The new pickup truck

January 9, 2022

I went out a while back and picked up a new-to-me pickup truck.

2008 Ford F-150 (tap or click image to enlarge)

My previous full sized F-150 was just an extended cab, but I wanted, or otherwise needed a crew-cab (quad-cab) because Dustin had been growing quite a bit this year. What actually prompted me to switch out trucks was that back in the summer, we had taken a road trip to Billings, and Dustin was relegated to sitting in the back of the extended cab, and was anything but fairly comfortable. Dustin is 15 and he’s 6 foot tall. Long story short, he needed some room.

My extended cab truck was a 2008 Ford F-150. Short of having to put a new transmission in it last year, it ran great. The only thing really wrong with it was that it was too small in the back. The 2008 F-150 was the first full sized truck I owned since not ever owning one since the early 90’s.

1997 Ford Ranger (tap or click image to enlarge)

All of my other trucks were small. I had the ’96 GMC Sonoma for a time, and still have, my ’97 Ford Ranger. Full sized or not though, I’ll put a pickup truck through it’s paces. When I sold the Sonoma, it had 350K miles on it. My Ranger has 236K miles on it now and it sits very comfortably parked in the garage at the moment. The Ranger is probably the smallest pickup I’ve ever owned. Gets 50mpg, has a little 4 cylinder engine with a 5 speed trans. I’ll be keeping it for quite a while yet.

2011 Ford F-150 (tap or click image to enlarge)

Anyhow, this new pickup is a 2011 Ford F-150 quad-cab. Though it has the same engine in it that the 2008 had, it’s equipped with a tow package. The 2008 didn’t have a tow package, so I’m guessing that might be why I had to put a new transmission in it.

There’s a huge difference between the 2008 and the 2011. I’m sort of a manual window roll-up kind of guy, which is what the 2008 was. The 2011 has it all, right down to the seat warmers, satellite radio, and auto-start. Still takes some getting used to I think, because just when I think I’ve got it all mastered, there’s another little switch, button, or configuration I have to address. Fancy pants is all fine and dandy and all, but this thing has so many gadgets and gizmos that it’s kind of like driving a computer.

I still haven’t decided on whether or not to keep the brush guard. I had brush guards all through the 80’s on my trucks. The last time I had a brush guard on my truck was that time I hit a moose coming off of Lolo pass and the guard smashed up against the front of the truck so tight that I couldn’t get the hood open without first having to cut the brush guard off with a torch. So the jury is still out on this one. There are less things to run into out here on the prairie. You don’t necessarily just come cruising around the corner to find a herd of something standing in the middle of the road like you do on the west side of the state.

Remove your Bra — It’s science

Alan

January 1, 2022

Dr. Elena Bodnar was born in Ukraine, so it should come as no surprise that the Chernobyl nuclear accident and images of 9/11 moved her to brainstorm diligently for ways to make events like these more survivable for the human beings unfortunate enough to be involved in them. Yet, many people were still quite surprised when Bodnar presented a hot-pink prototype of a practical gas mask at Harvard University. Nevertheless, Bodnar won an Ig Nobel prize for doing outstanding and seemingly ridiculous research that is in reality extremely useful.

See video below:

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More specifically, Bodnar has created something called an emergency bra: a bra that doubles as a face mask to guard against chemical explosions, biological hazards, and other unforeseen deadly situations. The EBra is pretty much like any other bra until the need arises for it to become something more; the cups can be separated, and then all a user needs to do is put their mouth and nose into a cup, extend the bra strap over their head, and then breathe naturally.

What’s more, the bra can also act as two protective face masks, which could not only save the life of the wearer but also the life of a wearer’s loved one. As mentioned, Bodnar won the 2009 Ig Nobel Public Health Prize as a result of her ingenuity: “It takes only 25 seconds for average woman to use this personal protective device. Five seconds to remove, convert and apply your own mask, and 20 seconds to wonder who the lucky man is she is going to save.”

As discussed, Bodnar began her quest with the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in mind:

“If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness. You have to be prepared all the time, at any place, at any moment, and practically every woman wears a bra.”

CNET has reported that a counterpart device for men is also being designed, but it could prove to be more challenging than Bodnar’s product—due to certain required differences in shape and size, of course.

It’s important to note that Bodnar has no issues with acknowledging the humorous aspects of her ideas, her designs, and her products:

“I have no doubt my demonstrations will generate some laughs. However, I also look forward to addressing some serious questions from the British public. I hope audiences at Oxford University, Imperial College and elsewhere will leave thinking about the potential risks they face. I will consider my goals to be accomplished if I make people remember the importance of being prepared for the unexpected.”

Indeed, if a cause is worthwhile and beneficial for all of human kind, why not embrace all aspects of it? Bodnar realizes that her products have the abilities to save unnumbered lives both now and in the future. Whatever puts more of them into the hands of people who might need them is both positive and productive.

—

Dr. Elena Bodnar, currently the founder and President of the Trauma Risk Management Research Institute in Chicago, is an internationally recognized scientist with over 20 years of experience in clinical research and development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. She managed the Electrical Trauma Research Program at the University of Chicago, and collaborated with the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency on projects related to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Her areas of scientific expertise are trauma risk management strategies and long term health consequences of radiation exposure and electrical trauma. She has authored numerous scientific publications and book chapters. – https://www.ebbra.com/our-story

Remembering Frontier Town

Alan

December 25, 2021

Anybody who might be anybody back in the day in Montana might certainly remember Frontier Town.

My memories of Frontier Town involved the gravel parking lot, the bear, dog, and miner at the entrance of the once 2 lane highway 12 at McDonald pass. Kinetically driven, the roadside attraction depicted a grizzly bear about to attack a man and his dog. The dog jumped while a loud tape-recorded loop of barking echoed across the mountains.

Here’s the audio of the original barking dog sound —

The recording here doesn’t seem to do the real life sound any justice I think, because as memory serves, it was really, really loud. I suppose that when you’re a kid, everything is huge, and nothing was more exciting than that at the time.

I loved the huge logs, the smells of the dust and the woods.
The gates between the blockhouse entrance were bigger than real life … thick and heavy, one might seem to have found a certain safety or comfort behind them in the vast expanse of the Montana wilderness.

When I look around at what many of the kids have today, what with their snap-chats, instagrams, and zooms, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for them, in that a lot of what we have today stifles the imaginations and the wonderment that places like Frontier Town would bring.

Running my hands up and down genuinely hand-hewn logs and laid rough stacked boulders is etched in memory as solid as the Frontier Town that John Quigley had built with his bare hands .. as firm and as solid as the town itself tucked into the hillside.

We were friends and neighbors back in those days. We didn’t have any of this so-called politically correct nonsense. As children, having to worry about how we walked and talked and played was never a thing. It was places like Frontier Town that brought out the very best in us, and encouraged us to move ahead in life, come what may. We were stout, well built, and strong in our thoughts and in our imaginations.

We believed that we could do anything we set out to do, and lived it all accordingly.

The simple dreams of just one man, John Quigley, can be found etched into the minds and the memories of an entire generation. John’s pure vision of Frontier Town lives on in the memories of those who were fortunate enough to have experienced it first hand.

I wish my son could have experienced Frontier Town, but alas, short of the memories, Frontier Town is no more.

Even still, I do what I can to help my son experience old Montana. For as much as he loves Nevada City, and Garnett, I can’t help but wonder just how he might have received Frontier Town.

John Quigley let us know what it might have been like settling in the *new west — We set out to tame the territory, but what we didn’t know at the time, was that the territory was actually taming us. The grandeur and the wildness of what might have been the new Montana is a humbling thing. It’s larger than us, and even today, we are found in admiration of it’s simple splendor. The wilderness has it’s own set of rules, and it reminds us all of just how fortunate we are to experience it.

sourced –

Helena History

Frontier Town Montana

The leaning tree of Great Falls

Alan

December 12, 2021

Every year, the city of Great Falls accepts a tree donation for Christmas. This year really wasn’t any different than any of the rest, accept that the tree that was donated this year came with an angle.

According to City Commissioner Rick Tryon’s facebook page, this is how it all played out:

You can contact Rick HERE.

Though people might have complained about the rather crooked or leaning tree, I think most of us are taking it in stride.

Those who might worry about others around the state laughing at us over this need to understand that people around the state have always laughed at us for some reason or the other. We here have always done others around the state a good turn by laughing at them too.

I mean, C’Mon — who here in town hasn’t had a good chuckle over the antics of Bozeman or Missoula? So we, with our leaning tree and all, really don’t have it as bad as some would want us to imagine.

At the end of the day though, this whole leaning or crooked tree episode really just boils down to ones own perspective. Is the glass half full or half empty?

Are you miserable or are you happy? Most of us here are pretty happy, so when we take a snapshot of our crooked tree, it all comes out straight.

It all just depends on which angle or position you take on these matters.

I like the tree — It’s full and green and full of lights.

It’s a Christmas tree.

Meanwhile — Society struggles to mitigate the effects of a virus

Alan

December 11, 2021

Our son started his freshman year at high school this year. The fall of the 2021 school year hasn’t been any different, so far, as any other year previous, our son comes home with some sort of virus from school that everyone in the home, at some point, catches. We all know the drill … send the kid off to school in the fall … kid brings home viral goodies.

I caught the annual cold that somehow just comes around at the beginning of every school year just like clock work. We go through the head congestion, coughing, and stuffiness for 3 or 4 days, and then we recover until next time — It’s become more of a ritual that we go through every September than anything else.

Regardless of what we might try to do in the home every September in our efforts to mitigate this pesky cold virus, we inevitably always end up catching it.

I’ve never really ever had an opinion on any virus on any given day other than the fact that they are what they are, and their eventual way into our personal worlds are a fact of life. Regardless of what you might try and do, you will catch one eventually.

Over the past months, there’s been some fairly hefty concern over the coronavirus. Public health officials sort of freaking out over a new strain of SARS that may, or could, very possibly, end the world as we know it, going forward.

With all of what we might have learned collectively as a society over the years about virus’ in general, you’d think that public health would be handling the outbreaks with a bit more tact and focus. Of course, I understand that it’s more difficult to handle anything well at all when you’ve got the federal government micro-managing anything health related in our society.

You can’t effectively mitigate anything health related when you’ve got an extremely large, unenlightened, and tone deaf political machine using the human condition as an excuse to further the cause of it’s failing/failed government policy.

If one were to understand how a virus might actually work out in the real world, we might find the questions and answers below to be either terrifying, or extremely entertaining.

At the grocery store:

Q: Why is there plastic on the payment keypad?
A: To protect people from Covid.
Q: But isn’t everyone touching the plastic keypad the same way they would the regular keypad?
A: I don’t know, I just work here.

Q: Why don’t you pack the grocery bags anymore?
A: Because of Covid 19 to reduce the spread of catching or spreading the virus.
Q: But a shelf packer took it out of a box and put on the shelf, a few customers might of picked it up and put it back deciding they don’t want it, I put it in my cart then on the conveyor belt, you pick it up to scan it. But putting it in a bag after you scan is risky??
A: I don’t know, I just work here.

At the drive-thru:

Server: (holds a tray out the window with a bag of food for logical friend to grab)
Q: Why is my bag of food on a tray?
A: So I don’t touch your food because of Covid.
Q: Didn’t the cook touch my food? Didn’t the person wrapping my food touch it and then touch it again when placing it in my bag? Didn’t you touch the bag and put it on the tray? Didn’t you touch the tray?
A: I don’t know, I just work here.

In society:

Society: If you cough or sneeze do it in your elbow or sleeve,
Also society: Don’t shake hands or hug anyone or you will spread the virus. To greet people do an elbow tap instead.

Q: Elbow tap? Isn’t that where you tell people to sneeze or cough? Into their elbow? Now you want people to tap each other with that elbow?
Wouldn’t it be safer to sneeze into your elbow and then shake hands like we did before Covid?

At the restaurant:

Hostess: Okay, I can seat you at this table right here (4 feet away), but I will need you to wear a mask to the table.
Q: What happens when I get to the table?
A: You can take off the mask.
Q: Then it is safe over there?
A: Yes.
Q: Are those fans blowing above the table? Is that the air-conditioning I feel? Is the air circulating in here?
A: I don’t know, I just work here.

Society:

You are not allowed to stand and drink at the pub — you have to sit down.
But at the shopping center you are not allowed to sit down, all the chairs are roped off.

The ridiculousness of these so-called virus mitigation protocols are leaving anyone who can still think critically asking more questions than anyone else might have the answers to. I mean, anyone that knows anything at all about a virus will more often than not find themselves asking, who thinks this stuff up?

Given how involved the political machine might be in the things of health, life might be somewhat difficult for logical people right now.
Most of us were raised with the ability to process and execute logic. Government intervention into our healthcare concerns have seemingly turned common sense on it’s head. Interjecting the nonsensical into the equations of health have somehow caused the case of covid to turn into something that it was never meant to be.

Part of the reason why a lot of this stuff doesn’t make sense to anyone who can rub two brain cells together, is because the government has sweetened the so-called “concern-for-your-health” pot with money. The government’s only tool for it’s faux concern is money. Not too unlike how government rules education with money (and we all know how that’s working out), it rules this so-called health concern with money as well: i.e. — “We’ll pay top dollar for any verified positive covid case”. As a matter of speaking, over the past 18 months, the quest for the almighty dollar from the government wiped the flu totally off the map. The flu, of course, is still here … always has been. It’s just that money was seemingly just so much more important than spending any time on something that doesn’t pay.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has come out with what would appear to be some fairly non-biased studies with regard to this whole covid thing. The studies themselves actually elude to many of the things we, as a collective society, have already known for literally … years.
A virus is what it is, and given the conditions of the environment, a virus will do what all virus’ have done for thousands of years … the virus will infect people … mutate … then move on to the next bunch of people.

Am I concerned about covid? Of course I am. But as with any other virus in this world, I’m not going to let it rule the day in my life. I’ll follow the studies, learn about what real science has to teach, and then move on to learn more at a later date.

If you happen to be the sort that might believe everything the government tells you, then knock yourself out — I’m not going to call you stupid or laugh at you for wearing your mask outdoors when you’re by yourself with no one else around. I’m not going to insist that you put your mask on because you might kill somebody when you’re in the grocery store. You can only know what you think you know, and you can only do for you according to your own set of beliefs.

I haven’t had (that I’m aware of) this coronavirus (knock on wood), and neither has any of my family members (that they are aware of) — (knock on wood again). Just because I haven’t had it, doesn’t mean that I won’t catch it at some point in the future. You never know how it all might work itself out.

Going forward, I’ll do what I’ve always done — I’ll continue to keep science, politics, and health separated from each other — Keeping these things separate is probably the only way anyone can see what’s actually going on in the world when it comes to mitigating the effects of this virus.

Thanks for the read.

Happy Trails.

sourced – MIT researchers have developed a publicly available model based on physics and data from past spreading events.

A guideline to limit indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19

A Guideline to Limit Indoor Airborne Transmission of COVID-19 (PDF)

Dataset SO1 (SLSX)