Author Archives: Steve Mays
1970 Ford 100
“Selling over 640,000 units in 2022 in the US, the Ford F-Series range of trucks has once again become the highest-selling truck in America – 46th time in a row.” Whenever I get behind the wheel of my ’77 F-150 I’m greeted with “thumbs up” and shouts of “Want to sell that truck?”
My friend Paul recently acquired this 1970 pickup which I believe is a fifth generation F-series although the markings (see inset below) read: FORD 100. No “F”
Looks like it had a camper shell for most of its life. Check out the bed below.
Life after Village People
Following my frustrating experience with a “rope saw,” I called in the pros and this morning Lovell and Yeri showed up to prune a couple of dead limbs. Before becoming tree professionals, they had a brief music career that I found fascinating.
Seems they were two of the original members of the Village People but were forced out of the group before stardom hit. The other members felt Yeri’s Tree Climber looked too much like the Construction Work and people would be confused. Additionally, there were some concerns about his climbing spikes. They were just never sure what Lovell was supposed to be.
Hiking Trail Update 7.4.23
I think I might be on the last couple of legs of the trail. In the image below you can see where I moved the BFR and the arrow points to where the trail will connect with the first leg that I did so very long ago. This work might be done in the next couple of weeks, depending on the heat factor.
I’ve been thinking about about what comes next, after the trail is finished. Probably some clean-up. The trail forms a big loop with several switch-backs. Within this loop is a lot of dead cedar limbs that I can adios. As well as several rock shelfs that will look better cleaned up. And I might add a little color and whimsy in a few places.
The Scariest Beast Ever Created
“Many lesser troubles will appear in everyday private life. Simulated fake AI porn will likely be a big annoyance, since people like to pay attention to that. If you’re a gamer, AIs will be trained to cheat at your games. If you’re a schoolteacher, you’ll look askance at the kid at the back of the class who never raises his hand but turns in essays that read like Bertrand Russell. Fraudsters might fake the voices of your loved ones, and invent scams to demand money over the phone.”
— AI is the Scariest Beast Ever Created, Says Sci-Fi Writer Bruce Sterling
Wildlife: Deer
Our resident chipmunk has been Riley’s Great White Whale and it’s been a lonely chase. Until now.
In a previous post I expressed some concern about the fate of momma deer. Hadn’t seen her in a while. This is her sauntering across the road in front of our house. And I believe she has started using the hiking trail.
Wildlife: Perhaps it was the deer sculpture
Don’t know if it was the heat (triple digits) or the wildlife-friendly aura I project, but two fawns were relaxing in our front yard. Riley was climbing the walls so I finally had to let her out which sent the deer back into the woods.
I’ve been seeing the title guys without mom and was getting concerned something had happened to her. But she was checking out my hiking trail this morning so all is well. Probably my imagination but this small family seems more and more comfortable around people.
Rope Saw
The two dead limbs on the ash tree near out deck (and outside my office window) have been bugging me for years. But they’re too high to reach with my pole saw and I didn’t want to pay the tree guys to come in with their high-lift equipment. So I decided to try a gizmo called a rope saw.”
It’s like a chainsaw chain but with cutting teeth top and bottom. I finally got the thing over my limb but quickly got it stuck. It looked so easy in the videos but this might have been a case of operator error. I finally pulled a big rope over the limb, put the pickup in 4WD, and pulled the partially sawed limb down.
But it wasn’t pretty. I’m going to have another go at cleaning up the stub. To be continued.
Hiking Trail Update: 6.26.23
I attempted a time-lapse video showing a couple of hours of this project but it was just too boring to post. Not boring for me, mind you, but the state of flow this induces for me doesn’t come across in a video.
Default Face
I recently watched an episode of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee during which Sarah Silverman explains the concept of your “default face.” This is what your face looks like when it is without expression.
Ms. Silverman says you can “change your life” by simply changing your default face. I believe she is correct. I first noticed this about a month ago when I hung a small mirror from the windscreen in the Jeep (to watch the angry motorists forced to go slow behind me). I am also able to see my own face and I immediately saw my default face. Not pretty.
But when I smile… voila! I take five (ten?) years off my face. It will take a while for this to become my default face because it takes a) awareness and b) some extra facial muscles that don’t get used that often.