My boy

It seems like this happens too often in my home, and it is never easy. We lost our boxer not long ago and my heart ached to lose him. Now, my buddy Linus (the little black guy in the pic), who we adopted on Christmas of 1998, has cancer and is in his last days. We have opted thus far, not to euthanize him. We have been providing hospice care to him during a very difficult time. He seemed at the end on Tuesday and had not eaten for over 24 hours. We were preparing to call the vet to come to the house and end his suffering, but suddenly, he started eating and regained some energy. He is still very weak and very thin, but he shows us the love in his eyes for us whenever we are near him...especially my wife. His ears go up and he sits up when we enter the room and he seems very at peace when my wife is with him.

I am torn between ending his suffering and providing him with every possible thing I can between now and the time of his passing. It seems unfair to end his life without his consent, but he couldn't give it to me anyway. I don't want him to suffer, but I can't bring myself to force his death prematurely. Right now, I have opted to provide him with the best possible care until he is in pain or simply cannot function. I want to keep him with us for as long as possible, but sometimes I feel like I am being selfish by doing so.

I love this dog more than words can possibly express and this decision is one of the most difficult I have ever had to make. I'm not a religious person, but I find myself praying for the strength to make the right decision. I can say that I have had some of the best days of my life with him (and his sister Lucy and, of course, Bugsy). He has made me a better person by reminding me to be patient and calm when I felt like coming apart. These last days will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Losing a pet is like losing family...probably because it is. I know that some people don't connect with animals the way many of us do, but if you have the chance, I recommend you do. You will never regret loving an animal...

Sign of the times

Saw this on Back Street Buckets blog. Thought it summed things up pretty well.

And the winner is...

not me! Wow. I was digging through some old pics and found this...my "build off" frame. I entered some dumb "biker build off" several years ago and decided to do a complete one off build. I ended up pulling out and not doing the build. I just don't put much stock in these build offs. Popularity contests suck. Still got the frame though. Oil in back bone, stationary rear axle, kick only, jackshaft...wow I felt ambitious. Maybe I'll finally finish it.

Hey Jason, how do you like my custom "milk crate" stands. Sexy, huh?

New Tool

Made a cool new tool...a fly cutter with a 7 inch cutting diameter. I've been needing one of these for years and finally made one for cutting heads. It actually has two places for cutters at 7 inches and another at 6.5 inches. It's balanced really well and I can sling this thing at 2800-3000 rpm with no problems. First pass over this head at .003" looked great.

Jesse James...

I think the whole biker build off thing has gotten' pretty diluted, but this is just a circus act. Jesse's a funny mother f***er. This was his response to the Jr. kiss a** video.

WTF?

WTF! Are you serious? I'm not really sure what to say about this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Harley-Davidson-Sportster-48-Harley-Davidson-Custom-Sportster-48-26-inch-wheels-FINANCING-AVAILABLE-/120814156500?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item1c2115bad4#v4-36

Shovelhead

Putting one of my shovels back together and never realized it had broken fins on one of the heads. I just repaired them and will be reassembling the motor this week. Not a bad job, huh?



Before


After

New project

Yeah, I know. Like I need another one. I bought this quite awhile ago and finally picked it up. Right now I'm storing it at a buddies place...Thanks Randy;). It's a 36 that I'll get to after the 42 is done.

Da' Shovel

Dave stopped by with his shovel the other day and I snapped some quick pics. It was originally my bike that never got completed. I was waiting for a nice set of Pan heads to complete the bike. Dave saw it and talked me into selling it to him and then ended up having me do the fab and mock up for him. He's gonna' paint it eventually, but he's just having too much fun riding it right now.

Did it again...

Just finished my buddy Chris' frame. Came in as a quite a disaster, but I got it all fixed up. The bottom rail someone tried to put in was about 2 inches too short and it was pushing the front motor mount up onto the bend at a really crazy angle. It also had some goofy "fixture" holding it together. It is now a 31 degree rake, -2 in the down tubes and -1 in the back bone...oh, yeah. It's straight too.

Raking...

No not leaves. Been raking, deraking and stretching frames for the past couple weeks. Fun stuff. I dig cutting stuff up and putting it back together. Talked to Jason at TBW and we both did some cool mods to our frame jigs.


Before















After






Tom's frame





























My FXR...deraked to 25.5 degrees for the R1 front end.

Domestic Violence

I don't endorse smacking your bit** up, but this is some funny sh**.

Days gone by...

Well, I never actually too k the time to say much about this, but 6 months later I am still pretty broken up over it. My wife and I have 3 dogs, Lucy, Linus, and Bugsy. Lucy and Linus came to us from the pound and have a story that I will go into another time. Bugsy was our big, goofy boxer. He became part of our family when Diane's brother passed away several years ago. We knew him as a puppy when Duane got him while he and his wife were staying with us. We weren't too happy that they brought a dog home, but we're not the types to stay upset for very long. Diane's brother passed away in October 0f 2004 and shortly thereafter (another story there too, but we'll go there another time) we adopted him. I have to tell you, I was a little opposed to this because he would slobber on everything. I'm not a fan of dog spit. Anyway, fast forward 5 years and I am really attached to this dog. He had a personality that could win you over even if he just ate your $200.00 shoes. I REALLY loved this dog. I bonded with Bugsy more than I have bonded with most of the people in my life...I know, sad, but true.

By now, you probably get where this is going by all the past tense referrals I'm using. Bugsy had a heart condition that we were constantly aware of. Alot of you that know me, know that I was always trying to sell parts on the Jockey Journal and The Horse Swap Meet to try and pay for his many procedures. Last July 6th, Bugy's heart finally gave out. Diane came home from grocery shopping and Bugsy wanted out. She let him out and he was acting kind of odd. Long story short, he went outside, laid down under the deck and left us. Fortunately, Diane was there to comfort him when he passed. He was 8 years old and the best friend I ever had. Goodbye, buddy. I hope there is something after this life and you're there when it's my time.

I'm over it.

OK, so I'm done with my rant and off my high horse. I still stand by what i've said, but no one really wants to hear me bitch anyway, right? Right. Ok, so here's the latest project...the old crusty Ford pickup rat, street, or whatever rod. I'm hoping for something a little nicer than a rat, but funds will determine that.

I built the frame with 2 X 3 X 3/16 rectangular tube. For my first attempt at a street rod frame, I'm pretty happy with it. It is a four link front and rear with air ride. I made all the suspension components myself...scary!! Frame is Z'd and it will sit 2 inches off the pavement when fully dropped. Why not lay frame? Well, I'm glad you asked. You see, I am one of those guys with really bad luck, I decided that if I kept it 2 inches from the ground, if I blew an air line, bag, valve or anything else, I can still drive it home. Laying frame is pretty bad ass, but I'm not tempting fate. I'll post more pics as it come together. Oh, yeah. That's a 390 FE motor. I love old big blocks and thought an old scholl big block would be way more hip than a 302. It is just massive next to the SBF I originally planned for this...and I'm sure the torque numbers will be a tad higher too.