Hot Water

No, I haven't gotten myself in trouble in any way.
As a matter of fact, the paucity of hot water was the issue.
I went to take my shower before I went to bed last night. standing there naked turn on the hot water tap and wait for the water to warm up. And wait, and wait. No hot water.
Of course the first thing out of my mouth is "Who used up all the hot water?" Since there are only the two of us, I guess that person would have to be Mrs A, who is known to take long showers, and then do laundry. Well, she comes back with the fact that she hasn't taken her shower yet, and is doing a load of laundry IN COLD WATER.
This is not going well.
Head back to the bedroom to get dressed. Go down in the basement and head for the fuse box.
Indeedey the circuit breaker for the water heater is tripped. So I go to reset it.
POOF! sparks and it immediately goes back to the off position.
Not good at all, since this means there is a dead short someplace.
Go ever to the water heater and remove the inspection panels.
Top one looks fine.
Bottom one....my God what is that terrible smell! Why that would be scorched insulation, burnt wiring, melted wire insulation, burnt plastic. That is one of the worst smells there is.
The former thermostat is a melted, burned up piece of crap.
Fortunately the heating element seems intact and the water tank has not been breached. The tank itself appears to be in good shape, but it is night and the hardware stores are closed, so I go ahead and drain the tank and remove the thermostat and check the lower element. The lower element was fine.
So off I go to the hardware store first thing in the morning. Fifteen bucks for a new water heater thermostat. fifteen minutes to tape up the wires where the insulation is burned off. Close my eyes and reset the circuit breaker.
Turn the water to the hot water tank back on and let it fill. Bleed all the air out of the lines.
Wait for the water tank to do it's thing. Take a shower, and off to work.
I ended up three hours late for work. No big, I have about six weeks worth of vacation saved up.
It's always something.

Father's Day

It was not the best Fathers day I have ever had. Not the worst by far, but not the best.
I have been experimenting with BBQ sauce. Most of the stuff on the market is just too sweet for me, both because I don't care for the taste, but also because I am a diabetic so I watch my sugar intake (read carb intake).
I was In Uwajimaya a couple of months ago and I came across some dried tamarind. I has eaten tamarind when I was going with my Min Lao girlfriend before I met the incredible Mrs A, so I was familiar with the taste. I wondered "I wonder......how would tamarind taste as the base for a BBQ sauce?" The idea intrigued me, so I bought a sizable chunk. A couple of months ago I made the first batch, but it sat in the fridge until BBQ season came around. I tried it, and it was pretty good, but needed something else to zip it up.
Take the dried tamarind, and soak it in warm water. Filter out the seeds and pod pieces, It should end up about the consistency of tomato paste. It tastes kinda citrus/fruity.
Add dried onion, dried garlic, chipolte pepper, a little sugar (very little), some salt. Low sodium soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and some paprika. It comes out a redish brown and is very tasty.
It being Fathers day, I sent Mrs A down to the store to buy some ribs and she fired up the coals. The ribs were great. Between the two of us we devoured a rack of ribs.
So all of that was great. I had some tome to go out and work on the Z, finishing up the carpet and starting to put the console, and put on the seat covers while the seats are out of the car.
L. called and we had a very nice conversation. We don't get to see them as often as I would like, but stay in touch.
As I was getting ready to take my shower and go to bed, N, my son called. It was good to talk to him, we don't stay in all that close of contact, as we are both very busy people. Unfortunately one bit of news was that he and D were getting a divorce. I was not really surprised or shocked, but some disappointed. As it was nothing I had any control over, I just let him know that I still loved him and supported him.
I never heard from R. Maybe that was a good thing. The only thing she has given me for several years is pain. Usually she doesn't call because she is doing things she knows I would disapprove of. But it wouldn't take but a couple of seconds to text me.
Oh well. wothehell, wothehell.

Rattlesnake Ridge

Sunday was nice, with hazy sunshine and the temperature around 70 degrees, so we decided to go foe a hike. Neither one of us had ever hiked the Rattlesnake Ridge Trail, so we decided to try it.

I had been to Rattlesnake Lake once before, about 40 years ago, but I had never hiked the trail. It is a couple of miles, all uphill. It is a nice trail, but there were too may people. I guess we should have waited until Monday to go to avoid all the people and dogs.

For me, coming back down was worse than going up. My calves area little sore today. Need to get out and hike more.

By the way, there are not now nor have there ever been any Rattlesnakes at Rattlesnake Lake or Ridge. If there were, Mrs A would never ever ever have gone there. In fact there is a sign there that says there have never been Rattlesnakes there, but they have no idea why it is called Rattlesnake Ridge.

Roof Roof!

Did you hear about the talking dog?
Hey dog, what's on top of a house?
OOPS! I gave away the punch line.
The first quote came in on my request for bids for a roof.
The roof wasn't bad, but man did the other things dd up.
Rebuild the chimney top, 900
Replace the soffets 2800
new gutters and downspouts 1200
Insulation in the Attic 1200.00
And then the roof 5500.
Plus tax.
Hey dog, what's on the outside of a tree?
BARK BARK
Hey dog what goes good with cheese?
whine, whine
We'll be here all week

The Best Laid Plans

Of mice and men aft gang askew.
The house needs new gutters and downspouts. It has for some time. It has gotten to the point that when it rains, it spills out right over the front steps. It is very irritating walking through a cold shower to get in or out.
So we called a gutter guy.
He said he couldn't help us until we got the roof fixed. He handed us over to his "roofing guy". The roofing guy said it was too late to update the roof, it needed to be replaced. I have been dreading this for the last couple of years.
I had the roof replaced with a 20 year guarantee roof, about nineteen years ago. I knew it was about time to renew the roof, but it is not currently leaking, and I am of the opinion that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So the roofing guy is writing up an estimate, and meanwhile we are getting a second estimate.
Since I want to retire in less than two years, we want to get the house ready to sell before then. I knew that a roof replacement was one of the probable improvements we would have to do before we would be able to sell, I just wasn't prepared to do it NOW.
Life is what happens while you are busy making plans.

Kelly Mulford Scrimshaw

I have shown a quite a few pictures of my cousin Kelly's scrimshaw before, but I have never shown a picture of this. He gave me this in a Christmas present exchange some years ago. I gave him a .45 cal muzzle loader cap and ball pistol I had put together from a kit, and he gave me this.
It is a picture of Kelly and his wife aboard a cat boat on Lake Union in Seattle. He was the Librarian for the Wooden Boat Society, and he and I both spent time sanding and working on this exact boat.
He and I also sailed this boat on the lake.
I remember the day was real blustery and coming from the North. The dock was at the South end of the lake, so we had to start out tacking back and forth into the wind, trying to make headway. It was a real lesson in sailing. We must have made six tacks back and forth before we cleared the end of the pier. Every time I see this I remember that day.

Ecola Park

Photos from our trip to Oregon. They are from Ecola Park, which is right at the North edge of the town on Cannon Beach. As you can see, the weather was fantastic for May. Blue skies and 70 degrees.

Skagit River Bridge

The Skagit River Bridge is North of Seattle. Right after you pass over the town of Mount Vernon and before Burlington. Yesterday it  spanned the Skagit River. Today, not so much. It ALMOST crosses over the river. Three quarters of a bridge is no better than no bridge at all.
     The Blue object is the front end of the load being hauled over the bridge that is suspected of causing the collapse. It is an open sided box structure with what looks like a forty foot I-beam beefy enough to be freespan for its entire length. That I beam hit one of the supports for the bridge, I imagine the one right in the center of the span, The concrete roadway appears to be a single piece construction, which collapsed in on itself, thereby unseating the ends of the section of road.
     Very luckily there was minimal Traffic. One car, a pickup and a trailer went into the water. No serious injuries, thank God. If this had happened earlier, during rush hour it would have been a disaster. Or if it happened tonight with everyone on the road for the weekend. They say that 70,000 cars a day travel this section of road, so it will be a mess for months.
My granddaughter, Amelia went over this bridge about five minutes before the collapse.

Home Again

We went to Cannon Beach in Oregon for four days. I didn't mention this before because posting it and then leaving is like placing a big neon sign on the roof saying "OWNERS GONE, BURGLARS WELCOME" on the roof of your house. Having been hit twice before, I would like to avoid a third burglary.
This is part of out tenth anniversary. I wanted to go to Bora Bora for a week, but Mrs A thought that was much too extravagant. She preferred several little vacations over one big one.
Our anniversary was in April, but the odds of having decent weather on the coast in April are exceedingly slim, so we put it off until last weekend.
The weather Gods smiled on us.
Saturday we travelled, stopped at the Westport Winery, where we belong to the wine club, and picked up a couple of bottles of wine and stopped in at the restaurant and had lunch. The pan fried oysters were from Brady's, which is about a half mile down the road. Can you say FRESH?.
We stayed at the Lighthouse Inn, unit 29. Essentially a little apartment with a separate bedroom and a kitchenette. Very cozy.
Sunday we went into town to wander through the shops. We found a couple of things we couldn't do without. Went to the Driftwood Restaurant for lunch. They have the best clam chowder. I have eaten a lot of clam chowder, and I mean the BEST. Had A Dungeness Crab Cheddar Sandwich to go with it. SOOOOO good and SOOOOO rich.
Monday dawned with Blue skies and a mild offshore breeze. After running a few errands we spent the remainder of the day at Ecola State Park, which is right at Cannon Beach at the North end of town. A beautiful day to explore the beach and the park.
Tuesday cold and rainy, but that was OK because we had to go home.
A very nice weekend and one we will remember for a long time.
Pictures to follow.
A note on the pictures: I had been having problems getting pictures to come out clear. I couldn't figure out what was wrong.
I checked the lense, and someone had bumped the automatic focus function off, turning it to manual. Since I was not adjusting the aperature or time, they were coming out all blurry. Once I figured theat out, it worked out just fine. They probably would have been fine if I was using a tripod, but I guess my hands are not steady enough any more.

Westie Updates

Last weekend I installed the new rear bumper and fold out tray on the Westfalia. They afre manufactured by Rocky Mountain Westie. I was impressed by the quality of the materials. They are really built to last.

The bumper is modular and installs in five pieces. Pretty easy to install

The swing out tray was a little harder to do. It bolts through the side hatch sopport structure. You have to drill several holes to match a piece on the inside. The inner piece slipped out od my hand once and got jammed down in the channel. It was a difficult thing to get it back in place. Eventually it went together.

The instructions did not include anything on how to install the tray, but it was pretty intuitive. I guess the hardest thing was matching up the latch mechanism, but everything worked out fine.

It took all of Saturday and a couple of hours on Sunday.

Wallace Falls

This shot is of the middle falls of Wallace Falls State Park just outside Gold Bar. Unfortunately it didn't come out very clear. I blame the camera.

This is a shot of one of the lower falls.

Another part of the lower falls.

Monk in a stump. It was a beautiful, blue sky, 80 degree day. The hike was a couple of miles. Straight up. The hike is classified as "Moderate". It this was moderate, hard must be straight up. The hike is a couple of miles.

What a wonderful day with my sweetie



The Z

Here's the Z as it sits at the moment.
When I added the ground effects kit so I could get rid of the terrible ghastly ugly bumpers, I had a partial respray done. If you look closely, you can see that the lower portion below the beltline has a faint golden cast to it.
Now I am going to have to have the whole thing redone.
Not everyone would even notice it, but unfortunately, I can.

Just another Wednesday

Yesterday I had four new teeth put in. Everything on that side of my mouth is pretty sore, but not bad enough that I have taken any kind of pain killers. I can't say the same for yesterday. Although I really don't like the stuff, Percocet does a good job of killing the pain enough that I can do other things. As long as they aren't too complicated, because that stuff also kicks my butt.
I got the Westie back from the shop, and it tracks straight and doesn't wander. I also had them put in new H4 headlights while it was there, and they fixed one turn signal that was acting erratic. Now that it is home, I need to put on the new rear bumper and carrier shelf.
The dash is back in the Z and everything seems to work, including a couple of things that never have. Still trying to get the horn to work. Waiting on Seat covers.
This coming weekend is supposed to be beautiful, so I will need to set one day aside to do something with Mrs A. I feel a road trip coming on. The Tulip fields in Mount Vernon sound like a pretty good destination..
Then probably on to Anecortes to the brewery and Rockfish Cafe for Oysters and Porter.
And some place in there there must be a nap.

Car stuff

I received a very surprising call yesterday.
It was from North Westie. They do the work on my 1984 Westfalia  when I choose not to do it myself. I brought it in because the pan was leaking. They had replaced the pan back in October because I put a rock through the old one. The car was also pulling to the right a little bit. I figured it was because I had kinda hit the ditch a little at the same time I put the rock through the pan.
North Westie had replaced the suspension on that same corner of the car last spring. The old suspension was bad, resulting in the right front wheel wobbling.
The bottom line was that there would be no charge, as they considered it warranty work. Gotta love a business that puts their money where their mouth is.
So since there was no charge, I decided to do a couple of things I was delaying to do myself. The headlights in the Westie are pretty sad affairs when it comes to producing illumination. I am replacing the standard setup with halogen H4 lights. And as long as they are at it, One of the driving lights is out so I am haveing them fix it, too.
I have also gotten in the new bumper and rear swing-away carrier for the rear, but that is a job I want to do myself. Since I won't get the Westie back until Monday, that leaves this weekend to throw the interior back in the 280Z. I have finished putting in the new carpet, and am starting to reassemble the heater stuff so that I can reinstall the dash. I don't have to work OT this weekend so I would like to get most of it done before I have to go back to work on Tuesday.
I also ordered new seat covers for the Z and for the HHR, but they won't be in for a couple of weeks.

Westie

Project #3 is our 1984 Westfalia.
It has had a heart transplant, using a 2004 Subaru 2.5 liter fuel injected engine with 175 ponies. I have added a Propex heater, a new refrigerator/freezer. Added a special 110 volt air conditioner that runs off of 110 for when we have shore power. It has sure come in handy a couple of times.
I have a Hondaa super silent 2000 to provide power when we are out in the woods.
new top new windshield new brake system, new wheels and tires.
It is in the shop right now.
Last fall I put a rock through the pan, and replaced the cast aluminum pan with a steel pan with a skid plate welded on the bottom.
It has been leaking a little oil, so I sent it back. It has also been pulling to the right. I suspect that when I put the hole in the pan, I also bent a tie rod.
I just ordered a custom rear bumper with a built in hitch from Rocky Mountain Westie. That and a fold out bumper mounted tray that I want to use to house the generator. When we are out and about with the dogs in the car, it would be nice to be able to run the generator to run the air conditioning while we went to dinner.
The bumper and swing away tray should be in tomorrow. The Westie isn't due out of the shop until next Monday, and I want to put it on myself.
Meanwhile I am halfway through putting the carpets back in the Z.
Did I mention I have to work overtime on Saturday?

Scam

SCAM.SCAM,SCAM,SCAM
SCAM,SCAM,SCAM,SCAM
SCAMITY SCAM!
Apologies to Monty Python (The SPAM Song)

Anything that seems to good to be true, almost always is.
The 1953 Cantwell Puma second chance notification was a phony. I was suspicious from the onset, but approached it from a "What the heck can I loose" attitude. As long as no money changed hands or any commitment was made, why not check it out?
When it got to the point that I wanted to set up a date to personally inspect the vehicle, it became impossible
for me to actually see it. I went into my e-bay account and there is a way you can find out if the second chance offer is legitimate.
According to e-bay, there was no offer.
whotthehell, whotthehell (the song of Mahitabell)

1953 Puma

I am currently negotiating the purchase of a one-off custom sports car/race car. The picture is attached.
It was on e-bay. I bid on it but was way outbid. The deal was closed at $20,200.00.
A week later I got an e-mail saying I was being offered the car for $10,000.00, which was my original bid.
I am e-mailing back and forth with the owner.
If this deal is legitimate, I think I can make a quite a bit of money by flipping this car.
Lots of questions. Why is it being offered for such a low price? I figure it is worth around what the original bid was.
I am excited as can be, but cautious.
Is the car licensable and streetable? It was built as a race car, As you can see it has no bumpers.
It supposedly can be started and driven.
It is located in Lolo Montana, about eight hours from here.
I have requested access to personally inspect it, and maybe take it for a test drive.
I have the money available.
I am trying very hard to be rational, so I can think straight and not get sucked in by the WOW! factor.
But damn it's pretty!

280Z

The carpets are out and I'm getting ready to clean up the floors and install the new carpets.

The Missing Grandkids

Mt son was in a bad marriage some 20 years ago, which ended in divorce. That is never a good situation. There were four kids involved. I don;t want to go into all of that here, but I adopted one, one went into foster care and the two littlest ones were adopted. It was a closed adoption, so no contact was allowed with their biological family, except a minimum amount of contact with their brother, when they requested it. Since I was his adoptive parent, I got to go along and see them, but only me and my wife.
After a while contact stopped, some eight or nine years ago. I missed them, but was in no position to push.
Saturday, V. texted me saying that someone he thought was maybe his brother had friend requested him on Facebook. He wanted to know what the last name was of the adoptive parents was, so I told him, and indeed it was his brother.
Once the two of them had connected, I friended both  of them.
Good Lord, how they have changed. They are grown, or close to.
But that's not what I wanted to write about.
I wanted to write about a particular moment of time, about fifteen years ago.
I was an early winter morning, and I was up early, alone. Joshua and Jayce were spending the weekend. They were pretty much inseparable when they were small.
I was sitting in the big chair out in the music room, reading the Sunday newspaper, when they sleepily dragged their little selves out and climbed into the chair with me, one snuggled on either side of me.
The early morning winter sun slanted in the window and warmed us.
It was a moment of such complete contentment, that I took a moment to set it in my mind. With all the uncertainty in the world I knew it was extremely unlikely that the moment and the feeling would last or likely ever return.
I have kept that memory stored away and cherished ever since.
Hold on to those precious moments and never, never take them for granted.

280Z

Here's the current state of my '77 280Z interior.

I have taken out the seats, the dash, the steering wheel. I have put in new dash light bulbs, ordered a new steering wheel. bought a new center console and put in the stuff from the old one.
I have ordered new carpets, which should be in next week.
I repaired the hot/cold control for the heater. I have owned the car for about five years and it has never worked. It will be nice to be able to turn off the heat this summer.
Next I will fix a broken off bolt in the blower, and start putting it all back together.
I need to have the driver's seat reaposltered.
Then on to the brakes, adjust the valves, fix the clunk in the rear end.
Then Paint.

Sugarless Balckberry Jam

When we were down at my Cousin Ginger's in Oregon a couple of years ago, Uncle Fred brought over some blackberries he had picked. They ended up in the cooler in my car. I suspect they were Himalaya blackberries, not Wild Mountain Blackberries, otherwise my cousin would not have parted with them so easily.
I have been meaning to do something with them ever since, but as I had never made jam with artificial sweetener, I always put it off. I went as far as looking up sugar-free jam recipes on the internet, but that was as far as it went.
We go through a quite a bit of sugar-free jam, me because I am diabetic, Mrs A because she is usually dieting. When I get a craving for something fruity/sweet I will go out and have a teaspoon of jam, and it satisfies my craving.
Last weekend I finally got around to using some of the berries.
First of all, I always make freezer jam. The reason is that you do not cook the berries, so it really tastes like the fruit, the other is because it is so easy to do.
Now it is even better, There is a product called Mrs Wage's no cook freezer jam pectin. Just add it to the sweetener (Splenda) and stir it into the berries, let it sit for a half an hour, and presto, you have jam. And it tastes mighty good.
We made a batch and it filled five 16oz jam containers. Keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks, up to a year in the freezer. So far it has been used on toast, pancakes, and ice cream.
That ought to get us through until fresh fruit comes in season.
A trip to the u-pick strawberry farm will be one of our early fruit destinations.

Car Stuff

Part of the retirement plan is to consolidate my car stuff. The reason for this is to have less stuff to move, because when I retire we plan to move out in the country. We currently have five vehicles, and I want to get that down to four, or perhaps three by the time we are ready to move.
Right now the plan is to get the 1977 280Z up to snuff and sell it. Nothing is majorly wrong with it, but a lot of little pain in the butt stuff, such as the fact that it has no dash lights.
Last year the old points type voltage regulator went rogue and blew out all of the marker lights, dash lights etc. I replaced all of the lights that are readily accessible. Unfortunately, to get at some of the dash lights, you have to tear the dash apart, which is a major pain in the butt. Last Sunday I got in there and started on it. You have to take the radio out, and pull the center console out. The cernter console had a bad crack in it, and when I pulled it out I saw it needed to be replaced. I didn't figure the chances were too good of finding one in good shape, but much to my amazement, I found a new-in-box replacement, which I immediately purchased. I will switch over the switches when the new one comes in. While the radio was out, I fixed some of the crappy wiring that had been done over the years, so that putting it back together will be easier when the time comes.
Next is time to fix the heater controls. I have never been able to turn off the heater. That's OK Spring, Fall and Winter, but Summer is coming, and as long as I have it torn apart I might as well fix the heater control. It is operated by a lever and cable system, but the door that shuts off the air seems to be frozen. It doesn't seem like it will be too much trouble to fix. Knock on wood.
Then on to tearing the dash apart so I can replace all the little bulbs that illuminate the gauges and instruments. A lot of work for a bunch of tiny light bulbs.
Then time to figure out what the clunk in the rear end is. Probably a u-joint in one of the axle half shafts, but I won't know for certain until I get it up in the air.
Then comes paint. I have a couple of estimates for the custom paint I want done. Custom green/blue/purple color changing paint job. Both estimates are for around $2500.00.
When I am done, I will sell it. I should be able to get close to $10 grand.
That money will then go into Frankenhealey and the Westie.
One step at a time.

Dodging the Bullet

Last fall, the SPEEA (Seattle Professional Engineering Employees Association) contract with Boeing expired, and a new contract was negotiated . The Union is divided into two parts, the Professional contract, and the Technical contract. The two are separate and distinct. In December Boeing made a 'Best and Final Offer" to the union.
The Profs accepted it and the Techs rejected it. I thought it was a fair offer, so I voted for it.
The second part of the vote was to authorize a strike. I voted against that. Much to my consternation, the contract was voted down by a slim majority of the Techs.
Boeing and the Union went back to the bargaining table.
I have been saving money in a "Strike Fund" for about a year just in case. I had more in there than I felt I would need, but I am pretty conservative with my money.
So Mrs A and I have been anxiously awaiting a settlement, not wanting to commit to anything until there was a signed contract.
The Techs were in a sticky situation, since the Profs had accepted the contract, and would not be going out to support the Thechs if we went on strike. That means we had no bargaining strength.
To make a long story short, Boeing made the exact sae offer to the Union, and the Tchs had to swallow their balls and get back to work. The voted in the exact same contract that they had turned down a couple of months ago.
No strike translates into me paying off a chunk of mortgage and a chunk of credit cars and a great feeling of relief.
Retirement just became a little bit closer.

Creeping Crud

I've been struggling with a nasty virus for about two weeks. Miserable crud with a wicked cough.
Great grandson Nikko was kind enough to present us with the virus.
I fought the good fight for about a week, not letting it get me down, but a week ago it took me down for the count. Lost the round but not the match.
Cough and cough and cough until out of breath, then cough some more. No sleep, too much coughing.
Went to work every day anyway, just loaded up on ever OTC known to man, none of which did too much  Very hard to think, or work up the gumption to do anything, and meanwhile I am right in the middle of a major screw-up. No one else is willing to step forward and take it on, so I have been creeping along, doing it a bit at a time as I get the energy.
I have finally turned the corner and am getting better. I might live, and it could be a good thing.
So now Mrs A has come down with it.
Bummer.

Just One Picture

This was the north terminus of our hike at Klaloch. I had to climb up a cliff face a little way to get the right perspective, so I am ballanced on a little ledge holding on with my right hand, taking pictures with my left and Mrs A is having a fit.
We had to turn around because the tide was coming in and there is no way out at high tide.

Gone, gone, gone

Ten years ago on Valentine's day I proposed to the lovely Mrs A. We were at the Lake Quinault Lodge. There is a whole other story that takes place before that, but i will set that aside for now.
I made reservations for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

We stayed in the Boathouse, because they allow pets there

As long as you understand that it is the Lake Quinault RAIN Forrest and prepare yourself, it is great. There is no television or phone in the rooms. There is no cell phone service. There are no casinos, there is no night life. Just a rustic lodge out in the woods.
The lodge has an excellent dining room, The Roosevelt Room, named for the President that stayed there and helped create the Olympic National Park.
Beginning right in front of the Lodge and looping up into the forest behind the Lodger are an excellent series of Trails. The full loop is around six miles, with lots of  little offshoots Lots of peace and quiet.
We pulled in a little after 5:00 on Friday, and the only opening for dinner was at 5:30 so we hurried to get checked in and back for dinner. We had the Cedar Plank Salmon for Two, but no meal there is complete without the Marionberry Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream. So we ignored the idea of restraint and went all the way. I had been anticipating the cobbler for weeks.
Saturday we went on the loop trail, with a couple of side trips, so I figure we hiked between six and seven miles (uphill both ways, of course). It rained, is hailed, it misted, and once we even saw the sun. As you hiked you could just feel the quiet seep into your bones and the tension bleed out. When we were the farthest away from the lodge we came across a warning sign notifying us that cougars has been sighted in the are. I suppose it wasn't the kindest thing to ask Mrs A if by taking the dogs along we were "Trolling for cougars". Well, I thought it was funny.
Sunday we drove out to the Ocean at Klalloch and walked the beach for a couple of hours. I got some nice pictures, which I may get around to posting here. Stopped in Amanda Park for lunch (Cheeseburgers and fries), than back to the Lodger for naps.
Monday we had decided to take a little side trip to Westport rather than go straight home. We had lunch at the Blue Buoy. If you are ever in the area and it is no the menu, get the Dungeness Crab Omelet. All I can say is "Incredible".
One of the reasons, besides lunch for the trip was to stop at the Westport Winery. I can never drive past that place without stopping, and we were down to one bottle of their wine. So I joined there Wine Club (20% discount) and still managed to spend $168.00. Oh well, I can console myself with the fact that for every bottle they sell, they contribute some to a local charitable cause. So....it was all for charity, right?
One last stop at Bay City Sausage. The smell of the place when you walk in is incredible, all that smoked meat. The reason for stopping is to get their Cranberry Smoked Sausage. Last time we were there I decided to try a little, and it was incredible. It barely made it home.so this time I bought five pounds. And ate about a pound of it when we got home.
Got home tired, sore, broke and totally relaxed.
Where to next?

Uncle Fred

My Uncle Fred passed away quietly on Sunday. He was 90, going on 18. He was living proof that you had to grow old, but you didn't have to grow up.
He never married, had no kids. But what he did have was a whole bunch of adoring nieces and nephews. There were seven of us Warrens, and five Glahes, who thought the world of him. He was always up for a little wrestling or a piggy-back ride. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. He was an even tempered man, the salt of the earth.
He stayed on the farm with Grandfather and Grandmother, then later with my family after the Grandparents passed on. For most of those years the farm was a dairy farm. The pace of the work was as steady as a metronome. He was a little hard of hearing, so he had one of those old Big Ben Alarm Clocks. You could hear it ticking from clear upstairs. It went off at precisely the same time every day. Rain, shine, blizzard or Christmas. Twice a day milking. he seemed as much a part of the place as the fields and barn. When we finally got out of the dairy business, he took a couple of days off. He remarked that it was the first time he had been off of the place for more than a few hours in forty years.
He was the most honest person I have ever known. I would have trusted him to keep safe anything left in his care. The down side of that innocence and trust is that he believed that everyone else was just as honest as he was, which made him a very bad businessman. I remember my dad having to take some critter back that one our less honest neighbors had sold him and get our money back.
He taught me how to Trout fish in the high country mountain streams. For quite an number of years I was his fishing partner. We fished with spinner and worm, and were of about equal skill, which was considerably above average. We seldom got skunked, even in August then the water was low and warm and the fish inactive.
When I last saw him last April, he asked me to go fish the home waters for him, as he couldn't do it. As we were having a Family "Meeting of the Cousins" in August I assured him I would.
Mrs A had never gone stream fishing, so I took a few minutes before we got down to it and showed her how to do it, just like Uncle Fred had done for me so many years before. Of course she caught the first fish. We brought home a couple of keepers from Deep Creek, and I went to Sand Creek and picked up a couple of Brookies. At Mrs A's suggestion I gave them to my cousin Ginger to take back to Oregon so she could fry them up for Uncle Fred.
When he retired from farming, much to every ones astonishment, he joined the Peace Corps. He was stationed first in Dominica, and then in Morocco, teaching large animal husbandry. He had a bad knee, the result of having been kicked one too many times by a recalcitrant milk cow, and eventually it led him to leave the Peace corps.
He took his cut from the sale of the farm and bought a small place in Oregon near Eugene, where he lived with his sister my Aunt Rose, and some of my cousins.
He seemed indestructible, but finally he came down with diabetes. Never the best a taking care of himself, he neglected his health and it eventually let to the amputation of one of his lower legs. He never really recovered. Last spring they discovered he had inoperable bone cancer.
He slowly slid into poorer condition, and was being given morphine for the pain.
He is now in a place where there is no pain.
We have all been trading Uncle Fred stories for the last couple of days, and it is a real testament to the man that each of us has a special memory of the man.
So long, Uncle Fred, you were and are loved. We'll all be coming to join you sooner or later.

Still here

So I guess the world did not come to an end. Or maybe it has and we just weren't aware. At any rate we are at the beginning of another cycle of the Mayan Calendar. Maybe the psychic flux has reversed it's modulation or some such, but I can't tell the difference.
On the emotional scale of the holidays, I tend more toward the Scrooge end of the scale than the Tiny Tim end. Too much emotional stuff, too many expectations, too much hype.
When I went off to work on Wednesday, as I left I told Mrs A "I'm glad the Holidays are over and life can return to normal". Or what passes for normal.
My nephew and his wife brought a brand new person into the world on January. My first grand niece. Welcome to the big blue marble Charlotte Irene. May your days be filled with wonder and love.
R is out there scamming anyone who will listen to her lies, especially family, who have become enablers rather than supporters. Oh well, I have no control over anyone's behavior but my own, and sometimes barely that.
My sweetie bought me a reproduction 1928 Thompson sub machine gun (fully automatic) with the big circular drum. A very well made reproduction. Before you call in the ATF, let me say that it is an airsoft gun, and shoots 6mm plastic pellets. But it is still cathartic to go down in the basement and put it on full auto and squeeze off a few rounds. Political posters of your choice available.
It was really nice seeing family over the Holidays. Unfortunately the Matriarch of the family came down with the flu right before Christmas and was still under the weather on New Years Day. This is a very unusual occurrence. She NEVER gets the flu. Well, almost never. Raising seven kids has given her  immunity to just about every disease known to man. Get better Ma.
I already quit smoking. Had to give up drinking beer because it made my stomach hurt, lost the 15 lbs I wanted to lose. It's disgusting, it's like I've become A GROWN-UP!. The shame of it all. I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but the plans for 2013 are all positive. I've already booked at The Lake Quinault Lodge for the tenth anniversary of my proposing to Mrs A. Tenth Wedding Anniversary to follow in April. I want to get the Z up to snuff, repainted and sold this year, money to go towards finishing up Frankenhealey. Continues upgrades to the Westie. I put VW LT Truck mirrors on it over the Holidays. No more Floppy mirror syndrome!
So I hope everyone out there had a good Holiday season. Pull up your jeans, sholder your burdens and get on with it. We're all in the same boat.

Shopping

I hate Christmas shopping.
I hate crowds.
I hate the hype and commercialism.
On Saturday I went Christmas shopping with R and 'i'. I am still pissed at R. This is the first time I have seen her in a year and a half. I had set up a day to take her to lunch for her birthday last month but she stood me up and never called.
So I set it up to take her to buy some new shoes and a teddy bear for "i". Of course she was three hours late. By the time she called me from the bus stop, I was so pissed I almost told her where to go. But if I did that I couldn't tell her what I wanted to say, so I went and picked them up at the bus stop, and we went shopping.
After I got done chewing her out, We went to The Landing. We went to Ross to get a pair of shoes. The last time I saw "i" he was not talking. Now he jabbers constantly. I can't understand what he is saying half of the time, but he has his own unique way of putting things.
While R was looking at shoes, "i" and I went to the toys, and he was having a great time looking over the toys. When I tole him we had to go back to the shoe section he told me "No, I'm too happy". He also referred to Mrs A as "Lady Grampa". On the way over to The Landing he kept telling me I was going the wrong way. Must get that from "Lady Grampa".
He was a little hard to handle, hyperactive and not responding well. At one point I was thinking "What the heck have I gotten myself into?"
Since Ross had no stuffed animals, we went down the block to Target. While R and "i" were looking around I snuck over and picked out a teddy bear. Big and soft.
When he saw the Teddy Bear, his face lit up like a Christmas Ornament, and he gave it a big hug and a couple of kisses.
Suddenly all the frustration and anger and impatience went away, and the whole day was worth it.
The smile of a grandchild is the food for the soul of a grandparent.

Turkey Separation Anxiety

Yesterday Mrs A cleaned up the turkey carcass and put the left over meat in the freezer. No more turkey sandwiches. Sigh. Next weekend I will pull one of the packages out along with a quart of turkey stock and make a batch of turkey and sausage Jambalaya, so the turkey goodness is not quite over with.
When they changed the dressing on my finger last week, I got my first post-op look at the incision site. Looks pretty ugly. There must be a dozen stitches. Tomorrow I get the stitches out, but I will still be in a splint for at least another month.
My right ring finger is my enter key finger, so I have had to adjust my typing. It's not too bad. What is really frustrating is that when I rest my hand on my mouse, the splint makes contact with the right enter button on the mouse. I will be navigating away, and all the sudden the screen starts jumping around doing things I didn't want. It always takes me a minute to realize what is happening.
And of course I can't play guitar, since I use my right hand for forming the cords.
We got our Christmas present for each other yesterday. A Nikon D camera with a zoom lens. I went ahead and assembled it and started in on the instruction manual. Had to charge the battery. The camera did not come with a memory card, so I will need to get one before We can do much of anything with it. I will probably do that this weekend. The goal is to be moderately competent with it before Christmas. It has been a few years since I have had a decent camera, and the new ones have so much automatic function that it will take a while to figure out things like how to set aperture and shutter speed.
On the other hand, one of my co-workers, Melody is playing Christmas music all day. I enjoy most Christmas music as well as anyone else, but I am at the mercy of commercial DJ's. Please for the love of God, do NOT play "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer". It was not cute the first time, it was lame and it does not improve with age. And please have mercy, no "Holly Jolly Christmas"! it was a monument to mediocrity when it came out. No Mitch Miller, no Spike Jones and No damn two front teeth.
Bah Humbug

it's just for the drugs

When I went to the Hand Surgeon on Wednesday, he did a two hour surgery to reattach the tendon on the back of the last digit on my right ring finger. It will be in a splint for six to twelve weeks.
The good news is, I can't do the dishes. "Sorry dear, I'd really like to help you, but I can't get my hand wet."
Then on Friday, I went to the Dental clinic and had four teeth pulled and inserts installed.
All this just to get my hands on some drugs.
Seriously though, I hate Percocet. It makes me fuzzy headed if I take one and barely coherent if I take two. I also can't sleep if I take two. I wish there was something I could take that just made the pain go away.
Tomorrow I go in to get the dressing changed, so I will get a look at how the incision looks. The following week I get the stitches out.

Giving you the finger

The news, that is.
Went to the Hand Surgeon today. He looked at my finger and told me to come back next week.
I have an appointment next Wednesday to check it out.
The thinking is that by then, if  the tendon is going to reattach itself it should have started by then. If not, then operate and reattach it.
I bet you can guess which one I vote for.

Finger Poppin'

Little did I expect yesterday when I went to work that I would end up in the Hospital Emergency Room.
I have two desks out on the factory floor, and I alternate between the two. I have a laptop, so the idea is that I am supposed to be able to roll my file drawer and take my laptop and be ready to go in about ten minutes. It usually works fine.
But on Tuesday when I went to move, someone had stolen my docking station, keyboard, power brick and mouse.
So I had to scrounge some new equipment, and get it set up. I was underneath the desk, plugging in equipment. When I backed out, I raised up too soon and hit my head on the keyboard tray, knocking it loose and  it fell down and landed right on my ring finger, right below the end knuckle. It hurt like hell and bled pretty good.
I started feeling woozy, and started going into shock, so I put my head between my knees. At this point, people decided they needed to call in the fire department. I really wish they had just let me tough it out.
So the fire department medical unit showed up and checked me out. My blood pressure was a little low, but not alarmingly so. I told them I was fine, but they felt I needed to go to Boeing Medical, also known as the Death Clinic.
My boss walked me over. I figured I was going to get a couple of stitches and go back to work. I should have known better.
The Medical Tech was getting ready to clean and suture my finger when he took the end of my finger and pushed down on it to open up the cut to clean it. When he did, he popped the extensor tendon on the back of my finger.
AT that point they sent me to the Emergency Room at Valley General Hospital. They have this brand new fancy multi-million dollar state-of-the-art facility. I was impressed with the facility. Not so much the service. But then a cut finger wouldn't rate real high on the list of emergencies..
Several hours later I was released with a couple of stitches, a dressing and splint and a referral to an Orthopedic Surgeon.
If people had left me alone I would have superglued it, put an bandaid on it and went on my way.
So I am restricted in my work assignment to "Light typing or writing".
What the heck is "Light typing"
I have an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon on the 15th.
The things some people will do to get  a day away from work.

Politics

Political punits
In too much abundance
will surely lead you astray
a little reflection
and B.S. detection
will probably show you the way

Bring it on

Lately I have been on a run of bad luck.
Some times stuff just happens.
The washing machine gave out this week. Rather than attempt to fix it myself (which is what I would normally do ) I had Mrs A call a Repair Service. They wanted $529.00 to repair the old machine.
So of course we bought a new one, which was $679.00.
Saturday, we were supposed to go to our grandson's sixth birthday party, but when I woke up from my nap, there was doggy diarrhea and vomited blood in the music room. Monk was hiding and looking mighty ashamed of himself.
So instead of going to a birthday we spent the afternoon and early evening in the veterinary emergency room.they never did figure out what was going on, except that the x-rays didn't show anything unusual. so for $300.00 we learned nothing.
So it goes.
So if you go with the superstition that bad luck comes in threes, I should be in the clear.
Kitchen sink
washing machine
Doggy vomit
done

Plumbing

God. I hate plumbing.
The kitchen sink was dripping, so I needed to get to work on it.
Just a simple job of replacing the washer, right? Right? Right?
Wrong.
I replaced the 00 washer, but instead of it dripping from the faucet, it started dripping underneath the sink. No Fair! I didn't even touch anything under the sink except to turn the water supply to the hot water tap off.
The kitchen sink fixture is a cheap one with plastic handles, and I had a different one with brass handles in the basement that someone gave me, so I decided to swap out the fixtures at the same time. I figured I would need to fix the brass fixture, because nobody would give away a solid brass fixture unless there was something wrong with it.
This was shortly after I started to pass a kidney stone. I had to rebuild the fixture, put it on, try it out, take it back apart and fix something else, put it back on. Every time I did this it irritated the kidney stone and I had to stop. After two weeks of working on it off and on, it still leaks, The compression seal at the bottom of the tap fixture for the cold water tap won't seal properly.
Well, I was going to swap out the sink anyway, so as soon as I get a day off, I am going to swap the old beat-up porcelain sink for a stainless steel sink.
While I'm at it I will go down and buy a good washerless fixture.
Meanwhile, I have tools and materials scattered all over the kitchen, the cleaning supplies  usually under the sink are scattered all over the kitchen, and a mixing bowl is under the sink catching the drip. It drips one drip every hour or so, but Mrs A. is getting impatient. For some reason, after working a ten hour day, I don't have the energy to tackle anything that isn't an emergency.
That and the fact that I won't go down and pick out a fixture without taking her along. So far it looks like I might get Sunday off, so I know what I will be doing.
God, I hate plumbing.

Stones

No, not the rolling Stones, although they could be called the moving stones.
Stones as in Kidney stones.
When I was working on the Westie, I got up from laying on my back, walked around doing something (I don't remember what) and it felt like somebody walked up and stuck an ice pick in my right kidney. This was a familiar feeling, as my body manufactures and disposes of kidney stones on a regular regimen. After I got done with the OH SH*T< OH SH*T< OH SHIT, I went back to work on the car. Since the pains did not completely go away, I called the consulting nurse and told her I was pretty sure I was passing a kidney stone, should I bother to come in?
She said it would be good to get a real diagnosis. Although she didn't say it, I got the distinct impression she thought that any one who does self diagnosis has a fool for a doctor.
So I went in and they x-rayed and I have three stones. Two on the left. one on the right. They are small and non-obstructing, so they sent me home with the instruction to take more drugs and come back if nothing changes. I declined a prescription for more Percocet 'cause I just don't like the stuff because it leaves me too foggy headed. (No remarks from the peanut gallery please)
Well, it has been two weeks, and I am still having occasional problems. Most of the time I am fine, but every once in a while someone runs up behind me and ice picks my kidney.
I have been working on the kitchen sink, putting in a new fixture and lines, so I have been laying on my back working at arms length. It has never bothered me when I am working, but after I get up and walk around it will kick in. Especially at night when I go to lay down.
I e-mailed the doc and told him it was maybe a pulled muscle, but he sticks with his original diagnosis.
Guess I'll just stick it out.

Naga Bhut Jolokia

Also known as the Ghost Pepper.
I like moderately hot stuff. A little burn is good for the digestion. Jalapenos are not particularly hot, Chilis Torredos are warm, but anything hotter and you begin to lose the flavor of what they are in and get into the territory of just macho.
I admit it. Sometimes I do stupid stuff just for the macho.
So when one of the guys at work brought around the Ghost Chili beef jerky, I took a piece.
In case you don't know, the Ghost Pepper was recognised by Guinness world records as the hottest pepper in the world, with over on million scoville units. It will eat it's way through latex gloves. It can cause blisters.
Your face will turn bright red, tears will run down, your nose will run, and it will be difficult to breathe.
And that's not talking about what it will do to your digestive system.
Let's just say burn twice and leave it at that.
Oh, and by the way, be sure to wash your hands before you rub your nose, or wipe your eyes or any other delicate skin.
Don't ask how I know

And God Laughed

We were going to spend the weekend at Scatter Creek Campground at the south end of Lake Taqualpa, an incredible beautiful setting this time of year. The wild rice growing in the shallow parts of the lake is brilliant green, the channel blue, reflecting the sky. The far shore is the dark green of pine and fir, and above them the mountains rise abruptly with their blacks and grays.
I have been there many times, but never to photograph it. That was my goal.
The dirt road is ten miles of incredibly bad road, with chuckholes and rocks the whole way.
I had just mentioned to MRS A "I really like the fact that the Westfalia has such Good ground clearance, I really don't have to worry about hitting a rock and putting a hole in the pan".
When will I ever learn?
God snickered and threw a particularly nasty rock in my path.
BAM!
Shortly thereafter the oil light came on.
I stopped and went to the back to check the oil. None showed on the dip stick. I climbed under the Van, and there was a hole the size of your fist in the pan.
Of course there was no cell service. Ten miles to the nearest pavement, twenty to the nearest town.
Luckily a Game Warden came by right after that and stopped.
I asked him to call me a tow truck.
An hour later the tow truck showed up. Two and a half hours and $810 later we were home.
I went to change out the pan, and tweaked a muscle in my back, so I had to send it to the shop. It will be $425.00 to put in a new pan. A steel pan this time, not cast aluminum.
With a skid plate made out of 1/4" plate steel.
But I'm not going to brag about how I don't have to worry about rocks.
And I'll probably slow down some when I'm off the pavement.

Bad Mojo

What is more powerful than a father's love?
Drugs.
What is more powerful than a mother's devotion?
Drugs.
What is more powerful than Maternal instinct?
drugs
What is more powerful than love of self?
Drugs.
After more than a year of absolutely no contact with my daughter, R, I got a call from my ex yesterday. The minute I heard her voice, the bottom of my stomach went down a couple of feet. This could not be good.
Was R. dead? My first thought.
In the hospital, O.D, in jail?
Not yet.
Had a fight with the a-hole she lives with, and he got physical with her and is in jail supposedly. (I have seen her when she is coming down and she is meaner than a snake in the blind.)
Did she call me?
No
She knows that as long as she is choosing drugs over caring for her son, I want nothing to do with her. So she tries to get her mother to do her dirty work for her.
I have bought into this so many times that I should have it down by now.
Will I drive up to Everett and get her? NO. No Christmas call, no father's day call, no birthday card or call. Nothing.
A relationship is supposed to go both ways. I need to get something out of it other than pain.
I decline to participate in her self mutilation. I will net be an enabler.
But it still makes me feel like shit.

Politics

Not that I think Politics has become divisive or anything, but if President Obama wants to be reelected, I think all he has to do is write an official memo stating that it his position that he is strongly in favor of breathing.
The Republicans would therefore have to come out strongly against breathing, thereby eliminating all opposition.

Home again

Vacation was wonderful.
Two weeks of wandering the back roads, mainly in Idaho.
We started out at Lake Easton State Park, just over the top of Snoqualmie Pass. We spent a couple of days camping there with friends. A good time was had by all. We went into Roslyn to The Brick for hte Macho Nachos and a couple of beers, played cards, told stories, and took a couple of hikes. Not to mention eating huckleberries right off of the bush.
On to southern Idaho. We spent the night in Emmett and went out to Sage Hen Reservoir to one of the campgrounds. Not a bad Park, but there were no showers and the outhouse was less than sanitary, so we only stayed for one night.
Then on to Peninsula State Park outside McCall Idaho. Beautiful little town and a very nice campground with nice modern facilities. We stayed a couple of days.
The trip up The North Fork of the Payette river was really beautiful. We stopped several times to just watch the water. Over the top and down the other side to follow the Clearwater. We crossed over the River at Ororins and went way back in the woods to Dent Acres Campground. We had only intended to stay one night, but the weather forcast was for 106 Degrees, and we didn't want to travel in that heat. So we hunkered down and hooked up the Air Conditioner and hung around the Westfalia all day. I spent the day under a tree whittlin' and reading, Managed to pick up a pretty good sunburn on my upper arms.
Then on to Sandpoint. We spent two nights in a Howard Johnson's.
I had promised Uncle Fred I would fish Deep Creek for him while I was up there, so Mrs a and I did. She Had never stream fished before, so I took a while when we first started out to show her how it was done and why a particular strategy worked. She caught the first fish, a little rainbow trout. We had a good time walking down the middle of the stream, talking and fishing. I caught the only two fish worth keeping ( a couple of rainbow trout about 8 and 10 inches). We went back to the Hotel, and she took a nap while I went back out to fish Sand Creek, where I picked up a couple of 8 inch Brookies to add to the take.
We got together with the family and went out to the Western Pleasures Ranch for a catered dinner. A beautiful lodge out in the woods. Hay ride before dinner, good home cooking.
Larry Glahe and his lovely wife, Jackie hosted the reunion. We went back to their house for nightcaps.
Saturday we were supposed to go out on the lake in their houseboat the Alibi, but muskrats had chewed holes in the gas line and after replacing the line, the engine never would run right. Rather than run the risk of breaking down in the middle of the lake we just partied on right there on the dock.
Prime rib dinner home made cherry and huckleberry pies for dessert. Much beer and other beverage was consumed, tall tales were told, and most of the world's problems were solved. My face hurt from  mso much laughter and smiling.
Then back home on Sunday.
My blood sugar was great the whole time, I actually lost five pounds, and I felt great.
I have come to the conclusion That for me health, I need more vacations.

Wandering off

Sunday we set off on a two week wander. We only have two firm dates. We are meeting friends at Lake Easton State Park for a couple of days at this end, and are meeting family at Sandpoint Idaho at the other end. In between we are wandering around in Idaho, starting at Emmett to see our daughter,SIL and grandkid, then going up Hiway 95 N all the way to Sandpoint camping and fishing our way up the spine of Idaho.
Two weeks in the Westfalia. We will probably stop at a motel here and there depending on the facilities along the way. We can go two days without a shower, but three is a little much. I can do it, but Mrs A. couldn't without being very uncomfortable.

GEARS

I love the Westie, but there are a couple of things I want to improve yet.
I had talked about doing a syncro conversion, but the bill is around ten grand. Not really justifiable in my book if I want to retire any time soon.
The rear gearing in the vanagon automatic is way low, so at freeway speed (70 MPH) you are doing about 4ooo RPM. It is not approaching the redline of the engine, but is still higher that I would like. It affects both the gas mileage and the wear and tear on the engine and transmission.
I currently get around 17 mpg with the Subaru engine transplant, Not terrible for a camper/SUV, but not all that great.
While surfing the net last week, I found a site where they just completed a couple of years of experimenting and testing to put together a higher gear ratio set for the Vanagon automatic. The gears are 3.27 as opposed to the stock 4.05 gears. According to them this translates into much better gas mileage (21 as opposed to 17 MPG) and lower RPMs at speed (3500 versus 4100 RPM). The downside is of course the cost. The ring and pinon set is $1200, and figure another $1500 to put it in.
With the price of gas where it is, it will pay for itself in the long run.

Uncles and Cousins and such

Spent the weekend in Coberg,  Oregon. My cousin Ginger lives there. We were close when we were growing up, but their family moved away about when we hit our teens, and I lost contact with her for about 35 years. When we finally got back together, it was like we had never lost contact.
Going to see her was enough of a reason to drive the five hours, but there were a couple of other reasons for making the trip. My Uncle Ben and his wife Vicki were visiting from Morelia Mexico. They don't get up this way very often, so it was great seeing them. He had just received an award that made him "Generalissimo de Morelia" the highest award a foreigner can receive from the city/county. He has already received the highest award a foreigner can receive from the Government of Mexico.
The reason he was up this way, is because his Brother, my Uncle Fred was in the hospital, and in addition to being diabetic and having one foot amputated, has been diagnosed with bone cancer, so his future is very uncertain.
My Uncle Fred and I were fishing buddies for years. Over on the farm, on Sunday, after milking and after church, we pretty much always went fishing. Stream fishing for trout. That area of Idaho had some of the best trout fishing water anywhere.
When we went to see him in the hospital, when he saw me he started out with "Remember the time you and I went up Deep Creek? The limit was 15 fish and we brought home 30 trout and one whitefish." That is indeed one of my favorite fishing memories. the biggest fish was 18", several around 15", not a one under 10". I have never seen a finer stringer of fish.
 Long gone are the days of 15 fish limits.
We traded fishing stories and other matters of great importance.
He knows that we are having a family reunion in Sandpoint in August. When I was about to leave, He stopped me and said "Allen, I want you to do me a favor. When you go to the reunion, I want you to go fish Deep Creek for me."
Of course I will, but it won't be easy. So many memories are tied up in the stretch of creek between the two bridges.
I hope it rains so no one can see the tears in my eyes.

So damn slow

Patience is not one of my better virtues. I admit it. Everything just takes about five times as long as it should to accomplish.
I had decided to get rid of my Jensen Healey parts car, so I advertised it on Craigslist. I know I could have made a quite a bit of money parting it out, but just didn't want to go through the hassle of tearing it apart, listing the parts on E-bay and arranging shipping and all that. So I advertised it for $200.00 as a parts car.
I received a couple of inquiries, and then a guy operating a parts yard offered my $150. Hey, I got it for free, and took the stuff I wanted, so anything I got for it was just gravy.
It took the guy a week to come and get it. But it is now gone.
The Westie is in the shop. They replaced the skylight. I asked them to figure out what was draining the battery, and they are still working on it. I delivered it to them last Friday. I need it by this Friday. I don't feel so bad about not being able to figure out where the drain on the battery was coming from since the experts can't figure it out either.
We are supposed to head out Saturday morning for Oregon, and I am starting to get a little antsy. There are things I want to check on and get packed up for the trip. I hate waiting until the last minute.
Some times you have to slow down and let things happen at their own pace.
But I don't have to like it.

Movin' along

The Westfalia is in the shop getting a new skylight installed. The old one cracked and will leak under torrential downpour conditions. Just bad enough to bug me. Also the battery is not holding a charge. If I charge it in the evening, it is dead by morning. I figure the alternator is shot. If the diodes are gone, it will charge while the engine is running, but when it shuts off, it drains the battery because the diodes are blown. Diodes are these handy little "gates" that only allow electricity to flow in one direction. If they are blown, they deplete the battery.
I need to get the Westy ready for next weekend, because we are heading South to Oregon for a family thing. My Uncle Ben Is coming up with his wife from Mexico, so we are heading down next Saturday. Back home on Monday.
This coming Monday I have made arrangements for the Pull-Apart yard guy to come and get my 73 Jensen Healey parts car. I have pulled misc. parts off of it for the car I am restoring, but I think I have everything I need, so I want the room in the carport. It is not easy for me to turn loose of it. I always get that "I just know I'm going to need something" feeling.
Take a deep breath Al. and just let go.
Not long ago, I discovered my fishing tackle was all missing. Really pisses me off. I have had some of that stuff for forty years. It is not cheap to replace. People have gun safes, I wonder if anyone has a Fishing Pole safe? At any rate I have bee gathering stuff up, have about $500 invested so far, still don't have a reel. I need to get all of the lures and tackle yet. Oh well. Father's day is coming, and a little bird told me there is a gift certificate for Dicks Sporting goods coming my way.
Right now I am imagining my self thigh deep in a high country trout stream laying out a perfect dry fly. There is a rise!

A Logistical 180

The last time I posted, I was pretty sure I was going to go ahead and do the four wheel drive conversion to the Westie. Since then I have changed my mind.
This may have been precipitated by the fact that the lovely Mrs A has retired. She semi-retired several years ago, just working part time. Now she is a stay-at-home housewife.So far it seems to agree with her.
The fact of her retirement got me to seriously looking at my own retirement. If I do the conversion to the Westie, it means I work for an additional year to pay it off. That's a pretty steep price to pay for what I get out of it.
I was looking around the house cleaning up misc. crap, and came across several US Savings Bonds. I also am going to get rid of my Jensen Healey parts car, and put the title to the HHR in the Safe Deposit Box. I also had a stack of US Savings Bonds in the box. I got to thinking about them sitting there doing nothing, so I decided to take them all and cash them in and pay down the mortgage. So I did. I added a bunch of my "car money" to the kitty, and Paid off $15K of the mortgage. That brings the total down to around $38K. Within sight.
The plan has always been to pay off the mortgage, get to Social Security age, sell the house and move to the country somewhere it doesn't rain 200 days a year. I need to complete my Dental work (implants coming in November).
It is beginning to look more like a plan and less like a fantasy all the time.

Decisions, decisions

When we were in Idaho, we were the recipients of a real gully-washer of a rain storm. It proved to be a good leak tester for the Westy.. Water started dripping from around the skylight. A close inspection showed a small crack in one corner, so when we got back I called North Westy to order a new skylight.
At the same time there were a couple of things I wanted to talk about.
I would like to see about installing an on-board compressor. Since I want to go camping off the pavement, flat tires become a little more critical when you are fifty miles from a service station. Prices are all over the place depending on exactly what you want. From $20 for a little compressor that you plug into the cigarette lighter to $350 for a good on-board compressor.
Also, I would like to change to final drive gear ration for the differential. Usually not a daunting task, but the Westie is an automatic, making it a much more difficult task. The Westie guy told me he had recently seen someone offering a different ring gear conversion, and said he would chase down the info. The problem is that with the automatic, the engine runs at over 4000 rpm at freeway (75mph) speeds. The motor doesn't seem to mind, but I would like to bring the RPMs down to around 3500 at speed, Better gas mileage and less wear on the engine.
But all that may be moot. One of the things North Westy does is Combi refits. That is, turns a rear wheel drive Westy into a four wheel drive Westy. I want to do this. It is expensive, around ten grand, but it would create the ultimate Westie. The problem has always been getting the lovely Mrs A to agree to the expense.
I think I have come up with the argument that will tip the scales.
While we were in Emmet, she kept bringing me real estate brochures. She has this plan that when I retire, we will move to Emmett. She is deathly afraid of driving in the snow. So the argument is that if we are going to move to Emmett, we will need a four wheel drive vehicle. Rather than buy a separate vehicle, we can update the Westie and further the utility of what we already have. I proposed this the other night and she didn't object too loudly. So, Kyle will be putting together a quote for me.
Maybe after we get back from our camping trip in August, I will give them the OK to go ahead with the conversion.

A Short Vacation

Lisa and Dan have been giving us the neener-neener-neener crap about how great their weather has been for the last month or so. So we took a week and drove over to Emmett Idaho to visit them. They told us to bring warm weather gear. I told Mrs A to pack jeans and sweatshirts.
It's a good thing I did. We were there six days, and we had ONE decent day. It rained just about every day. On the other hand we did manage to get a couple of drives in.. Headed up into the Boise National Forrest. Got up high enough that the road was covered in snow here and there. Went up to the Sage Hen Reservoir. Nice drive, about half off of the pavement. I really like the way the Westie handles on the gravel.
The trip in both directions was just fine. I did occasionally do the speed limit.
Dan got hired on as a plumber while we were there. I know Dan was excited and relieved to go back to work. He had been out of work for a quite a while with a hernia. He has been on L & I, but it is always good to go back to work. He had done a couple of jobs for a local independent plumber, and the word got around that he worked quickly and did top quality work, so next thing you know this company he never even applied to was calling him up and offering him a job.
I got the other top ball joint replaced on the truck.. once again it took about three hours, mostly with a air hammer and chisel.
Also replaced the three outside access boxes on the Westy.(curb water, electrical,and potable water).
Since today is my last day of vacation, we went ad took in a movie and then dinner at a Thai joint. We went and saw The Hunger Games. Good movie, lots of action and several plot twists. I didn't care for the way it ended. It just kinda.....ended. Oh well, I know it is the first of three books, so I figure the next movie will pick up where this one left off.
Back to the grind tomorrow, and since I have had the last two weekends off, I will have to work both days this coming weekend.

A Nice weekend

The stars and moon aligned and and all the conditioned were right
!) I had the weekend off
2) the weather was nice
3) we had no other commitments

This is the first time this has happened this year. The first time this has happened this year.
We made egg rolls in the morning (they are very yummy).
So that in the afternoon I could go twist a wrench. I have SOOOO wanted to get out and get to work on the cars. First I needed to charge the battery to the Z and get it running. While it was charging I got it up in the air and bled the brakes. Got it running and the brakes working.
Then came Frankenhealey. I had previously sold the prior Dellorto set-up with the velocity stacks to a guy at work for a grand, So I had purchased another set. Straight out of the box, they do not fit. The mounting holes are just a little to far apart, so you have to file them a little to get them to fit.
I wasn't going to run the velocity stacks without air cleaners of some kind, and I found some on line that look alot like the covering on a microphone, very fine steel mesh. They will keep miscellaneous small parts, rocks and insects from being ingested into the engine. The original engines demise was brought about by the ingestion of a small washer.
The are all fitted up nice.
Man do I feel stupid!
I replaced the ball joint assembly on the drives side of the truck, and drove it to work all week. All of the sudden on Saturday it started making a thump-thump-thump noise from the driver's side front, so I rearranged the cars so I could get it partly under cover and on the cement so I could look it over. When I got out of the truck, I noticed one of the lug nuts looked like it was a little loose. I fact, they all were loose. The noise was the wheel rattling around on the hub. Tightened the lug nuts up, and everything was fine.
But I sure felt stupid.

Back on Second Shift

The title says it all.
When I took this job, I agreed to fill in when the second shift guy went on Vacation.
Little did I know that he was taking three weeks off in April.
Considering that I spent nine of the last 12 months I was in ECAT on second shift, three weeks is OK. Don't like it, but I agreed to it, So I guess I have no kick. The other thing is that I have to work every other weekend while he is gone. The way the schedule works out that means two out of the three weekends I get to work both days.
I just have to remind myself that it means another grand in the savings towards our tenth anniversary trip.
Friday is Mrs A's last day of employment outside the home. I have told her since we first got together that she could quit any time she wanted. She has always had mixed feelings about not working.
I might be a little envious.

Easter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hollow_Chocolate_Bunnies_of_the_Apocalypse

News Flash!

The Easter Bunny has been found alongside Main Street, the victim of an apparent hit and run.

Suspects in the incident are his darker relatives, the Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse.

BEAT IT!

We spent a couple of days at the Lake Quinault Lodge over the weekend. I got there depressed, exhausted and surly. After a couple of days I left recharged, revitalized and ready to go. What a great place for recharging your batteries.
Checkout time on Monday was 11:00 and we headed right out. We were home by 2:30. It was a beautiful day, so I quickly unloaded the HHR, changed clothes and started to work on the truck. I was sure glad I bought the air hammer and cold chisel. Even with power tools, it was a three and a half hour job. including the half a hour when I had to run to the automotive parts place to by a pickle fork (also known as a ball joint separator). The top mounting plate is hot riveted to the A-arm, so the majority of the time was spent getting the rivets out. I chose to air hammer and cold chisel the rivet heads off, partially drill out the rivets and pry it all apart with the air hammer. Time consuming but not too bad with a power tool.
So I got to beat on my truck with a power tool for a couple of hours, and in the end the truck was back on the road.

If I had a Hammer.....

Oh, that's right, I do.
After considering all the alternatives, I went to Lowes after work to price out the cost of an air hammer. Turns out they are really cheap, like $20, so I am now the proud owner of a Kobalt Air hammer and chisels.
Now I just need the time to get out there and chisel the hell out of the upper ball joint retention plate rivets. Nothing like beating on your truck with a hammer to make you feel better.

A new Joint

No, no, not that kind of joint.
Upper ball joint.
That's what broke on the truck.
What was once an assembly now is a disassembly.
So I bought new ball joints for both sides last night. Not too expensive, like seventy five bucks. The big hassle is that the old ones, the top plate is riveted in. You have to drill out the rivets. I am inclined to go get a pneumatic hammer and a cold chisel bit, It should be a lot easier than either drilling them out or hand chiseling the heads off.
I bought both sides. Chances are if one side is worn out completely, the other can't be far behind.
I have to work both days this weekend, then on Monday I have two doctor's appointments, so it isn't going to get done then. The next weekend we are going to the Lake Quinault Lodge for three days, so it won't get done then, so it looks like I will have to schedule it in for the weekend of April 7th. That weekend is also Mrs A's birthday, so I will have to set aside one day for her. I know she has a CAT scan scheduled for the 9th so that takes away Monday. That leaves only the 8th.
Doable as long as nothing goes awry.

Free Wheelin'

But not in a good way.
When the light changed and I went on to Renton Ave. this morning, after I had straightened out, the driver's side front wheel and tire came loose from the car.
The didn't depart the vehicle. They were still hanging around the wheel well, they just weren't ATTACHED to anything.
I called home and asked Mrs A to call a tow truck. So we got it home on a flatbed and into the driveway, I switched vehicles to the Westfalia and I got in to work two hours late.
I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what the heck happened.
The lugnuts are all still on the wheel.
The rotor is still in place on the vehicle, but the wheel is not attached to anything.
Oh well, I guess I'll find out when I get it up on jackstands.
Not a good way to start the day.