HattenBus Alarm System - Poll

We are now deciding which pair of gargoyles we should invite to guard over the HattenBus.

Which of the following three would be best for mounting on the front top, where the painted over 4 inch lights are? (the "eyebrow" lights)

Please leave a comment ... Will it be Gargoyle Bachelor 1, 2, or 3?


Gargoyle Bachelor 1: 19 inches high, 13 wide:





Gargoyle Bachelor 2: 9 inches by 9 inches, we could add many things to be "held" in its claws



Gargoyle Bachelor #3: 15 inches by 14 inches, and the globes light up (we can wire them to turn signals or rowdy light sequencers) :




Not sure what to feed the beasties - I hope bugs collected at 60 MPH will be enough. Squirrels, maybe.

"Between The Races" Update

Dad here again. Just a quick "between the races" update. I successfully survived my first big motorcycle race weekend (3 races), and while I proudly came in last each race (pride saver: my bike weighed more and had a 1/3 the horsepower of the others) I did NOT crash out as several others did each race... i.e. race 1 turn 1, three bikes go down in the fight for the slot. Here are the results if you want a laugh: CCS VIR June 20. Next set of races should be better as I'll be able to stay for the races in the proper class. Unfortunately, none of the 3 photograph companies that were there taking lots of photos have posted them yet, so these I snapped at the track will have to do.

The HattenBus did spectacularly well by the way. The odometer rolled over to 300000 about 4 miles from the race track (at 12:30 at night).


During the day however, it was a might-bit-toasty, as you can see from the pic of the thermometer (105 degrees). But hey: at least the humidity had fallen down to 42%. The screens on the windows and a powerful fan were life savers.



Next up: the July 11th 24 Hour of LeMons race in Stafford CT, with a car this time. w00t!

HattenBus, in skivies

We cleaned up, scrubbed, and grinded(?) the rust & grime off the HattenBus last Saturday. Antonio & Grandpa & Grandma made a surprise visit - and there was much rejoicing!

Here is the beginning of the rust-grinding fun:

"He just wants a Hog-eyed girl!"


K-Girl fills out the Sodoko puzzle while Mom peels off the paper used to mask off for painting...

The priming went pretty well; about 8 hours to tape off the bus (it started raining partway though!) and another 5 to paint. Eight cans of Rustoleoum Primer later... The Gray Lady is born! We did not clean or primer the roof, and good thing we didn't try because we were going until 10pm when we finally ferried it over to the inspection station...

Kira's Bus

Here is Kira's proposed paint scheme:

Dad thinks the dots should flash randomly. This is Kiras design. The black lines at the top are an angels halo and wings. maybe it should have more purple and neon green. The back windows will have a stained glass border. The back side of the smiley face pop out stop sign will say "Don't worry be Happy"

If only...

HattenBus Makes it's Debut

Here's the school bus that we've captured from the wilds of New Jersey.

We are still in heated discussion on the paint job, theme, and accessories. All we know for sure is that it can't stay International School Bus Yellow (yes: that's an officially registered color!), so we need to paint it before getting license plates.

That nifty stop sign that pops out has to be removed as well, but we plan on converting it to something else, such as a smiley face or some such.

We have many and many more plans for this puppy!

• RV Camper
• Motorcycle hauler for races
• Gymnastics Team hauler for far-away meets (and they all are it seems!)
• Walking Machine hauler for Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race
• MiniMoto race pit bus
• PartyBus for group trips to Orchestra events, RobotFest, Dagorhir, Nashville, RollerDerby, Hershey Park, etc etc...