Motorcycle work, dinner, TV

Went to the parents' for Day 2 of motorcycle work, arriving around 7/sunset. Between a brief web search yesterday and a call to Coleman today, I learned/concluded that the drive sprockets and chain I have are correct, though the chain will need to be shortened four links from its stock length of 110 links. (I also learned that the "530" in the "530-110" description is just a convention that describes the link size/spacing.) To shorten the chain, I'll borrow a chain breaker that my neighbor is going to borrow for me tomorrow; I should probably get one of my own later anyway, as they're only $15-$25. Then, in working on the bike (in the garage after dark, with an extra light), I learned that the redesign of the front drive sprocket eliminates two spacers, which is good engineering practice--though it took me a while to realize there was a very thin spacer still in place, preventing me from locking in the new gear! After fitting the new chain/gear, I saw the necessity of shortening the chain--four links will make a huge difference--and then I cleaned out the accumulated oil/dirt gunk in the drive housing. Ew.

Then dinner, which was diabetic-friendly, but much tastier than last night--chicken/basil burgers, garlic-miniportobella mushrooms, and parmesan couscous. All during dinner, Puck was stalking her jingle-ball, and Brendan was being adorable and precocious, as usual. After dinner, we watched Everybody Loves Raymond, which was amusing, and then dad and I watched CSI: Miami, which was awesome--more plot twists than any episode I'd seen previously, and that's saying something.

Finally, I told dad about the doors and windows I'm working with at work--forced entry/ballistic resistant, with the windows themselves weighing 70-500lbs, and the doors weighing up to 1400lbs.. crazy stuff. Then I came home, woo!

A few more links, good and bad

Largely paraphrased from reabhecc, because it's worth passing on. :)

Right on the heels of National Coming Out Week, our Exalted Leader Issues An Asinine Proclamation. (Not only that bad timing, but even worse, it begins on October 12th, the anniversary of Matthew Shepard's brutal beating and death.)

bluekitsune & reabhecc's "Papa is famous. Don't believe ['em]? Read the interview!"

And if you need a bit of peace and coziness, read reabhecc's latest post in reaschild. :)

Recent song acquisitions

Entertaining covers, suggested by idoru:

Queensrÿche - Scarborough Fair

Godhead - Eleanor Rigby, from the "Power Tool Stigmata" album (hehe)

Entertaining pop/angst, suggested by a user in supportlounge:

Play - I Must Not Chase the Boys

Links and other goodness

Happy birthday to yooooopie!

Beautiful autumn imagery from ragdoll13

The latest Semagic release (1.3.6) has broken code with regards to downloading/syncing to your hard drive, which seriously affected LJ's performance, so that feature has been disabled from LJ's end. 1.3.3.2 is still fine.

Not new, but still very amusing: Quantas Airlines problem/solution reports.

And, drilling through 1/4" steel sucks.

Funny * 2 / Good to know / Activism

From cheshirrrecat: Funniest ad for a nonexistent anti-depressant ever

From one of the comics: Now that's restaurant service. :D

bradfitz in lj_maintenance, in defense of disabling syncitems and working on a feasible journal download/sync protocol.

From pictsy: Human Rights Campaign: Take Action: Tell President Bush Not to Support Discrimination [against gays, by endorsing Marriage Protection Week]. From there, there's also a link to the MillionForMarriage.org petition for equal marriage rights, and many other pro-LGBT-rights issues.

And on a similar note, by giogio by way of jude:
Protection from Bigots Week, 2003
Marriage is an outmoded religious institution, and its protection is contrary to the separation of church from state. Protection from Bigots Week provides an opportunity to focus our efforts on preserving the principles our constitution is based on and on building strong and healthy families of honor and integrity in America. (Read the rest)