BlueSky

Ask for demerol and beer and you won't care at all:thumbsup2: Long time ago, I broke several bones in my fingers and hand. The Dr. gave me demerol and it was Good Stuff! I asked him how did demerol and beer mix and he said, "Fine". He was correct. One day after physical therapy I was hurting so bad, I took demerol and drank several beers. I didn't have a care in the world. I couldn't stop laughing at everything.

I have to follow up on this. Nuclear Power Plants in the USA can not blow up like a nuke bomb because of the way the fuel is manufactured. If they blow up it is because the steam pressure in the reactor gets too high and there is a steam explosion that blows contamination all over the place like Chernobyl. The fuel can get hot enough to melt, Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant and Chernobyl. The Russians were so arrogant. First they didn't build a 7' thick concrete and rebar containment building around the reactor with lots of quenching systems like all of the US plants. Then, they disconnected their automatic safety systems to run a special test. Then reactor power got away from them and there were no safety systems and no containment bldg. Arrogance extraordinary. Another factor was that their reactors were graphite moderated instead of water moderated. What this means is that in a US plant when the cooling water disappears or turns to steam the reactor reduces power. With graphite moderation, when the cooling water disappears, reactor power increases. A graphite moderated reactor would not get an operating license in the US.

When I worked in FL and lived in the Crystal River area for a year around 2008, my wife and I spent a lot of time in thrift stores. In that area of FL there are thousands of retirees. And the way life goes, they were expiring rapidly leaving lots of goods that ended up in thrift stores. You could find some great stuff there. We left our home in NC vacant and bought lots of furnishings for cheap from those thrift stores for the rental home. Unfortunately, that nuke plant I worked at never restarted due to reactor containment building issues. Wasn't anything I did, I swear!

Puc, I think for several years the FJR has had about 145hp. The new Concours does too. The guy who bought my 2004 Concours rode it to work for a couple months and traded it for a new FJR.

Haven't ridden a FJR but would love to. I owned a 2004 Kawasaki Concours which is similar to the FJR. The windshield on that bike kept my helmet in a quiet zone, much better than my 89VR. I think the VR windshield is too far forward of the rider to keep it quiet around my helmet. They are totally different bikes. The Concours that model is extremely top heavy. The 7.5 gallon gas tank sitting up high was part of the cause of that. I like the Concours but I had two complaints, the top heaviness, and I had to lean forward putting some weight on my arms. Other than those to two issues, it's a great bike. I think the 1L engine had about 92 or more hp. With that huge tank it had the cruising range of a car. I would have kept it, but when I first got it, my riding skills were rusty and it had an almost worn out dual compound front tire that had a narrow ridge of harder rubber running down the center that made the bike even more tippy. Anyhow, I dropped it twice when I first got it. First time, no problem except I hurt my back trying to pick up that 670lb beast. Second time I tried my best to keep it upright resulting in it falling on my right foot and breaking my second metatarsel. I was lucky that one other guy was in the parking lot off the main road at the Everglades National Park who helped get the bike off my foot. Then sitting at a desk all day combined with my age and I got some bad blood clots in my lower leg and spent 4 months on warfarin. Soooo, my wife told me I had to get rid of that dxx bike. It took a long time to sell it and I was loving it by the time it did sell.

Can you see the hitch ball with those cameras that mount on the license plate bracket? From the questions and answers I saw for one of that type it didn't appear that you could.

Wow! What a story! I'm so happy that ER Doctor is such a great Doctor. You owe her a big hug too it seems!!! Tippy has probaby been suffering in silence for a while. She's a tough and wonderful Cookie, that Tippy!

And explain the good fuel mileage. The engine was running lean especially when it was trying to accelerate.

I did some research and this is the trailer hitch camera I want. The camera can be set on the trailer or the truck. Good reviews. http://www.rearviewsafety.com/wireless-hitch-camera-backup-system-rvs-83112.html?p=3

I'm thinking a rear view camera for my 02F150 so I can hook up to my boat without help. I'm retired. My wife works 50 hrs/wk. I can go fishing by myself:thumbsup2:

Looks really cool! Unless the engine has been modified it produces less hp than our V4s and would weigh lots more. Of course torque would be another story. What I remember about those old flatheads is that when they got older the blocks had a tendency to crack at the valve seats.

I was riding my first bike a Honda CB350. I pulled up to a stop sign. Several cars were coming from the left and I wanted to turn left. The first car made a right turn into the street where I was sitting so i gave it the gas and pulled out making my left turn. Problem was the second car decided to pass the turning car and could have collided with me. I gunned the bike and being an inexperienced rider, I hadn't learned to make a turn that fast and I saw I was headed into the curb. I jumped off the bike (Hey, this was 1971 and I was coordinated back then!) I landed on my feet and the bike ran up against the curb and slithered down the curb and never fell over. So, being totally embarassed, I got back on the bike and gunned it so hard that I did a wheelie. No harm, no foul. It did bend up my brake pedal just a tad.

You'll probably bag a deer with your truck on the way back home:rotf:

I still have my stereo system I bought in 1970 complete with a Sansui 2000 tuner amp, turntable, and added a cassette deck and CD player later. I sold my 7" reel to reel tape deck way back. I have 20 or so cassettes. Tape recording is better than digital recording. But it is much easier to record and mix digital recordings. My 37 yr old son is a music recording engineer and has been Beyonce's recording engineer for the last 4 or so years.

I suppose I'm the only person in the universe who doesn't use Facebook.

That doesn't always work. The first 3 foreign vehicles I bought (new) had reliability and/or design and/or quality issues. I won't bore you with the long list of issues. Only kept them 18 months because of those issues. More recently I bought 4 more for various family members that have been very reliable so far. The only unreliable domestic vehicles I remember were GM vehicles I bought in the last 20 years. Short engine life, blown head gaskets Okay, the 3.8L 95 Mustang I bought for son #1 did blow a head gasket.

http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Honda/Motorcycle/2002/GL1800+A/FRONT+WHEEL/parts.html

The Ford "Triton" V8s are unique in my experience in that the plug is on the other side of the heads. They are on the intake manifold side. I assume this created some challenges for Ford engineers and they didn't do a perfect job on the 2V or 3V heads. If you are aware of the extra torque requirements of the 2V heads because there are only 4 threads, it isn't a problem. Except they are hard to get to and it takes a good while to change them for the inexperienced. Luckily they only have to be replaced every 100k miles. I replaced the plugs myself on my 2002 5.4L V8. It took a while but I was successful with no issues. The 3V heads have lots more threads, but have those long barrels that corrode and makes the plug tight. Ford has revised the replacement schedule to every 60K miles instead of 100K for that reason. But, if you know what to do as far as the latest recommended procedure, it is possible to replace the plugs without breaking them. And putting anti-sieze on the barrels should help the next time they have to be replaced. The problem was supposedly fixed in 2009.

Wow! That was a learning experience!

Buying stock in a company at much, much higher prices than market prices at the time in order to save the company is a bailout. Like I said before, I'm glad GM was saved. But it did cost the taxpayers $11.3 Billion to do so. The Government saved Chrysler back in the 80's when Lee Iaococca took over and I think that was a good thing. The taxpayers didn't lose any money on that one. GM building SUVs in China and importing them is about the same as Ford building the Focus in Mexico and selling it here.

Yes, please keep the photos and stories coming. You are doing something that many of us dream of doing.

Yes, the loan was paid back. However, the taxpayers lost a lot on the stock which was bought when the bailout occurred. According to this article, I was incorrect about the amount. It was $11.3 Billion the taxpayers will never recover. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-gm-treasury-idUSBREA3T0MR20140430#HcpDHosOYraTTYOk.97 I'm glad GM was saved. But, I'm still poed at GM management for running the company into the ground.

What about Ford? They charge hundreds of dollars to change these plugs. There aren't any perfect vehicles out there though. They all have some issue. The 2 valve engines like I have in my 02 are very hard to get to and the labor charge is about $240 to change out the plugs. I changed mine myself at 119,000 miles. I took my time and spent many hours doing it. The engine is mounted under the windshield to a certain extent. Ford charges $10 each for my plugs. Advance Auto sells the same Motorcraft plugs for just over $2.

We've been eagerly waiting for updates and lots of photos from your travels and adventures:) Would be wonderful if we got an update:fnd_(16):

Most 04-08 F150 V8 owners use SP-515 plugs. They are less prone to breaking than the OE plugs. This particular plug problem was fixed in 2009. As far as brands, I was a hard core chevy guy back in the early days, 60's. I wouldn't own anything else. I loved those small block and big block hot rods. I owned a 56 Chevy convertible, 59 Impala coupe, 65 chevelle 300hp, 4speed, posi, 69 ss396 chevelle, 4 speed. But, later in life my experience has been much better with Fords. In fact I have had so many problems with GM products that now I have a phobia against anything GM. The bailout didn't help my opinion of GM either. Maybe they got their act together again. I hope so. The taxpayers invested what 25 billion in GM that we didn't and wont' get back. The 97 thru 03 F150s are probably as reliable as any trucks ever sold. I bought a new 2000. In 105k miles, it only needed one axle seal. And now have a used 2002. No plug issues at all.