Hank Watson's Garage Hour Podcast

You can't get this kind of goodness without a prescription (or a warrant) - it's a roundabout look at the upcoming 2025 Pike's Peak International Hillclimb [PPIHC.org (or .com - choose your adventure)], with everything from drivers, racecars (because racecar!), viewing (in-person or on TV and online), spectating (because you're not going to choke on race fuel fumes in your living room - probably), course info (best turns and, well, there are no worst turns here), and a little bit of history (because you can't do 100+ years of racing without having something historic happen).  Also, Hostus Maximus Justin Fort makes up a few words, describes a few things, and hits on a few highlights from the upcoming JF Summit #3. What's more? A head's up on an upside of the "big beautiful bill" - seems there is a little good tucked in this monstrosity for shooters, hunters and Second Amendment fans.  Also, backgrounds and full-on Euro club-hop weirdness from "This Is Everybody Too".

You can't get this kind of goodness without a prescription (or a warrant) - it's a roundabout look at the upcoming 2025 Pike's Peak International Hillclimb [PPIHC.org (or .com - choose your adventure)], with everything from drivers, racecars (because racecar!), viewing (in-person or on TV and online), spectating (because you're not going to choke on race fuel fumes in your living room - probably), course info (best turns and, well, there are no worst turns here), and a little bit of history (because you can't do 100+ years of racing without having something historic happen).  Also, Hostus Maximus Justin Fort makes up a few words, describes a few things, and hits on a few highlights from the upcoming JF Summit #3. What's more? A head's up on an upside of the "big beautiful bill" - seems there is a little good tucked in this monstrosity for shooters, hunters and Second Amendment fans.  Also, backgrounds and full-on Euro club-hop weirdness from "This Is Everybody Too".

Tools are for humans (and super-smart animals, apparently), garages are for cars, countertops are for food, and rollaways are for organizing!  This esoteric episode is all (mostly) about embracing the perfectionist - just a little - and making your tools and shop space match your intellect and style.  Because so many good projects and necessary repairs get hog-tied by bad organization, and a lack of operable tool enhancement can be submarined by a lack of organization, we want you to scratch that itch and embrace the OCD (if just long enough to put the nut drivers in the correct drawer). While we're at it, there's Jerry Reed and "Amos Moses", Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Ninja Tune and Funkungfusion, Electronic Excursions in Hi-Fi and Meat Beat Manifesto, and more "Kashmir' covers than you can shake a two-headed guitar at.

Tools are for humans (and super-smart animals, apparently), garages are for cars, countertops are for food, and rollaways are for organizing!  This esoteric episode is all (mostly) about embracing the perfectionist - just a little - and making your tools and shop space match your intellect and style.  Because so many good projects and necessary repairs get hog-tied by bad organization, and a lack of operable tool enhancement can be submarined by a lack of organization, we want you to scratch that itch and embrace the OCD (if just long enough to put the nut drivers in the correct drawer). While we're at it, there's Jerry Reed and "Amos Moses", Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Ninja Tune and Funkungfusion, Electronic Excursions in Hi-Fi and Meat Beat Manifesto, and more "Kashmir' covers than you can shake a two-headed guitar at.

Catching up with the backup - it's a timely episode of the Garage Hour (not to be cornfused with the usual when-we-can upload freakout).  There are still a few more further-behind  units to be kicked into production, so don't worry - you won't miss a thing. What's in this 'un?  Good electronics versus new, "dumb" appliances versus robot vacuums conspiring with the 'fridge, and the importance of having a good TV repairman up your sleeve.  There's a stint with the inevitable: electric cars and why taxpayer dough makes them soft and flabby (and inevitable losers); a possible breakthrough in small trucks (because it's simple), the spy on the counter, the spy in your solar panels, the spy in A.I., and how Carl Sagan called this 50 years ago (and Asimov did 100 years ago).  Add on a few thoughts about the freedom to roam (and boat, when you're in Florida (man)), and more from JFS3, and you've got a show. While we're at it, this episode's got a few Excellent Weirdo R.I.P.s for some high-Q fellows who left us (and i

Catching up with the backup - it's a timely episode of the Garage Hour (not to be cornfused with the usual when-we-can upload freakout).  There are still a few more further-behind  units to be kicked into production, so don't worry - you won't miss a thing. What's in this 'un?  Good electronics versus new, "dumb" appliances versus robot vacuums conspiring with the 'fridge, and the importance of having a good TV repairman up your sleeve.  There's a stint with the inevitable: electric cars and why taxpayer dough makes them soft and flabby (and inevitable losers); a possible breakthrough in small trucks (because it's simple), the spy on the counter, the spy in your solar panels, the spy in A.I., and how Carl Sagan called this 50 years ago (and Asimov did 100 years ago).  Add on a few thoughts about the freedom to roam (and boat, when you're in Florida (man)), and more from JFS3, and you've got a show. While we're at it, this episode's got a few Excellent Weirdo R.I.P.s for some high-Q fellows who left us (and i

If you've got a year's worth of 'froading fun (ie: dirt) crammed into every corner of your truck, reaching a "perfect" clean might not be a thing. Instead, aim for "maintenance clean" - the body is rinsed off, the two-bucket method is in overdrive, the dirt is gone, and the rig is neat enough that you can go back to work fixing what you broke on-trail (or wash it again to a state of "show detailed").  The Garage Hour discusses how.  We also chat about the need for a good fabrication guy, and why a good can of Krylon can be essential to your truckly appearance. There's also fun times with worn out electronics, worn out tires for White Mark the Diversity Hire's Grenader, worn out hi-po factory parts, and worn out old Metallica.

If you've got a year's worth of 'froading fun (ie: dirt) crammed into every corner of your truck, reaching a "perfect" clean might not be a thing. Instead, aim for "maintenance clean" - the body is rinsed off, the two-bucket method is in overdrive, the dirt is gone, and the rig is neat enough that you can go back to work fixing what you broke on-trail (or wash it again to a state of "show detailed").  The Garage Hour discusses how.  We also chat about the need for a good fabrication guy, and why a good can of Krylon can be essential to your truckly appearance. There's also fun times with worn out old electronics, worn out tires for White Mark the Diversity Hire's Grenader, worn out hi-po factory parts, and worn out Metallica.

Hostus Maximus Justin Fort and White Mark the Diversity Hire got lost in the hills (and their minds) for this one: two-lane blacktop uphill to see our old friends at Freedom:30 Arms for some lasers and weirdo rounds spurred the conversation about what makes a bullet a boutique round instead of a fad, and why .40 Smith & Wesson has staying power versus Mark's freaky LE-favorite .357 Sig Sauer.  We also get some Dude Food going, with a debate about how meat patties can be a loaf instead of a patty, and why the meat's more important than the shape of it.  There's also mountains to four-wheel for the upcoming JF Summit (#3!), and which is worse (a question): camel spiders or vinegaroons, and what stick to hit them with in either case. Let's just blame our busy days for the shortage of episodes...  The pace will get better (even if it doesn't look it).  ...With Fluke, pistachios, Otter Boxes and redneck North Koreans, it's so much Garage Hour, even if we had the attention spans of a gnat for this one.

Hostus Maximus Justin Fort and White Mark the Diversity Hire got lost in the hills (and their minds) for this one: two-lane blacktop uphill to see our old friends at Freedom:30 Arms for some lasers and weirdo rounds spurred the conversation about what makes a bullet a boutique round instead of a fad, and why .40 Smith & Wesson has staying power versus Mark's freaky LE-favorite .357 Sig Sauer.  We also get some Dude Food going, with a debate about how meat patties can be a loaf instead of a patty, and why the meat's more important than the shape of it.  There's also mountains to four-wheel for the upcoming JF Summit (#3!), and which is worse (a question): camel spiders or vinegaroons, and what stick to hit them with in either case. Let's just blame our busy days for the shortage of episodes...  The pace will get better (even if it doesn't look it).  ...With Fluke, pistachios, Otter Boxes and redneck North Koreans, it's so much Garage Hour, even if we had the attention spans of a gnat for this one.

It's not hard to make fine gearhead talk (TM) when the world lines 'em up like this: wicked and nasty Mercedes W196R Stromlinienwagen nets $54 mill on the block (and why modern go-fast cars can't hold a candle to the brutal elegance and sexual attractiveness of the classics), more failures of modern OEs as they try to avoid testing their hardware before selling it (and why WE aren't going out like a guinea pig), how BYD's going to use AI to make their customer experience ever worse, another story about how nothing makes things worse than the government, and how to avoid letting bad writers ruin good opportunities for gearhead behavior. While we're at it: cyborgs versus robots, STi versus 911, securing your home with smart children (and a kid from Kentucky who did just that), gardening for the head, sun tea for the old growlers, John Paul Jones on "Zooma", and an Excellent Weirdo R.I.P. for Air Force ace Bud Anderson.

It's not hard to make fine gearhead talk (TM) when the world lines 'em up like this: wicked and nasty Mercedes W196R Stromlinienwagen nets $54 mill on the block (and why modern go-fast cars can't hold a candle to the brutal elegance and sexual attractiveness of the classics), more failures of modern OEs as they try to avoid testing their hardware before selling it (and why WE aren't going out like a guinea pig), how BYD's going to use AI to make their customer experience ever worse, another story about how nothing makes things worse than the government, and how to avoid letting bad writers ruin good opportunities for gearhead behavior. While we're at it: cyborgs versus robots, STi versus 911, securing your home with smart children (and a kid from Kentucky who did just that), gardening for the head, sun tea for the old growlers, John Paul Jones on "Zooma", and an Excellent Weirdo R.I.P. for Air Force ace Bud Anderson.

With the throwback gratification of Failure's "Fantastic Planet" rolling throughout, the gearhead goons at the Garage Hour start out gritty with the bucket (or well-sorted trays) of backup bolts that every good geek has in the garadtch.  Note: if that pile of bolts (and rags, and parts, and tools) is getting dusty, you're not making enough - time to build, boys and girls.  There's also a look at the trannie nutjobs who are blowing up cars and dealerships, the politics of production (with perspectives from pinko China and politicized capitalism), and why race fans have very little interest in electric race cars (and still line up for vintage Trans Am, Thunderboats and NASCAR). Want more?  Miniaturized spyware in your USB cables from Tom's Hardware (and a look at when Western civilization figured out that SMALLER is more G-resistant), a retreat from cashless society in Europe, and the importance of protecting your data from the crazies, because they are what they do.

With the throwback gratification of Failure's "Fantastic Planet" rolling throughout, the gearhead goons at the Garage Hour start out gritty with the bucket (or well-sorted trays) of backup bolts that every good geek has in the garadtch.  Note: if that pile of bolts (and rags, and parts, and tools) is getting dusty, you're not making enough - time to build, boys and girls.  There's also a look at the trannie nutjobs who are blowing up cars and dealerships, the politics of production (with perspectives from pinko China and politicized capitalism), and why race fans have very little interest in electric race cars (and still line up for vintage Trans Am, Thunderboats and NASCAR). Want more?  Miniaturized spyware in your USB cables from Tom's Hardware (and a look at when Western civilization figured out that SMALLER is more G-resistant), a retreat from cashless society in Europe, and the importance of protecting your data from the crazies, because they are what they do.

So much afoot we've got two: there's the Avro Vulcan howl, the Corsair whistle, Hellcat .50s and tanks with cats, and a cool story about two F-14s that scrambled to blow up an egg salad sandwich.  Then there's tales of Tesla owners attacking each other when there were no protesters around, Honda and Nissan moving in and out of the US but not each other, and failure after failure of electric car greenthink when the "free" taxpayer bucks dry up now that reality is back in charge (ie: American mail trucks and Canadian busmaker bankruptcy). More?  Re-Soviet Russians doing what Russians do (serious wartime innovation) in their ongoing effort to take over their equally corrupt but less offensive neighbor, an anniversary look back at John Glenn hitting the skies for a quick trip around the planet 60 years ago, and Clutch all over.

So much afoot we've got two: there's the Avro Vulcan howl, the Corsair whistle, Hellcat .50s and tanks with cats, and a cool story about two F-14s that scrambled to blow up an egg salad sandwich.  Then there's tales of Tesla owners attacking each other when there were no protesters around, Honda and Nissan moving in and out of the US but not each other, and failure after failure of electric car greenthink when the "free" taxpayer bucks dry up now that reality is back in charge (ie: American mail trucks and Canadian busmaker bankruptcy). More?  Re-Soviet Russians doing what Russians do (serious wartime innovation) in their ongoing effort to take over their equally corrupt but less offensive neighbor, an anniversary look back at John Glenn hitting the skies for a quick trip around the planet 60 years ago, and Clutch all over.

Hostus Maximus and sometime savant Justin Fort goes full brain-dump on the kind of history that makes pre-teen kids deep-dive science for all the wrong reasons.  Obviously, when folks die because a ship full of ammonium nitrate or radical WW1-era explosives goes kablooey in the harbor, it's a damn shame, but you can't help but marvel at the sheer magnitude of serious industrial accidents (be they jet fuel, fertilizer, munitions or just leftover mine gas).  It's not just manmade disasters, though - Mother Nature (or Father Nature? Turnabout and all...) has a pretty good market for things that go BOOM too, like whole mountains and entire islands.  Join the show for an hour of train-of-thought goodness (and a reminder that mailboxes are federal property, "because you can" doesn't always mean you should, and if you want to blow stuff up, go pro and do it for a living). To max out the spicy, we've got the mine in Mike's basement, the legitimacy in Stephen King's short stories ("Langoliers" and "Night Flyer", for

Hostus Maximus and sometime savant Justin Fort goes full brain-dump on the kind of history that makes pre-teen kids deep-dive science for all the wrong reasons.  Obviously, when folks die because a ship full of ammonium nitrate or radical WW1-era explosives goes kablooey in the harbor, it's a damn shame, but you can't help but marvel at the sheer magnitude of serious industrial accidents (be they jet fuel, fertilizer, munitions or just leftover mine gas).  It's not just manmade disasters, though - Mother Nature (or Father Nature? Turnabout and all...) has a pretty good market for things that go BOOM too, like whole mountains and entire islands.  Join the show for an hour of train-of-thought goodness (and a reminder that mailboxes are federal property, "because you can" doesn't always mean you should, and if you want to blow stuff up, go pro and do it for a living). To max out the spicy, we've got the mine in Mike's basement, the legitimacy in Stephen King's short stories ("Langoliers" and "Night Flyer", for

...With an "Orange Goblin" backer (Frequencies from Planet Ten), we've got a good assortment of gearhead supersauce on this burger: blind squirrel finds a nut (bad gov't radio ads get one right while missing the point on distracted driving); speed limits for asteroids (does it apply to meteors?); weird foreign terrorist Toyotas in Wyoming (hat tip, "Cowboy State Daily"), taxpayer funding and corporate automaker interest drying up for electric cars (BMW on its lead foot and Porsche on its rear); Nissan gets caught on the wrong side of the border and its checkbook; a return to favor for gas stoves and incandescent light bulbs; small Japanese seats and brakes; HIDs versus LEDs. There's fries with that: scary words in your shampoo ingredients, honest humanity in your "Blazing Saddles", Mexican light bulbs, Korean stoves, the 1911's birthday and at least one sammich.

...With an "Orange Goblin" backer (Frequencies from Planet Ten), we've got a good assortment of gearhead supersauce on this burger: blind squirrel finds a nut (bad gov't radio ads get one right while missing the point on distracted driving); speed limits for asteroids (does it apply to meteors?); weird foreign terrorist Toyotas in Wyoming (hat tip, "Cowboy State Daily"), taxpayer funding and corporate automaker interest drying up for electric cars (BMW on its lead foot and Porsche on its rear); Nissan gets caught on the wrong side of the border and its checkbook; a return to favor for gas stoves and incandescent light bulbs; small Japanese seats and brakes; HIDs versus LEDs. There's fries with that: scary words in your shampoo ingredients, honest humanity in your "Blazing Saddles", Mexican light bulbs, Korean stoves, the 1911's birthday and at least one sammich.