Overheard recently:
Speaker: Epi pens cost this much each (insert expensive price here)
Audience member: You can buy them in Canada for this much (insert cheaper price here)
Speaker: That's capitalism for you.
Nope. The topic wasn't capitalism but health care so I kept my mouth shut but no, that isn't capitalism.
Capitalism is someone (an American, by the way) inventing the epi pen and saving millions of lives in the process.
Not capitalism is the Canadian government informing the maker of epi pens that if the price isn't lower then they will be banned from selling them in Canada. Rather than lose the market, they sell them for a lower price, forcing Americans to subsidize the cost of each and every epi pen sold in the United States.
If the maker of the epi pen could make a healthy profit and recoup the billions they undoubtedly spend developing it and getting it approved, it's a pretty good bet that they would reduce the price and sell more of them. Lots more. I'd carry a couple around in my IFAK if they didn't cost much. But they don't and therefore it's reasonable to assume that therefore they can't. They most likely lose money (or at best break even) at the Canadian price.
Definitely not capitalism.
Not chocolate, that's Cadbury.
I was fortunate enough to win an auction the other day. Auctions, of course are horrible. I was winning with a $63 bid right up til about five minutes before, then I was winning with a $170 bid. Soft close meant that if the person who last minute bumped me up had thrown in another bid, the auction would have gone on for another five minutes, another chance for said bidder to bump me even higher. None of it, of course, the end of the world. I'd put in my max bid and wasn't going up under any circumstances. But enough of that, you don't care how much I paid or who caused me to pay it. Show us the machine, you are screaming!
There you go. Bradbury Family No 1. Haven't been able to pin down a date yet but sometime in the late 1800s. The couple who seem to be the resident experts on Bradbury, having written several articles for a prestigious sewing machine collectors magazine, aren't answering their email. Hopefully they're on holiday and will be back soon.
Quick description: fiddle base, hand crank, transverse shuttle sewing machine, the Bradbury's were designed to be set into a treadle base as needed, hence the holes just under the balance wheel.
The case, unlike any other that I've seen, sets down over the machine with a lid that is hinged up, then the case is clamped to the arm of the machine with a J-bolt. The lid closes and locks with a standard triangle shaped key, of which I have several. The machine can then be picked up with the handles on the sides of the case.
The upside is that the weight is supported on the arm of the machine, a very strong hang point. The downside is that the J-bolt has been digging into the finish of the machine for well over 125 years or so. In the long run I'll add a rubber pad to the end of the J-bolt to minimize future damage. I don't think we can blame the company for not anticipating 125+ years of use.
Cross posted from the CBR forums.
And the adventure continues. I've put about 100 miles on the 1990. Rode around the county with friends and my buddy tried to hot rod me off the line with his 2007 Harley Softail. Needless to say that didn't go well for him as I passed him doing about eighty about 100 feet down the road. 😁 Getting the hang of clamp the knees on the tank, drop the elbows to lower center of gravity and loosen push on handlebars, lean through those corners. If nothing else riding this will take me back to being a better rider. I started on sport bikes and then switched to cruisers, mostly Harley, Back then I could outride anyone on a Harley because I rode them like I rode my CBR. Time to get that back.
So what about the 1988 I hear you saying? Well...
Bought another battery. Took off the tank and airbox and hooked up my hanging gas can directly to the carb inlet line. Opened the carb drain valve for each carb and clear fuel came out unlike the greenish stuff that came out of the 1990. Just for fun, poked the go button, and it went. Ran perfectly. Moved the gas to the fuel filter inlet and fired it up again, gas came out of the fuel pump. Reconnected the fuel pump line to the carbs and fired it up again. So far so good. Clean tank so put the tank back on, added fuel, bike ran. Not sure about posting videos directly here so instead, here's the youtube link.
https://youtu.be/YnJXAZv625E
Next adventure, hopped on, put it in gear and it jumped forward about two feet and died. Thankfully it's a light bike. Clutches were stuck. Did that a couple more times to see if they'd break loose, then put it in gear and bumped it a few times. Then I did the same with the starter. The starter dragged me down the alley, trying to fire when suddenly the clutches broke loose and the bike fired. Off I went, just around the block. If I have to push it home I don't want to have to push it more than two blocks.
Back home I checked the tires and went out (a bit nervously) and put 35 miles on the bike. Seafoam in the oil, Amsoil PI in the fuel. The farther I rode, the better it ran. Only thing I don't like is that it has this gooey grease all over the rear sub-frame. You know that stuff that gets in your stove grease trap that has to be cleaned out every once in a while? Yeah, that's what it resembles. It's very odd. I tried cleaning it with Simple Green and a rag and it came off (slowly) so eventually I stopped and I'm going to break out the pressure washer and see if that will do a better job. Also, the stay plate, the one that holds the carb bank together, is quite rusty. Doesn't affect operation so I'll probably get in there with some naval jelly and a brass brush and try to clean it up a bit in-place.
So the problem now is "which to keep". My plan is to keep one, probably get rid of my 1989 which I still have never gotten to run properly. I like the 1988 paint scheme better as it just looks more classic, but the 1990 I'm just seem to enjoy riding more, not sure why. Too be fair I've only put 35 miles on this one and that was a test ride so it's not really a proper ride. Could just be that this one needs some miles put on it so I'll probably get it registered and then try to get some saddle time before the weather locks in. The 1990 has more miles (73k) than the 1988 (53k) but the '88 just doesn't seem to be in as good condition, with the rusty plate, the grease, etc. Either way, they both are going to get brake fluid and coolant flushed, fork oil and engine oil changed, and a good cleanup. That'll be relaxation projects on weekends since I'm starting a Master's Degree program in a week or so. I'm also thinking about that Nexxus exhaust. I don't like the looks of the big chrome can. I've got a Hindle on the '89 and since it's not running anyway I might swap it out.
So which would you keep? Please don't say both because I don't have room to store them (to be fair I actually do, but having six bikes in the little garage is a bit much as I'm constantly having to either climb over them or move them out) and I don't really have time to ride them all although [looks out window and thinks about early retirement]... 😊
Senator Elizabeth Warren joked about paying for a house in raspberries. But she, as usual, got the pertinent facts wrong.
Average housing costs for the past 70 years (in raspberries, but as we often talk about in my math classes, various weights and measures are arbitrary):
As you can see, average housing prices haven't changed all that much and, as the article linked below points out, houses, much like many of the things we buy, are a lot nicer now that they were in 1963.
https://www.cato.org/blog/senator-warren-way-raspberries-americans-living-standards
