Hi Guys, since you're the forum I spend the most time on, I figured I should tell you I wrote a book. When I was big into snowmobiling I always thought the perfect crime would be to rob something in Aspen CO and then getaway by snowmobile back to Crested Butte CO. So I build a story around that, but instead of using criminal masterminds, I came up with a reason for the guys I used to hang out with in my 20's to do it. I think it's a fun fast read and you can check it out here. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/POWthebook If you think you might like it use code BOOKSHIP18 for free shipping thru 6/18 Warning: Since it's set around ski bums in the 1990's there is a lot of pot smoking Here's a little bit I threw in just for the H.E. crowd "When Sid first saw Atlas he was stupefied. The massive D8 Caterpillar was sparkling in the morning sunlight. He had seen big machines before, but none that sparkled like this. As they parked the pickup next to it he noticed artwork lining the edges of the blade and running down the side of the machine. Even most of the undercarriage had been covered in intricate patterns of hardfacing. Hardfacing is a form of welding that lays extremely hard material over the base metal to protect it from wear. It can often be seen as a series of lines or dots on the cutting edges of buckets and blades. But Atlas was so much more than that. For one thing, the design was not simple lines or dots. It was beautiful flowing characters that each joined together like cursive writing. In places it looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics and in other spots it looked like Elvish runes from the Tolkien books. The hardface would not rust, and it reflected a shiny, almost chrome-like surface glimmering in contrast to the faded CAT yellow paint that covered the rest of the machine. Up by the operator’s seat, black and white letters in a bold font read ATLAS. This was probably the name of a previous owner’s company as it was obvious the dozer had been around for decades. Sid assumed it had to be from the sixties at least, because it didn’t have the big roll cage frame that all modern machines have. And when Rippey started cranking on a small gas powered ‘pony motor’ connected to the big diesel engine, Sid knew he was looking at an authentic piece of history. Rippey explained that he had run the dozer for Joe every summer for years. It had already been hardfaced when he first saw it. Joe explained that a welder they called ‘The Swede’ ate some mushrooms once and stayed up all night with a full box of hardfacing rod. In the morning they found Atlas transformed into a piece of rolling artwork. A special machine needed a special operator, and Rippey seemed to be the one. He had developed a feel for how deep the blade was cutting just from the sound of the load on the engine and the vibration of the tracks. Sid was trained to be Rippey’s guide. He would stand on the ground and hold the grade rod. This calibrated measuring stick would take a reading from the laser transit and tell Sid how much dirt they needed to remove to reach the correct grade. After a few mistakes early on, Sid learned that adding dirt back to the pad and then compacting it with a ‘jumping jack’ was a big waste of time. He needed to pay closer attention and not remove too much dirt. But, it also wasted time to make lots of little cuts only removing an inch at a time. Soon Sid figured out how to read each cut more accurately and give Rippey just the right hand signal for his next pass. Rippey learned to interpret Sid’s hand signals and adjust the blade as it sliced into the soil. Each site preparation went quicker than the last and Joe was very pleased. "
Pretty cool....
Thanks!