5/23/2018

NASCAR Decline

I've been reading a few articles on the decline of #NASCAR and I have a crazy theory. NASCAR is the canary in the coal mine for the economic decline of the middle class BECAUSE of economic inequality. The rich will kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

"... it could be an even bigger indicator that NASCAR’s mostly self-induced problems aren’t able to be solved by those currently in charge. 
And boy, are there a lot of issues. Racing costs have skyrocketed as stock car racing has become a sport dominated by engineers. Car sponsorship used to cover racing costs but NASCAR’s declining and aging audience and companies’ move away from a traditional advertising model with the proliferation of the internet has made an owner’s business-to-business connections more imperative than ever."

5/22/2018

It All Started With a Dream

A dream to write something meaningful on the internet for my friends and family.

In 1996 I heard that you could use Microsoft Word to create web pages. I think you can still see some of my old efforts at The Howell Report on the Internet Archive. It was crude but I was intrigued by the power. I could write something at home and anyone in the world could read it! Amazing!

Before long I was using HTML editors like Adobe PageMill and Microsoft FrontPage then quickly graduated to Dreamweaver, Homesite and BBEdit. Now I do most of my work in Notepad++. I have made my way through a variety of blogging platforms. Starting with Movable Type. I've used WordPress (both .com and .org), Tumblr and many other's I can't remember right now.

Now I'm back to Blogger. I got tired of constantly updating my WordPress installation to stay ahead of the hackers. Not that they can't hack this stuff either. It's just harder and the payoff is so much lower. So, no reader comments, no dynamic content of any kind. Just a bunch of stuff I've written.

5/21/2018

Like a Phoenix

It's In The Cards
Rising from the ashes is The All New and Improved The Howell Report. I had this mess on self-hosted WordPress. I got tired of fighting the hackers. Going to give Blogger a try.

I exported my database to an xml file. It would not import into Blogger. So, I'm going through my old database line-by-line and entering each post into Blogger.  There's only a few hundred so It shouldn't take too long.

The Howell Report is really, now more then ever, more then you wanted to know.

5/01/2018

Gold Wing Tire Installation

I put two new tires on my 1982 Honda Gold Wing in 2015. Now I have about 14,500 miles on them and they are worn out. Guys writing on the Gold Wing forums said they are only getting about 7,000-10,000 miles out of their tires, so I did great with these. I'm putting on the same brand again. Shinko 230 Tour Master 120/90-18 on the front and Shinko 230 Tour Master 140/90-16 on the rear.

You have to deflate the tire to get it off and to get the new one back on.
When I installed my first set of tires in 2015 I used little plastic beads. You put them inside the tire after it's mounted. They are supposed to roll around in there and "self-balance " the tire.  The beads didn't work for me.


New Shinko Tour Master 140/90-16

Rear Wheel


This time I went back to the old tried and true method. I used wheel weights to balance the tires and wheels.  I bought a wheel balance stand for only $65. The Tusk Motorcycle Wheel Balancing and Truing Stand.   I used these weights. It was super easy to do and it made a world of difference.  I have a much smoother ride now.  Search YouTube for videos on how to use a motorcycle tire balance stand.


New Rear Tire Installed

New Front Tire Installed