Catching up with the rest of the world.

Or, Adventures in Cell Phone Shopping!

I'm shopping for new cell phones. Something for me & Noah and I'd get a 3rd one for the house phone if the BSU would tolerate it. She's a "no-go" on that idea, so for now, its just 2 phones. We have been using 2 elderly phones and a pay-as-you-go plan for almost a year now with moderate success but now, both phones are dieing. Noah's Nokia only lights up the display so you can see what you are doing if you push on the display's corner. My Star-Tac only talks through use of a plugged in headset, the microphone has died. I tried to get it repaired but just switching in a new microphone didn't get it working.

Dang! It just occurred to me while writing this that I just bought a $30 battery for that Nokia phone back at Christmas! That's a loss I'll hate to see go into the landfill…

Anyway, I need a full-time service instead of this prepay stuff and then I'll dump my house long distance service. I'm looking for feedback on the different major brands- Cingular, Sprint, Nextel, Verizon. What has worked for you? What company didn't work for you? Right now I'm leaning towards this Cingular plan because of the Bluetooth enabled phones. I like using a headset but I hate having the cord in my way.

No rescue calls yet...

Son Noah is off on a weekend of 4-wheeling at the 39th Annual Jeep Safari with 10,000 of his best friends. He arrived about 11 last night with absolutely no place to unpack and set up his tent. The two police offices he spoke to offered no solutions as to where he might spend the night. I suspect he slept in the Tracker...

But today was to be a day of wheeling and I suspect he is having the time of his life. Since he hasn't called home tonight, I'm presuming the Tracker survived its first outing on the red rock trails that make Moab famous.

With luck, he'll make it home safe tomorrow night and I won't have to borrow Jim's dolly or rent a trailer for a rescue run.




But I'll bet a clutch replacement will be in our future plans...

Air Force receives last F-16

And I had just a little hand in getting this last airplane delivered on time. I really did. I don't remember if I posted about it in the past, and I'm too lazy to look but I personally scrounged up, begged for and then shipped 4 night vision parts down to Lockheed to make the night vision system in this jet work properly before its rollout. For my trouble, I did not get invited to the big rollout party. Rats. Here's a quote from the Colonel that is just one of my bosses:

"Although this is the last new F-16 expected to be produced for the (Air Force), the F-16 Systems Group continues to technically transform the existing fleet of more than 1,300 jets, enabling evolutionary weapons delivery capabilities through 2025 and making possible a smooth transition to the F-35, the world’s premier multi-role fighter of the future,” Col. Jansson said.

Yup, that's what I do.

Vento Phantom Exhaust Pipe Update

I've still not been commuting on the scooter as its been too cold and too wet this week. The scoot is all prepped and ready to go and I think the weather is changing for the warmer style next week.

Anyway, when last I mentioned it, I was waiting for a prototype exhaust pipe to arrive from Power Sports Factory. And it wasn't arriving like I thought it was supposed to be. So a couple days ago, I emailed the boss that promised me the special pipe. The email said:

Alan, Brett was supposed to be sending me a prototype pipe for my R4i with a slip-fit end on it so I could use a universal style muffler. Last I talked to him was the 10th and he was supposed to be shipping the pipe the Monday following. It has not arrived. Is there something I can do to expedite getting the pipe sent out?

And in a single day, I received back a polite reply:

We had a muffler shop down the street from us making the pipe for us since I just don't have the time. The guy never came through. However I finally received our test designed pipe from Taiwan for our Strada 150 which also fits the Phantom. ...I have to take the header over to another shop to have this pipe copied and hopefully it will be finished by next week. I'll get back to you later. The pipe will be in steel and not chromed. I will have entire systems coming in about 35 days. Price will be around $200.00. The tune and quality is as good as any Yosi designed pipe.

[note- there was a picture attached but I've not included it. I'll let Alan announce that on his time.]

So, the pipe's still being made- reverse engineered, if you will, from a part manufactured overseas in Asia. Does anybody else see any irony in that? The concept struck me as pretty funny. I hope I see a new header dang soon since it will require some fitting of the muffler and mounting bracket. I've also asked another dealer to send me the front portion of a competitor's exhaust system, I guess I'll be able to do some side-by-side comparisons later this summer.

Ford unveils the next Shelby Cobra Mustang

Yes, I said Shelby Cobra Mustang. Today, at the New York Auto Show.

Very hot looking!

This is big news for Ogden!

We, (that is, my community,) is getting a new aircraft manufacturer in our town! This is exciting news and the latest model of their new jet looks exciting too. While I won't bother you with a link that requires registration, the story in the paper is claiming 300 new jobs coming to Ogden before summer time and another 125 in the following year.

This is great news for Ogden. I'm excited about the whole circumstance. I might even buff up my resume...

Perfect gift ideas for a certain Possum we love

From Functional Ambivilent today, a link to the perfect gift choices for our favorite marsupial. He could have cozy feet and still keep his underworld identity super-secret

More Power! ARGH ARGH ARGH!

Have I mentioned before how much I like using my air compressor and air powered tools? I have? Well you won't be surprised then when I repeat myself! I like using air tools! I don't know how I ever got anything accomplished before I had air.

What's the big deal? I fixed that dangblasted ratzenfraten dishwasher tonight with the help of air power. And a new tool of course! It was this 3/8" impact wrench that did the trick to remove that reluctant bolt that stymied me all weekend.

And of course, I failed to check the prices online before strutting into the store and whipping out my debit card, so I see from the link that I paid too much for my shiny new tool... Rats! I may carry it back and request the internet price and a refund tomorrow...

Anyway, tonight I'm the hero and there's blueberry pie and ice cream awaiting my attention next!

Minor success on the job today...

Some days I really like my job! Today happens to be one of those days. One of the biggest tasks I've been working since the first of the year is an installation scheme to modify 140+ F16s with an improved breathing oxygen system. This program has been going on for a few years now through the engineering development, then the purchase of kits through contracting, then two installations to prove that the kits fit as advertised and now, a plan is needed to get the kits installed on the airplanes. Expediently. Starting in October this year.

Seems simple right? What if I told you that all the funding for this program comes directly from Congress and that it has a 3 year shelf life and that oh, BTW, there is 3.2 million that will be worthless on September 30 if not obligated on a contract? Would that get your attention? That alone is almost a separate issue entirely but it is looming large in the shadows compared to my bigger circumstance and we will come back to it later.

There is a depot here that has all modification responsibility for the F16. They do all the work that is outside the scope and skill level of a normal flight line crew chief. It really is pretty amazing just how far an F16 can be torn down, repaired, improved and finally put back together.

Today the depot's business office finally responded formally to my request to accomplish this OBOGS modification. I asked for 6 aircraft accomplished per month, or 143 jets total, beginning in October 05 and finishing in September 2007 because that is when my last dollars expire if I don't receive any further congressional funding.

If you read the response, it appears that the depot can do the job as requested. Nowhere on the letter does it say that the depot cannot meet my request. Except when you do the math, using their numbers, it doesn't add up! They can't do 143 airplanes in 23 months, rather by their figures, they would be done in 29 months! But it doesn't say that anywhere…

Hah! I called them on it! Diplomatically and through the proper channels, I asked for a clarification of their math which I need so that I can get further agreement from the people that actually own the airplanes and have to agree to send them to me in the right quantities and times.

This written admission that they cannot support my program as requested also provides the leverage needed to enjoin a contractor to perform some of the modifications using all that $3.2 I mentioned earlier that will otherwise expire. The depot has to approve any action that moves work away from themselves and they normally won't do that for any reason. Except when they can't meet the requirements. Which today they admitted they can't do.

Obviously, no contracts have been let this afternoon, but the fact remains that I got what the program needed to establish an installation scheme that might make the players in this program look like heroes instead of incompetent oafs. And I gave the depot just the tiniest little black eye, without being obnoxious about it! I'm doing that here!

Me? Easy weekend, how about you?

Good grief! Its Tuesday already! Which means of course that the weekend has gotten past me and school has restarted.

Where to begin? What should I mutter about? The weekend I suppose, though mine are never quite as exciting as Terry's since I'm not required to juggle children as he does and my laundry pile is smaller. My goal was to get a bunch of chores done around the house that had not been accomplished earlier in the week due to repeated trips to the vet.

One of the chores was to be to replace the kitchen sink faucet which as taken to dripping uncontrollably, even though I just replaced the cartridge just a year ago. This was going to turn into an expensive proposition because not only was I going to purchase another faucet for $100, I was also going to have to buy shut off valves for both water supplies since those were left out of the previous owner's modernization budget. In just one stroke of luck though, by futzing about with the faucet and rassling with the cartridge, (which I did NOT get out), I stopped the dripping! I don't know what I did but the dripping has stopped. So, no spending money on faucets this weekend!

I wasn't done in the kitchen though, that would have been too easy. Seems the dishwasher had decided to stop spewing the water out at the correct rate during the drain cycle and was leaving water in the bottom of the machine. Hmm, let's see here, I'll bet I can find parts breakdowns online… Sure enough at www.appliancepartspro.com, I found what I was looking for and a part number for an impellor kit. I'll write down that number and go visit the Sears appliance repair store. Right after I go get the truck inspected so that I can buy a new license plate sticker to be legal for another year.

Now I got lucky again with the truck because it turns out that this year it requires no inspections, neither the safety or the emissions test, which means I've now saved another 50 bucks! And the repair kit for the dishwasher is only $14! This is looking like a pretty good day!

But everything was not roses just yet… The dishwasher wanted to play hardball with me. Under the first cover below the spray arm is the bolt that holds the two impellors secure to the motor shaft. This bolt has threadlock built in from new, I can tell this because there's a new one in my bag of parts. And the bolt is TIGHT! The two impellors are locked together by built-in flats and the top one has a 1" hex to grip while unscrewing the bolt from the center. So I'm trying to use a large socket to hold the impellor with a smaller socket, extension and a ratchet through the center to unscrew the bolt. Seems like a good plan, right? Not so fast… I was able to apply so much torque that the locked-together portions were turning, one inside the other…Crap! I left it for a while and went to see what other trouble I could cause.

Son Noah is in the driveway putting the Tracker back together. Its been off the road all week after we replaced the timing belt last weekend and had to wait for a new cover to arrive to replace the ratty, bent one. Mostly I let the boy do this work including resetting the timing and adjusting the valves. I went out to the shop and went to work on putting the scooter back together. Everything went back together pretty smoothly except for the exhaust and the problem turned out to be the exhaust flange studs on the new cylinder head being bigger that the previous studs and so the exhaust pipe won't rotate just enough for the muffler to clear the shock absorber and spring.

Didn't I see some two-sized studs at the NAPA store one day? Finding out would have to wait until Sunday because it was "quality time with the BSU" time and I needed cleaned up and off we went to the movies! If you haven't seen Million Dollar Baby already, my recommendation is to go see it. It is a very good movie and it earned those Oscars this year. Sure, its about boxing but its about much more than that and it is a fine drama. So then, with a movie and pie date successfully enjoyed by the two of us, it was finally time to drop for the night.

Sunday proved that the Tracker's valves weren't adjusted quite as accurately as the boy wished and that I was right about the two-sized studs at the NAPA store. He went back to adjusting after I showed him how to ensure the tolerances were set the way he wanted them and I finshed up installing the exhaust on the scooter. And the studs that I bought allowed just enough room to let everything fit together as intended. I did ditch the kickstarter mechanism from the drive belt case as I found one tiny broken pin that was holding things up, so until I get a replacement, I just ditched the entire mechanism.

And then I got to go for a ride! I've already mentioned that but it works! The new big-bore kit works. I made one neighborhood trip as a shakedown, came back and removed the riveted tag on the muffler that was rattling and the shiny muffler tip that had broken free of its welds. Then it was off on a bigger trip to make certain everything was in order. And except for the oil blowing out past the rocker cover o-ring, everything else worked dandy.

There was more time spent tinkering with the Tracker with the boy and somewhere during this lengthy chain of events I got my recently-brought-home Model 19 cleaned thoroughly. I even stopped Friday evening and bought 3 different boxes of ammo to fit this thing with every intention of using some of it up during the weekend. Sadly, I didn't get that accomplished.

I did talk to my dad on the phone and visit with a buddy from work that came by on his bicycle and get some of the reading done for my two classes that started yesterday; Microeconomics and Principles of Management. The economics class is online, the management class is 2 nights per week, 7:30 to 10:00! Arrgh!

And the dishwasher is still not fixed… More tools will be purchased!

The scooter's working!

I even went for a ride this afternoon on my Phantom! With the new top end I certainly noticed more pulling power from stop lights and such. I don't know that the overall top speed is improved just yet but it moves out with much more authority. I'm still waiting for my new header pipe so right now I'm just using the very restrictive original system.

The new header pipe is supposed to be leaving NJ on Monday, a week later than last Monday when it was supposed to ship. Seems the guy building it and the guy shipping it couldn't get met up between all the other work going on. So, now its this week.

Anyway, the scoot's back in the workshop as the rocker box o-ring seal isn't. A little clean up and some silicone sealer should get that back in order in quick time.

And its supposed to snow tomorrow!

There's a hole in our universe tonight

And a new star as well.

Her name was Abby Gail Summer and she was our beloved pet and friend. We picked her out of a squirming litter of spotted pups one frosty October night 15 years ago while a protective mom and a pride of the fire station daddy looked on. She was a present to my spouse but she loved each of us.

The stories of Abby are legion and legend in my small household and she never had an enemy. She played on the trampoline with the boys, claimed it as her own when they weren't around, she went on vacations with us and she would, when she was younger, bolt for an open fence gate for an unbridled, full speed run whenever the opportunity presented itself. She was a capable and doting mom to two litters of her own spotted pups. She knew when anyone was ill and would sit with you as long as you needed her company to feel better. She was sensitive to Sunday's depression and she let me hug her neck every night when my family moved away, back in 1992.

She was 15 years old, 105 years if you count that 7 years for a dog business and she lived a full life. Her health was slowing down her body but never her spirit- until this week. Finally a damaged spinal cord and a liver tumor took her out of our house.

But she's not out of our lives and she never will be. Tonight she's a young, healthy, happy puppy in the prime of her life, wherever dogs go when their bodies are no good here on earth.

We- I, really miss her right now though.



This picture is from 1996, just before I left for my year in Korea. That's Abby on the right. The other dalmation, Kissy didn't stay with us for very long but went to another family.

There's a sad event taking place at our house

Our aged dalmation Abby has, since yesterday, lost all muscle control over her hind quarters. She did have one hip that was seemingly going lame, occasionally, and sometimes it was ok. So yesterday, because the problem seemed to be worsening, she went to the vet. The vet couldn't find any obvious faults with her but did take some blood for tests to rule out diabetes and kidney failure and general old-dog malfunctions.

Before the results came back today, she had gone completely lame in both hind legs. She can't stand. At all. By this afternoon she seemed to be in considerable pain and so us three humans in the house took her back to the vet.

Thinking she might not be coming back home again.

Well, she did come back home, but she is not well. The doc figures that she has a damaged vertabrae in her spine and that it has cut off the nerve activity she needs to sit and walk. She is getting a big bunch of steroids to curb the swelling, muscle relaxers to ease her fussiness and fear and morphine to ease her pain. The doc did say that she could get better completely from this trauma but he told us to expect it to take 3 weeks or a month. If she gets better at all.

Obviously this has everyone distressed. She can't even support herself enough to relieve herself and she is unwilling to try going potty while being held up by me. She doesn't want food, not even peanut butter and barely takes any water.

If she doesn't improve, we will have to presently make that decision that we have known was coming for some time, that is, when should Abby's life be ended. She is 15, so this isn't a big surprise, its just hard to think about. She has been my kid's dog, the one dog they grew up with. She was a present for Sunday as a puppy and she was my constant companion during the months that Sunday and the boys lived far away before we remarried in 1992. She has had the last bite of my peanut butter toast every day before I left for work all these years.

Its pretty somber around here tonight.

Its March, and so its time for one of my favorite holidays!

Its the time of year when we celebrate Eat An Animal For PETA Day! And like Timmer over at Sgt Styker's Daily Brief, I like to celebrate this holiday with my family at Famous Dave's.

I'm getting hungry already!

More scary advertising...

The best sentence you'll read all week:

It’s like HeeHaw mixed with Baywatch meets PeeWee’s Playhouse on acid and nobody finds that attractive.

Go find out what Timmer's talking about over at the Daily Brief I could not agree more with his sentiment.

Local scary news!

This hazardous acid spill didn't affect me or mine directly but it sure got a bunch of media attention all last night. And rightly so-

Sunday's spill caused a cloud of orange fumes above a several-block area of South Salt Lake, forced the evacuation of 6,000 people and shut down several roads and highways in the area, including a stretch of Interstate 15. By mid-morning Monday, evacuees were allowed home and the roads were reopened.

And it sounds like somebody might have broken a few important safety rules-

`The railcars are used for the transportation of sulphuric acid. That's what they're designed for,'' said Louie Cononelos, a spokesman for Kennecott Utah Copper, a Magna-based company that leased the railcar to Phillips Services. "For whatever reason, they were shipping something that was not sulphuric acid."

Samples taken at the site by hazmat crews on Sunday showed the contents included acetic acid, hydrofluoric acid, phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid. The materials in the railcar were not contained and easily corroded the car's lining.

"That combination attacked the integrity of the railcar," Cononelos said.

Fortunately, I don't think anyone was hurt and the danger has been resolved. Now its up to the lawyers.

A fast pass through my referrals today

And I found this disturbing search string,"chosing child underwear." For any Child Internet Task Force agencies that happen to come around for a visit because of this search- I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT CHILDREN'S UNDERWEAR! I don't even want to know anything about children's underwear! Now go away!

This search for "thesis medicine smel" is not only curious because this humble blog showed up on the first page but also because its from the Japanese Google search page!

Now I must attend to my real duties for a bit...

School's out, the scooter runs, spring is here!

And all that is too much to stuff into one post. So I'll just give give you some thumbnails now and detail it all later.

First, I'm finished with school for a week! It feels really good. Last term really did wear me down, so this week is a rest-up and catch-up week all at once, meaning lots of the chores I've needed to do will be acomplished while I'm not doing school.

Second, my Vento Phantom scooter is now a real 150cc! And its running! It still isn't all put back together, as I'm waiting on my prototype exhaust header pipe to arrive from Power Sports Factory, but it was running yesterday in the shop. So far, I'm very pleased. Installation was nearly pain free.

Third, the Tracker's been under the wrench since last Thursday. It quit on the boy on Thursday morning and by the evening it still wasn't running after we worked to rule out a computer failure. Friday after work we replaced the coil and it was right back in business. Until Saturday when the decision was made to replace the leaking crankshaft seal and we discovered the timing belt was missing many of its teeth and needed replacement as well.

So its still broke while we order a new cover and gasket, (I will do that next!) and it only took 3 air powered impact guns to get one strong enough to get the crankshaft bolt out.

Finally, we watched a couple rental movies over the weekend and I've started doing yard work and we visited the Home & Garden Show for ideas on how to spend lots of money making our house even prettier than the neighbors.

So, no, I didn't do much over the weekend, how about you?

Where have you lived?

Just quickly jumping on a meme to keep this blog alive for another day or two. Sure wish I had time to rant about Million Mom March organizers named Frisky that keep illegal guns and drugs in her house or the 23 pound lobster named Bubba or the 2 important holidays this month, one of which is Eat an Animal for PETA day.

So, here's where I've been.
bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

My Sitemeter emails stopped- anybody else?

For the entire time that I've used Sitemeter to keep track of my puny number of visitors each day, I've received a weekly email with summary charts of the past week's results. Then the emails stopped after the new year. I've not received one since December.

I didn't get an email saying they were going to stop with the summaries and I can't find any info on their web page that says I needed to start paying, or anything like that.

Did you stop getting your weekly reports too?

Enough with this schoolwork already!

Isn't there a kegger party somewhere to crash? Can I get together with my neighbor Roger and have an "old farts" frat party to blow off some studying steam?

I sure feel like I could use it. I have studied and done homework diligently this weekend. Tomorrow is my final for the macroeconomics class, online, and ocnflicting with my accounting class... what was I thinking when I planned that? Good Grief! I also didn't learn the secrets to this proxied test scheduling until this weekend, even though my final is tomorrow, I still have reading to do and answer to for the last week of class!

And accounting ends with a final on Friday and still 2 chapters to cover in class this week! I think I have done all the homework that will be required but there's a study guide to work that will take up several more hours before the test.

Look at what time I'm posting this- its late. I just finished printing out all the review material for tomorrow's test. I think I'm taking the morning off to review instead of going to work.

I did break out of my closet for a few hours this weekend for fun stuff. Saturday the BSU and I went to see Hotel Rhwanda. Its a riveting movie. It left me with a deeper understanding of how hatred can be festered and harvested all because of a name stamped in a document. It also furthered my belief that the United Nations is of no value in the world except for setting up tents and soup lines.

Today I snuck out to the shop for a couple hours to continue with the scooter engine upsizing project. Its all apart, the head and all the components are on the bench. I took a number of pictures but its too late to be uploading them tonight. I'll be saving them for a special post all about the swap.

And except for those two breaks, I've been at the schoolwork all weekend. But next weekend, I'm free!

What to do, what to do with all that free time? Something nice with the spouse maybe...

Guess what I bought today...

A new gun! Yes!

No, actually its not a new gun, its a rather old gun actually, a Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolver in 357 magnum. It looks like this one. It is wearing a Hogue grip and a trigger shoe and overall, its not very shiny. The bluing is worn thin and the evidence of a bit of rust shows around some of the edges. But it locks up tight, the bore is shiny and the gun looks like it was somebody's trusted companion for many years. It just has that look of wear in the cosmetics but care in the internals that said to me that somebody loved and carried that gun without regard if it stayed "pretty."

I found it at the Cash America Pawn Shop and you'll be jealous when I tell you the price was just $219 & tax... My trusted religious artifacts dealer Bob advised me on some things to look for this afternoon and suggested that if the gun was in good condition I should buy it without delay. Which I did! Its on layaway right now and should come home next week or the week after.

Once upon a time, many years ago, I had another Model 19 like this one. It was a polished stainless version, wore the same Hogue stocks and was sold early in my married days to this BSU. The rent needed paid and the gun had to go. Now I've got another one and this one has character on display from every angle.

Now I'll need a holster or two, a gun rug and a new caliber of ammo to buy to keep it fed. And since its a 357, I'll need 2 flavors of ammo for it, 38 Special for all the time shooting, and full-house 357 Magnum ammo for when it gets loaded up for duty.

This would be a great time to jingle my tip jar, if you've been waiting for a reason...

EBay Phishing Scam in My Email

This was an interesting email that I received tonight:

Dear eBay customer,
Due to our new services you have to pay your eBay fees.You can pay with your credit/debit card. We will ask for your credit/debit card only once.We will charge your account once per month.However you will receive a confirmation request in about 24 hours after the credit/debit card is authorized.You have 24 hours from the time you'll receive the e-mail to complete this eBay Request.
Note:Ignoring this message will cause eBay TKO Suspension notice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To make the funds payable to us please use this link:
http://signin.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?OneTimePayment&ssPageName=h:h:sin:US

I was ever so pleased when, just for fun, I clicked the link and this is what I saw:

The host signin-asapidll-redirect.servehttp.com has been disabled due to violation of our terms of service

You are getting this page because the site you tried accessing was involved in a Fraudlent Phishing scheme.
What is a phishing scheme?
The ultimate goal of a phishing scheme is to gather customer infomration such as usernames, passwords, social security numbers, and credit card numbers. The main way they do this and probably how you reached this site is through spoofed email. The email claims to be from a website or company asking for you to login or provide them with some other confidential information.

So, thanks, Vitalwerks Internet Solutions, LLC for keeping aware and pulling the plug on an internet fraudster.

Another place to rant about Vento!

This morning I followed a link and discovered Review Centre. I took the oportunity to further spread the word about Vento's blatant lieing about the size of the 2004 Phantom's engine.

So of course I had to stir the pot some more!

I'm still waiting for my header pipe to arrive and haven't had time to perform the engine upgrade. Since I'll be done with this term next week and won't have any homework to do, I'll probably try to get it done next weekend.

Just one of the reasons I'm crabby lately

is the dog that been using the family room carpet as her peeing spot. Trouble is (one of the troubles,) I don't know which dog! There's two elderly female dogs in this house and either could be the culprit. Anyway, I've been sopping up dog piss puddles for a couple weeks now and I'm getting pretty tired of it.

And, after renting a carpet shampooer once, which was all the hassle that renting always entails, I decided to buy a shampooer for myself. One I could keep cocked and locked in the laundry room for cleanup on an as-needed basis.

So, I went shopping and looked at all the differnt models of carpet shampoo machines. I picked out a .Eureka Atlantis Deep Steam Extractor for all its features and the price that I was willing to pay. I tried to buy it last night at Wal-Mart but no customer service people could be located to get one down from the storage above the displays before the BSU overspent on some new clothes and left me with not enough cash to buy it.

So tonight, on my way home, I stopped at the other Wal-Mart, which didn't even seem to stock the machine I wanted... And after going home, taking the BSU and Son to dinner at Appleby's, stopping at Sam's Club to see if they sell shampooers and finally driving across town to the first Wal-Mart, and expecting to use a rake from the lawn & garden department to pull down the box I want, I find the box down on the low shelf waitng for me to pick it up and proceed to the check out.

And the damm thing doesn't work! No kidding! I brought it home, unpacked it, read the instructions, filled the proper tanks with the correct liquids and- nothing. The vacuum works. But no spraying and no movement of the brushes!

I decided to drink a couple beers and blog until my blood pressure drops low enough for me to sleep. Tomorrow I will call the Customer Service phone number and pray that there is an english speaking person to assist me.

What's a Skoda Convertible called...

with the top down? Its called a "skip!" A skip, of course is a dumpster to those of us here in the good old USA. This of course is just one of a great many jokes told to every Skoda owner in the UK. Of which, I, of course, once was. A Skoda owner.

This silly joke is the answer to the comment I left over at Possumblog this morning in the famed Thursday Three pronouncement for the week.

The Thursday Three this week came from another fabled motorhead, Larry Anderson and these questions are available to read at Possumblog. I simply must pull out of my study and RL induced stupor and respond to these very pertinent questions.

1. What's the strangest car I've ever owned? That might just have to be a Citroen CX2200 sedan. I wrote about this car before and I'll reprint it here:

Citroen CX2200 What a weird critter this was! Hydraulic suspension, when you shut the car off it settled down on its wheels like a camel kneeling. Start it up and it rose like magic to the right height again. Move a lever to jack it way up and lock it to change a tire. Brake pedal didn't actually move it just actuated a pressure switch. Four wheel disc brakes, hydraulically boosted too but no power steering, ugh! Sold it to another GI, he tried to get me in trouble with the commander over it. Unsuccessfully.

2. The worst car I've ever owned? Hmm, this is a toughie as you will no doubt realize when you get to the extended entry. Two of the worst had to be the Commer Caravan camper that didn't look much better than the one in the picture. I said this about it in a previous post:

1974 Commer Caravan, our first RV. This thing was about the size and shape of a Volkswagen microbus, battleship gray and rust infected. The spouse was offended just having it sit in the driveway but we toured England with it and made full use of the stove, sink, fridge, pop-top and fold out bunks.

Alternately, the 1984 Skoda Estelle might take worst car prize, which remarkably shared the driveway at the same time as the Commer! I wrote this about it in a previous post:

I bought this one with the engine already blown; I took a connecting rod out of the motor before even removing the air cleaner... This one was the finest Czecheslovakian car I ever owned! Twelve hundred cc motor, in the back. I fiddled with the motor for this thing for a number of weeks, the first one I couldn't keep together and I finally bought a second from a wrecking yard in London.

After the second engine installation we did drive this throughout England for a number of months before returning home. It was an nightmare from an engineering point of view and it was remarkable how sturdy they could be and how beloved they were among the hard working farmers in East Anglia.

3. Any wrecks? Ah, yeah, I suppose there's been a couple wrecks. But I've only turned three vehicles upside down... And nobody's ever required any more medical attention than a band-aid and a valium or two, so that's not bad. Right? The first upside down adventure happened again while we lived in England, in a Fiat 128 sedan, on my way to work one (not so) apparently icy morning. I had Son 1 in the back seat, strapped into his car seat and suddenly we were off the road at 60 mph and fighting for control. I lost. The car hit a large bump in the ground, rotated 90 degrees and then nosed over into a mostly-empty canal! I got wet about knee deep extricating both of us out of that mess.

Then the pretty blue Ford Thunderbird that the BSU insisted on having to rid herself of the "soccer mom in a minivan" look. I turned it upside down with both kids in the car this time, coming back from my mom-in-law's funeral in Jan 98. We crested a large hill on the interstate, and passed onto a piece of the highway that was perenially shaded and covered with packed snow and ice. We faced each direction on the compass before backing into the mountain side and rolling over just as we came to a stop. Rode the Greyhound home the next day after that little mishap...

Finally, just 13 months ago, on the way to West Yellowstone for a weekend adventure of snowmobiling Yellowstone Park with the BSU, we rolled over in our 2000 F-250 truck. Again, it was packed snow on a road that never sees daylight that caused the disruption of our little vacation. That trip did entail an exciting ride down the mountain in an ambulance but everyone turned out fine and we were able to drive the truck home once we rescued it from the wrecker operator.

As for the bonus TT question- my most memorable drive-in memory, I'm gonna have to ponder that one a bit, cause there were some times...

I found this link tonight while researching some of the cars already mentioned. Its an article about some of the worst cars of all time. I've owned several of these cars! What does that say about me? Pammy, I liked my Pacer!

Finally, I've reproduced a post I made some time ago listing all the cars I've owned. My list was not as long as Larry's but I still think its an impressive list. (Your results may vary...) There was once upon a time a link to each one of the cars but they have been lost to the re-copying from one blog to the current one. So check it out.

Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Hi, I'm Nate and I'm a vehicoholic. Terry over at Possumblog got this started today and after the first email in which I admitted to having once owned a Pontiac Gran Prix, a Fiat 850 convertible and a Citroen; it was time to face the facts for myself. I like cars. And trucks. Racecars are really good. Hot rods make me stop traveling wherever I'm going to go back and see up close. I have traveled through multiple states to pick up cars that I purchased sight unseen.

Thought I might come clean by making a list.

1947 Pontiac 4 door sedan - bought before I had a license and never got a title. Did spend a summer working on it and listening to the tube powered AM radio in the evenings with my best friend.

1962 Oldsmobile F85, also a 4 door with bench seats. Not very cool in high school in 1972 but it did have a (little) V8 and the bench seats turned out to be pretty practical after all. (Think Meatloaf and that greatest rock and roll operetta, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights here.)

1964 Pontiac Gran Prix, black with red interior. Big V8 and a chrome console, power windows and AC, this was a cool car in 1974 and the 8 track player and 6X9 speakers in the back window just made it all the better.

1969 Opel Kadett, my first foray in foreign cars. Throttle linkage fell off every time you hit a big bump but otherwise a pretty reliable lump. I replaced my first heater core in that car. Added a homebuilt Plexiglas spoiler to the trunk lid and put 60's on the back and 70's on the front. This might have been where it got started...

1972 Fiat 850 convertible. My first car payments! 903cc of screaming power! Best thing about this car was driving it at full force all the time. Just going for donuts in the morning was a Gran Prix race, but the guy next to you never knew. Had intimate relations in this car a couple of times, with the top up!

A Chevy Vega station wagon. I bought this after wrecking the Fiat and while trying to figure out how to get it fixed. It rusted away almost visibly day by day. The inner fender wells were held together just by the wiring harness clips by the time I got rid of it. And it burned oil like every Vega before GM began installing iron sleeves. But I liked the styling and it was a practical car for two people.

1972 Hornet hatchback. Another winner! Sixty series tires and shortened front springs gave this car attitude even if I did croak the motor trying to pull a much too heavy trailer. Don't remember when I got it but I towed it to Utah in 1979 after I joined the service.

1969 AMC Ambassador SST What a boat this thing was! I think it was a $300 boat, into which I promptly installed a used replacement motor. But then I drove it from Ohio to Texas and then to Utah with all my earthly belongings in it, after changing the timing chain and the burned carburetor in the trailer park driveway in January.

AMC Pacer station wagon, don't remember the year. I'm seeing a bit of a pattern here. Spooky! Bought while married to the first wife and we had a brand new baby. Thought buying a station wagon was just the right thing to do. Immediately became divorced. Drove the car to my next duty station in Florida from Utah. Even had this car painted after the sun burnt off the original paint, it was silver and gun metal gray metallic. I actually really liked this car.

1980 Plymouth Fire Arrow. Came with the current BSU when we got serious. This was a brand new car when she was married to her first spouse. It went to Florida also.

Pontiac J2000. After the second baby and living in Florida, 4 doors and air conditioning seemed to be requirements. Took this one to England when we moved in 1985.

(NOTE: cars kind of came and went during the next several years so the order might get a little scrambled. But bear with me here...)

Austin Allegro. Who knows what year this beast was born. This was an oversized Mini, very similar to the Austin America that was sold over here in the US but rounder. Front wheel drive, very basic transportation. Bought it at the auction down the street. I wonder what happened to it.

Fiat 128 sedan. Bought from the garage owner across the street from me. Turned it upside down on my way to work one morning with my son in his car seat in the back. We came to a stop upside down in a fortunately nearly empty irrigation canal. Took two wreckers to get it out of the canal, for which I also paid Fred.

Citroen CX2200 What a weird critter this was! Hydraulic suspension, when you shut the car off it settled down on its wheels like a camel kneeling. Start it up and it rose like magic to the right height again. Move a lever to jack it way up and lock it to change a tire. Brake pedal didn't actually move it just actuated a pressure switch. Four wheel disc brakes, hydraulically boosted too but no power steering, ugh! Sold it to another GI, he tried to get me in trouble with the commander over it. Unsuccessfully.

Lancia Beta coupe. What a wreck this was! It should have gone directly to the wrecker's yard, instead I bought it. It was completely illegal by British safety requirements. I finally got rid of it when 2 of the disc brakes wore down to the steel pads. And one of the McPherson struts was rotted through at the top and the strut would bang around inside the mount when going around corners... It did go to the wrecker's finally. Thankfully.

Toyota Celica hatchback, the one that looked like a 5/8 scale 69 Mustang. Bought it from another GI. Seems like I drove it pretty hard for a while. I did stuff it into a ditch on a country road one afternoon when the brakes failed. It was a ratty car but it went ok.

1974 Commer Caravan, our first RV. This thing was about the size and shape of a Volkswagen microbus, battleship gray and rust infected. The spouse was offended just having it sit in the driveway but we toured England with it and made full use of the stove, sink, fridge, pop-top and fold out bunks.

1984 Skoda Estelle 4 door. I bought this one with the engine already blown; I took a connecting rod out of the motor before even removing the air cleaner... This one was the finest Czecheslovakian car I ever owned! Twelve hundred cc motor, in the back. I fiddled with the motor for this thing for a number of weeks, the first one I couldn?t keep together and I finally bought a second from a wrecking yard in London.

Toyota Space Cruiser van. Another trip into car payments! This had 2 sunroofs and 3 rows of seats to keep the kids separated. It also had everything hidden under the floor so maintenance was a drag. Sold it when we came back to the US in 89 since it was right hand drive.

1988 Isuzu Trooper, our first SUV! What we wanted was a Chrysler minivan, but they wouldn't loan us money after being out of the country so long and GM would finance us. We purchased this on a Monday morning in Portland OR and on Wednesday we headed for a wedding in Ohio on Saturday!

Mitsubishi Cordia. Another 2nd car when we both went to work in Louisiana in 1990. Not a bad little hatchback but it had 2 shift levers, 4 speeds on the principal lever and the 2nd was a "power-economy" lever. Hailstorm damage paid that one off... Spousal unit sold it when we divorced.

1991 Mustang GT. This I bought after the divorce was in work. I didn't need the Trooper and couldn?t afford the payments. I couldn't afford the Mustang's payments when I swapped either but I had a shiny fast car to cheer me up. I put a shift kit in the auto transmission and started to get my head together.

1981 Ford F150 truck, my first truck. When the divorce was done and the 2nd marriage was pending, the Mustang had to go. BSU did not appreciate its symbolism and it was no good for hauling home repair materials either. This truck was a banger with millions of miles on it but I was desperate and so it followed me home.

1991 Ford F150 truck, truck number two. This one was a really nice XLT extended cab that I really liked. I took it with me to Korea when I went in 1996, just so it wouldn't be sitting in the driveway tempting my teenaged, wannabe driver. It came back the US with me in 1997 and took up residence in Utah.

Hyundai Excel 4 door. Bought this for the spouse when she came back to town after the divorce and she wanted to work things out. We drove the wheels off this little car for a couple of very dependable years and only ever replaced one CV joint. It was cheap but a reliable car and it earned my respect.

Pontiac TranSport minivan. Traded the Hyundai for this one. I put some shiny billet wheels and 70 series tires on it for a much-improved look over the originals. A pretty decent soccer shuttle and grocery hauler, we even took a road trip from Louisiana to Oregon and back in decent comfort for 4 people.

Ford Thunderbird, 1996. The BSU bought this one while I was home on leave from Korea. She wanted out of the minivan mom look and the metallic navy blue T-bird was the ticket. Too bad I rolled it on the Oregon interstate in coming back from her mother's funeral. This time I had both kids in the car with me but nobody was hurt and we got a Greyhound ride home the next day.

Jeep Wagoneer.This was "Woodrow" because it had the wood grain trim on the side and the spouse thought "Woodie" was too informal. Big honking V8 under the hood but no power, no gas mileage and crowded inside. Woodrow had to go when every time I tried to leave town it broke down on the spouse and forced me to come home early.

Mitsubishi Montero A much more modern SUV to replace the Wagoneer. This was spousal unit's daily driver and the family car. It was sold when she went unemployed.

Ford F250 Crew Cab truck, 2000. This was the very first vehicle that I bought brand new from the dealer. Everything else on this list was used when I bought it. It is V10 powered, 4WD and has all the goodies inside. We bought this to keep a long time and to accommodate our recreational desires.

1987 Jeep Cherokee. This one came from the auction and was planned to be either for the spousal unit or for Noah's driver. He promptly exploded the motor and I spent all last summer overhauling, then replacing the motor. Once it had a good motor in it, I sold it with no regrets.

1989 Geo Tracker. This is another SUV, but a little 2 door convertible one. It also came from the auction, the same night as the Jeep. (I got in a little trouble for that...) Its been a really dependable little rig for the time I've owned it and taking off the top when the weather is nice is great fun. It is cheap and easy to work on and tolerant of a teenaged driver.

1969 VW Baja. I bought this for the elder son, who I thought was going to get his drivers license but didn't. Now Noah claims it and in a week or two we may have it through the licensing process and on the road. (Since sold due to lack of interest.)

70s vintage Fiberfab Avenger. This is a kit car that I bought as a father-son project a couple years ago. It looks a little bit like a Ford GT-40 racecar from 1967. We have done quite a bit of work to it but restoration has been stalled due to lack of funds. It is VW powered and we have an entire replacement chassis in the backyard awaiting our time and money. (And now we have a 2.2 liter fuel injected Subaru moror to transplant!)

That's it. That is the list of all the cars I have owned in my life. I think. Thirty-three cars and trucks. The number hardly seems big enough for the list, since 4 of the rigs are presently still in my driveway.
Nate 5:11 PM

Skiing Today! No Homework!

Tales of my exploits when I get home. Providing I survive, of course!

GM to drop Quadrasteer from truck line

This could be good news for my desire for a Ford truck with Quadrasteer, but I doubt it. It could be good news because now that GM's exclusive deal with Delphi, the system manuafacturer has died, other truck companies could buy into the technology now instead of waiting for the original licencing deal to expire. Sadly, I think the same reasons it didn't work for GM, overpriced and under-sold will cause the others to think hard about adding it to their brand of trucks.

Here's one reason I'd like it:

With Quadrasteer, the rear wheels turned up to 12 degrees in the opposite direction of the front wheels, enabling a full-sized heavy duty Silverado or Sierra to turn a corner in a tight 36.5 feet, a radius that is best on the market. The Nissan Titan makes a turn in 45 feet while the Toyota Tundra can turn a circle in just over 44 feet.

I know my truck's turning radius is easily in that 45 foot radius range, making fitting into the parking spots at Wal-Mart a challenge every time I go there. I also know that 4WS has not been successful on any of the vehicles its been tried on over the past years. I remain hopeful that Ford might buy Dephi's technology, add it to a truck I like and put it up for sale just about the time I'm ready to be talked out of my 2000 F250 Super Duty, crew cab.

Ford, if you're listening, call it 2 years from now, maybe 3. A 2008 model, F150 Crew Cab, Lariat model with a 6 foot bed, 4WD, a V-8 and the King Ranch leather package and quadrasteer will be dandy, thanks. And green. Can I get a decent color of true green as a color choice please? You've been dumping some ugly colors on the trucks the past couple years.

Want to see the picture on my desktop?

I've got a new one today thanks to John at Castle ARGGHHH! Go see the great pics he posted today. I'm using the 2nd picture in this post.

If it weren't for Chris, I'd never post anything fun

He sent me a link today and asked me how this bit of computer mind-reading works. I think I should know the answer, but I'll be danged if I can focus my over-tasked cranial cells to locate and retrieve the reason why.

Try it, it works. Chris wants to know how. I'll pass it along to him if you leave an answer in the comments.

Phantom scooter updates

I've been too busy even to go out to the shop and finish up my welder dolly that I hacked together early last week. Its all done but for some weld cleanup and a coat of paint and having its wheels reinstalled. Then the dolly can go on the floor and the welder can get strapped to it. And I've got to find a permanent spot for it to live under the bench which will, no doubt involve a general shop cleanup and throwaway session. I've got to do all that before I can get busy with my scooter's engine upgrades.

I have received some good news on the exhaust pipe replacement plan after last week's unsuccessful search for a local pipe fabricator. Last night I swapped some email with Alan who is the general manager of Power Sports Factory, the same folks that I bought my big-bore kit from. Alan's away from his shop right now and setting up a display at this week's Motorcycle Dealer Expo in Indianapolis, but he promised to bend me up an exhaust pipe to accommodate my slip-on muffler when he gets back. He's even thinking that he might make up a batch of these pipes for folks like me that want some flexibility in their muffler choice.

PSF is in a terrific circumstance to make my exhaust pipe since they already make an entire exhaust system of pipe and muffler. But the way they sell that is all in one piece and I was too cheap to pony up for their shiny, chrome plated version.

So I'm getting kind of anxious to get all the parts gathered up, the shop swept out and the conversion of my scooter into a full 150cc, fire breathing speedster completed. The cleanup may get started this weekend but I'll be waiting until I have all the parts on hand before doing the scooter upgrades. An additional 10 degrees of warmth wouldn't hurt my feelings any as well!

Anyway, I'm pretty excited to have found a builder for the last piece of my upgrade kit and I'm getting anxious for scooter riding season to arrive!

I cannot tell a lie, I found a quiz before turning off the 'puter...

Which Family Guy character are you?

Where does the time go?

I'll tell you where mine goes- It disappears in the job, which remains running at wide open throttle. There's been nearly no let up from the first of the year in trying to get things accomplished. Things like trying to get 3.2M obligated legally before it expires... and having to explain to the Colonels why the new plan is better than the old plan...

My weekend has been nearly as hectic though it hasn't been without its pleasant moments. Saturday, boy & I went to the Indoor arenacross motorcycle races and mud bog races. A pretty good time though I would have preferred more mud bogging and less of the 5 year olds riding their tiny bikes over the bumps.

Sunday morning was homework, as was Saturday morning, then lunch at The Oaks out in Ogden canyon with the BSU. We celebrated tomorrow's valentines day over the weekend instead of waiting so we had a nice lunch, made a quick stop into Wal-Mart, (isn't it a requirement that everyone make at least one stop every weekend?) then went on to catch a matinee show of Hitch. Its a good movie. Funny and romantic at the same time. It was the perfect date movie for Valentines day.

And Friday night I even watched the most chick-flick movie of all time- Sleepless in Seattle with the spouse. So I've been a very attentive hubby most of the weekend. Except for the hours I've been locked in this dang closet with a macroeconomics book stuck in my face that is... I've not even been out to my shop once this weekend, which means there's been no cigars and only one beer.

Geez, I'm even boring myself here! I think I'll go catch some tv before bedtime- and fold clothes of course...

Why proper safety gear is essential for two wheeled riders

Do you want to know why motorcyclists and scooter riders should always wear a helmet and gloves and sturdy clothes? Check out this video to get a better understanding of how things can go wrong in a hurry in totally unpredictable fashion.

Many years ago, when I had my first motorcycle, I was out for a ride with my dad one sunny afternoon. I was riding just to the rear and the right side of my dad and we were both traveling about 60 mph. A starling took off from a fence post to the right side of the highway and flew across and directly into my dad's path. The bird came over the windshield and struck my dad's helmet just above the visor!

The impact scooted Dad back on the seat and almost slid him right off the back of the bike, all while I'm watching this in too close proximity. Fortunately he was able to regain control of the bike and we motored the final few blocks to the house quite shaken. Our luck turned out better than the bird's though Dad was mighty upset to have scratch marks on the front of his helmet.

So, ride safe when you ride, cause you never know when the wildlife is going to fight back.

I have GOT to have this Tshirt!

Actually, most everyone that stops by this tiny bit of drifting asteroid in the blogosphere needs this T shirt. It really does need a male character on a matching shirt for us testosterone driven types, but its still a great shirt. I just might have to get one. Or the coffee mug, as if I already didn't have more mugs than storage space.

Anyway, I think the design is very cool, almost a Lileksian idea, especially the "thrilling HTML-O-Scope with exciting new fonts!" And I owe the link to to the very attractive Heidi and her blog,
Blissfully Unaware. Heidi is becoming one of my semi-regular stops along the blog highway, so check her out, you might like her as well.

My scooter parts have arrived!

That's right, the big bore kit arrived late yesterday and so I didn't discover it until this morning when I went out for work. I did find the package containing my new muffler from JC Whitney on the step when I got home yesterday.

Everything looks terrific. I had a quick dig through the box from PSF before leaving. The engine parts look good. I'm not certain how much bigger the carb might be but I did notice that there is no new intake manifold so the engine side must be the same size as the original. There is even a new cam drive chain but I think I'll not be changing that since mine has only 900 miles on it. The megaphone muffler will be a shiny compliment to the scoot and it most certainly will flow lots more air than the very restrictive (and heavy) original muffler.

Pictures will certainly be following as I do the tear down, swap out of the old parts and install the real 150cc engine parts. Then the scoot will be shuttled out to CPI for the new exhaust pipe creation. After that, its just a matter of a few 60 degree days for me to get back on the road again with all my new horsepower.

I am so excited! The BSU, who discovered the accidentally left laying receipt from last week, is much less excited... I guess I better come up with a doozy of a Valentines Day gift!

I've got a Gravatar too!

Just like Terry, I now have a Gravatar, a Globally Recognized Avatar that will follow me around and leave a picture everywhere I post. You can get one too by signing up at Gravatar.com.

I tried to use the caffeine molecule picture that rotates around at the top of my blog page. But it is exceptionally unremarkable in the 80 X 80 pixel size so I must find something better. Maybe a scooter picture would work.

I'll accept ideas if you want to offer some.

EPMS Alert levels

Males, click the link and heed the Early PMS Alert Levels. Shamelessly stolen from John at Castle Argghhh!

General Mattis and his words about killing people

Varifrank did a little Googling and discovered that General Mattis wasn't the only senior military man that understands the need for the occasional killing of bad guys. He discoverd several notable leaders and their words. I especially liked this one:

"War is cruelty. There's no use trying to reform it, the crueler it is the sooner it will be over." General William Tecumseh Sherman

Citizen Smash has some additional comments and links to reasons some of these bad folks deserve a good killing here.

My Vento Phantom is getting bigger!

That's because I have ordered the big-bore upgrade kit this week. I'm anxiously awaiting for the arrival of the big brown truck leaving goodies on my front step. The kit comes from Power Sports Factory. It includes everything I need to make my scooter into the real 150cc that it should have been from the factory. There is a new cylinder, piston with rings and pin, a new cam, a bigger carburetor, air filter and inlet tube. There's also a new variator which is the portion of the transmission that adjusts for the gear ratio change.

The only thing I didn't buy from PSF was their exhaust pipe and muffler system. Instead, I'm doing my own high performance system. As mentioned in the previous post, CPI Racing is going to build for me a new exhaust pipe to fit this megaphone muffler from JC Whitney. The original exhaust pipe seems to be terribly restrictive and not conducive to making power so the new system should be much less restrictive. I'm lucky that CPI is just a few miles from my house as it will be neccesary to haul the scooterdown to them for proper fitting once all the parts arrive.

Needless to say, I'm might excited about the new parts and expectant of lots more power for my scoot. And the way the weather's been going, riding season won't be too many more weeks away.

What a week!

I've been busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger all week! Of course I was trying to play catch-up from missing the prior week and I just about succeeded in spite of the demands of the current week. Its been ugly, I can tell you that! Overall, I think I got about 80% of everything accomplished that needed to be done and the remainder was left undone because I couldn't get though to my boss to get a meeting on his calendar.

I did get to go and sit down and explain to the Colonel what was happening with my biggest programs and why the Lieutenant back in Ohio was going in a direction that seems like a good plan but may not be technically possible or legal. That meting wasn't totally unpleasant for me, the lieutenant may find his meeting less so.

School continues apace and I even got a decent grade on my first accounting test in spite of missing a week's worth of class notes. The online economics course seems to be working out ok. I rather like the flexibility of working at my own times but it does take some discipline to ensure I get everything accomplished during the week.

I got to play plumber this week, the handle broke off on our bathroom faucet and I decided it would be easier to replace the entire thing than to fuss with geting the handle screw out and the cause of the sticking valve fixed. So, with the help of a $100 bill and the missus to choose the style, Home Depot got a little richer and I didn't. Replacing it wasn't too terrible really, except that both the hoses had to be replaced and I didn't get them during the initial faucet purchase trip. (Note to self: just buy the new hoses at the same time, next time!)

And the job wouldn't have been 1/2 bad except that I've hurt my back, again and even before crawling under the vanity to do the faucet replacement. I'm hurting and I've been hurting since Wednesday. Its so bad that I bailed out of a planned trip to the desert to go shooting with my bud and fellow blogger Kenny. So you know it must be pretty lousy or I would not be blogging right now. I'm taking Kenny's advise, I'm overmedicating and resting today.

Yesterday was my regular day off and of course that was a day of rest- right? Yeah... I went first to see if a guy about an exhaust pipe for my scooter. CPI Racing is run by Mark Hare and he was very interested in helping squeeze more power from my Vento Phantom scooter.

Then it was a trip to the barber shop, Home Depot for the first sink supply hose, to the grocery store with the spouse for the big cupboard filling shopping extravagana, back to the Schlotzskys where we had lunch to recover my hat that I left behind and a stop at Radio Shack for a new hands-free headset because my cell phone won't work without one now and my last one died.

So, yeah, I was tired last night... And homework today instead fo tramping through the sagebrush. Rats!

MY LIFE AT WORK

Thanks again to my good friend Chris- who works in a large 5-sided building in the eastern portion of the USA for sending me this. Its all true.

Start with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the other monkeys with cold water. After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put away the cold water. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, replace a third original monkey with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs, he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs to try for the banana. Why not? Because as far as they know that's the way it has always been done around here.

And that, my friends, is how AF policy (and program management) begins.

Get your monitor cleaned for free!

And better than you have ever done by yourself. Just click here. Thanks to my buddy Chris that sent me the link.

We are back and I'm back to work

To busy to detail right now but the RDCV is we returned home Friday evening, BSU is much improved, some homework remains to be caught up. And the job has piled up nicely. More tonight. Thank you for your kind words and prayers.

OK, the long version of last week's saga...

As noted I got an early morning wakeup call to tell me that the BSU had gone from being an Urgent Care patient to an Emergency Room Patient and hospital stay patient overnight. Her diverticulitus had gotten out of control and she was being given morphine for the pain and having all foods and liquids restricted.

Surgery was on the lips of the ER docs.

That's a really bad thing...

So I grabbed the earliest possible Southwest Airlines flight and got myself to Oregon. Spouse was being tended to by a couple sisters when I finally arrived but she was glad to see me, if a little bit surprised.

Long story shortened considerably- lots of waiting, as usual when anyone is in the hospital. The staff doc was not so anxious to start cutting as the ER doc and so he advised lots of meds and patience.

With the exception of fielding the phone calls from the United Nations angrily claiming that antiobiotics promised to tsunami victims was disappearing up the Spouse's arm, there was nothing to do but let the meds and the prayer have their affect. Which both did in respectable time. She was finally allowed gelatin on Wednesday lunch and a soft meal for dinner and regular food for breakfast on Thursday morning while the wonderful staff prepared for her discharge in the afternoon.

I rode the Portland Max light rail out to the airport, rented a car and drove back to sweep my bride away from the hospital and out to her home town and medicinal outpost of St Helens. The car turned out to be a 2004 Cadillac Deville for just $5 more than the sub-compact I intended to rent! What a sweet car! But never mind that...

We rested up at one of the sister's and entertained a couple more Thursday evening for a bit then caught a good night's rest, (my first since Saturday night), and then took the Caddy back down highway 30 to 84 east and the airport without incident. We were home safely Friday evening and glad of it!

So thanks again for all your kind thoughts and prayers and words. They are appreciated. BTW, the sister that the BSU went to visit before her lung cancer surgery? The cancer has spread to both lungs and her lymph system. Very bad news for her. She's hurting and angry and scared. Not surprising I suppose.

Anyway, homework's done for tonight and its time for The Tonight Show and Headlines!

Update on the BSU's medical circumstances

Surgery probably is not in the cards, at least for the immediate future. She is responding to the heavy and multiple doses of antibiotics and the inflammation seems to be lessened today. The bowel blockages seem to be slowly resolving as well.

She's hungry. She really would like some food but she is getting only enough water to allow her to swallow meds that can't be ordered to fit through her IV. Nada. So she is complaining a little bit about that. And she's hurtin if she tries to move around too much but the morphine keeps her sleepy most of the time.

The staff here at Good Samaritan seems to be in competition to see who can provide the best and most care. Every time I checked on her last night, one nurse or another was fussing with her, checkin her vitals or giving more meds or something. No wonder she's tired. But the staff really does sem wonderful and helpful. They even pointed me towards the coffee pots that are always fresh and free!

Anyway, while the hospital stay isn't over, the crisis does seem under control. I don't expect her to be out of here until tomorrow at the soonest.

Thanks for all your kind words and prayers.

Emergency surgery pending

This morning's 6AM phone call was NOT good news. BSU's sister called to say that my spouse did not make it through the night without being rushed to the ER. She's getting some morphine for the pain, antibiotics to fight back an infection and consultation about surgery as I write this. If she can get stabilized enough, she wants to get back to Utah before surgery, if not, it will be in Oregon, today probably.

The diagnosis is diverticulitus right now, its an inflammation of the bowel and treatment usually means removal of the offending portions. This is a bad thing because you really need all of it to process and absorb the nutrients from food and she has already had some of her bowel removed 11 years ago for the same problem. So she's got none to spare already and loosing more could seriously restrict her ability to lead a normal life.

I'm at the airport now. I couldn't get on the first flight out so now I've a couple hours to kill waiting for the next one. Sisters are standing by to piuck me up at the airport in Portland.

Those of you inclined, please offer a prayer for my spouse today. Her name is Sunday.

Posting may be limited for the next few days while I tend to this urgent medical matter.

Dear CapitolOne- Please Stop!

Attention, Mr P. Taylor Jamison

Sir, your exciting offer for a new CapitolOne Visa Platinum card is very kind and I appreciate that you appreciate my business from my current Visa cards.

BUT PLEASE STOP THE INCESSANT SPAMMING OF MY MAILBOX WITH YOUR INVITATIONS TO GET ANOTHER CARD!

I mean it, dammit! Your junk mail invitations to apply online or by telephone and have a new Visa credit card in 60 seconds or less are the single biggest contributor to my junk mail pile! No kidding, I'm getting no less than 3 offers every week in my mail box, 2 for me and 1 for my spouse. Before Christmas, from Thanksgiving on, I think the quantity was no less than twice that amount and all from CapitolOne.

STOP SENDING YOUR WORTHLESS MAIL! I got it already that you want me to go further into debt with your company's name on it, but give the mailman a break, won't you? Save your company all the printing costs and postage that is going straight into my recycle bin. I don't want any more credit cards!

I don't believe that if I called for my new credit card that I would really get one and the two I have already are just fine, thank you very much. If you want to show me some real appreciation, just consider raising my credit limit on one of my cards by two hundred bucks. I really doubt that you'll do that either, which only proves my point about the continued and continual promise of more cards which flood my mailbox.

What a hassle. I understand it, from a business POV, but from my personal POV, CapitolOne's incessant junk mailings are just too much. Completely over the top with the repetitiveness and false promise. I was keeping count of the number of invites that arrived, it was up beyond 30 when I lost count. If I had requested a card from each invite, how many to you think this lameass company would have issued to me before cutting me off?

"What's in your wallet?" Hell, I would need a backpack to carry all the plastic if I would have responded to and received a card from each of their offers !

When it rains, it pours...

This has nothing to do with the weather by the way, but you probably knew that already. On the weather front, ours here in the Wasatch valley is sucking right now and has sucked for 10 days. All that snow that's pounding the midwest and east coast skipped right over Utah and lasnded on those folks back east. Sorry 'bout that. Our weather has been controlled by a high pressure zone this past week & a half causing the valley to be locked into a fog bank. Its an inversion that happens every year but this one is reaching for a new record for the number of days to sock us in.

Its depressing, this fog. The temps stay almost the same, day & night, sometimes only varying 3-4 degrees from the low to high temp and that has hovered just about freezing. Anyway, its a drag. Much better would be a 2 or 3 day storm that would drop feet of fresh snow on the mountains then depart leaving behind bluebird skies, unlimited visibility and lots of sunshine to get out and play in the snow.

But apparently that's not happening this week.

What is happening this week, that started last week is all about the BSU. She is presently on a short notice trip to Oregon to visit with one sister who has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Sister is having surgery on Tuesday. The BSU fretted all last week, made flight arrangements, fought with the other sisters, changed her flight twice and made it to Oregon finally on Saturday- where she had to be escorted off the airplane and pushed in a wheel chair though the airport to catch her ride with one of the sisters.

Today she went to the Urgency Care Center where she was told that she should have just gone straight to the Emergency Room... Of course this professional medical advise came after spending most of today waiting to be seen in the Urgency Care. (Kind of makes a joke of their name I suppose...)

So tomorrow she spends more time it a hospital waiting room to determine if she has a "simmering" appendix or just a painful attack of diverticulitus. Either way she's miserable and hurting and they don't give out pain meds because they don't want to mask pain that would be an indicator that something has gone wrong.

And of course, depending on tomorrow's medical decisons, I may have to be jumping on an airplane towards Oregon myself to be with my bride while she has surgery of her own. Argh!

In other highlights, our brown dog Sandy found a way to break a toe out in the yard yesterday. I think she tried to climb the chainlink and concrete fence separating her from the neighbor's dog since there was some words between them and she was acting like a tripod immediately afterwards. She is still limping tonight and she has one toe that seems to cause her to wince when I touch it. I suppose she will need medical attention tomorrow as well though I don't think there's much to be done. She is getting doggie aspirin to help with the swelling and pain.

I got to go to the gun show yesterday and bought myself a new Swiss Army knife since my last one was left with some hippies during son Noah & Lily's summer road trip last July. This time its the pretty transluscent blue sided model instead of the regular red plastic scales. It really is too big for slacks but I just can't give up the habit of having a swiss army knife in my pocket every day.

And I did homework and studied for a test most of the day today.

Blog Roll Updates

Not only did I categorize my blog roll last night into those blogs I can read from work and those that the network filter geeks have blocked me from perusing while I eat my lunchtime bag of microwave popcorn, but I've also added a new blog to replace one that fell off a few weeks ago. Oddly enough, through no prior intent, I just now realized that Functional Ambivilent, is written and produced by a blogger from the far left coast of our great country, just as the last blog dropped from my list was.

How's that for karma?

Anyway, go on over to Tom's place and say hello. Check him out, he's a pretty smart guy and I like what he has to say- most of the time.

And Tom- you had me at "panties."

I've become a scooter consumer advocate

and a 1 man advisory panel for all things Vento. They have an apparently lackadaisical attitude about truth in advertising, which we already knew due to the disparity in the R4i Phantom engine sizes as I have previously reported. Now I've been given a teeny little tidbit of information regarding their apparent apathy about selling uncertified scooters in the USA.

There may be legal action pending, so I can say no more right now concerning the circumstance. Hell, I'm still waiting for the details! I was able to provide 2 email addresses for employees of the Environmental Protection Agency that are in positions to hear and register compliance problems to the person that contacted me. I hope there will be details in the future that can be released to the world.

I guess its time for me to finish up the complaint form that I started to the Utah Consumer Protection Division. Now that I have a digital camera again I could do the tear-down and measurement of my scoot's displacement without too much trouble.

Vento Phantom Update

Although I could not find a representative sample tonight in my visit referrals list, its interesting that I am getting nearly one visitor every day to Wasted Electrons after they Google Vento Phantom scooters. So I guess I'm ever so slowly getting the word out about the Phantom's missing 25cc.

I even received an email tonight asking if my address was still good, somebody wants to ask me about Vento, and the emailer said they were having a problem with Vento. Maybe they will write back tomorrow.

Rumor on the web has it that Vento may actually be putting the real 150cc engines in the 2005 models. They have updated their website to show a bore and stroke that adds up to 150cc. Their online parts catalog is still incorrect though.

I've been too busy to be tinkering with my scoot though it has been nearly warm enough to be riding this week. The weather's been almost reaching the 50 degree mark in the afternoons- very weird! But soon I'll be spending for the big-bore kit to make my scoot be an actual 150cc and I'll be ready to go for spring.

I'm also looking at an alternative exhaust pipe and muffler for my Vento. I've removed the muffler to tinker and that thing is heavy! It must weigh 10 pounds and it seems restrictive as hell. There are a couple places to buy pipes, this one at MotoVento is pretty popular. (You have to click the Speed Shop button to see the pipe). I'm actually looking to use a SuperTrapp muffler and perhaps having a new exhaust pipe bent to match the current one. I want to use the 3" chrome internal disc silencer about half way down the page.

I still need a lawyer that wants to represent every Phantom R4i purchaser in a false advertising suit...

Busy busy busy!

I'm telling you what- I've been busier than ever on the job since the first of the year, crazy busy! Everybody wants their program handled RIGHT NOW and they all think that their program is the only one I'm responsible for.

Which is NOT true, I'm actively juggling 5 different programs right now and they all on in the air. There are a couple more just spinning in place on the side table, I just have to watch to see they don't fall off.

And my boss wants charts, lots more charts. Charts to explain, in detail, each of the programs that I'm juggling and trying not to drop. So I can juggle or I can make charts but I can't do both in a normal day's work.

What to do, what to do? Be listening for the crashing sounds while I get busy making charts...

School's back in full swing and so far this online Macroeconomics class doesn't seem too hard. I can't say I'm learning anything but at least I'm getting my work turned in on time and getting decent grades for it. Accounting class at lunch is much the same as last term and almost all the classmates from last term are in this class with the addition of 3 new folks. I've already met with one of them last night for an overpriced coffee and some tutoring to assist in getting them up to speed. She's going to do great now that she understands the instructor's methods a little better.

So, how's your day been?

Ya'll Watch This! Hold my beer, will ya?

I thought this was a male-only affliction but apparently women aren't immune. Another bad idea gone awry.

Molly Jerman, 23, of Cape Coral died Sunday. While attempting a handstand, she toppled over and dropped to the hotel patio, according to the Lee County sheriff's department.

Just before she fell, she had called out to a friend, "Watch to see what I can still do," a police report said.

Friends, don't try this at home.

Weekend update- except I'm too hurt

I really did intend to sit down tonight and regale you with stories of skiing and car show trips and getting to hold my grandbaby Astin. But I'm hurting too bad to care.

Its my back and I hurt it sitting in the sofa at the kid's house, while I got to hold Astin! Somehow, getting out of that low-slung and too deep couch I managed to wreck my lower back.

So blogging and homework is delayed tonight. Sorry 'bout that. I do have pictures for later though- tomorrow night, I promise.

So keep checking back.

I changed my profile picture tonight

Its a self portrait and yes, this picture includes my other cat, Wasatch. She is sitting, ok, draping in her very favorite place in her entire world- my shoulder. She will jump, from the floor or from the nearest high object, unasked or invited up onto my shoulder just as soon as I get in the house after work each afternoon. And she will stay there just about as long as I can stand it.

This picture is actually pretty typical of our posture while I'm wasting away the hours in the Palatial Wasted Electron World Headquarters and Ski Gear Closet. I took some pictures of the room but I wasn't too impressed so no posting them for now.

Anyway, it time for the Tonight Show! More tomorrow.

I need to see the balloons! More Balloons!

Today would be the day then, Wasted Electron's second birthday. Two years is a long time for me to stay working at something so completely voluntary and devoid of financial renumeration, so I admit to being a little bit proud of this admittedly minor achievement.

I've also noticed that I do much ranting than I did in the beginning and even those early rants never expressed the level of animosity that I thought I felt about stupid events and people. I mean, how long has it been since I called somebody a DUMBASS? Weeks. Its been weeks since I pointed out the dumbass of the day. Bruce over at mASSBACKWARDS has been doing a pretty fine job of that for me recently if you haven't checked him out. Does this mean there is fewer people worthy of the title? Not hardly. I've just been less willing to point them out.

So WE has mellowed and become a (nearly) daily update to my own life's circumstances with minor commentary about the world outside the Zion Curtain. And I suspect that this humble blog might stay in the "close-to-home" mode for the foreseeable future while I pursue continued employment and higher education while balancing a happy home life and a regular routine of appointments designed to keep my BSU's mental health on an even keel.

Thanks to all of you for continuing to come around to visit. I'll keep trying to make WE as interesting as possible and maybe I can get back to some of my original intent, talking about life, guns, autos and motorscooters. And more catblogging! I owe you a picture of my other cat and she has been bugging for equal time after I posted pics of her brother a while back.

Now- more balloons! I want to see all the balloons!

How about that- the Dean's List

Friend Karen left a congratulatory comment on the previous post about me being on the Dean's list. I didn't even know there was a Dean's List. But there it is, my name, on the list if you scroll down far enough.

How's about that? I've impressed myself!

Blogroll updates pending

Aaron the Liberal Slayer has got about 1 more day on my blogroll before I dump him for somebody new. He's apparently discovered the need for employment and has placed a list of his skills and employment requirements on his page.

I hope he finds work. And I wish he ould get back to blogging. But I understand that eating and paying the mortgage takes priority.

But if he doesn't post something soon I'll find somebody new to take his place.

I haven't quit

but I have been rather apathetic about blogging for a couple days now. Work last week was remarkably busy, everyone sat on their demands until after the holidays, then dropped their requirements on my desk all at once.

Typical. But I was busier than normal by a long shot and actually was pretty successful spending other people's money on some interesting projects. And I have another project that will be taking up an immediate and inordinate amount of my time over the next couple weeks trying to beg for money for a new program.

And school starts again Monday. This term I am taking my first online class, (Macroeconomics) and so I've been looking at the requirements this morning. For a social butterfly like myself, taking a class alone, in the opulent Wasted Electrons World Headquarters and Ski Gear Closet will be much more difficult than being in a classroom.

But I've got to stay on track, right?

I should be skiing but Noah can't go as he is recovering from his wisdom tooth extractions on Friday. And I just don't feel like going by myself. So today I'm heating up my workshop for a bit of tinkering and then homework when outside gets too cold.

Did you know that the Wasted Electrons 2nd birthday celebration is this week? Gifts will be humbly accepted with thanks. Especially this one.

Just another reason to hate AO Hell...

I've tried 3 times today to send email to my sis, using the email address that she used to contact me. And each time it has been returned as undeliverable... I though perhaps after the 2nd try that it was because I had attachments on the email, so the 3rd time I just included the text in the body of the email.

That one failed too.

Good Grief!

U.S. Marine Declared Deserter

I know what's going to be the top story on tonight's local news! It will be this story about U.S. Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun who has, according to this article has flown the coop to Canada. It will be local news because Hassoun and his family are from Salt Lake City.

Anyway, this story has been stinking like 3-day old fish since the beginning and even my beloved spouse believes that this guy is guilty. Now it seems that he has made a statement by his activity that supports her belief.

Cheerleader Tossing!

Found on Dave barry's blog tonight. You really have to first see the movie clip, then play it frame by frame to see the slow motion.

Then consider just how many young nubile body parts could have been badly injured or broken if this trick had gone awry... Scary, really.

Another blogger joins the fold!

This time they really are related to me! Everybody, (ok, both of you) go say hi to my baby sis Melanie and her hubby Mark at GR NASCAR NUTS. There's a explanation of the name over there. Give them some encouragement and maybe they'll stick around awhile here in the blogosphere.

And encourage them to run away from that 2nd Amendment hating AOL for their service provider...

Who wants to take a ride?

In my younger days, I owned and tried to race a 250cc shifter go-cart. It was (to me) really, really fast. That said, I'm not too certain I'd take this Suzuki GSXR 1100 powered cart out for a test drive. Here is the link to the creator of this rocket's page with build-up pictures. Unfortunately the link to the video doesn't seem to be working.

Anyway, that thing looks just a little scary to me. But given the chance and the proper room to run it, I might just give it a thrash!

BTW, Jalopnik.com is a new car blog web site that I just discovered the other day. Its sponsored by Audi, which I won't hold against them, and its chock full of cool and oddball automotive news. Check it out.

One more thing I found tonight at Jalopnik, a kit car to fit a Mazda Miata so that you can build a M1Stang. Which the company makes clear is NOT derived from any other automobile and any resemblance to another automobile is purely accidental. Uh huh...

Wel I got half done...

The outside decorations are down. Not everything is put away but everything's inside. I've not started on the inside stuff yet.

I did get 3 guns cleaned though. Which reminds me- I forgot one! The Kel-Tec needs cleaned too.

But now I'm cold and tired.

Christmas present pictures

Now that I've got my digital camera, I can try all kinds of fun blogging stuff! This is the BSU's necklace rack that I built for her.


This is Uintah, my blogging assistant.


Here's another catblogging picture, now that I figured out (finally) how to get thumbnails from Photobucket!

Oh yeah, football!

Today is the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl which is significant here behind the Zion Curtain since the Runnin Utes are playing in their first major bowl.

I may even watch it while taking down the decorations.

Happy New year!

2004 is past, today starts a new year so I guess that calls for some resolutions... What to do, what to do?

Well, first of all, I'm putting away all the Christmas decorations. Today. Which means climbing on the house roof in the new snow. The tree and all its quickly falling needles is going outside to the curb. All the ribbons and bows and candles and lights are going back into the big cedar chest until next year.

I need to set a routine for going shooting this year. Yesterday Noah & I went to Impact Guns for an hour or two of shooting and we had a very good time. Just like we always have a good time whenever we go shooting. So one of my resolutions is to go shooting with Noah routinely on a schedule we both can count on.

School remains a priority as far as resolutions go, I suppose. Two classes per term without fail until I either graduate or drop from exhaustion. Either way, I've got to stay focused.

I should be skiing, but the boy's not here and Brian's not available and I just don't feel like going up by myself. I also haven't tried snowboarding yet this year, concussions have a way of giving me pause for further exploits without some real, paid training. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

I am going to build a new computer this year too. This clunker, while functional, can't last forever. There's not enough memory or processing power to do all the things I like to do, so its gotta be replaced. I think I'm gonna do it like Johhny Cash, bringing it home one piece at a time. Already this morning I dug out another old machine that's been clogging up my laundry room for a couple years hoping that it might at least be a suitable case to start building on. Its not. The dang thing is destined for the landfill-recycling center and I'll gain a bit more room in my laundry room.

Which is another priority this year- cleaning out the laundry room. It has gotten piled up with car books, camping gear, tools that should be in the shop and just general clutter. That cleanup program actually started yesterday.

That's it for now. Maybe more posting later today.