Drunken Monkey - Sushi in Truckee

As the new kid in town, I am eager to try out the local kicks. The Rock is a small business plaza close to our house with several restaurants, including the recently opened Drunken Monkey. The Rock is best known for its flagship restaurant the 50/50 Brewing Company. Being very successful, they went and opened a second restaurant in the same plaza, the Drunk Monk (he he). The other night my wife and I decided to try out this very close by eating establishment.

http://www.drunkenmonkeysushi.com/index.html

The first thing that I noticed was how full the place was for a Wednesday night. Typical Tahoe/Truckee restaurants are dead on Wednesday nights which cater towards the tourist crowd. But the DM had every table filled, I took an extra look around trying to get a feel of the local population. This was not the typical local Truckee crowd, but more of the Truckee Yuppies.

It was mixed blessing having the restaurant so busy, for we sat at the sushi bar, and was served by the head chef Sam. Sam was a real live, Japanese sushi chef. I think he is the only one in all of the greater Tahoe area. I started the meal with an order of miso and hot tea. To my surprise I was asked which tea variety I was interested in. Though the quality of my wholong was average the fact that I had a selection was amazing. The thing about Sushi is that there is only sushi and bad sushi. Mother nature makes the fish, and only the lack of freshness makes it bad.

What is unique about this restaurant is that the menu has many entries, rather than just sushi. I ordered a Tofu and Shitake Mushroom Nabe, and Leslie a roasted garlic clove for starters. Then some pieces of Nigri and some rolls. The food was simple but well put together. The fish was fresh and tasty. We did not order very much and our bill reflected so. I did try to order the monk fish liver, but they were out.

Overall I would say that this place is worth visiting. Food is good, prices are average. There are some interesting thing on the menu, and the attention to detail is superb. The restaurant has a very trendy bay area feel, and is popular with the locals. Service however is typical Tahoe/Truckee. If you don't know what that is then don't worry about it...

Moving - Backing Up A Trailer

The last two weeks my life has been completed engulfed with one overwhelming task: Moving. The fact that I own a truck and have owned a truck for 15 years make this task even more difficult for two reasons.

1-because I have the capacity I am willing to move myself with my truck. If I did not have the ability I might rent a large truck and/or hire people to do the moving.

2-because of the truck, I can easily transport and thus bring home large items. "Hey Bill you want a _____? Sure throw it in the back of the truck." That conversation has been had many times. Having a pack rat, just in case mentality does not help either. The combination of that mentality and many hobbies, is a recipe for moving hell.

Several years ago, I did make a purchase that was for the sole purpose of moving. A little 4x8 trailer. I have used it for 6 moves now.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=90154

This thing is great. Combined with 4 foot tall sides, it really increases my load carrying capacity. When not in use the sides come off, folds in threes and stores upright on little casters. This item often comes on sale for much cheaper. I added a spare tire, and tongue jack. One major gripe is its difficultly to back up. Never having the experience of driving a trailer, backing maneuvers have always been a daunting task. A small trailer is more difficult to back than a large one due to the fact that it does not want to "come around" very easily. I will share what I have learned with backing a trailer.

Step 1- Initiating the turn. The trailer will move in the opposite direction the truck moves. Someone once told me a trick: Place your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. What ever direction you move your hand is the direction the trailer will move. I however can not get use to this. Instead I keep my hand on the top of the steering and move my hand towards the mirror I don't want to see the trailer in. It is just a mental assistance I use.

Step 2- Follow the arc. Once you initiated the turn, the truck must follow the arc started by the trailer. This will require you to direct the truck in the opposite direction from what you used initiated the turn. Then you use the step 1 technique to adjust the direction of the trailer.

If you come close to jackknifing or can not get the trailer to come around, just pull forward and start over again.

This is a total clutch burner if you have a manual transmission vehicle and are backing up hill, like I have been. With alot of practice you might become a pro. But I think this skill is more like skiing; despite any amount of practice, some will never be a pro at it.

Additional note on the HF trailer-Harbor Freight tools, also known as the Chinese Tool Store, has several of these trailers. There are in fact two trailer that look almost identical. The only difference is there load capacity, which is limited by the wheels and tires. The one I have listed has the 12" wheels, and the 1195lb load capacity. There is one which has the same chassis but only 850lbs. It has 8" inch wheels. The wheels and tires are therefor the limiting factor. In fact it is limiting in several ways. The primary being speed. These trailers are limited to 55mph as is all towed vehicles in the state of California. So NO you can not travel down Interstate 5 at 70mph even though that is the posted speed limit. Another lesser known fact is that pressure requirements of these tires. They are high, 50-60 psi, I have seen this type of tire saying max pressures upwards of 80 psi. Fully loaded and under pressure, I broke the internal radials of one tire and created a very dangerous situation once. Keep the tires inflated properly and have a spare.

Limey - 1977 VW Rabbit -SOLD

The Lime sold today and is moving on to greener pastures. Well not really greener but at least warmer. I heard the guy drove up from Arizona and loaded it up onto a trailer. Man you guys really like your V Dubs.

1977 VW Rabbit

German built

Round headlights short tail

1.6 liter 4 sp

1800lbs

80hp

Pre smog cam

Bali green

Power Nothing

What more could you want in a car. A friend of mine is trying to sell his car and asked if I would post some pictures for him. $100 FIRM! Runs good. Fires up every time. I have whitnessed this. Extra set of summer tires. Send me an e-mail or leave comment if interseted.

Bike Multi tool - 15mm nut

A friend of mine recently presented me with a question: What tool would you carry to remove a non quick release rear wheel of a bike? This seems like kind of an odd question with an easy answer: a wrench. But if you really ride bikes you would know this is not so. This is because most fasteners on a bike are Allen type, which require small tools. With almost all wheels being quick release the need for large wrenches have almost all but vanished. These days most cyclist carry a multi tool, a Swiss army knife of bike tools, which do not include a 15 or 14 mm wrench for removing nutted wheels.

With single speed bikes however, nutted wheels are still in demand. Some think that with the extra torque generated by only one gear, extra holding strength is also required. Thus the need for a large wrench.

-My first thought was the "Cool Tool". This was one of the first bike specific multi tools. Now the design is owned by Gerber.

It not only has a crescent wrench on one end, but a 14/15mm socket attachment. This is the tool that I carry, and have owned for over 10 years.

http://www.epinions.com/bike-Components-All-Gerber_Cool_Tool_CT41945#

-Having a bunch of old tools in my bike bin, I then thought of this ol gem. It has various sizes of socket like fitting including a 15mm. But having destroyed one in the past, I am not sure that it can deliver the torque requirements of a 15mm rear axle nut (30is ft/lbs according to Park Tools).

http://www.amazon.com/Tool-Bone-Bicycle-Wrench-Metric/dp/B000NJGOB2

But maybe I just had a crappy one, and one of better quality would work.

-The next tool to hit my brain was the stubby wrench. Maybe this would be a good alternative to a full size wrench. All the reliability, half the size. You wouldn't need to change up your trusty tool kit, just have a little addition. And they are so cute to boot.

-But if you are going to be caring a wrench for a single purpose, you might as well make it specific purpose, yet multi use; does that make sense at all. Introducing the Park tools single speed spanner. A 15mm stubby wrench with a six point socket, tire lever, and a bottle opener.

This little guy sells for under $15 dollars, and seems built for the job.

https://www.ebikestop.com/park_tool_ss_15c_single_speed_spanner-TL8349.php

This is a good time to throw in a short discussion on "points" of a socket. What six point socket vs a 12 point one. It is the number of possible contact locations the tool/socket can have with the nut/bolt head. A hex head nut has six sides, and thus the true maximum contact points is 6. The stubby wrenches shown above are of the 12 point variety. This does not mean that it contact the nut in 12 points but has 12 possible contact locations. This allows more indexing possibilities if you are working in a tight spot. A 12 point wrench will slip over the nut every 30 degrees apart, whereas a 6 point will only do so every 60 degrees. A open end wrench only contacts the nut in 2 points, and like the 6 point, govern by the hex pattern, indexes every 60 degrees. So which is the best? Generally a 6 point socket provides the most "grip" on a nut. Each of the six points grab more of the corner than a 12 point would. However if working in a tight spot a 12 pt might be necessary. A open end wrench is generally the worst, and most likely to round out your hex corners, but in some applications they are necessary when you cannot slip a box end or a socket over the end, such as a sensor with a wire or a nut on an all thread. If a high torque application of this type is required a flared nut tool or a sensor socket can be used, 5 point. But we will save that discussion for another time.

-Finally a little bit of warning. I would stay away from multi tools that claim to have a 15mm wrench, such as this one. I doubt that the 15mm cut out in the piece of steel will hold up.

So good luck Rob, and let me know what you choose.

Time 2 go - Spa 2 Go - 6 of 7

I have a feeling that the days are limited for the Spa 2 Go. I will be moving into my new house and it already has a spa. One that is not inflatable too. Don't worry the new-to-me spa is currently broken, so it not like I have it that good. From monitonring this blog, I see that the Spa 2 Go repair articles have drawn quite a following for all over the world. Cheers mate.

But before I go I will at least write a bit on spa chemicals. If I had my chemical levels correct I do not think that I would have had the temp sensor corrode on me.

If you have a question you want to ask, feel free to e-mail me.

I also have an extra temp sensor. Remember I thought that only one was bad, but I changed out both. I hacked the plug but you can reuse yours in the same fasion that I did mine. Contact me if anyone wants this sensor.

The extra sensor is GONE! I just sent it off to the reader that posted the temp resistor sensor fix.

New House- It's Official

What a long crazy month! Finally we are home owners. Our escrow was actually 37 days. Here are some highlights.

The offer- We were sortta competing for this house with another offer, the amount of which was unknown. We still paid below asking price. But we were never certain there was another offer.

Septic-The Sellers agents canceled the septic pumpers inspection. We

found out the tank was badly deteriorating, based on the pumpers note in 2003. Negotiate to have tank replaced prior to close of escrow.

Inspection- Inspection yielded more issues. Most of it was just poor upkeep. Because the bathroom and kitchen were remodeled, we were under the impression that the place was in better shape. More negotiations.

*

The last part was getting the septic done, and the house cleaned.

Now that all that is over, I am past the negatives and ready to enjoy my new house. Great location, good price, large yard.

But before I enjoy it. I have to move in to it. That takes place the rest of this week, the weekend, and next week. If anyone wants to visit in the future, secure your place by visiting before the month is over!

How can they sell it for SO cheap?!

Do you ever ask yourself that question? I just received a phone adaptor cable, which I ordered from E-bay. It cost me $2.65, shipped from Hong Kong!!

This type of thing put consumers like me in a difficult position. By purchasing such products, I am most likely supporting poor manufacturing processes, and unsustainable use of natural resources. However when comparing cost, there was no way I was going to pay $30 for the same part from a local vendor, who most likely obtained his merchandise from the same source. A slight justification is that my part appears to be blemished; the case and plug are mounted upside down.

I almost titled this post: The Raping of Mother Earth. You see this type of stuff happening all the time, when walking through the isles of Wal Mart or the Dollar store. Microwave ovens for $20, DVD players for $40. We all love to get a great deal, but at these prices, these items become disposable.

So what is the right thing to do? I do not know. I am writing this to bring awareness to the issue. There is a cost to everything we buy. If the price we pay is not equal to the cost of the materials involved in making it, the difference is paid for by our planet.

UPDATE: Last night I watched a littel video that discribed what I was talking about exactly. Though a little over the top in some of its remarks, the video makes a good point.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/