The Real Terrorists
Cory Doctorow commenting on a photographer who was stopped from taking pictures of St. Paul's Cathedral in London:

"The real damage from terrorist attacks doesn't come from the explosion. The real damage is done after the explosion, by the victims, who repeatedly and determinedly attack themselves, giving over reason in favor of terror. Every London cop who stops someone from taking a picture of a public building, every TSA agent who takes away your kid's toothpaste, every NSA spook who wiretaps your email, does the terrorist's job for him. Terrorism is about magnifying one mediagenic act of violence into one hundred billion acts of terrorized authoritarian idiocy. There were two al Quaeda operatives at St Paul's that day: the cop and her sidekick, who were about Osama bin Laden's business in London all day long."
- posted by Jonathan Hutchins @ 11:38 AM 0 comments

 
Wheel Shopping
Consensus of several knowledgeable people who've looked at the wheel: You might away with it. You won't find one like it. Looks like four new wheels. I am NOT driving that trailer on the highway with my horses on a wheel that "might" not come off.

(They all agreed that the lug nuts, which have thousands of trailer miles on them, are not the right ones for those wheels.)

The only vehicle big enough to transport all four wheels is the truck, so I guess they go two at a time.
- posted by Jonathan Hutchins @ 5:16 PM 0 comments

 
Progress!
Wednesday turned out to be an ugly weather day too, but today it was nice, and I'm sharper and better rested.

Pushed the wheel all the way on, backed the adjuster all the way off and finally was able to pull it free. Nothing seriously damaged in the brake assembly. Took the wheel to the Machine Shop; they have to order more studs but say that it's fairly trivial to replace them. If the hub comes off of the brake drum easily, they'll turn that flange of rust that caught the shoes off, otherwise they'll leave it alone. Should be done tomorrow.

Need to order lug nut. The only local chain that carries them is Auto Zone, and each store stocks two. I'm going to replace all eight on that wheel.

Talked to a couple of wheel shops, they say as long as the holes haven't worn oval, the wheel should be fine. I'll have one more close look at it, but I'm going to have to hope the studs were the problem. I still need to verify the proper torque - maybe a Chevrolet dealer?
- posted by Jonathan Hutchins @ 3:04 PM 0 comments

 
Settled Down
It turned out to be a much better idea to do the move by daylight. Two alternate wiring plugs on the truck - one with too few pins, one with too many. I felt so relieved when I turned into the road to the stable and didn't have to worry about being pulled over any more.

Horses were a little energetic, but loaded reasonably well in spite of the steeper rake of the trailer (due to a taller truck). I'm really glad I don't have to haul along Kansas 7 with all those 65 MPH stoplights very often.

Horses have been turned out in their rain sheets, and trotted off in search of a round bale. Marilyn will go get them in tonight, and probably take the sheets off as it's due to be warmer tomorrow.

Big Scary Rental Truck is returned safely without squashing anybody on the slippery streets. They were not upset by the broken mirror - it's just business, these things happen. They will call with an estimate.

I'm going to curl up on the couch with a cat. Tomorrow is another (warmer, maybe drier) day.
- posted by Jonathan Hutchins @ 3:42 PM 0 comments

 
More truck adventures
Oh it just gets better.

At about four o'clock, with it growing increasingly clear that the wheel repair is going to be more than a one-day job. The brake shoes have hung up on the drum and pulled loose of their hardware, and the wheel just won't come off. It seemed like a good idea to go rent a truck, get the trailer, and bring the girls home. Thirty minutes, an hour to get to the stable, right?

An hour and a half later I was just leaving town. Oh well, at least we'll miss rush hour. Of course, this means it's dark now, Sure hope the trailer lights work with the rental's wiring.

Running 55 along Mo.45 toward Farley, this guy with a snow plow passes me the other way. There is a huge BANG and some flopping and bumping, and the left mirror on the rental truck is dangling from it's electrical cable. Of course it has a cable, and a light, and adjusting motors. Other guy slows down, sees me stopping, and takes off.

The mirror is a mess, but the wide angle part is still good, and I manage to stick it back together.

I get to Farley, and there is no way I can get the tailgate down to hitch the trailer. It feels like it's locked, but in the dark and the rain I can't see any un-locking mechanism, nor is there anything I can find in the cab.

In retrospect, this is probably a good thing. Whether or not the trailer lights work with the rented truck, it's probably best to do this in daylight. Of course, this means that the CRX is parked in an unsavory part of town overnight, but I'll at least have daylight. It turns out there's a keyhole right under the tailgate latch handle.

It gets better though! It turns out that that collision protection your credit card gives you when you rent a vehicle only applies to certain vehicles - and trucks are specifically exempted! Beware if you plan to rent a U-Haul. (I checked four different cards, same weasel terms.) Be warned, you are not covered like you think you are.

One can only wonder what the morning will bring.
- posted by Jonathan Hutchins @ 8:57 PM 0 comments

 
Adventures
Saturday's hunt went pretty well for me, had to hold Crystal back pretty hard, but after a good long run she settled a bit. She's still obnoxious at the checks, especially since Honey is riding in a different field.

I had a slow leak fixed on the truck last a couple of weeks ago. Remounted the wheel carefully, torqued it all to 120 ft./lbs per the manual. On the way back from that weekend's hunt, I felt a vibration. I checked all four wheels and found nothing wrong, but it still didn't sound or feel right. We continued to the stable, unloaded, groomed and fed the horses, unhitched. As I was pulling out, I heard the hub cover on the left rear rattle - which it can only do if the wheel is loose. Sure enough, I have three loose lug nuts (out of eight) barely holding on the wheel.

Lucky is one way to put it.

Had to go to four different stores for five new lug nuts, as only Auto Zone carries them and each store only stocks two. Replace nuts, torque to 120 ft/lbs per manual. Drive home. Re-tighten nuts, park truck for the week.

On the way home from the Saturday hunt, I feel the vibration agian. I check the lug nuts. Yes, some are loose. Tighten with star wrench. Proceed with extreme paranoia. Is there really a vibration? We got to Farley, where there's a place to pull off the road, and I check the wheel. Not only are some of the lug nuts loose, one is gone - and the wheel stud with it.

No way am I taking a 10,000 pound trailer on the highway at 70 mph with this truck.

After many cell phone calls and much thinking, we reached Amara Packwood of Tally Ho Equestrian Center, who was on the road to Oklahoma but had stalls for two horses. Verna Malcuit, a foundation of the Fort Leavenworth Hunt, came to the rescue with her horse trailer. AAA provided transport to get the truck home, and the trailer is parked in Farley.
- posted by Jonathan Hutchins @ 8:44 PM 0 comments