At lunch today I ran down to Strokers for a burger and picked up a new petcock to replace the broken, worn out, stock unit that’s been dribbling gas even when it’s turned off. I found the installation directions for the tach, which say that I need to take the gas tank off to do the installation, so that’ll be the perfect time to replace the petcock. I’ll probably replace the carb’s jets while I’m at it. Hopefully all of this will clear up the rest of my fuel related problems.
Ordered The Tach
Since I’ve got an 883 Sporster, I don’t have a tach. And I’ve been wanting one for a while now. Well, I got a treat in the mail today. The Chrome Cash gift certificates I’ve been waiting for came in, and they’ll cover the cost of the tach. So it’s on order, and if Harley’s quick on their feet I might have it for this weekend.
Fscking Spammers
I had an early wake up call this morning and got to clean up the aftermath of a spammer who exploited an unpatched XMLRPC vulnerability to crack my server and send out some PayPal phishing spam. I’m pretty ticked about that, but that’s water under the bridge. I’ve patched the vulnerability in question, and thanks to running decent software, cleaned out the files they snuck on. In total it was 4 files and one directory.
Then I installed mod_security, and cranked up the SELinux rules to hopefully make it a little more difficult to exploit holes that I haven’t patched yet.
New Astronomy Accessories
I ordered a few parts from Orion today. I’ve got an EQ-1 mount, the EQ-1M electronic drive, and the 1/4″-20 adapter needed to finally get a tracking platform for my PST. I haven’t been able to do any decent imaging because the adjustment capabilities of the standard tripod is difficult and inacurate. It’s great for visual work, but the LPI’s increased resolution makes it much more difficult to keep it centered.
I also picked up the large aluminum accessory case that I’ve been needing for a while now. I’ve got too many eyepieces and other accessories and just putting them all in a box isn’t the best thing to do.
End Of NTC360
Well, NTC360’s over, and I’m kind of glad. A little too much paper writing for my tastes. Now I’ve got a week off and then I’ll start on the second half of the telecommunications concentration, NTC410.
Heading Back Home
The last day was spent finishing off a few things that I didn’t get to before. Picking up that growler of beer, visiting the Amish store that was closed on Saturday, and getting some peach cider on the way out of town. All in all a good trip. I’ll definitely be coming back, and if you’ve got the time you should head on down to the Hill Country and relax for a weekend.
Schnitzel
Isn’t that what you go to a German town for? It is for me! After a nap I went down to the Altdorf Biergarten to get my fix. A few mugs of Paulaner Oktoberfest and a big plate of schnitzel and my trip was complete.
Wineries and Breweries
Today was the day I set aside to visit the wineries. First on the list was The Fredericksburg Winery to pick up another case of thier spiced holiday wine. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite ready yet, so I had to settle for a bottle of Port Carlshafen and a bottle of their Orange Muscat, a very sweet dessert wine.
The good news is that they’re able to ship now, so when the holiday wine’s ready they’ll ship it to me.
After that I headed out of town to stop by the Torre di Pietra winery. This is a new winery, which has only been open since November, 2004, but their vintages are showing a lot of promise. My sweet tooth was showing because I left with a bottle each of their Red Flirt and Rosa Flamenco. Both are sweeter wines than I usually drink, but I think that Red Flirt will go well with some grilled tuna steaks.
My final stop for the day was the Becker Vineyards, perhaps the most well known of the Fredericksburg wineries. It was their harvest weekend and so they were quite busy. Because of that I didn’t take as much time as I had in the past, but I still managed to come away with a bottle of their 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve and a bottle of the 2003 Cabernet-Syrah that Henri de Lobbe talked me in to.
After that I retired to The Fredericksburg Brewing Company for some lunch and a mug of their red ale. I’ll be bringing a growler of this home with me.
Cuvée
I headed down to Cuvée for dinner tonight. They have a wonderful meat, cheese, olive, and bread platter. The cheeses on the platter were St. André, Manchego, and a sharp cheddar. I also enjoyed a glass of Domaine Bouche Côte du Rhône 2000 that was absolutely delicious. Excellent service and wonderful food.
Heading To Fredericksburg
It’s a long weekend and I’ve taken an extra day off to get started on a much needed vacation. I’ll be spending the weekend in Fredericksburg, TX. It’s a nice little German town in the Texas Hill Country, about 4 hours south of Dallas. There are a number of good wineries and German food restaurants in the area, and the National Museum of the Pacific War.