Thoughtless
I hadn't put much thought into what I might muse about tonight.
I have a final tomorrow and I just assumed I would procrastinate for a while and then eventually do a little bit of studying eventually giving up and going to be because it was my bedtime, not so much because I was actually done.
I did procrastinate for a while. I could have started the study session when I got home. Looking back on it, had I done so I would have been done by dinner.
I think that perhaps I use my finely honed skill of procrastinating to keep from over doing the studying.
I did finally get out the books around 8:00 PM. By 10:00 I decided I had done enough.
And so here I sit, trying not to use the phrase bloggers block, when it was really just poor planning on my part. I assumed that I simply wouldn't have time to wax poetic tonight. As you can see I was both right and wrong. I had the time but there is nothing poetic about this, eh? [Note to self, look up the etymology of the term 'wax poetic'.]
Tomorrow will be a busy day indeed. Lunch will be a magical mystery tour for sure. After work, I will be heading to Athens to take the final. Following the final will be the traditional after-the-final-Mexican-food dinner. And after filling up on refried beans it is off Wal-Mart for the traditional pre-camping-trip-trip-to-Wal-Mart-gosh-I-can't-believe-it's-midnight-already I need some stuff for the camping trip shopping spree.
And then Friday morning I will venture into the dark recesses of the attic to retrieve my gear so that I can begin packing.
There is only a 40% chance of Thunderstorms on Saturday.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Winter Wonderland
This past week I decided it was time to turn on the sprinkler system. The grass is turning green and I didn't want to be left out.
My neighbor has been reading again. He told me that one long "rain" would be better for the roots than three or four shorter "rain" showers.
Armed with this information, I decided to to reprogram the sprinkler to run one day a week, instead of three. I decided Sundays would be a good day.
Yesterday morning as we were heading out, I noticed the sprinkler had run for the first time. The driveway was wet around the edges. The grass, flowers, shrubs, and some of the lower tree branches were covered with ice. By the time we got back home, the ice had all melted and the water had all dried up. It is a shame I didn't get a pictures of the last freeze of the year.
For the record, it was about 80 the day I reprogrammed the sprinkler.
This past week I decided it was time to turn on the sprinkler system. The grass is turning green and I didn't want to be left out.
My neighbor has been reading again. He told me that one long "rain" would be better for the roots than three or four shorter "rain" showers.
Armed with this information, I decided to to reprogram the sprinkler to run one day a week, instead of three. I decided Sundays would be a good day.
Yesterday morning as we were heading out, I noticed the sprinkler had run for the first time. The driveway was wet around the edges. The grass, flowers, shrubs, and some of the lower tree branches were covered with ice. By the time we got back home, the ice had all melted and the water had all dried up. It is a shame I didn't get a pictures of the last freeze of the year.
For the record, it was about 80 the day I reprogrammed the sprinkler.
Friday, April 06, 2007
The Obligatory Friday Post
The weather has been less than desirable for the last couple of days. Cloudy, windy, and 30-50 degrees F. For fifty, it feels pretty cold. The Miata has been screaming to be taken out so that it can show off it's new stripes.
Next weekend I am going camping. I purchased a new MSR cook kit for the trip. Shiney stainless steel is so pretty. Six days until departure.
My mother-in-law is visiting for the weekend. She likes it when I mention her in my blog. Actually I think she is staying a whole week.
I have a final next Thursday and then I will be done with school for 6 weeks I believe. That will be a nice little vacation.
The weather has been less than desirable for the last couple of days. Cloudy, windy, and 30-50 degrees F. For fifty, it feels pretty cold. The Miata has been screaming to be taken out so that it can show off it's new stripes.
Next weekend I am going camping. I purchased a new MSR cook kit for the trip. Shiney stainless steel is so pretty. Six days until departure.
My mother-in-law is visiting for the weekend. She likes it when I mention her in my blog. Actually I think she is staying a whole week.
I have a final next Thursday and then I will be done with school for 6 weeks I believe. That will be a nice little vacation.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Ten, Nine, Eight
The count down to the spring camping trip is now under way. Did I forget to mention the camping trip?
It's another one of those trips where we hike into the woods with a back pack full of everything needed to get by for a few days. The head count for this trip appears to be in the neighborhood of 5 or 6. Down from the dozen we had last time. We have one newbie on this trip. He gets to carry the dutch oven and the 14" cast iron skillet.
Several friends have declined the invitation purely because they didn't want to do the hike it. They prefer car camping.
The count down to the spring camping trip is now under way. Did I forget to mention the camping trip?
It's another one of those trips where we hike into the woods with a back pack full of everything needed to get by for a few days. The head count for this trip appears to be in the neighborhood of 5 or 6. Down from the dozen we had last time. We have one newbie on this trip. He gets to carry the dutch oven and the 14" cast iron skillet.
Several friends have declined the invitation purely because they didn't want to do the hike it. They prefer car camping.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Vent
Today was not a good day for me. It is unfortunate that it happened on a weekend too.
Last night I prepared for todays installation of the stripes by reading everything I could find on the internet regarding vinyl stripe installation. This morning I printed one of the sets of instructions and made a list of all the tools and supplies I would need. Jordan and I made a quick trip to Home Depot to pick up a few things I didn't have: two inch wide painter painters tape, some sharp razor blades, and a spay bottle.
Once back at the house I got started by spending the next hour running a piece of tape from the bottom of the front bumper, up the hood, across the back deck, and down the back bumper. Getting the tape straight is critical because it is used to line up the stipes. If it is not centered and straight, neither are the lines.
At this point I reviewed the instructions yet again and started the installation of a couple of small pieces that go between the top and the front end of the rear deck. So far so good. Next I did the hood and then the trunk.
This is when things started to fall apart. The flat part on the top went fine, but there was a lot of extra vinyl on the outside edge because the linear distance along the outside edge of the stripe was about two inches longs than the linear distance along the inside edge. The heat gun helped a little bit but in the end, I royally messed this piece up.
At this point I went back inside to re-read the internet, specifically the tips and tricks for installing vinyl stuff. Ok, I found one that might work. Unfortunately I also read something I hadn't previously read. (Don't install vinyl stripes on a freshly painted car for at least 180 days so the paint will completely cure. *Sinking feeling*) Back to the garage.
I removed the messed up piece to give it another go. About this time I notice a dirty spot about an inch long and 1/8 inch wide. That is not a dirty spot *four-letter-word*, some of the new paint came off when I removed the vinyl. I am feeling pretty stupid at this point. Why didn't I read that before. I would have gladly waited a few more months. *&^%$#@! Try to cool off. A little touch up paint should do the trick. Hopefully.
After sufficient cooling off time I went ahead with the rear deck. It went better this time but it was still not good enough for my liking.
At this point it is about half done and I am satisfied with half the work I have done. I have enough vinyl to replace the less than perfect pieces again, but probably not enough skill to make it good enough. What to do? What to do?
Perfect timing. Here's Brian and his convertible ready to go for a ride. (No not that Brian, the other Brian.) It was a nice day for a ride but I was distracted. Distracted by the vinyl on the trailing edge of the trunk lid and fearing that if I remove it to try again, I might lose some more paint.
An hour later I am back at home. After a little time and distance it is not looking so bad. I decide to go ahead and install the three inches above the top of the windshield.
The kid have now come outside to ride their bikes. Because Brianna is still new to riding, I asked her to stay away from the Charger. A couple minutes later she is crying. I exit the garage to see what has happened. She was playing follow the leader (on Bikes) with Jordan. Jordan rode through the three foot gap between the Charger and the A/C. Brianna tried to follow and hit the Charger. She was not hurt, but she was upset because she knew she just did what I asked her not to do. The impact put an 18" long scratch down the side of the Charger. I wanted to cry when I saw this. Get over it Rick. It's just a car!
Later after dinner, I showed the mostly striped Miata to Ginger. She said the workmanship was good but she didn't really care for the stripes. My thoughts were just the opposite. I liked the stripes but I am disappointed with the workmanship. Hmm.
I would like a redo on today. On take 2, I think I would skip the stripes, leave the Charger in the garage, and be the caboose in an exciting game of follow the leader on bicyles.
Today was not a good day for me. It is unfortunate that it happened on a weekend too.
Last night I prepared for todays installation of the stripes by reading everything I could find on the internet regarding vinyl stripe installation. This morning I printed one of the sets of instructions and made a list of all the tools and supplies I would need. Jordan and I made a quick trip to Home Depot to pick up a few things I didn't have: two inch wide painter painters tape, some sharp razor blades, and a spay bottle.
Once back at the house I got started by spending the next hour running a piece of tape from the bottom of the front bumper, up the hood, across the back deck, and down the back bumper. Getting the tape straight is critical because it is used to line up the stipes. If it is not centered and straight, neither are the lines.
At this point I reviewed the instructions yet again and started the installation of a couple of small pieces that go between the top and the front end of the rear deck. So far so good. Next I did the hood and then the trunk.
This is when things started to fall apart. The flat part on the top went fine, but there was a lot of extra vinyl on the outside edge because the linear distance along the outside edge of the stripe was about two inches longs than the linear distance along the inside edge. The heat gun helped a little bit but in the end, I royally messed this piece up.
At this point I went back inside to re-read the internet, specifically the tips and tricks for installing vinyl stuff. Ok, I found one that might work. Unfortunately I also read something I hadn't previously read. (Don't install vinyl stripes on a freshly painted car for at least 180 days so the paint will completely cure. *Sinking feeling*) Back to the garage.
I removed the messed up piece to give it another go. About this time I notice a dirty spot about an inch long and 1/8 inch wide. That is not a dirty spot *four-letter-word*, some of the new paint came off when I removed the vinyl. I am feeling pretty stupid at this point. Why didn't I read that before. I would have gladly waited a few more months. *&^%$#@! Try to cool off. A little touch up paint should do the trick. Hopefully.
After sufficient cooling off time I went ahead with the rear deck. It went better this time but it was still not good enough for my liking.
At this point it is about half done and I am satisfied with half the work I have done. I have enough vinyl to replace the less than perfect pieces again, but probably not enough skill to make it good enough. What to do? What to do?
Perfect timing. Here's Brian and his convertible ready to go for a ride. (No not that Brian, the other Brian.) It was a nice day for a ride but I was distracted. Distracted by the vinyl on the trailing edge of the trunk lid and fearing that if I remove it to try again, I might lose some more paint.
An hour later I am back at home. After a little time and distance it is not looking so bad. I decide to go ahead and install the three inches above the top of the windshield.
The kid have now come outside to ride their bikes. Because Brianna is still new to riding, I asked her to stay away from the Charger. A couple minutes later she is crying. I exit the garage to see what has happened. She was playing follow the leader (on Bikes) with Jordan. Jordan rode through the three foot gap between the Charger and the A/C. Brianna tried to follow and hit the Charger. She was not hurt, but she was upset because she knew she just did what I asked her not to do. The impact put an 18" long scratch down the side of the Charger. I wanted to cry when I saw this. Get over it Rick. It's just a car!
Later after dinner, I showed the mostly striped Miata to Ginger. She said the workmanship was good but she didn't really care for the stripes. My thoughts were just the opposite. I liked the stripes but I am disappointed with the workmanship. Hmm.
I would like a redo on today. On take 2, I think I would skip the stripes, leave the Charger in the garage, and be the caboose in an exciting game of follow the leader on bicyles.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
This weekend I dissembled the rear diff of the truck. With one exception. I was unable to get the nut off the pinion. After two days of spring with penetrating oil, I finally manged to loosen it using a two foot breaker bar.
I immediately met the next challenge. The pinion shaft did not want to come out of the diff case. The instructions I had said to lightly tap on the bolt with a brass hammer. I tried taping on it with a framing hammer. No luck. The next day I tried hitting it with the hammer. Still no luck.
What next? Check Google. I finally found some good advice. Get a bigger hammer.
Guess what. A ten pound sledge hammer worked just fine.
I immediately met the next challenge. The pinion shaft did not want to come out of the diff case. The instructions I had said to lightly tap on the bolt with a brass hammer. I tried taping on it with a framing hammer. No luck. The next day I tried hitting it with the hammer. Still no luck.
What next? Check Google. I finally found some good advice. Get a bigger hammer.
Guess what. A ten pound sledge hammer worked just fine.
Wacky Wednesday
Today I made a return visit to the cardiologist for a stress test. (I think I failed to mention last weeks visit). They told me expect to be there between four and six hours. And I was. I got to spend quality time on the treadmill, and I managed to catch 40 winks during an MRI. The MRI took about twenty minutes. I fell asleep during this no few than four times. I know this because I woke up four times due to sleep apnea. *snort*. Last weeks visit included an echo cardiogram. That was pretty cool. I got to see the valves in my heart open and close.
I am now taking a pill everyday to lower my blood pressure. It was down at 138/88 today from last weeks high of 178/114. I am also taking an alternative remedy for high cholesterol, a glass of red wine every night. My initial reaction to these new daily chores was less than positive. It takes me a long time to develop a new habit. Ok, the wine isn't so bad. It's just having to remember it.
Perhaps I need something for my memory too.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Today Brianna achieved a huge milestone.
She can now officially ride her bicycle without training wheels. She can start and stop all by herself. She has been pretty good at balancing for several days now.
She will no longer be forced to practice riding everyday. From now on, riding is completely voluntary.
If your name is GrandMother, please remember to act surprised next week when she shows you her new skill.
She can now officially ride her bicycle without training wheels. She can start and stop all by herself. She has been pretty good at balancing for several days now.
She will no longer be forced to practice riding everyday. From now on, riding is completely voluntary.
If your name is GrandMother, please remember to act surprised next week when she shows you her new skill.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
This weekend I disassembled the rear differential on the GMC.
The diff only had about 2 cups of fluid in it. Sounds like it had a leak at some point. While I have it apart I am going to sand blast the case and paint it. I will also replace all the bearings and seals, and finally put some fluid in it.
I also got the remaining control arms installed on the front. Had I had a coil spring compressor, I would have also installed the coil springs and the spindles. That will have to wait til next weekend.
The diff only had about 2 cups of fluid in it. Sounds like it had a leak at some point. While I have it apart I am going to sand blast the case and paint it. I will also replace all the bearings and seals, and finally put some fluid in it.
I also got the remaining control arms installed on the front. Had I had a coil spring compressor, I would have also installed the coil springs and the spindles. That will have to wait til next weekend.
Say Cheese
I had the camera out this weekend.
First I took some photos of the rear differential for the GMC. Later I took some more photos of the same diff. This time with all of the inside parts no longer on the inside.
Today I dropped in on Jack. Jack is building an airplane in his shop. I had the camera along to take a few photos. What he has done is amazing. And I have pictures to prove it.
What did I not take pictures of this weekend? I forgot to photograph the Miata with its new paint job. I also meant to take a picture of the kids.
I had the camera out this weekend.
First I took some photos of the rear differential for the GMC. Later I took some more photos of the same diff. This time with all of the inside parts no longer on the inside.
Today I dropped in on Jack. Jack is building an airplane in his shop. I had the camera along to take a few photos. What he has done is amazing. And I have pictures to prove it.
What did I not take pictures of this weekend? I forgot to photograph the Miata with its new paint job. I also meant to take a picture of the kids.
Monday, March 19, 2007
You Can Call Me Old But You Can't Make Me Grow Up
The results on this weekends F1 race in case you missed it: 1) Kimi, 2) Alonso, 3) Hamilton. Massa was back at 6. Hamilton is a rookie. Hitting the podium was pretty impressive.
I received a message on MySpace today from a guy I went to high school with. Where oh where did the last twenty years go? And he accused me of being old.
That is just not right. And on a day I am feeling oh so fragile. I had a visit with a doctor on Friday. He referred me to another doctor who I saw today. The second doctor wants to put me on something for high blood pressure. The first doctor will probably want to put me on something for high cholesterol.
So there you go. I don't want to be another one of those old folks who has to take a hand full of pills everyday. No offense to all you old folks.
Doctor # 2 also suggested I lose some weight. At first he said I should probably weight in at around 150. I don't believe I ever weighed 150. Back in the glory days while I was at Auburn and I was running every day I weighted 167 and had a 30" waist.
Eventually he decided 175 might be OK. The bad news here is that 175 is a long way away. Back around November 1, I decided to lose a few. Since then I have lost 12 lbs. This is not much in the grand scheme of things but this has been without any extreme changes to my life. It may be time to kick it up a notch. Can you hear the Nordic track calling? I can barely hear it but it would be easier if the M&Ms would hush.
Yeah and on top of that, David called me old. Thanks Dave.
The results on this weekends F1 race in case you missed it: 1) Kimi, 2) Alonso, 3) Hamilton. Massa was back at 6. Hamilton is a rookie. Hitting the podium was pretty impressive.
I received a message on MySpace today from a guy I went to high school with. Where oh where did the last twenty years go? And he accused me of being old.
That is just not right. And on a day I am feeling oh so fragile. I had a visit with a doctor on Friday. He referred me to another doctor who I saw today. The second doctor wants to put me on something for high blood pressure. The first doctor will probably want to put me on something for high cholesterol.
So there you go. I don't want to be another one of those old folks who has to take a hand full of pills everyday. No offense to all you old folks.
Doctor # 2 also suggested I lose some weight. At first he said I should probably weight in at around 150. I don't believe I ever weighed 150. Back in the glory days while I was at Auburn and I was running every day I weighted 167 and had a 30" waist.
Eventually he decided 175 might be OK. The bad news here is that 175 is a long way away. Back around November 1, I decided to lose a few. Since then I have lost 12 lbs. This is not much in the grand scheme of things but this has been without any extreme changes to my life. It may be time to kick it up a notch. Can you hear the Nordic track calling? I can barely hear it but it would be easier if the M&Ms would hush.
Yeah and on top of that, David called me old. Thanks Dave.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
A Shiney Red Car With A Radio
The Miata came home with it's new paint job on Thursday. Red, bright and shiney. Unfortunately is was raining and by the time I got home, it needed to be washed.
We had severely nice weather the first part of the week. The rain rolled through on Thursday and brought back the cold weather. Could I please have some nice warm dry weather so that I my try out the new paint job, with the top down. Oh look. The warm weather is supposed to return on Monday.
Last night we went out to dinner at one of the local German restaurants. I had the Mediterrean Talapiea. Mmmm. Afterwards we shopped for a new sofa. So many sofas, so little time. This morning we hit the sofa trail again. The final target has still not been selected.
The Miata came home with it's new paint job on Thursday. Red, bright and shiney. Unfortunately is was raining and by the time I got home, it needed to be washed.
We had severely nice weather the first part of the week. The rain rolled through on Thursday and brought back the cold weather. Could I please have some nice warm dry weather so that I my try out the new paint job, with the top down. Oh look. The warm weather is supposed to return on Monday.
Last night we went out to dinner at one of the local German restaurants. I had the Mediterrean Talapiea. Mmmm. Afterwards we shopped for a new sofa. So many sofas, so little time. This morning we hit the sofa trail again. The final target has still not been selected.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Three Sixty
The direction of the truck project has officially changed by 360 degrees.
Tuesday evening I, along with my one of my little side kicks, began reassembling the front end suspension. (My helper only lasted about 10 minutes but he was involved briefly.)
We, with the help of an engine hoist and a few straps, managed to maneuver the suspension cross member back into place and bolt it in. The hoist along with it's little operator were invaluable. I have let him "work" with it several times before. He always asks permission and it is usually granted. His experience as a crane operator worked to my advantage because when I needed a second pair of hands, my little buddy was willing and able.
I purchased some new bolts last fall from LMC Truck to reattach the cross member to the frame. As I was wrenching it on, I noticed the 3 lines on the top of the bolt head indicating they were grade 5. My guess would have been grade 8. I suppose those are being saved for the tractor grade.
Tuesday I also installed one upper ball joint. The second upper ball joint and one lower ball joint were installed today. This task was extremely easy standing at the work bench. It only took a couple of minutes per joint. I can imagine how much of a nightmare it is to replace them while the a-arms are attached to the vehicle. Lucky me.
What little reassembly has been done has been quite pleasant. All the parts are clean and freshly painted. The tools were clean also so no old grease was transferred to the knew parts.
Zen? Yeah, no, maybe.
The direction of the truck project has officially changed by 360 degrees.
Tuesday evening I, along with my one of my little side kicks, began reassembling the front end suspension. (My helper only lasted about 10 minutes but he was involved briefly.)
We, with the help of an engine hoist and a few straps, managed to maneuver the suspension cross member back into place and bolt it in. The hoist along with it's little operator were invaluable. I have let him "work" with it several times before. He always asks permission and it is usually granted. His experience as a crane operator worked to my advantage because when I needed a second pair of hands, my little buddy was willing and able.
I purchased some new bolts last fall from LMC Truck to reattach the cross member to the frame. As I was wrenching it on, I noticed the 3 lines on the top of the bolt head indicating they were grade 5. My guess would have been grade 8. I suppose those are being saved for the tractor grade.
Tuesday I also installed one upper ball joint. The second upper ball joint and one lower ball joint were installed today. This task was extremely easy standing at the work bench. It only took a couple of minutes per joint. I can imagine how much of a nightmare it is to replace them while the a-arms are attached to the vehicle. Lucky me.
What little reassembly has been done has been quite pleasant. All the parts are clean and freshly painted. The tools were clean also so no old grease was transferred to the knew parts.
Zen? Yeah, no, maybe.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Can we please set the clock back the way it was last week?
Mike phoned in Saturday morning to complain about the fog in Mobile. He was heading for Disney world. Mobile is only about 350 miles from Huntsville. I should have jumped in car headed to Mobile and joined him for breakfast. Not.
I am counting the days until the Miata returns home. Four, maybe three. Possibly two. Definitely not one.
Weekend update: Saturday I sprayed another coat of paint on the cross member. Better safe than sorry. Sunday I did a little spring cleaning in the garage. I swept, organized, and cleaned. I spent no less than an hour doing nothing other than cleaning my wrenches. They are greasy no more.
Even after the cleaning, the garage would still barely resemble organized chaos to the untrained eye. If you have an untrained eye, please stay out of my garage. It's for your own safety.
Anyone want to rotate the tires on the Charger for me?
Mike phoned in Saturday morning to complain about the fog in Mobile. He was heading for Disney world. Mobile is only about 350 miles from Huntsville. I should have jumped in car headed to Mobile and joined him for breakfast. Not.
I am counting the days until the Miata returns home. Four, maybe three. Possibly two. Definitely not one.
Weekend update: Saturday I sprayed another coat of paint on the cross member. Better safe than sorry. Sunday I did a little spring cleaning in the garage. I swept, organized, and cleaned. I spent no less than an hour doing nothing other than cleaning my wrenches. They are greasy no more.
Even after the cleaning, the garage would still barely resemble organized chaos to the untrained eye. If you have an untrained eye, please stay out of my garage. It's for your own safety.
Anyone want to rotate the tires on the Charger for me?
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Gingery Lathe
I have considered taking an evening precision machine shop class at the local vocation school a few times, along with welding, and a few others. (I have already taken the cabinet making class and autobody and collision repair classes.) I am always interested in learning something new.
A couple of weeks ago I ordered a book from Amazon called the Charcoal Foundry(David Gingery). It is the first of 7 books in a series.
You might say that reading this book has been my obsession o' the week. The first book is about building a low cost foundry out of a metal five gallon bucket, building a sand form from 1x4s, and learning to sand cast aluminium (using play sand, clay, and empty Dr Pepper cans). All this with an eye towards the second book.
The second books is called The Metal Lathe (David Gingery). In this book, you are stepped through the process of casting and assembling a functional metal lathe. An interesting point to be made here is that this tool is actually used to make itself. Once it is partially functional, you use it to make some of the remaing pieces. How cool is that.
The remaing 5 books cover building a metal shaper, a milling machine, a drill press, a dividing head and finally a sheet metal brake. To be honest I don't know what a dividing head is or how a metal shapper is used. I will have to do some more reading on these two. [And I already have a drill press.]
I found the first book to be extremely interesting. My friends just rolled their eyes at lunch when I was telling them about it. I will definitely put this on my long term list of things to do: Build your own machine shop tools. As the book says, if a piece of your tool breaks, you no longer have to call 1-800-Who-Cares. Instead you just fabricate a new part.
If you find this remotely interesting, Google it, or better yet order the book. There are definitely worse ways to spend $7.95.
On a similar but slightly diffent subject, did you know that you can melt pennies in a cast iron skillet on the stove? Don't try this at home boys and girls. It recently became illegal.
I have considered taking an evening precision machine shop class at the local vocation school a few times, along with welding, and a few others. (I have already taken the cabinet making class and autobody and collision repair classes.) I am always interested in learning something new.
A couple of weeks ago I ordered a book from Amazon called the Charcoal Foundry(David Gingery). It is the first of 7 books in a series.
You might say that reading this book has been my obsession o' the week. The first book is about building a low cost foundry out of a metal five gallon bucket, building a sand form from 1x4s, and learning to sand cast aluminium (using play sand, clay, and empty Dr Pepper cans). All this with an eye towards the second book.
The second books is called The Metal Lathe (David Gingery). In this book, you are stepped through the process of casting and assembling a functional metal lathe. An interesting point to be made here is that this tool is actually used to make itself. Once it is partially functional, you use it to make some of the remaing pieces. How cool is that.
The remaing 5 books cover building a metal shaper, a milling machine, a drill press, a dividing head and finally a sheet metal brake. To be honest I don't know what a dividing head is or how a metal shapper is used. I will have to do some more reading on these two. [And I already have a drill press.]
I found the first book to be extremely interesting. My friends just rolled their eyes at lunch when I was telling them about it. I will definitely put this on my long term list of things to do: Build your own machine shop tools. As the book says, if a piece of your tool breaks, you no longer have to call 1-800-Who-Cares. Instead you just fabricate a new part.
If you find this remotely interesting, Google it, or better yet order the book. There are definitely worse ways to spend $7.95.
On a similar but slightly diffent subject, did you know that you can melt pennies in a cast iron skillet on the stove? Don't try this at home boys and girls. It recently became illegal.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Front Cross Member (Painted)
This is the front cross member of the 72 GMC pickup after a sandblasting and a couple coats of Eastwood Chassis Black. It may need one more coat of paint, but I don't plan to make that decision until next week. I need to get a good look at it under natural light. If it is good, it is assembly time.
In the background you can see many other pieces ready for assembly.
This is the front cross member of the 72 GMC pickup after a sandblasting and a couple coats of Eastwood Chassis Black. It may need one more coat of paint, but I don't plan to make that decision until next week. I need to get a good look at it under natural light. If it is good, it is assembly time.
In the background you can see many other pieces ready for assembly.
Front Cross Member (Unpainted)
This is what all the fuss was about. I remembered to snap a shot after the blasting was done. It took about 2 months to get around to this. Weather was the big holdup. Hopefully as spring rolls in, progress will resume.
Eye Spy Bonus: Locate the Miata, the Charger, a wheel barrow, and a bale of straw.
This is what all the fuss was about. I remembered to snap a shot after the blasting was done. It took about 2 months to get around to this. Weather was the big holdup. Hopefully as spring rolls in, progress will resume.
Eye Spy Bonus: Locate the Miata, the Charger, a wheel barrow, and a bale of straw.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Bery Bery Vusy
The locals schools all let out around noon yesterday for pending bad weather. We were fortunate not to see any tornados around here. Others in the state were not so lucky.
I picked up the kids at 11:30 and we went home were I set up shop on the kitchen table. At 3:00 I loaded the troops into the Charger and took them to work. We had a technology demonstration scheduled and I was doing the driving. The demo went well. Enough about work.
I realized this evening that I hadn't posted in four days. Then I realized I hadn't even scoped out another blog in four days.
It has been a very very busy week. TGIF.
The weekend weather outlook is looking reasonable. Tomorrow is a high of 56 with a 10% chance of rain. Think I can make it rain again? We will see.
I believe Formula 1 starts two weeks from tomorrow. I am looking forward to the first race. I should probably finish up watching the Barrett-Jackson auction so that I will have enough space to record practice, qualifying, and the race.
I received email today sent to alumni of the high school I attended. They are apparently playing in the 3A basketball state championship (Texas). Good luck.
The locals schools all let out around noon yesterday for pending bad weather. We were fortunate not to see any tornados around here. Others in the state were not so lucky.
I picked up the kids at 11:30 and we went home were I set up shop on the kitchen table. At 3:00 I loaded the troops into the Charger and took them to work. We had a technology demonstration scheduled and I was doing the driving. The demo went well. Enough about work.
I realized this evening that I hadn't posted in four days. Then I realized I hadn't even scoped out another blog in four days.
It has been a very very busy week. TGIF.
The weekend weather outlook is looking reasonable. Tomorrow is a high of 56 with a 10% chance of rain. Think I can make it rain again? We will see.
I believe Formula 1 starts two weeks from tomorrow. I am looking forward to the first race. I should probably finish up watching the Barrett-Jackson auction so that I will have enough space to record practice, qualifying, and the race.
I received email today sent to alumni of the high school I attended. They are apparently playing in the 3A basketball state championship (Texas). Good luck.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Procrastination Pays Off
Yesterday I did not start on my homework as I intended to. Instead we watched part of a movie. (Oliver Stone's JFK: Special Edition is 3 hours and 24 minutes long.)
I have been trying to spread the assignments out over 3 days each week so a single hw session doesn't take too long. My thought last night were along the lines of M-T-W. When I am feeling motivated I usually try to do S-M-T. Maybe a little bit of review on W, but not necessarily.
Well I let S slip by and now I will probably let M slip by as well. Once G' gets home from work, I have to go back to work. It will probably be a long night. So now it is looking like it will be aS-M-T-W week.
There is a very small chance that I will feel like working some Probability and Statistics problems when I get home. What are the odds of that? Not.
Yesterday I did not start on my homework as I intended to. Instead we watched part of a movie. (Oliver Stone's JFK: Special Edition is 3 hours and 24 minutes long.)
I have been trying to spread the assignments out over 3 days each week so a single hw session doesn't take too long. My thought last night were along the lines of M-T-W. When I am feeling motivated I usually try to do S-M-T. Maybe a little bit of review on W, but not necessarily.
Well I let S slip by and now I will probably let M slip by as well. Once G' gets home from work, I have to go back to work. It will probably be a long night. So now it is looking like it will be a
There is a very small chance that I will feel like working some Probability and Statistics problems when I get home. What are the odds of that? Not.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Persistence Is Futile
To answer Terry's question, No. I did not get the piece blasted as I intended.
I got started yesterday morning at 9:00 am. I set up some saw horses in the drive way. Carried the cross member out. Rolled the blaster out. Pressurized the compressor. Ready, set, rain. Well not really rain, but it did start sprinkling.
There is not point in sandblasting a part in the rain. Getting it wet would cause it to start rusting again almost as fast I finished up.
I quickly moved the x-member back into the garage and went back out to grab the blaster, et al. Before I got it all back into the garage the rain stopped falling. So I started setting up again. I had it all setup and was doing some scraping to get some heavy grunge off when it started sprinkling again. Again I moved everything back into the garage and again it stopped raining. This time I decided to wait a bit to see what the weather was really going to do.
In the mean time, I did a little cleanup and organization work in the garage. My neighbor dropped by and we talked cars, trucks, and motorcycle for a while. He helped me move the truck bed floor. That thing is heavy.
After about an hour without a drop from the sky I decided to give it another go. I setup again. This time I got as far as turning on the blaster. I made about 5 minutes of progress before the rain started again. This time I had to really hustle because I needed to sweep up the sand before it got wet. Wet sand is not good.
At this point I decided to call it.
At around 3 pm, after 4 hours without a drop, I decided to give it one more try. You know the drill. I drag everything outside, get everything setup, it starts to rain and I drag it all back inside. OK, this time I really give up for the day.
Today instead of dragging out the blaster, I just used a small pick, similar to a dental pick, to clean some gunk out of the many nooks and crannies on the cross member. I did this for about an hour before I put it way again. All the prep work is done. There is nothing left to do but the actual blasting. Someday the weather will cooperate. Someday. Maybe next weekend. Cross yourmembers fingers.
To answer Terry's question, No. I did not get the piece blasted as I intended.
I got started yesterday morning at 9:00 am. I set up some saw horses in the drive way. Carried the cross member out. Rolled the blaster out. Pressurized the compressor. Ready, set, rain. Well not really rain, but it did start sprinkling.
There is not point in sandblasting a part in the rain. Getting it wet would cause it to start rusting again almost as fast I finished up.
I quickly moved the x-member back into the garage and went back out to grab the blaster, et al. Before I got it all back into the garage the rain stopped falling. So I started setting up again. I had it all setup and was doing some scraping to get some heavy grunge off when it started sprinkling again. Again I moved everything back into the garage and again it stopped raining. This time I decided to wait a bit to see what the weather was really going to do.
In the mean time, I did a little cleanup and organization work in the garage. My neighbor dropped by and we talked cars, trucks, and motorcycle for a while. He helped me move the truck bed floor. That thing is heavy.
After about an hour without a drop from the sky I decided to give it another go. I setup again. This time I got as far as turning on the blaster. I made about 5 minutes of progress before the rain started again. This time I had to really hustle because I needed to sweep up the sand before it got wet. Wet sand is not good.
At this point I decided to call it.
At around 3 pm, after 4 hours without a drop, I decided to give it one more try. You know the drill. I drag everything outside, get everything setup, it starts to rain and I drag it all back inside. OK, this time I really give up for the day.
Today instead of dragging out the blaster, I just used a small pick, similar to a dental pick, to clean some gunk out of the many nooks and crannies on the cross member. I did this for about an hour before I put it way again. All the prep work is done. There is nothing left to do but the actual blasting. Someday the weather will cooperate. Someday. Maybe next weekend. Cross your
Friday, February 23, 2007
Super-Ultra-Uber-Meta-Misc
Glad to see Brian got his blogger's license renews. And who would have thought a lame entry on cookies and milk would have generated any comments.
Sometimes I leave myself cryptic messages in my blog to remind me about things later when I look back. For instance today's message is "Friday the Thirteenth". Want to guess what that means? Go ahead, I dare you.
In the mean time I will bring you up to date on the milk and cookies. Several months ago a gallon of used automotive oil mysterious showed up in the back of my Dodge truck. I eventually tracked down the source and recently I finally sent it back to the dinosaurs.
Last night on the way to school, David #17 and I stopped at a gas station to grab something to drink. He had a DP, I selected some white milk. We also bought a snack size package of no-name cookies to share. The cookies were not very good so we didn't eat them all. After arriving at the university, we parked the car and started walking to class. At that point we spot Chad's Pontiac Solstice with the top down. It was decided that instead of depositing my empty milk bottle in the trash I should place it in his car. Sort of a lame attempt at returning the used-oil-prank. After depositing the no-deposit-no-return bottle in his car we continued walking. A few minutes later David has a fabulous idea. "Don't you think Chad would enjoy some cookie with his milk." Genius idea. We turn around to head back to the car to get the cookies. About the time we are passing Chads car a second time, we here him call out behind us. We stop and talk with him a few minutes before heading on to finish our chore. David thinks we lucked out that Chad ran into us before we had retrieved the cookies. As we pass the car a third time, the cookies are deposited with the milk bottle.
Chad was gone when I got out of class. I doubt he knew who left him his gifts. Occasionally he reads my blog. I left the cookie and milk post as a hint to him. I did not hear from him today so I am guessing he did not drop by Obsession today. He will figure it out soon enough.
Chad should be glad David doesn't behave the way a friend of his did in high school. Don't ask.
Glad to see Brian got his blogger's license renews. And who would have thought a lame entry on cookies and milk would have generated any comments.
Sometimes I leave myself cryptic messages in my blog to remind me about things later when I look back. For instance today's message is "Friday the Thirteenth". Want to guess what that means? Go ahead, I dare you.
In the mean time I will bring you up to date on the milk and cookies. Several months ago a gallon of used automotive oil mysterious showed up in the back of my Dodge truck. I eventually tracked down the source and recently I finally sent it back to the dinosaurs.
Last night on the way to school, David #17 and I stopped at a gas station to grab something to drink. He had a DP, I selected some white milk. We also bought a snack size package of no-name cookies to share. The cookies were not very good so we didn't eat them all. After arriving at the university, we parked the car and started walking to class. At that point we spot Chad's Pontiac Solstice with the top down. It was decided that instead of depositing my empty milk bottle in the trash I should place it in his car. Sort of a lame attempt at returning the used-oil-prank. After depositing the no-deposit-no-return bottle in his car we continued walking. A few minutes later David has a fabulous idea. "Don't you think Chad would enjoy some cookie with his milk." Genius idea. We turn around to head back to the car to get the cookies. About the time we are passing Chads car a second time, we here him call out behind us. We stop and talk with him a few minutes before heading on to finish our chore. David thinks we lucked out that Chad ran into us before we had retrieved the cookies. As we pass the car a third time, the cookies are deposited with the milk bottle.
Chad was gone when I got out of class. I doubt he knew who left him his gifts. Occasionally he reads my blog. I left the cookie and milk post as a hint to him. I did not hear from him today so I am guessing he did not drop by Obsession today. He will figure it out soon enough.
Chad should be glad David doesn't behave the way a friend of his did in high school. Don't ask.
Oh Yes Wyoming!
For the past few weeks posts have been slim pickings around here on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Last year, the same was true for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
What's up with that?
Let me start by addressing Friday. On Friday evening after getting home from work I like to embrace the weekend by doing nothing. Simple enough.
My reason for as of late for Wednesday and Thursday is the same as it was last year for Monday and Tuesday. On the second of the two days, I have an evening class at a nearby University. The night prior to that, I am usually trying frantically to finish up all the home work I should have already done. By the time I am done, I am usually ready to call it a day. I am getting better about starting earlier and spreading the work out over a few days, but no promises. I may lapse back into my old ways any day now.
Today was a good day. The moderate temperature started the day out nicely. Couple that with it being a Friday. I have big plans for tomorrow. Besides doing four loads of laundry, I intend to spend part of my day doing a little sandblasting out in the driveway and then painting in the garage. This next piece has been in the queue for a while and it is the last piece required before I can begin reassembling the front syspension and steering on the truck. This is quite the milestone for me and I am very excite about it. You probably can't understand this but that is ok.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
For the past few weeks posts have been slim pickings around here on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Last year, the same was true for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays.
What's up with that?
Let me start by addressing Friday. On Friday evening after getting home from work I like to embrace the weekend by doing nothing. Simple enough.
My reason for as of late for Wednesday and Thursday is the same as it was last year for Monday and Tuesday. On the second of the two days, I have an evening class at a nearby University. The night prior to that, I am usually trying frantically to finish up all the home work I should have already done. By the time I am done, I am usually ready to call it a day. I am getting better about starting earlier and spreading the work out over a few days, but no promises. I may lapse back into my old ways any day now.
Today was a good day. The moderate temperature started the day out nicely. Couple that with it being a Friday. I have big plans for tomorrow. Besides doing four loads of laundry, I intend to spend part of my day doing a little sandblasting out in the driveway and then painting in the garage. This next piece has been in the queue for a while and it is the last piece required before I can begin reassembling the front syspension and steering on the truck. This is quite the milestone for me and I am very excite about it. You probably can't understand this but that is ok.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Bloggers Block, Take III
When leaving work this afternoon, I realized just how nice it was.
Step I: Drive home with the sun roof open. The thermometer in the car said 73. Can this be true?
Step II: Any reason plausible reason whatsoever to go outside. Oh yeah, it's nice outside. Reason enough.
Step III: Find something productive to do outside. Ok, maybe I will just skip this step. Maybe I will just put that screwdriver away. That counts, right! *nodding head*
Step IV: Enjoy the pleasant temperature. Oh, yeah.
Weekend Weather Update: High 60's, only a 30% chance of rain. Bring it on.
When leaving work this afternoon, I realized just how nice it was.
Step I: Drive home with the sun roof open. The thermometer in the car said 73. Can this be true?
Step II: Any reason plausible reason whatsoever to go outside. Oh yeah, it's nice outside. Reason enough.
Step III: Find something productive to do outside. Ok, maybe I will just skip this step. Maybe I will just put that screwdriver away. That counts, right! *nodding head*
Step IV: Enjoy the pleasant temperature. Oh, yeah.
Weekend Weather Update: High 60's, only a 30% chance of rain. Bring it on.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Formula 1
...season starts in 26 days. I am hoping Felipe Masa and Kimi Raikkonen have a good season. I suspect there are going to be some new Ferrari fans this year.
Zoooooooooooooooooooooooooom!
...season starts in 26 days. I am hoping Felipe Masa and Kimi Raikkonen have a good season. I suspect there are going to be some new Ferrari fans this year.
Zoooooooooooooooooooooooooom!
What Happened To The Weekend?
I noticed earlier today that I hadn't posted in a few days. I guess I was busy. What was I doing?
Wednesday, February 14th was the last post.
Thursday evening I attended school. I got my test back from the previous week. I did better than I thought I did but not as good as I should have. I should have made a 100%.
Friday the family headed to Memphis and left me home alone for the weekend. Friday night I had take out for dinner. My choice was a Whopper Junior from BK. I watched a little bit of the Barrett-Jackson auction I recorded back in January and then fell asleep with the light on while reading Cobra In The Barn.
I woke up about 6:30 Saturday morning. The wife left her alarm clock set and it woke me up. I listened to it for a few minutes before I decided that I couldn't block it out and decided if I reached over to turn it off, I might as well get up. I decided to start the laundry early to get it out of the way. Upon opening the washing machine, I discovered a load of wet towels probably left over from Thursday. I gave them another spin to freshen them up. Once they were done I moved them to the dryer and put the whites in the washer. Once the whites were done, I discovered I had forgotten to turn the dryer on. Those towels sure were putting up a fight. So much for getting the laundry done early.
About 8:45 AM David, no not that David, one of the other Davids, called to request some help. He is building a reciprocating nose. His wife is stage managing a local production of Pinocchio and he either volunteered or was volunteered to make a remote control nose. Each time I hear the story, it changes. Regardless, he came over and we spend about half the day building a drive mechanism for an extend-o-nose. He had already modified a servo to be free spinning. I machined out a case using several pieces of polyethylene. These were fastened together using machine screws and then a 1.5" hole was bored through the center. This hole contains a reel with a piece of metal tape fastened to it. I fabricated a metal plate to fasten to each side. If you can picture it, imagine something similar to a remote controlled measuring tape. Once the box was complete, we called it a box and quit for the day. It is always amazing how many hours you can put into creating something.
David invited me over to his house for dinner. In one of my many past lives, I practically lived with David and Penny. My first year out of college I probably ate dinner there no less than five times a week. Penny still calls me her first son.
Dinner was great. I stopped at the store on the way over and picked up a jar of Hot Pickled Okra and a bottle of Piesporter Michelsberg (German wine is my favorite). When I arrived we cracked open the pickled okra and Dave made a big bowl of Guacamole (3 avocados, a small lime, and some Frontera Guacamole Starter). The Guacamole was excellent (Terry, you would have loved it. We will have to make some next time your in town.) Penny handed me a chilled bottle of muscadine wine and a fancy cork screw and put me to work. The wine was good, and you could definitely tell it was muscadine. Dinner consisted of grilled ribs, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, homemade mac-n-cheese, rolls, and coconut cake, complete with a chorus of Happy Birthday.
After dinner, David, Ben, and I watched part of The Parent Trap remake on the tele. Ben is about 10, maybe 11. During the show, there is a scene in a wine cellar. Large barrels of wine running the length of the room. I pointed to the big corks sticking out the top of the barrels and asked Ben if the know what they were called. He didn't, but I did. I had recently learned what they were called while watching the discovery channel. The cork is called a bung. Next I asked Ben if he knew what the hole was called that the cork was placed in. Again he didn't know and again I shared it with him. David and Ben were laughing hysterically. Of course the answer is a bung hole. Why is that funny? It's not. Unless you were there. Later Penny asked me to explain to her why it was funny. I explained simply that it was just a good example of 12 year old male humor. I still think that stuff is funny. ***attempting to straighten my face***
Before dinner I said something else really funny to David. I have never seen anyone laugh so hard. I wish I could remember what it was. Actually I was on fire that day. This audience hadn't heard most of my material.
Around 10:00 PM I headed to the house. They wanted me to stay and watch a movie, but I am not a night owl. Once home, I went on to bed, and once again fell asleep reading.
And guess what. I forgot to disable the alarm clock on Saturday. Doh! That is how Sunday morning started. This time I did manage to ignore it and went back to sleep. I did finally get up around 8:00. At this point I put the last load of laundry in the washer. Two hours later and it was finally done.
That is where most of the weekend went.
Have you ever had muscadine wine and pickled okra?
I noticed earlier today that I hadn't posted in a few days. I guess I was busy. What was I doing?
Wednesday, February 14th was the last post.
Thursday evening I attended school. I got my test back from the previous week. I did better than I thought I did but not as good as I should have. I should have made a 100%.
Friday the family headed to Memphis and left me home alone for the weekend. Friday night I had take out for dinner. My choice was a Whopper Junior from BK. I watched a little bit of the Barrett-Jackson auction I recorded back in January and then fell asleep with the light on while reading Cobra In The Barn.
I woke up about 6:30 Saturday morning. The wife left her alarm clock set and it woke me up. I listened to it for a few minutes before I decided that I couldn't block it out and decided if I reached over to turn it off, I might as well get up. I decided to start the laundry early to get it out of the way. Upon opening the washing machine, I discovered a load of wet towels probably left over from Thursday. I gave them another spin to freshen them up. Once they were done I moved them to the dryer and put the whites in the washer. Once the whites were done, I discovered I had forgotten to turn the dryer on. Those towels sure were putting up a fight. So much for getting the laundry done early.
About 8:45 AM David, no not that David, one of the other Davids, called to request some help. He is building a reciprocating nose. His wife is stage managing a local production of Pinocchio and he either volunteered or was volunteered to make a remote control nose. Each time I hear the story, it changes. Regardless, he came over and we spend about half the day building a drive mechanism for an extend-o-nose. He had already modified a servo to be free spinning. I machined out a case using several pieces of polyethylene. These were fastened together using machine screws and then a 1.5" hole was bored through the center. This hole contains a reel with a piece of metal tape fastened to it. I fabricated a metal plate to fasten to each side. If you can picture it, imagine something similar to a remote controlled measuring tape. Once the box was complete, we called it a box and quit for the day. It is always amazing how many hours you can put into creating something.
David invited me over to his house for dinner. In one of my many past lives, I practically lived with David and Penny. My first year out of college I probably ate dinner there no less than five times a week. Penny still calls me her first son.
Dinner was great. I stopped at the store on the way over and picked up a jar of Hot Pickled Okra and a bottle of Piesporter Michelsberg (German wine is my favorite). When I arrived we cracked open the pickled okra and Dave made a big bowl of Guacamole (3 avocados, a small lime, and some Frontera Guacamole Starter). The Guacamole was excellent (Terry, you would have loved it. We will have to make some next time your in town.) Penny handed me a chilled bottle of muscadine wine and a fancy cork screw and put me to work. The wine was good, and you could definitely tell it was muscadine. Dinner consisted of grilled ribs, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, homemade mac-n-cheese, rolls, and coconut cake, complete with a chorus of Happy Birthday.
After dinner, David, Ben, and I watched part of The Parent Trap remake on the tele. Ben is about 10, maybe 11. During the show, there is a scene in a wine cellar. Large barrels of wine running the length of the room. I pointed to the big corks sticking out the top of the barrels and asked Ben if the know what they were called. He didn't, but I did. I had recently learned what they were called while watching the discovery channel. The cork is called a bung. Next I asked Ben if he knew what the hole was called that the cork was placed in. Again he didn't know and again I shared it with him. David and Ben were laughing hysterically. Of course the answer is a bung hole. Why is that funny? It's not. Unless you were there. Later Penny asked me to explain to her why it was funny. I explained simply that it was just a good example of 12 year old male humor. I still think that stuff is funny. ***attempting to straighten my face***
Before dinner I said something else really funny to David. I have never seen anyone laugh so hard. I wish I could remember what it was. Actually I was on fire that day. This audience hadn't heard most of my material.
Around 10:00 PM I headed to the house. They wanted me to stay and watch a movie, but I am not a night owl. Once home, I went on to bed, and once again fell asleep reading.
And guess what. I forgot to disable the alarm clock on Saturday. Doh! That is how Sunday morning started. This time I did manage to ignore it and went back to sleep. I did finally get up around 8:00. At this point I put the last load of laundry in the washer. Two hours later and it was finally done.
That is where most of the weekend went.
Have you ever had muscadine wine and pickled okra?
Can I Borrow A Buck
I had lunch with a friend of mine today. Let's call him David. Let's call them all David.
Right after we sat down, David asked if I could loan him twenty dollars. "Sure, not a problem." I had just been by the bank and he has good credit with me. So far.
Forty minutes later when we had finished our salads, the waitress came by and said "Is this together or separate." David quickly spoke up and said "Together". And then "Happy Birthday". I graciously accepted.
And then he started laughing. A deep rumbling laugh. I quickly caught on to what was so funny. He had borrowed money from me to buy me lunch. It took him another five minutes to regain his composure. I hope this doesn't affect his credit rating.
Squeaky Clean
The Miata got a drive thru car wash on the way back from lunch today. January/February is typically the rainy season here in North Alabama and it is difficult to keep the car clean. This wash was long overdue. Fortunately the sky is clear so it may stay clean for a day or two.
(And the bird badge is now gone.)
The Miata got a drive thru car wash on the way back from lunch today. January/February is typically the rainy season here in North Alabama and it is difficult to keep the car clean. This wash was long overdue. Fortunately the sky is clear so it may stay clean for a day or two.
(And the bird badge is now gone.)
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Tag
I got tagged. After looking around it appears that everyone else has already been tagged so I am afraid the buck stops here. Except for maybe Mike, Brian, and Carol. You folks are now tagged. Tag five others and then write a list of...
Five Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me
4. I want to have a whole fleet of cars. Maybe about a dozen. They don't necessarily need to be high dollar or exotic cars, but they do need to be interesting (to me). I sometimes refer to them as my collection of thousand dollar cars.
3. I don't like to get dirty. I don't mind being sweaty, but dirt and sand bother me and grease even more so. I suspect the grease thing goes back to working at the Golden Hiney for a couple of years in high school. Initially this made working on the truck very difficult. Have you ever seen a mechanic who washes his hands every 15 minutes?
2. I have 3 guitars and no musical ability. None. I enjoy playing, but no one has ever enjoyed listening. Also, I briefly sang as part of a trio in church while in college.
1. I like to work with my hands and I enjoy learning. I started woodworking after taking an evening cabinet making class at a local technical school. Several years later I went back and took and auto body class. I want to take a welding class and a precision machine class, but these will have to wait until our schedule allows it.
0. Today is my Birthday. I am 38 years old.
I got tagged. After looking around it appears that everyone else has already been tagged so I am afraid the buck stops here. Except for maybe Mike, Brian, and Carol. You folks are now tagged. Tag five others and then write a list of...
Five Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me
4. I want to have a whole fleet of cars. Maybe about a dozen. They don't necessarily need to be high dollar or exotic cars, but they do need to be interesting (to me). I sometimes refer to them as my collection of thousand dollar cars.
3. I don't like to get dirty. I don't mind being sweaty, but dirt and sand bother me and grease even more so. I suspect the grease thing goes back to working at the Golden Hiney for a couple of years in high school. Initially this made working on the truck very difficult. Have you ever seen a mechanic who washes his hands every 15 minutes?
2. I have 3 guitars and no musical ability. None. I enjoy playing, but no one has ever enjoyed listening. Also, I briefly sang as part of a trio in church while in college.
1. I like to work with my hands and I enjoy learning. I started woodworking after taking an evening cabinet making class at a local technical school. Several years later I went back and took and auto body class. I want to take a welding class and a precision machine class, but these will have to wait until our schedule allows it.
0. Today is my Birthday. I am 38 years old.
Catching Up
Saw this earlier in the week. A new roadster convertible from Dodge. Brian said he thought the back end looked like a Nissan 350Z. I would have to agree with him
Saw this earlier in the week. A new roadster convertible from Dodge. Brian said he thought the back end looked like a Nissan 350Z. I would have to agree with him
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Madison County Woodworkers Guild
While I am rehashing old material, take a look at some of the furniture I built in the past. (Ok, David made some too.)
While I am rehashing old material, take a look at some of the furniture I built in the past. (Ok, David made some too.)
300 Baud
Arg, matey. The pirates are plundering for topics again.
Brian was reminiscing about the glory days so I thought I would whip this out. Somewhere on this page you will find a picture of my first modem. Three hundred baud. Blazing fast. If you go read this page you may find out things you didn't already know. But you won't be any smarter when your done.
What's another name for pirate treasure?
Arg, matey. The pirates are plundering for topics again.
Brian was reminiscing about the glory days so I thought I would whip this out. Somewhere on this page you will find a picture of my first modem. Three hundred baud. Blazing fast. If you go read this page you may find out things you didn't already know. But you won't be any smarter when your done.
What's another name for pirate treasure?
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Bombs Away
I went by Express Oil to have the oil and filter changed in the Charger today. Total miles on the clock: 6171. They even cleaned the bird droppings off the windshield. Nice.
It seems this car is a bird magnet. It has already been targeted more times than the Dodge pickup was in the 8 years I had it.
Birds prefer reds.
I went by Express Oil to have the oil and filter changed in the Charger today. Total miles on the clock: 6171. They even cleaned the bird droppings off the windshield. Nice.
It seems this car is a bird magnet. It has already been targeted more times than the Dodge pickup was in the 8 years I had it.
Birds prefer reds.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Saddle Up!
This afternoon the temperature moved up into the forties with very little wind. Standing in the driveway, it seems almost warm. Saddle up!
I backed out the car, dropped the rag top, closed the garage, and headed out into the wild blue yonder.
On the way out of the 'hood, I stopped and picked up Brian. He had already been out in the Mustang with the top down, but he was up for another ride. We headed in a general NW direction toward the TN state line. I have been meaning to locate another route but this one works.
At the line I usually turn around. Sometimes I stop and get a drink: Diet SunDrop, Milo's Sweet Tea, Chocolate Milk, Diet Dew, whatever strikes my fancy. Today Brian suggested a milk shake. He is as crazy as I am. Lets go for the brain freeze, my ears are not completely frozen yet. The girl at Sonic was amused by the two old guys, in the convertible, ordering milk shakes on a cold day.
First of all, it wasn't that cold once the car was sitting still, and it does have a heater, and Brian won't be 40 until February 21. Ha!
I can't believe I drank the whole thing. Mine was chocolate. His was strawberry.
Yes, I can. I love ice cream. I scream, you scream, we all scream ...
This afternoon the temperature moved up into the forties with very little wind. Standing in the driveway, it seems almost warm. Saddle up!
I backed out the car, dropped the rag top, closed the garage, and headed out into the wild blue yonder.
On the way out of the 'hood, I stopped and picked up Brian. He had already been out in the Mustang with the top down, but he was up for another ride. We headed in a general NW direction toward the TN state line. I have been meaning to locate another route but this one works.
At the line I usually turn around. Sometimes I stop and get a drink: Diet SunDrop, Milo's Sweet Tea, Chocolate Milk, Diet Dew, whatever strikes my fancy. Today Brian suggested a milk shake. He is as crazy as I am. Lets go for the brain freeze, my ears are not completely frozen yet. The girl at Sonic was amused by the two old guys, in the convertible, ordering milk shakes on a cold day.
First of all, it wasn't that cold once the car was sitting still, and it does have a heater, and Brian won't be 40 until February 21. Ha!
I can't believe I drank the whole thing. Mine was chocolate. His was strawberry.
Yes, I can. I love ice cream. I scream, you scream, we all scream ...
Freebird
Last summer a neighbor asked me who cut my yard. I gave him a phone number and moved on with my life.
When we bought our first house many years ago, I bought a mower and used it exactly one time. While I was out mowing the yard work the first time, Mike the yard guy showed up and offered to write me up a bid on the yard work. His price was too good to be true and the bid included cutting, edging, blowing the clipping, trimming the bushes, and even the occasional gutter cleaning. I accepted his offer and rolled my mower back into the garage where it sat unused for a couple of years before I finally sold it to a friend.
Mike though reliable with cutting the yard is impossible to get a hold of on the telephone. His modus operandi is to cut the yard and occasionally leave a bill on the front door. Sometimes he goes months without leaving a bill.
After a while Mike became successful with his business and started running multiple crews. This presented a problem. We could always tell after the yard had been cut whether he had done it himself or one of his helpers. I complained and so now he usually does it himself.
Mike is a very friendly guy and quite a talker, just like the other Mike. When I catch him here mowing he talks my ear off. This has always seemed odd to me that he would spend much time talking because he is a hard worker, and time is money. Mike and his crew waste no time getting the work done. At times Mike will show up alone, other times he may have 4 other guys with him. My next door neighbor once told me that he timed Mike doing my lawn work. He said it was exactly 12 minutes from the time he rolled up till his truck pulled away. The times I have been here, it hasn't taken much longer than that. This is why Mike can charge such low rates.
The other neighbor who asked for Mikes number was startled by the way Mike does business. Last summer he called Mike and left a message asking for an estimate. Mike came and cut his yard, but forgot to leave and estimate. When he finally got the estimate, he agreed on the spot. Mike hits his yard right after he does mine. Several other of my neighbors have used Mike in the past also. In my last neighborhood, I think Mike was cutting close to 25% of the yards when we moved. That might be an exaggeration. Maybe not. I do recall seeing the mower run the length of four yards before turning around to make another pass.
Wednesday neighbor #1 calls wanting to know the best way to get a hold of Mike. Apparently his phone had been disconnected and he was worried. He wanted to get Mike to do an estimate on the front entrance for our neighborhood.
I believe Mike has been cutting our yard for over 10 years. He has always been difficult to contact and it seems he disappears every winter. But he always shows back up when it is time to cut the yard. And he just does it. I don't think we actually have a contract with him officially, though I remember we did one year, many years ago. When the yard needs to be cut, Mike will be there.
This is driving my neighbor crazy. I suspect he will get use to it, or return to cutting his yard himself. In the mean time, I am laughing my head off as he gets all wound up.
As usual I am stealing, er, borrowing other folks topics. Thanks Carol. Freebird, Freebird!
Last summer a neighbor asked me who cut my yard. I gave him a phone number and moved on with my life.
When we bought our first house many years ago, I bought a mower and used it exactly one time. While I was out mowing the yard work the first time, Mike the yard guy showed up and offered to write me up a bid on the yard work. His price was too good to be true and the bid included cutting, edging, blowing the clipping, trimming the bushes, and even the occasional gutter cleaning. I accepted his offer and rolled my mower back into the garage where it sat unused for a couple of years before I finally sold it to a friend.
Mike though reliable with cutting the yard is impossible to get a hold of on the telephone. His modus operandi is to cut the yard and occasionally leave a bill on the front door. Sometimes he goes months without leaving a bill.
After a while Mike became successful with his business and started running multiple crews. This presented a problem. We could always tell after the yard had been cut whether he had done it himself or one of his helpers. I complained and so now he usually does it himself.
Mike is a very friendly guy and quite a talker, just like the other Mike. When I catch him here mowing he talks my ear off. This has always seemed odd to me that he would spend much time talking because he is a hard worker, and time is money. Mike and his crew waste no time getting the work done. At times Mike will show up alone, other times he may have 4 other guys with him. My next door neighbor once told me that he timed Mike doing my lawn work. He said it was exactly 12 minutes from the time he rolled up till his truck pulled away. The times I have been here, it hasn't taken much longer than that. This is why Mike can charge such low rates.
The other neighbor who asked for Mikes number was startled by the way Mike does business. Last summer he called Mike and left a message asking for an estimate. Mike came and cut his yard, but forgot to leave and estimate. When he finally got the estimate, he agreed on the spot. Mike hits his yard right after he does mine. Several other of my neighbors have used Mike in the past also. In my last neighborhood, I think Mike was cutting close to 25% of the yards when we moved. That might be an exaggeration. Maybe not. I do recall seeing the mower run the length of four yards before turning around to make another pass.
Wednesday neighbor #1 calls wanting to know the best way to get a hold of Mike. Apparently his phone had been disconnected and he was worried. He wanted to get Mike to do an estimate on the front entrance for our neighborhood.
I believe Mike has been cutting our yard for over 10 years. He has always been difficult to contact and it seems he disappears every winter. But he always shows back up when it is time to cut the yard. And he just does it. I don't think we actually have a contract with him officially, though I remember we did one year, many years ago. When the yard needs to be cut, Mike will be there.
This is driving my neighbor crazy. I suspect he will get use to it, or return to cutting his yard himself. In the mean time, I am laughing my head off as he gets all wound up.
As usual I am stealing, er, borrowing other folks topics. Thanks Carol. Freebird, Freebird!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Roger Roger
When watching The Phantom Menace on the big screen I recall hearing a battle droid say roger, roger. For some reason this struck me as funny. I recall that I laughed out loud. This was the only laughter in the entire theater. Why was it funny? What does it mean?
It turns out 'Roger' is the term for the letter R from the old JAN alphabet (Joint Army/Navy). This sequence went Able, Baker, Charlie, etc. The modern or NATO phonetic alphabet use the sequence Alpha, Bravo, Charlies, etc and uses Romeo for the letter R.
So 'roger' is simply the letter R but still what does it mean? Apparently it was a term used by WWII pilots to signal they had received a transmission. And roger wilco means message received, will comply.
But that still does not explain why it was funny. Perhaps it was the context of use in the movie. Perhaps the droid was scared or malfunctioning. I don't recall.
We bought the kids a Nintendo Games Cube for Christmas. One of the games they have is Lego Star Wars. This games is amazing (if only they would let me play too). During the game, you often hear a battle droid say "Uh oh!" or "Roger roger". This tickles me too. Perhaps it is just the computer synthesized voice.
Did you know the term droid started out as 'droid, an abbreviation for android.
When watching The Phantom Menace on the big screen I recall hearing a battle droid say roger, roger. For some reason this struck me as funny. I recall that I laughed out loud. This was the only laughter in the entire theater. Why was it funny? What does it mean?
It turns out 'Roger' is the term for the letter R from the old JAN alphabet (Joint Army/Navy). This sequence went Able, Baker, Charlie, etc. The modern or NATO phonetic alphabet use the sequence Alpha, Bravo, Charlies, etc and uses Romeo for the letter R.
So 'roger' is simply the letter R but still what does it mean? Apparently it was a term used by WWII pilots to signal they had received a transmission. And roger wilco means message received, will comply.
But that still does not explain why it was funny. Perhaps it was the context of use in the movie. Perhaps the droid was scared or malfunctioning. I don't recall.
We bought the kids a Nintendo Games Cube for Christmas. One of the games they have is Lego Star Wars. This games is amazing (if only they would let me play too). During the game, you often hear a battle droid say "Uh oh!" or "Roger roger". This tickles me too. Perhaps it is just the computer synthesized voice.
Did you know the term droid started out as 'droid, an abbreviation for android.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
The Peanut Gallery Has Spoken
On Friday I went to the store to buy a couple of calculator batteries. The calcuator is a TI-83+. The required battery is a CR1616 or a CR2016. Either will do.
A friend, let's call him David, has the same calculator and needed to replace his battery also so I volunteered to pick up a spare.
Before going to the store, I wrote down the battery number so that I would not have to be concerned with forgetting it. Actually I wrote down both numbers. At the store, Wal-Mart, I looked over the battery selection and found the CR1620. Wait a minute, I thought it was a CR2016. Did I transpose those two numbers when I wrote it down?
I decided to call David and have him verify the battery number for me. No answer at this office. No answer on his cell phone.
I went ahead and bought the batteries which I discovered upon arriving home were definitely the wrong ones. I had not transposed the digits. Doh! "Oh well, I thought, I guess I will return them and get the right ones tomorrow."
As is the usual case, tomorrow rolled around the next day and while I was out I swung by Wal-Mart to get the correct battery. Only I forgot to bring the wrong batteries with me.
One this trip I did get the correct batteries. Why did I not spot these the first time? On the first trip I went to electronics (where the calculators live). On the second trip, an associate recommended I check in the jewelry department (where the calculators don't live).
What was the point of this story? Nothing, but iMike complained about there being no new posts in a while so I had to come up with some filler. Hope you liked it.
And the top was up on the Miata. I am still waiting on a warm breeze to blow through.
And I did my taxes last Saturday so that is one less thing. What are you waiting for?
And for the record, the whole elbow kissing thing was not my idea. Some other creative soul created that mischief. I simply got blamed 30 years later.
And the snow. I didn't even mention the snow last week.
I think I am all caught up now.
On Friday I went to the store to buy a couple of calculator batteries. The calcuator is a TI-83+. The required battery is a CR1616 or a CR2016. Either will do.
A friend, let's call him David, has the same calculator and needed to replace his battery also so I volunteered to pick up a spare.
Before going to the store, I wrote down the battery number so that I would not have to be concerned with forgetting it. Actually I wrote down both numbers. At the store, Wal-Mart, I looked over the battery selection and found the CR1620. Wait a minute, I thought it was a CR2016. Did I transpose those two numbers when I wrote it down?
I decided to call David and have him verify the battery number for me. No answer at this office. No answer on his cell phone.
I went ahead and bought the batteries which I discovered upon arriving home were definitely the wrong ones. I had not transposed the digits. Doh! "Oh well, I thought, I guess I will return them and get the right ones tomorrow."
As is the usual case, tomorrow rolled around the next day and while I was out I swung by Wal-Mart to get the correct battery. Only I forgot to bring the wrong batteries with me.
One this trip I did get the correct batteries. Why did I not spot these the first time? On the first trip I went to electronics (where the calculators live). On the second trip, an associate recommended I check in the jewelry department (where the calculators don't live).
What was the point of this story? Nothing, but iMike complained about there being no new posts in a while so I had to come up with some filler. Hope you liked it.
And the top was up on the Miata. I am still waiting on a warm breeze to blow through.
And I did my taxes last Saturday so that is one less thing. What are you waiting for?
And for the record, the whole elbow kissing thing was not my idea. Some other creative soul created that mischief. I simply got blamed 30 years later.
And the snow. I didn't even mention the snow last week.
I think I am all caught up now.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
When we change our clocks
Since 1966, most of the United States has observed Daylight Saving Time from at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of April to 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October. Beginning in 2007, most of the U.S. will begin Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and revert to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time. {source}
History of Daylight Time in the U.S.
Although standard time in time zones was instituted in the U.S. and Canada by the railroads in 1883, it was not established in U.S. law until the Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act. The act also established daylight saving time, a contentious idea then. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, but standard time in time zones remained in law. Daylight time became a local matter. It was re-established nationally early in World War II, and was continuously observed from 9 February 1942 to 20 September 1945. After the war its use varied among states and localities. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided standardization in the dates of beginning and end of daylight time in the U.S. but allowed for local exemptions from its observance. The act provided that daylight time begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October, with the changeover to occur at 2 a.m. local time.
During the "energy crisis" years, Congress enacted earlier starting dates for daylight time. In 1974, daylight time began on 6 January and in 1975 it began on 23 February. After those two years the starting date reverted back to the last Sunday in April. In 1986, a law was passed permanently shifting the starting date of daylight time to the first Sunday in April, beginning in 1987. The ending date of daylight time has not been subject to such changes, and has remained the last Sunday in October. With the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the starting and ending dates have once again been shifted. Beginning in 2007, daylight time will start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. {source}
DST was Benjamin Franklin's idea. In some parts of the work DST, is called Summer Time. The purpose was to move an hour of sunlight from the morning to the evening when it would be more useful.
Here in North Alabama, during the summer, with DST, the sun may rise as early as 5:33 AM. Without DST, the sun would be rising at 4:33 AM during June. This would certainly make some of you cranky. You know who you are.
Myth Busted
It is a commonly held belief that we observe DST so that kids don't have to wait in the dark for the school bus on cold winter mornings. The clock is on standard time during the winter, so DST does not alter the sunrise schdule.
Did you ask yourself why the dates are changing this year? The rationale for the earlier date in the spring is energy conservation The delay of the fall change is to allow Trick-or-Treaters more light while gathering candy.
See the sunrise schedule for your town here.
Since 1966, most of the United States has observed Daylight Saving Time from at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of April to 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October. Beginning in 2007, most of the U.S. will begin Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and revert to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time. {source}
History of Daylight Time in the U.S.
Although standard time in time zones was instituted in the U.S. and Canada by the railroads in 1883, it was not established in U.S. law until the Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act. The act also established daylight saving time, a contentious idea then. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, but standard time in time zones remained in law. Daylight time became a local matter. It was re-established nationally early in World War II, and was continuously observed from 9 February 1942 to 20 September 1945. After the war its use varied among states and localities. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided standardization in the dates of beginning and end of daylight time in the U.S. but allowed for local exemptions from its observance. The act provided that daylight time begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October, with the changeover to occur at 2 a.m. local time.
During the "energy crisis" years, Congress enacted earlier starting dates for daylight time. In 1974, daylight time began on 6 January and in 1975 it began on 23 February. After those two years the starting date reverted back to the last Sunday in April. In 1986, a law was passed permanently shifting the starting date of daylight time to the first Sunday in April, beginning in 1987. The ending date of daylight time has not been subject to such changes, and has remained the last Sunday in October. With the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the starting and ending dates have once again been shifted. Beginning in 2007, daylight time will start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. {source}
DST was Benjamin Franklin's idea. In some parts of the work DST, is called Summer Time. The purpose was to move an hour of sunlight from the morning to the evening when it would be more useful.
Here in North Alabama, during the summer, with DST, the sun may rise as early as 5:33 AM. Without DST, the sun would be rising at 4:33 AM during June. This would certainly make some of you cranky. You know who you are.
Myth Busted
It is a commonly held belief that we observe DST so that kids don't have to wait in the dark for the school bus on cold winter mornings. The clock is on standard time during the winter, so DST does not alter the sunrise schdule.
Did you ask yourself why the dates are changing this year? The rationale for the earlier date in the spring is energy conservation The delay of the fall change is to allow Trick-or-Treaters more light while gathering candy.
See the sunrise schedule for your town here.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Real Time Update
A year or so back I added an RSS feed but I never bothered to post a link.
http://ram92.ods.org/blog/rss.xml
Have fun with it.
A year or so back I added an RSS feed but I never bothered to post a link.
http://ram92.ods.org/blog/rss.xml
Have fun with it.
Blamo!
You know how it is. One minute you have a grovy topic to type up for you blog, and the next minute blamo! Your considering posting the subject lines from most interesting spam you received and what the weather is supposed to be like. How droll. What next, female bandits? Yes, we have all been there.
Here goes the weather. At lunch today the weather must have been up into the 40. Time to drop the lid for sure. I had definitely been experiencing withdrawal.
I finished up my homework today. Two days early. Simply amazing.
Ah, yes, it has returned. And not nearly as interesting as I remembed it being. As of yesterday, the oil is now gone. (Only 15 months later.) Happy Birthday Chad.
You know how it is. One minute you have a grovy topic to type up for you blog, and the next minute blamo! Your considering posting the subject lines from most interesting spam you received and what the weather is supposed to be like. How droll. What next, female bandits? Yes, we have all been there.
Here goes the weather. At lunch today the weather must have been up into the 40. Time to drop the lid for sure. I had definitely been experiencing withdrawal.
I finished up my homework today. Two days early. Simply amazing.
Ah, yes, it has returned. And not nearly as interesting as I remembed it being. As of yesterday, the oil is now gone. (Only 15 months later.) Happy Birthday Chad.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
A Week Of Wednesdays
A suspect you are waiting for a recap of the wild evening Jordan and I had last night. There is no such story to tell. It followed the usual script only a few of the cast members were missing. After picking him up, we headed to the homestead, completed his homework, played Nintendo, had dinner, played some more, and then off to bed. We did go out for dinner, but at one point that was in jeopardy. Jordan was concerned it would use up to much play time. After he got most of his mandatory playing done, he recanted and decided dinner out was a good idea, after all he was picking the destination. We headed out to O'Charley's. About halfway there he changed his mind and decided Casa Blanco would be muy bueno. [I did not attempt to influence his decision in any way whatsoever. Honest.]
Odometer Update
The Charger's odometer hit 5900 miles as I returned to work after lunch. It was 5905 when I arrived back home this afternoon.. We now know how far I drive to work. I take the long route too. [According to the blog, I got this car April 4, 2006, and it already had 450 miles on the clock.] Note to self: It's almost time for an oil change.
"Oh where, oh where, oh where, not there, oh where. My little hair brush!"
Not sure why that one popped back into my head.
Off to school...
A suspect you are waiting for a recap of the wild evening Jordan and I had last night. There is no such story to tell. It followed the usual script only a few of the cast members were missing. After picking him up, we headed to the homestead, completed his homework, played Nintendo, had dinner, played some more, and then off to bed. We did go out for dinner, but at one point that was in jeopardy. Jordan was concerned it would use up to much play time. After he got most of his mandatory playing done, he recanted and decided dinner out was a good idea, after all he was picking the destination. We headed out to O'Charley's. About halfway there he changed his mind and decided Casa Blanco would be muy bueno. [I did not attempt to influence his decision in any way whatsoever. Honest.]
Odometer Update
The Charger's odometer hit 5900 miles as I returned to work after lunch. It was 5905 when I arrived back home this afternoon.. We now know how far I drive to work. I take the long route too. [According to the blog, I got this car April 4, 2006, and it already had 450 miles on the clock.] Note to self: It's almost time for an oil change.
"Oh where, oh where, oh where, not there, oh where. My little hair brush!"
Not sure why that one popped back into my head.
Off to school...
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Mundane
Today I will be having a pop-tart for breakfast. Blogging just doesn't get any better than this.
All the women folk are heading out of town today so Jordan and I will be living it up, man style. Whatever that means. I will get back to you once I figure that one out.
HW
I managed to start my homework much earlier in the week. Sunday I completed the first of three sections. Monday, the second. And Tuesday I finally got around to procrastinating so I guess I will have to finish it all up tonight.
It is Wednesday again already?
Today I will be having a pop-tart for breakfast. Blogging just doesn't get any better than this.
All the women folk are heading out of town today so Jordan and I will be living it up, man style. Whatever that means. I will get back to you once I figure that one out.
HW
I managed to start my homework much earlier in the week. Sunday I completed the first of three sections. Monday, the second. And Tuesday I finally got around to procrastinating so I guess I will have to finish it all up tonight.
It is Wednesday again already?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Mid-Week Blahs
It sure feels like a Wednesday. How can it only be Tuesday. This has certainly been a long week already. This past weekend was cold and rainy. I am ready to get outside and bask in the glow of the sun, where ever it is.
GMC
Saturday morning I had a couple hours free so I drove up to Hazel Green to visit a salvage yard. I took my camera with me as my intention was to get a couple of photographs of the rear suspension of a late sixties vintage GM truck.
I have been considering swapping my leaf spring suspension for trailing arm/coil suspension. The trailing arm suspension is supposed to provide a more car-like ride. I climbed under an old truck an took as many photos as I deemed necessary. Making the switch would not be much work, nor would it cost much, assuming I got the parts from a salvage yard.
As I drove back home, I made my decision. I decided to leave the leaf springs alone. Why? Because the majority of the trucks were made with trailing arm suspension and at the time, the leaf springs on this model truck were not all that common. It just makes it feel more like a GMC.
It sure feels like a Wednesday. How can it only be Tuesday. This has certainly been a long week already. This past weekend was cold and rainy. I am ready to get outside and bask in the glow of the sun, where ever it is.
GMC
Saturday morning I had a couple hours free so I drove up to Hazel Green to visit a salvage yard. I took my camera with me as my intention was to get a couple of photographs of the rear suspension of a late sixties vintage GM truck.
I have been considering swapping my leaf spring suspension for trailing arm/coil suspension. The trailing arm suspension is supposed to provide a more car-like ride. I climbed under an old truck an took as many photos as I deemed necessary. Making the switch would not be much work, nor would it cost much, assuming I got the parts from a salvage yard.
As I drove back home, I made my decision. I decided to leave the leaf springs alone. Why? Because the majority of the trucks were made with trailing arm suspension and at the time, the leaf springs on this model truck were not all that common. It just makes it feel more like a GMC.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Miata MPG
I filled up the tank on the little red car this morning. The last tank got 27 MPG. Not too bad considing it was all short trip mileage, and the gas pedal seems to be lightly sprung. Or is my foot just heavy?
I added a bottle of fuel injector cleaner when I filled it up last time. I believe that was back in December. The car has seemed a little peppier lately. Probably just my imagination.
I pulled the hard top off before heading to the gas station, but upon arriving there, I promptly put the soft lid up. I have been feeling cold for the last few days so I just could not take the 40 F degree temperature with the top down today. I guess I am getting soft(er).
I filled up the tank on the little red car this morning. The last tank got 27 MPG. Not too bad considing it was all short trip mileage, and the gas pedal seems to be lightly sprung. Or is my foot just heavy?
I added a bottle of fuel injector cleaner when I filled it up last time. I believe that was back in December. The car has seemed a little peppier lately. Probably just my imagination.
I pulled the hard top off before heading to the gas station, but upon arriving there, I promptly put the soft lid up. I have been feeling cold for the last few days so I just could not take the 40 F degree temperature with the top down today. I guess I am getting soft(er).
Friday, January 19, 2007
How Did I Miss This One?
Did you know that the start and end dates for Daylight Savings Time are changing this year? Yes, the old "first Sunday in April" rule is out the window.
DST in the US and Canada will begin on March 11 in 2007 rather than early April. The end date for 2007 will beNovember 4th rather than in late October.
Did you know that the start and end dates for Daylight Savings Time are changing this year? Yes, the old "first Sunday in April" rule is out the window.
DST in the US and Canada will begin on March 11 in 2007 rather than early April. The end date for 2007 will beNovember 4th rather than in late October.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Cast Iron
As I sat here watching Jordan play Star Wars Lego on the Nintendo, waiting for the Barrett-Jackson Auction to start on the Speed Channel, I decided to find something to read. I have grown bored with YouTube and Google Video, as well as MySpace.
I headed over to Mr-Miata as it was the first blog I had ever read, and my motivation for starting my own blog. I thought I would traverse some of his links.
At the top of his list of Miata blogs is one called Ain't Chicken. I wonder why they didn't use Ain't Skeerd. Must have been taken. Off we go.
Now this is something I can relate to. This person, is obsessing over a purchasing a toaster oven. I am all about obsessing over purchases. Finding what you want is the high point of shopping and the research is the thrill of the hunt. Now don't think I enjoy shopping for shopping's sake, but how can one not enjoy shopping for a newpower tool kitchen appliance. (Isn't a kitchen appliance just a power tool for the kitchen?) I fondly recall getting my first blender and food processor, and I was all for it when we got a Kitchen Aid. It's like a mini-drill press for the kitchen, only without drill bits or mortising attachments. I digress. Perhaps someday I will tell you about when I made my first purchase of Tupperware, wooden spoons, a cutting board, tea glasses, or the year I bought myself Revereware stainless steel mixing bowls for Christmas ('92). (These things I will liken to hand tools, as that is pretty much what they are. Hand tools for the kitchen.) (Each purchase is it's own story.) The mixing bowls by the way are the perfect size for making Toll House cookies. I digress again. And I haven't even mentioned Amazon.com yet. But this post is about cast iron.
So over on Ain'tSkeerd Chicken, Carol asks "Who needs new cast iron?" Why me of course.
Back in college, I decided it was time to learn how to fry okra. I know you are probably tired of reading about me frying okra, but I promise I want mention it again until this summer, after I finish up here.
To fry okra properly you need a few things. The primary ingredient is of course a cast iron skillet. I had no relatives dying off leaving me their cast iron, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending upon how you look at it, so I obtained some new cast iron from Wal-Mart. A very sensible 8" skillet for frying okra and a nice 6" skillet for making cornbread just like dear old Dad. (I even used his recipe, verbally passed down a whole generation.) A few years later I got a more reasonable 10" Lodge skillet which allows for a larger batch of okra, or perhaps some chicken.
My first experience seasoning a skillet was less than optimal. It required some Crisco, and a little guess work on my part, but no cleavage. I seem to recall I set off the smoke alarm in my efficiency apartment. Glory days.
I think I just found the cure for blogger's block. Now you will have to excuse me as I resume my normal blog subject matter: a red Miata and an old rusty truck.
I never got a deviled egg tray, but then some things should be reserved for the girls.
I think the auction has started. Latter I need to head back over there and find out if "Ain't Chicken" refer's to dare devel stunts or the fried stuff.
As I sat here watching Jordan play Star Wars Lego on the Nintendo, waiting for the Barrett-Jackson Auction to start on the Speed Channel, I decided to find something to read. I have grown bored with YouTube and Google Video, as well as MySpace.
I headed over to Mr-Miata as it was the first blog I had ever read, and my motivation for starting my own blog. I thought I would traverse some of his links.
At the top of his list of Miata blogs is one called Ain't Chicken. I wonder why they didn't use Ain't Skeerd. Must have been taken. Off we go.
Now this is something I can relate to. This person, is obsessing over a purchasing a toaster oven. I am all about obsessing over purchases. Finding what you want is the high point of shopping and the research is the thrill of the hunt. Now don't think I enjoy shopping for shopping's sake, but how can one not enjoy shopping for a new
So over on Ain't
Back in college, I decided it was time to learn how to fry okra. I know you are probably tired of reading about me frying okra, but I promise I want mention it again until this summer, after I finish up here.
To fry okra properly you need a few things. The primary ingredient is of course a cast iron skillet. I had no relatives dying off leaving me their cast iron, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending upon how you look at it, so I obtained some new cast iron from Wal-Mart. A very sensible 8" skillet for frying okra and a nice 6" skillet for making cornbread just like dear old Dad. (I even used his recipe, verbally passed down a whole generation.) A few years later I got a more reasonable 10" Lodge skillet which allows for a larger batch of okra, or perhaps some chicken.
My first experience seasoning a skillet was less than optimal. It required some Crisco, and a little guess work on my part, but no cleavage. I seem to recall I set off the smoke alarm in my efficiency apartment. Glory days.
I think I just found the cure for blogger's block. Now you will have to excuse me as I resume my normal blog subject matter: a red Miata and an old rusty truck.
I never got a deviled egg tray, but then some things should be reserved for the girls.
I think the auction has started. Latter I need to head back over there and find out if "Ain't Chicken" refer's to dare devel stunts or the fried stuff.
Monday, January 15, 2007
This weekend I discovered a BBC show called Top Gear. My Tivo doesn't think it exists but there are plenty of clips on YouTube and Google Video. (I posted a link to a clip of this show yesterday.) The episode on the Ford GT is pretty fun. And the convertible mini-van.
Today the Miata is sporting a different top. A hard top. David # 31 has a hard top that he rarely uses and is considering parting with it. I decided to give it a test drive. First impressions (as compared to the vinyl top) : Better visibility out the rear window; the door seals better, no water "spray" when it is raining; and more head room. It also gives the car a somewhat different appearance, though one might say a Miata with the top up is a completely difference car than a Miata with the top down, at least from the inside.
The only real drawback is that the top is not as easy to drop, though I expect with a little practice, it could be dropped on one's foot.
Today the Miata is sporting a different top. A hard top. David # 31 has a hard top that he rarely uses and is considering parting with it. I decided to give it a test drive. First impressions (as compared to the vinyl top) : Better visibility out the rear window; the door seals better, no water "spray" when it is raining; and more head room. It also gives the car a somewhat different appearance, though one might say a Miata with the top up is a completely difference car than a Miata with the top down, at least from the inside.
The only real drawback is that the top is not as easy to drop, though I expect with a little practice, it could be dropped on one's foot.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Seven minutes into this video, there is a convertible mini-van. Crazy. These guys understand the convertible thing, but I think they selected the wrong vehicle.
I went shopping for some new clothes for work today. My pants had begun to fray along the cuffs and needed to be replaced. Clothes shopping is not something normal people enjoy but it is something that must be done.
While I was out I went by Harbor Freight to exchange a caster. The caster in question had the axle bolt hole drilled off center so it did not role smoothly. It wasn't off but just a little bit either, it was more than a 1/4". I realize the products their are not exactly high quality, you definitely get what you pay for at HF, but they graciously made the exchange and all is now good.
We have had wonderful weather here for the last couple of days. It was supposed to rain but it never happened. I suppose all the forecaseed rain was dropped on someone else as ice.
No real progress made on the truck this weekend. Maybe next week.
While I was out I went by Harbor Freight to exchange a caster. The caster in question had the axle bolt hole drilled off center so it did not role smoothly. It wasn't off but just a little bit either, it was more than a 1/4". I realize the products their are not exactly high quality, you definitely get what you pay for at HF, but they graciously made the exchange and all is now good.
We have had wonderful weather here for the last couple of days. It was supposed to rain but it never happened. I suppose all the forecaseed rain was dropped on someone else as ice.
No real progress made on the truck this weekend. Maybe next week.
Friday, January 12, 2007
TGIF And It's About Time
This was a really long work week considering it was only 4 days long. I am about ready for a vacation.
The peanut gallery pointed out I didn't proof read my last post. That is not my job anymore. For the record, it was my Miata I almost jumpted out of. Actually it was more like being launched like a rocket, but that was a location situation. You would have had to have been there to really understand.
January 16 the Barrett-Jackson auction begins. Six days of people paying outrageous money for some really nice cars. I have already setup the Tivo to record all 40 hours of the broadcast auction. That's ok though because I have an entire year to watch it. Someday I would like to go to the auction. Someday. Do you get it? You probably don't get it.
This was a really long work week considering it was only 4 days long. I am about ready for a vacation.
The peanut gallery pointed out I didn't proof read my last post. That is not my job anymore. For the record, it was my Miata I almost jumpted out of. Actually it was more like being launched like a rocket, but that was a location situation. You would have had to have been there to really understand.
January 16 the Barrett-Jackson auction begins. Six days of people paying outrageous money for some really nice cars. I have already setup the Tivo to record all 40 hours of the broadcast auction. That's ok though because I have an entire year to watch it. Someday I would like to go to the auction. Someday. Do you get it? You probably don't get it.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Yesterday I visited the dentist. I visit the dentist every four months, not every six like most people. You may be wondering why. So am I. Perhaps it is for the free dental floss.
Today Tammy volunteered to proof read my blog for me. Actually she suggested I use a spell checker. Unfortunately the spell check does not correct my bad grammar. I will be setting up a login for her and providing you with her email address so that you can send her a nasty graham each time you find a misspelled word or any bad grammar. (Yeah, I intentionally misspelled gram to emphasize my point about the spell checker.)
This evening while driving home from school I happened to be a couple hundred yards behind an RV. Suddenly I am nearly jumping out of my because I hear what sounds like a train locomotive horn right there in the Miata with me. After three or four blasts I realize there is not a train following me down Nance Road but rather the sound is coming from the RV a few hundred yards ahead of me. I was amazed at how loud the horn was even from that distance. The RV continued to blast the horn intermittently as it drove down Mount Zion Road. It eventually turned in to a construction site. I am not certain whether it was the church or the water pumping station. Regardless, if your out later tonight, swing by there and lay on your horn for a while, preferably while this guy is trying to get some sleep.
As usual, I had a few potentially interesting topics I was planning to mention. As usual, I didn't make any notes so they have been lost, probably forever.
A friend of mine has a silver 2006 Pontiac Solstice he is trying to sell. If you're interested, I can get you more information. It is a pretty sharp car.
Today Tammy volunteered to proof read my blog for me. Actually she suggested I use a spell checker. Unfortunately the spell check does not correct my bad grammar. I will be setting up a login for her and providing you with her email address so that you can send her a nasty graham each time you find a misspelled word or any bad grammar. (Yeah, I intentionally misspelled gram to emphasize my point about the spell checker.)
This evening while driving home from school I happened to be a couple hundred yards behind an RV. Suddenly I am nearly jumping out of my because I hear what sounds like a train locomotive horn right there in the Miata with me. After three or four blasts I realize there is not a train following me down Nance Road but rather the sound is coming from the RV a few hundred yards ahead of me. I was amazed at how loud the horn was even from that distance. The RV continued to blast the horn intermittently as it drove down Mount Zion Road. It eventually turned in to a construction site. I am not certain whether it was the church or the water pumping station. Regardless, if your out later tonight, swing by there and lay on your horn for a while, preferably while this guy is trying to get some sleep.
As usual, I had a few potentially interesting topics I was planning to mention. As usual, I didn't make any notes so they have been lost, probably forever.
A friend of mine has a silver 2006 Pontiac Solstice he is trying to sell. If you're interested, I can get you more information. It is a pretty sharp car.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
I think I failed to document the last effort on the truck. That has been a few weeks so I am not even sure what I did. Let's see, I think I painted the spindles, the transmission cross member, and the high flow grill off the Miata. The grill is looking good and should be back on the car this weekend.
Spring semester starts tomorrow. Yippee or something like that.
Spring semester starts tomorrow. Yippee or something like that.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Miata odometer: Still 100,774
And the Charger's odometer (5784) hasn't changed in a week either, but we are back from Disney World and that will soon change.
Disney Report
High Point: Not knowing or caring what day of the week it was. Even Jordan was uncertain at one point.
Low Point: Blister on little toe.
And the Charger's odometer (5784) hasn't changed in a week either, but we are back from Disney World and that will soon change.
Disney Report
High Point: Not knowing or caring what day of the week it was. Even Jordan was uncertain at one point.
Low Point: Blister on little toe.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
G's cousin just got a 1996 Corvette. Red. I finagled a ride in it on Christmas day. I was going to try to bring it home with me but I wasn't quite sure I could get G' to leave her vehicle out in the driveway so that I could park it in the garage. Did I mention it was red.
According to the spellchecker, I spelled finagled correctly.
According to the spellchecker, I spelled finagled correctly.
Sometimes What Happens In The Garage Doesn't Stay In The Garage
I had an interesting thought not to long ago. I guess I met my quota for 2006.
Anybody got a metric socket set, or a combo metric & SAE set? Is it a 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2" drive set?
Are you with me now? Why is the square driver measured in inches if it is a metric tool set? Is this just an oddity of the USA? Nope. Go ahead and check out the tool section at Amazon.co.uk. See their metrics sockets are the same as ours.
Does this strike you as odd also?
I had an interesting thought not to long ago. I guess I met my quota for 2006.
Anybody got a metric socket set, or a combo metric & SAE set? Is it a 1/4", 3/8" or 1/2" drive set?
Are you with me now? Why is the square driver measured in inches if it is a metric tool set? Is this just an oddity of the USA? Nope. Go ahead and check out the tool section at Amazon.co.uk. See their metrics sockets are the same as ours.
Does this strike you as odd also?
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
I forgot to write about this but Terry took care of it for me. She failed to mention the multiple trips around the traffic circle though.
This One Will Blow You Away
I finally got around to replacing the fans in my old desktop this evening. One had stopped completely, the other was grinding like a old fan in a computer with bad bearings.
Two thousand seven is on it's way. (Does the possessive form of it have an apostrophe? I thought it did but recently I read something that said otherwise.)
I finally got around to replacing the fans in my old desktop this evening. One had stopped completely, the other was grinding like a old fan in a computer with bad bearings.
Two thousand seven is on it's way. (Does the possessive form of it have an apostrophe? I thought it did but recently I read something that said otherwise.)
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Miata Mod, Well Sort Of
I installed the meter hood in the Miata today. It looks really nice.
After getting everything buttoned up, I drove up to the end of the street and back hoping to verify I had not introduced any new rattles. So far so good.
Who knew replacing a broken piece of plastic could add a few horse power? Or maybe it was something else that I did.
My Seester is visiting with us for the Holiday. She was supposed to wash and wax the Miata while I took a nap today. I haven't been out to check on it yet, but I am sure she did a first rate job.
Parts is Parts
Yesterday I blasted a few more truck parts. This time it was the the three pieces of the transmission cross-member, one spindle assembly, and most of the other. And also the high-flow grill off the Miata.
No painting was done. I need to finish up the other spindle first.
Gotta go, I think I hear hooves on the roof top.
I installed the meter hood in the Miata today. It looks really nice.
After getting everything buttoned up, I drove up to the end of the street and back hoping to verify I had not introduced any new rattles. So far so good.
Who knew replacing a broken piece of plastic could add a few horse power? Or maybe it was something else that I did.
My Seester is visiting with us for the Holiday. She was supposed to wash and wax the Miata while I took a nap today. I haven't been out to check on it yet, but I am sure she did a first rate job.
Parts is Parts
Yesterday I blasted a few more truck parts. This time it was the the three pieces of the transmission cross-member, one spindle assembly, and most of the other. And also the high-flow grill off the Miata.
No painting was done. I need to finish up the other spindle first.
Gotta go, I think I hear hooves on the roof top.
Friday, December 22, 2006
A friend of mine is building an airplane. Check out Jack's build log here. I find this process facinating, but I would never want to do this myself. (Did you just here Ginger breath a sigh of relief.) While building a plane would be pretty cool, I do not want to learn to fly. Ever. For several reasons, and my desire not to hit the ground really hard is at the heart of several of these reasons.
I had a go with RC planes several years ago. Imagine balsa wood splinters strewn out on the ground for several square yards. Imagine this happening several times. Imagine me trading several planes and all my supplies for a nice expedition sized internal frame backpack. It was a good move if you ask me.
And my success with flight simulators on the computer is not a glorious tale either. As far as I can recall, I do not think I ever successfully landed a plane on a flight simulator.
No sense in repeating these successes in real life. Yeah, I know it is not the same. I suspect it hurts more when your in an actual plane.
I had a go with RC planes several years ago. Imagine balsa wood splinters strewn out on the ground for several square yards. Imagine this happening several times. Imagine me trading several planes and all my supplies for a nice expedition sized internal frame backpack. It was a good move if you ask me.
And my success with flight simulators on the computer is not a glorious tale either. As far as I can recall, I do not think I ever successfully landed a plane on a flight simulator.
No sense in repeating these successes in real life. Yeah, I know it is not the same. I suspect it hurts more when your in an actual plane.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The South That's a Southern accent you've got there. You may love it, you may hate it, you may swear you don't have it, but whatever the case, we can hear it. | |
| The Midland | |
| The Inland North | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Northeast | |
| The West | |
| North Central | |
| Boston | |
| What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
Don't Move
So far I have gotten 12 out of 20. Give it a try you cinema buffs.
http://www.stationerymovies.com/
So far I have gotten 12 out of 20. Give it a try you cinema buffs.
http://www.stationerymovies.com/
Monday, December 18, 2006
I put some oil in the Miata yesterday, so that is one less thing to think about. One less thing.
I made the usual Sunday afternoon drive. This time I took a different route. It was a bit longer and took me past Chad's house. I stopped in for a bit to visit, to play with their little guy, and to admire his work shop.
I had something else I wanted to mentioned but I have long since forgotten what it was.
I made the usual Sunday afternoon drive. This time I took a different route. It was a bit longer and took me past Chad's house. I stopped in for a bit to visit, to play with their little guy, and to admire his work shop.
I had something else I wanted to mentioned but I have long since forgotten what it was.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Truck Progress
Today I tapped the hole on the brake spindle. When I removed the dust plate eons ago, I twisted the head off a bolt.
While I had the drill out, I also removed size rivets from the transmission cross member. Removing a rivet consists of grinding off its head then drilling it out. Now that the cross member is disassembled I can clean out all the gunk that was between the parts.
There is more sand blasting in my near future.
Still working on acquiring a replacement meter hood for the miata.
Today I tapped the hole on the brake spindle. When I removed the dust plate eons ago, I twisted the head off a bolt.
While I had the drill out, I also removed size rivets from the transmission cross member. Removing a rivet consists of grinding off its head then drilling it out. Now that the cross member is disassembled I can clean out all the gunk that was between the parts.
There is more sand blasting in my near future.
Still working on acquiring a replacement meter hood for the miata.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
I read today that the US mint spends 1.73 cents for each penny it makes. It spends 8.74 cents for each nickel it makes. Pennies made before 1982 were 95% copper and have a commidity metal value of 2.13 cents.
Today there are only three presents under the tree. Hmm.
Today there are only three presents under the tree. Hmm.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
I found another '95 Miata gauge cover on E-bay, so the bidding has begun. It is being offered by the same guy that sold the last one. Must be a parts dealer. This auction doesn't end until Saturday. Hopefully I will be able to announce then that I have a replacement part on the way. Good luck to me.
I had a pretty rough day at work. When I got home I opened a bottle of wine and had a glass full. Not a half full glass, but a glass full. All is better except now I am tired. I am not ready to retire for the night yet, because once I do, it will almost instantly be time to go back to work.
Still hoping for nice weather this weekend. Weather permitting I will get started on the truck spindles.
I had a pretty rough day at work. When I got home I opened a bottle of wine and had a glass full. Not a half full glass, but a glass full. All is better except now I am tired. I am not ready to retire for the night yet, because once I do, it will almost instantly be time to go back to work.
Still hoping for nice weather this weekend. Weather permitting I will get started on the truck spindles.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Today I learned a few things from Brianna.
Dinosaurs are extinct.
They died and went to another planet.
They now live on Mars.
They left their bones behind.
Not all of that is true.
There are currently five presents under the Christmas three.
The ten day forecast shows highs in the low to mid sixties for the next 8 days.
I took the Charger in this morning to have the tire repaired. The puncture was caused by a what appeared to once have been a drywall screw.
Is it Friday yet?
Time to go check E-Bay for a Miata part.
Dinosaurs are extinct.
They died and went to another planet.
They now live on Mars.
They left their bones behind.
Not all of that is true.
There are currently five presents under the Christmas three.
The ten day forecast shows highs in the low to mid sixties for the next 8 days.
I took the Charger in this morning to have the tire repaired. The puncture was caused by a what appeared to once have been a drywall screw.
Is it Friday yet?
Time to go check E-Bay for a Miata part.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Tonight there is one more lighted palm tree in the yard.
Today I cleaned out air filter on the Miata. It is a K&N filter so it is cleaned instead of simply being replaced. The thing is a pain to get out.
I also topped off the oil and added some air to all for tires. I bought a very useful air gauge at HF last week (On Sale) for $6. It seems fairly accurate and you can measure the tire pressure while adding air without disccnnect the hose. Odometer: just over 100,500 miles.
I tried to pick up a replacement gauge cover for the Miata on E-bay today, but I was out bid at the last second. That is ok though, I will find another one sooner or later.
The Charger has a another nail in a tire. I took the car to the Firestone shop this afternoon to have it mended. Their estimate was over two hours before they would get to it. I decided to wait and take it back first thing tomorrow morning.
Today I cleaned out air filter on the Miata. It is a K&N filter so it is cleaned instead of simply being replaced. The thing is a pain to get out.
I also topped off the oil and added some air to all for tires. I bought a very useful air gauge at HF last week (On Sale) for $6. It seems fairly accurate and you can measure the tire pressure while adding air without disccnnect the hose. Odometer: just over 100,500 miles.
I tried to pick up a replacement gauge cover for the Miata on E-bay today, but I was out bid at the last second. That is ok though, I will find another one sooner or later.
The Charger has a another nail in a tire. I took the car to the Firestone shop this afternoon to have it mended. Their estimate was over two hours before they would get to it. I decided to wait and take it back first thing tomorrow morning.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Today we went to Grandma's for an early Christmas gathering. Also in attendance was my Bro, his wife, their two boys, and my seeee'ster.
The nephews are growing like weeded that have been getting plenty of water, sunlight, and nutrients. Aaron has probably grown by about 17 feet since this summer and his voice has dropped by a full 3 octaves. Austin taught me to play Texas Hold-em. Fortunately for me, real money was not invoved, because he would now own my house and car.
G' was busy Thursday and Friday. She now has all the holiday decorations up in the house. And most of the outside decor as well. We (I) still have one lighted palm tree to set out. :)
The nephews are growing like weeded that have been getting plenty of water, sunlight, and nutrients. Aaron has probably grown by about 17 feet since this summer and his voice has dropped by a full 3 octaves. Austin taught me to play Texas Hold-em. Fortunately for me, real money was not invoved, because he would now own my house and car.
G' was busy Thursday and Friday. She now has all the holiday decorations up in the house. And most of the outside decor as well. We (I) still have one lighted palm tree to set out. :)
801
I submit this post as a fill-in for ADHDaddy next time he needs to take the day off.
Last night we had dinner at 801 Franklin. We did not have reservations so we were seated at a table in the bar. This turned out to be mostly ok. Or maybe not.
I do not recall exactly what the appetizer was called that we ordered, but it turned out to be essentially tender loin, sliced paper thin, served with cheese toast, and shredded celery. How did we end up selecting this? I guess I was feeling adventurous. No regrets here, but I would probably select almost every thing else on the menu before returning to this option.
For dinner I narrowed my choice down to either the salmon, the trout, or the swordfish. The waiter recommended the swordfish, so for dinner I had the grilled swordfish. This turned out to be an excellent recommendation. G' had a seafood pasta including calamari, shrimp, and scallops. Her first comment was "these are the best scallops I have ever had". Later she also praised both the shrimp and calamari. I am just guessing here, but I think she enjoyed her dinner.
Now for a little bit of oddness. About halfway through dinner we switched tables. The loud obnoxious tipsy guys at the table next to us had left and got replaced by a woman who thought she was a chimney.
Huntsville has a no smoking law but it did not apply here. Apparently per out waiter, the restaurant does not serve anyone under 19 so smoking is allowed in the bar. At this point I am feeling rather passively irate about that detail.
While I did enjoy the food, I am feeling less than satisfied with the experience has a whole.
As we left, I noticed the entire dinning room was empty. This struck me as odd. Why? The reason they seated us in the bar was because they were pretty well booked up for the evening.
At least the food was good.
I submit this post as a fill-in for ADHDaddy next time he needs to take the day off.
Last night we had dinner at 801 Franklin. We did not have reservations so we were seated at a table in the bar. This turned out to be mostly ok. Or maybe not.
I do not recall exactly what the appetizer was called that we ordered, but it turned out to be essentially tender loin, sliced paper thin, served with cheese toast, and shredded celery. How did we end up selecting this? I guess I was feeling adventurous. No regrets here, but I would probably select almost every thing else on the menu before returning to this option.
For dinner I narrowed my choice down to either the salmon, the trout, or the swordfish. The waiter recommended the swordfish, so for dinner I had the grilled swordfish. This turned out to be an excellent recommendation. G' had a seafood pasta including calamari, shrimp, and scallops. Her first comment was "these are the best scallops I have ever had". Later she also praised both the shrimp and calamari. I am just guessing here, but I think she enjoyed her dinner.
Now for a little bit of oddness. About halfway through dinner we switched tables. The loud obnoxious tipsy guys at the table next to us had left and got replaced by a woman who thought she was a chimney.
Huntsville has a no smoking law but it did not apply here. Apparently per out waiter, the restaurant does not serve anyone under 19 so smoking is allowed in the bar. At this point I am feeling rather passively irate about that detail.
While I did enjoy the food, I am feeling less than satisfied with the experience has a whole.
As we left, I noticed the entire dinning room was empty. This struck me as odd. Why? The reason they seated us in the bar was because they were pretty well booked up for the evening.
At least the food was good.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
It is suppose to be 17 degrees in the morning, as if the sub-30 we have now is not enough.
This evening David #17 and I put my Miata up on jack stands and crawled underneath in search of the elusive and ferocious noises emanating from the below the car. I suspected it had something to do the with clutch. The clutch line is hydraulic and the fluid level is fine. We didn't find anything interesting. After putting the car back on the ground, I attempted to demonstrate the noise to David. And you know it wouldn't do it anymore. Pretty typical, eh?
While crawling around on the ground I went ahead and took the grill off the car. It is a bit faded so I have been planning on painting it.
I also took that big piece of plastic off that covers the instrument cluster inside the car. It has two cracks in it and I thought I would try to mend it. I am drawing a blank right now on what it is called. It has been loose for a while and is a source of an internal rattle. This thing, whatever, attaches at five points. Two screws and three spring clips. All five of these connection points are broken in some form or fashion. I have a plan for repairing it, but if it doesn't work out, there is always ebay or a local salvage yard. No worries.
This evening David #17 and I put my Miata up on jack stands and crawled underneath in search of the elusive and ferocious noises emanating from the below the car. I suspected it had something to do the with clutch. The clutch line is hydraulic and the fluid level is fine. We didn't find anything interesting. After putting the car back on the ground, I attempted to demonstrate the noise to David. And you know it wouldn't do it anymore. Pretty typical, eh?
While crawling around on the ground I went ahead and took the grill off the car. It is a bit faded so I have been planning on painting it.
I also took that big piece of plastic off that covers the instrument cluster inside the car. It has two cracks in it and I thought I would try to mend it. I am drawing a blank right now on what it is called. It has been loose for a while and is a source of an internal rattle. This thing, whatever, attaches at five points. Two screws and three spring clips. All five of these connection points are broken in some form or fashion. I have a plan for repairing it, but if it doesn't work out, there is always ebay or a local salvage yard. No worries.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
For the last two days I have been working at home. I am under a bit of a time crunch at work and things have been to noisy around there to concentrate. Working at home has been pleasant and highly productive. It has also been peaceful and quiet (other than me talking to myself). And think of all the money I have saved on gas by cutting out that ten miles of driving each day. And yes, I still go out for lunch, even when working at home. I like to think of it as my social hour.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Petals Around the Rose
While surfing near the end of the internet I came across this post:
http://www.borrett.id.au/computing/petals-bg.htm
I was intrigued by the puzzle. After about 15 minutes I thought I had it figured out. This link will allow you to see the results from a few more roles:
http://vincentwoo.com/files/petals/
And the solution is available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petals_Around_the_Rose
Enjoy.
Did you know that your fingernails grow four times faster than your toenails?
While surfing near the end of the internet I came across this post:
http://www.borrett.id.au/computing/petals-bg.htm
I was intrigued by the puzzle. After about 15 minutes I thought I had it figured out. This link will allow you to see the results from a few more roles:
http://vincentwoo.com/files/petals/
And the solution is available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petals_Around_the_Rose
Enjoy.
Did you know that your fingernails grow four times faster than your toenails?
This Weeks Ketchup
It has been a pretty hectic week. My last post was a week ago today.
As you may recall, last Sunday I was procrastinating. Any thing but studying for my final. Ok, to be honest I did get a few ours of review in, but don't tell anyone. I could cause me to lose my master procrastinator status.
Monday was a typical work day, along with picking up the kids, homework, etc. At about 11:00 pm I finally decided to stop procrastinating and get to reviewing the course material. A half hour later I was in bed, and probably already asleep. Didn't want to over do it.
Tuesday was more work. After work, the final, and after the final some Mexican food. David #17 and I had decided we would grab some dinner after our classes to celebrate the end of the semester. Woo hoo!
Wednesday morning (11/29/2006) Ginger's grandfather passed away. I went to work for a couple hours but then left the middle of the morning to drive Ginger to meet her mother.
I had lunch with John D. and his two youngest, Timmy and Jonathon. We had Mexican food at a local establishment, though a don't recall the name. After lunch John gave me the tour of his Church and played me a new song he had just written on the grand piano in the church sanctuary.
The weather had been nice all day. When we left the house in the AM I had the top up so that Ginger wouldn't blow away. The unfortunate part about having the top up is that all the rattles and squeaks you can't hear with the top down, are very noticeable with the top up. Around lunch the sky started to cloud up, but no worries, I did not see a drop of rain on the windshield until I was pulling into the driveway late in the afternoon.
When Ginger got home, we decided to go our for dinner. We eventually decided on Rosie's because it had been so long since I had any Mexican food. (I have heard these things come in threes.)
Thursday, more work. David, Troy, and I had hot wings for lunch. Wings had been our first choice for after the test Tuesday night but there were no wings to be found in the local vicinity.
Thursday evening G's brother, Jim and his family (Dianna, Corey, Marisa, and Kyle) rolled into town from Maryland. They stayed with us while they were in town for the funeral. The little folks are growing up fast. I had a good time hanging with them for the next few days.
Because we had a house full Thursday evening we decided to order Mexican pizza for dinner rather than try to prepare anything. Ok, it was really just pizza, not Mexican pizza, but it could have been.
Thursday evening it was 74 at 10:30 pm. The weather forecast predicted it would be 30 degrees by 6:00 am. They were off, it was only about 40 but it did reach 30 by 9:00 am.
I drove into work that morning with the top down and for effect, I wore shorts to work that day. They think I am crazy. I know the truth.
After a brief stay at work I headed back home and we loaded up and headed to Sardis for visitation. The house was full of food brought in by friends and neighbors. We all had Mexican fried chicken for lunch. Ok, again, it wasn't really Mexican, but some of it did have cayan pepper in the breading. It was pretty good.
During visitation I got to see a bunch of the kids we don't see very often. Again, I had a good time hanging out with the kids.
We got in late Friday evening. Early Saturday morning we headed back to Sardis for the funeral. As is often the case, my name was Paul. G' played Amazing Grace on the trumpet at the grave site as requested by her grandfather. I really enjoyed it. JH had served in the military so there we a couple of Army folks there to pay honor to him. They did a good job as well. After the service, the church provided lunch to the family in the fellowship hall.
After a crazy week, I am glad to be home, with nothing in particular to do. Ok, I might crawl under the Miata to see that the new rattle is all about, but maybe not. It's cold outside, and I suspect the ground is colder. Or maybe I will take a look at the computer that quit working this week. Or maybe not. Perhaps a nap. Yeah yeah, that sounds about right.
Oh yeah! Today is Ginger's birthday. I think she is twenty-seven again this year. Happy Birthday Ginger!
It has been a pretty hectic week. My last post was a week ago today.
As you may recall, last Sunday I was procrastinating. Any thing but studying for my final. Ok, to be honest I did get a few ours of review in, but don't tell anyone. I could cause me to lose my master procrastinator status.
Monday was a typical work day, along with picking up the kids, homework, etc. At about 11:00 pm I finally decided to stop procrastinating and get to reviewing the course material. A half hour later I was in bed, and probably already asleep. Didn't want to over do it.
Tuesday was more work. After work, the final, and after the final some Mexican food. David #17 and I had decided we would grab some dinner after our classes to celebrate the end of the semester. Woo hoo!
Wednesday morning (11/29/2006) Ginger's grandfather passed away. I went to work for a couple hours but then left the middle of the morning to drive Ginger to meet her mother.
I had lunch with John D. and his two youngest, Timmy and Jonathon. We had Mexican food at a local establishment, though a don't recall the name. After lunch John gave me the tour of his Church and played me a new song he had just written on the grand piano in the church sanctuary.
The weather had been nice all day. When we left the house in the AM I had the top up so that Ginger wouldn't blow away. The unfortunate part about having the top up is that all the rattles and squeaks you can't hear with the top down, are very noticeable with the top up. Around lunch the sky started to cloud up, but no worries, I did not see a drop of rain on the windshield until I was pulling into the driveway late in the afternoon.
When Ginger got home, we decided to go our for dinner. We eventually decided on Rosie's because it had been so long since I had any Mexican food. (I have heard these things come in threes.)
Thursday, more work. David, Troy, and I had hot wings for lunch. Wings had been our first choice for after the test Tuesday night but there were no wings to be found in the local vicinity.
Thursday evening G's brother, Jim and his family (Dianna, Corey, Marisa, and Kyle) rolled into town from Maryland. They stayed with us while they were in town for the funeral. The little folks are growing up fast. I had a good time hanging with them for the next few days.
Because we had a house full Thursday evening we decided to order Mexican pizza for dinner rather than try to prepare anything. Ok, it was really just pizza, not Mexican pizza, but it could have been.
Thursday evening it was 74 at 10:30 pm. The weather forecast predicted it would be 30 degrees by 6:00 am. They were off, it was only about 40 but it did reach 30 by 9:00 am.
I drove into work that morning with the top down and for effect, I wore shorts to work that day. They think I am crazy. I know the truth.
After a brief stay at work I headed back home and we loaded up and headed to Sardis for visitation. The house was full of food brought in by friends and neighbors. We all had Mexican fried chicken for lunch. Ok, again, it wasn't really Mexican, but some of it did have cayan pepper in the breading. It was pretty good.
During visitation I got to see a bunch of the kids we don't see very often. Again, I had a good time hanging out with the kids.
We got in late Friday evening. Early Saturday morning we headed back to Sardis for the funeral. As is often the case, my name was Paul. G' played Amazing Grace on the trumpet at the grave site as requested by her grandfather. I really enjoyed it. JH had served in the military so there we a couple of Army folks there to pay honor to him. They did a good job as well. After the service, the church provided lunch to the family in the fellowship hall.
After a crazy week, I am glad to be home, with nothing in particular to do. Ok, I might crawl under the Miata to see that the new rattle is all about, but maybe not. It's cold outside, and I suspect the ground is colder. Or maybe I will take a look at the computer that quit working this week. Or maybe not. Perhaps a nap. Yeah yeah, that sounds about right.
Oh yeah! Today is Ginger's birthday. I think she is twenty-seven again this year. Happy Birthday Ginger!
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