Wothahellizat : Winnebago meets Mad Max

This vehicle was a steal at 175,000 AUD, but unfortunately it is no longer for sale. If only I had accepted all those credit card offers and used them to purchase this amazing machine $500 at a time...

"Wothahellizat was Australia's largest, weirdest and best-known off-road motorhome. We lived in it for six years and loved just about everything about it, but times have changed and so have our requirements for a motorhome."



http://www.robgray.com/index_files/index_wot.php

Custom Bikes

Now that I am reading everything I can find on custom bike construction, I have found some really awesome builds. This one is local to Portland--as most of them seem to be--and was tested under the Hawthorne bridge. I think this is an omen. It means I need to stop complaining about the cost and get a welder asap. Besides, my friend is tempting me to build my tall bike already and take it on the Tour-de-Lab with him.

http://www.tourdelab.com/tour-de-lab-ride.html

http://chunk666lab.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

Dumpster Diving

In preface, over the last few weeks I have gleaned some remarkable trasures. Coincidentally, all but a few of these treasures came from a large metal container behind a thrift store. So far the list includes: 6 bikes, 1 wheel chair, 2 mirrors, 3 crab traps, 1 aquarium, 1 pair of dress pants, a kayak spray skirt, a dish rack, a dresser, a coffee table, and a few other odds and ends.



First, here is a nice How To on dumpster diving
http://www.wikihow.com/Dumpster-Dive


Second, I am not convinced that dumpster diving is illegal, but this blog cites some relevent law.


When I introduce friends to the pleasures of the dive, everyone will sooner or later ask is this really legal? I am, as the obligatory disclaimer goes, no lawyer, but to the best of my knowledge, the answer is Well, mostly, yes. Oregon state law prohibits the removal of recyclable materials from collection containers (ORS 459A.080), and recyclable material is defined as any material or group of materials that can be collected and sold for recycling at a net cost equal to or less than the cost of collection and disposal of the same material (ORS 459.005, paragraph 19). The intent of the law is clearly to keep scavengers from highgrading recyclables—from which the hauler can sometimes realize a profit—out of their presorted containers. Retrieving garbage, which costs money at all phases of disposal, would appear to be well outside the scope of this law. I'm not aware of any equivalent statute that applies to solid waste.
http://bodger.org/dumpster


And last, here are some people who want to go "skip diving" as well.
http://dumpsterdiving.meetup.com/cities/us/or/portland/

As If We Needed Another Reason...

place tea at home and my place of work to ensure that I am never left without something to steep. Anyhow, it is interesting to find ancillary health benefits associated with tea. I had never pondered the presence of fluoride in my tea.

http://www.portland-oregon-magazine.com/news/187/ARTICLE/1848/2007-03-14.html

Crying About Credit

While I believe the credit industry is underhanded, I have little sympathy for the victims. However, I do suggest watching the documentary Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders (2006). From the article, Banks Warn Credit Card Legislation May Hurt, Not Help Consumers, I found one statement at the end profound and rudimentary.

``I've since decided to simply use cash and only use a credit card as a last resort,'' Chan said.

But, didn’t we already know that credit cards should be a last resort? Once again, I suggest we all move to strictly using cash on hand. Aside from the obvious individual costs, this current macroeconomic crisis–which is impacting us as a whole–is born out of the financial lending markets. These markets should serve a niche market or cease to exist at all, in my opinion. Unfortunately, citizens in want of immediate gratification–the majority of Americans–keep begging for more credit at almost any cost. This near inelastic relationship has opened the door for extortion and victimization. Instead of waiting for the government to create legislation to protect the stupid–most of us at this point–let's all stop buying the overpriced name brand clothing, purchasing large quantities of gasoline, and dining out with our plastic. Oh wait, did I just lose you? I think you misunderstood. I didn't say you shouldn't spend money on those items; that is your business, not mine. My point is at the tail of the sentence. Protect your own financial interests already. Lose the plastic.

Nobel Winners Expect Crisis to Further Weaken Growth

If you haven't heard of Scholes then look him up. He is particularly known for his work in developing the Black-Scholes PDE for valuation of derivative equities. You know, it’s the he model that was applied to Long Term Capital Management's bond arbitrage scheme. While LTCM did not manage to stay solvent, the ideas leveraged from the Black-Scholes PDE were critical to the excellent performance which spanned several years. Then, the Russian government defaulted on their bonds and undermined previous assumptions that large countries' governments do not default. This fueled a mass exodus from foreign currency investment which led to the demise of an overly leverage company known as LTCM. It is a great story with full of brilliant investor and mathematicians who got too greedy at just the wrong time. But, I digress.

My point being, Scholes has a crisp understanding of the way the financial sector in America, and around the world, got far too "innovative." The turmoil sprung from sub-prime mortgages packaged as investment products-in the form of derivatives-is right up his alley mathematically. So, this week there was a conference for self important and likely wealthy people. They all gathered to listen to significantly distinguished scholars disperse their insights and predictions about the economy. Some blame Greenspan for letting the growth fire rage out of control, but that is another discussion altogether. The recession is here. If it hasn't arrived it will be coming to a town near your soon. In fact you may already feel it at the pump and in the driveway; if you still own one. You and I can see it. Our president and some in the media deny it, but we are all feeling the impact of a recession. Anyway, it doesn't take a Nobel laureate to figure out the worldwide economy is going to suffer, but he is correct.




``There will be a global recession,'' Scholes said in an interview today at a conference in Lindau, Germany, featuring 14 Nobel laureates in economics. Stiglitz forecast the world economy would continue to perform below its potential for some time, resulting in a ``social loss'' through weaker employment.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ap.AW9Y5rJ_A&refer=home

The Bridge Debate; When Will It End?

While I rarely cross the current I-5 bridge over the Columbia River, my opinion counts too.

For months the debate has raged over the proposed replacement of the interstate which connects Vancouver and Portland via I-5. With a sliding price, more accurately ascending, now estimated at $4.2 Billion, the project is projected to cost twice as much as originally thought.

As a gainfully employed taxpayer, I am scrutinizing this plan for significant personal and/or community benefit.

http://www.assmotax.org/Releases/AMCT%20release:%20building%20more%20roads%20relieves%20your%20wallet,%20not%20congestion.php

http://www.columbiarivercrossing.org/CurrentTopics/LPA.aspx

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1218947109273750.xml&coll=7

http://www.kgw.com/environment/stories/kgw_081608_news_I-5_bridge_impacts.4492c36.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Bridge

http://news.opb.org/article/2750-protesters-voice-opposition-new-bridge-lng-pipeline/