Westfalia

Our plan for this year is to buy a used Volkswagen Westfalia when we got out income tax return back. Well, the money hit the bank Saturday, so I have been looking this week. They are not cheap. Your basic "It runs, needs some TLC" Westfalia is priced between six and seven thousand bucks. I have been watching prices for six months or so. so I know where the local market is.
I ahve called on two vans this week. The first has some issues, which is why it wasa priced a little low. I didn't want to deal with the particular problems it had, so I passed on it.
I went last night and looked at one, and I made an offer on it. The price was $6500, but I offered them 6K cash. I am going over for the buy this afternoon. The only possible deal breaker is the title. They say it was their dad's van, and he passed away, so I will need some proof that they have the right to sell it. It is straight with no rust or dents or anything. Starts right up and runs OK. but probably needs a tune-up. A good way to get acquainted with the motor.
They are notoriously underpowered, but I am already eying a comversion kit that takes it from 1.9 liters to 2.3 liters. I could buy the rebuild kit and do the engine down in the basement over next winter.
We'll see how it goes.

Z

I haven't blogged about the Z lately. I promised to publish some pictgures after I put on the ground effects kit, but I never got around to it. Well, Saturday I put on a set of custom wheels and new tires. That pretty much completes the outside of the car.

Maybe tomorrow (or Later today) I will dig out a couple of "before" pictures.

Of course I'm never done. I still need to get the driver's seat reapholstered, and I need to find and fix a mminor "Clunk" in the rear end, but then I will pretty much be finished with it.

I will probably sell it and get a new project.

Just another Ssaturday

The weather continues to be incredible. The temperature was in the sixties today, so of course I had to work inside. The downstairs toilet started leaking, so I decided to bite the bullet and completely rebuild it.
New gaskets, new bolts, new fill tube and flapper, new mechanism., new cold water line.. The worst part was that the bolts that held the tank to the bowl were corroded to the point I could not loosen them. I went down and bought a special holder for a hacksaw blade to get in and saw the bolts in half. The toilet had 10" clearance on either side, so it was a pain in the back to get in there and cut them. But I got it done. Have I mentioned I hate plumbing?
It took longer than I thought it would, and I had barely finished when My grand daughter and great grandson showed up with her new fiancee'. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he seems OK. As long as he treats her right and she is happy. Little Nikko is 19 months and jabbers a mile a minute. Occasionally you here a word in there. His favorite is of course "NO".
I had a busy day planned, and there visit wasn't part of it, but it was nice to see them.
Needless to say, their visit made me rearrange my day. I recently got a bonus at work. I planned to use it to put wheels and tires on the Z. I got a set of used magnesium wheels from a guy I work with, and after I got done with the bathroom, the plan was to drop off the wheels at Firestone and have new tires put on them, then take the Z down and have the wheels and tires mounted, then go down and get the old wheels and tires. But I ran out of time to go pick up the tires tonight. I'll have to go do that in the morning.. The plan included getting a haircut and BBQing a mess of ribs.
I ended up tending the BBQ by flashlight, and the haircut will have to wait until tomorrow.
But the bathroom is done, and the new wheels and tires are on the Z. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'll have to finish cleaning up the Z and take some pictures.
After I get a haircut.

What a beautiful Day!

We awoke this morning to sunshine and blue skies. The unit we are renting is a block way from the beach, so after breakfast, we walked down to the beach. It was an incredibly nice morning for February.

We then went into town, and hit the shops. There is my favorite shop, Dragonfire,, which specializes in glasswork The picture is of our latest acquisition, a glass sphere about 3" in diameter. Because of the way it is made, the top half is clear and the bottom half opaque. Because of the way the color elements are twirled it looks like it goes on forever. This is the third piece we have purchased by the same artist. Double click on the picture, and you get a pretty good idea what it looks like, but you really can't get the full impression.

We went to a late lunch ad The Driftwood Inn. They have the best clam chowder ever. I grew up on clam chowder, come from the land of Ivar. All the way from Latteland I was thinking about the clam chowder, So of course I started out with the chowder, and it was incredible. I also had the crab sandwich, which is Dungenesse Crab on an English Muffin covered with melted cheddar cheese. Those of you not from around here have no idea what I'm talking about here. Dungenesse Blue Tip is the best crab in the world, and anyone who thinks different can meet me in the street at high noon for a Crab-out. Soft shells? HAH! King? Bring it on, bigger is not better! Hokkaido? Been there, done that. Snow crab? You can't snow me!

Later this afternoon, I wandered down the street to the Glass studio and spent about an hour talking with the owner. Learned a bunch. Kinda inspires me to follow up with the glass blowing classes when I get back. Glass is such an incredible medium, and I saw so much incredible stuff today.

Mini-vacation

I am typing this sitting on the couch at Van Buren Lighthouse Inn at Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is a very nice unit, more of a condo than a hotel room. One bedroom with a very comfortable queen size bed, kitchenette. Sleeper sofa dining table, gas fireplace, high def TV with VCR/DVD player. Since it is the off season, it is $125.00 a night. Two blocks off of the beach in the middle of Cannon Beach. We'll have to do a little more figuring out exactly where everything is tomorrow. The four hour drive left me without a whole lot of ambition.
As always, we stopped in Raymond, WA for lunch. Mrs A is thoroughly convinced the DQ in Raymond has the best Fish n' Chips anywhere. I had an oysterburger. There are probably people out there who will cringe at the sound of oysterburger, but I like them,
We decided to just relax this evening. The weather is supposed to pretty nice tomorrow, so we will have a full day.
Maybe tomorrow I will take a couple of pictures of the unit and upload them.

Babysitting

Here I am being tortured by "i". It is a real pleasure to have a child in the house for a while. Seeing him gaze up at me with his big grin so full of love and trust and innocence makes life worthwhile.

As much as I love having him around, two days is the limit.

By the time two days are over, I am happy to also see him go back home. There is a reason children are given to the young. We mature folk just don't have the energy to keep up with little ones for any great length of time. We were worn out by the time "i" left.

He is 20 Months old, and already potty trained. The only time he had an "accident" was when he was asleep. It makes taking care of him a lot more pleasant, but just as time consuming, since you have to make sure you remind him, and take him in and help him and wash his hands after and everything.

Taxes

We went in to H & R Block yesterday and did our annual Income Tax work. I wanted to get it done ASAP because I am getting a wad back this year.
We have agreed that we want to use the money to buy a used Volkswagen Westfalia camper van. We had an Airstream 19 foot motor home. It had it's good points, but I hated the way it lumbered down the road and the fact that it got about 6 miles to the gallon. A guy came by last spring with a wad of cash and I sold it and used the money to put in a new heat pump.
We love to go camping, but I wanted something a little more practical. A Westfalia will be just right for the two of us. Complete with stove, refrigerator, sink, and heat. But still getting around 20 MPG and usable for everyday chores.
Used ones in good condition run from five to eight thousand. I have been watching the adds on Craigslist, and there are some good bargains. I should be able to buy one and have a few bucks left over to work on it. Now I just have to wait for my return to come in.
We are having a family reunion of sorts in Sandpoint, Idaho in August, and I want to have it in good shape by then. It would be nice to take it out for an inauguration trip before then.
Then probably later, a trip to Utah to see the kids down there.

Still Here

I know I haven't written diddly SH*% lately. Truth is, I have been totally lazy.This happens to me this time every year.
I just had a very nice weekend, sorta. It didn't start out so great. I missed work on Friday, because I was up all night with stomach problems. I never got sick, but I think I would have been better off if I had stuck a finger down my throat and got it over with.
My body does not like one of my diabetes medications, Metformin. I have heard from other diabetics that it is not unusual for people to have a bad reaction to it. I get a stomach ache and heartburn that is really, really bad. Bad enough that sleep is impossible. No amount of pink stuff or pepcid or alka anything else will stop it. You just have to hang on and ride it out. It usually lasts about eight to ten hours. Usually I can figure out what I ate (or drank) that caused it, but Thursday night I didn't do anything real bad. Sure, I had a small batch of chips and dip, and I had a couple of beers, but normally this would not have effected me.
So I got up and called in to work and crashed on the couch. When I got up I was still disoriented.
My cousin, K who lives in Texas was up visiting. His primary reason was to visit his sister, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The cancer has metastasized into her bones, and is inoperable. With treatment she has maybe four to five years. Bummer.
He wanted to spend some time here, and wanted to go see our aunt and uncle on Vashon.
It started out as just him and I going over, but ended up as six people and a minor family reunion. Everyone had a great time, even though we were watching the Datona 500 and had to stay longer than we intended to catch the end of the race.
He came back here and spent the night, and I took him to the airport around noon. It was sure good to see him. He gave us a little fiddle concert this morning before I ran out to Sea-Tac.
He left me with a 16 gig flash drive with about 80 CDs on it. I spent the day downloading and sampling music. He is and Old-timey fiddle player, so a lot of it is old time fiddle, bluegrass, Irish, and folk. Not my usual stuff.
The one that I had to immediately transfer over to itunes so I can load it on to my ipod was a best of cd from Edith Piaf. Love it. Wish I understood a little French.

The Death of Blogging

I think Blogging is dying.
A lot of the people I used to share with have slowly dropped out.
Fewer people, fewer new blog entries, less general traffic.
Sure there are a few of us diehards out here slogging and flogging and blogging. But it just seems to me it has become less relevant.
It requires spelling skills, and more attention span than a gnat, unlike twitter.
And then I heard the stroke of doom. The Catholic Church is encouraging priests to take up blogging. If The Church encourages it, that means it has gone so main stream that no self respecting churmudgeon could continue. After all, sharing space with the worlds largest organized group of pedophiles just isn't cool.
Maybe they will just keep to themselves......
Oh well, I guess I'll stick around for a while.

Pilgrimage

The boy is off on his annual pilgrimage to Stanford this weekend. Argumentative teenagers from all over the country converge there for a grand Debate tournament. He brought home a trophy last year.
Not only willV be there, but my neohew from Minnesota will be there also. What are the odds of having two members of the same family at the event?
Let's hope Stanford is up to the experience.
This also means that Mrs A and I will have the weekend to ourselves. Believe me, we are looking forward to having the house to ourselves. I just may disable the phones.
I hope I get the time to get out and get Frankenhealey runninig. My cousin K is coming in from Texas next week and it would be cool to at least start it up and take him around the block. If we go any farther, it will be in the Z.
We will be going over to Vashon Island to visit our Aunt and Uncle. He hasn't seen them in about ten years. I haven't been there in four or five.

Do I know how to have fun, or what?

I think Homeland Security must have decided I was smuggling aliens around in my ass or something.
My health care provider sent me off the the gastroenterologist.
They made me drink a gallon of gawdawful swampwater, so I spent the evening pooing my brains out. For those who have accused me of having sh** for brains, I can assure you that it is no longer true. Anything below my hair and above my knees that even remotely resembled poo was forcibly ejected out
If that wasn't enough they inflated my intestines with compressed air and shoved a camera up my ass. Fortunately during the exam they filled me full of drugs so I didn't care. "Hey, more air over here. I think I can play the Star Spangled Banner on the Butt Trumpet!"
This is the only medical procedure I have undergone where I was actively encouraged to fart.
At any rate, they found no aliens. One small polyp that they removed. A small patch of diverticulitis but nothing major.
Two days without a decent meal. The first thing I did afterwards was head for Denny's and a decent breakfast. Unfortunately they didn't have any.
I think I will decline to do it again.

Did I really say that?

My mouth gets me in too much trouble.
I was minding my business this morning, parking my truck. Because I have been there forever, I have a parking pass that allows me to park a couple hundred yards closer. There is this security guard we call the Parking Nazi. He is a real ass. Just about everyone I work with has a story about an encounter with him. We sometimes sit around and swap stories.
At any rate, Robocop was patroling the restricted area. He pulled in behind me. I got out and started off. He said "Hey, do you have a parking pass?" I answered in the affirmative. He demanded I get it and bring it to him. So I said, Hey, there's no need to act like a dickhead.
I showed him my parking pass, started off. He waited until I had gone about 30 feet, pulled up and told me he wasn't going to put up with me. He demanded I stop and came over and called his superior. Who came out and asked me what the problem was. I said "Him".
I explanied that I had broken no rules, and did not care to be treated like a criminal by anyone. He tried to cover, saying that I had to display my parking credentials. I turned and pointed at my truck "See the blue truck. See the parking pass on the dash. That's where it was. Can you see it?"
At any rate I am now on double secret probation. The guy is seriously on this power trip and needs to be brought down a couple of pegs.
Next time I see him I will have to tell him that we all sit around and tell stories about him and laugh at him. He is just the kind of pompous ass that it will eat at him thinking about us laughing at him.
Nah, I'm just not mean enough.

The Line

When you are in a relationship, you have to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you. You need to be aware of your partners needs and moods.
Mrs A is sitting next to me.
Do you still love me?
Of course my dear.
At this point you know at this point that she is looking for something more that a yes. Don't give in at this point.
How come?
I don't know, I just do?
This is not the answer she is looking for, she will have to take it to the next level.
If you don't know why, maybe you will quit loving me.
You have set it up, now to go in for the score.
I don't think about it. It is like breathing. I don't think about breathing, but like breathing, it is something I must have in order to live.
He shoots. He scores!

30 And Counting

That would not be me.......
That would not be my marriage.........
It would be how long I have worked at Boeing. Although my actual Anniversary is tomorrow, the Company took me to lunch yesterday. I generally could care less about this sort of thing usually, but the prize in the puddin' was that I got to take the rest of the day off after lunch. Not to mention that the two choices for lunch were steak and salmon. Our cafeteria at work is pretty bad. Admittedly better than the School Cafeteria or the soup kitchen, but definitely south of fast food. I think of it as fuel as opposed to food.
The luncheon was at the Bellevue Club, a hoity-toity members-only kinda place. Everything was very nice and the food was excellent. Shake and pictures with the BIG BOSS. The head of Engineering for BCAG and VP of BCAG, Mike Denton is a nice guy. There were about 20 of us celebrating our 30th, one her 35th. Each one had to get up and say howdie and give a short autobiography.
"I stood on the tarmac of Boeing Field in Seattle on December 28th 1967 and watched the very first 737 take off on it's delivery to Lufthansa airlines". Some of you with rudimentary math skills might catch the fact that 1967 from 2010 does not equal 30. I had a couple of breaks in service. The first was because Uncle Sam decided he needed me. Very much against my will I was dragged, kicking and screaming into the Army, where I ended up as the Liaison Officer for the locked Psychiatric facility on Okinawa. As I explained, it was excellent training for my career at Boeing.
The second came when we lost funding for a top secret research and development project I was working on. The laid me off two weeks before Christmas, with no warning and no notice. I swore I would never go back. But of course I did, and I really don't regret it. It has been fun and a challenge.
I guess I'll stick around for a few more years.

Why animals eat their young

Because if you don't terminate them when they are small, they will turn into teenagers.
First of all, V came in the other night and announced he needed money for the Debate Team trip to Stanford. He has known about it since before the Holidays. The information he gave me said that the money was due by Jan 8th. He handed it to me on the 12th.. The actual trip is the weekend of Feb 8th. $200 for the room. Airline reservations another $175. Food and spending money, an extra $100. Total, almost $500, and I had to hurry and make the flight reservation before it filled up.
Not to mention that the night before, I reminded him that garbage pickup was the next day, and he just blew it off. Mrs A, ended up having to take it to the curb as she was going to work.
I was pissed enough that I told him to go away because I didn't want to see him right then.
Big debate tournament this weekend Saturday V uses the bathroom, uses the toilet and messes up the seat, doesn't flush and leaves his dirty boxers in the floor.
He won two trophies at the debate tournament. Second place in Extemp and third in Congress.
He got home late (11:00) from debate and by the time he unwound it was close to midnight, but I wouldn't let him go to bed until he cleaned the bathroom. We had left it for him and just used the one downstairs.
I told him that it was bad enough he chose to live in a filthy room, but he had no right to bring his filth out where the rest of us to have to deal with. It was really EEEWWWWW.
So he spent the day cleaning today.
It was either that or death by swirly.

Quiet Weekend

Didn't do a whole lot on the weekend. Saturday, L came over and she and Mrs A went shopping. I donated $100 to the cause. I had brought home work to do, so I spent the time doing data collection and collating. Boring stuff.
The reason I brought work home was that I went out for lunch and didn't come back.
A bunch of us that used to work together try to get together every Christmas and catch up. This tradition is over 10 years old, and is always fun. Our annual holiday fell through in December, so we decided to get together last Friday.
We went to BJ's Brew Pub. I decided I didn't want to go have a couple of beers and then go back to work.
Right before lunch they come to me and say "You know the statistical analysis you did on the costs on the last airplane? We need you to do it on the one before that, so we can do out headcount predictions for the next one"
I told them it would not get done Friday, but that I would work on it at home over the weekend and have it for them by the end of shift on Monday.
Lots of tedious number crunching At any rate, while the women were out, I put on the blues station and crunched numbers.
Sunday, R and "i" came over. We had a huge box of pull-ups for her, and she had promised to reorganize our spice cabinet. I'm not saying I'm a bit of a packrat, but some of the spices went back to 1985. They were probably still good..........................
All in all a nice quiet weekend.

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Remote

I am not the ultimate Hi-Tec guy, but I need the basic amenities. You know, the 50" high def LCD TV with cable, surround sound And dvd player.
When the country went digital, I had already been there for over a year. Comcast set me up with a free converter box, so I had no problems.
The downside was the universal remote needed to run all the stuff. It is not really user friendly, but we have learned to live with it.
Second part of the story, I bought a very expensive laptop computer for Mrs A and I. Not for any one else. Just for the two of us. The old laptop became community property. I am deleting all personal information off of it and using it as a recording studio for my old vinyl. When I am not using it, it is free for anyone to use.
V. is sneaky. He is a technogeek, and there was this brand new high end laptop sitting there. I told him he was not to use it. Since I was still setting up things, I left it unprotected. I had a sneaking suspicion that V. was getting up in the middle of the night and messing with it. I know there is some way of checking history, but I don't know how.
So yesterday I password protected the computer.
When we got up this morning, the remote for the TV was missing. Mrs A and I made a quick check around, and it was nowhere to be found. Didn't have time to get serious about looking. When I got home, I tore things apart looking for the remote,, and came up empty. I knew that V. was the last one to use it, since the TV was on Comedy Central and Mrs A and I never watch that channel. He was upstairs taking a nap.
I went upstairs and woke him. "OK you were the last person to use the remote, you need to get up and find it!"
Much grumbling and "I don't know where it is"
"Get up and find it. I am pissed and not likely to get any better until YOU find the remote that YOU had last!"
He got up and came down stairs. After a cursory search, he went out in the kitchen, looked back at the living room and said "There it is right there" and came in and fished it out from under a chair.
"See, it just fell off and got lost"
Where it landed was under the sectional. It would not be possible for the remote to have landed where it did without a considerable amount of assistance. The physics just don't work. Someone had to have deliberately put it there.
Now let's see......someone was pissed because I had password protected my new computer, and was the last one to have used the remote, which mysteriously disappeared, and then found in a very short period of time when confronted...................
A picture is beginning to emerge..................
The dog did it.

Laughing through the tears

As I mentioned the other day, my Aunt Mary Rose Glahe passed away on Christmas eve day. She was a very special person to me.
When we were growing up, her family lived right outside Olympia, Wa. The trip now is about an hour down the freeway, but back then it was about double that. We went down there or they came up here pretty regularly. I was close to my cousins growing up, but eventually the moved to Utah, which to me was the equivalent of moving to the back side of the moon. After they moved, I think the only time I saw them was in 1970 for my Grandfathers' funeral in 1970.
A few years ago My cousin Ginger and I got back in touch, and have visited back and forth a couple of times a year. She and her husband, Pat have a beautiful home in Coberg, Oregon.
When Mrs A and I first started going down to Coberg to visit, Aunt Mary Rose would come over and visit along with her brother, my Uncle Fred.
When we first got back together, we figured out that it had been about 32 years since we has seen each other. But the minute I walked in the door, it was like the years in between had evaporated. We spent several hours remembering things we had done when we were kids and such.
I had spent a couple of weeks in Olympia with them a couple of times, working in the strawberry fields. The most significant thing I remember about strawberry picking is that they paid us in silver dollars. That and the strawberry fights, and eating strawberries until I couldn't eat any more. In fact, to this day, I am not real fond of strawberries.
I also recall the time we went camping at the ocean at Westport, at Twin Harbors State Park. In the middle of the night a rain storm moved in and we got drenched. When the air mattresses started floating, we had enough, broke camp and headed home. Olympia was about held way home, so we showed up and Aunt Mary Rose and Uncle Franks' house wet, bedraggled and chilled to the bone. I was never so happy to see their porch light.
Shortly after she passed, Ginger sent a very nice piece talking about their experience, and included some stories of life with her parents. A couple of them were downright hilarious.
I read them sitting there on the couch laughing right out loud with tears running down my face.

New Computer

Our main present to each other this Christmas is a new computer. It is a Gateway laptop. Top of the line 17" screen dual core P8700 with INVIDIA Geforce GTX 2600M video card with 4gb DDR3 Memory. Good enough graphics for gaming, Extended life battery (6 hours), built in web cam with Windows 7.

It has taken me most of a day to set it up and get it running. It will take a while to get used to Windows 7. Just when you get used to one way of doing things, they change it.

The Old laptop is now more or less dedicated to being an Audio Studio. I have started converting my old vinyl to MP3. Then they need to be edited and stuff. Some of the really old stuff has so much hiss and pop that the software can't tell where one song stops and the next one starts, so I have to go in later and divide the tracks up and title them.

We went and saw Avatar today. Quite the Movie. Incredible Computer Generated Imaging. I've
seen some great stuff in games, but it is pretty much static background with a figure moving through it. Three dimensional continuous CGI. I can't imagine how much computer time went into making the movie. I give it four starts on a one to five star ranking.

Merry Christmas

I Hope everyone's Holidays are going well.

It was our turn to host the Christmas Eve. So we had a whole house full of Warrens telling lies and solving the world's problems. Everyone brought wonderful food, and we ate and drank until we couldn't eat any more. What I love about Christmas Eve is that there is never a sit down meal, just all buffet all night.

Little quiches, eggrolls, my home made salsa (killer!) with crab eat and cream cheese or shrimp and creme cheese. Chili cheese dip. Chinese sweet and sour meat balls. Deviled eggs. Crab dip. Chicken wings. Wild huckleberry cobbler.

Crown Royal, Tanqueray of Pyrat Rum. Fat Tire Amber Ale. Horneby's Hard Cider. for those who drank. Knudsens sparkling Cider for those who didn't.

We don't do a gift exchange any more, we just give a collection for the poor. We did have a $20 gift exchange, complete with stealing and all that.

Our two daughters and the kids spent the night, so we did have the Christmas Morning present opening and madness.

Mrs A got me a Sony Turntable that converts old vinyl LPs to PM3 files, so I may next surface in a couple of weeks, as I have around 400 old albums to convert to digital files. The turntable comes with a pretty complicated suite of software, so I have to figure out how to run everything, how to run the editing software, set the titles and separate the tracks. Then convert it over to itunes so I can load it on my ipod.

We still plan to get a new laptop after the Holidays, but no rush.

On a sad note, my Aunt Mary Rose passed away at 11:00 in the morning on Christmas eve day. She was my favorite aunt. In fact my daughter, Rose is named after her. She had been failing for a couple of years, and her passing comes as no great shock. My mind is ready to accept her passing, but my heart is not yet ready to let her go.

787 First Flight

Everything went quiet in the factory here in Renton, starting at about 10:00. All the big screen monitors were tuned in to the same site:
The live broadcast of the 787 Dreamliner, set to take off on it's first flight.

There had to be a lot of sweaty palms and tightened sphincters around Boeing. This had been a long and difficult birthing. It had already caused several careers to flame out. It had cost a huge pile of money and resources. It had tried the patience of stockholders, corporate officers, and the work force. It had cost the image of The Boeing Company to take several hits to it's credibility.

Things had started out so spectacularly. The competition didn't have a ready answer to a light, versatile, fuel efficient people mover. Sales went through the roof, anticipation built, the stock went up and up and up.

It didn't take too long to show the near fatal flaws in the business model. No one had tried to put together an aircraft in quite this way. State of the art all composit construction divided among several stake holders, to be assembled somewhere else. Admittedly, the bottom line looked like an Ebebezer Scrooge wet dream, but was built on such a happy path plan, that it couls not succeed as planned. A product of this complexity could not be initiated by multiple stakeholders in multiple countries and assembled. The basic rules of Chaos Theory warn us that complex systems accumulate error probabilities in a way that makes first try success impossible.

As the assembly completion and first flight dates slid further and further to the right, it became all too clear that the business plan was flawed. Boeing's reputation has always been that if they promised something, they delivered. It now became a minefield of delays and excuses. The stock fell, Heads rolled, the stock fell.

But today, for one all too brief moment, all of that became past history. All of the false starts and disappointments became part of the past. It flies.

Oh, it's not done with yet. There are still lots of things to iron out in the assembly process, the supplire chain, and the final design. But the first major milestone has been passed.

BUT IT FLIES!

Still Freezzing

Since Sunday, the temperature has not gotten above freezing. In places today, it got down into the single digits. It set all sorts of records for low temperatures.

But tomorrow starts the beginning of a warming trend. They predict the high will get up to maybe even 34 degrees. We may get a chance to remove at least one layer of clothing. Don't worry, that won't expose any skin. By Friday it may warm up enough for it to rain, or maybe the "S" word.

Right now it is too cold for even frost, except for frost stars on the windshield in the morning. This morning the frost stars were about a half inch in diameter. They really looked nice. they weren't heavy enough to have to scrape the window, just there enough to refract some of the light from the street lights.

Of course I turned on the defroster as the car warmed up. After a few minutes suddenly the windshield cleared. It was as if someone suddenly scraped the windshield clear all at once. One minute, frost stars, next minute none.

Baby I't's COLD Outside

The temperature was in the low 20's this morning. It is supposed to maybe get UP to freezing this morning.
I know there are people that think this is nothing to complain about. Having spent most of my adult life here in Latteland, I have to admit I have never seen it get below Zero.
But we Lattelanders are poorly adapted for the cold. Admitted, a percentage of us have a fatty layer of insulation that would seem to insulate us from the cold, but I think if you gave it some study you would find that the fatty layer is not evenly distributed, and therefore of little value.
At home, our domiciles are poorly insulated, and out pipes tend to freeze often and with disasterous results. I have attempted to oversome this by redirecting a heat vent down into the basement. After all, you don't need a great deal of heat to keep the pipes from freezing.
The next several days will follow the pattern of frigid nights and freezing days, with no sign of respite until maybe Friday.
At least the sun is shining.
But all that does is lull you into a false sense of security so you will go outdoors, where the wind and chill will freeze your face off.

Way Too Much Crap

On Sunday, a career criminal went into a coffee shop in Lakewood, South of Tacoma frequented by Police, pulled out a gun, and murdered four Police Officers. One of the officers managed to get his weapon out and return fire. This is the single worst attack on Police in the history of the State of Washington.

The gunman hopped into a waiting car and sped away. All four of the Officers had family: husbands, wives, kids, brothers, sisters, parents. All were respected members of the Lakewood Police Force. They were not known to the gunman. The cowardly viscous unprovoked attack seems to have been entirely random.

Maurice Clemmons was out on bail from charges of child rape and assault. He had had a lengthy prison sentence commuted by Gov. Huckabee in Arkansas, where he was in prison for multiple counts of burglary and one for assault on a police officer.

At 2:45 this morning, he was shot and killed in South Seattle, a short distance from where I live. Having murdered four Police Officers, there was little hope he would be apprehended alive. My personal opinion is that the human gene pool has been improved by his removal from it.

There is no way that this scumbag should have been walking the streets. With his extensive record and the pending charges against him, he should have still been in jail.

It was quite evident that he had been helped by several people to evade police. He had been woulded in the abdomen by the one officer that managed to get off a shot before being murdered. The wound had been dressed and treated by someone. He was driven away from the crime scene by an accomplice (who can be charged with accessory to Myrder of the four officers) he was hidden, and moved from place to place. Conspiracy to aid a fugitive, aiding and abbetting a fugitive and other charges are being filed. I believe they currently have four people in custody on a variety of charges. I hope they all get apropriate sentences, if found guilty.

This comes a couple of weeks after two Seattle Police Officers were murdered in their patrol car.

Way too much tragedy, murder, violence and death.

A tragedy of major proportions. No one wins and there is NO happy ending.

Too Close for Comfort

Friday, I was taking R and "i" home after babysitting "i" overnight. We were in a not-so-nice part of town when R said "OMG Dad, look out the window"
I did, and ther was a cop in full SWAT gear running down the sidewalk with an M-16 in the "Ready" position. Other people were running all over the place.
As we wnt a little North we came upon the RiteAide Parking lot, and there was a guy on the ground in a pool of blood.
We were stuck in traffic at a light with cars in front of us. All I wanted was to get the hell out of there. We were stuck, as three police cars with lights and sirens came roaring down the wrong side of the road.Even though the light had turned green, we were stuck there for a while.
I was relieved to finally get through the intersection and head away from the scene, but we had to pull over three more times so two more cop cars and two ambulances could access our side of the street.
I never did find out exactly what happened.

A Three Beer Job

First of all, I hope everyone out there had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was fine. The food was great, the conversation was scintillating, and all was well, other than the fact that we were short a few family members this year.

I have been waiting for a convergence of sorts. The first was a break in the weather. Latteland is known for it's gray skies and precipitation, but usually it is a gentle bath. I grew up with drizzle and mist and accept that as normal. However that has not been the course of things lately. It has been back to back downpours with high winds for the last three weeks. When The Summer That Would Not Die finally passed, Mother Nature went in for the full weeping and gnashing of teeth. She rended her clothes and threw herself prostrate.

My truck developed a vacuum leak in the Brake Power Boost unit. It was fine as long as I didn't use the brakes. Then there would be this loud hissing noise, and the RPMs would drop. Occasionally the engine would die if it was idling. Not a good thing. When you have power brakes and power steering, the car objects adamantly to stopping or turning once the engine is not running.

Friday was sunny and dry, if a bit chilly. We were babysitting "i", so I didn't think I would be able to work on the truck, but Mrs A was kind enough to take over babysitting chores so I could . For some reason she was unsettled by the whole thing with the truck dying and having no brakes or steering, Go figure.

List Price for a new unit is $460.00. Thank God for junkyards ($45.00). I have never heard of a Power Boost unit going out before, so I was reasonable confident in purchasing one from a formerly living truck. I have also never replaced one before, so I had to slip into my library when no one was looking and read up on how one went about replacing it. It was much easier than I had anticipated, at least on paper. But we all know nothing is as easy as it looks on paper.

Removing the clip from the brake pedal was a piece of cake. Except that the brake light switch is attached and when I worked it out of the way it came apart, the guts flew out. Removing the Master cylinder was easy. However removing the four bolts holding the unit to the firewall proved to be a real challenge. It was one of those times when you could SEE all four nuts, but only two of then were accessible. As a matter of fact each one of them required a different lash up of ratchet, extension and socket. I was required to go down to the Auto Parts place and buy a special deep 15mm socket to get out the last nut.

It was easier putting it back together than it was taking it apart, except for one thing. When I hooked it all up, the brake lights would not go out. Remember the brake light switch I mentioned? Well I hadn't found all of the guts when I put it back together. I finally found a small spring on the floor, and being a master of deductive reasoning, I tore the switch back apart, inserted the spring and viola', the brake lights worked.

A Three Beer job. Not real simple, not real difficult. Only one run to the auto parts store.
Between three an four hours total, most of it upside down under the dash immitating a contortionist.

I have a few muscles that are telling me that i failed to loosen up before strenuous exercise. I'm pretty sure that means I am supposed to finish off the rest of the six pack.

Tonight we go to Jazz Alley to see Taj Mahal. Should be a very entertaining eventing.

TSO!!!

Last night was the annual TSO concert.



Of course it was an awesome heavy metal screaming guitar pyrotechnic laser light show Christmas music and performance extravaganza. Hard to describe, but it should be experienced at least once.



After the Christmas part of the show they do other stuff. In this case, they did selections from their new release "Night Castle". It inspired me to go on-line this morning and purchase the download MP3 version.



The only bad part was the drive. It took almost two hours to get there. The trip normally takes about a half an hour. I allowed an hour, or double the normal travel time. So we missed almost an hour of the three hour show. But better to remember the incredible two hours we did see.



Also:



On the home front........

I had these brass swing arm wall lamps in the bedroom. The one on my side of the bed broke, and I couldn't fix it ( a rarity ). I went on the Internet to see if I could find a replacement. I came across these gorgeous Tiffany swing arm wall lamps. I could envision them in out bedroom, so I went ahead and purchased them. They came in on Thursday, so instead of working on the toilet, instead I assembled and installed the wall lamps. I have to say they look incredible.

Grazing Day

Today is grazing day at work.We have next Thursday and Friday off, and a lot of people take off next Mon-Wed so thay have a total of nine days without a wake-up.

This means that we have to have our potluck's today. There are a LOT of groups having their potlucks today. I call it grazing day, because a people wander around eating a little here and a little there all day long.

I brought egg rolls. But we have a lot of real good food. Chinese style pork with hot mustard and sesame seeds. Deer dip (kinda like chili cheese stuff with Vennison) Sweet Potato suoffle', main course of chicken. Cheese trays, vegetable trays, meat trays. Spinach dip in the hollowed out bread. And don't forget the cookies, donuts, and pie. And sodas.

I declare today a guilt-free, calorie-free day.

I Hate Plumbing, and it hates me

The house lies in wait for moments of weakness. Nay, it veritable LURKS. Things always go wrong in bunches. I sense a sinister glee in the piling on of disagreeable tasks.
I accept that as a homeowner, I will need to do maintenance and repair, or be prepared to pay someone else to do it.
I prefer to do it myself, but some things are better than others. I will remodel a bedroom, lay new flooring, rebuild cabinets, rewire rooms and I actually enjoy it.
But I hate plumbing.
Oh, I can do about anything that needs to be done, but would prefer not to have to do it at all. And some of it is nastier than other parts. Few things make me shudder more than remembering the time when I pulled the cleanout plug out of the line going fron the disposal to the downtube and had it all blow back all over me. Multiple showers were not adequate to wipe the stain from my psyche.
So of course I Have been faced with multiple plumbing related repairs.
It started out innocently enough. I should have suspected that the house was setting me up for the one-two-three.
The knob on the Kitchen sink came loose. As a matter of fact the serrations inside the knob had worn off, SO I had to do some creative repairs to get it to work again.
As I went down into the basement to fetch a tool. I noticed water on the staris. It was dripping from the upstairs bathroom.
As soon as I was through with the kitchen I went upstairs, and there was water all over the floor of the bathroom. How does it happen that the cold water line all the sudden comes loose and leaks. It has been working just fine for a long time. There has been no earthquake or disturbance.
Although annoying, it is not a major problem. I took everything apart, cleaned it and reassembled it. Seems to work fine.
When I was going back to the basement to put away the tools, I heard water dripping.
NOW WHAT?!?!
The downstairs toilet is leaking.
The house is getting the upper hand. Somebody needs to call fifteen yards for piling on.
I think it is the wax ring has developed a leak, which means I have to pull the toilet. We have now passed from annoying to nasty.
I have purchased a new wax ring, and it is waiting for me tonight.
I think I may need to fortify myself with a couple of beers before I undertake this chore.
It is kinda EEWWWWW.

BAD BAD BLOGGER

I have been a bad blogger lately. Practically a non-existent blogger.I guess I just ran out of juice.
We went this weekend to see "2012". I hate end-of-the-world thrillers that are based on bad science.The last one I was coaxed to go see was "Day After Tomorrow" which I hated with a passion.
Mrs A needed a little pampering and a reward for being such a good sport with my mom. She insisted on going to go see "2012", so we went. Yes the science stinks. Yes a lot of the special effects are physically impossible. Yes the story line is ridiculous. But I went in having told I would not alow rationality to interfere with the movie. Every time that little voice started to say "Hey, wait a minute", I ruthlessly squished it. That made the movie tollerable. It held my interest for the entire show.
I'd give it a six on the sliding one to ten scale. The science would get a D at best.
For dinner we went to The Olive Garden. Love that place, except the wait to get seated on Saturday night is about 45 minutes. But the food was worth the wait. And a couple of Tanqueray and Tonics didn't hurt the mood.
All in all a good weekend.

Turmoil

I am not out to look for pity, because I am not one to blame things on other people. Pretty much, I believe that we are where we are because we have made choices that put us here. Things daisy-chain off of one choice to another to another. Sometimes it feels like life has painted us into a corner, but it isn't life or chance, it is our own decisions.

I see a lot of people try to blame their circumstances on others. It is mostly BS. I suppose there are people that have totally been screwed, but 99.9% of them are acctually where they are because of their own choices.

Sometimes I get down, like everyone does, because life seems to be kicking the shit out of me. But if I take the time to look at the situation, I ALWAYS find that I am the creator of my own situation.

My recent troubles with my teeth are a result of genetics, certainly. But only my decisions made them what they are. Seven years ago, I knew my teeth were going bad. At that time I made the decision to fight losing my teeth. I could have opted for dentures, but said "Hell no, I will fight every step of the way"
So if I lose a battle, the war is still of my choice.
There has been a lot of turmoil at home recently.. V. is a pretty good kid. He isn't into drugs or running with a bad crowd, or in trouble with the law. I know a lot of people would wish for a kid like him.
He is also an arrogant, insensitive, disrespectful, selfish spoiled rotten asshole.
There are times I really wish I could take hime out behind the woodshed and teach him how it REALLY is. But I am not willing to spend time in jail to prove the point.
He does not get along with Mrs A. He is disrespectful. Talks back. If he talked to me like he does to her, he would apollogize, or I would beat the crap out of him.
V is my grandson, now adopted, and legally my son. I don't need to go into all of the very painful circumstances that brought this about. But I accepted the responsibilty to provide him with a stable and safe environment.

As usual with idealistic undertakings, it has led me down paths I never anticipated or wanted. You have to understand that he has no other spokesman. No one who has been willing to stand up in his behalf and take his defence.

I have the legal and moral responsibility to be his patron. He is a senior this year, and will be 18 on July 1st next summer. In a way I look forward to the point when I have no legal responsibility and can tell him that I no longer am required to put up with his BS.

I don't know what he thinks will happen when he graduates. The world is not waiting out there, wanting to meet his desires and needs, has no legal requirement to give him anything. The world basically doesn't give a shit if he lives or dies. OR YOU, OR ME.

The conflict between V and Mrs A is dificult for me. I need to take care of V, but in a lot of ways I would really like to just kick the crap out of him. Mrs A is much more of a controller than I am, but she is not wrong in expecting to be treated with respect. On one hand I have a legal responsibilty. On the other hand I have my heart, because I love Mrs A more than anything in this world.

Which lands me right in the middle of a situation I can in no way control.

As I told Mrs A the other day "No matter what I do, I'm F&(*ed".

Updates

On Thursday while I was having my stitches pulled, Mrs A took The Matriarch in for her semi-annual poking and prodding. Earlier in the week, she had a spell when she got dizzy and kinda passed out for a short time. The doc checked her out and decided there was something a little "off" on her cardiograph, so he sent her to the Emergency Room.
Mrs A called me to let me know they were on their way to the hospital, so I jumped in the truck and met them there. We spent the next four hours with them running every test they could think of. First they were going to check her in for observation, then send her home, then check her in, then not.
After four hours they couldn't find anything wrong, so they sent her home.
We are taking care of "i" this weekend. He is a really enjoyable kid. With just enough mischief to make things interesting. It was R's birthday, and she wanted an evening out. Can't say I blame her. She has had to handle a lot over the last several months.
She got an early birthday present from the government. A $9,000.00 grant for education. She took some nursing courses earlier this year and had a 3.85 GPA. The grant is for her to continue and get her LPN. It's good to see her on a positive path.
Saturday was our other grandson's birthday, which they held at a bowling alley. I don't bowl, but it was "i"s chance to see some of his cousins. hate kiddie birthday parties, but at least there was a lounge. A double Tanqueray and Tonic took the edge off.
I believe we have an uncimmitted weekend next weekend. I owe Mrs A for being suck a good sport the last week or so, so I think a good dinner at The Olive Garden is in order.

In Stitches

I get my stitches out of my mouth tomorrow. They have been driving me nuts. I know, short trip.
In fact I had one hanging down in my mouth that was especially bothersome. So when I got home I got out the cuticle scissors and took it out. The doctor will probably give me hell, but I don't care.
Monday they had to perform an emergency root canal, and put in a pin, then clean up the bridge and reinstall it.
Today is my Mom's83rd birthday. Happy birthday, mom. She now holds the record for the longest lived of her family line. Just think, every day is a new record. Here's too a long string of new records.

Post Halloween Decompression

I am not a big Halloween Fan. Not a Hallow-hater, not a Hallow-lover. I appreciate that it is a lot of fun for it's fans, and any chance for kids to let off a little steam and race around celebrating their childhood is fine with me. I don't get dressed up and party or anything.
R and "i" came over last night so I could see him in his first costume. She dressed him up as a little duck. Hardly what I would have chosen, but he really didn't care. They went around the block and got some candy, had a good time.
Because it was late when they got back, they spent the night, so we had a chance to visit today.
Nothing I like better than to have a grandkid around for a day. He ran around until he wore himself out, and crashed in the middle of the living room floor. We just threw a blanket over him and let him be. R had a chance to take a nap, something she seldom does. Normally when he goes down, it means she can go do things she has put off.
All in all, a very nice weekend.
Of course there is the other part.
We made egg rolls this weekend.
Before we started, we went out for lunch. During lunch, the permanent bridge on the upper left side of my mouth broke off. Nothing quite as disconcerting as having your teeth fall off during lunch. I am not a person that panics over any upset, so I just had them box up the rest of my lunch, and we went home and made the egg rolls. I put the bridge back in. but any time I tried to chew anything, it just fell back off.
I called my dentist at home, and we made an appointment for Monday morning first thing.
Sometimes I wish for a life where everything just goes along and your teeth don't fall out over lunch.

Reality Bites

Reality jumped up and bit me in the ass today.
I am taking my mom on a trip to the doctors tomorrow, and during the conversation setting it up the conversation drifted around to "Whose turn is it for Thanksgiving this year?" I knew it wasn't ours, but as it tuens out, it is our turn for Christmas Eve.
Today was just drifting around in my head, looking at the next couple of months, when I thought "Holy Crap! We are going to have to make egg rolls!"
For Thanksgiving.
Let's see. We are going to go see Trans Siberian Orchestra the weekend before, so that is out.
Weekend before that we will be babysitting "i", so that is out.
We have something going on the weekend before that.
That leaves..........this weekend.
Guess I know what we will be doing Saturday.

Shiner

Whenever you have any kind of procedure, they always give you a whole list of "possible" side effects, right before you sign the waiver. The list is always long and bewildering. Having a hangnail removed? Possible side effects: infection, amputation, paralysis, the end of civilization as we know it.
We all just blow by all of this because of course they don't apply to US.
Well, right now the right side of my face is all swollen up, and I am sporting my very first ever black eye. It is a thing of beauty.
I need to sit down and construct a story Worthy of the black eye.

Under the Knife

In an effort to help my Periodontist upgrade his car from a Porche to a Ferrarri, I am having oral surgery tomorrow.
I had three teeth extracted a couple of months ago. I am having new implants put in. These are top back teeth. The bone structure there is weak, so before they can do the inserts, they have to build up the bone.
They do this by inplanting a piece of vacated bovine bone matrix, which will actually integrate itself with the existing bone. It takes several months for it to become contiguous with the existing bone.
Bovine?
as in cow.
Now when someone calls me bull headed, they will be partially correct.
SO if I am not around, it is because I am loaded up on percocet and drooling on the couch.
The lengths some people will go to to get their hands on some drugs.

Angels

Our neighborhood is a very diverse neighborhood. We have blacks, mexicans, asians, anglos and racially mixed couples. It is mostly a quiet urban neighbohood.
It has a lot of kids.
I get along well with the kids in the neighborhood. When I pass them I always stop and say hello, ask them how they are doing. when I pass by they always wave. I love the way they think and how they look at the world with fresh eyes.
Tonight there was a rap on the door. There on the stoop were a couple of little angels, age about six. One white, one black.
Their hands were full of flowers, which I suspecct had been purloined from neighborhood flower gardens. They were for me.
Little angels spreading joy on a blustery fall day.

The Quiet

This weekend reminds me so strongly of something I carry around with me that most other people seem to not have, or not value. As I said in my last blog, when I go into the woods, the quiet seeps into me until I become a part of it.
When I go into the woods I want to go to a point where I can no longer hear any evidence of people, and stop and sit. It takes a while of sitting silently for you to become a part of the environment. Slowly you become aware of things around you. After a while you become aware of the sound of a small bird in the bushes or a squirrel in the firs.
But for me, I become mostly aware of the quiet in between the noises. Quiet is the steady state that lies underneath the sounds, contrasting them.
When you become aware of this, you become a part of it. And it becomes a part of you.
Back at work I carry it with me. It is there in the back of my consciousness. Like the tail on a kite, it keeps me pointed in the right direction.
But like a battery it needs to be recharged at intervals.
A little piece of me is still up in the Olympic mountains, sitting on a log.

Lake Quinault

We took off after work on Friday and headed out to the Lake Quinault Lodge, which is one of my favorite places. It is about a three and a half hour drive, but worth every minute of it.
Peace and quiet.
No cell phone service.
No television.
No phones in the rooms.
Miles of trails through the rain forest.
Since this is the off season, room rates are lower. Not cheap, mind you, but lower than at peak.
We always stay in The Boathouse, because the rooms there are critter friendly.
The attached restaurant is very good. On Friday we had the Cedar Plank salmon with braised vegetables. It was one of the best meals I have eaten this year. Enhanced by the Marionberry Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream.
Despite the fact that the Lodge is in the rain forest, it did not rain while we were there. Saturday after breakfast (Eggs Benedict) we drove to the end of the road up the south fork of the Quinault river to the end of the road, and hiked until we got tired. We found a small batch of Chantrelle mushrooms, which I will be cooking up with butter and a little bit of salt shortly.
During the entire hike, which lasted over three hours, we never saw another human being. The quiet seeps into you like water into a sponge. leaving little room for stress and worry. Those things belong to a different existence.
It was with great reluctance we returned home today.
Mrs A starts her new job tomorrow, and we figured it might make a bad impression if she didn't show up on her first day.

Losing It

Sometimes you start down the path, take a misstep, and the next thing you know you are nekkid in the cornfield. (it's just a saying. fer heaven's sake)
Every Friday, I stop over at my Mom's and see if she needs anything, stop and visit and get all the news of the family. When I was there, my badge fell out of my pocket. She called me later to tell me she had found it. No big deal, I would drop by and pick it up sometime over the weekend.
Well, I forgot.
Monday when I was getting ready for work I was going through the checklist (beeper,badge,bug,wallet,watch,cell phones)
Badge. Oh crap I forgot to go get my badge. It is way to early to go by my Mom's to pick it up, so I will have to stop at the Badge Office and get a Temporary Badge, which includes a Security Token so I can get into our work area.
After work I stopped by my Mom's and picked up my badge. As I was walking out to the truck, my work cell phone rings, and the guy I share a desk with is on the phone. I did not undock my laptop and secure it. What did I want him to do with it? We made an agreement.
This morning when I got to work and went to wand myself into the work area, it would not let me in. I had forgotten to turn in my temporary badge and Security Token.
I had to go out to the Badge office to tell them I had forgotten to turn in the temporary badge and Security Token, could they please reset my badge?
Today when I went to leave work, there in the pocket on the door, was the temporary badge and token. I sure as hell didn't put it there. I will have to remember to turn it in tomorrow.
Who knows what adventures await me tomorrow.

Lost weekend

So where the heck did the weekend go?
I had a great weekend, only there is never enough of it. How is it that a day at work lasts FOREVER and a day off flashes by on fast forward?
Saturday we slept in and did a little work around the house. Then we went to Jazz Alley for dinner and to see Average White Band. What a pleasant evening. The food was good, the music was good, and we shared the table with a very nice couple.
Sunday I barbecued a buffalo roast, we did some work in the yard, and I worked on Frankenhealey, adjusting the timing and the carbs. (without burning myself) It is running much better, but I am still having a problem with the linkage for the gas pedal. On the other hand it runs great and accelerates well enough to be a little scary. Just the way I like it.
Now if I can get the lights working, the wipers and turn signals going, I could actually drive it around.
And then the weekend was all the sudden over with.
Gone like it was never there.

BWA-HA-HA

In my further efforts to drive Mrs A out of her pea-picking mind, I did something last night to push her one step closer to the edge.

Friday was her last day at work, so she is feeling a little off ballance this week. She has been working everyday for the last thirty five or so years, has never been on unemployment. She feels like we are on the brink of financial disaster. But truth is that I make enough money that we don't NEED her salary. But she is still in this OMG WE'RE GONNA CRASH place.

I was perusing e-Bay last night. I have bids in on a couple of engine parts for Frankenhealey. One of them is listed under Lotus, so when I went to check out my bid status, there was this absolutely gorgeous tribute Lotus 11 that the bid was about to close on. The car was worth well over $50,000 and the bid was at $17,000. So I decided to throw in a couple of bids. The car had a reserve, and I'm sure it was nowhere near the reserve, so I put in a Max Bid of $20,000. Mrs A saw me do this and about went breserk. Where are we going to get $20,000?!?!?!?!?.
I can just put it on my Visa.
The car is in California, how would you get it home?
Buy a cheap plane ticket down there and drive it back.
It is not licensed.
Trip permit.
It doesn't have a top!
I'll buy a helmet.
My high bid was almost immediately overbid, and the reserve was never met.
I had no intention of buying the car.
Oh, if I could have gotten it for the price I bid, I certainly would have bought it and had it shipped up here. I could have made some money on it.
But it was an opportunity to tweak Mrs A.
BWA-HA-HA!

OWIE!

There are some lessons we have to learn more than once, or at least some of us do.

I guess I am one of those.

I learned a long time ago that when you are working on a car, you take off your jewelry. I have been pretty faithful about his. There are lots of things that can go wrong if you wear jewelry while you are wonking on the car, and absolutely no benefits.

I was working on Frankenhealey the other night, and because I was just replacing the carbs with the newly rebuilt cars, I didn't bother to take off my watch. Since I was not running the engine or dealing with moving parts, it should be OK, right?

Wrong.

While tightening the bottom rear carb bolt, I got my watch band between the two terminals of the starter solenoid, causing a direct short. It instantly heated the watch band red hot. Thereby melting the skin under the watch band.

I was dancing around, saying impolite things while trying to get the watch off.

That smell of cooking pork? That was me. When I got the watch band free, the skin sluffed off. I now have a very nasty looking spot on my left wrist.

It is going to leave a scar, which will be around for a long time to remind me of a lesson I supposedly learned a long time ago.

Changes

It was a long day on Saturday, going with the band. I guess it was about a 20 hour day, all told. So Sunday we just took it easy.
I am still sore from humping around 300 pound speakers, loading and unloading the truck, setting up the stage. Mrs A is getting to the stage where she is about ready to give up job of crewing for the band. I'd still like to do it now and then. Oh well, we'll see what happens.
Mrs A got offered another job today, and I think she is going to take it.
One of the women that she has become friends with is a partner in a local law firm. They want to hire her to work in the office. Part time at first, but with the option of maybe going to full time eventually. She told her friend she would have to think about it, and she did.......for all of five minutes.
I have met the lady a couple of times, and we got along just fine.
It should pay a lot better than Curves, and more important, I think Mrs A will be happy there.
I just hope she doesn't overdo.

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.