Crossed My Desk this Morning

Yeah, movies have been kind of crappy for the better part of the past decade.  Here's hoping for a brighter future.  However, I suspect we'll just get some meaningless AI-generated slop with dancing rock piles, and the Hollywood execs will remain as baffled as ever.

Good Advice on Bike Wrenching

An ex-mechanic with ten years' experience dives into some useful stuff over at youtube:

• Top 10 Things I learned Working in a Bike Shop (10 minutes)
• Three More Things You'll Find Useful (6 minutes)
• Five Mistakes I've Made (9 minutes)
• 10 Essential Tools for Any Home Bike Mechanic (15 minutes)

FWIW, I still don't have a work stand.  Where the hell would I put it?

Anyway, his channel's just getting rolling, so look around through his videos for a handful of other bike items.  He does some other mechanical stuff over there that you may find useful too.

Yes, after Friday's post, I'm still around.  Though I have to say, that would have been a great post to wrap up this blog.  Not going anywhere though.

Because I've Been Asked About This

Sabine Hossenfelder digs into the somewhat recent, somewhat mysterious disappearance of scientists and a few scientist-adjacent people.  (8 minutes for the analysis, followed by a 2 minute ad)  TLDW: Mostly explainable, but the overall rate is about four times what one might expect in the general population, which is statistically slightly alarming.

Here's a short summary of my thoughts on the matter:

1. There's a significant subset of scientists who have a taste for outdoor adventure, so expect a higher disappearance rate there.
2. What's more, there's also another subset of scientists who will dive into adventures somewhat blindly, so expect trouble there as well.  Usually they morph over time into the previously mentioned subset – if they survive the learning curve.
3. Personally, over the years I've stumbled across a handful of things that could have been trouble: a probable pot farm, a fresh murder scene, a few awkwardly placed rattlesnakes, a couple of unoccupied hobo camps, etc.  Any of these could have been trouble had my GTFO circuits not overridden my curiosity.  I know some people, especially in Subset #2, who do not have such highly attuned GTFO circuits.
4. The relatively low number of missing persons here can account for large statistical fluctuations.  Along with numerous cases of weak GTFO wiring, this is probably enough to account for the observed 4x disappearance rate.
5. But yeah, Hossenfelder's about right on the matter.  The numbers are a little high but not badly out of line with general expectations.

Beyond that and on a personal note, I don't expect to disappear anytime soon.  Some may be comforted by this, others may be a tad disappointed.  Comment below.

Of Course I'll Go See It

First Project Hail Mary, now this.  It's shaping up to be the best year in movies in about a decade.

The Ground-Side Fuse Question Revisited

First addressed in 2020, the consensus was "don't put a fuse on the negative wire to your mobile ham rig, because" eh, go read the post.  Lots of good reasons given there.

However, this auto mechanic makes a valid point for having a fuse on the ground side in this video.  Go and watch (7 minutes), you'll see a new side of things.  Oh, here's the TLDW: Sometimes the engine ground cable ends corrode.  With 100 to 150 amps cranking current, if that ground cable connection isn't pretty darned good, it's going shoot some current back through various unintended paths and ultimately through the negative/ground wire and into your radio, in which case you really really want  a fuse on that thing.  This is especially a problem if the antenna is permanently mounted on the car body, i.e. not a magnet mount.

I see the guy's point, and it is a valid one.  He's actually seen the bad effects this can have.  However because all my vehicle antennas are mag mounts, it's moot.  I'll keep fusing the positive-side only, but if I change my antenna & mounting system I'll consider adding a fuse to the negative wire.

Finally, I'd previously written back in 2020:

Of course all this is moot for a fully-floating ground plane antenna, but how often do we see those in mobile installs?

Turns out, all the darned time, with every single magnet-mount antenna out there, which is something like half of the antennas actually in use.

It's surprises like this that keep the hobby fresh.

Give my regards to Igor

A brief tour of the real Castle Frankenstein over at Atlas Obscura.

Wish I had more original content this week, but we're still sorting out repeater troubles and various other problems around Castle Coyote.  On a positive note, the bicycles are all functioning at 100% and the sinus problem is letting up.

ps: For those who need it here is a pronunciation guide.  And – speak of the devil – here is someone who needs said guide.

Santos 2026 Recap Video

17 minutes over at YouTube.  He's been doing these the last few years, I've linked there before, but  you can most easily find his previous years' recaps at his youtube page.

Pushing for speed over 50 miles, I dunno, not my style.  You can tell the guy was suffering.  Hey, everybody gets to pick their own poison.

FWIW, here are my March comments on the Santos Fat Tire Fest 2026.  Was that just a month ago?