Road Trip

Tomorrow we are off with the band ML3 to do a gig in Cenralia, at Maple Lane, a Youth Facility. It will be the first time we have done a road trip for a while, with me working seven days a week. We have sure missed everyone.
In case you are new around here, ML3 is a Christian Rock band we crew for. They have a semi and 20,000 lbs of gear. Full sound system and light show. It takes around six hours to unload the truck and set up the stage. A couple of hours for sound check. two one hour shows, break it all back down and load it back in the truck. We will get home around midnight, exhausted and felling like we have done something worthwhile.
The message from the band is directed more towards "You can have a whole lot of fun without drugs and alcohol" than an altar call. Since we are dealing with incarcerated youth, and about 80% of them are in for drug and alcohol related offences, I really believe it is the right message to the right audience at the right time.
We feel strongly enough about this that we have been road crew for the band for over six years now.
So, tomorrow night we will come dragging home tired, sore and fulfilled.

A Time of Change

Mrs A works part time at the Curves in Renton. She goes in and opens the place up at 6:00 in the morning, and works until 10:00. She likes doing this for a couple of reasons. One it provides her with a little extra money, plus she gets to work out every day.
I make enough money that we could get along just fine without her working. I have told her she can quit and be a stay-at-home mom any time she wants. She has always worked and supported her family, almost always as the single source of income, struggling to make it day to day.
She feels a little guilty about not working full time, feels she is not pulling her weight. Nothing I tell her seems to make a lot of difference. Her attitude as a working mom is so ingrained into her behavior that she doesn't know any other way to be.
Well, she will soon get to experience staying at home.
The Curves in Renton is closing on September 25th. I have told her she should take some time off and just take it easy for a little while. Collect unemployment for a couple of months. She has a job lined up at another Curves, but I think she ought to just wait and see what shakes out of the tree.
At any rate, it will be a time of change for her. I just have to remember to keep telling her that no matter what she chooses to do, she has my support.

Two Steps Back

None of my bright ideas to remove the broken jet from Frankenhealey worked worth a damn.
First I tried using an easy-out to try to lift the jet out. That didn't work at all.
Then I tried tapping threads into the bushing and pulling. That didn't work. Then I tried drilling it out. That removed most of the jet, but there is still a little at the bottom of the hole that will have to be removed before the new jet will fit in. In order to do that I will have to remove the carb fron the engine.

I have a spare set of carbs, so I spent most of the day yesterday tearing down the spare carbs and cleaning everything up and checking them out. Everything looks very good, so I will try swapping the carbs. Then I can work on the screwed up carb at my leisure.

I am crossing my fingers that the car will start when I put the spare carbs on. No reason why is should not start. That doesn't mean it will.

Frankenhealey

Yeah, I see that glazed-over look in your eyes. There goes Al Again on that stupid car.

It's true.

Yesterday I went out to work on the carbs and tweak the timing. One of the things I need to do is charge out the accelerator jets. This should be a simple drop-in. Unfortunately I broke off the first one I tried to remove, and the second one also seems to be stuck. I am sitting here trying to figure out how to get it out without destroying the carb. I may have to drill it out, which would be a very delicate operation.

Oh well, I will figure out something.

R came by with "i" yesterday. It was sure great to see them. I hadn't seen "i" in a couple of months. and they change so quickly. when he last by he was pulling up on things and taking a step or two. Now he is toddling around everywhere. He's not quite talking yet, but jabbers a lot. It makes sense to him, we just can't understand what he's saying.

Hmmmm

Maybe if I drill a small hole in the jet and use an easy-out I can loosen it up. Or Maybe tap some threads and use a screw as a puller.

It's Just A Shot Away

Just to be the antithesis of The Stones, who on Give me Shelter screamed "War, children, it's just a shot away" I give you:

Peace, Children, It's just a Shot Away.

A shot of Tanqueray, that is. After some negotiation, we settled on an apollogy and a bottle of Tanqueray. More expensive than your average bunch of flowers, but less than dinner.

Negotiation hell, she just called me up and said "Instead of Flowers, I want a bottle of Tanqueray". I was not in a position to negotiate.

So all is peaceful in Latteland.

Tonight I am signing the contract to put new siding on the South side of the house. Mind you that side of the house is 40 feet by 40 feet, and covered with 10" lapped cedar siding. Decent tight knot 10" cedar siding is getting mighty hard to find, and when you CAN find it, it is expensive as hell.

I wanted to do the work myself, but Mrs A has a conniption fit if I get anywhere near a ladder. Last time I got up on a ladder to repair a downspout, I had to give her three drinks before I could go up on the ladder.

I haven't seen the breakdown, but the estimate is $3800.00, which seems about right to me. I still don't like paying someone to do something I could do myself, but what the hell.

In Trouble

I'm in trouble with Mrs A today.
I didn't do anything wrong, mind you, it's something I DIDN'T do.
I didn't give her a good-bye kiss when I left this morning.
She called me on the cell phone before I even got to work, in tears. "Seven years together, and this is what it has come to!"
Sh!t.
No way out, no amount of fancy talk is going to change it. Guilty as charged. Sure I have a (to me) legitimate excuse, but the facts is the facts. The question now becomes "How much is this going to cost me?" Flowers at the very least. I don't think this is a flowers and dinner offense.
First of all there is the fact that I do not wake up well in the morning. I stumble, I grunt, I bump into things. I get by by ritual. Things are always done in a certain order. Anything that breaks the ritual or order is likely to end up with the whole morning in chaos.
First of all. V has a zero hour class, so for the time being, I am giving him a ride to school, something I have never done before.
This morning when I came down from upstairs there was a whole pile of papers on the seat of my chair. Papers that needed to be signed and dated. School stuff, field trip, science class, legal release. Stuff that I would like to at lease peruse before I sign it, but no time to read. Glance at it, sign and date.
V. forgets something at the last minute, so I am running late. Rush out the door.
Halfway to work, the cell phone rings and it is Mrs A.
Busted.

TSO!!!

For the last several years, one of the things I have done for Christmas is take Mrs A and Vinnie and my cousin Lynn to see TSO (Trans Siberian Orchestra to you Troglodytes).
Tickets went on sale yesterday at 10:00 A.M. A pre-sale for fan club members only.
Unfortunately I had to be at a meeting at 10:00. I really couldn't blow the meeting off, since I was to receive an award at said meeting.
I left as soon as possible and ran back to my desk, got on line to order tickets.
Floor tickets, eleven rows back from the stage, center of the floor.
Oh yeah!
Screaming electric guitar pyrotechnic light show laser extravaganza Christmas music!
Ho, Ho, HO!

Lost weekend

Or maybe Blogging on Percocet.

I had three teeth pulled on Friday. I'm only in it for the drugs.

I have been fighting bad teeth for about ten years now. One of the past conversations with the periodontist, and dentist concluded that I had about a 75% chance of losing those particular teeth. We tried to save them, but it was a losing battle. Everything we tried failed.
So the last resort was to have them pulled and have inserts put in, a long, painful and expensive process, which includes a bone graft using vacated bovine bone matrix. Yeah, you saw that correctly. Bull Bone. I will truly be part animal when this is over. Jokes could be made about being full of bull, but in reality I will be only a very small part full of bull.

I have been alternately napping on the couch, trying to read and watching the boob tube. I have accomplished exactly nothing, and this short post will be about as ambitious as I will get.

Time to go take another Percocet.

Under pressure

After we got home from the ocean, I figured it was time to break in my birthday present, the pressure washer.
It's a manly tool. Gasoline powered 2500 PSI three pages of warnings and dangers, may result in serious injury or death. Oh yeah!
I pressure washed 420 sq ft of deck. The pressure washer did a great job.
That still leaves the patio and the driveway.

Vacation? What Vacation?

We spent most of a week at the ocean. It will not go down in our personal history as one of the best vacations ever.
Where to start?
I guess I should start by saying that the number one objective was to quit smoking. I have a round of oral surgery coming up, and I need to quit smoking to increase the odds of success. I really don't smoke a lot, usually three or four cigarettes a day, so you would think it would be easy to quit. You would be wrong.
Mrs A also smokes, so if we are going to quit, we need to do it together.
Two people in a small room, both quitting smoking. Yep.
Throw in the fact that the matress on the bed was made out of bricks wound in barb wire, so neither one of us was getting much sleep.
Plus, one of the reasons we chose the Chateau Westport was that in April we spent a weekend there and the complimentary breakfase was exceptional. Fresh waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, juice, toast.
Gone. All gone.
Instead of fresh waffles, previously frozen pancakes.
Instead of scrambled, something that might have at some time approximated an egg, except harder and tasteless. Kinda sunny side petrified.
No biscuits and gravy.
We came home early.

Oregon Trip

We packed up ourselves, the dog, and my mom on Saturday and set off for Coberg Oregon, Population 996. My cousin Ginger and her husband Pat live there.
The occasion was a family reunion of sorts. My Uncle Ben and his new bride Virginia were up here on their honeymoon from Morelia Mexico. The special occasion has reeled in a couple of my cousins that I had not seen for over 40 years.
It was a wonderful time. Lots of food and remembering and storytelling. And food. And storytelling. And food. Not just any food. Grilled beef, fresh salad, Uncle Ben's special guacamole (secret ingredient: top drawer tequila) home made huckleberry pie, berries from Idaho. Marionberry pie, home made pickles. I provided egg rolls and Jambalaya. Microbrews, special wine, and a few shots the Mexican firewater.
The new addition to the family is a vivacious, outgoing, intelligent woman who we are more that happy to welcome to the family. She doesn't speak a lot of English, but we managed to communicate with our little Spanish, and her little English.
What a wonderful weekend.

Car Show

My car goal for this year was to get Frankenhealey to the annual Boeing Employees car show. I have talked to boring lengths for a year and a half about my journey of restoration to anyone who looked remotely interested.
I promised people that it would be there for the show.
Sunday, I rebuilt the brake system. The first time I have had brakes that actually worked, except for the emergency brake.
Monday I got the car running. To the point that it would start and continue running. I was having problems with the throttle linkage sticking. Worked until dark
Tuesday, got the plates on the car and took it for a drive. The timing is off and the carbs are not synced. The throttle linkage would stick. It would stick at 3000 rpm and you would have to blip the gas pedal to get it to go back to idle. But some times it would stick at 6000. This is the farthest I have driven it since I bought it. I finally figured out that the cable was binding because the mounting bracket had been bent, causing the cable to bind up. Worked until dark
Wednesday, installed the hood holding rod and latch mechanisms, the top closeout cover, the badges and cleaned up some areas. Worked until dark.
Today, started it up and drove it to work for the car show. It is still not running right. The carbs have not been synchronized, the timing is still off, the wipers don't work, I have no turn signals, the marker lights are not installed, the interior is a shambles, and only one headlight.
But I won a trophy for third place.

Jensen Healey Pictures

Here are some pictures of Frankenhealey, reassembled, and looking good.

I still have lots to do, but it is now running and licensed. I drove it around a little yesterday, but was having problems with the throttle linkage sticking. It would rev up to about 3,000 RPM and stick there. I'd have to blip the pedal to get it to return, and a couple of times, it revved up to 6,000 RPM and stuck there. Very nnerving, but I sorted it out by the end of the evening. The timing is still off and the carbs are not in sync yet, but it is driveable.

The wipers don't work, and it has only one headlight, no turn signals. But it is good enough to take to the car show tomorrow. It is entered as a "work in progress".

Seconf Step

Frankenhealey runs!

Well, it starts and continues to run after it starts. It idles real rough, but will spool up to 5,000 RPM real good. I will have to get it on the road to see how it does under a load. But indications are positive.

Tonight I need to install the bumpers so that I have a place to hang the license plates. Then I can actually drive it. Sure, I have driven it around the block, but never on the road. If I want to take it to the car show on Thursday, I will need to get the windshield wipers working, as there is the possibility of rain, and need to get the top checked out, both do-able.

I am starting to get excited about the possibility of having it on the road, and a bit anxious. There are still a thousand things that can go wrong.

Soon. Soon.

One Step Forward

Frankenheakey has brakes!

It took me all day and a series of setbacks, but I was determined to get the brakes done today. The weather was fine, except it did get up to 89, a little warm for manual labor. One of the wheel cylinders I cleaned and reinstalled proved faulty. It leaked hydraulic fluid like crazy, so I had to salvage a part off of the parts car and clean it up and install it.

But it works.

Mrs A spent most of the day Friday, and all day Saturday down at her sisters, taking care of her. She is getting better rapidly, but they still don't have the results from the tests, so we won't really know her prognosis.

Rs significant other is still in the hospital. He will require extensive face reconstruction surgery once things settle down enough they can do something. I don't have any idea when that will be. He is young and healthy and will most likely recover fully. Meanwhile I will remember him in my prayers.

Next weekend we are going down to Coberg, Oregon to see my Uncle Ben and his new wife. I will get to see a bunch of my cousins I haven't seen in many years. I am really looking forward to the trip, and to getting away for a couple of days.

Then the following Friday, we will be leaving for a week at the ocean.. I REALLY, REALLY need to get away and recharge my batteries.

A Little Relief

Wednesday, the temperature on my deck in the shade was 105, Thursday 99, tonight 83.

I can live with 83. Because I had a heat pump installed a couple of weeks ago, the temperature inside was a mild 74 degrees. I don't want to think of what the electric bill will look like for the month, but no matter what it is IT WAS WORTH IT!

The down side is that I accomplished nothing on Frankenhealey. I had hoped to have the weekend to work on it, but I have to work Saturday, and it just doesn't leave me enough time to get the braking system rebuilt. That is, unless everything goes perfectly. It is to laugh. Nothing ever goes perfectly, especially with a 36 year old British sports car. If you own a vintage British sports car, you are at some level a masochist.

R's significant other had a bad accident on Wednesday. They were at a lake, and he was using a slide to go out in the water, when it tipped and threw him off. He fell face first on a piling, and shattered all of the bones surrounding his eye. When they pried everything apart, he still had vision in the eye (thank God), but will require reconstructive surgery to rebuild the eye socket.
Sure hope everything turns out all right.

Mrs A's sister had surgery on Wednesday for uterine cancer. They released her from the hospital yesterday, and Mrs A is spending the day with her today, watching after her. I really don't know what her treatment plan is. Guess I'll find out when Mrs A gets home tonight. Mrs A has been real upset by this, as both of her parents died in their 60s, and her sis is 59. Mrs A has always felt that her life span will be limited because of the family history, but I think she is being fatalistic. They were both very heavy and didn't take care of themselves, while she works out every day and takes good care of herself.

I am having a hard time dealing with all of this. I am a normal guy. When things go wrong, I want to fix them. And there isn't a damn thing I can do about most of this. The motor is racing, I am on the line and ready to get'er done, but there isn't anything I can do. Except turn it over to the big guy upstairs.

Too Stinkin' Hot

I am not going out and working on the car tonight or tomorrow.

It is 95 degrees today, humidity 77%. Tomorrow is supposed to be over 100 degrees. I have a bunch of work to do on the brakes, but it isn't worth risking heat stroke to do the work. I have lost 9 pounds in the last three days while working on the car. Enough is enough.

I really want to take the car to the annual Boeing Employees car show, and I am goal oriented person, and I have told people I would bring it, and I keep my word. I will work on it this weekend when the temperature drops back into the 80's. If I get it done, I get it done. If not, I will take the Z to the car show.

But I will be disappointed.

Them's the Brakes

No I did not spell it wrong. We're talking car brakes here.

I went to bleed the brakes yesterday. You always start at the furthest wheel from the master cylinder, that usually being the passenger's side rear.
I got a small chunk of hose, a beer bottle (previously emptied) which I partially filled with water, and an 11mm wrench. Crack the bleeder valve open, get inside and pump the pedal a couple of times, check out the bottle. If there is evidence of brake fluid in the water, close the valve, check the pedal and move on.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times I pumped the brake pedal, no fluid ever appeared.
This is not a good thing. There are a couple of possible reasons, and neither of them is good. Either the master cylinder of the wheel cylinder is bad.
I started out by replacing the master cylinder, stealing the one out of the parts car. WHen I put the new/used master cylinder in, I could pump up the brakes, a positive sign. However, I still couldn't get the rear wheel cylinder to bleed.
So I had to tear the whole thing down to the backing plate. I must say that this is the strangest braking system I have ever seen.
When I got the wheel cylinder out, it was packed with this greyish/greenish deposit. The hole from the brake line into the wheel cylinder was packed so full, I had to use a small diameter drill to clear the line.
The actual parts seem to be in very good order, so I think I can just clean things up and put it back together.
Then on to the other rear wheel.

Frustration

Frankenhealey is home, and the car is beautiful. White with some really nice pearlescent effects. I particularly like the purple pearl.
Nonetheless, it would be a lot prettier if the damn car would start. I drove the car over to Gabriel's, but they had to push it back home. I tried to start it this morning, and it just won't fire. Today I installed new spark plug wires, the best you can buy. Still nothing.
I gave up and spent the rest of the afternoon making a piece for the gas pedal linkage, and it seems to be working. I had to shorten the cable by a couple of inches, and swage a new end on. It seems to be working just fine, but I won't know until I get it to run.
Next I will sort out the brakes. I have never had off the back wheels, so I don't know what kind of shape things are in back there. I know there is a lot of slop in the pedal, and it may be that the back shoes are out of adjustment. At any rate, I need to take off the wheels and check things out. Lord knows what disaster lurks unseen.
I will be back at it again tomorrow.

Winding Down

This coming weekend, I will be off for the SECOND WEEKEND IN A ROW!

All I can say it it is about time. I have pretty much been doing a nineteen days on two days off schedule since the first of the year. It doesn't leave much time for a social life, or time to take care of business outside of work.

Frankenhealey is still in paint. Every day I hope it will be done, but so far, no. It is being done RIGHT, so I really can't complain. I just need to get it back so I can fix a few things.

The annual Boeing Employees Car Show is on August 6th, and I am going to bring it to the show. I need to work on the brakes, the gas pedal linkage, and sync the carbs. Not a whole bunch, but I will feel a whole lot better when I can get it done. The weather is supposed to be in the 90's this weekend, so to me that is a little too hot to work on cars. But I have to get it done. It it gets too hot to work on the car, I can always fire up the pressure washer.

Things will slow down soon at work, so I can look forward to having a normal life for several months. Lots of projects to get done.

And a vacation to take.

Good Weekend, Great Gumbo

I have been wanting to make some Shrimp Gumbo for some time. Trouble is, in order to do it right, you need whole shrimp. Heads and all. None of the local stores offer whole shrimp. Plus with working all the time, I just haven't had the time to do it right.

I love to cook, but doing it right takes time, and I just haven't had the time.

For my birthday, we went up to Deception Pass, and took a nice long hike. On the way back, we stopped a a fresh seafood place. I mean, fresh off the boat, caught that day. I bought five pounds, of shrimp which we immediately put on ice.

After a long day, I didn't feel like starting on the gumbo that night, so I waited until this morning to get at it. The key to a good gumbo is the soup base. So first thing this morning I headed and shelled five pounds of shrimp, which took an hour and a half. Then you take the heads and shells, put them in a big pot with a quarter on an onion, a stalk of celery and garlic. Simmer for at least four hours.

Then make the gumbo. Sure, it takes all day, but the results are to die for. Definitely worth the work and bother.

I've had two bowls, and I get the feeling that I will be back for more before the evening is over.

There will be plenty of leftovers to eat for the next couple of days, and some to put in the freezer for later.

Frankenhealey Update

Pictures soon.

Gabriel will be finishing up the painting tomorrow. I'm not going to go into the physics of why the paint is the way it is, but it is turning out as I had hoped. The car is being painted white, with a color shifting additive added to the clear coat after the paint. I have never seen this done before, so I have been a little apprehensive about how it would turn out.

If the additive is put in the clear coat over black, it makes for a very dramatic emerald green to cobalt blue color shift. That is what I did on the Z.

If you put it over white, it would be very different. I have been hoping for white with an effect similar to a blue-to-green color shifting pearl effect. Gabriel did the doors today, and I went over to view the results. It is just as I had hoped it would be. The color shift on the pearl is pretty subtle, but very noticeable. I won't know how it looks overall until the whole car is painted, and will have to view it under different lighting conditions, but I think it will be beautiful.

Guess I will find out tomorrow when they paint the rest of the car and put it all back together. I am getting excited. I now have worked on the car for a year and a half, and I still need to do some additional work on it to make it roadable.

Soon.

New Toy

Mrs A bought me a new toy for my birthday.

A pressure washer.

I have mixed feeling bout this. In a way it is the same as if I bought her a new vacuum cleaner for her birthday, a definite no-no. On the other hand, I have several projects lined up already.

The front deck. The patio off of the kitchen. The driveway. The engine compartment of Frankenhealey. But it all sounds a lot like work.

I'm not sure what I want to do for my birthday, Saturday. On one hand, the Band is playing on Vashon for the hundreth anniversary Strawberry Festival, and we are invited to hang out with them and camp out for a couple of days. I have an Aunt and Uncle that live over there and it would be a chance to go visit them.

On the other hand, they are opening the new light rail link to downtown, and it would be nice to use it to go downtown without all the hassle of driving and parking. We love to wander the waterfront and the Pike Place Market. Then we could catch dinner.

On another hand, I would like to go up to Deception Pass and spend the day hiking and exploring, then stop off in Annacortes for dinner. Stop on the way back and get some frexh seafood (and I do mean fresh).

On the last hand, I could just stay home and putter around the place, do some pressure washing, maybe turn a wrench or make the linkage piece for Frnkenhealey, then BBQ a mess of ribs.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Heat Pump Finis

I took the day off so the guys from the heating service could get in and out of the house.

And so I could watch of course.

It is a genuine pleasure to watch true professionals go about their work. They worked quickly and with great skill. At one time I considered doing it myself. I am SOOOOO glad I didn't. It is worth the extra overtime I worked to get he money together to have the pros do it. I watched them, just because I love knowing how things are done. It gave me a real appreciation of what they do.

The only setback was that the electrician had to replace a bunch of wiring, an expense I hadn't anticipated. The original heat pump had been put in about 25 years ago, and the code has changed. The original wiring was aluminum. Code no longer allows aluminum wiring to be used for heat sources like furnaces and heat pumps.

Add $600.00 to the bill.

Still, it needed to be done, and now it is. I have the money set aside.

Finis.

Oh, and by the way, my sis, Lori in Minnesota suggested Huckleberry preserves as a wedding gift. They definitely can't get that in Mexico.

It just so happens that a good friend of Mrs A. makes gourmet preserves, and markets them. We keep a constant supply on hand, as she makes the best sugar free jams and jellies I have ever had. Funny we never thought of it.

At any rate we are having her put together a special batch. I know Uncle Ben will love them. I hope his bride will as well.

Wedding Gift

So, what do you get as a wedding gift for your 78 year old Uncle and his bride for a wedding gift?

It has to be small, so it can fit in their luggage on the trip back to Mexico. It has to be nice, but not breakable. It should have a personal or at least regional touch. Class without pretention.

Mrs A and I have wracked our brains, talked it over, and gotten nowhere.

At his point we don't have a clue.

Heat Pump

I have needed to replace the existing heat pump for the last couple of years. The emergency heat part of it has worked, but is expensive to run, so we have elected to use the pellet stove for heat, which is a lot cheaper.

With all of the overtime I have been working this year, I have the money saved up to pay cash for a new heat pump. Last year I got several estimates, so the time has come to just get 'er done. So I called and placed the order today. The guy came out and confirmed everything. I upgraded one step from what I was looking at last year, and it qualifies for Federal Tax credit to the tune of about $1500.00. It in the long run actually will cost me LESS. The upgrade is about $800.00.

They are coming next Monday to install the new heat pump. I will have to take a day off work, a sacrifice I am willing to make. Right now I am pretty burned out. After all, the schedule has pretty much been 19 days of work and two days off since the beginning of the year.

My sinuses have been killing me the last couple of days, so I took the day off today. I figured as long as I had the day off, I might as well take care of business.

Next will come the siding on the south side of the house.

Next Move

I had a plan. Honest I did. No, really.

But then the real world got in the way. I won't go into the whole convoluted sequence of events, but let's just say that things that were supposed to happen, didn't. Things beyond my control.

So the time has come to abandon the plan and go with PLAN B.

After work I am going to call the heating company and tell them I am ready to buy the new heat pump. This is a lie, but I need to just let go of PLAN A and move on, or nothing will every get done.

Nonetheless, I will commit to spending several thousand dollars on a new heating/air conditioning system.

This will make Mrs A happy, since it means she will not have to carry bags of pellets up or clean the pellet stove again.

Waiting for The weekend

I am actually getting a three day weekend. Way cool!

Tomorrow is L's birthday, so we will be going down to spend the afternoon with her and the kids.

My cousin has requested we bring eggrolls for the family reunion on Oregon in August, so tomorrow morning I will get up and go get the ingredients. Mrs A has to work, and when she gets home we will go to visit L. Maybe in the evening we will make the egg rolls.

The Z failed me this morning. When I went to start it, something went "clunk" in the engine compartment. At the same time the amp gauge pegged out at below zero, so I suspect that the starter has gone bad. I hope to get some time to check it out.

Frankenhealey is proceeding well. When I checked it out yesterday, the fenders and doors were cleaned, primed, and painted and fitted. It is maybe a week from done.

We are still in the middle of arrangements for going down to Oregon for a Family reunion in August. My cousins Tom and Rick will be there, and I haven't seen them in like 40 years. It will be great to reconnect. And of course meet Uncle Ben's new special lady.

Then off to the ocean for a week.

August will be a busy month.

Bluegills

The Boeing facility here in Renton is built on the shores of Lake Washington. It is always nice to take a break when the weather is nice and go for a stroll along the lake shore.

There is a bulkhead along the shoreline, and when the weather isn't too windy, you can see quite deep in the lake.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a medium sized fish hanging around one of the flat areas by the bulkhead. After observing it for a while, I figured out that it was a bluegill. It would swim here and there around the flat area, but never left for more than a few seconds. I figured that this was probably a Momma Fish tending a batch of eggs. I went on line to check, and indeed Bluegills are nest tenders.

At another flat spot a little bit deeper, there was a second fish, acting in the same way.

Every day for the next couple of weeks, I took a break at some time in the day and wandered down to the lake to check on the fish. The two Momma Fish faithfully tended their nests.

I went out there this morning, and the Momma Fish were both gone. But they were replaced by a couple of hundred baby fish. In observing their early lives, I had become involved. They were somehow MY baby fish.

I sure hope they don't expect to get allowances. Or move in.

Saturday Musings

Last night was the get-together to celebrate my nephew Alex's college graduation. He has a degree in Business Marketing or some such. He already had a job as an intern with a firm, so he is now permanent. While it doesn't pay a whole lot to start, in this economy, having a job right out of college is a definite plus.

It was great to see my sibs, the food was excellent, and the booze was free. Since I had to get up and go to work today at 5:00, and was driving the Z to boot, I only had one beer, but it was a good beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale, one of my favorites.

And I managed to embarrass the hell out of V., always a plus.

I happened to mention that he had gotten home late, and immediately went and took a shower. He and water, while not enemies, are only nodding acquaintances. I wondered what activity he had been engaged in that made him feel he had to go take a shower immediately after coming home. Everyone chuckled, and when I turned and took a look at him, his face had turned bright red. I don't remember ever seeing him blush like that. He immediately dissembled and stammered, much to the amusement of everyone. Score one for Grandpa.

My Uncle Ben in Mexico is getting remarried. I think he is 78 now. At any rate, he has met a special lady, and they are tying the knot. I couldn't be happier for him. We can't make it to Mexico for the wedding, but he is coming up here for a meet and greet in Oregon at my cousin's place in August. I can't wait to meet her. She must be something special. I am currently trying to arrange for the trip from here by a contingent of Warrens from Latteland. Should be a lot of fun.

I have arranged for a week at the ocean for Mrs A and I the following week at Chateau Westport. I am really looking forward to a week at the beach away from everything and everyone.

Friday? Already?

Where the heck has the week gone?

Al the sudden, here it is Friday. But since I am working bothe days this weekend, it doesn't make a big difference. But next weekend I am taking off all three days. The latest schedule is that the shop will be completely shut down on Friday, but work Saturday and Sunday.

I have told them I really don't want to work, but if sombody absolutely has to be here, it will fall on me. Since it would be double time both days I guess I can always lay back and think of England.

But I would really rather have the time off.

Purloined Picture

Saturday we went to the Museum Of Glass in Tacoma. We spent a quite a bit of time at the Hot Shop, where they were working on a current project by a local glass artist. While I wasn't impressed by the project itself, it was fascinating to watch the process. I had no idea how much physical work by a bunch of people was required.

We toured the exhibits, which I found kinda paltry. Included is the one photo I managed to get before the Glass Gestapo informed my photography wasn't allowed. At least they didn't demand my memory card or confiscate my camera.

I mean WTF I just paid monet to get in. It's not like they were rare acheological ancient artifacts. I don't get how taking a photo would in any way endanger the display.

Oh well, enjoy the illegal purloied image of a beautiful object.

We stopped at a seafood place and bought a smoked trout, some crab dip, and some Gumbo base. The crab dip disappeared in short order, and most of the smoked trout evaporated in short order. The gumbo base will wait until I assenble the rest of the components. All in all, a very enjoyable day.

Father's Day was nice. Quiet. Both of my kids called to wish me a happy Father's Day. I watched the Seattle Mariners go over 50% in their record by beating the Diamondbacks, I BBQ'd a couple of excellent T-bones with fresh asparagus. Slurped down a couple of beers, and took a nice nap.

I told them at work that I have no intention of working as much as I have. I want to take every other weekend off. This weekend reminded me how much there is out there to enjoy, and I want to go and do a lot more with the lovely Mrs A.

Just another week

Nothing much going on at Chateau Warren.

I'm getting worn out by the constant work. Today makes eighteen days without a day off, and although it is only eight hours a day this time around, it is wearing me down. Mrs A is getting cabin fever, because we haven't gone anywhere lately.

I will have this weekend off, so we are planning to get out and about. We have both been wanting to get down to Tacoma to see the Museum of Glass. Unless it is a torrential downpour or something we will probably go. It is supposed to be fabulous, and I love glass artwork. Promises to be interesting.

Sunday we will probably stay home. Mrs A has purchased a couple of primo t-bones and I will fire up the grill. I do love a prime steak done just so on the grill.

R called to apologize to me for cussing me out on the phone the other day. I think this is a first, her apologizing for her bad behavior. She really needs to learn to curb her temper. Mrs A still is pissed at her, and currently wants nothing to do with her. Can't say as I blame her. It presents some problems for Father's Day, but we will get through it.

We are currently discussing spending a week someplace in August. Still haven't decided where or when. So far we are leaning towaards Chateau Westport, but I will still have to call them and see what is available.

In the Laboratory

After spending a year and a half getting Frankenhealey in one piece and running, I turned it over to Gabriel for paint. He of course tore it all apart. So here it is, in pieces.

Complications

Women are complicated creatures.

Mrs A wants to get out of Dodge this weekend. Doesn't have a destination in mind. Just hit the road and go anywhere that isn't here. I am of course supposed to come up with THE PLAN. If it was just me, the plan would be to throw a change of clothes in a gym bag, a sleeping bag in the back of the truck and hit the road. Throw a female into the works and it becomes "complicated".
Fourteen pairs of shoes. Twelve changes of clothes. A whole suitcase of mysterious fluids and creams. A fancy cress "just in case". If we are going overnight, it must involve a shower and clean bathrooms. Roughing it means no room service.

Men on the other hand are simple creatures. (Hey, I heard that snicker, hold it down, you don't want me to come back there!)

I would just wander, sleep in the back of the truck. The extra clothes are only in case I fall in something or get caught in a torrential downpour. The world is a guys bathroom. A shower can wait until you get home, but a handy dip in a stream or lake will do in a pinch. No soap required. Fire is your friend, and smoke is almost as good as deodorant. Sometimes better.

And don't get me started on the dog.

It's Friday......So What?

Which translates that I am working both days again this weekend.
The weather, for Latteland has been outstanding lately. I think we are working on our fourth week withour rain, which is pushing the record.
I think the weather on the weekends has been good because I am working. On the other hand, I am taking off next weekend, which pretty much guarantees it will rain. After all, next weekend is Father's Day weekend. I really don't expect my kids to do anything for me. R is not talking to me, which is fine with me right now. Mrs A and I were filling out our wills the other day, I seriously considered cutting her out of my will.
But then I remembered how I promised myself that I would never be the kind of person that uses that as a way to punish/reward my offspring. Then again, her mom has told her she isn't even mine.
So have a beer or glass of wine for me this weekend, because I'll be here at the gulag.

Frankenhealey

Here is Frankenhealey. Most of the paint stripped off, running and moving, and of course a picture of the engine compartment.

Hopefully, pictures of it after paint will follow soon.

Steps

One foot in front of the other. You can't take more than one step at a time.
Frankenhealey is running. You can actually get in it and turn the key, and it starts. It runs like crap, and the idle is way too high, but it will continue running until the key is turned off. It does not appear to be leaking any fluids. If I wanted to, I could drive it around, except that it has no brakes.
Brakes are overrated anyway.

GM Bankrupcy

When the production of an Icon is taken out of the hands of the visionaries and given over to the accountants, it becomes doomed. No passion in, no passion out.

Just as true for aircraft as it is for automobiles.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574173401767415892.html

An excellent article in the Wall Street Journal today.

Nothing Much

Things have been thankfully quiet around chateau Warren the last couple of days. It has been a little warm for my tastes, but I really don't want to complain. It was up in the mid eighties today. A little too warm for me too want to get out and twist a wrench on Frankenhealey, but just right for sitting around vegging.

We went to a lawyer today to get wills drawn up. I have seen what family can do when there is money involved, and it seems to bring out the worst in everyone. We just want everything nice and cut and dried. I die and she gets everything, she dies I get everything, we both die and everything gets divided evenly among the kids. Living will, power of attorney if one of us is incapacitated.

I will probably be working both days this weekend and next. I'd really like to have some time off to get Frankenhealey running, but I took it on as a long term project, so there is no tearing hurry. I still want to get it running good enough to take it to the employee car show this summer, but that is several weeks away. If I don't make it, I can still take the Z with it's new body kit on. I still need to take some pictures to post.

R has called and everything is back to normal. She is working and going to school as well as raising a couple of kids, so her plate is more than full.

My nephew is graduating from Seattle U with a business degree in marketing. He is an outstanding kid with a bright future. I am sure he will do well.

A nice quiet week is just what I was looking for.

On Track

Nothing is ever easy for me. There is the plan, there are contingencies, and then there is reality.

I did the timing, and installed the new carb setup. Hooked up the lines, and got in and turned the key. One cylinder was firing, but the car wouldn't even come close to running. I decided that I knew nothing about the condition of the carbs on the new intake, so I replaced them with the other set of carbs that I had already rebuilt and rejetted.

I sprayed some starting fluid in the throat of the carbs, and voila' after a couple of trys the car fired up and ran. I still need to adjust the idle, and put on the water pump and radiator and hoses, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The guy across the street is still in the middle of stripping the car down to bare metal for the paint job, but is making good progress. I think now that my goal of having it ready for the Boeing Car Show this summer is absolutely possible. That would be sssooooooo cool. I have about six weeks. It all comes down to how much overtime I have to work between now and then, and what other things I need to take care of.

I need to figure out why the lawn mower won't start so I can mow the back 40. I need to get someone to repair the siding on the South side of the house, and I need to get a new heat pump installed.

Oh well, I guess I won't get bored any time soon.

Two Down

Now the Truck is all complete and runs like a top.

The Z has the ground effects kit installed and painted.

Two down.

The third is underway.

The guy across the street started doing the body work on Frankenhealey last night. I worked on the timing. Problem: Timing lights only work when the car is running. I have to time the car so it WILL run. There is an easy way to do this with a light bulb and breaker points, but I have replaced the points with a magnetic trigger system. After messing around for a while I decided that the way to get around this was using an ancient circuit tester I had laying around.

This is the really old type that is a bullet shaped plastic thingie with a gas bulb inside, and two leads with straight probes on the end. It was made for testing wall outlets. Put one probe in each slot of a wall outlet, if the bulb lights, you have power.

So, if you turn the engine over until the timing mark lights up, and pull number one plug wire, and loosen the distributor, if you rotate the distributor until the bulb lights, the timing will be right on.

So I did that, and finished up setting up one carburettor and intake setup and installed them. Tonight I will hook ou all the hoses and the gas line. I might even see if it will fire up.

What a Nice Weekend

The weather Gods and the calendar aligned in a weird convergence this weekend, and we had three days of perfect weather. It was so great to have time off and good weather. Not that I accomplished a great deal, just a little here and a little there.
We went to see "Angels and Demons". We both enjoyed it. I had read the book, and it was vastly superior to "The Da Vinci Code". I have always felt that "The Da Vinci Code" would not have been such a literary and cinematic success if it wasn't for the Fundamentalist Christian preachers making such a big deal about it. Forbidden fruit always tastes sweetest. Of course the movie wasn't as good as the book, but that is almost always true.
We had company on Sunday and I cooked pork tenderloin in cranberry chutney. It turned out just fine.
I got Zelda the Z back from the neighbor, who had installed the ground effects kit and painted it. It is spectacular. I have had the kit for a couple of years, but never could get around to putting it on. I pulled out the radio and got it working again. Can't be running around without tunes. I drove it to work today, and whenever I stopped someplace, people approached me and wanted to know about the paint and stuff. Pictures to follow soon, but today was overcast, and I want full sun to take the pictures.
I got back to work on Jenny the Jensen Healey. I am currently tearing apart two carburation systems to assemble the ultimate out of two good systems. No hurry here. It will get done when it gets done. I also futzed around with the water pump and got everything ready to start putting things back together. Next I need to retime everything to make sure I have the timing right. Then put on the intake manifold and carbs, put on the waterpump, hook up the hoses, install the radiator, and fire it up. Then finish with the brakes. If everything went right, it could be on the road in a couple of days.
HAH! When have things ever gone right?

Hats off to Mrs A

I haven't been around much lately. Just too much going on, and stuff I didn't really want to get into at all.

We rescued "i" from the clutches of CPS and bought him home. When they release him, it is into protective custody, so you can't just give him back to mom until CPS says so. The protective custody is for 72 hours while they sort things out.

R wanted to be bailed out, but I told her I had something more important to take care of, getting "i" taken care of. Mission Accomplished. We had him for the next couple of days, but we both work. Mrs A volunteered to stay home and take care of him. I told her I would do it, but she insisted that I go to work, and she stay home.

So she stayed home and took care of him. I love her so much for stepping up and doing this. He is not her biological offspring, but she has a big heart. By the end of three days, she was more than willing to turn loose of him. So was I. I love the munchkin, but I am getting a little long in the tooth to be raising an infant. Same for Mrs A. I just hope R understands just how much she owes Mrs A.

CPS in their usual arrogant irresponsible manner, accused R of all sorts of things and threatened her with taking "i" away from her. They lied about what we had told them, and generally terrified her. They let her know that if there was any hint of drugs they would be taking "i". She blames some of this on us, and seems to have lost sight of the fact that if it wasn't for us, things would not have turned out so good.

Mrs A is a little more than pissed that R can't seem to recognize how much we went out of our way to help her out. I can't say as I blame her at all.

Needless to say it has created a great deal of tension at Chateau Warren. Once again I am caught in the middle, trying to make peace and generally getting beat about the head and shoulders from both sides.

Oh well, it's not the first time, and probably not the last.

Word of the DAY

Giberate (jib-er-ate) To create or write dowm gibberish.
I fat fingeted a word today, I meant to type generate, and it came out giberate. I liked it so much, I want to keep it.

Hey ma, it followed me home, can I keep it?

Giberate.

Stories

Story One: "This is the Police, we have your daughter in custody. She is being charged with two counts of leaving a child unattended in a car, and one count of Shoplifting. She is heavily intoxicated and uncooperative. Can you come and get your Gransdon, or do we need to contact social Services?"

Story Two: "Crystal went into the store and stole the food, and then ran off she was supposed to be watching the kids, but got scared"

Story three: "I wne into the store and Crystal was supposed to be watching the kids, but she left to go over to the gas station. I never stole anything and I had one beer".

Story Four: "I ran into XXXX down at safeway and she said she would watch the kids while I ran into the store real quick and picked up a couple of things. Evidently she took off. I was in the checkout line, when some people came in talking about a bunch of cop cars in the parking lot. When I looked out I saw they were around my car. I ran out to find out what was going on. I still had the groceries with me but had not checked out. So they charged me with shop lifting. I had money and every intention of paying. I had one beer."

Eye witness: "I saw a young woman pull into the parking lot. She had to climb out of the passengers side of the car. There was no one else present. She went off into the store and left the two little ones in the back seat of the car."

One Done (Again)

I took yesterday off. When I got up to go to work, the truck wouldn't start. It is also my last chance to take a day off for God knows how long, so I wanted to get the truck up to snuff.
Having fixed everything else, I had decided to bypass the clutch cutout switch, regardlless. There are times when I want to turn over the engine when the truck is in neutral, and I don't want to climb in the truck and push in the clutch.
So I bypassed the switch. The truck still didn't start, so it has to be in the ignition switch. In order to pull the ignition switch, you need to diable the airbag system and remove it from the vehicle, remove the steering wheel, and remove the switch. Too much work.
For $7.00 you can buy a solid brass starter button. Since I never use the cigarette lighter, I utilized the hot wore and hole from the lighter to install the button. Cut the wire to the solenoid out from the wire bundle, made a jumper wire to go to the other terminal on the button, and voila' you have a pretty much bulletproof starter switch, The rubber boot blends in nicely with the dash, and no wires show.
Mrs A said "You're a kind of McGuyver, aren't you?"
I was sooooo proud

None Done

When I was coming home from work today, I got as far as 7-11, and when I went to leave, the truck died, and when I went to start it back up.........nothing.
Having eliminated the battery, battery cable, alternator, starter, the fault can only lie in a couple of places. The cutout switch that is attached to the clutch, and the ignition switch itself.
No mere mechanical object can out-stubborn me. I WILL WIN. Eventually.
As soon as it stops raining, like maybe June, I will go out and do some diagnostics and figure out which. Having eliminated all of the other possibilities, I should be able to figure it out.
All I have to do is make a jumper wire to go from the battery to the solenoid, and jump it. If the starter turns, the problem is isolated to either the clutch cutout switch or the ignition switch.
It should be easy to find the clutch cutout switch. That being easy, it is probably the keyed switch itself.
Oh, and my laptop keeps freezing up.

One Done

The truck is back on the road.
You can't imagine the relief when I got in it, turned the key and the starter worked, the truck started right up. There are lots of things that could have gone awry, then I would have had to tear it all apart and do it again. I think I might have said a few bad words if that happened.
The next thing is to fix up the Z after her little temper tantrum the other day. I still have no dash lights, and one turn signal does not work. I put a new bulb in the turn signal, but it isn't working sounds like a lazy Saturday project to me. If the truck proves to be reliable, the Z will be going across the street to have the ground effects kit installed and painted.
That leaves Frankenhealey. I need to get busy on the car. If everything went right (and it never does) I could have it running in one day, but with reworking the distributor, installing the new carbs, figuring out a new linkage system, installing the water pump, it looks like it will be some months to get it all together. The goal is to get it running enough to drive it to the company car show this summer.
Unfortunately, I will be going back to seven days a week soon, so it limits my time to work on the cars. Even when the sun is out and the temperature is good, I find that I have a limited amount of energy. No more can I consistently work my eight and come home and put in another four at home. I think it is more mental than physical, not that it matters, because the result is the same.
At ant rate, one down, to to go. It must have been all the fingers crossed.

Hiway Robbery

Because I am very anal about my cars, I overdo sometimes. I could have gone to the local parts house and ordered a generic battery cable and cobbled it together with the various wires and been reasonable certain it would work. I have done this many times, but it always ends badly. The contacts aren't perfect and it leads to things not working as well as they should.

Since the battery cable has three wires, and a couple of them go to things like the alternator and starter, I elected to buy the factory original replacement. I mean, how much could it be? So I called the Chevy dealer and ordered the part. I was told it would be $65. Well, since I have worked a lot of overtime, I had the money. The part came in today and I asked for "The ridiculously expensive battery cable" the had on back order. Somehow the $65 cable had suddenly become an $80 battery cable. I swear they jacked up the price just to get back at me for my smart mouth.
I was robbed, and they didn't even use a gun.
I went back home and got to work. Nothing went right. After a couple of hours, I have the starter roughly in place, but my right arm just got too darn tired to hold the starter up, twist it and push it in place, so I called it a night. After a day of work I am only good for a couple of hours of hard labor. It's hell getting old.
Maybe after I get the truck running, finish updating the Z, restore the Jensen(s), I will have to think about selling them off and buying only one toy.
NAH, I don't think so.

On The Move

Monday, I moved from one desk to another. Since there is no aircraft on the line right now for P8-A, I moved back to the other side of the house for a couple of weeks. I have plenty to do, and I have no real idea why they thought I could do it better from a different location, but I really don't care where I hang my hat.
I will be in my new location for about two weeks, and will them move back to my old location. I also have a bunch of on-line training to do. I really don't have the time to do it when I am supporting the plane, so I had better take care of it now.
The cars are temporarily on hold. The weather is not particularly nice, and I am waiting for a part from the Chevy dealer which isn't due in until Thursday, so it makes for a good excuse to drink beer and watch baseball (Mariners in first place!) When the part comes in, I need to put in the new starter and cross my fingers that the truck starts. I will have eliminated all of the possibilities except for a bad relay or a bad ignition switch. When I get through with this latest iteration, the truck should be good for a couple of years of trouble-free operation (fingers crossed here!)
My parts have all come in for Frankenhealey, but I need to but a couple of gaskets and such. I also want to pull the distributor and remove the vacuum advance, but am just not in a big hurry to do anything.

Great-Grandparenting

This Saturday was A's twenty-first birthday, so Mrs A volunteered to take care of Neeko for the weekend. Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning. She had such a great time taking care of him overnight a couple of weekends ago, that she figured it would be fun.
HAH!
Neeko is six months old, and just learning to express himself. As in expressing his displeasure at not being entertained constantly. He has quite a temper. He can also out-stubborn a couple of aging grownups.
We have gotten used to our peaceful, quiet home, and three days of disruption was a bit too much. Mrs A reached her limit and beyond, but still troupered through. I admit that I chickened out and went down and worked on the truck just to get away.
I tore out the starter. What a giant pain in the ass. I have everything torn apart, and the new starter ready to put in, but I want to put in a new battery cable, which I want to get from the Chevy dealer, and their parts department is closed on the weekend, so it gave me an excuse to knock off early and drink beer. I should be able to get the part tomorrow, and then I need to start putting it all back together.
We very much enjoy having out nice peaceful house back to ourselves.
One evening and overnight is OK, but I don't think we will be volunteering for any extended babysitting any time soon.
Neeko is the pukingest baby I ever did see. Every pair of PJs, every blanket, my sweatshirt and jeans, as well as every piece of clothing Mrs A wore. The washing machine has done overtime this weekend. The rug will need a good shampooing.
I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Cars Are Revolting

In both senses of the word.


Yesterday after work, I got in the truck, and it would not turn over. I had to go to Security and get a push. I am getting awfully tired of this. Having replaced the battery and alternator, the next step in the sequence is the starter.

So I got in the Z, the good old trust reliable Z, this morning and of course it started right up. Then the lights started strobing. Bright, dim, bright, dim. Then off. All the dash lights went out, the marker lights, the turn signals. The car still ran just fine and the headlights and tail lights worked, so I went to work. When I got home I started trouble shooting. The fusible links were fine. None of the fuses were blown. WTF????

Got out the multi-meter. The hot wire to the light switch was getting a good strong 12 volts. The output turned on and off when you operated the switch. Went out and pulled the lens off of one of the marker lights, and the bulb was blown. Tested the light, and it was getting 12v. Somehow a voltage spike had blown all of the bulbs. Markers, turn signals and dash lights. I replaced all the bulbs, tested the lights without the engine running, and everything works just fine. Got to be the voltage regulator. Ordered a new one, but it won't be in until tomorrow. Took apart the voltage regulator and tweaked it. Everything worked just fine. Of course I have no dash lights, since replacing the bulbs is a major pain in the ass, but I pretty much drive by sound and gears anyway, so it is no major deal, except that the stereo is out, It has an in-line fuse, which is probably blown, and to get at it you need to pull put the unit, and I just didn't have the time.

I will start it up in the morning and drive it to work with fingers crossed, get the new voltage regulator after work and put it in. Tearing the radio out and replacing the dash lights will have to wait.

Meanwhile the truck lurks in the driveway waiting for it's turn.

Sometimes I just have to ask myself why I love cars.

On the other hand, a new group of Mexicans has moved in across the street. The head of the household also has a Z. Through an interpreter, we talked Zs. He is a body and fender man. Just what I need. I have a ground effect kit for the Z that I just can't seem to get the time to get around to installing. I asked if he wanted to do some work for me, and we haggled over a price to install and paint the kit. We settled on $650.00 which is a very good price. Most quotes I had were over $1,000.00. I have to wait until after I get the truck fixed, but it will be nice to have it done.

In the meantime, I needed to get the hood for Frankenhealey straightened and ready for paint, so I asked him for a quote on that work, and he said $200.oo, so I told him to take it and do it. No hurry. It is kinda a test case. If he does well, he can do the Z, and after that, Frankenhealy.

It's nice to not be working seven days a week, I get a whole heck of a lot more done when I'm not dead tired.

Day Four

This is the last day of my mini-vacation.

Friday went as planned. We went to lunch at Bahama Breeze and then went to see "Knowing" starring Nicholas Cage. Mrs A loved it, but I wasn't impressed. It was entertaining enough, but I found it depressing.

Things on the car did not go as planned (do they ever?) I got everything back together, but the water pump still leaks. Now I get to take it all back apart. Along the way, I had to make a couple of hoses, and the bolts were different on the pulley, and I updated some of the clamps. It ought to come apart and go back together a lot easier than the first time.
I also bought a full Dellorto carb setup on e-bay, so I will be tearing things down even further i anticipation of installing the new carbs. I have a couple of things I wanted to update anyway, like taking the vacuum advance off and tapping a hole for the heater hose spud, and putting on a crankcase breather hose. I vowed to take my time and not get stressed on this project, but it is hard for me to do that. I am a very goal oriented person, and usually end up pushing harder than I should. My body usually punishes me for this. I am sore today, but will soon get off of my duff and go out and get back at it.
I don't want to go back to work tomorrow. More and more, my thoughts turn towards retirement. I am not ready yet, but need to spend a little more time organizing and planning. I need to update the heating system, fix a few things on the house, pay off the last of the bills (getting close!) and then take a close look at the overall finances. I know I could probably retire any time I want, but need to make sure we will be comfortable. I'd really like to pay off the house, and need to figure out how to shorten the time left on the mortgage. I will still need to wait for Social Security to kick in.
Time to get at it.

Mini-vacation

Things at work are such that I have an opportunity to take a couple of days off.

So I will be taking off Friday and Monday, to make a four day weekend. The weather is supposed to be decent, so I hope to get the chance to twist a wrench on Frankenhealey. I would like to get back to the point where I can start it, and with a little luck bleed the brakes and maybe even drive it around the block. I don't plan on killing myself trying, but if it works out, that would be nice.

Friday I plan to sleep in and veg until Mrs A. gets home from work, then we will go see a movie, and after that go to dinner. Just a nice laid back day.

Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will be working in the yard, working on cars, church, and a few beers and more relaxing. Maybe watch a baseball game.

The Mariners have started the season in excellent shape, but it is a long season. If the players health holds up, it promises to be an interesting season. I am a fan, for good or bad, but it is a lot more fun when they are winning.

Ken Griffey Jr. is back with the club, and brings an extra element to the season. He started here, and ten years have passed since he last played with the club, but he has a huge fan base here. He got a hit in his first at home at bat. He brings a level of professionalism and focus that has been missing in the club the last couple of years. His leadership should go a long way towards keeping the team in focus, and bringing back the sense of fun that has been missing.

Mrs A and I will have to have a talk about how much baseball I will watch. When we were first got hitched, she watched the games with me. Now the truth is out. She could care less. So I believe in reasonable accommodation. I guess we will sit down and figure out what meets both our needs.

A Lot More Nothing

Just another Monday.

Enough work to keep me busy and get through the day.

It was nice to have the weekend off. I spent the day Saturday vegging and then working on cars. The truck is back on the road, and I put the water pump on Frankenhealey. Since I am putting together an engine and carburetors that were never offered in the U.S., I have to get a little creative to hook things up. There are no hoses available to hook up the water pump, I have to create them. I got one hook-up done, but still have to figure out how to do a couple more things. Hopefully, the weather will turn so I can do a little more work. At least I am making progress.

Unfortunately, after spending most of the day working on cars, I woke up at 3:00 AM with my left hip in major pain. It goes this way: I have arthritis in my hips, so I take Glucosamine. When I take it, the pain goes away. Then after it goes away for a while, I quit taking the Glucosamine, and am fine for several months, until I go out and spend the day working on cars, when the pain comes back.

You think I would learn, but this pattern has repeated itself several times. So now I am back to taking the Glusosamine. It will take a couple of weeks for the pain to go away, then things will be fine.

Right now, the weather is crap. They are talking mixed rain and snow, thunder and lightning. Next week things are supposed to turn to Spring. Temps in the 60s. Sunshine.

Can't wait.

Same old stuff

Things are slowing down at work now.
Thank God.
After several months of intense crazy seven-day-a-week work, the current bird is supposed to roll out next Monday. I have asked to have this weekend off, which would make TWO IN A ROW. I hear that people do this on a regular basis. Just not me, and just not recently.
I am burned out right now, and am looking forward to several weekends off in a row.
I need to get back to work on the truck. I replaced the alternator this week, but haven't put things back together.
The Chevy place wanted $450.00 to put in an alternator. The shade tree mechanic in me about threw up. The alternator is $136.00 and the work is minimal, so when I got back from the ocean, I took out the old alternator and bought a new one. Put the new one in yesterday, and put the battery on the charger.
I had to run some errands after work, and by the time I got home, I didn't feel like hooking everything back up. It will still be there tomorrow.
A guy could get used to this working five days a week and no overtime.
I plan on not working this weekend, get to spend some time at home, get the truck working, drink a few beers and chill out.
It has been a long time.

Nice Weekend, Interesting day

The weekend at the ocean was great. Having two days of sunshine back to back, on the weekend, and having them off, as well as it being Mrs As birthday. The hotel we stayed at was surprisingly nice. Chateau Westport sounds like part of a bad movie, but is actually a nice facility.
We took a side trip to Long Beach, perused the shops, I bought Mrs A a bauble, had pizza at Bluttos Pizza, walked the beach..
Went into town for waffle cones.
And that was just Saturday.
Sunday on the way home we stopped at The Westport Winery, for a wine tasting. They had some really nice fruity varietals. I bought four bottles. The one we opened when we got home was called Red Sky At Night. It is a raspberry wine with chocolate. Like drinking a Raspberry Truffle.
We also stopped at Bay City Sausage and bought some fresh pepperoni.
When we got home, I helped R bleed the brakes on her car. She did most of the work, I supervised and showed her what to do. We got it done and everything is working just fine.
Today a guy happened by and saw my RV in the driveway. He stopped and talked to Mrs A, said he wanted to buy it. She told him to come back later.
He called after I got home, and offered me four grand. I said seventy-five hundred. He came by to get a look at the inside. We settled on forty-seven hundred. I wanted to dump it because it gets like eight miles to the gallon. It had some staining inside, the air conditioner didn't work, the fridge was on the fritz. I want to take the money and set it aside and start looking for something more efficient like maybe a VW Westfalia.
Mrs A is pissed at me for selling it, but then she didn't have to drive it or work on it.

My Boat

Here is a picture of my boat.

Not really, but in my head I have owned this boat for several years.

This is a 1939 Hacker 55ft excursion craft. She has a Honduran Mahogany hull with stainless steel uppers. She is powered by twin Allison V12 engines and can get up and do 70 miles an hour. She is known as the "Thunderbird", and if you have ever heard her run, you know she is aptly named.

She resides in Lake Tahoe, and was custom designed and built as a commuter craft for the lake. To my eye and mind there has never been a finer melding of Art Deco styling and Naval Architecture. It makes me proud to be a human being just to know such a thing exists.

I am also thankful that I don't really own it. It is more boat worship than boat lust. Although I own it in my head, I don't have to do the endless hours of maintenance or pay the fees to have someone else do it. In my mind it sits there ready for me to turn the key and press the starter button, listen to the gynormous engines spur and sputter and catch, smooth out and roar to life.

Engage the drive and back it slowly out of the boathouse, take a leisurely aft port turn, change over to forward, ease on the throttles and get it up on plane.

Hand the wheel over to my trusted pilot, and go back for coctails and cigars and finger food. The temperature is always 78 degrees, the sun always shines, the conversation is always stimulating, the food world class.

The boat leaves at six. Be there in your best bib n' tucker.

Six days Smokeless

It really hasn't been that difficult so far. I have never been a heavy smoker, just three to six cigarettes a day.
The fact that I feel like crap only helps with the quitting. The thought of smoking right now nauseates me. Along with a lot of other things. So I would guess I am losing weight and stopping smoking all at the same time.
It wouldn't be such a bad gig, except for the bad dreams. I have been drifting around in this surreal landscape with weird stuff happening the last couple of nights. Mostly I don't remember what happened. The only thing from last night I remember was waking up right when I was killing one of my co-workers. Don't remember the circumstances, just remember being pissed and had just started doing something about initiating his demise. Weird stuff happens when you are dreaming and running a fever. And I'm not even mad at him.
Tomorrow after work we are off to the ocean for the weekend. It will be nice to get out of Dodge for a couple of days. Just going to Westport, but there seems to be this freak of weather coming for the weekend. Temperature above 50 and no rain. Just as long as we have enough sunshine for a nice long walk on the beach. It is Mrs A's birthday, so we will pick some place nice for dinner.
R and "i" are going to stay at the house while we are gone. She was going to be here to keep an eye on V, but V is leaving tomorrow for Spring Break. Heading to Mount Bachelor for a week of snow boarding. She wants to come over anyway, because we have a 50 inch plasma screen and cable. Not to mention unlimited quantities of free food.

Down but not out.

I''ve been down with the crud for the last three days.

Woke up Sunday with a temperature of 101, a sore throat, dizzy and aching all over. Spent the next couple of days in bed. Today the fever was still up there in the morning, but has come down over the course of the day. Guess I'll be back to work tomorrow.

Maybe I should quit working so many days in a row.

Friday we are going to the ocean for a couple of days, to celebrate Mrs A's birthday, which is Saturday. Then next week is our anniversary.

I sure hope she doesn't catch the crud from me. "Happy birthday dear, here's a case of the crud!"

Last year we went out of town for her birthday and she got sick. It would really suck if we had a repeat.

Since I had a sore throat and wasn't going out, I ran out of cigarettes on Saturday night, so I decided now was as good a time as any to quit. A couple of years ago I quit for a year. but living with a smoker makes it difficult. Mrs A is trying to quit. She went out and bought herself this fake cigarette. It has a heating element that vaporized nicotine and you cut down on the dosage over time. So maybe if she quits, I can give it up again.

Three days and counting.

Getting Better

Things at work have been crazy busy the last couple of days.

The closer the aircraft gets to the door, the higher the anxiety, because there is less time to fix things. I've had a couple of real battles in the last couple of days, but for the most part have come up on top.

The first thing is that there are no unimportant parts on an aircraft. One rivet not installed properly could cause a loss of cabin pressure, one wire not terminated properly could cause the failure of a critical electronic system at a critical point. Everything has to be taken seriously.

We aren't building Toyotas here. If something goes wrong, you can't pull it over to the curb and call AAA. This isn't building toasters. If something goes wrong, you end up with burned people, not burned toast. I take the whole thing very seriously.

So I am passionate about what I do. I hope that everyone else takes it as seriously as I do. When I fly, I do so with confidence, and I am in a position to understand the incredibly complex piece of machinery to which we trust our lives.

I love what I do, and am proud to be a part of producing the safest, most reliable transportation on the face of and above the Earth.

A Bitch Of a Day

Things started out bad and got worse.

One of the shop people came up to me with a question about how to install a certain electrical connector. I was not familiar with this particular type of connector, so my partner and I spent some time looking up the drawings and assembly specs. She wanted to know if they needed to install a washer between the connector and structure. I said no, but told them they had better check with an expert.
Said "Expert" came down to the shop floor and proceeded to read me the riot act and basically told everyone I didn't know what the hell I was talking about. She brandished a page out of a document and said "See, it shows right here a washer is required."
After she left, I went to the spec and looked it up. I was sure I had checked thoroughly. Sure enough, the page she was using was for a totally different type of connector. So I went to beard the lioness in her lair.
After pointing out to her that she was on the totally wrong page of the spec, I showed her the right page, which doesn't require a washer. I did it very diplomatically, and ended with, "But I am not the expert. We will ask the Spec Engineer to make the call."
He came out and off the cuff said that the washer was required. I just said, fine, show me the requirement, and the part number so we can order them. He wanted me to revise the planning to call out a washer, and I refused, saying that we do not call out parts in the bill of material that are provided by a process spec. The parts Guru was standing right there, and he agreed with me, so once again I asked the Engineer to provide me with a part number, and a specific spec. He left and went to dig out the information.
He came back about a half an hour later, kinda red faced and said "A washer is not required" and walked off.
Maybe next time they will think twice before challenging my technical expertise.
But it was still a very trying day. I did not indulge in the impulse to lay a big "I told you so" on them.
But I was really worked up, and I thought "I think I'll stop by the Booze Emporium on the way home, I could use a good stiff drink."
The truck wouldn't start, so I was out in the drizzle trying to figure out what was going on. Same problem as before. I had put the battery on the charger last night, so I know it wasn't the battery. I futzed around with the connections with no luck. A guy I know came by and offered a jump, but it didn't do anything. A couple of guys came by and gave me a push. Since it is a stick shift, it will start right up if you give it a little push.
It started right up, but there would be no stopping on the way home.
Maybe it was a good thing, given the mood I was in, I might have overindulged.
Tomorrow will be a better day.

Grandma Heaven

Mrs A is in Grandma heaven.



We are taking care of Neeko. He is about six months now, so he's not old enough to be much trouble, and he is a sweet baby. Doesn't fuss much, laughs easily and smiles a lot.



I think women love things when they are small and helpless. Once you pass the small and helpless stage, they merely tollerate you. By the time you learn the word no, it becomes a battle, usually pretty one sided. A five foot two mother can bring a six foot five man to his knees with a single searing look.



Neeko will be gone by the time I get home. I held him for a while last night so Mrs A could get on a load of laundry and fold some clothes.



He immediately fell asleep. Kids tend to do that when I hold them. I like to think it is because I am stress free and comfortable and safe. But then again, maybe I am just boring.

Two Strikes, and You're OUT

My stint at Jury Duty was cut short.

After not being picked for a jury in the first two days, those of us that weren't chosen were told we don't have report tomorrow.

Oh well, back to the grind tomorrow. It was nice having a couple of days with no pressure, just sitting around reading and listening to my i-pod.

We had two hours for lunch today, so I wandered around. Took in an art galery, had a pretty good Rueben Sandwich.

This makes four times I have been on Jury Duty, and I still have never been chosen to actually sit on a jury.