Friday, May 9th, 2008
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3:08 pm - STD test results
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11:47 am - Brimfield Antique Show May 13-18th.
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So the Brimfield Antique Show is happening next week, with something like six thousand antique dealers spead over twenty-three fields in Brimfield MA.
I was pondering making a day trip of going up there next Saturday (the 17th), anyone interested in joining me? The plan would be to get up there relatively early (9-10am) and stay until we're tired of it and/or tired out (as there is no way to see it all in one day).
Best would probably be to meet somewhere (my place or off the Mass Pike depending who is coming), and carpool in with as few vehicles as possible. I can also offer limited crash space to people who'd want to come down the night before or not drive right back afterwards.
EDIT: I will be in Worcester at my sweetie's place. Crash space still available there if you need it, rather than Hartford.
Also, so I don't lose it: www.fleamarketsource.com
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(1 blert |Blert!)
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Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
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4:58 pm - Grrr
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Some unknown person dumped two giant plastic bags of yard waste in our trash bin as it sat out on the curb waiting to be picked up. Unsurprisingly the (extremely anal) trash guys didn't take it and instead left a big orange violation sticker on them. So now we have to figure out how to dispose of someone else's yard waste. Thank you *so* very much anonymous asshole.
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(1 blert |Blert!)
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Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
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9:56 am - I apologize in advance for this one
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I want one of these when they come stateside, just so I can get a "Picasso" vanity plate for it.
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(Blert!)
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Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
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10:34 am
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9:46 am - For my own sake
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Today:
during work
call Napa & order exhaust gaskets
after work</s>
pick up GTA IV
pick up exhaust gaskets & wire connectors
mask & paint rearend housing on Emily
Play a lot of GTAIV
- (possibly) start re-assembly of Emily's rear suspension if paint is dry
Wed:
after work
- finish re-assembly of Emily's rear suspension
- load bicycle in emily
- play a lot of GTAIV
Thurs: (no work, took day off)
- fill Emily's gas tank
- bring Emily to exhaust shop & discuss what kind of exhaust I want
- bike home
- play a lot of GTAIV
- pick up Emily
- Gaming that evening
Fri:
after work
- Wash Emily, check fluids, tires, etc.
- play a lot of GTAIV
Sat:
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(1 blert |Blert!)
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Thursday, April 24th, 2008
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11:03 am - wandering realtor.com
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Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
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4:18 pm - No fair!Memories of an old truck
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So I've rambled before about the old chevy pickup that was the last car my dad drove before his eyesight got too bad.
It was a beat up rusty stripped-out model Chevy C/10 shortbed pickup with a 6-cyl & 3-spd. It had been badly painted blue at some point in its highly checkered past. Dad drove it until he caused an accident that totaled five other cars(and drove it home from the police station). Then he sold it to one of my uncles, who used it for dump runs & such until the front suspension collapsed. that uncle sold it to my other uncle who patched it back together and continued to use it for various jobs. He was the one who had to break *out* of a junkyard by mowing down a gate wit the truck after the owner accidentally locked them in and went home for the night(the truck had a cracked plastic grille to show for it). It was used for the move to the house I grew up in. We used it to clear the lot that our summer cottage now stands on (with my grandfather, who died a year later and never saw the cottage completed). My grandmother once repainted it with thinned down housepaint & paper towels because she wanted it to all match again. It featured heavily in a lot of memories from my childhood.
When he turned 15 my cousin got it from my uncle. He and I tore it apart with great plans to restore it. He taught me how to drive stick in it with the truck stripped down the a bare cab on the frame, no bed, hood, fenders, doors and the seat not bolted down. Eventually my cousin got distracted by a '71 Chevelle and the truck sat. Eleven years ago it was sent to the junkyard.
Well aside from the wheels and the '69 grill rather than the '71 this truck on ebay is the spitting image of my Dad's old chevy.
Same faded blue paint, same blue vinyl interior, same cracked steering wheel same white-painted bumpers. It is about as close a match as could be without being the same truck.
Now that I don't have the bug, I could find room for a third vehicle, right? And having a dump-run and beater pickup is always handy, right?
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(4 blerts |Blert!)
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Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
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3:21 pm - Goin' Campin'
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Eeee! So cute!
I kinda idly want a small teardrop trailer to tow behind either Emily or Box for camping trips. Teardrops have an enclosed sleeping area the size of a small tent, but completely waterproof, and the back hinges open to exposed a small kitchen area. So you can pull up and have a heck of a lot less setup and a more comfy place to sleep, but aren't hauling around a huge trailer. It is the best of camping & trailering. And at under 1000lbs they can be towed by virtually anything.
I want an older one as they are just better looking and more interesting than the new ones. However most are made of wood and are prone to rot problems. This one is said to have an aluminum frame which should help that, but it clearly still needs a bit of restoration.
*sigh* Just what I really don't need, another project...
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(1 blert |Blert!)
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12:13 pm - Random Thoughts on being Mad
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ljuserpic: madsci
So I've been working on a couple different projects on my cars over the last few weeks and a few things occurred to me.
Madness is getting home from an exhausting long weekend at 8pm, wanting nothing more than to relax and get to bed early. Then finding a box of parts have arrived and staying up until nearly midnight taking apart your car (the one you need at 8am the next morning for work) to install the cool new LEDs you bought.
Madness is finding a broken leaf spring and deciding that since that needs replacing you may as well replace both leaf springs, all the bushings, the shackles, scrape the undercoating off, repaint the underside of the car...
Madness is laying under a car scraping undercoating and rust off, which fall on you getting in your hair and everything, and doing this until you are too tired to lift your arms. Then crawling right back underneath the next two evenings to do the same thing.
Madness is working with highly caustic oven cleaner to loosen the undercoating you couldn't scrape off before, and noticing it eating holes in your upper arm where it splashed. Then just wiping it off and going back to what you were doing. (oddly, the spots that hurt and the spots that actually burned were completely separate, and by the time I noticed it the damage was done)
But true madness is thinking all of this is kinda fun, and looking forward to going back to the project as soon as possible.
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(2 blerts |Blert!)
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Friday, April 11th, 2008
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12:05 pm - State of the Pixel
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Random life update thingy.
I deeply and personally despise the IRS and our tax system in general. It has taken several days, and calls/emails to my mom, sister, my financial adviser and the guy who did my taxes two years ago to figure out how much I owe. And one set of info had me getting back a nice chunk of change. The most current (and probably correct) version has me owing about 2-3 times what I thought I was getting back.
Progress on rebuilding Emily's rear suspension is going well. All old parts are stripped off, all new parts are acquired and confirmed to work. I have about 1/4 of the incredibly nasty undercoating scrapped off the rear of the car. Need to get the rest scrapped off, everything cleaned and rustproofing paint applied so I can re-assemble. Then I will be back on track for where I thought I was until last weekend. Ah well, this was a project I was going to want/need to do eventually it just happened sooner than I'd expected/wanted.
...though the undercoating colored snot this morning was rather unpleasant.
This weekend was supposed to be a junkin run, but it looks like it's goign to be a washout with the predicted rain. So There will probably be more scraping of undercoating. Then Sunday is Dim Sum(pork dumplings!) in Boston as Amberfiend is in the area.
I and my sweetie may be free and in the Boston area that afternoon if anyone is interested in hanging out.
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(2 blerts |Blert!)
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Thursday, April 10th, 2008
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11:09 am - Last soda post (for the moment)
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And it turns out Avery Soda in New Britain is still open and bottling at their plant. These guys are the coolest, 100% cane sugar soda, painted-label bottles and wood cases you return so they can scrub them out and reuse them. If you pick it up at their bottling plant (in the same barn the company started an in 1904!) you can mix & match your the case contents to your hearts content.
If I threw a soda-tasting party would people be interested? Or should I make all the drinks at the OMGWTFBBQ classic soda brands? Or both?
If you're wondering what kicked off this soda obsessing, check out this amusing article.
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(5 blerts |Blert!)
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10:56 am - Sweet! (with no aftertaste!)
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How did I miss this before? Foxon Park Beverages down in East Haven CT still makes all their sodas with 100% real sugar.
I think I'm going to have to make a trip down there and pick up an assorted case to try.
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(Blert!)
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10:41 am - Break out the red solo cups
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
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11:21 am - Ha!
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So my old bug is currently Up on Craigslist. Apparently the guy who bought it has decided he didn't have the time for it either. He's asking $50 more then he paid for it, and it comes with thousands in additional parts, including all the parts it needs to fix the minor rust issues.
Not that I *want* to, but I am amused that I could buy it back from him and essentially end up with the same car and thousands in new parts for it.
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(Blert!)
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Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
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2:55 pm - Potential Junkin' Run in MA/RI Saturday.
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Assuming the weather co-operates we're planning to make our first Junkin' Run to Henry's Auto Parts in Blackstone MA this coming Sat (the 12th).
The plan is to leave West Hartford by 9am, to get there around 10:30-11am, we usually stay til the yard closes at 1pm. Then grab lunch somewhere before heading home. You're welcome to ride/caravan up with us from CT, or join us at the yard. We'll be bringing tools, so unless you need specific ones you should be all set in that dept. It costs $2/guy to get in, women get in free. Wear grubby clothes & boots as you will get muddy.
They are a pick-your-part lot where you can wander through the junk cars, and anything you want you remove and bring up to pay for. This gets you parts *way* cheaper then other places, and the fun of wandering among the wrecks. In particular I'll be surfing the collection of classic cars there.
Umbran, did you want to join us to look for the stuff we'd talked about?
Henry's website
List of classic junk cars there
Address on Google
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(1 blert |Blert!)
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Monday, April 7th, 2008
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7:11 pm - Spring Sproing Sprung
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So while I was working on Emily this weekend I discovered that the end of the main leaf on one of her rear leaf springs was not just cracked but in fact snapped off. This meant the spring was being held on by about 50% metal and 50% pure habit.
Two days of franticly hunting the net and I've located the needed parts (including some parts that haven't been made since the 60s) and most of them should be winging their way here in the next week. Now I jsut have to tear the whole rear suspension off and rebuild it.
Which puts off getting the exhaust system replaced.
Which puts off getting Emily back on the road.
I love my old cars, and love working on Emily, but there are times when I could do with a bit better timing. :)
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(4 blerts |Blert!)
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Sunday, April 6th, 2008
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10:32 pm - Mad Scientists Union Meeting & Pictures
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Friday, March 28th, 2008
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8:49 am - To perk up your morning
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Thursday, March 27th, 2008
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8:11 pm - Completely apropro of nothing.
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"If you have six or more dildos [in Texas] you are a felon, because it is assumed you have an intent to distribute. Whereas if you have five or less you are merely a hobbyist."
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(1 blert |Blert!)
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