Down with the sickness

ONCE AGAIN I am sick. Sick like death warmed over and rotting, with no end in sight. Is this how it goes now? Lately I've gotten about 3 days break between the last 5 colds/flu events. This has been going on for 2-3 months.

3 Days isn't much time to actually work out and feel normal again. SO once again I am home trying to work. What I really want to do is get back into bed. That won't happen, though. I have stuff to do. Work won't stop, but fun will. I was supposed to go over to Brett and Lori's place for new years eve with new Christine for sushi and wine. Instead I'll be home alone.

I'm not sure what the answer is. I take vitamins every day. I take vitamin C every day. I had a flu shot this year. I don't smoke. I don't shoot heroin. I don't have unprotected sex with skanky disease ridden hookers.

Lame.

One windy mother fucker

That's nuts.

engine ala mode

Today I finally put my engine stand together. After I loaded up the block on the stand, I decreased it and power washed it in the driveway. That foamy stuff is anti-corrosion spray.

I need a puller to remove the harmonic balancer. After that I can pull the crankshaft and the cam, and then the block will be ready for the machine shop.

$7.41

$7.41 is what I paid today to fill up the motorcycle. I can go 200 miles on that. Too bad it won't last.

I've been cleaning allot. If I was a chick I'd have to go pee on a stick and make sure I'm not preggers. Anyway, I did a workout this morning and now I'm heating the garage up so I can put my engine stand together. I'll have to have Adam the neighbor help me load the block on it after that.

I hear beagles make great xmas gifts!

I went to make hummus the other day and started wondering where my pita bread went (Jerry) and my hamburger buns (Jerry) and quite a few Xmas tree ornaments (Jerry). It's a mystery, I say.

I think my plan today is to read. Read and maybe assemble my engine stand so I can strip my engine. Right now the stand is in pieces and the engine block is on the garage floor.

Working out may be nice, but it's Xmas. Even if the gym were open, I'd probably not go. I'd rather not support a private business that makes its employees work Xmas morning.

Anyway, there isn't much else going on. Winter is here with a vengeance, and the only motorcycle riding I've done lately is to push it to the other side of the garage.

I've been buffing the fish tank all week, and now we're finally up to that magical PH of 8.3. The salinity is pretty close also. It may be critter time.

TW is back from the almost-dead, so I should start thinking of when I'll be feeding him lasagna.

Tank-ness

I hadn't paid much attention to my 175g salt water tank for some time. Over the weekend I put in a new set of lights, did a partial water change, cleaned it, and started thinking about new critters and equipment. Honestly the only thing I'd done in the last 6 months is throw in some food and make sure nothing was floating on the top of the tank.

First I had to figure out where I was at. Running some water tests showed my salinity and PH were off. Both are pretty easy to fix, you just have to take your time so you don't croak things that have adapted to some less-than-ideal water conditions.

Second I started looking at critters. My cleaning critters (crabs, snails, etc.) had dwindled in the last year, so that will be a good place to start.

Third I checked out some equipment. Next month I want to put in a in line carbon filtration setup, along with UV sterilization. After that I'll shoot for a protein skimmer. Basically a skimmer blows off all the dissolved organic wastes from the water, which you can dispose of as an on-going basis. The reduction in organics reduces the bio-load on the tank. This should help reduce my 40 ppm nitrate load to almost zero.

I'm also looking into a drip system for PH control. That basically adds buffer to the tank on a continual basis to stabalize the PH over time.

Feeling white trashy baby!

I picked up my engine block yesterday. It still has the crank and the camshaft installed, but I won't be re-using those anyway. So far it's in the back of my truck. When I was a small child growing up on the farm I always dreamed of driving an old pickup truck full of car parts.

What I need is a shop crane/cherry picker. A bare 350 iron block alone weighs about 186 pounds. If you add in the crank and my approaching old age, then other means are required to get that thing into the garage.

Besides, I'd have to ask the neighbor for help. I'd be bummed if we dropped the thing. Additionally, I need to load it on my engine stand. I doubt we can hold the thing in the air long enough to bolt the block to the stand.

Shop cranes run 150-250. I can't spend the money until I get paid again, so I'll have to come up with another plan until then. My other neighbor is a gearhead. Maybe I can borrow his.

350 chevy block

Well, after debating all week over the route to go on building a new engine for my truck, I may have settled on a used block. For a while it was an LS1/LS2 block, then a new 350 block, then a new 383 stroker block. I think instead I'll start with a used block.

I found a 4 bolt main 350 with a single piece rear seal for about $50. I'm going to go check it out on Saturday. Supposedly the block has never been rebuilt.

I've already talked to the machine shop. I'll need to spend about $150 to get the block tanked and magna-fluxed. The magna-fluxing will determine if the block is any good.

After that I'll have it bored 0.030 over, decked, and honed. I haven't picked out the reciprocating parts yet or the heads. I may go with a scat or eagle 383 crank/piston kit. I'd like to find some low cost aluminum heads. Maybe I can find a pair on ebay.

viva la revolucion!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/10/illinois.labor.protest/index.html
CNN:

"The occupation is over," said Armando Robles, president of the United Electrical Workers local 1110, which led the sit-in.

About 200 workers launched what they called a "peaceful occupation" of the Republic Windows and Doors factory Friday after Republic gave its employees three days notice of the layoffs. According to the workers, Republic told them that Bank of America had cut off credit to the company.

Federal law requires 60 days notice or 60 days paid compensation for workers when they close plants.


Where do I sign up for my federally mandated 60 days of pay when my company goes tits up? Every Engineer I know that has worked for a failed startup has gotten tossed out on their ass, most of time without even getting paid their final paycheck. Instead maybe they should have held an occupation until some bank lent money that would never, ever, be repaid.

Snail mail has to go

Yesterday I was stuck in line at the post office waiting to pick up a giant bundle of mail. You see, I get so much junk mail at my home address, that the postal dude gives up on trying to cram it into my box and holds it at the post office.

I only get 4 magazines I actually care about. All my bills are paid online. Actually, I usually throw out the paper statements I get in the mail.

In any event, I'm pretty much sick of it. I'm tired of wading through 10 inches of crap mail (literally) to pick out the one magazine.

The new plan is to get a PO box in boulder, and inform my 4 magazines where the new send-to address is. The rest of them can go fuck off. I'll just stop emptying the junk mail box here at the house and the post office can send it all back to wherever it came from.

IF/WHEN the new PO box starts getting junk mail, I'll just change to a new box and tell my 4 magazines to quit selling my address.

Mom can send the cookies to the office in Boulder.

Got beliefs? Nah, maybe not so much.

Yesterday I came across the fact that my ex wife remarried in 2005. Hey, good for her. We divorced in the summer of 2004, so why not just jump into the deep end and start thrashing around again.

Anyway, a little background: She's a die hard lib. Pro choice, big dem voter, anti-capital punishment, pro gay marriage, big womans libber, the works. She spent most of her career, after getting her sociology masters degree, in non-profit work. Think homeless shelters, people with fucked up kidneys, and basically being paid nothing. The big dream was to run a non-profit someday. Sure, why not? It's good to be dedicated. Of course her dedication was helped along by the fact that I made 3x her salary.

I'd say politically that I'm a mix. Fiscally conservative, social liberal. Pro gun ownership, anti-capital punishment. Pro choice. Pro gay marriage. We had our political arguments, but not that many. Our marriage was fucked up in plenty of ways other than political views.

The funny thing is, she married some right wing nutjob. Seriously -- the guy works for the Colorado GOP. His official title is "Minority Legislative Initiatives Director." He basically works for Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany.

It does get more interesting. Colorado confidential had this to say about the new Beau:

"For 11 years, [he] was the editorial page editor of the Colorado Springs Gazette, espousing the kinds of views (virulently pro-gun, pro-death-penalty, anti-abortion, pro-legalizing marijuana) that endeared him to some — and led others to near-apoplectic outrage. At times, people who innocently submitted letters to the editor would find themselves shocked when [he] — a complete stranger to them — would respond with sometimes vicious personal attacks."

Now she works for Qwest, probably one of the dirtiest Colorado companies around. My guess is that her job at Qwest doesn't have much to do with the homeless.

Don't forget that she's a good Episcopalian church going girl and he's a good orthodox christian. I wonder how he feels about the new gay bishop.

Way to follow those dreams baby.

Office Action hell

Behold the office action of death!

Even after 15 months of experience and 2 revisions, it's like being in 5th grade all over again. This is what my life has become.

This kind of ass fucking goes on every day. I get paid less too. What a great idea!

Turbo Hydromatic 400

I may have found a TH400 transmission to rebuild for my truck. The guy only wants $140 for it. I should be able to pick it up this weekend.

The rebuild kits are not that expensive. Plus, rebuilding it myself will help me understand how the things work. That will save me $$ in the future by not having to pay someone to rebuld my transmissions for me.

The truck currently has a 3 speed manual, which will basically burn itself up after I put in a new engine.