Getting closer to the final product(s)

Most people prepare New Year's Eve meals while myself prepares windscreens :) Getting closer to the final thing, still a bit of distance to cover though to be as good as I want it. The last 5% of corrections lasted as much as the previous 95% of the whole procedure. Happens when you wanna do your best ;) Would like to share this with you my dear few followers so, here it is at the moment:

I could write a book with thoughts flooding my brain around these days (irrelevant to the above) and I might do but at the moment lets keep it as minimal as possible so...

Have a prosperous 2019, closer to your baby soul, if you still have one.

Βάλτε τίτλο - δικό σας:

Όσο έμπειρος και να είναι κανείς σχετικά με την Ελληνική πραγματικότητα δεν παύει να εκπλήσσεται (δυσάρεστα συνήθως) εκτός αν έχει απολέσει τις αισθήσεις του. Ξεκινώ για οικογενειακό τραπέζι σήμερα το μεσημέρι. Ο καιρός χάλια ως γνωστό και οι δρόμοι απίστευτα ολισθηροί παρά το ότι έχει βρέξει τελευταία. Οι σχετικά χαμηλές θερμοκρασίες που δεν αφήνουν τα λάστιχα να ζεσταθούν έπαιξαν προφανώς το ρόλο τους. Σε αυτές τις συνθήκες λοιπόν, μου έκανε εντύπωση ο κανιβαλιστικός τρόπος που οδηγούσαν οι περισσότεροι γύρω μου. Σημειώστε εδώ ότι γενικά θεωρούμαι γρήγορος οδηγός από όσους που με γνωρίζουν (άρα το θέμα δεν είναι ότι εγώ πάω σαν "θείτσα"), έχω κάνει εκατοντάδες χιλιάδες χιλιόμετρα με διάφορα οχήματα 2 ή 4 τροχών στην Ελλάδα (άρα τα περιμένω ήδη όλα από τον Έλληνα οδηγό γιατί τα έχω δει όλα) και μην ξεχνάτε ότι η συντριπτική πλειοψηφία αυτών που οδηγούσαν γύρω μου σε αυτή τη διαδρομή των 50 χλμ ανά κατεύθυνση υποτίθεται πως θα έπρεπε να ήταν σε μάλλον χαλαρή διάθεση αφού πηγαίναν για τραπέζι και όχι για να κάνουν ρύθμιση δόσεων στην Εφορία. Παρόλα αυτά λοιπόν η καφρίλα έβγαζε μάτι. ΚΤΕΛ να προσπερνά ΟΑΣΑ που ήδη πήγαινε σβέλτα, αλλαγές χωρίς φλας, στάση χωρίς φλας, αποστάσεις ασφαλείας μικρότερες από μίνι φούστα και όλα αυτά με χαμηλή ορατότητα σε δρόμους σα σαπουνισμένο μάρμαρο. Το τροχαίο αυτό συνέβη μπροστά μου. Στα λιμανάκια χάνει τον έλεγχο ένα HYUNDAI, φεύγει στο αντίθετο ρεύμα με αποτέλεσμα να πέσει πάνω στη μέση του διερχόμενο μικρό αυτοκίνητο που έγινε δύσκολα αναγνωρίσιμο από μπροστά. Η εικόνα του HYUNDAI διπλωμένου σα χαρτοπετσέτα με μια 85χρονη μέσα νεκρή και δίπλα της τραυματισμένο και ακίνητο ένα μεσήλικα οδηγό, πάγωσε το αίμα.
Μια γυναίκα λοιπόν, αντί να βρεθεί στο Χριστουγεννιάτικο τραπέζι με τους αγαπημένους της να γιορτάσουν παρέα και να χαρούν που την έχουν ακόμη ανάμεσά τους σε αυτή την ηλικία, βρέθηκε ξέπνοη στην άσφαλτο μέσα σε ένα αυτοκίνητο τσαλακωμένο σα χαρτοπετσέτα. Όχι από τον (όντως) κακό δρόμο, ούτε από τον (όντως) κακό καιρό, ούτε από τον (όντως) κακό οδηγό. Τη γυναίκα αυτή τη σκοτώσαμε όλοι μας, δημιουργώντας ή ανεχόμενοι το μοντέλο του "τι να σου κάνει ο απλός άνθρωπος". Τη γυναίκα τη σκότωσε ο λεβεντομαλάκας Έλληνας που δεν φταίει ποτέ. Ούτε όταν φτιάχνει δρόμους ούτε όταν οδηγάει. Που είναι απλός άνθρωπος στον καθρέφτη της ευθύνης αλλά είναι ένας άνθρωπας ΝΑ στο κάδρο των δικαιωμάτων. Δεν υπάρχει απλός άνθρωπος στην Ελλάδα. Απλός άνθρωπος είναι ένα γυμνό νηστικό πιτσιρίκι στην Αφρική. Τον απλό άνθρωπο στην Ελλάδα τον δημιούργησε το χαϊδευτικό τέρας του λαϊκισμού για να μαζέψει ψήφους και δύναμη. Ο Έλληνας δεν είναι καθόλου απλός. Έχει αμάξι και σκοτώνει/αφήνει ανάπηρους χιλιάδες ετησίως. Έχει θέση στο δημόσιο και άμα γουστάρει μπορεί να τα ξύνει για να τον πληρώνουμε με τους φόρους μας. Έχει ψήφο και τη ρίχνει σε όποιον του βολέψει την κόρη. Παίρνει επιδότηση και την τρώει στα μπουζούκια. Όσο και να χτυπιέται ο Ιαβέρης σε αυτά τα κλειστά αυτιά μιλάει. Τη φάγαμε τη γυναίκα παλιάνθρωποι. Τραβάτε χωνέψτε τώρα. Α, ευχαριστώ που με αφήσατε να γυρίσω σπίτι μου. Γιατί στο γυρισμό το ίδιο και χειρότεροι μαλάκες ήσασταν. Και πάντα τέτοιοι ήσασταν. Γι'αυτό ζω από θαύμα (βίντεο που τράβηξε φίλος μου - εγώ οδηγώ μπροστά του):

Windows 10...r u kidding me?

My super dear ASUS UX31 got drunk for the second time in its career so I had to give it up and buy a new one. I was super satisfied with it and with Windows 7 being the best OS I've ever experienced by far. I was hesitant to jump to the new Windows 10 thingy but new laptop comes with it so...

Though I already expected a few disappointments from the new OS compared to the old one it still managed to break my balls beyond imagination:

First of all, for the first time I experienced a Windows system with so much crap inside that I don't need and I cannot uninstall. It really feels like a mobile phone coming with much bloatware from the factory and you have to try hard to jump the fence and uninstall all that stuff (with questionable stability even if you manage to). Speaking of software, Microsoft always prompts you to use their Store for programs and when you try to install from other sources the system reacts like a busy bartender when asked for more peanuts. For example, I installed LibreCad and even now Windows 10 do not want to associate .dxf files produced by it. When you right click on a .dxf file to set the default application it just ignores your stetting. If you go to the OS settings and try to associate applications by file type then...you just cannot find .dxf in the list! Only because you made the criminal move to install a free open source program like LibreCad. I don't like conspiracy scenarios but here's a proof to what I suspected: I installed Inkscape, a fantastic free software for designers. I first downloaded the installer from their site. Same problem: the .svg files I made couldn't be associated with the mother application. Instead they where associated with Microsoft Edge, their internet browser which (like so much other stuff) I cannot uninstall. Then I went to their site again and I saw they also had a link to download the same app from Microsoft Store. Guess what? The app was larger than the original, files where automatically associated and a few functions mysteriously not working before where now just fine. That's bastard's policy.

I could keep writing about all the stupid things I found here and there in this stupid OS but one thing I just discovered today pissed me off even more: In my previous laptop I was able to disconnect my USB sound card any time I wanted and the system automatically switched to the on board one even during a song or a video from any source. I just tried this with my new laptop (also ASUS) which is multiple times better and faster than the previous one but is unlucky enough to have Windows 10: A blue screen covered the whole display telling me that an error was detected and the system will automatically restart after it finishes the detection/report. When the process bar went to 100% it did restart, took more time than usual and guess what? Touchpad was not working. I restarted it via keyboard and it froze. Force shut down and a new restart to bring it back to normal life. F U very much Microsoft. 

The whole Windows 10 thing really feels designed firstly for Microsoft, secondly for dumb users and lastly (if any at all) for decent users who care about functionality. You are only in theory an administrator on your machine. In practise you are tied up. I am seriously thinking about going back to Windows 7 and if it wasn't for special applications I need I would have gone Linux without second thought. Some guys try to convince us that evolution means making our lives more complicated than they used to be. Machines should be here to solve problems not create new ones just because Microsoft or any other wants to built a personal information collector disguised as Operating System...

Birthday bicycle ride

Well, that time of the year again. Birthdays feel closer and closer to each other...I could write a book with all that's in my head and heart so I think I'd better put them aside and stick to the beauty of nature that I harvested today while cycling. Besides...she (nature) is always there standing pretty and generous reminding us how small we are.

I could spent the rest of my life cycling on gravel roads like this:

Or tiny trails like this:

A 19th century ruin hidden behind pine trees:

Crossing the pine gate:

Such a lucky mushroom surrounded by such beauty:

The mountain's mouth...

...and its teeth:

Some trails were harder:

Bike seems to enjoy the view:

So do the flowers:

Last but not least, a video to enjoy the silence:

Thanks a lot to everyone who wished me or thought about wishing or plan to wish :) Peace and prosperity to all.

Mother's Cake

Summer 2014

One more long motorcycle trip brings me to my beloved Austria for one more time. I'm staying outside Innsbruck at a generous friend of mine and one coldish night after a few drinks out he takes me to a friend of his. We enter an artistic place where we are welcomed by the host, named Arno, with a warm smile that stayed on through the whole night. I chatted with this guy about music so he decides to bring out a guitar from a case, very similar to the ones Santana usually plays. It had a great fretboard and felt really nice in my hands. I appreciated his move so the music chat went further. I told him "you know...the kind of music I like is must have the groovy heart of Led Zeppelin, you know this fat meaty drums but also with some explorative progressive attitude." He smiled in agreement and told me " You have to listen to Mother's Cake". I kept the name on my phone to check it later and he talked about that band a bit more, including the fact that since they were new local heroes at Tirol he decided to make a mocking band with friends of his called "Father's Cake". Singing was among his talents. I left his place with a warm heart and next day I continued my trip which would take me up to Sardinia and then back to Greece spending so much time on ferries that I really appreciated the fact that back in the day I had a tent with me to use on board. I was keeping it in place with neodymium strong magnets out of a hard disk:

 When I got back home I rushed to check that band out in my sound system and...I couldn't thank Arno enough. Top notch stuff.

Arno shocked us when he passed away a year later (2015) and ironically enough it was me that learned it before my friend who couldn't believe the news. We will all leave this world one day but the music will always be here.

Why did I recall this story? Blame Youtube's algorithm that brought on my screen this masterpiece:

Girls 'n Boys, come have last year's Mother's Cake and do yourself a favour to also check the rest of their albums:

Back to the roots?

...kinda...if roots is this blog of mine. Not out of nostalgia (though we're all vulnerable to "her"). It just seems that my relations with various social networks ended up more or less like my relations with all my ex girlfriends...not for the same reasons though :)

My "career" started with a very short period on FB. This was way before the global FB hysteria (more than a decade ago). A friend insisted that I should join and after a couple of months I knew I should leave it behind. Some creepy terms and conditions about the photos, invitations from my schoolmates about all shorts of BS and not much interest in general helped me decide it's over. Back in the day you couldn't just delete your account but only deactivate it. FB was sued about that and gave this option later if I am not mistaken. This was enough for me to hate the whole thing and Mark himself really made me sure about that.

The first social network I joined and used for good was the good ol' Myspace. This poor thing was maybe just unlucky to be the first one. Opened the road for the next ones, had all the social features needed, only to become an internet ghost later overtaken by less decent platforms.

After Myspace I started this blog of mine in the beginning of 2011. FB hysteria was already counting a few years and everybody was asking my FB. Most of the times their reaction to my reply "I don't have FB" was as if I have said "I don't have a cellphone". It's the same people who made an ass like Mark multibillionaire, they created a thing like "you're not on FB=your are not alive" and now they cry for their "lost privacy". At least Jews didn't vote for Hitler...you know what I mean...

I was more than happy to see Google joining the social game mid 2011. Not because I am brand patriot (though I could with all the help Google maps have offered me as a travelling biker all these years) but an alternative is always good to have. And G+ was a better one when it started. More good looking than FB with all the social features needed. Too good to be true? Unfortunately. For undisclosed reasons (if you know more please enlighten me) Google started desocialising it bit by bit. They took out the Photos to a separate app/site, they separated the messenger as well (Hangouts) and after years of castration they led it to a dead end. A petabyte of WTFs is not enough to comment this.

I must mention at this point two of the greatest things I ever discovered around the net, social related. One was Jango, around 10 years ago. Amazing free internet radio, customizable with social features and interaction between members. It was playing all day long in my house. I discovered so much great music and great people in it and I even uploaded my tracks (it hosted independent artists too). One more "too good to be true". At some point they stopped its social features and substituted them with FB login, castrated it and I don't even (want to) know how it ended up. The other great thing, a true game changer is Couchsurfing. It is the platform I use the longest time (11 years by now) and it's a hospitality exchange site. It is not as good as it used to be but mainly because of the abuse of the users themselves and less from the abuse of the new owners. Well, when it comes to people they know how to ef it up big time :) However, the nicest ones are in it. You just have to be picky to find them.

Lately I got proposed Mewe.com but I find it missing basic stuff and I have no time to wait when/if they fine tune it. I wonder why they even decide to release an unready thing. I mean...it's 2018...

Now begs the question...why the Fuck we evolved so much technologically, only to not be able to see any of the above good things survive as nicely as it used or could. Maybe because we didn't evolve as much on the rest...

So...with this and that...back to my blog ladies and gents :)

DIY: Car seat

My driver's seat foam was worn and its cover needed sewing so I decided to try repairing it (first time I ever modded a car seat).

I put a foam pad on the bottom (from a playroom floor tile),

and a same one (white this time) on top:

The cover was sewed by a specialist but it was a PAIN IN THE ASS to put it back.

Main problem was that the foam was worn and couldn't hold the mounting rods of the cover. I had to repair some spots with silicone:

I used zip ties instead of hog rings. Almost every upholsterer (original included) does the opposite but I prefer the fully adjustable nature of zip ties even though I just went full tight everywhere:

...and ready:

Not 100% wrinkleless because the foam can't hold the cover's mounts as it used to do but it is WAY much comfier with the pads I added. Zero cost, one day job, makes me and my butt happy :) Oh, I gave 5 euros to the guy for sewing though he barely asked any money.

DIY: Gear shifter

Do you recognise this piece?

Yes it comes from a watering hose. Would you ever imagine fixing your car's stick shift using this? Probably not.

My car's shifter was way too loose lately and I decided to disassembly it and see how its bearings are like. Guess what? They were not even worn out..they were GONE. Without even a trace. New ones are cheap but not so easy to find so in order to fix it on the spot without delay I fabricated my own out of the piece pictured above. So...here it is:

My gear shifter needs two so I had to make a pair and file them down to size. Here's one in place:

Both before installation:

All in place:

I can't transfer you the difference this makes. You should have put your hand before and after. Literally, I smile like a kid at its first boner every time I shift gears. It's way more accurate and tight and I am so glad to see my gear box feel totally brand new. I wanna go one step further now: change the gear knob, already ditched the original cause it is VERY heavy and I suspect this makes the bearings wear faster though it makes shifting smoother. New one would be lighter and shorter cause I like the racing feel the stick has now without a knob at all. All gears feel so close to each other. NICE!

Ορυκτός (και μη) πλούτος

Δυο λόγια για μερικές φωτογραφίες που τράβηξα πριν λίγο καιρό στο Σούνιο.

Το παρακάτω κτήριο είναι γνωστό ως "Παρών" διότι εκεί έδιναν το παρών οι εργάτες των ορυχείων πριν ενάμιση αιώνα περίπου προτού εισέλθουν σε αυτά.

Η είσοδος της συγκεκριμένη στοάς βρίσκεται πίσω από το νεαρό πευκάκι:

Η στοά είναι ανοιχτή και προσβάσιμη αλλά το σκοτάδι και η έφοδος των παραδοσιακά φασαριόζικων Ελληνικών οικογενειών (λόγω αργίας) δεν μου επέτρεψαν να τραβήξω βίντεο. Θα προσπαθήσω μια καθημερινή.

Αυτή είναι μια αλλαγή οχημάτων (από το δεξί στο αριστερό) που αν στο επιτρέπει η φυσική σου κατάσταση ο Εθνικός Δρυμός του Σουνίου θα αποζημιώσει τον ιδρώτα σου και με το παραπάνω:

Για το λόγου το αληθές:

Η περιοχή είναι απίστευτη πρόκληση για εκτός δρόμου μοτοσυκλέτες αλλά όσο και να τις αγαπώ δεν διανοούμαι ούτε καν να προσθέσω στην απολαυστική ησυχία της φύσης τον ήχο μιας εξάτμισης και παρακαλώ να κάνετε και σεις το ίδιο. Περπατήστε, πάρτε ποδήλατο ή περιμένετε το υπέροχο μέλλον των ηλεκτρικών οχημάτων που θα μας σώσει από την ηχορύπανση των εποχούμενων ανεγκέφαλων.

Τα απομεινάρια του παρελθόντος που συναντά κανείς στην περιοχή αυτή είναι δύσκολο να τα προσπεράσει αδιάφορος. Από δεξαμενές νερού μεταλλευτικών πλυντηρίων του 19ου αιώνα (με την περιμετρική σκάλα που ξεκινά από δεξιά)...

...μέχρι το αρχαίο μεταλλευτικό εργαστήριο του οποίου ο χώρος και η τοποθεσία είναι συγκλονιστικός:

Έξω ακριβώς από την περίφραξή του συνάντησα αυτή την πέτρα:

Σε πρώτη ανάγνωση ενδεχομένως δεν βλέπει κάποιος κάτι ιδιαίτερο. Δείτε όμως ότι είναι ανεξίτηλα μαυρισμένη λόγω χρόνιας έκθεσης στη φωτιά που σημαίνει ότι αυτή η πέτρα ήταν μπροστά στη μεταλλευτική δραστηριότητα των αρχαίων Ελλήνων. Το χρώμα της δεν κατάφεραν να επαναφέρουν αιώνες βροχοπτώσεων.

Κλείνω με ένα λουλούδι και τα λέμε στο επόμενο: