he had completed sufficient courses for a mathematics degree as well. He received a National Science Foundation fellowship that allowed him to attend Princeton University for graduate studies. He started his studies at Princeton in the mathematics department, where he worked on the then-new field of game theory under Albert W. Tucker, but slowly drifted into physics. In 1953 he started taking his first physics courses, notably Introductory Quantum Mechanics with Robert Dicke.

During 1954, he attended Methods of Mathematical Physics with Eugene Wigner, although he remained active with mathematics and presented a paper on military game theory in December. He passed his general examinations in the spring of 1955, thereby gaining his master's degree, and then started work on his dissertation that would (much) later make him famous. He switched thesis advisor to John Archibald Wheeler some time in 1955, wrote a couple of short papers on quantum theory and completed his long paper, Wave Mechanics Without Probability in April 1956.

In his third year at Princeton, Everett moved into an apartment which he shared with three friends he had made during his first year, Hale Trotter, Harvey Arnold and Charles Misner. Arnold later described Everett as follows:

He was smart in a very broad way. I mean, to go from chemical engineering to mathematics to physics and spending most of the time buried in a science fiction book, I mean, this is talent.

It was during this time that he met Nancy Gore, who typed up his Wave Mechanics Without Probability paper. Everett married Nancy Gore the next year. The long paper was later retitled as The Theory of the Universal Wave Function.

Wheeler himself had traveled to Copenhagen in May 1956 with the goal of getting a favorable reception for at least part of Everett's work, but in vain. In June 1956 Everett started defense work in the Pentagon's Weapons Systems Evaluation Group, returning briefly to Princeton to defend his thesis after some delay in the spring of 1957. A short article, which was a compromise between Everett and Wheeler about how to present the concept and almost identical to the final version of his thesis, was published in Reviews of Modern Physics Vol 29 #3 454-462, (July 1957), accompanied by an approving review by Wheeler. Everett was not happy with the final form of the article. Everett received his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton in 1957 after completing his doctoral dissertation titled "On the foundations of quantum mechanics."

After Princeton[edit]

Everett's attendance marked the transition from academia to commercial work.

Upon graduation in September 1956, Everett was invited to join the Pentagon's newly-forming Weapons Systems Evaluation Group (WSEG), managed by the Institute for Defense Analyses. Between 23–26 October 1956 he attended a weapons orientation course managed by Sandia National Laboratories at Albuquerque, New Mexico to learn about nuclear weapons and became a fan of computer modeling while there. In 1957, he became director of the WSEG's Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. After a brief intermission to defend his thesis on quantum theory at Princeton, Everett returned to WSEG and recommenced his research, much of which, but by no means all, remains classified. He worked on various studies of the Minuteman missile project, which was then starting, as well as the influential study The Distribution and Effects of Fallout in Large Nuclear Weapon Campaigns.

During March and April 1959, at Wheeler's request, Everett visited Copenhagen, on vacation with his wife and baby daughter, in order to meet with Niels Bohr, the "father of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics". The visit was a complete disaster; Everett was unable to communicate the main idea that the universe is describable, in theory, by an objectively existing universal wave function (which does not "collapse"); this was simply heresy to Bohr and the others at Copenhagen. The conceptual gulf between their positions was too wide to allow any meeting of minds; Léon Rosenfeld, one of Bohr's devotees, talking about Everett's visit, described Everett as being "undescribably stupid and could not understand the simplest things in quantum mechanics". Everett later described this experience as "hell...doomed from the beginning".

However, while in Copenhagen, in his hotel, he started work on a new idea to use generalized Lagrange multipliers for mathematical optimization. Everett's theorem, published in 1963, relates the Lagrangian bidual to the primal problem.

In 1962 Everett accepted an invitation to present the relative-state formulation (as it was still called) at a conference on the foundations of quantum mechanics held at Xavier University in Cincinnati.[16] In his exposition Everett presented his derivation of probability and also stated explicitly that observers in all branches of the wavefunction were equally "real." He also agreed with an observation from the floor that the number of branches of the universal wavefunction was an uncountable infinity.[16]

In August 1964, Everett and several WSEG colleagues started Lambda Corp. to apply military modeling solutions to various civilian problems. During the early 1970s, defense budgets were curtailed and most money went to operational duties in the Vietnam War, resulting in Lambda eventually being absorbed by the General Research Corp.

In 1973, Everett and Donald Reisler (a Lambda colleague and fellow physicist) left the firm to establish DBS Corporation in Arlington, Virginia. Although the firm conducted defense research (including work on United States Navy ship maintenance optimization and weapons applications), it primarily specialized in "analyzing the socioeconomic effects of government affirmative action programs" as a contractor under the auspices of the Department of Justice and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.[17] For a period of time, the company was partially supported by American Management Systems, a business consulting firm that drew upon algorithms developed by Everett. He concurrently held a non-administrative vice presidency at AMS and was frequently consulted by the firm's founders.

Everett cultivated an early aptitude for computer programming at IDA and favored the TRS-80 at DBS, where he primarily worked for the rest of his life.

Later recognition[edit]

In 1970 Bryce DeWitt wrote an article for Physics Today on Everett's relative-state theory, which evoked a number of letters from physicists. These letters, and DeWitt's responses to the technical objections raised, were also published. Meanwhile DeWitt, who had corresponded with Everett on the many-worlds / relative state interpretation when originally published in 1957, started editing an anthology on the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. In addition to the original articles by Everett and Wheeler, the anthology was dominated by the inclusion of Everett's 1956 paper The Theory of the Universal Wavefunction, which had never been published before. The book was published late in 1973, sold out completely, and it was not long before an article on Everett's work appeared in the science fiction magazine, Analog.[16]

In 1977, Everett was invited to give a talk at a conference Wheeler had organised at Wheeler's new location at the University of Texas at Austin. As with the Copenhagen visit, Everett vacationed from his defense work and traveled with his family. Everett met DeWitt there for the first and only time. Everett's talk was quite well received and influenced a number of physicists in the audience,[16] including Wheeler’s graduate student, David Deutsch, who later promoted the many-worlds interpretation to a wider audience.[16] Everett, who "never wavered in his belief in his many-worlds theory",[18] enjoyed the presentation; it was the first time for years he had talked about his quantum work in public. Wheeler started the process of returning Everett to a physics career by establishing a new research institute in California, but nothing came of this proposal. Wheeler, although happy to introduce Everett's ideas to a wider audience, was not happy to have his own name associated with Everett's ideas. Eventually, after Everett's death, he formally renounced the theory.[16][19]

Death and legacy[edit]

At the age of 51, Everett, who believed in quantum immortality,[6][20] died suddenly of a heart attack at home[9] in his bed on the night of July 18–19, 1982. Everett's obesity, frequent chain-smoking and alcohol drinking[9] almost certainly contributed to this, although he seemed healthy at the time. A committed atheist,[6] he had asked that his remains be disposed of in the trash after his death. His wife kept his ashes in an urn for a few years, before complying with his wishes.[6] About Hugh's death his son, Mark Oliver Everett, later said:

I think about how angry I was that my dad didn't take better care of himself. How he never went to a doctor, let himself become grossly overweight, smoked three packs a day, drank like a fish and never exercised. But then I think about how his colleague mentioned that, days before dying, my dad had said he lived a good life and that he was satisfied. I realize that there is a certain value in my father's way of life. He ate, smoked and drank as he pleased, and one day he just suddenly and quickly died. Given some of the other choices I'd witnessed, it turns out that enjoying yourself and then dying quickly is not such a hard way to go.[21]

Of the companies Everett initiated, only Monowave Corporation still exists (in Seattle as of March 2015). It is managed by co-founder Elaine Tsiang, who received a Ph.D. in physics under Bryce DeWitt at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before working for DBS as a programmer.

Everett's daughter, Elizabeth, died by suicide in 1996 (saying in her suicide note that she wished her ashes to be thrown out with the garbage so that she might "end up in the correct parallel universe to meet up w[ith] Daddy"),[22] and in 1998, his wife, Nancy, died of cancer. Everett's son, Mark Oliver Everett, who found Everett dead, is also known as "E" and is the main singer and songwriter for the band Eels. The Eels album Electro-Shock Blues, which was written during this time period, is representative of these deaths.

Mark Everett explored his father's work in the hour-long BBC television documentary Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives.[23][24][25][26] The program was edited and shown on the Public Broadcasting Service's Nova series in the USA during October 2008.[27][28][29] In the program, Mark mentions how he wasn't aware of his father's status as a brilliant and influential physicist until his death in 1982.

[juniperpublishers-robotics-blog]

The Review of Reliability Factors Related to Industrial Robo- Juniper Publishers

Abstract

Although, the problem of industrial robot reliability is closely related to machine reliability and is well known and described in the literature, it is also more complex and connected with safety requirements and specific robot related problems (near failure situations, human errors, software failures, calibration, singularity, etc.).Compared to the first robot generation, the modern robots are more advanced, functional and reliable. Some robot’s producers declare very high robot working time without failures, but there are fewer publications about the real robot reliability and about occurring failures. Some surveys show that not every robot user has monitoring and collects data about robot failures. The practice show, that the most unreliable components are in the robot’s equipment, including grippers, tools, sensors, wiring, which are often custom made for different purposes. The lifecycle of a typical industrial robot is about 10-15 years, because the key mechanical components (e.g. drives, gears, bearings) are wearing out. The key factor is the periodical maintenance following the manufacturer’s recommendations. After that time, a refurbishment of the robot is possible, and it can work further, but there are also new and better robots from modern generation.

Keywords: Industrial robot;Reliability; Failures; Availability; Maintenance; Safety; MTTF; MTBF; MTTR; DTDTRF

Introduction

Nowadays, one can observe the increasing use of automation and robotization, which replaces human labor. New applications of industrial robots are widely used especially for repetitive and high precision tasks or monotonous activities demanding physical exertion (e.g. welding, handling). Industrial robots have mobility similar to human arms and can perform various complex actions like a human, but they do not get tired and bored. In addition, they have much greater reliability then human operators. The problem of industrial robot reliability is like machine reliability and is well known and described in the literature, but because of the complexity of robotic systems is also much more complex and is connected with safety requirements and specific robot related problems (near failure situations, hardware failures, software failures, singularity, human errors etc.). Safety is very important, becausethere were many accidents at work with robots involved, and some of them were deadly. Accidents were caused rather more often by human errors than by failures of the robots.

The research about robot reliability was started in 1974 by Engleberger, with publication, which is a summary of three million hours of work of the first industrial robots–Unimate[1]. A very comprehensive discussion over the topic is presented by Dhillon in the book, which covers the problems of robot reliability and safety, including mathematical modelling of robot reliability and some examples[2]. An analysis of publications on robot reliability up to 2002 is available in Ref. Dhillon et al.[3], and some of the important newer publications on robot reliability and associated areas are listed in the book [4].The modern approach to reliability and safety of the robotic system is presented in the book, which includes Robot Reliability Analysis Methods and Models for Performing Robot Reliability Studies and Robot Maintenance[5]. The reliability is strongly connected with safety and productivity, therefore other researches include the design methods of a safe cyber physical industrial robotic manipulator and safety-function design for the control system or simulation method for human and robot related performance and reliability[6-7]. There are fewer publications about the real robot reliability and about occurring failures [8]. The surveyshows that only about 50 percent of robot users have monitoring and collect data about robot failures.

Failure analysis of approximately 200 mature robots in automated production lines, collected from automotive applications in the UK from 1999, is presented in the article, considering Pareto analysis of major failure modes. However, presented data did not reveal sufficiently fine detail of failure history to extract good estimates of the robot failure rate[9-10].

In the article11. Sakai et al.[11], the results of research about robot reliability at Toyota factory are presented. The defects of 300 units of industrial robots in a car assembly line were analyzed, and a great improvement in reliability has been achieved. The authors consider as significant activities that have been driven by robot users who are involved in the management of the production line. Nowadays, robot manufacturers declare very high reliability of their robots [12]. The best reliability can be achieved by the robots with DELTA and SCARA configuration. This is connected with lower number of links and joints, compared to other articulated robots. Because each additional link with serial connection causes an increase of the unreliability factors, therefore, some components are connected parallel, especially in the Safety Related Part of the Control System (SRP/CS), which have doubled number of some elements, for example emergency stops. Robots are designed in such way that any single, reasonably foreseeable failure will not lead to the robot’s hazardous motion [13].Modern industrial robots are designed to be universal manipulating machines, which can have different sort of tools and equipment for specific types of work. However, the robot’s equipment is often custom made and may turn out to be unreliable as presented in, therefore, the whole robotic system requires periodic maintenance, following to the manufacturer’s recommendations [14-15]. operators and robots in cooperative tasks, therefore, the safety plays a key role. Safety can be transposed in terms of functional safety addressing the functional reliability in the design and implementation of devices and components that build the robotic system [16].

Robot Reliability

The reliability of objects such as machines or robots is defined as the probability that they will work correctly for a given time under defined working conditions. The general formula for obtaining robot reliability is [2]:

Where:

Rr(t) is the robot reliability at time t,

λr(t) is the robot failure rate.

In practice, for description of reliability, in most cases the MTTF (Mean Time to Failure) parameter is used, which is the expected value of exponentially distributed random variable with the failure rate λr [2].

In real industrial environments, the following formula can be used to estimate the average amount of productive robot time, before robot failure [2]:

Where:

PHR – is the production hours of a robot,

NRF – is the number of robot failures,

DTDTRF – is the downtime due to robot failure in hours,

MTTF – is the robot mean time to failure.

In the case of repairable objects, the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), and the MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) parameters, can be used.

The reliability of the robotic system depends on the reliability of its components. The complete robotic workstation includes:

A. Manipulation unit (robot arm),

B. controller (computer with software),

C. equipment (gripper, tools),

D. workstation with workpieces and some obstacles in the robot working area,

E. safety system (barriers, curtains, sensors),

F. human operator (supervising, set up, teaching, maintenance).

The robot system consists of some subsystems that are serially connected (as in the Figure 1) and have interface for communication with the environment or teaching by the human operator.The robot arm can have different number of links and joints N. Typical articulated robots have N=5-6joints as in the Figure 2, but more auxiliary axes are possible.

For serially connected subsystems, each failure of one component brings the whole system to fail. Considering complex systems, consisting of n serially linked objects, each of which has exponential failure times with rates λi, i= 1, 2, …, n, the resultant overall failure rate λSof the system is the sum of the failure rates of each element λi[2]:

Moreover, the system MTBFS is the sum of inverse MTBFi, of linked objects:

There are different types of failures possible:

A. Internal hardware failures (mechanical unit, drive, gear),

B. Internal software failures (control system),

C. External component failures (equipment, sensors, wiring),

D. Human related errors and failures that can be:

a. Dangerous for humans (e.g. unexpected robot movement),

b. Non-dangerous, fail-safe (robot unable to move).

Also possible are near failure situations and robot related problems, which require the robot to be stopped and human intervention is needed (e.g. recalibration, reprograming).Because machinery failures may cause severe disturbances in production processes, the availability of means of production plays an important role for insuring the flow of production. Inherent availability can be calculated with the formula 7 [2].

For example, the availability of Unimate robots was about 98 % over the 10-years period with MTBF=500h and MTTR=8 hours [2].

The reliability of the first robot generation represents the typical bathtub curve (as in Figure3), with high rate of early “infant mortality” failures, the second part with a constant failure rate, known as random failures and the third part is an increasing failure rate, known as wear-out failures (it can be described with the Weibull distribution).

Therefore, the standard [17] was provided, in order to minimize testing requirements that will qualify a newly manufactured (or a newly rebuilt industrial robot) to be placed into use without additional testing. The purpose of this standard is to provide assurance, through testing, that infant mortality failures in industrial robots have been detected and corrected by the manufacturer at their facility prior to shipment to a user. Because of this standard, the next robot generation has achieved better reliability, without early failures, with MTBF about 8000 hours [16].In the articleSakai&Amasaka[11], the results of research about robot reliability at Toyota are presented. Great improvement was achieved with an increase of the MTBF to about 30000 hours.

Nowadays, robot manufacturers declare an average of MTBF = 50,000 - 60,000 hours or 20 - 100 million cycles of work [12]. The best reliability is achieved by the robots with SCARA and DELTA configuration. This is connected with lower number of links and joints, compared to other articulated robots.Some interesting conclusions from the survey about industrial robots conducted in Canada in year 2000 are as follows [9]:

A. Over 50 percent of the companies keep records of the robot reliability and safety data,

B. In robotic systems, major sources of failure were software failure, human error and circuit board troubles from the users’ point of view,

C. Average production hours for the robots in the Canadian industries were less than 5,000 hours per year,

D. The most common range of the experienced MTBF was 500–1000h (from the range 500-3000h)

E. Most of the companies need about 1–4h for the MTTR of their robots (but also in many cases the time was greater than 10h or undefined).

The current industrial practice show that the most unreliable components are in the robot’s equipment, including grippers, tools, sensors, wiring, which are often custom made for different purposes. This equipment can be easily repaired by the robot user’s repair department. But the failure of critical robot component requires intervention of the manufacturer service and can take much more time to repair (and can be counted in days). Therefore, for better performance and reliability of the robotic system, periodic maintenance is recommended.

Robot Maintenance

Three basic types of maintenance for robots used in industry are as follows [4]:

Preventive maintenance

This is basically concerned with servicing robot system components periodically (e.g. daily, yearly. …)

Corrective maintenance

This is concerned with repairing the robot system whenever it breaks down.

Predictive maintenance

Nowadays, many robot systems are equipped with sophisticated electronic components and sensors; some of them are capable of being programmed to predict when a failure might happen and to alert the concerned maintenance personnel (e.g. self-diagnostic, singularity detection).Robot maintenance should be performed, following to the robot manufacturer’s recommendations, which are summarized in the Table 1[15]. Preventive maintenance should be provided before each automatic run, including self-diagnostic of the robot control system, visual inspection of cables and connectors, checking for oil leakage or abnormal signals like noise or vibrations. The replacement of the battery, which powers the robot’s positional memory, is needed yearly. If the memory is lost, then remastering (recalibration, synchronization) is needed.Replenishing the robot with grease every recommended period is needed to prevent the mechanical components (like gears) from wearing out. Special greases are used for robots (e.g. Moly White RE No.00) or grease dedicated for specific application like for the food-industry. Every 3-5 years a fully technical review (overhaul) with replacement of filters, fans, connectors, seals, etc. is recommended.

Performing daily inspection, periodic inspection, and maintenance can keep the performance of robots in a stable state for a long period. The lifecycle of typical robot is about 10-15 years, because the wear of key mechanical components (drives, gears, bearings, brakes) causes backlash and positional inaccuracy. After that time a refurbishment of the robot is possible, and it can work further for long time. Refurbished Robots are also called remanufactured, reconditioned, or rebuilt robots.

Conclusion

Nowadays modern industrial robots have achieved high reliability and functionality;therefore, they are widely used. This is confirmed by more than one and half million of robots working worldwide. According to the probability theory, in such large robot population the failures of some robots are almost inevitable. The failures are random, and we cannot predict exactly where and when, they will take place. Therefore, the robot users should be prepared and should undertake appropriate maintenance procedures. This is important, because industrial robots can highly increase the productivity of manufacturing systems, compared to human labor, but every robot failure can cause severe disturbances in the production flow,therefore periodic maintenance is required, in order to prevent robot failures. High reliability is also important for the next generation of collaborative robots, which should work close to human workers, and safety must be guaranteed without barriers. Also, some sorts of service robots, which should help nonprofessional people (e.g. health care of disabled people) must have high reliability and safety. There have already been some accidents at work, with robots involved, therefore, the next generation of intelligent robots should be reliable enough to respect the Asimov’s laws and do not hurt people, even if they make errors and give wrong orders.

For More Open Access Journals Please Click on: Juniper Publishers

Fore More Articles Please Visit: Robotics & Automation Engineering Journal

[my-abibliophobia]

Top 18 Are you Afraid of the Dark Episodes.  (In no real order)

Top 18 Are you Afraid of the Dark Episodes.  (In no real order)

These are my top episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark. They aren’t in order it’s just the ones I liked best for various reasons. My style is as follows, I’ll give a summery of the episode and then maybe I’ll include the ending. I’ll then tell why I liked the episode, I’ll only put spoilers in if the ending is the reason why I liked the episode so much. 

Summery

My thoughts

Spoilers

 1. The Tale of Laughing in the Dark

Zeebo the Clown, a corrupt circus performer, steals money from the circus and tries to escape from the authorities by hiding in the funhouse. However, it catches fire, presumably because of Zeebo's love for cigars, and he dies. Years later, Weegee, his little sister Kathy, and his friend Josh come across the rebuilt funhouse, called Laughing in the Dark, and Weegee subsequently dares Josh to go in and he accepts, deciding to prove that he went through by finding the clown dummy, which is modeled after Zeebo, and stealing its nose. Just before Josh goes inside, a strange man oddly states "It's the most fun in the park when you're laughing in the dark." He soon learns that the legend is indeed true when Zeebo comes back for revenge to regain his stolen nose.

This is one of those shows that is a reminder of 3 things from the 1990s; 1. Clowns are scary. 2. The monster you don’t see is the scariest. 3. Once upon a time an entire family shared one phone and it was a landline, so if you heard someone pick up the line it meant you weren’t alone in your house. Eek.

 2. The Tale of the Lonely Ghost

Amanda Cameron is a bookworm teenage girl who goes to stay with her aunt Dottie and her rather spoiled and stuck-up cousin, Beth, for the summer. Beth isn't exactly friendly to Amanda and she's told that she can only hang out with Beth and her friends if she spends a night alone in the house next door, which is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a young deaf girl. Beth ends up paying the price for her cruelty when she is trapped in the mirror and it's up to Amanda to help the ghost find her mother before it's too late.

This is one of those stories that I really like since it turns out that the ghost in question was just asking for help and it has a huge anti-bullying message. Not only does Amanda’s cousin learn to be nicer but it also has a message about ableism as the little girl died as a result of bullies teasing her about her deafness.

 3. The Tale of the Midnight Madness

A movie theater on the brink of closure due in large part to a new multiplex that recently opened in town gets a revival courtesy of Dr. Vink, who offers a rare copy of the 1922 film Nosferatu for screening -- as long as they agree to show his other films one night a week. When the arrogant manager refuses to honor his deal with Vink, the Nosferatu literally walks though the movie screen and terrorizes the employees.

While the graphics used when the vampire walks out of the movie might look dated now, at the time it was very cool and the over-all idea of a monster jumping into the real word is a truly scary one.

 4. The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle

Five years ago, a boy named Ricky drowned after he and his red bicycle fell into the river when the side railing of the bridge broke. His best friend Mike tried to save him but failed. Ever since that day, Mike has felt guilty for what happened, and often had nightmares about trying to save Ricky from his demise. When Mike begins to see Ricky's ghost and the red bicycle everywhere, he believes that Ricky has come to punish him to not being able to save him. 

But when Mike confronts the ghost, Ricky tells him thanks him for being a good friend and warns him that Mike’s younger brother is about to drown in the same river that claimed Ricky. With this warning and the loan of the red bike, Mike is able to reach the river just in time to rescue his brother.

I love this story. There are some many ghost stories about revenge and ghosts that are bitter about their lives being cut short, but Ricky is different. Even thought Mike wasn’t able to save him, Ricky returns from the grave to help him and to tell him that he never blamed him at all.

 5. The Tale of the Hatching

Two siblings, Jazz and Augie, are sent to boarding school while their parents are away. They immediately notice that the school is quite different and has some rather strange rules: only calm, soothing tones are allowed inside the school and the students are given something to eat for dessert called 'spunge'. Jazz and Augie soon discover the dark secret of the school. The spunge contains a drug that hypnotizes the school children into caring for hundreds of eggs hidden in the basement. 

It is also reveled that headmaster and his wife are members of a species who have been nurturing the eggs for many years, the eggs will eventually hatch and populate the world with Reptilians. But science wins that day as Augie figures out that the reason high pitched sounds are banded from the school is because they cause the Reptilian’s brains to explode.

 Doesn’t totally make sense but it was fun to watch, like V the television series for kids. 

 6. The Tale of Apartment 214

After moving into a new apartment complex with her newly divorced mother, Stacy finds herself without any friends. Soon however, she befriends an older woman named Madeline that lives in a nearby apartment, and the two start to spend quite a bit of time together. But when Stacy breaks a promise to visit Madeline on one specific afternoon, Madeline is enraged and revels that she is ghost and comes after Stacy.

Soon after Stacy apologizes for what happened, Madeline realizes she can't prevent her from making new friends and admits that she is very lonely but doesn’t want to move on yet. Stacy suggests that she and her mother move into Madeline’s apartment.

 This makes Madeline no longer lonely as she is now like a live in grandmother to Stacy and Stacy’s mother is happy since the new apartment is cheaper as it is haunted. Though it is implied that she has no idea the Madeline is there. I liked this story since it is about honest friendship and the trials of sharing friends, it also is a tale of Family by Choice which I’m always fond of. 

 7. The Tale of the Dollmaker

A young girl named Melissa goes to the countryside to spend a summer with her uncle and aunt and her best friend Susan. However, upon arriving she discovers that Susan's family has moved back to the city and that Susan is missing. Soon Melissa discovers that a mysterious dollhouse in the attic of Susan's house may be responsible for her friend's disappearance. To set things right, Melissa must go inside the dollhouse and rescue Susan.

This is one of the stories I like because Melissa is a great deal like a normal kid. Quiet and reserved, she makes a plan to rescue her friend from the dollhouse but has back up plans in case things go wrong. She panics when they don’t work but she is also resourceful, even when she has trouble with something that she isn’t physically strong enough to over come. Also there are many horror movies and tv shows about evil dolls, but there are no dolls in the episode. It’s all the evil dollhouse, which is different.

 8. The Tale of the Quicksilver

Aaron and Doug are brothers who know something is strange about their new house when things start shaking and rearranging themselves for no reason. Aaron, whose belongings at school also move, dreams he sees someone who looks just like his classmate Connie. In the dreams the mystery girl tries and fails to ward off a hideous-looking demonic creature with magic. He learns that Connie’s twin sister Laura died the year before when the candles she was lighting for a spell set the room on fire. Doug is suffering the same kind of fever Laura had before she tried to rid the house of the resident demon that nobody else believed existed. They have to figure out a way to stop it from claiming another life. 

This episode is very well acted considering the age of the actors. When Connie starts crying when describing the death of her sister it is really believable. The dream sequences are interesting and have the feel of a real dream. The demon itself is only scary when you are looking at it as a demon and not thinking “What is Emperor Palpatine doing in Are You Afraid of the Dark?”

 9. The Tale of the Crimson Clown

After stealing the money his older brother Mike had saved up for their mother's birthday present, a young bratty boy named Sam learns a lesson when an evil clown doll comes to life and starts terrorizing him.

As mentioned before, Clowns are scary. So is the problem of having scary things that only happen when you are alone and no one believes you when you yell for help. Also as someone who has a very bratty brother I loved watching this kid get his comeuppance.

 10. The Tale of the Renegade Virus

Simon's latest prank in a series played between him and his friend Evan goes too far when Evan is late for school, but he seems to have forgiven his friend. He even lets Simon have the first chance to try out a new virtual-reality program both have been waiting to try. But instead of experiencing fencing Simon finds himself trapped in a computer world where he must outwit an intelligent computer-virus. The virus has reprogrammed the system so that if Simon doesn't get out of the life-like setting where nothing works in his favor, it will take over his brain to wreak havoc outside the computer. 

For a show made in the 90s when computers, viruses and virtual-reality games where all still very new this episode is surprisingly well done. The pacing is good and the virus is honestly creepy, the game world feels like a dream where everything is weighed against Simon and Evan.

 11. The Tale of the Water Demons

Two cousins, Shawn and Dean, deliver food to an old captain who lives by the lake. After seeing treasures from an old sunken boat being displayed in his home they find out that he is being stalked by water demons (actually the drowned victims of a yacht that hit the rocks and sank in 1964, who want their jewelry back) whenever he falls asleep. When Shawn secretly steals one of the captains items he and Dean are followed by the demons. Shawn learns a valuable lesson in being responsible for his actions when the ghosts kidnap Dean.

This one of the honestly creepy tales, the ghosts look like zombies and the slow creeping way they move towards you, never stopping is also reminiscent of zombies.  

 12. The Tale of the Unfinished Painting

Cody, who loves to draw starts spending time at an art gallery owned by the strange Mrs. Briar. She is tasked with finishing up paintings that have never been completed. But she soon finds out that once you sign your name to a painting you're trapped inside of it for life.

Being trapped in the paintings is an interesting twist, as it implies that this feeds Mrs. Briar’s magic and success. It is also nerve wracking when she traps Cody in a painting and sets it on fire and Cody must find a way out surrounded by smoke and flames.

Another reason I love this episode is because of the appearance of my favorite Firefly actress, Jewel Staite, as Cody.

 13. The Tale of the Closet Keepers

A deaf girl named Stacey gets kidnapped by some strange men and thrown into a futuristic cell. Billy, a boy that she knows, later joins her and they must work together to escape and rescue the other trapped kids. It's revealed that they've been put into a human zoo on an alien planet where kids from countries all over the world are being held as the main exhibit.

The alien zoo keeps the children trapped in their rooms not with bars but with sound. An ultra high pitched sound goes off when ever the step out of line and is so painful to them that it can cause unconsciousness.

This episode is excellent because here Stacey being deaf is an asset not a handicap. She not only figures out how to escape with out setting off the alarms but she makes a point of refusing to leave with out the other kids even though she is the one person who could. She and Billy have a heart to heart in which Billy apologizes to her about times he was unkind about her lack of hearing.  

 14. The Tale of the Dead Man's Float

Zeke is good at chemistry but not at girls. When he befriends Clorice, she teaches him how to swim at the school pool. However, the pool has a secret: It was built on top of a graveyard and is haunted by the angry ghost who takes vengeance upon anyone who dares to swim in the pool.

The best part of this episode is when the kids use Science! to kill a ghost. Like WTF?  

Again it’s the monster you don’t see that is scariest and like Jaws this monster sneaks up silently and drags you down to drown.

  15. The Tale of Station 109.1

Chris is obsessed with death. His brother, Jamie, tries to get him to snap out of it by locking him in a hearse and turning up the radio full blast. Upon the prank's conclusion, Chris discovers a mysterious radio station due to the card tunning itself to 109.1 FM. When Chris goes to the station, a squawky-voiced disc jockey named Roy mistakes him for a dead man and puts him in line to go to the afterlife, while a disturbed man is trying to find his way "home".

Jamie realizes his mistake when he learns that the disturbed man is a ghost and rushes to save Chris. When the ghosts reject Chris for being too young to die, DJ Roy faces his boss' wrath.

When they say “a squawky-voiced disc jockey named Roy” what they mean is Gilbert Gottfried clearly having the time of his life with this roll.

16. The Tale of the Mystical Mirror

Employees from a boutique are disappearing and no one knows why. Soon after getting a job there, Cindy discovers the truth. The owner, Ms. Valenti, is really a centuries-old witch and, with the help of a magic mirror, is using her youthful employees to stay young. 

This episode is interesting since it both plays on the idea that beauty is only skin deep and you shouldn’t sacrifice what really matters just to be pretty. Ms. Valenti is also really interesting as a villain; most beautiful female villains are femme fatales who seduce the male leads. But this episode has literally NO male leads in it. She seduces the girls with promises of beauty but they are more attracted to the image in the mirror then to her. It is really rare to see a beautiful villainess not being sexed up; there is literally nothing to her but her face. 

 17. The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge

Dani and her brother Kirk search for their sister Gina, who mysteriously skied off into an isolated area near their mountain home. They find that she's been taken hostage by a monster who only preys on people in darkness.

Super creepy the way you can see this monster sneaking up on them but they can’t see it. They are trapped by a blizzard in the cabin filled with dead bodies knowing that this monster is coming for them the second the fire dies down.

 18. The Tale of the Night Nurse

Nicki and AJ move into their grandparents' house, where they see ghostly images of a girl who died the day after her birthday at the hands of her live-in nurse -- and now the nurse is after Nicki, who finds herself back in time to the day and must help rectify a mistake that lead to the girl's wrongful death.

As Emily, Nicki discovers the medical bracelet that she accidentally dropped and shows it to her live-in nurse, which helps avert her untimely death and allows Nicki to return home to the present. 

This is an interesting twist ending. The story of the episode is that the nurse went mad and poisoned Emily but in truth she didn’t. The nurse gave Emily penicillin not realizing that she was allergic to it, it is Nicki’s modern day knowledge of allergies that helps prevent this. The nurse is drawn as similar to the evil nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest; like a disturbed control freak. But after Nicki tells her the truth she is honestly horrified at how close she came to hurting Emily, and becomes much kinder to her. She isn’t a villain but just someone who made an honest mistake. 

[womenofcolor15]

GIVE US GLAMOUR (Women Of The Year): Ava DuVernay Urges Women To Keep Building Bomb Empires + More #BlackExcellence Hits The Carpet

Glamour magazine hosted their annual Women of the Year Awards and Ava DuVernay delivered a word like only she can. Catch up on the gems she dropped, plus red carpet flicks from your faves like Niecy Nash, Yara Shahidi, Danai Gurira and more inside…

Leave it to director Ava DuVernay to drop gems we all can use.

Glamour magazine hosted its annual Women of the Year Awards to honor all of the female game changers in Hollywood. And, of course, fab directress Ava DuVernay was inducted in this year’s class of women who are trailblazing and pushing boundaries in Hollywood.

The gorgeous (and newly single) Niecy Nash, who starred in Ava’s Netflix series “When They See Us,” presented Ava with the award and praised her for what she brings to the industry and how fabulous she is overall.

“Ava DuVernay affirms you and assures you; she validates your choices as an artist. She makes each actor feel like you’re her favorite—‘Wait, she likes them that much, too?’ She is indeed that gorgeous dreadlocked woman we know, in the gowns, on the red carpet, but her sweet spot is on the couch, eating Pinkberry—absolutely with toppings."

Aww!

“At the core, we are two girls straight out of Compton, trying to use our talents to be of service to the world,” the "Claws" actress continued. “Through her production company, Array, Ava creates opportunities for underrepresented storytellers, like a 50% female production crew on her latest series, Cherish the Day. Her goal for When They See Us wasn’t, ‘Let me tell a story that will be critically acclaimed, so I can be the industry darling.’ It was, ‘Let me tell a story about the pain that people have suffered. Let me shine a light of truth.' Now that light is shining. And because she’s smart, she made sure the series was critically acclaimed too. Because the size of that light means more people will see."

"I am blessed to know Ava as an artist and a friend. I’m double dipping. Normally I don’t advocate jealousy but I’m saying, if you are jealous of me, rightfully so. Because what the rest of the world sees in her art, I see in her heart," she concluded.

  During Ava's acceptance speech, she talked about the importance of inclusion and encouraged women to keep building BOMB empires to show the world just how fabulous and bad a** women can be.

  "Inclusion is about creating a seat at the table for all of us," the SELMA directress told the audience. "Pulling up a chair for those left out. It denotes an absence being remedied."

I also believe in making our own doors, disrupting all systems built in such a way that inclusion is even needed in the first place. My truth is I don’t want a chair at the table. Or even three or even half anymore. I want the table to be rebuilt. In my likeness. And in the likeness of others long forced out of the room.

She shared examples to prove that institution building Institution building can look however we want.

"And their excellence. My excellence. Your excellence. The excellence of those who will come after us is within oneself, only experienced when the rhythm is in perfect working order. When we aren’t striving for seats. When we build new tables, new paradigms. New institutions. Or none at all.

"I urge us all to assert a presence of excellence, to build our own monuments. In our own likeness. For ourselves. And to bring the truth with us. Every time."

A whole word.

"Grown-ish" actress Yara Shahidi (above styling in a Schiaparelli dress alongside her mom Keri Shahidi) was also honored during the awards ceremony, and she too, shared some words of wisdom.

Peep 19-year-old's moving speech below:

          View this post on Instagram

                  Grateful to be of a lineage of change makers whose NO shakes systems and breaks barriers #WOTY Thank you @glamourmag x @sambarry for the opportunity to share space with incredible humans

A post shared by Yara Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on Nov 13, 2019 at 8:04pm PST

  So young, yet so full of wisdom.

By the way....

          View this post on Instagram

                  //We move through new experiences together//

A post shared by Keri Shahidi (@chocolatemommyluv) on Nov 12, 2019 at 1:12pm PST

  Yara's entire family was in the mix to celebrate! Nice.

  Black Panther starlet Danai Gurira made her way on the carpet in A Tory Burch dress from the SS20 Ready-To-Wear collection before presenting the designer with her Glamour Woman of the Year Award.

“Tory is unapologetic with her brand. The bold way she adorns women with class, flair, and fun all at once, and with the way she is working to leave no woman or girl behind," Danai said. "To popularize feminine ambition. From the millions of dollars she invests in female entrepreneurs to her awareness campaigns, arming people with education on the grotesque gender gap that still exists in so many ways. Tory is a champion for change, using the fruits of her ambition to nurture and empower the ambition of others.”

"The Handmaid's Tale" star Samira Wiley made her rounds during the ceremony, snapping selfies and presenting. And she looked BOMB!

"How To Get Away With Murder" actress Aja Naomi King was queening during a Cinderella moment on the carpet in a yellow Marc Jacobs couture gown. Goge.

Aja linked up with novelist Tomi Adeyemi (also shining in yellow) before hitting the stage to present.

  Daytime TV host and new mom Tamron Hall made her way to the event, posing it up on the carpet and catching photo-ops with Yara and Charlize Theron:

  Professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe snapped it up with Muslim model Halima Aden after accepting her Woman of the Year Award. During her speech, she thanked former 49ers quarterback/activist Colin Kapernick.

She said Colin demonstrated “courage and bravery” and was “filled with conviction, unafraid of the consequences. Because he knew, it really wasn’t about playing it safe. It was about doing what is necessary and backing down to exactly nobody.”

“While I’m enjoying all of this unprecedented — and, frankly, a little bit uncomfortable — attention and personal success, in large part due to my activism off the field, Colin Kaepernick is still effectively banned from the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of known and systematic police brutality against people of color, known and systematic racial injustice, and known and systematic white supremacy,” she said.

Facts!

"The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah was in the mix as he was tapped to present.

POSE MJ Rodriguez slayed on the carpet.

  Model/activist Bethann Hardison came out for the women empowerment event.

Fab times! 

Photos: Getty/Backgrid/Instar

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2019/11/13/ava-duvernay-urges-women-to-keep-building-bomb-empires-during-glamour-women-of-the-year-a

[mylesqytq448-blog]

Learn How To Start Colleges

Numbers say more than words particularly when we have been considering business world and profit figures as a proof of like a successful business. GE?s numbers inside last 2 decades have been receiving the very best level since the foundation from the company. Jack Welch has been around charge in the company?s operations during all of this time. Under his leadership GE has undergone numerous transformations that caused it to be number inside the field with their operations today. Welch is renowned as one of the best managers with the century for not just meeting the forecasted figures however for changing the minds of his employees and being the greatest inspiration for them.

His famous "hardware" reduction and remodeling came about almost immediately after he stepped into his CEO office. Taking into consideration economics? recession and drastic restructuring with the company Welch met strong criticism of his politics, but GE?s future was the best goal for his actions. The company was delayered and destaffed greatly. These were the initial important steps on the path of accumulating potential and it is distribution within the right direction. Instead of having seven layers inside the company with countless divisions and sectors with even more managers, Welch rebuilt GE So that there was only three layers underneath so that it was possible to directly communicate with each division and know each top manager. All of that ended for better control, free flowing communication and amount of responsibility of everyone inside the company.

The "software" component change was happening after GE dramatic structural innovations. Welch knew that without inner idea of every employee of the significance about maintaining productivity levels, there would be no change. "Work-outs" and "Best practices" were the very first performance boosters implemented by Welch in late 80?s. The real difference was seen in a few years when productivity increased first by 2% and when compared with 4%. By integrating the efforts of employees on all levels and considering their suggestions, GE was able to reach such amazing results, especially looking at how much cash it saved-thus earned. "Best practices" was continuing to fight for higher productivity levels, because it brought the understanding that they needed better processes planning and customer satisfaction, they also required to develop friendly relationships using suppliers. Those actions combined together led to higher productivity and realization of doing specific things wrong, which experts claim granted include them as right inside the future.

It becomes clear that Welch were built with a new vision was his company by firstly implementing drastic changes in the skeleton on the firm and compared to organs with the "body" were undergoing changes. Those changes were directed at giving people tasks that might integrate knowledge and experience and desire of self-development. The combination for these techniques made GE one of the strongest companies within the world, one in the best employers. The power of like a excellent place to operate at led GE to truly being number 1, the job that Welch was pursuing since he took over as CEO.

Integrate diversity, the so called "boundaryless" company was another challenge that Welch sought to beat. The company?s employees did not have to watch out for advice or technology outside GE, all this was for sale in their particular company. With this newly adopted system, players with the team learned quickly from the other and cooperated successfully among one another. An integration model was developed on the basis from the numerous post-acquisition reviews as a way to guide manager in almost any part with the company, who are accountable for integrating a newly acquired operation. Those activities could range between taking control from the account to realigning the corporation.

Stretch programs- there would be a unique approach to set high goals and employees were inspired to be as good because it is possible or even better to accomplish them. Managers weren't accountable for those goals but people who got it done were greatly appreciated and awarded accordingly. This was just how Welch saw a wide open and trusting environment within the company which guaranteed as practice have proven to become the most effective performance accelerator and creativity source. The results with this system did not make management wait too long. People with no boundaries towards the excellence started aiming at the best possible amount of performance and let their imagination free. The differences in numbers weren't with regards to a few hundredth, but about whole variety of 10 inventory turns, which seemed impossible till the system. The success on this newly originated system laid in ?no-punish-failure?, where people weren't afraid of being fired as a result of unachieved goals. Rather is was stated that they ought to be aiming at whatever they see for their best and so these folks were driven by their unique ambitions to acquire towards the desired number however, not work a sixty hour week for your sake of having one of these number written on their own time sheets. Because this idea found a real great implementation in solid business it is really a brilliant method to make people take interest inside their work and perform with a better level.

Another great discovery in the business world of GE were service businesses that took GE?s look at what they do to a new level. No more we were holding just manufacturers of high quality equipment, these were the follow-up services that took proper any difficulty a customer might face in the course of making use of their product. Multi-billion investments into services business equipment for monitoring Aircraft Engines during flight or medical diagnosis in solid time, led the company to using 2 / 3 with their business in services as opposed to in manufacturing. This goal would have been a implausible Welch?s dream and lastly it came true inside the late 90?s. With the integration on this home based business line, GE made their potential customers almost fully dependable in it. This was a perfect strategic move, which gave the organization a lot more power for their services were needed as much as their products and combined together these were the core of success. Value-added benefits that customers received from GE?s services were of great importance and provided both companies with strong partnership ties, on several levels. It not only caused profits for both parties but generated trusting and reliable conditions for cooperation.

Apart from high productivity, correct strategic politics and necessary employee satisfaction there exists another essential factor inside core of each and every successful business. Product quality is blood with the company of course, if it's not clean, company cannot function properly. In 1995 the organization?s survey indicated that most employees were dissatisfied using the product quality they were making. When services were analyzed pupil GE was operating at the rate of 10000 times the Six Sigma substandard quality. It meant a whole lot of money being lost and a whole lot of productivity too. GE invested vast amounts into educating its managers that was not optional as Welch wanted to have only the top people he could get. As a result in two years, GE?s performance was greater than expected. For instance their repair shops were operating thrice faster than the shops of the immediate rivals. Also medical equipment showed tenfold increase inside the products? life the truth that in turn provided strong customer trust and loyalty toward GE products. The returns on the investment were well over the expected amount and meant the investment would be a very successful one.

Welch like a leader of a big multi-business company desired to see only highly professional people employed in it. This was the aim of another project this became a success. The new model of the company requited the few with highest standards and big dreams to the future. A player in the team that could not match certain requirements with the "4E?s" was let free. The essence of GE ended up being take a lot off their employees but also to offer a good deal. Welch believed that these people ought to become paid well, loved and respected. They need to feel which they are one of the most recourse of the company, they need to be constantly educated and challenged. Jack Welch was this type of employee himself and wanted to see the same attitude toward work and company from his team. Such philosophy was the secrets of your huge success story called Jack Welch. His innovations and reforms were dramatic at times, but always proved to become the right thing. He took all of his business entities like a separate most critical one and gave it the most attention, thus the GE empire will almost certainly grow and develop in the future, in the event of GE being guided by such leaders as Jack Welch.

[dailykhaleej]

Saudi shoppers turn to contactless tech, e-gifts during COVID-19 pandemic

PARIS: On the night time of Could 16, 2007, newly elected French president Nicolas Sarkozy was in Place de la Concorde, Paris, celebrating his victory. However the place was his spouse, Cecilia, many individuals questioned?

She didn’t be a part of him till 11 p.m. when, urged by her daughter, Jeanne-Marie, she lastly appeared alongside her husband. As the gang roared and rejoiced, Cecilia’s unhappy expression sparked rumors that each one was not effectively with the wedding.

The rumors have been confirmed in October when the Sarkozys introduced their divorce. The next March, the previous Cecilia Sarkozy married Richard Attias, a Moroccan businessman and occasions producer who’s presently working with the Saudi authorities.

“Richard is spending a lot of time in Saudi Arabia, where he is working on the organization of the G20, which is to be held in the country in November,” mentioned Cecilia Attias, who usually accompanies her husband when he visits the nation. “He has additionally labored with the Kingdom to arrange the worldwide Future Funding Initiative discussion board in Riyadh.

“I have learned a great deal about Saudi Arabia and become very familiar with it after visiting many times. It is a country that has changed a great deal since Prince Mohammed bin Salman became crown prince. The country is in a real evolution. There is much that has changed and there are many things that still need to change. The country has evolved very rapidly.”

Attias is the granddaughter of Catalan composer, Isaac Albeniz. In July 2007, she helped free 5 Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian physician who had spent years on loss of life row after allegedly being tortured into confessing they contaminated Libyan infants with the HIV virus. She visited Tripoli twice to meet Libyan chief Muammar Qaddafi and negotiate their launch.

After her break up from Sarkozy, she moved to the US with their 10-year-old son, Louis Nicolas Sarkozy, and her daughters Jeanne-Marie and Judith from her marriage to French TV star Jacques Martin. In October final 12 months, Attias revealed “Agree to Disagree,” a guide she wrote with Louis, who attended a army college within the US and is learning for a level in philosophy and historical past at NYU. In a collection of letters, mom and son set out to uncover one another anew. With no holds barred they talk about a variety of sizzling subjects, from training to faith, feminism to local weather change. “Who am I apart from being an ex-first lady who made headlines in France?” Attias asks herself within the guide.

“For me, politics is a profession like any other and I place it at the top of the ladder because it is politics that governs and manages all aspects of our daily lives,” she mentioned after I requested about her determination to hand over the function of first woman, and all that went with it. “Subsequently I’ve nice respect for public affairs, for the Republic, and for the insurance policies used to implement the principles of the Republic.

BACKGROUND

After her break up from Sarkozy, Cecilia moved to the US with their 10-year-old son, Louis Nicolas Sarkozy, and her daughters Jeanne-Marie and Judith from her marriage to French TV star Jacques Martin.

“Besides that, I am an ordinary woman, who was married to Nicolas for 25 years, during which we had a son. I left to rebuild my life on the other side of the Atlantic. I have never been elected, nor have I, myself, ever been in politics. I was by the side of a politician but I do not have a personal voice that makes me different. I am an ordinary person.”

An strange individual maybe, however it’s however quite extraordinary for the spouse of a president to depart her husband.

“The extraordinary side comes from media exposure but the act itself was ordinary: A couple separates like thousands of other couples,” Attias mentioned. “The only thing was that he was president and people had trouble understanding that. In life many people fight for power and money, and when you reject them people do not understand this.”

What concerning the timing of their break up, so quickly after his election victory? Why not separate earlier than then?

“On one hand, he was the father of our son and he was my husband for a long time,” mentioned Attias. “It isn’t straightforward to break up a household. For me, it was a heartbreaker and, as well as, I’ve numerous respect, tenderness and affection for Nicolas. Leaving him on the hardest second of his life was extremely troublesome.

“I left once before and when I came back, before he was president, it was really for him, for us, and not to help him get elected. I realized when he was president that once a vase is broken, you cannot put the pieces back together; there are deep breaks and I could not play a role that is not true. I am too faithful and righteous.”

Greater than a decade after their divorce, the couple’s relationship stays amicable, in accordance to Attias.

“Everything is going very well,” she mentioned. “We have a son in common and we shared 25 years so we are not distant from each other. We meet and I have lunch with Richard and Nicolas. We see each other often and  … Nicolas has rebuilt his life; he has a wonderful little girl (nine-year-old Giulia, with wife Carla Bruni).”

Given her personal expertise of politics, would she encourage her son to observe in his father’s footsteps and turn out to be a politician? She notes that Louis has expertise, charisma and a really punchy model that wins individuals over. He additionally believes in vital basic values and can defend what is nice and proper, that are all fantastic political qualities, she provides, “but I will not push him into politics. He writes articles and reads a lot and he will choose his own path.”

And what’s her opinion of incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron? He’s “an extremely bright and well-educated man,” in accordance to Attias.

“I met his wife, Brigitte, and I like her very much; she is absolutely likable,” she added. “Neither of them, however, have any political background or experience and that makes things very hard.”

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[completeautoloans]

What’s a Rebuilt Title…Should You Buy or Avoid Them?

Have you ever spotted a sign that says, rebuilt title cars for sale, and wondered what that means? It refers to a car that’s restored after losing more than 50% of its value in an accident. Falling objects, adverse weather, and riots also fall in the same list as accidents. However, each federal state has its own definition of repaired titles.

First-time car buyers who just want basic and highly affordable cars prefer these cars. However, it’s wrong to assume that all used cars have a similar quality. Today, you’ll learn all about rebuilt titles and whether they’re worth it.

Tip: Top 10 Most Reliable Used Car Brands of 2018

1. Should I buy a car with a rebuilt title?

Here are 10 factors you should consider before making a purchase.

1. Rebuilt title insurance

The lure of saving thousands of dollars is appealing to buyers in need of cars. However, the new car owner will encounter rejection from several insurance companies. Why? Because it’s difficult to assess the true value of rebuilt titles. One would have to dismantle the entire car to check the real value of replacements.

Tip: Negative Equity Car Loan

If the car burst into flames or got swept in floods, it’s bound to develop serious mechanical issues a couple of years after restoring it. That’s why car insurance companies won’t want to overcompensate you for a car that can give up the ghost at any moment.

Tip: Do Auto Loans Require Comprehensive Insurance?

What is liability insurance?

Due to the issues with valuation and high risk of mechanical failure, buying this type of car limits you to apply for a liability insurance cover. It’s whereby your insurance company provides compensation to other drivers when you’re responsible for causing a collision. It also covers any property damaged inside the third party’s car.

Auto insurance companies cannot provide you with a comprehensive plan because they risk losing money in the event of compensation. If a tree fell on your hood and the car stopped working, you’ll file for a brand new engine. However, an issue would arise since your car has a renovated one.

Tips:

How to Find a Cheap Car Insurance

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8 Factors That Can Affect Your Auto Insurance Quotes

How to Get Cheap Car Insurance for New Drivers Under 25

The list of requirements

Pictures of your car – Why do insurance companies request for close up photos of your car? It helps them to spot any dents, scratches, and missing parts. It discourages dishonest motorists from filing for false compensations because the insurance company already has valid proof of previous deformities.

Certified mechanic’s statement – Car insurance companies need verification from a qualified and registered auto mechanic shop for repaired titles. Just like a doctor’s letter, car insurance providers trust certified mechanics’ statements as proof of roadworthiness.

The repair estimate – A certified mechanic prepares this document to show all recorded damages and repairs that took place. You’ll see the nature of the accident and extent of damage on affected car parts. A repair estimate also indicates previous damages that existed before the devastating accident.

2. The car rebuilder’s reputation

There’s no special license required to rebuild a scorched engine or dented hood. That’s why you’ll find hundreds of car rebuilding advertisements online. However, good car renovators remain popular in the market due to offering quality services. Customers drive away happy because they’re confident that the mechanic used genuine parts and took a lot of time on each car.

Tips:

 8 Best Times of The Year to Buy a Car

9 Things to Know Before Buying a Used Car

Avoid These Top Car Buying Scams or Lose $1000’s!

You can ask your dad or older uncles to recommend a car dealership with good rebuilt motor vehicles. Find out who does renovation for your local car dealership then check their reputation on online car forums.

3. Resale value

How long are you planning to own the car? If you’re looking to upgrade to a better one, you need a car that’s valuable enough to boost your future down payment. You don’t want to have a renovated car you don’t like occupying your garage for no reason while saving up for a new one.

If you plan to sell the car after a certain period, you’ll need to buy a car produced in the past 24 months. Why? Because it contains most features that are hot in today’s market. Plus, you’ll find genuine spare parts countrywide at affordable prices.

In order to get the best price for your car, you’ll have to figure out how much it costs to maintain your car in excellent condition.

Tip: How Many Years Can You Finance a Used Car?

4. Car model

When you look at the most popular affordable car brands in the past 50 years, you’ll notice that Ford and Toyota always appear in the top five list. It’s not because these auto manufacturers have the best advertisements or lowest car prices. Their secret to global success is consistently producing high-quality motor vehicles.

It’s no secret that some car brands just suck. When you visit online forums for cars, you see several conversation threads of people complaining about a similar problem regarding a particular model. This is common with Chinese-manufactured cars because manufacturers use inferior material and shoddy assembly.

5. Product life of replaced parts

A good mechanic will use genuine and new spare parts to restore un-roadworthy cars. Using genuine components extends the life of a rebuilt titles. This high quality helps you to keep the car for a longer period and avoid recurring mechanical issues.

Check the spare parts’ product life cycles before buying a retitled car. Product life refers to how long an auto manufacturer intends on making and selling a certain item. It’s important because you want to purchase genuine parts conveniently at your local auto mechanic shop. When an auto manufacturer is about to phase out a certain car, it ceases producing spare parts.

6. Availability of rebuilt title loans

Can you get an auto loan for a rebuilt title? Yes, you can. Plus, you’re almost certain of getting a good car from car dealerships because they have specialized mechanics to repair and inspect newly restored motor vehicles. They’re also very affordable due to the low prices.

Make sure you obtain copies of the certified mechanic’s statement to verify whether the car is roadworthy. If you’re satisfied with the quality, pay a huge down payment to lower your car payments. Choose a short repayment period to avoid paying a lot of interest on a renovated car.

2. How to inspect a car with a repaired title

1. Car Tires

A roadworthy car has a set of good tires. If you notice the bald tires, then you’re almost certain that the car has several issues that will cost you a lot of money. You can check the depth of the car treads by using a penny. Hold it upside down then insert it between two tire treads. If the treads cover at least half of Abraham Lincoln’s face, the tires are road worthy.

Also, inspect thoroughly for any cuts or bumps. You’ll need a car jack and some jack stands to elevate your car so you can rotate the tires without having to remove them. Remember to check the valve stems to see whether they’re leaking.

Tip: 7 Things Your Car Dealership Won’t Tell You About a Car Loan

2. Engine

The engine is very important because it determines your recurring car expenses and safety when driving. Before going on a test drive, pop the hood and open the head gasket. If you see any frothy liquids, tell the car owner to replace his or her leaking head gasket before taking your money.

Next, check the engine’s coolant quality and quantity. You should see a bright colored spotless fluid. Any blackish spots you might see indicate contamination due to a leak in the head gasket. The fluid level should be at least two inches above the line.

3. Suspension

The good news is that you don’t have to remove your tires to assess your car’s suspension. Simply get into the driver’s seat and turn on your engine. Do not start the car because you just want to unlock the wheel. Now make a hard right then a hard left and listen for any sounds coming from your steering wheel.

In case you hear any sounds, that’s a sign of problems with movable joints attaching the steering to your wheel axle. However, you need to do another test to confirm your observations. So, step out of the car then walk towards the front fender. Make sure you’re close to the car tire then use both hands to pump pressure continuously on the fender.

A car with good suspension should bounce without producing clonks. After removing your hands, the car should stop rocking immediately.

4. Transmission

You’ll need a long test drive to have a good assessment of the car’s transmission system. Pay attention when you start the car and drive off the car lot. One indicator of a damaged gear system is a whining noise whenever you reverse the car. If you switch to reverse but the car takes a couple of seconds to start moving, just look for a better car.

Pick a road in a secluded area with very few motorists for your test drive. Why? Because you’ll need to travel at high speeds over a long distance to check whether the car transitions smoothly from one gear to the next.

5. Brakes

Have you ever witnessed an accident that occurred because one driver had bad brakes? A car that has unreliable brakes poses a great danger to your life, fellow motorists, and pedestrians around you. That’s why you need to take the car out on a test drive to inspect them.

Check the effectiveness of your brakes by halting at various speeds. Look for a straight road where you can drive at 5 MPH then press the brake. Next, increase your speed to 10MPH then apply your brakes. If the brakes require stomping, say goodbye to the seller.

If you have plenty of time, remove any tire then use your car jack and jack stands to raise the vehicle. Take a venire caliper and measure the thickness of your outer and inner brake pads. A good brake pad should be at least quarter of an inch thick. Check whether both brake pads wear out evenly.

6. Steering wheel

The power steering reservoir has a dipstick attached the cap to help you check fluid levels and quality. If you notice drops of the steering wheel fluid just at the tip of the dipstick, tell the seller to do some refilling. Insufficient quantity causes squeaking when the driver makes a right or left turn.

Get out of the driver seat then pop the hood. You’ll need a flashlight to examine the car’s drive belt. It should be dry and lack any cracks or breaks. If you find a damaged drive belt, avoid buying the car because you’ll also need a new drive pump. Take the flashlight underneath the car to check for any swollen bushings.

7. Frame

This test is quite easy. All you have to do is use your fingers to feel for any bumps or dents while walking around the car. If you find any, it indicates that the accident was terrible. Check the body lines along the hood, trunk and car doors.

Second, open all car doors then shut them one by one. A damaged car frame interferes with door locking and opening. That’s why you have to use extra force to push the door shut from outside. A bad frame can make the car unsafe because it doesn’t lock properly. Imagine what would happen if you’re driving at 60MPH then your door suddenly swings open.

Pay attention to your car trunk and hood. If you need to use extra force to shut them, then you know that the car has an altered frame. If someone knocks your car from behind, then it will be really difficult to repair the trunk.

8. Interior

What should you look for when inspecting a car’s interior? When you open the car, no foul odor should hit your nose. Look for any cigarette burn holes, tears, and visible stains on the car seats. See whether the headrests move up and down smoothly. Then, move to the front and push down the lever under the co-drivers seat. If the car seat moves with difficulty, ask for another car.

Check the dashboard for any cracks, breaks, or stains. Pay attention to the odometer to see whether your potential seller stated the correct mileage. Make sure the protective clear plastic cover in front of your speedometer lacks scratches or missing parts.

Find out whether you have good car mats. Lift them up and move the seats to inspect for holes on the car’s floor.

9. Exterior

Just like the frame, inspecting a car’s exterior gives you a glimpse of its history. You can tell whether the car has an altered body by feeling the fenders. If you come across misalignments, that indicates the point of impact of a major car accident. You’ll also notice uneven spaces between car doors and surrounding panels.

When you use your fingers to knock a car with good paint, you’ll hear a dull and heavy sound. Repeating this test on a motor vehicle with inferior body paint produces loud knocks.

3. The advantages of buying a rebuilt title car

1. Very affordable prices

A repaired title car does not have the same value as a typical used car. Why? Because there’s a huge loss of value after the accident or natural disaster. After renovations, the car moves from “New” to “Rebuilt” even if you bought it a month before the major car accident.

If you’re planning to get your teenage son or daughter their first car, you won’t feel burdened by making a cash purchase. People who need cars urgently and don’t want the hassles of an auto loan can get rebuilt motor vehicles for less than $5,000.

2. You can salvage parts for your favorite car lying in the garage

If you own a luxury car model that got into a bad accident or something big and heavy fell on it, then you know how expensive it is to purchase genuine replacements. Due to the high repair costs, you opted to get a modest car as you figure out how to raise enough money for replacements.

Rather than drive a car you don’t like, you can buy a repaired title car that’s similar to yours. Doing this enables you to get decent spare parts that you’ll use to restore your favorite car that’s lying idle in your garage.

3. A wide variety of cars

Some car dealerships allow customers to trade in motor vehicles with repaired titles as long as they meet certain conditions. Car dealerships buy these cars to have enough stock for buyers with low budgets. These cars have higher turnover rates compared to regular used cars.

When you visit several dealerships, you’ll compare prices on renovated minivans, subcompact cars, pickup trucks, and other types of motor vehicles.

4. What are the disadvantages of buying a car with a repaired title?

A High possibility of recurring mechanical problems – Renovation only restores a wrecked car to a roadworthy level. While reading about how to inspect a rebuilt title car, you know that an altered body frame can prevent car doors from locking and opening smoothly. You also know that a bad body frame causes the windows to rattle continuously when driving at certain speeds. If fire or floods caused the extensive damages, then you’ll most likely experience recurring engine problems. They might take a couple of months to appear but when they do, you’ll have to sell the car for a better one.

No warranties – When buying a used car, you can opt for higher monthly payments in order to have an extended warranty. Doing this enables you to extend the life of your car by maintaining it in excellent condition. A well-maintained car will fetch you a good price when you decide to sell it. Auto manufacturers don’t offer any extended warranties on cars with repaired titles. Why? Because the auto manufacturer will spend more money repairing the car than its actual value. So, buying this type of car means you’ll have to reach into your pockets for any unexpected mechanical breakdowns.

Trouble finding a willing insurance company – You now know that 9 out of 10 auto insurance companies steer clear from rebuilt title cars due to inaccurate valuation. No company wants to make loses by paying compensations that exceed a car’s real value. While you get a good price, you’ll have to spend a lot of time driving from one insurance company to the next. Moreover, you can only get a limited liability cover and this is insufficient if you’ve purchased a recently renovated high-end sedan or SUV.

5. Bottom line!

Should you purchase a car with a rebuilt title? It’s not the best decision due to the number and magnitude of risks involved. You have to spend extra money for a thorough inspection by taking the car to a certified mechanic. In case the car has a misaligned frame, it possesses a great danger to your passengers because the door cannot lock properly.

T here are better alternatives to buying a repaired title car. You can save a huge down payment while improving your credit score to get a car loan for a regular used car. Or, you can save enough cash to buy a modest car that doesn’t require credit financing.

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Bounty Hunter Street/Strip 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 Is No Dog

Muscle cars were a common sight at Jack’s Esso in Lockport, New York, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Owner Jack Poyfair kept busy performing typical bread-and-butter auto repairs, but he would also work on high-performance street cars, street/strip cars, and racecars.

“It was gas station, but we changed motors and transmissions, and we rebuilt a lot of components,” Poyfair recalls. “I installed a lot of headers. There were a bunch of guys hanging around the station who had fast cars. One guy had a 427 Ford medium-riser. There was a guy with a 1958 Pontiac with a late-model engine in it. We had a couple big cars with 283 motors that wanted to go fast. I owned a white 1965 GTO convertible, 360-horsepower Tri-power, four-speed close ratio transmission, and 4.33 gears. The GTO didn’t have any headers, it was more of a street car, but it was pretty quick. We had a lot of fun.”

New and aggressive restyling for the Chevelle in 1966 brought the bulging rear quarter-panels and swept-back C-pillars with the signature tunneled rear glass design found on other GM intermediates.

A certain Regal Red 1966 Chevelle with skinny Cragars and “Bounty Hunter” scrawled on its fenders was part of the landscape at Poyfair’s gas station. The car was owned by Nick Colaizzi, a loyal employee at the GM Harrison Radiator plant in Lockport, New York. Bounty Hunter was powered by an L78, and it was no dog.

For early 1966 models, Chevrolet offered two engines in the newly introduced Chevelle SS396. Standard was the L35 396ci Mark IV big-block with two-bolt mains and oval-port heads rated at 325 hp at 4,800 rpm and 410 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 rpm. Initially, the only optional powerplant in the SS396 was the L34 engine. With a hotter cam, it was factory rated at 360 hp at 5,200 rpm and 420 lb-ft of torque at 3,600 rpm.

A few months into the model year, Chevrolet quietly began to offer a top-dog performer underrated at 375 hp and branded with the RPO code L78. Simple math deduced that its upgrades—four-bolt-main block, compression increased from 10.25:1 to 11:1, solid-lifter cam, bigger rectangular-port heads with bigger 2.19-inch intake valves, and bigger 780 Holley on new aluminum intake—would add up to more than the advertised 15hp bump over the L34 motor. Later tests would put the motor closer to 425 hp. Those in the know knew about the L78. Nick Colaizzi knew.

The 396/375hp L78 engine option was installed in 3,099 Chevelles, including SS396 hardtops, SS396 convertibles, and El Caminos. The idler pulley assembly mounted on the passenger-side head was installed on the 1966 L72 427/425 fullsize cars and the L78 Chevelles. Owner Larry Robison has heard that the purpose of the idler pulley was to provide an extra belt that would keep the water pump running in case the alternator belt broke.

He Persisted

Early in 1966, Colaizzi entered Heinrich Chevrolet in Lockport, New York, to order a 1966 Chevelle SS396 with the L78 engine. Though the people at Heinrich Chevrolet were (and still are) great people, the salesman had not received notice from Chevrolet of the L78’s midyear introduction. Fearing the order would not go through, he suggested ordering the L34 360hp version. Colaizzi persisted. The salesman ordered an L78, and the order was accepted. One month later, Colaizzi became the first owner of what would become one of the most desirable Chevelles ever built, one of 3,099 1966 Chevelles built with the L78 engine.

For the first six months of ownership, Colaizzi’s SS396 served street/strip duties. His passion for drag racing grew, as did his pursuit of making his Chevelle faster and more competitive. He sought out Jack Poyfair to help him make the Chevelle faster. Poyfair answered, “If you can beat my GTO, I’ll work on your car.” They raced, Colaizzi won, and the two men became fast friends building a fast car.

The single-reservoir master cylinder worked fine in 1966 and still does the job today. The trim tag mounted on the firewall shows the crucial 13817 code, which indicated in 1966 that this car was indeed a Chevelle SS396 Sport Coupe.

Many hours were spent working on various combinations and trick parts. Colaizzi says, “Those were good times spent together working on the car and racing it with Jack. He’s a great guy. At one point, I asked GM for sponsorship, but they said no. The Chevelle did well, and we did our best to make it fast.”

The Bounty Hunter’s racing career spanned from 1966 to 1974. Colaizzi put the Chevelle in storage with the hopes of restoring it sometime. It would remain in storage until 1993, when he decided that he would have to sell his prized Chevelle.

For 1966 Chevelle SS396 cars, the L35 and L34 versions of the engine used oval-port heads with the casting number 3872702. The L78 engines used casting number 3873858 rectangular-port heads with 2.19-inch intake valves and 1.72-inch exhaust valves. The spark plug heat shields are absolutely spotless in the highly detailed engine compartment.

Enthusiast Extraordinaire

Enter Larry Robison, Chevelle enthusiast extraordinaire and longtime employee at the GM Parma Plant in Cleveland, Ohio. Robison likes 1966 Chevelles—he likes them a lot. Though many Chevelle guys trumpet the glory of the 1970 LS6, Robison says, “I would stand on the hood of a ’70 to get a look at a ’66.”

Robison was checking out the Cleveland Trading Times in 1993 when he came across a 1966 Chevelle SS396 race car for sale. His interest was piqued when he learned it was an original L78 car, only showed 2,109 original miles, and had been campaigned on the dragstrip as the Bounty Hunter. He called Colaizzi, who was moving to Nevada and not able to bring his Chevelle with him. Robison made a deal to buy the car and all the spare parts as a package. The parts filled a box truck, and the car was transported back to Robison’s home in Ohio.

The black SS’s interior had virtually the same layout as standard Chevelle models. The A51 Astro Bucket seats were a $110.50 option. Check out the crazy-expensive D55 Center Console With Clock, which came in at an outrageous $47.40, the typical tab for your daughter’s wedding reception at the local Howard Johnson’s.

Bounty Hunter stayed in storage until 2009 while Robison worked on a few of his other project Chevelles. Once work began, he took the body off the frame and restored it to original condition. The rear quarters had been pushed out to make room for slicks. Rather than replacing the quarters, Robison worked the metal to get the quarters close to straightened out. He then had paint and body expert Paul Clark finish the metal work and paint the car in its original Regal Red hue.

Robison brought the car back to his house and began assembly with the help of friends and Northern Ohio Chevelle Club brethren Ron Thompson, Mark Meldrum, the late “Big Ray” Tumbry, and George Kelovski. The car was finished in 2015, and debuted at MCACN that year.

Behold the reason that the 1966 SS396 is superior to all other Chevelles: the “knee-knocker” tach. Since original owner Nick Colaizzi went with the $79 U14 Special Instrumentation Package with the L78 motor, he got the 7,000-rpm tach, plus a mechanical oil pressure gauge and gauges for amps and water temperature. The knee-knocker tach could be ordered separately as RPO U16 on any V-8 Chevelle.

In 2017, Robison and Mark Meldrum arranged to reunite Colaizzi with the restored Bounty Hunter. Jack Poyfair was also called in for the occasion. “It was great meeting Larry and Mark, and seeing Jack again,” Colaizzi says. “Larry did a great job restoring the car. Seeing it again, and getting to drive it, brought back a flood of mixed emotions. It was really a tremendous experience.”

These days, Robison proudly displays the Bounty Hunter at various shows. Mark Meldrum will sometimes park his Bounty Hunter tribute car next to it. Robison’s not a tough guy to spot at a car show. He’s the one jumping on the hoods of 1970 Chevelles to look at 1966 Chevelles.

The swept-back cut in the fenders for the entire 1966 Chevelle line created lots of traffic in Chevrolet showrooms. According to Chevellestuff.net, total 1966 Chevelle production was a strong 447,364 units. Of those, 66,843 were SS396 sport coupes and 5,429 were SS396 convertibles.

At a Glance 1966 Chevelle SS396 Owned by: Larry Robison, Avon, OH Restored by: Owner, Paul Clark, and friends Engine: 396ci/375hp L78 V-8 Transmission: Muncie M21 close-ratio 4-speed Rearend: 12-bolt with 4.10 gears and Positraction Interior: Black bucket seats Wheels: 14×6 steel with caps Tires:  7.75-14 Firestone Deluxe Champion redlines Special Parts: 7,000 rpm “knee knocker” tachometer, best e.t. 11.73

The body-colored rear cove treatment on the SS396 was often painted black by Chevelle owners. Larry has spoken to a number of people on the subject and has concluded that the coves on SS396 cars were never painted black at the factory.

Bounty Hunter at the Dragstrip

Nick Colaizzi’s Bounty Hunter Chevelle was raced most often at Niagara International Drag Strip. It proved to be an excellent race car that brought Colaizzi and Jack Poyfair a good measure of success, thanks in large part to Poyfair’s mechanical efforts.

“We worked on the cylinder heads, tried different camshafts, stagger-jetted the carburetors, used steel and aluminum flywheels, and changed the collector length on the headers just to get a tenth of a second out of the car,” Poyfair recalls. “Nick had an edge in driving. He was good on the tree, pulled the gears really good. He knew he had to go through the traps at 7,400 rpm to get a good run.”

Colaizzi is thankful for the support and friendship of Poyfair, as well as the help he received from his brother Dick and his son Nick. Over the years, Colaizzi had a few racecars, but the Bounty Hunter Chevelle was always his number one race car.

The Bounty Hunter is the third Chevelle that Larry Robison has restored. Northern Ohio Chevelle Club member Mark Meldrum was so committed to giving Bounty Hunter its proper due that he created a tribute “as-raced” Bounty Hunter from one of his 1966 Chevelles.

The absence of lettering suggests that this shot, taken at Niagara International Drag Strip, was early in the car’s life. Cragar SS wheels and the tow-bar plate are installed.

When Colaizzi was asked how the car’s name came to be, he said, “I told Jack we’re going to name it like we’re going to go after somebody.” Interestingly enough, Colaizzi would later purchase the big-block 1966 Impala you see in the far lane.

The lettering on Colaizzi’s car was very typical for any race car of the day. “Jack’s Esso” was painted on the quarters in appreciation for all the work Jack Poyfair put into the car.

Check out the M&H Racemaster tires on the back. “I set up the rear that used to jump out of the gate hard,” says Poyfair. “I wedged the control arms so that they would be stiff with brackets from the rear housing to the control arms. It worked well.”

    The post Bounty Hunter Street/Strip 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 Is No Dog appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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