4x4, On-Road June 25, 2020June 25, 2020

More Tundra maintenance updates

I haven’t made a post like this since last year so I figured that I was due for another one of these. I have had two oil changes with different brands just to see how the engine oil analysis results would come out, had some of the Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) changed out, swapped out the u-joints on the front driveshaft, and had to have corrective maintenance performed for the first time ever when the passenger side rear wheel bearing started to go out. My heart just sank when I saw gear oil smeared on the brake backing plate. I can’t complain too much since nothing else has actually required repair or replacement on a 2008 model year truck. Anyway, here are the reports from men smarter than myself and associated photos.

Valvoline 0W/20 Oil Analysis:

Castrol Edge 0/W20 Oil Analysis:

Toyota World Standard ATF oil analysis:

The bearing seal just sort of disappeared off of one of the bearing caps on the front driveshaft forward u-joint so I had both replaced.

I was curious about how fat the truck had gotten over time so I went to a weigh station:

Lastly, here’s the part that makes me sad. $1200 later I had the wheel bearing replaced at Toyota of El Cajon.

On-Road June 8, 2020

Another San Diego driving compilation video

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted up about my travels, travails, and struggles along the highways and city streets (dedicated page here) of San Diego county so it’s time for another video post. It really is amazing what my little dashcam allows me to capture and share with the world. Stay safe on the roads out there and enjoy!

hiking, Off-Road May 28, 2020

Pepperwood Trail

There is still much more I have to explore along this trail but the Pepperwood Trail winds through an amazing area of land in the McCain Valley. I happened to take two sets of photos on different days near the end of a very wet spring and winter which offered a large array of plant life and flowers for the area. The contrast between the Laguna Mountains to the west and Colorado Desert to the east is stunning and I really need to stop being lazy and take this trail all the way down Canebrake Canyon. I started off near the Cottonwood Campground which is a very fine year-round campground with vault toilets and firepits. The Pepperwood Trail is easily accessible from McCain Valley Road and is a short drive from I-8. I will traverse more of this fine trail soon but for now, enjoy the photos and look for the rest of them here on the full page!

Cottonwood Campground location:

BLM campground information and BLM Routes of Travel for Eastern San Diego County Map (PDF)

cinema April 17, 2020April 17, 2020

The Drinker fixes Fat Thor and Luke Skywalker

There aren’t too many theaters open right now because of the Chinese Flu (or our response to it) but that doesn’t mean we can’t make fun of some terrible creative choices in big-budget films right? One of the channels that I’ve started to frequent more recently is The Critical Drinker and it’s a great channel that you should check out when you have the chance. The Drinker’s latest projects are to think of coherent and far better ways of writing how titular and beloved characters that have been emasculated/ruined by Disney® and its incompetent “creative” decisions. The videos are quite well done and the possibilities to fix the numerous character inconsistencies should have been apparent to a large team receiving hundreds of millions of dollars to make these films. But, I suppose that Disney’s® Marvel™ and LucasFilm™ needed to force certain characters down our throat and add some diversity in the worst ways possible. Enough of my ranting though, enjoy these awesome videos and their acerbic wit!

C5JJt29WMAEiWCb — Buy! Consume product! Question nothing! Submit!

4x4, Off-Road April 12, 2020

Rodriguez Canyon Redux

Several years ago I wrote a post about Rodriguez Canyon, an easy trail in eastern San Diego County just south of Banner Grade along CA-78. I recently went back again and recorded some much better video along with going out after a very wet Winter and Spring for San Diego. Snow had recently fallen on the mountains just to the west of Rodriguez Canyon and the trail was wet without dust clouds forming as I passed along. Any 2WD truck with decent ground clearance will normally be able to make it through this trail. Enjoy the photos and videos and find all of them here on the dedicated page!

Northern trail end:

Southern trail end (The trail does continue for highway-legal vehicles to S-2 in spite of what Google Maps shows.):

4x4, Off-Road April 2, 2020

Seven Oaks Road

Seven Oaks Road is an easy trail that is made up of parts of two different forest roads (1N45/1N04) that any 2WD truck will pass through unless it is really muddy out. This trail lies just north of CA-38 and is a nice ride with access to several camps and hiking trails that is an easy-going ride. I highly recommend that you hit up this trail if you’re passing through the area. Enjoy the video and look here for all of the photos!

Seven Oaks Road location:

4x4, Off-Road March 15, 2020

Holcomb Valley Road (3N16)

The portions of Holcomb Valley Road that I drove through were of generally easy difficulty and would be easier with no mud or snow. I decided to head up to Big Bear and try some snow wheeling and was very pleasantly surprised by the Winter wonderland I saw. There was lots of fresh snow and not to many people on the trails; I guess that not many drivers were interested in taking on some moderate snowfall. I started the trail on the eastern side near the Big Bear Transfer Station (aka Dump) and head up and west from there. I continued along 3N16 until reaching the junction with Coxey Road (3N14) and headed south as the Sun fell. As I passed through the western portions of the road there was a Chevy Volt with some chains on behind me that made it through with little issue along with a diesel-powered F-250 that got out of a hole as soon as he put his transfer case in 4-LO.

There is a trail south of the route I described known as Holcomb Creek Road (3N14) which is much more difficult and would be harder to complete with a full-size truck like mine. There are numerous hiking, highway-legal 4×4 trails, and even a few OHV trails that connect to 3N16 and it’s a great way to enjoy the area and take in a whole lot at once if you only have an afternoon free and aren’t interested in any hardcore trails. I’ve embedded some map and trail information below. Enjoy the photos and videos and look for the rest of them here on the dedicated page!

Eastern starting location:

Western ending location:

USDA Forest Service – Holcomb Creek Information

USDA Forest Service – Holcomb Valley Road Information

2020 election, Bernie Sanders, Democratic Party March 12, 2020

Feeling the Bern: Super Tuesday II

The results from the last round of primaries have been in for a few days now and it’s now time to rub salt into the wounds of Bernouts who view the world so simplistically that they always use Star Wars or Harry Potter analogies to describe everything that they believe in. Bernie managed to win North Dakota and lost every other state that held a Primary Election a few days ago including Michigan (where he beat Hillary last time). Let’s take a closer look at some election results:

Individual state results:

At least Bernie got one victory…

Oof, those Mississippi results. I wonder which Democratic Party constituency doesn’t “Feel the Bern” and voted for the Obama guy?

There’s quite a lot of salt to be mined from the left and I wholeheartedly believe that leftists will continue to provide countless hours of entertainment. There’s the fine example of the folks at The Young Turks and their bestiality-supporting host Cenk Uygur talking about going to “war” against the Democratic Party. There is a channel that has compiled all of the best points of The Young Turks impotent and soy-filled rage coverage of the election results and I promise that you won’t be able to contain your laughter!

Who in that video do you think cried the hardest: Michael Moore, Chunk, or someone else? Let me know in the comments below. Everyone’s favorite “Squad” member blamed Sanders’ election losses on “voter suppression” (however the left defines that anymore) and complained about “kids” waiting three hours to vote. Isn’t nice to know that people in their early 20s are kids in the eyes of AOC? Oh, the horror of having to wait for something…

“Well, I think one thing that isn’t being talked about is the rampant voter suppression in this country,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Right there in Ann Arbor, where we had that rally, those kids were waiting three hours in line to vote in Michigan. And so when we talk about who’s turning out and who’s not turning out, we absolutely need to be clear.”

Here are a few more insights into the mind of some typical Bernie supporters:

Well, that’s enough of my commentary for now. Enjoy the memes and comment below if you can tell which ones are real!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

2020 election, Bernie Sanders, Communism, CPUSA, Democratic Party, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary, Illegal Immigration March 3, 2020

Super Tuesday results are coming in

AP20064085200094 — A rare sighting of Joe Biden supporters…

Results are coming in from Primary Elections all over the country and Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren and Michael “Mini Mike” Bloomberg did absolutely terrible. Warren lost badly in the state where she serves as a Senator and managed to get third place. Amazing, simply amazing…

Slow Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are the only two Democratic candidates to receive any meaningful number of delegates but Mini Mike can always lay claim to being the victor of the American Samoa Caucus:

Isn’t also hilarious how Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Tom Cryer, and probably someone else who never had a chance all dropped out in the same 24 hour period just before Super Tuesday? Isn’t also amazing that they all endorsed Bid all of a sudden? It really makes you think, huh? I’m sure that they totally weren’t promised a bunch of stuff by the DNC to support the failing Biden campaign. It’s also hilarious that despite all of this support and attention suddenly coalescing around the former Vice President that Bernie may still end up winning the majority of the elected delegates. Just like ~~Shillary~~ Hillary Clinton said in her latest interview: “Let’s follow the rules, we had rules last time, we have rules this time,”. I wonder if Hillary will be saying the same thing to the fine folks at her upcoming U.S. District Court trial deposition?

“I think we ought to be more understanding and realistic on what it takes to get change in this big, complicated, pluralistic democracy of ours.” @HillaryClinton says she stands by her opinion in her @hulu documentary that Bernie Sander's campaign is "just bologna." pic.twitter.com/vJTCSBAUDt

— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 3, 2020

Here’s a quick peek at how only Sanders ~~and Biden are~~ is getting a meaningful number of delegates out of California. I wonder how the DNC feels about early voting in California and all of the wasted votes on Buttigieg and Klobuchar? Sorry Democrats, but there’s no “do-over” for your thrown-away vote. Unless of course, they’re voting early and often.

Anyway, that’s enough of my opinions on the Primary Election results currently available as I’m typing this post out. For now, I’ll leave you with some memes from the fine folks at Economic Illiterates for Bernie Sanders. Enjoy!