Camping in Kansas

When you think camping, you think Kansas, right?

Well, me either. But it turns out that much of Kansas actually has hills and trees -- so it's ok. We and the Groves were going to head down to Isabella, MO -- where Mark's mom owns some land -- but due to a whole bevy of reasons we ended up camping about 30 miles west of Olathe on some land where some friends of theirs are building a house.

We had a nice fire pit, and Mark had bought one of those tripod grill hangers from Cummins Tools which worked out real well. The grill part itself is relatively cheap, but it'll last a little while and they are easily replacable. Worked for the brats, toasting the buns, the coffee pot, the sausage in the morning, and toasting muffins.

We went to Clinton Lake up by Lawrence for a few hours... the girls and the kids waded while Mark fished. I skipped some rocks, help teach Nathanial how to cast and how to skip rocks... baited his hook a few times. Cassie collected muscle shells (she loves collecting things. Rocks. Shells. Sticks. Acorns. Bugs.)

Then we went back to camp and did some target shooting with various rifles and pistols with targets against the large dirt piles that had been dug out for the house foundation. Fairly obliterated the 2x4 scraps we had stapled the targets to. The kids got to shoot their great-grandfather's .22 rifle (with lots of supervision, of course). And I re-discovered that a .38 pistol kicks.

I started the fire with the magnesium block and some dead cedar needles & prarie grass. Dinner was good, and we had s'mores, of course, afterward. Some lightning, but no rain to speak of, moved in for the evening and we had maybe a half an hour to fiddle around with the guitars before we hit the sack.

Then I went to Cummins and got a tripod grill ;-) And a pellet gun for $20. Mark's killed 3 varmints with his so far.

Water Heater, Spring

The water heater leak picked up steam, so to speak, going from leaking about 2 tbsp per day to about a gallon and a half a day over just a few days.

So I took it apart last night. Tried filing the edges to fit closer. No dice. Even put the original gaskets back in as they looked fine. About midnight I realized that the problem is actually a hairline crack in the output pipe that is growing slowly. I melted some plastic I scraped from the outside of it onto the crack with a soldering iron... that helped some, but it was 2:00am by that time and I needed to go to bed. Turned on the water just long enough for showers and dishes this morning. then took it apart again and put epoxy on it, inside and out (where I could). I filed the hardened epoxy down this evening and put it back together and now we are back to a VERY slow leak. So I need to get a replacement pipe, if I can, from Microtherm. But it's usable right now.

Last Friday we did Kevin's birthday at the Pasta Factory, and over Easter Weekend took Mom back to Fort Wayne. Brian went back to Indiana today for Marines duty... he has about a month left on active duty, so he'll be gone during the week.

The leaves on the Bradford Pears leafed out faster than I've ever seen them do it. They didn't bloom much this year. The redbud put on a good show, and we go the first few flowers ever on the Japanese Crabapple and the lilac. My allergies are back this year. Every year I hope they won't come back. But...

It's still very pretty.

Blam!

I got the H&R 922 back from the gunsmith. Took it to the range, and it fired all 9 right away. The next time 8. Then anywhere from 5 to 8 per cylinder load.

It took four weeks. I know he said he guarantees his work, but ... Another four weeks? I decided to take a look at it. My guess was that the hammer wasn't hitting the rims of the rounds (it's .22 long rifle rimfire rounds). I thought, well maybe the firing "pin" on the hammer is worn. I didn't want to "build it up" because that could break off too easily. So I decided to file the hammer face down slightly all around the pin. Took it back to the range.

It seemed a little better ... at first. Then back to the same old behavior. I tried a little bit more, same results. Last night I figured out the pin was plenty long now, so I decided to try a "sharper" edge Force/Area = Pressure. More pressure, deeper dent. Less area means more pressure.

Same thing, at first it seemed good, then quickly exhibited the same behavior. Each round is getting hit. I can see the dents in each one. The dents are where they're supposed to be. Ok... it has to be the spring. It's an old gun. Springs lose some of their tension over time. Plus -- I surmised that there must be something about a cold spring -- maybe it's stiffer -- and after it is fired a bunch the spring looses some of it's ... well ... "spring" as the metal warms up.

So tonight I took the handle off and --- wow. It's real simple inside. The spring is literally a curved piece of spring steel. I pulled up on it and it came to rest on a ledge about 1/4" above where it is "supposed" to be, and stayed there. It put more tension on the spring. Cool.

I took my file and enhanced the ledge a bit so the spring will stay there, then I took it back out to the range.

I fired about 120 rounds out of it. I had one or two dud shells (hit three different times and wouldn't fire on one of them) --- but otherwise, every time the hammer hit, it went off. Yesssss!!!! I have introduced a new problem -- it will skip a cylinder now and then. Not often. The ratchet on the back of the cylinder IS a bit worn, and I'm guessing that and the increased spring strengths result in the new, intermittent problem.

So... good for now. I'll try to find a new spring, and maybe I'll be brave enough ... or have a gunsmith ... build up and re-shape the worn ratchet piece.

Went to Fort Wayne last weekend to get Mom. Then Saturday we went to Indianapolis to greet Brian in Indy -- supposedly at the airport. But the military coudln't get them a flight in to Indy, so they flew them to Cinci instead and they were to catch a bus to Indy. That changed our plans from meeting him at 4:00 to maybe noon. So we had to leave Fort Wayne a lot earlier.

Kristin got a call from Brian Saturday morning. His plane was SUPPOSED to leave around mid day/early afternoon. Well ... he called from an airport bar in Cincinnati. And the patriotic citizens of Cinci felt obliged to buy them all rounds. At 7:30 in the morning.

Fortunately, Brian quit while he was ahead.

At any rate, in the end they couldn't catch a bus, so the armory sent trucks after them and we met them about 1:45. He looks good. Gained a little weight... not much though ;-) Lots of stories to tell. He says he wants to tell them with beer in hand, sitting by the grill.

He came over for breakfast the last two mornings. It's good to have him back.

We take Mom back this weekend, and then next weekend we camp with the Groves. Busy month!!!

Well, that's about it for now.

Allergies

Sometime in my 20's, I developed allergies. At first it seemed to be just to mildew after over-exposure to it in the dorm. It seems a 2-liter coke bottle wasn't quite empty and sat there for over a month (as happens often in dorm rooms), spewing mildew spores through the room.

Later it was ragweed in the fall, and for the last few years the first blooms of spring really get my sinuses going and I usually have a sore throat for a week or two while my body adjusts.

That period has arrived. So there's anti-histamines, the still regular salt-water rinses, & sore throat. The anti-histamies are to cut down on the drainage and help the sore throat, but they zone me out pretty well, even the "non-drowsy" kind. The non-drowsy ones that don't zone me out also don't work, so no point there. But I forgot about Nasalcrom. I'm trying that again. I think that helped last year without the anti-histamine fog.

The next three weekends are suddenly taken. A trip to Indiana to see Brian at the airport, another trip the next weekend to take Mother back to Fort Wayne, and then... the following weekend it's camping with the Groves at Theodosia.

When it rains....

The water heater still has a very slow leak in it. It's where the output pipe bolts on to the rest of the contraption. The plastic resin material has warped ever so slightly over the past few years. There are a couple of rubber gaskets there where the water is supposed to pass from the chambers into the output pipe, and I guess the new gaskets are either not quite clean enough, or not quite fat enough to properly seal the gap. So it's either fatter gaskets, additional thin gaskets, or screws closer to the center to try to compensate for the warp. I'll have to think about it. I doubt we're even losing 1/2 cup a day... but still. It's not good.

Got some rosemary and lavender over the weekend. I was going to buy some vegetable plants, but they didn't have them priced and the cashier at Lowes was less than helpful so I decided they could keep them.

The .22 is still at the gunsmith. They said it could be 6 weeks. Tomorrow it will be 4 and I still haven't heard from him. But -- I figure it's probably first come first serve and he just has that much of a backlog. Once he actually gets to it it shouldn't be that long.

I re-built the trelis for the wild grape vine over the weekend. It was lattice in an odd shaped frame before. The lattice was getting ripped to shreds by the weight of the vine. I had removed it from the deck rail a few years ago and mounted it about a foot away from the deck, suspended with wood blocks. Now it's suspended with metal straps, and it's three vertical posts (2x4's) with 4 horizontal slats ... deck flooring, spaced about 9" apart. Looks much better and is much stronger.

Another modest milestone in the guitar learning process... I can now play "Grapefruit, Juicy Fruit" -- something I've long wanted to do. Not trying the B-C key, but the C-D key. I guess you could say I'm playing it in "A". Still working on "Pencil-Thin Mustache". Those F#m's and Bm's are still a bit slow on the draw for me. I'm not great at that "B" either. Anyway, you might not be impressed. But I'm happy.

The Boy Man is Back in Town

Brian is back in the States and in one piece after serving his tour in Iraq.

He's in South Carolina right now, but we'll see him this weekend. I'd like to pause for a moment to thank all of the men and women who went to advance Liberty's cause, and express joy and thanks for the vast majority who went and came back just fine (like around 98%-99% of them) and ask for a moment of silence for those relative few, who laid down their lives for it. Statistically, it may seem but little. To them -- it was everything.

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Thank you.

Chicago, Chicago

Went to Chicago for some training last week. Reason #2 I put the cruise control in. It worked great just like on the Nashville trip. I thought about going to the Arch on the way... I've yet to go up in the Arch. I ended up leaving later than I had expected, though as I was getting the new car all titled and registered before I left. At any rate, I figured the view from the arch would be better when it's not winter. Leaves and all, you know. Green.

And so it occurred to me during one of my constant ETA recalculations as I got to 370 in St Charles that if I didn't stop anywhere I might get to my destination AT 5:00 pm. Before I thought I'd be hitting the suburbs at about 5:00, but it was looking more like about 4:15. I really didn't go IN to Chicago. The training was in Shaumburg, about 25 miles up the west side suburbs. I pulled in to the parking lot at the Marriott at 5:01. Traffic was fine.

Listened to a lot of Chicago on the way up there, but I switched to Helen Forrest when I hit the suburbs to keep me cool and calm through any traffic snarls. The trip was fairly uneventful. It was my first trip north of St. Louis on I-55, so that was new, and of course I'd never really gone up to the Chicago area anyway.

Shedds closes at 5:00 during the winter, and I didn't even go downtown. My training went from 9-5, and by the time I finished dinner and all it was 7:30 or 8:00. I went to the RAM (Big Horn Brewing Company) both nights. The food was good, the beer was good, and the service was good. So what the heck.

I went to the IKEA store up there for about an hour both nights. Rob-Bob and Kathy had said they had gone and that these stores are rather unique... and I'd heard a story on NPR the other morning about it as well. It was there, and I didn't have anything else in particular to do. I ended up replacing our drinking glasses and tumblers. Ours were big and heavy, and kind of weighed down the dishwaser rack.

Had to drive back Friday night. I left at 5:15, went through friday evening rush-hour in the Chicago suburbs. As I figured it added about 45 minutes to the drive back. I was home at 12:15 am and in bed by 12:30.

Over the weekend we washed curtains and blinds and I re-repaired the water heater. It developed a slow leak again, so I replaced the cheap plastic gaskets with rubber ones. However, it still has a slow leak. Either I need fatter gaskets, or new screw holes closer to them to put the pressure closer in to the gasket. I think the problem is the resin, though high temperature resin, still warps a bit over time. With between the distance of the screws from the middle (where the gaskets are) and the heat, over time I figure it's warped slightly.

Brian is leaving Iraq soon. We'll be seeing him before we know it. I won't say the time flew.... but it did go faster than we expected. I think being able to stay in touch like you can these days helped.

The Kid Weekend

No, nothing too exciting. Kevin called. He and Angela were headed into St. Louis this weekend to see "Rent", and needed someone to take care of Mia (Potato).

Mia is often called "Mia Potato" because she is the same color and is roughly shaped like that tuber that was so popular with the Irish.

Speaking of Irish, I made Corned Beef and Cabbage for St Patty's day, but of course Vicki and the kids weren't going to be back for dinner and so most of it was eaten tonight. So yesterday we took them to see the new Shaggy Dog movie, which has absolutely nothing to do with the original other than there's a guy who turns into a Shaggy Dog, and even the mechanism is completely different. Oh, there' was a reference to Tibet, but that's about as close as it got to "In canis corpus transmuto" (that's roughly the quote from the ring in the original movie). Oh, and Disney did both movies. Oh, and there was a D.A. in the sequel, and Tim Allen played a D.A.

Nathanial was unimpressed (that's putting it lightly). The target audience was probably more the 10-14 crowd. Cassie liked it. It had its humorous moments, but I'd recomend the original any day.

We watched Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire last night -- well most of it. Tired eyes about 2/3 of the way through lead to an overnight intermission. Of course, Snoopy waffles were eaten for breakfast both mornings (along with eggs and other good stuff).... By the way, were you aware that Cedrick dies in the movie? Yes. With his eyes opened, no less. Nathanial made sure we knew (many times) before (and when) it happened. He was funny. Well, the kid's only 6.

There was a thorntree forest built by Cassie in our back yard, and Nathanial's new monster truck terrorized the Williams' driveway on Saturday as we helped put siding up.

Then, insane people that we are, we (and Kristin) took them to Chuck E Cheese for lunch before taking them back to Mom and Dad. What a cacophany of activity! I was mentally prepared, though, and the pizza was actually not bad. I'm not going to go out on a limb and say it was pizza I'd recomend, but it should not be feared, especially if you have kids.

We were there a couple of hours. It was far more exciting for the kids than for us, but it was fun to see them having fun. I spent about $10 on tokens, and it was a cheap afternoon's entertainment.

We watched a couple of episodes of Survivorman this morning, and I noticed that the ones I'd recorded off of TDC said the FULL versions were available on the Science Channel (which we do not get) and they were a full hour. Perhaps I wouldn't be so disappointed with those.

Anyway... dat's it for now.

Take the last train to Nashville

Well I drove through Clarksville on the way.

Went down to Nashville to the HEUG/Alliance conference. They held it at the Gaylord Opryland hotel/resort/convention center, right next to the New Grand Ole Opry. Listened to a lot of the Lovin' Spoonful on the way down. Yup. Nashville Cats. Clean as Country Water.

I was expecting a largish hotel with garish, over the top country music themes. Boy, was I surprised. It has very clean, southern plantation architecture, and there are three garden areas with waterfalls, fountains, even a sort of "gondola" boat ride. The place is kept meticulously clean -- the surroundings were quite pleasant. A bit expensive, but pleasant.

This is not a work blog -- I don't really talk much about work - so I won't start now. Suffice it to say that I went to a lot of sessions and listened to people talk about stuff that was sometimes periferally related to what I do, and a couple that were closer and a little more interesting.

I took Tuesday afternoon to go to downtown Nashville -- though I didn't get there until about 3:00 and I needed to be back at the hotel by 6:30 or so for the Charlie Daniels/Jo Dee Messina concert that the conference put on for us at 7:00.

I went to the the Ernest Tubb record store to pick up a few guitar pics for myself and for Sam, who had given me his and said "just pick me up another when you go". I went into a few touristy shops, and then decided to hit a honky tonk bar. I walked by four of them and listened for the honki-tonkiest sound, and went into Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. The young bartender looked like she was about 15, but I'm getting older, so she probably wasn't. Another pretty young blonde her age got up and sang with the band of otherwise 50 and 60 something men. I had a $4.00 Miller Lite and got Vicki a shirt while I was there -- but I had to go eat.

I'd walked by a BBQ place called Rippey's, but upon closer inspection I decided it was too upscale for my grittier Nashville experience. Over by Tootsies was Jack's BBQ, with an old flashing neon sign with three pink pigs taking turns lighting up, and I said "yup, that's where I'm goin'". I had a BBQ sandwich and some slaw, and a $3.29 beer -- and I still got out of there for $8.69. And it was good stuff. Nothin' fancy in there. Three young black men behind the counter, workin' hard. The place was clean but worn and tired... oilcloth style tablecloths. Just the way you'd expect an honest BBQ place to look and feel. Autographed picture of Dolly Parton at my table basically saying "Jack, you're the best .... Dolly Parton 1999". Well Dolly has good taste in BBQ.

Got back for the Charlie Daniels concert, which was very entertaining. Charlie tells it like he sees it. He didn't play "This Ain't No Rag" for the Higher Ed crowd, I noticed... but he did play "In America" and the band gave their heartfelt gratitude to our boys and girls in Iraq & Afghanistan, including Brian :-)

I put cruise control on my car last week, and it worked great. I also got about an extra 3-4 miles per gallon using it, in addition to the benefit of resting my throttle leg. Had to make one adjustment when I got to Nashville (it was idling fast) and that was it.

We have Cassie & Q this weekend to give the adult Groves a kid break. We'll be sure and get 'em real wound up on Snoopy Waffles, Chuck-E-Cheese, and movies before we send 'em back ;-)

I actually may spend quite a bit of the weekend helping Ryan with more siding.

Anyway, that's it for now.

-P

I'm still here -- still busy

Spent last Saturday helping Ryan with his new siding. We did the front of the garage. Neither one of us had put up vinyl siding before, so there was a lot of figuring and learning -- plus there was quite a bit of detail work. Only one course went up without making any special cuts.

Near the end of February, I ordered cruise control for my car from JC Whitney. Got the expedited shipping for an extra $5. And they very quickly shipped me the vaccum reservoir. The actual cruise control unit, I was informed the next day, was on backorder until the 17th.

I wanted to get it installed before this weekend. I called them to find out if that was an estimate or if that was really the date. They said that was really the date.

So I did a web search and read about a guy in Florida who bought one at AutoZone. So I called AutoZone. They said I could have one by the 7th. For $30 less.

I went down to AutoZone and paid for it so they'd order it, and the next morning I called to cancel the rest of the JC Whitney order. Well, they said they couldn't cancel the order because they got 20 in that morning and my order was on a "pick list" and there was nothing they could do. I could refuse the package when it came.

Only it was left by FedEx on my stoop, so I had to call and have them come pick it back up. Sheesh.

Anyway, last night Ryan, Daryl and I mounted the servo and vaccum reservoir, and drilled holes to get the wiring through the firewall into the car. Running the wires actually took half the 4 hours we spent on it. When I got home tonight, we wired up the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor) and the break switch sensor. I also mounted the switch on the dash and ran the wires from that down behind the trim.

Can't find the tach sensor, so I'll ask Troy about that tomorrow. Tomorrow it's just hooking up the power, the tach, and putting the actual throttle mechanism on it. Got a long trip to Nashville coming up soon, followed by another to Chicago. I'd love to have the cruise on it.

I got the good speakers out of the back of Vicki's old Taurus and replaced the ones in my car. Her front speakers wouldn't fit my door speaker holes... and my door speakers were shot -- I think they had gotten wet. I bought some polypropylene replacements -- they won't be so succeptible to moisture -- and some door tweeters up by the dash on the door. Sounds muuuuuch better.

The new Taurus is running fine -- we did have a little scare there the day after we got it. It started running very rough. But it turned out (thanks to my handy dandy OBDII computer) that it was misfiring on 5&6, and they each had about 1/2" of water in them. Probably from when they powerwashed the engine before we got it. It's been fine ever since.

We went to Jazz (local New Orleans style restaurant) with the Williams' for Mardi Gras dinner. As always had a good time with them.

I found a new battery for Mom's old laptop and I'm borrowing a wireless network card for my conference trip and training trip. It's Win2K, and it's just a P-II with 160MB of memory with no possibility of expansion. So I don't want to run any extra software on it. Still -- you really ought to run a firewall. So I spent some time configuring IPSEC (part of Win2K) to act as a firewall. Seems to be working.

I sent the .22 pistol down to a gunsmith in Rolla. The cleaning did not fix the problem. He's dealt with these before. I really like the gun, so I'll be glad to get it back in working order.

So.... lots going on. I'll try to keep updating at more reasonable intervals.

Quick walkabout

We went down to Cedar Creek to try the .22 pistol out.

This time we built a fire with sunlight and a magnifying glass. We couldn't get a flame using the fresnel lens. I think if we found the right material and tried hard enough, we could. We got crushed leaves to glow, but no flame.

A regular magnifying glass probably focuses more energy onto the same area, so you have more heat to work with.

One thing I learned from Survivorman was that with this type of fire starting technique, you should think of the the "fire" you start first as your match, then once you get a flame light something else easy to catch on fire and transfer it to your stack-o-sticks with more tinder and -- kafoom! Which is what happened today. Worked great.

The .22 was a different story. It misses on several cylinders. I think the firing pin is worn. So, off to a gunsmith with it. It shouldn't take much.

It's much louder than I expected. Shooting the same round out of a rifle sounds more like a cap gun. This pistol has quite the report.

Well.... tax time.

See ya.

Just thinkin'

People have been congratulating us on the car puchase. It's kinda funny. I've thought of this before, but here's the thought...

At what point does a purchase become worthy of "Congratulations"?

"Hey, congratulations on that pack of gum, man! Sweet! Wrigley's? Dude!!! With the flavor specks! Can I see it?"

"Woah, new bottle of whiskey? Cool! It's a Dickel! 1994? Smooooth! Congratulations, man!"

"Nice shoes, man, are they new?! Congratulations! Dig the stitching. Vibram soles? Sweeet!"

Anyway.... that's my twisted brain for ya.

-P

Out with the old, in with the new

It was a long weekend of driving all over the western part of the St. Louis Area, but at 4:30 yesterday afternoon we bought a car.

We drove sevaral Taurus', a couple of century's, and looked at countless cars.

We'd hoped to drive home with one Friday, but brought clothes in case we needed to stay overnight and look Saturday. Stayed with Joel and Dawn in St. Charles and had a fun evening with them. Took off about 9:30 am for more car browsing. After checking dealerships between St. Charles & Hazelwood, we decided to cruise down 270 south. Checked a Chevy dealership in Creve Coeur, went down to Valley Ford, and on to Sinclair Buick, & Sinclair Ford (pretty close to each other on Lindbergh). We almost bought Dave Sinclair II''s daughter's Buick Century - would have been a decent deal and a nice car even with 65K on it. I don't think the Sinclairs abuse their vehicles.

We'd been told about a Taurus on Friday at Dave Sinclair Lincoln Mercury in St. Petes. The sales lady's step-daughter was trading it in on an SUV, and it wasn't on the lot yet. The price she gave with the year, mileage, and features sounded very hard to beat, and as we looked around, we became more and more convinced of that. However, we hadn't seen it or driven it yet.

About 2:30 we called Charisse in St. Pete from Sinclair Buick down south to see if the car had become available while we were waiting for the Buick Century to get unlocked from the garage. The guy with the key was out of the state. Since they seemed to be having trouble and we didn't want to leave town without driving the car in St. Pete's if it was indeed available, we decided to shoot up there. It wasn't cleaned yet (it had literally just come in Saturday morning) but that was kind of an advantage. We could see the car in a condition pretty close to how it was kept. The engine hadn't been powerwashed so any leaks would be visible.

It was $1,000 over my stated price range ... but I think our strategy worked out pretty well. We ended up with a car they would've probably put a $10,000 price tag on for $8,000. That was my absolute max price, but I never told any dealers that. I wanted to see how close they could get to my desired price with a decent car.

Actually, it's not over yet. We don't have it yet. It needs to be inspected and detailed yet, (think I can work the word "yet" in there yet one more time???) and we will get it Monday. And its in St. Pete's. It may even be delivered all the way to Columbia, but we may meet them in Kingdom City. Depends on what Charisse and I can work out on Monday morning. But the deal's done and it's all ready to go.

What is it?

It's a 2003 Ford Taurus SES. Dark Metallic Grey. Dark Grey leather interior (actually, that's a minus. We'd rather have had lighter cloth seats. But we'll cover 'em). 24V DOHC engine (yay!). Moon roof (eh... well it's fun sometimes, but we would just as happily bought one without). It has the primo sound system in it. Single-shot CD player in the dash -- not the changer in the trunk. Power everything. 42K miles. A rear spoiler (whopee....) $8K. Clean. Engine looked good. And we saw it before they cleaned it. No leaks. Handles nice. Not too noisy (like our old '96)...

We looked at a LOT of cars. This Taurus was a good deal. We could have gotten a different 2003 with 26K with EVERYTHING we wanted for 11.5K at Sinclair Ford... but... no. For that car I would probably have been willing to bite the bullett extra hard and extend my payments for a year and go 10K. But I didn't think he'd go there with it.

I think I'd reccomend dealing with Dave Sinclair's folks. They were about the most professional and genuinely helpful people we dealt with, and we went to three of their dealerships. I grew up with Dave Sinclair's no-nonsense commercials. Just him talking. Not yelling. "Hi, I'm Dave Sinclair, your South County Ford Dealer".... blah blah blah blah "...and if it's not right, I'll make it right. Thank you and here's my address: " blah blah.

So here's a likeness of it. It's actually slightly darker in color than this one.

We're happy with it. We'll see it Monday, cleaned up and inspected.

Taps

The '96 Taurus is officially dead. It was pronounced dead on Thursday Evening, Feb 23 at about 5:45 PM.

The oversized bearing was not even big enough to give her a few more months. So, off to the car cemetery for her. Actually, her parts will likely give other cars more life. But not for us.

We got a good 70,000 miles out of her. We were hoping for about 30K more. A maintenance error about a year ago led to her early demise.

So so long, Mrs. Taurus. You were a good car.

Cars are Cars

Went to KC to visit the Groves last weekend. It was Q's birthday, but that's not really what prompted the trip. Unfortunately, Vicki's car broke down on the way. We got a ride back from Ken, loaded our stuff in my car and went anyway.

I was convinced that was the end, and we looked for cars in Kansas City on Saturday, but didn't get one.

Got home, and Ryan talked me in to trying to replace the short block ... it'd only be about $1,000 or so if we did it ourselves. So monday I took off work early and went and got a catalytic heater for the garage (hooks to a propane tank), some goop to clean hands, and went home and cleared out the garage. Paid Troy $81 to tow the car to our house.

Monday evening we figured out that would be a lot harder than originally thought because the engine on that car comes out the bottom, it can't be lifted out from the top. And we don't have the facilities to get the car up that high.

The theories varied from throwing a rod to a busted piston or piston rod. I was once again ready to resign and not even try, just go get a new one.

But Ryan talked to one of his buddies at work yesterday, who said he thought it sounded like a worn bearing on one of the piston rods, and you should be able to replace the bearings from underneath the car by taking off the oil pan.

So we took the oil pan off last night (had to take part of the exhaust off, too) and took off two of the piston rod caps. The second one appeared to be the bad one. I ordered some new bearings which will be in today, and an oil-pan gasket for putting the oil pan back on. I need to get some oil today, too. So that's about $50 worth of stuff and our labor. I also have a couple of oxygen sensors I bought a while back I need to put on the exhaust system while it's out.

Tonight, we replace the bearings and hopefully get it all put back together. If it runs without making any unusual noises, I guess it's fixed and we can continue to drive it for ... maybe a couple of years. If it doesn't run well, we're back to buying a new (used) car and we've only spent $130 trying to salvage what we have.

Stay tuned!

In other news, I got an old 1930's H&R 922 revolver for practice. 1.7 cents a shot sure beats 26 cents a shot. It shoots 9 rounds. Has a nice walnut handle, and it was pretty inexpensive. But... haven't fired it yet due to visiting people and working on cars and whatnot.

I have everything I need to reload my spent .38 S&W rounds. A reloader, dies, primers, gunpowder, scales, & lead. I'm good to go.

Walkabout #4

Went on walkabout with Ryan yesterday. Made fire. Boiled dogs. Fired guns. Watched snow fall (I haven't been walking in the woods while it was snowing since... I'll bet I was a teenager -- it was very pretty). Even took a few pictures (no way!)

Bryan of Colt Forum fame had told me what the correct sight picture was for the old Police Positives, and I figured out what I'd been doing wrong. So I have a much better idea of what's involved in aiming well.

We made fire again. This time I got to do the magnesium thing myself. Not too hard at all. I have a lot of faith in those things now. I bought a special pocket knife just for the magnesium block. They fit on a keychain together. You shave off some magnesium onto some tinder, then use the piece of flint and the back of the blade to throw sparks at the magnesium. It's at least as good as matches, if not better. Just a little less convenient. Much harder to ruin, too.

I brought my little V-8 stove along for the hot dogs this time, just to demonstrate it to Ryan. Worked like a champ, as usual.

Anyway, it was a pretty day. Well, most people wouldn't say so, but we do. It was in the 20's and snowing lightly. It's been forever since I've walked in the woods with snow falling. Very pretty.

You might think we're crazy, but... we get to see stuff like this:

So there!

A little slow on the draw

Yes, I know. Long time, no updatey.

Well, what have I been up to. Obviously, I had a birthday the day after my last post. We also had our 14th wedding anniversary. We went up to Fayette and ate at Emmetts Tap & Kitchen. It was very good. I mean food, service, and atmosphere. It was all good.

I bought an old Colt .38 S&W revolver. Figured it was about time I learned to use a pistol as well. Oh, yeah, I've shot them in the past... but just not really knowlegable and comfortable with them. I can think of a couple of times in the past few years I wished I'd had one handy. It's a scary feeling when the demon's at your door and you realize you're pretty much defenseless. If you ever need one, it's that's not the time to get comfortable with it. And it's definitely not the time, in this day and age of gun control laws -- time to try to BUY one. It's 87 years old, but still quite servicible. I love the oak grips. It takes .38 S&W ammo, which is not as easy to come by as, say, your .38 special, .357 mag, or 9mm -- but I kind of like the historical aspect anyway. Looks like a cowboy gun.

I did okay with it on the range. I wouldn't mess with me at 10 yards with it. Haven't tried 15 yet.

I worked on the dryer switch, finally. It stops now, but I can't get it to buzz consistently. I'll have to order another switch from Sears.

We did quite a bit last weekend -- swapped light fixtures in the hallway for better light distribution. We also bought (thanks, mother!) our new Microwave... that actually has a light and a turntable -- and is white, which Vicki likes.

We also had lunch with the Carletons at Buffalo Wild Wings. I had their hottest. I like hot. It was definitely hot. I was impressed. Maybe too hot for everyday. I think their second hottest would be about perfect. We had a lot of fun talking and joking with them while watching Mizzou get their pants whipped off of them by Texas Tech.

Then of course, yesterday we got the news -- head coach Quin Snyder resigned. So tomorrow's game should be interesting. Will this spark them? Will they play better? We'll see.

Aunt Pat called tonight, I think just to talk. That was very nice. Things are looking up for her. She's back out on the golf course, and doing things with friends. Sounds like she's having fun again, and getting ready to travel and visit people this summer.

So a big heidey ho to one of my few readers down there in Florida!

The Rest 'o January

I still don't have the drier switch fixed.

We had the party down in Rolla. Always good to get together with that group. The kids are getting to the age where, except for meal and bed time, they're pretty self-sufficient and they can fight for attention among themselves instead of for our attention for the most part. Vanilla martinis, whiskey, potato soup, lemon cake, egg cassarole, and snoopy waffles. Movies, a little creek walk with the kids. Some guitars & mandos, and lots of talking.

Got the Christmas stuff all down and put away. Always a bit of a chore, and a little sad. But this year the tree had dried out fast and it looked tired.

Vicki went to a girls night ... "in" ... party Friday. Movies, bon-bons, and the ever-popular vanilla martinis. I think she's about had it with the vanilla martinis. They're a little too easy to drink. She said she had fun though.

I bought a .22 rifle at a pawn shop last week. About time Mr. 2nd Amendment here owned a gun. You know, put your money where your mouth is and all. It's the ever-popular Marlin Model 60. Ryan and I went out and sighted it in yesterday. It needs a better cleaning. Sometimes the spent shell doesn't get ejected quite in time for the bolt to close, and every now and then one'll get caught in the bolt and you have to open it and let it fall out before you can fire again. I was hitting pretty consistently in the lower left 1" square @ 25 yards on the sighting target by the time we were done. Any adjustment the other way would put it right back where it was when I took the scope out of the package, so I guess maybe that's just the way it shoots. Although part of it could be I only had the mounting bracket screws on thumb tight at first, and I tightened them with a screwdriver before the end. Maybe I'll do a little more careful adjusting next weekend.

Ryan and I are starting a series of "hikes" where we practice one survival skill. This time out it was "start a fire without matches or a lighter or any artificial fuel". We used cedar bark for tinder. It was a damp day, but not raining. Nothing was dry, but things weren't soaking wet, either. We stripped the bark into strings by using the saw attachment on the Leatherman tool sideways. It stripped in to very thin, stringy, curly "stuff". Perfect. That being said I think we're going to have to try this several times with different tinders, though, as a cedar grove might not always be available. However, if you can find one, just for the record, they're handy.




We cooked the traditional "dogs" over our hard-earned fire, put it out, and hiked out. Of course, taking a couple of pictures on the way out.

And a Happy New Year

I have been remiss in my posting.  Well, it is a busy time of year.

 

We got NO Christmas cards out this year.  Maybe that should be my New Years Resolution -- get Christmas cards out next year.  I don't want people to think we don't like them or care about them or we forgot about them.  So, to all of you who didn't get Christmas Cards this year, and you know who you are... we were thinking about you... but they just never got done.

 

Over the Holidays, I did manage to get some home projects done.  Fixed (thawed) the defrost cycle drain in the freezer so water doesn't drain into the freezer (that'd been going on for months), fixed the water-heater leak which has been growing in severity for the past several weeks, and fixed the rinse-aid dispenser in the dishwasher which was clogged with crystalized rinse-aid or dishwashing soap. 

 

Of course, now there's a kitchen drawer to fix... and something else.. oh yeah, the drier switch that won't turn off automatically like it's supposed to at the end of the cycle.

 

Had a nice visit with the mother-in-law.  Kevin went up to get her, and then she went home with some family friends, Gretchen's parents.  Took her to Mark & Gretchen's last thursday and had a very nice visit with them.  Connor, their baby, is about as well-mannered a baby as I've ever seen.  Even disposition.  Seems very happy.  They must be doing something right.

 

For Christmas, I reeled in some music -- Frank Sinatra's "A Man and His Music", which dad had while I was growing up.  Classic stuff -- I think it was a 50th birthday concert, and it's well over an hour and a half.  Also got the Doo Wop Box Set, and Alisson Kraus' live DVD.  Oh, and the HItchhiker's Guide movie.  It was ... ok.  Not as funny as the books.  I'd say it was loosely based on parts of the books.

 

I also got a cool remote-control electric lantern which is fun for "luxury camping" and a guitar humidifier.

 

Vicki got mostly movies and some perfume.  And a pair of boots.  Nice.  Red.  Heels.  <wolf-whistle>

 

New Years we had the brothers and did hot wings.  Ryan and Kristie dropped in late, toward midnight.   I opened the last bottle of my 10-year-old mead.  I think I'm the only one who likes it.  It was very good.  It's dry, and a little richer tasting than wine.  Very clear.  We don't do much that would be exciting to anyone else.  Sit and talk and wait for midnight, pretty much, followed by the traditional egg cassarole and monkey bread for breakfast.

 

I bought the Chronicles of Narnia right before Christmas.  We went to see the move (The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe) Monday.  It was very good.  So I cracked open the book the other day to get started on the rest of it.

 

Got the parents "Christmas" coming this weekend, then the 22nd meeting of the January Club the next weekend.  We'll all be...

 

42

 

I know that's GOTTA mean something ;-)

Merry Christmas Eve

A Merry Christmas Eve to you all.

Christmas Eve, to me, carries more magic than Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is the culmination of all of the anticipation, the preparation... right around bedtime, with the fire softly dying down, and the glow of the lights in the living room. I could just lay on the couch for hours with quiet Christmas music going and stare at the tree. Presents? Who cares?

We watched my favorite Christmas Story last night -- Dickens' Christmas Carol. It was the 1938 version -- I'm not sure I remember seeing that one before. But in it was a line that may be unique to this version, or maybe I just overlooked it before.

It was Scrooge's nephew Fred at his Christmas gathering -- after talking about how his uncle Scrooge thinks Christmas is a humbug, he says:

"How can anything that gives an excuse for this" (meaning the togetherness and festivity they were sharing at time) "a humbug?"

Indeed.

Merry Christmas, all!

Nutcracker

Well, we went to the Nutcracker performed by the Minnesota Ballet here at the University Concert Series. At almost 42 years old and a Christmas freak to boot, it's about damned time I saw the Nutcracker. Oh, I've seen bits and pieces here and there on TV, but never the whole thing.

Come to think of it that was my first ballet.

We went to the Heidelberg first -- because we could walk from there, and it was convenient and inexpensive. It brought back memories for Kristin -- apparently all the girls from her sorority had a standing appointment there every week to debrief each other on the last weeks crazy happenings. So she had a few stories.

Then we walked to Jesse Auditorium. It was a cold night for a walk. The performance was a dress rehearsal for the real thing tomorrow and saturday. Ryan and Kristie are going to see it (same troupe) in St. Louis on Sunday. So that's why the tickets were cheap -- but to my untrained eye, I thought it went off pretty well, regardless. They didn't have to stop it at any point. They said they might. Any slips were quickly recovered and they could've happened on any night.

Very pretty. Lots of pretty chicks in flowy things flitting and twirling all over the stage and smiling a lot. And a few guys to hold them up so they don't fall. ;-) Seriously, it was pretty enjoyable. Young girl gets a nutcracker for Christmas, and apparently somebody spiked her nog with acid and she went on this odd trip involving rats & nutcrackers & faries & queens & snow. Or maybe it was a dream. I don't know. You make the call.