Alpha Male Manley Lectures: The Day I Got To Know Motorsports

"Oh frickety frack!" as Dr. Sheldon Cooper sometimes laments on Big Bang Theory. I know how that feels, and when I first got into go-karting, I often found myself saying aloud, "Frickety frack...I've crashed again!"

Hitting a side barrier's not that big of a deal, however. Here's what is: track timing. When it comes to elapsed time, I consider my own to be horrible. But then, look what me and a lot of my disabled, racing enthusiast buddies are up against.

But if you follow me online, then you already know that I've been to Balboa Park in Lake Balboa, California. It was there that I felt that itch for retrofitting things, that which Mr. Shelby himself must've once felt. Those visits happened recently, but here's what I found out during those tests: able-bodied and challenged kart racers were in need of power-assisted steering.

For me, that didn't translate to making a posh car build out of a go-kart; it meant building at least one or two Electro Karts for the track, that were built with the same, power-assisted consoles that many electric wheelchairs were already using.

As usual, it's easy in theory, but not practice. But since we can't build anything right away, here are the statistics. Driving one of OTL's Elektro Karts at MB2 Raceway in Sylmar, California, I was able to run a best E/T of about 28.1 seconds. This is with the knowledge that MB2 takes-up a quarter-mile of space, and with the kart running optimally.

On my C500 power chair, I was able to pull-off a track time of around 1:32:87, and this was with a top speed of 5.1 miles per hour, so one sees how performance truly is a relative thing.

Does that mean that I'm lacking in performance? Could be, but that wasn't really the point. Here's what it is: speed costs money, a lot of MB2's racers are physically-challenged, but what all of them cannot afford, is to be excluded from motorsports.

In one sentence...take Permobil's "R-Net" console, take the "J-Series" console from EMC...take any of those pieces of adaptive equipment and bolt that on to an Elektro Kart. Whether new or used, adapting an OTL go-kart, in the way of assistive consoles, will open a new market for disabled motor enthusiasts.

Alpha Male "Manley" Lectures: What Is Inter-Dimensional Travel?!

In one word: "Wi-Fi." Here's why I use that: Resonant frequency is a real science. Plants, animals and humans produce resonant frequencies, and in varying degrees. When you hook-up your WiFi gateway, what are you accomplishing? Our minds, our bodies produce a resonant frequency field; a wireless gateway produces a resonant field, and your smart device grabs-on to that energy.

With inter-dimensional transit or travel, my experience is that you're essentially shifting from one WiFi network, or grab point to the next. Sure, you're still logging on to the same internet, but with a different passcode and network. Once that happens, your device's bandwidth changes, sometimes there's even a change of interface, or content.

I could be wrong, because I'm not Buddhist or New Age, but look at the science; what is it showing us, when resonant frequency, in and of itself, is manifesting thought and emotion on to the most chaotic of backdrops?! Let's face it: the Tesla science behind inter-dimensional travel, the science behind the dimensions themselves, need be investigated further!

Alpha Male Manley Blogs, Vol. II: The Number One Reason Why A Wheelchair Can Never Be A Muscle Car!!!

There was a Classical Greek parable, in which a son tried to drive his father's chariot, and in the clouds. Here's the twist: By taking on his dad's "car," he simultaneously assumed his fate. That being the chariot itself being driven out of control.

Here's what a muscle car does: gets you from A to B like anything else? True, however my Permobil C500 can do that. Does it need a HEMI? No, because what I drive is a powered wheelchair, not a "Dart!" It gets me to commute, and safely.

But in one shot, I just have to establish that argument of "feeling." I want something different than what a lot of my readers may want, but guys, in a sentence: Why aren't the power chair manufacturers, like Permobil, thinking about the muscle car enthusiast?!

Here's how: concentrate on sensations. I want to feel the "V8," I want to feel the "muscle car." You look again to Permobil...their job is not to be a custom hot rod place. But couldn't the market, as a whole, take more extensive use of 2016 technology to build a power chair for the car enthusiast, who just so happens to be physically-challenged?!

For this, I think that the best technological advances include solenoid V-Type engines, DC electric motors off of MB2 and other go-karts. Anything that's electric, adjustable...and in one line, is able to produce RPM for performance or sustainability.

You couple that together with a solid body-and-bumper, crunch that whole kit down enough to fit on a power chair, see what happens. Guaranteed you'll have a proven product, because disabled car enthusiasts have been around muscle, and just as long as the Mecum crowd has.

Alpha Male Manly Lectures: The Top 5 Inventions From Automotive That Never Made It To The Power Chair Market...

I am a poet, and so my job here is to teach, as well as to entertain. That's a thought molecule that was muttered often during the European Renaissance, and it's one that still makes sense...so I will try my very best.

During a process in which I had been collecting raw materials off of my powered wheelchair, there were a few quirks that I had wished to leave off of my "parts list." However, the more that I tested and looked into it, the more that I found that what I thought was luxury was actually necessity.

In one shot, consequently, I've decided to not only throw-together a list of items that I think should be incorporated into the power chair market, but I think it's appropriate, at this point, to boil this list down. It's equally important to synthesize, or break-down just how each part/accessory would work to improve the powered wheelchair platform, and all the way across the board.

Retractable Roof/Hardtop:

This is all going to kind of tie-together as it unfolds, but a retractable roof or hardtop, for me, does a lot more than just add a certain "style sense" to the vehicle. As a consumer, I can't ever truly promise that people with disabilities will never go out into the sleet or snow. In all sincerity, it just happens, and what solution is there when the challenged commuter needs to protect his/herself from nature?!

Waterproof Electronics:

Why is it that Tesla Motors has been smart enough, clever enough to build an airtight space frame around the "Model S," and yet from the 1980s continuing into my college years, the early-2000 era, all too many a powered wheelchair has gone "Exorcist" in the rain?!

Speaking of, let's talk about the early era of wheelchair motoring, for me and a lot of my generation, the early 1990s. Remember the old, Sicilian grandmother from Golden Girls? Here we go: Southern California...1992! It was 101 degrees in Northridge, You Can't Do That On Television was beaming on Nickelodeon from Canada, and I was on my way to elementary school!

Oops, it starts raining, and not only raining kids, but pouring, as "El Nino" had manifested more than once in the West Coast vocabulary. All-in-all, chair shorts out, starts driving itself...nearly runs itself off of a curb, en route to the bowling alley, grade school...wherever! So yeah, light-up sneakers and pogs may have been cool growing-up, but airtight accessories on the power chair would have just been downright functional!

Bumpers:

Yeah, I'm talking from front-to-rear! Not only that, but with certainty, because when you look at all of the scratches/scuff marks that I've accumulated, not only on my Permobil but on any power chair, it just resonates a pattern that's continuing, and it shouldn't be!

Undercarriage guard plates:

Again, how silly is it that anyone should have to spell this out online?! Just like with front-to-rear bumpers, you're not bolting stuff like that on to a power chair to look good but to function!

I don't care if I get laid in my power wheelchair; even the insurance providers will tell you that Permobils and others are built strictly for mobility purposes! So what does a guard plate achieve? In one sentence, take a plate made out of sheet metal, diamond plate or whatever, and stick that object on to the bottom, or "undercarriage," of a wheelchair. First, it keeps natural elements, like rocks and gravel, from slipping into the chair's running gear.

Also, like the front-to-rear bumpers mentioned before, having guard plates bolted underneath the wheelchair's frame adds a sense of structural rigidity to that frame. So I agree with this whole "safe mobility" concept that me, along with an engineer friend, had recently discussed in Reno, Nevada: It's not important to go fast and be a manwhore, but it's absolutely necessary to sustain and be a gentleman!

Onboard navigation/GPS:

Um...yeah! I don't know what to tell everyone, but we're living in a "smart phone" era! That means that the Web dictates a lot of things that we do today, but it also means that our devices that were separated, 10-15 years ago, have now become very much integrated into one piece!

GPS, especially when it's onboard, is one of Western Society's most useful gadgets. And I don't necessarily think that it's a "disabled" thing, but for myself, I have a terrible sense of freakin' direction, and I've heard my dad make the same complaint in the past!

Here's what it boils-down to: Permobil and other premium power wheelchairs feature extension arms and similar accessories that bolt on to the vehicle's main drive console. Within that small space frame, bolt on a smart phone or tablet with GPS, a GPS device by itself or both!

Reseda Discount Caregivers: Providing LA With The City's HEALTHIEST Edibles For The Proactive Patient

This is just going to have to be one of those rare moments, when I try to make myself sound like the world's most interesting man. Now that that is established, I will go on to say that I don't always write blogs about medical marijuana, but when I do, I do with a purpose.

In April, I went on a bit of a rant. Even as of the moment that I am writing this, marijuana is still not federally legal in America. But here's the thing that trips me up: medical marijuana vendors, like Pura Vida, are holistically-minded. What that means is that they're able to balance-out THC content with good food, because they know that some herb patients actually want to be proactive with their meds, as I am doing by writing this blog on a body high.

Funny enough, I am currently using one of Reseda Discount Caregivers' in-house and patented, 150mg-milligram edibles. For those of you who have been to Reseda, you no doubt know that their selection of weed brownies is vast anyway, and if you are a fan of super foods, then RDC does happen to be an outlet for the Pura Vida, organic edible brand. Both Pura Vida and RDC's carb treats are choice, but while the former tends to sell their 100mg-milligram edibles for $10 a piece, Reseda sells their in-house brand, at a prescription rate of 150mg-milligrams, for $8 per edible, which opens-up an opportunity: 300mg-milligrams of content for literally $16, and the taste is above and beyond Korova's selection.

My results break-down easily enough: on my cardio bike, I am able to peak at a rate of about 320-385 watts, at a running speed of about 133-34 RPM. Anyone who does cardio regularly knows that this is still a crazy amount of output, but for a guy like myself who likes to iso-test at a peak wattage of over 500, it becomes tedious.

Here's the difference: with Reseda Caregivers' oatmeal cookie and medicated protein bar, I was able to lift, as of yesterday afternoon, approximately 478-watts. This was at a running speed of around 134 RPM.

One factor: timing order. This is something that need be mentioned, because on the same afternoon that I put out 478 watts, I also had an output of 450 watts, my second best number for the day, but at a running speed of about 132 RPM. This is after eating a medicated oatmeal cookie from Reseda Caregivers, and I can say that I've been able to yield similar results from the Pura Vida snacks.

In short, Reseda Discount Caregivers and Pura Vida have some of the San Fernando Valley's best in organic, marijuana-medicated edibles. If you want something more decadent, then you can absolutely buy that from Reseda. Otherwise, be sure to check out Reseda Discount Caregivers and Pura Vida, if you're in Los Angeles, for all of your edible herb needs!

Lake Balboa Hill Run: 2015 Permobil C500 K-Code

My recent findings on the Permobil C500 suggest that it's an overall, well-built frame. Truthfully, it's the performance that's my biggest complaint about the C500, and I say that carefully, because I just don't feel like Permobil of North America could have stretched their resources any further. That's just in the construction of the C500, but if there's one thing that Permobil's products have proven over the years, it's that they really do go the extra mile to build the most top-end power chair.

Not because the thing's super fast or anything, but let's face it: any vehicle that you drive is going to have to back up its performance with suspension, and it seems like that's why Permobil is the most capable of building a power chair like a car.

Yesterday afternoon, I tested my C500 at our Valley's beloved Balboa Park, in Lake Balboa, California. This is also an afternoon where I've pressure-tested the bike on our equally-famed Reseda Boulevard, and over several miles from the Orange Line station, at the corner of Oxnard, to CORE Centers on Superior.

Here's why it's lacking in performance: in every uphill test that I tried at Balboa, the 500 cruised at an average speed of 1.4-2.1 miles per hour. This is with the understanding, of course, that the decked-out Permobil, with its most base electric motor, is capable of lifting 5.1 miles per hour, and as the Beach Boys have sang, that was at the top-end floored!

Problematic no less, because with the "top-end floored," Permobil's C500, when off-road, stays inside of that 1.4-2.1 mile-per-hour bracket, and that's even regardless of how much of an incline the chair is facing.

Again, this is mostly under an off-road context, and even on hard-packed dirt, the C500 is capable of doing 5 miles per hour, which was my recorded top-end in my last road test.

Permobil fanatics should not fret, however. Because part # 1823394 and 1823395, which refer to the manufacturer's left-to-right motor upgrade, can easily make Permobil's C500 equal in performance to their flagship power chair, the "F5."

For me, I want to be working with Permobil and Sherman Oaks Medical Supply to get the power package for the 500. Because apart from having Westside Collision in Lancaster, California paint the "K-Code" decals on the thing, a higher-output motor seems to be necessary for getting out of others' way, and if there's any argument that can be made for why performance is a medical necessity, then that would clearly be it.

My little nephew, Gionni, often quotes Lightening McQueen: "Packa-Pow!!!" I've been using that a lot myself lately, and now I know why. The body lines are there, the electric running gear is intact. Really, with the right looks and performance tune, Permobil's C500 is set-and-ready for "Radiator Springs'" worse!

Turbocharging The C500: Why The Names "Shelby," "Permobil" And "Sherman Oaks" May Soon Become Synonymous...

While identifying my own physical challenge, I also identified a cultural barrier: Disabled community members are motoring enthusiasts, just as much as any abled hot-rodder, but they have no actual outlet!

That's probably because we're not speaking-up. But the time for writing our genuine, heart-felt love letter to the power chair market is definitely ripe, and while that industry's equipment has simply skyrocketed over the last 35 years, there's still an empty chasm, where a performance department should exist.

I don't think anyone blames the power chair market; it's just that people and things are changing, and the active body of disabled motor heads has arrived, just in time for 2016, with a whole new parts-and-price list.

It's not a hard one, but do make sure to call Permobil directly, if you're looking to buy the factory performance upgrade on their independently-coiled, C500 power chair. And if technicalities are what they say, then this factory upgrade, parts # 1823394 (Right motor), and 1823395 (left motor) should bring Permobil's current, C500 unit to a top speed of around 6.5mph, with a sustainable battery range of 24-25 miles per charge.

As for myself, I am satisfied with the C500 platform, though I must admit that I am ready for any performance boost that I can get. The performance pack for the C500, as described above, may be nearly impossible to get through insurance, but as an insider, I'm willing to test it. Consequently, I am in the process of trying to get my insurance to sponsor the Permobil, motor upgrade, based on my inability to use public transportation.

In analogy, Permobil's controller/motor upgrade should be, to the C-frame, what the "turbo" option is to the Kia Optima. That's a bit optimistic, but let's try it on for fun and see anyway, shall we?!