Trying Again

I started making postcards on my Epson printer. Having had some experience with computer printers I find it frustrating how complicated the new ones are.

Burro

Getting an image from a file is rather simple but sizing it on the postcard and getting the borders correct is not easy.

My German Shepherd

Both Avery and Epson have special paper for the post card application. To use the Avery template you have to create an account and download the template. To print the return address I use Word Pad and getting the print correct took a while.

Court House Butte

For printing the image I use Paint 3D by Microsoft that is part of the Windows 10 OS. My previous HP laptop had to be replaced because the disk space was too small to allow any upgrades. I bought a real nice used HP with a touch screen. With the touch screen you can post to Instagram directly.

I also purchased a large format Epson to print my photography. Ink jet supplies don't come cheap.

The pictures shown here are in monochrome as my latest Nikon has a b/w mode. And of course I had to buy another set of color filters.

Yucca

I go back several years with the Epson printer. When the first Epson arrived we would purchase in cash all the printers we good get our hands on then modify them and resell them. I also used to buy for cash all the first IBM PC and assembly them and resell them. 

Mail Boxes on Country Road

Hating Face Book Again

Several years ago I started a Facebook account. It seemed a valid reason for connecting to friends and family. I started blogging before FB. I was racing speedway motorcycles and began reporting my races on my blog and posting each new blog on FB.

Then my FB friends started getting hacked and my Yahoo Email contacts started getting spam.

Early on when the ads on FB became a pain in the ass you could block them and of course FB figured out how to stop that.

The ads got me madder as they kept pointing to Dating Russian women or similar scams. So I changed my birthday to a teenager.

Then ads were aimed at selling me something in my living area. So I changed my location to a remote island.

One day while riding around the Rose Bowl on my road bike I saw all these tailgaters before a football game. Several had portable outhouses aside their RVs. When I gone back I did a search on Google about these portables then  saw the product on Amazon and clicked that. The next day my FB sidebar is full of portables.

FB kept changing the rules and procedures and the hackers kept on hacking.


I had two parakeets and got them a Facebook account. It was a great way to see pictures of other pet owners. Then FB closed the account because my birds were not potential buyers.

So I deactivate the account. I waited a while then deleted everything.

My blogging slowed when I moved on to my sailboat to live full time because the WIFI connection was a total waste. It worked some days but most often not.

For a time I lived with my daughter on shore and she had DSL so I blogged a little but not motorcycles. I had been using Goodreads for several years then one day it required my FB account to login. So without a FB account my Goodreads account was blocked. So I emailed them and two weeks later they allowed me to sign on without the FB bullshit.

By accident I discovered N.Y. Bike Snob and his blog. Here was a bicycle guy making money off of his blog.

Then just before Christmas my daughter got me a German Shepard puppy. It is hard not to take pictures of him.

 I use Instagram

 but several of my old FB friends don't so I thought about trying FB again to show my puppy to old friends and republish my old speedway blogs.

I created a new Gmail address and login to FB as a new user. Then the notifications started (more BS).

Then the find a friend (more BS). I added a few old friends and family and posted each new blog on FB. The FB app was deleted on my Samsung Phone right after I bought it. Three days ago I restarted the app so I could post my puppy pictures directly on to FB.

This morning FB will not allow me to sign on without posting detail personal information (more total BS).

So much for this crap so I try to delete account but I can't sign in because they are blocking me until I give them personal info (so Fuck them)

Catch 22 (I read the book) places me in FB Purgatory whereas I am unable to sign in to delete.

Many others have faced this problem and the web offers many solutions but most point you to the three dots on the FB page to delete the account. After many years I can't fight back because I don't have a 3 dot rating.

Loose Bike Nut on a Sailboat

My basic transportation is by bicycle. There is a Nissan in the marina parking lot that is collecting dirt although I clean the windows every morning.

Road bike converted to Fixie

Last week I had to take my son Dylan to LAX but he drove his VW GTI and I drove it back where it sat awaiting a return trip with me doing the driving to LAX and he hauling us back.

Waiting on side street while son clears customs

The trip back was slow using PCH in search of Mexican food for Dylan taste.

He had been invited to ride in China at a festival on his BMX bike. It is really not a BMX bike that one would race on a track but a twenty inch (wheel size) that is used for stunts and tricks.

He has performed in contests and shows all over the world with the exception of Australia where somehow the trip was cancelled.

Track bike on the beach

my Bob Jackson next to dock box

flat tire with tublar tire

bike strips down for bathhouse

My bike collection includes several different styles of rides. One is stored outside of my sailboat attached to the dock steps with several locks. It is a Schwinn High Sierra that has had a colorful past having been stolen twice here at the marina before it was given to me.

It is possible to store several bikes inside my sailboat cabin One is just fine, two will work and three is too much.

For protection against
rust and to making living possible on the boat several complete bikes plus extra wheels set are store in a gated locker storage close to my boat.

My Instagram @Captain Dewayne and I have a following of 118. My son Dylan Stark @whoisdylan has a mere 39.8K followers a mere drop in the bucket compared to my loyal fans.

He is also on YouTube where he has his own site

Personally I went from riches to rags purchasing video cameras for Dylan at an early age. Fortune is a little better now as he gets camera for free. He uses his IPhone and a Sioeye Camera for filming and an Apple for editing.

Here is the first of his recent China trip.

The second in the series as he cruises China

Finally the last part Chapter 3 at Fire Festival

As a reader of books I until recently didn't read many about bicycles but with free downloads from my public library to one of any of my three Kindle devices. Yesterday I finished On Bicycles: 50 ways ....and found out that I am in that small percentage who use a bicycle as a form of transportation. Of course my riding also includes for fun and station in shape. The label on my Wranglers shows a 31 inch waist. The book shown talks about the great riding places and cities where bicycles are in larger numbers. San Pedro is built on hills unlike other cities built on Rock and Roll. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the South and the Los Angeles Harbor to the East riding West is all hills and North is introduction to the ghetto.