Merry Christmas!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Maybe enjoy a movie with the family or something. Try to remember though the true meaning of Christmas isn't gifts or family time like most movies seem to protray. It's about the birth of Jesus. That is worth celebrating!

Garage work

I did some tweaks to the eclipse that i've wanted to do for a while, but had too many other things, or was just plain lazy. Some bolts were stripped so i Heli-Coiled them, replaced a valve cover gasket and the spark plugs. I also did a little fuel tuning for warm up/cold start issues. So far it's looking really good it had no drivability issues and still makes LOTS of power. Before it was having trouble idling because the plugs fouled. I think that was because it was too rich (too much fuel) and it should be better now. I didnt' get to test it too much cuz even on my short drive there were 2 cops with someone pulled over. To sum it all up incase it didn't make sense: Good car night!

Can't believe i forgot to post this....

I GOT THE POOL TABLE TUESDAY!! I guess with all the playing pool and work parties I didn't take the time to update my blog. I guess part of it is that i didn't take any pictures yet, but i still should have posted it. I'm very happy with it and i've practiced some and i'm sure i will continue to do so.

Christmas parties

This past week was full of work Christmas parties. I ate out or they provided lunch every day. I went out one night even. Tonight there was a party at my manager's house which was fun. He has a pool table in his basement so that's where i stayed after i had some of the food. Didn't do too bad, but I can still use a lot of practice. I think i'll do more of the practicing tomorrow since i can!

As for the holiday shopping i think i'm catching up and doing ok now. Haven't done any wrapping of course, but most things are purchased.

Basement prepped

Ceiling is finished and the room is empty all ready for the pool table. Here are some pics i have so of the basement pre-pool table.

The other side of my basement is completely cluttered at the moment, but that isn't really the point yet. Long term project is to have a Coke fountain on the other side with a bar and the foosball table.

Productivity

So last night we put most of a new ceiling up in the basement for when the pool table comes. It already has one coat of paint and will likely get another tomorrow and a few other finishing touches. It is much brighter than it was before and it feels much more open as well. Can't wait for the pool table.

Then today we worked on my roommates car that he is getting rid of. It took a bit of work, but we actually finished it already and we thought there was going to be leftover work for tomorrow. There is still one piece that is broken, but we were able to drive it tonight and it is so much better than it was before.

I'm not sure, but i might just be lazy the rest of the night as i'm going to have guard early in the morning. Fortunately it is going to be a party day so it shouldn't be too bad.

Oh and to anyone that missed the deadline for the gifts, but still wants to give me a list you can still send it to me and we'll see what happens hehe.

Christmas list

I haven't really done any Christmas shopping yet, but i suppose i should get on that. I am feeling generous though. How bout all my loyal readers (you know who you are) send me a comment, email, instant message, or just call with their Christmas list. I will pick something off of it and get it for you (within reason of course, but i'm not making a fixed value). I suppose for it to prove you are a loyal reader I would need the list by oh, Thursday night at 8pm.

Enjoy!

Chose a pool table!!!

This is about what it will look like except the colors will be a little different. This is oak with a milano finish and mine is maple with a spice finish. My felt will be marine blue. It should be delivered and installed in the house on Dec 12th!!! CAN'T WAIT!!!!

vvvv

I was pointed to a new tool that is designed to be interactive with audio, video and large outputs. It's called a Multipurpose toolkit and it looks like it has some great possibilities given motivation and an idea i'm sure it would be great. So far i just went through the tutorial and i'm not really sure what else i'm going to do with it, but there are definitely possibilities. The one screen they show i would like to have set up for a bar in my basement. When you set mugs on it they interact with each other. Probly makes no sense, but you can check out the gallery by clicking the link in the title. Enjoy!

PS still looking at pool tables, didn't find a different store that was open tonight though

Now with RSS

Not sure how many of you use RSS readers, but I set the site up with Feedburner now so it should with with any RSS or Atom reader program. Feel free to subscribe!

Now the real reason i'm posting is because i'm thinking about getting a pool table. Not just like how i've always wanted one, but like I saw one in a store and came home to measure the room. According to the minimum recommended size for rooms my basement would actually work with a 7' pool table, but it would be a little tight on the sides. I do however have some short sticks in case that would be needed. If anyone knows of a good deal, or someone getting rid of a pool table let me know. Oh and of course any of you are welcome to just buy me one for a Christmas present or something if you feel so inclined

flickr

So the previous 3 posts may not have been too interesting, but it could mean something for the future of my blog. I found out that flickr has a method where i can email pictures to my account and have it automatically post it to my Blog. This means i can now take a picture while i'm out and post it to my blog with a description without ever needed a computer. Anyone that has seen my phone probably won't be too surprised that i can do this, but i still think it is kind of neat.

Mobile photo post via flickr

Mobile photo post via flickr
Originally uploaded by imcokeman.

Here is another test of moblogging hope the pic works this way. It should!

Mobile pic test

Well the first test worked so now here is a pic of the house I just took with the phone.

Edit: I'm not a fan of deleting in general so i'm just appending this note to say that emailing pictures does not work for blogger at the moment. I might be able to log onto the actual blog page and do the whole post from my phone though.

Mobile post

This is a test post from my phone. If it works I might also try taking a pic and posting that to test how well it will work for posting on the go.

New blogger

Apparently I have now switched to the new blogger. It is now connected to my Google account, but i'm not quite sure of all the benefits it provides at this point. It looks like i could make some posts private and i can add labels etc. Not sure if i will even use them, but i figured i'd try the newer one just for the fun of it. I think it also said it published faster which would be nice at times.

edit: I noticed the archive links are a little better to follow, but they do take up more space...oh well

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

I was recently thinking about changing the title of the blog from the "Now with 2X the carbs" but i think Thanksgiving week is a bad time for the change hehe. Hope everyone ate well and had positive family time. I managed to make it to 2 places and ate more than i was able to even. The last bites of mashed potatoes on the third plate were too much. Although after a break i was ready for some more pie still.

As for today i didnt do any shopping, but i did go out for breakfast and visited with an amazing friend whom i haven't seen for a very long time. So far it's been a great day and the weather is nice so i think i will go out and take advantage of that soon too.

pictures of the newly painted kitchen

Kitchen is almost done!!!

I will probably be posting pics shortly of the latest progress on painting my kitchen. There is now NO sponge paint in that room. The cabinet doors are blue, cabinets white and walls tan. My new roommate was the primary motivation. He had his sister and mom come over with interior design knowledge and also home cooked food! It was amazing what we got done in one night yesterday and we put a second coat down today. There are still a few spots to touch up of course, but that kitchen is pretty bib to get done as fast as we did. It's nice to have another room that feels like I had a part in what it looks like. Especially considering the choices that were made by the previous owners for colors. I had some memories when the radio was playing the counting crows song from Shrek 2, and also realized how long it's been since i planned to have the kitchen redone.

Kill story (disclaimer: street racing is bad....)

I actually had another race in the eclipse recently. I was showing the car to a friend that hadn't ridden in it yet. We did the normal 2nd and 3rd pull to get a feel for it without going "too" fast. Then did a little more driving. As i was getting ready to get on it again in 2nd a WRX passed me. Apparently the passenger was giving me a thumbs down and making faces (probly cuz at the time i was only going 40mph) So my buddy says "That's a WRX!" and of course i had to finish the fight they were picking by making faces. They were ahead so i got on it in 2nd like i was going to, but stopped when i was door to door with them. I think that was noticable cuz i was flying and then slowed down to stay at their speed. Then i tapped the throttle a few times til they finally got on it. I decided to let them get about a car length ahead of me before i floored it. I went through 3rd and was already going much faster then them and about even. I then shifted to 4th and kept on it. I heard a pop and got off the gas and let a little brake light show to tell them who won incase there was doubt. They then were giving the thumbs up when they caught up so i think they understood. Meanwhile my passenger decided that that couldn't have been more perfect and he was pretty excited about the car. We had to check what the pop sound was from though, it seemed like an intercooler pipe blowing off. After looking it turns out everything was fine, but that means i had hit the rev limiter in 4th gear. I'll let you figure out how fast that is =) Who would have thought i would go through 4th gear fast enough to hit the limiter before i knew it? Fun stuff

New Roommate

So i had a friend that needed a place to stay and I had a room that was not being used. That worked out pretty well. He got here saturday and already the kitchen is spotless and a lot of it happened while i was away at guard. It was so good it even helped my brother to want to clean a little more. That takes a lot!
On guard news i got to give a salute to my favorite new 2LT when she was buying us food. I also brought my eclipse in sunday for the other people that wanted to see it. Yup it still runs!!

ppc 6700

So i think i decided on the phone/PDA i'm going to get. Not sure how great it will really work as a phone without using a bluetooth headset, but i'm still excited about it. Yes i realize most people wouldn't think this is worth it and don't get it, but remember I'm a comp sci guy. It has tons of features and if half of them work i'll be happy with it. Well i suppose there are some that i kinda need to work, but there are a lot that would just be fun.

Ok feel free to leave the comments saying i'm a loser!

Cell phones

I'm about out of contract with my cell phone so i've been looking around for the best options for me. If anyone has suggestions or knows someone in the business feel free to let me know. Other then that, not too much excitement lately. Last night I took a nap in the evening and woke up about 12 hours later for work. Not very productive, but i guess i needed it to catch up after the guard weekend and the pager weekend before that. I was pretty tired cuz apparently my bro asked me somethings a few times and i definitely don't remember anything like that.

Don't forget to turn your clocks back this weekend.

Guitar

I finally got around to picking up my guitar again. Since i haven't played in a while my fingers are too a little sore, but they'll toughen up if i keep playin. I hope that i'll actually get to where i can play a few songs this time. I still have a few house projects, but with the colder weather i'm sure i'll be more apt to stay in and play once in a while.

Tomorrow is a big day. I have guard where i'll have the physical for my Officer position. I might also have a fitness test afterwards. Then after guard i am going to a friends wedding in Lancaster. That should be lots of fun! It's weird i'll have to change too many times. Camo for the morning, maybe PT gear for the fitness test then a suit for the evening.

I plan on taking the eclipse to guard this weekend as there are people there that probably don't believe i even own it anymore.

Garage roof

I finally finished the garage roof tonight. Just in time for the rain tomorrow. One of the guys from work offered to help tonight and we just managed to get it all done with a few snags as is to be expected. That of course made it take until just after it got dark, but it is all done now. Good work to be doing while i'm on call since i could have made it to the house pretty easily. Fortunately so far it's been ok. I had some things going on while i was at work though.

Guess i'll be using the furnace by the end of the week with the weather coming up. Hopefully oil prices will stay low. I just ordered it and it was actually cheaper now than the time i filled up at the end of last year!

New Computer...again

Well it's a new motherboard, CPU and DVD-RW (dual mode, dual layer capable). All three of those things only totaled about $115. After all the hassle i've been through i am glad to have this now. I suppose i may still have some issues, but hopefully the random lockup won't happen anymore. Wow it's a friday night and i'm sitting here writing about the computer i just put together. I'm a loser...

NHRA drags

Well i made it to the drag races on Saturday. I ended up going by myself since my boss couldn't make the rescheduled date, and i didn't have much time to find someone to give his ticket to. It was still fun though I got to see a car run a 4.40 second 328MPH pass. They are really fast and loud, it shakes the stands! I also got to tour the trailer and look at the LRS car up close since they are the ones that gave the tickets away. I didn't even have to talk about work stuff since the salesman wasn't there, he wouldn't have known me anyway though. Unfortunately the LRS car kinda blew up at the end of it's race. The driver was ok and the time was good enough to qualify though. They'll have it put back together and running today i suppose for the race even. Pretty impressive stuff. 8000hp makes my dyno chart seem insignificant, but the eclipse sure doesn't feel that way on the street.

Before and after

Here is the comparison of before and after the coil on plug ignition setup. It was a peak gain of about 100 ft lbs of torque and 95 hp just below 5000rpm

Dyno day for me!!!

I took the eclipse to the dyno and I think it did pretty well. Take a look at the graph to see for yourself, but it made 531hp and i was able to drive it home in one piece this time. There is something to be said for working on your own car. Also I didn't check precicely, but it did the dyno session and the trip there and back all on one tank of gas which means i still averaged over 20 MPG. Not bad on a 500+ hp car.

Day Off!

I had the day off and will have more time off the rest of the week since it is the end of the fiscal year and i can't save my vacation days. It's ok though because i just ordered parts for the car monday and they came already and the car started with the upgrade already. Coil on plug ignition if anyone is wondering. I think i'll use some of the time off to get another dyno session in. Should be able to get another 50-60 hp out of the car now. Also worked on the garage a little before teh UPS guy got here. I'm down to the last few rows before putting on the ridge vent. I'm not sure if i want to do that myself though. I'll also have to put up soffit at some point. Ahh the joys of home ownership.

Computers

I have been working on fixing my computer for a long time now. Maybe a year and a half or so. One of them was locking up and i replaced all the parts to the point where i actually made a second computer out of the spares (which was basically the old computer) and it worked. The new one then had the problems. Now i switched around a few of the parts Mainly the CPU, and both computers are working!

In other news Friday was our fall fling at work which was kinda fun. I was the only one at work on my team also, but i think it went smoothly. Hopefully i'll be able to take some time off this coming week though. The Eclipse is still running and i plan to get some more done to it. Oh yeah, I got a decent size bonus from work which will actually be enough to get some parts for the car!

PS did anyone notice i had a double post up for a week? I just did tonight

NHRA drags cancelled

I didn't get to see the NHRA drags yesterday because of the rain. It apparently ruined all their parking for the wekened and also got the race teams stuck in the mud. Oh well i'll have another chance at the end of the month. Then i won't be on call either that should be good. To make up for missing the drags i just drove the eclipse some more. Another good thing was my friend came back from officer training after being away for 6 weeks.

Pager was good to me so far this weekend too though. I was able to make it to church which doesn't always happen. I might get something tonight, but i plan to be around the house anyway to catch up on things besides putting the car together.

VROOM!

It lives, i actually took the eclipse for a drive today. Everything seems to be working, i didn't beat on it yet though. The transmission doesn't seem to be leaking like it was before i took everything apart either. I might warm the car up for 5 minutes and take the 2 minute drive to work and let it cool down for another 5 minutes tomorrow hehe. Very nice to have it back though even if i should still walk to work. Oh and plugging the hole was a little tough as mitsubushi didn't have the part in stock so i had to make my own bolt by cutting one down to size. Dremels are excellent tools!

Car and Pager

Well i worked on the eclipse last night. Got the oil squirters i was waiting on and put the oil pan back. After all the other parts were put back i filled it up with all the fluids, put the tires on and took it off the jackstands. Turned the key and....it started! Definitely a nice feeling. Then I checked the timing and it looked close enough that i could drive it to work at least. Unfortunately there was some fluid coming out. By some fluid i mean there was a bolt missing that allowed the oil to shoot out of the head onto the floor. Big mess, but i have the kitty litter type stuff to soak it up. Unfortunately that means i need one more part, but at least it is very minor and they should have it in stock at mitsubishi. I might do it over lunch hehe.

Then to top off my night i got a page too. Not a big deal as i wasn't asleep and i expect at least one page during the week on average. I didn't like that it was something we warned people not to do, but that isn't unusual either.

I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend now. I get to go to my first NHRA drag race for free. I have a pit pass and there will be a hospitality tent too. My car should be working by then too. Of course i might get paged over the weekend too, but we'll try to use that as an excuse for a cellular modem i think =)

Pager week

Guard weekend is over and Pager week begins. It's not all bad though because I have car parts to install on the eclipse. It should be back together this week if the last part gets here quickly. It was shipped UPS from Maryland though so it should make it here fast, maybe even by tomorrow. I still have to put all the belts on including timing belt and i need to get all the fluids to put in. Oil, transmission gear oil, and coolant. If i get the part i'll probably try to get it all together tomorrow. If not, i'll probly try to get everything but that part put together so it won't take long afterwards.

The garage roof now has the cut for the ridge vent, then we put the paper back over so it's water proof. That means i can just finish up with the shingles and not have to worry about stopping to cut if i went to far etc.

This weekend is the NHRA drag race at Maple grove that i plan on attending. I have hearing protection and everything. Normally i'm not a big fan, but i suppose a day full of funny cars might make it worthwhile.

Thanks for reading and feel free to click to let me know you were here.

Getting there!

I took the day off so I could pick up the head for my eclipse finally. It is already on the car, but I still have a lot of other work before the car is back together. I got the transmission back a while ago and it is also in the car now too. Unfortunately there is another part that i noticed was broken today (rather than when it happened) so i'll have to wait for another part, but it isn't a pricey one at all so that's a plus. Also not as much work is involved in putting it back together.

I have guard this weekend and Sunday is some appreciation thing at state college. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but as they say in the military it's "mandatory fun". Tomorrow after guard though i plan on working on the garage roof some more. We can't have it leaking while i'm working on the eclipse.

Oh and my brother's car got hit really bad, but it will be fixed and not totalled. He might even be able to make some money out of it if he does some of the work himself like installing some of the parts on the other door.

Picture

Here is the new pic of the house as promised. For anyone with photoshop skill and some free time, you can play around with green shutters and figure out what to do about the brown on the garage door in the bottom left.

This weekend was interesting, after we got bri's car back together it got hit in the side. The estimate should come on wednesday, he's hoping they total it so he can get a new car. I'll want this one and use it as a rally car though. That way who cares about the body damage.

House and Car status

The roof on the house is now done, but it's been raining a bit so i didn't take any pictures yet. My brother decided to buy Compact fluorescent Bulbs for the house after reading up on them (Google: CFL) It looks like a good way to save money and also help to be earth friendly. They take 1/4 the power and last 10 times as long as regular bulbs. Unfortunately the purchase prices is about 10 times as much as a regular bulb, but it's well worth it especially for rooms that have lights on almost all the time.

As for the car, I have the transmission now and it is attached to the engine, but not completely mounted etc. The head still hasn't come back yet which is getting kinda ridiculous, but i don't really have too much i can do other than complain and that doesn't help. I'm just working on getting the rest of the car ready so all it needs is the head. At this point i'm getting fairly good at working on it so it shouldn't be too bad once i get the parts. OHH!!! I might go to a real NHRA drag race for free from one of the vendors at work. Reserved seats and free soda/food even. It would be cool to have my car running by then (16th), but i wouldn't be racing anyway so not a huge deal.

Impersonal

I like the idea of writing to this blog once in a while possibly to entertain, and also for those that i may not talk to on a regular basis to get an idea what is going on day by day. Tonight however what I am feeling is not adequately expressed in such an impersonal manner. If you haven't been in touch for a while this post can be an excuse for sending a note, leaving a comment, or making a call. I am sure I will be fine, but tonight more than usual I feel an increased longing for hearing back from those who are interested in my life for one reason or another.

Fitness

I heard about a week or so ago that i should start running now to prepare for my Officer training school. Since then i've actually done it 3 times. Two of which were after some roofing even. This time i stepped it up a little and ran 14 minutes instead of the ~10 that i was running. That's not too bad considering i played tennis yesterday too. I'm not saying i'm fast or anything, but i am pretty sure i'll pass the fitness exam since i don't even have my dates yet (earliest would be January i think). I also did a few pushups and situps lately. Believe it or not it isn't really all that fun, but if anyone wants to join me give me a call.

assorted updates

I had another guard weekend, but it wasn't too busy at all. It rained last night, but the roof is all papered so that isn't a problem. It is going quite well actually thanks to friends and family. It's not quite ready for picture taking, but it is looking good. As for the cars, my Eclipse is still awaiting parts as it has been for a while. The tranny i shipped out though appears to look good. That might mean less money, but now i don't know why i popped out of gear. My bro's car is leaking oil and he doesn't really want to take care of it so he might get a new one. The miata and the truck seem to be running ok for now though.

Roofing

I've been keeping pretty busy lately. The roofers were working on my house for a while now, but i just started the Garage this weekend. I took Friday and Monday off so the weekend actually started Thursday night. The shingles are all ripped off the garage now with the exception of the ones at the very edge of the back which are friction holding all the removed shingles until the trailer arrives to take them away. The underlayment is also done on the one side. Tomorrow will be the big day to get started shingling though. I'll have two helpers in the morning and perhaps a few others after they get out of work. The part that is done on the house looks really good so far and i'm excited for it to be done. I'm sure i'll post some pictures of the finished roof for anyone that is interested.

On an unrelated note I also handed in my official transcripts and signed some paperwork to get my officer paperwork pushed through a little further. I still have no idea how long that will take though.

Thanks for reading!

Brother's birthday

Today was my brother's birthday and to celebrate we went tubing in the creek by our old house. It was really tough finding tubes as we each went 3 or 4 places, but after all the work we finally got 2 tubes and some soda's for a cooler to take with us. It was a nice relaxing time, the water was a little cool and the day was pretty hot so it worked out well. Afterwards I took him for some Ice cream.

On a completely seperate note, I actually called a rally racing school today. I talked to the guy a while and when i mentioned that i have to go out and drive on the snow before the plows get to it he said I called the right place. There is a one day basically teaser course that i might go to if it doesn't conflict with guard, otherwise i'll probably have to wait at least until January. I'm pretty excited about it though as i definitely want to do this and this is my first call to actually try and start something. It will be an expensive sport of course, but i know it's something i'd find to be well worth it.

Blogging

Sometimes it's interesting to check where i left off. For anyone reading this they would still think I was going to work on my tranny. It turned out i decided it was better to send it out and have some other parts professionally inspected. I was in SAP training for Tyco last week in Philly. On the last day i stopped by a Porche dealership and actually looked at and touched a Carrerra GT.

That will probably be the closest i'll get to one of those as they are 450K. I'll save up for some other cars instead of just that one.

Now it'll be back to work for a while i think. We'll see how things go with the weather to see how the roofing job comes along. I'm sure i'll have other things to do to keep me busy anyway. Perhaps even tubing with my brother tomorrow for his birthday.

Garage work

While the head is in the shop for the eclipse (I know...again) I decided to take the time to pull the tranny as well. This was another thing i've never done before, but managed to get it all the way out now. I used the excuse to buy another tool though (tranny jack) Next i have to take the transmission apart and see if i can figure out what part is broken. I believe it to be the 3-4 shift fork, but as i've never removed or opened a tranny before i'm kind of taking it as i go. It is good for a sense of accomplishment thats for sure. I am really happy that i not afraid to take anything apart on the car anymore.

Catching up

I was able to help my brother fix his car on Sunday so he could use it for work. Monday I got the rest of the parts for the miata suspension and promptly installed it all in the heat. I was definitely dripping, but it was worth it. The car rides so much better over bumps now. It is a little different in turns, but definitely a nicer vehicle to drive i think. Oh and i finally took the visor off of the pickup truck. I think it has much less drag and therefore more power at highway speeds now. Might improve the mileage a little too. Guess it's time to do more work to the Eclipse so it doesn't feel left out! Actually it will probably have the transmission removed when i get around to it, but i also need to get the roof installed on the house and garage soon.

Ok enough rambling, thanks for reading!

PS Almost forgot to mention I will be in Philly next week for SAP training again

Home again

I had a decent time on my week away. Went to a few interesting places. The biosphere, Kartchner Caverns, and the Tucson Desert Museum to name a few. Also ate enough to gain some weight in the short time I was there. Unfortunately my brother's car broke when he took me to the airport and he didn't get to it while I was away so I already had work to do today so he could use his car for work tomorrow. I'm still waiting on some parts for the miata that should come Monday, and I might need to mow the lawn today as my brother didn't get to that either.

Going to AZ

I'm leaving tomorrow for AZ and i'll be gone a week. Hopefully it will be a great time with lots of excellent food while visiting my grandmother. Not sure how much i'll get online so i may or may not update this while i'm gone. Of course it would be hard to notice as i've gone longer without updating. I'll still have my cell phone and chances are i'll still go online, but it's dial up. Then when i get back i'll be able to work on the Miata with all new suspension parts and the roof will be replaced that week too. I can hear my bank account balance dropping.

Back to work

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th. I went to Harrisburg's fireworks last night and saw the beach boys concert before hand. It was pretty crowded, but watching all the people get aggrivated over little things was also kind of amusing. The fireworks were good as usual and the seats were very nice.

Now it's time to go back to work. Fortunately I now have a Trogdor shirt! That should make today better. Also, i'm going away next week to AZ so it's not like i'm gonna be working too many days.

Fireworks!

I saw some fireworks tonight in Lancaster. It was interesting as we arrived somewhat late, but we were able to walk close enough to hear the loud booms and see the good fireworks. We also managed to dodge most of the traffic. I even got to use a sparkler and make a little sculpture out of the wire when i was done. Still not sure what i'm doing the actual night of the 4th, but at least I got some fireworks in now!

On some seperate notes, i switched my auto insurance over and saved some money, but got much better coverage (one of the few benefits of being 25). Also, I returned a survey that i may have to do jury duty in september. We'll see how that goes, as last time i did this i never got selected for a case.

Oh and i'd put up another update on the eclipse, but it isn't pleasant so i'll wait for another day, you can always ask me about it though.

Eclipse is Running!!

I had the eclipse running yesterday after i found out they were having a car show there. I didn't really have the time to clean it, but just getting it running made me happy. After I printed out the Dyno sheet from my blog (see January '06 archives) it was still able to earn respect. Unfortunately after I got home and washed the car there was a set back and the car stopped running. Since then it was pushed into the garage (from the driveway) and I fixed the problem. Unfortunately I don't know what caused it to happen so I can't be sure it won't happen again. Additionally it may have caused some damage, but at least it still starts and runs. Definitely a rollercoaster of ups and downs with the Eclipse in the past few days. Hopefully I'll button it up, tune it some and get it inspected again soon.

Eclipse Project update

I have all the main parts i need to put the Eclipse back together. I installed prothane motor mounts and a bunch of new gaskets last night. The main progress is that the head is once again bolted on the car with the manifolds as well. Still looooooots of work before i can start it up, but definitely closer. I plan to work on it quite a bit more this week. Hopefully it will be ready soon.

Updated House picture

Here is a better picture of my new front door. It also shows my new double-hung windows that replaced the old 12 inch pane bow windows that were leaking. Next on the list is the roof it will be a darker color with a little green in it. I also plan to paint the shudders green at some point so this should match nicely. My house won't look at all like it used to, but i think it's looking very nice.

Officer position

I got a call from the guard base this week to say that i was selected for the officer position!! This was about a year in the making so i'm quite excited about it. It will be a while before i will be in the position as i'll need to go to training though. Should be a good opportunity.

On a separate note I have almost all new windows now. They are a huge improvement. Although i think i'm gonna need to get a new roof too, that might be expensive too.

Been a while

Haven't updated this in a while. For anyone wondering about the Officer positions I still haven't heard anything definite, but the Maintenance one is still looking like a good possibility. Also yet again there is another squirrel story. This time i was going to park in the garage and i heard something then i saw a squirrel. It kept running around the garage and even though i had the door wide open it wouldn't leave. Instead it preferred to run into walls and tool boxes. I managed to set up a trap to get him out and now i removed yet another squirrel from my property. I think i like these things less and less each time too.

Tomorrow i'm going to go to the circus. Haven't done that in a long time, hope it's fun still. Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

Guard Weekend

So i have another Officer Board to go to tomorrow at 9:30 am. I worked on getting all my ribbons today so that I can look like i've done more since it is kind of like wearing a resume. I wore 5 to my last interview and now that the paperwork has gone through and after my deployment I am able to wear 12 of them! not sure how many of you know what they all look like, but it went from having just under 2 full rows to having 4 full rows of ribbons. I haven't put it together yet, but i'm sure it will look MUCH better! Ok so i'm kinda excited about the next interview. I also have heard some rumors that I'm likely to get the Maintenance officer position that I boarded for earlier this year, but i'm going to go to the Comm. Officer one tomorrow just incase.

Hope everyone is doing well, i know finals are coming up for people, but classes should be just about over!

Squirrel update

Still no squirrels in my walls! However i found out why there were so many flies in my garage. Apparently there were at least 2 squirrels that were living in my walls somehow and weren't able to get out because i found a second one. Fortunately it didn't smell anymore and I think finding it dead was better than if i had to chase it out again. Owning a house is full of surprises!

New Door

Not sure how many of you saw how ugly my old door was after trying to remove 7 layers of paint and ending up with tie-dye, but this one looks much nicer. It isn't stained yet and it will look like wood when it is done, but it already is a huge improvement. I think the shutters beside the door will be going, and if i ever get around to it the ones by the windows might be painted. I'm pretty sure i'm going to go ahead and order all new windows for the house too, then i'll deal with whatever i can to make the deck stop pouring water along the foundation. Probly doesn't sound like a fun way to spend all this money, but that's how it goes after owning a house.

travel websites

I am working out travel plans to go see my grandmother in AZ this summer. I haven't been out there in a long time. She has been to Connecticut and I visited with her there over a year ago, and only for a short time. It looks like those travel websites don't really save you money though. I went to expedia, orbitz and travelocity, but it was cheaper to just go direct to American Airline's website and order from there. Now this is only about a 5 dollar difference, but still. Mostly i used the other websites for an overall look at the different airline prices. So i guess they are helpful, just not as good as they could be.

weather

Seems i'm not at the computer as much now that the weather is nicer. I think that is a good thing although i apologize to those who like to read my blog for it being neglected. In fact i think i'm gonna go outside and start mowing even.

If you want something to do on your computer though check out Google's new calendar feature. Looks kinda cool and it works with gmail which is also nice.

Yard work

Wow after reading the title you actually started to read the post? Ok well i guess you are a die hard reader and i'll let ya know how it went. It was really nice out today so i decided to be productive. I started to take care of the yard work that my brother neglected to do in the fall while i was away. I took at least 3 trash cans full of branches and 7 or more full of leaves, but it hardly made a dent. I also started raking up some of the stones to even out my driveway. I was glad to get outside and do something other than walk to work, and i think i need to do it more often since i have a lazy cubicle job. I might go take the miata out with the top down if it stays warm for a while. I really need to eat first cuz i worked up an appetite though.

April

The weather for April has been a bit wierd so far. In the same week it has snowed and been convertible weather. Not that i really mind either of those except for the snow not really being enough to be fun.

April also means taxes though ugh. I think i got most of that done, i didn't look at local ones yet, but oh well.

I worked on the car a bit more, it's pretty much dismantled now. I took off the oil pan and oil pump housing so i can replace some gaskets. It was leaky before and i figure while it's apart i might as well get all the problems. It's wierd being able to crawl in the engine bay of my eclipse and knowing that I was actually the one working on it the whole time. Can't wait to get it back together so i can have some fun, but it'll need to be inspected etc first.

Kitchen Cabinets

This post is a little different than most i make, but I suppose as a homeowner it now has more importance to me than it used to. These are my kitchen cabinets and as you can see there is a big difference between how the finished product looks in comparison to the previous ones. The project isn't done, but it is definitely showing progress and is starting to look pretty good i think. Can ya tell which is the before and which is the after? I can't take much of the credit for this though becuse it wouldn't have been done without the help of my friends.

Wow this sucks

Yup, it locked up again already! i freaking hate it. Well I made a computer out of all the parts i replaced (essentially its the old computer) and this one doesn't seem to be locking up yet. It makes no sense! no idea what i am gonna do with the one that locks up maybe just throw it out a window or take it to a field and pull an Office Space on it. It cost a bit of money though so i might have to charge for hits with a sledgehammer or something and it can be a computer reimbursement fund.

Computer is back!

I got a replacement motherboard from chaintech back today after they instructed me on how to destroy it rather than troubleshoot it. So it is back up and running. I also got a new power supply in the process. I have a new HD, but i haven't hooked that up yet because i want to be sure the computer will work before spending the time re-loading things again. We'll see how it goes. If you don't see any annoyed posts within the next few days chances are it finally works again!!

We'll see....

One more gone

I finally got rid of the smart squirrel. It took like 5 times of rebaiting the trap too. Finally my bro and i decided if we locked one of the doors down and put the food over there the thing would have to go over teh trigger at least 2 times to get out. Well finally it was caught this afternoon! Not sure how many more will keep coming in, but i got rid of one more hehe.

Interview

I had guard this weekend and I had an interview for a maintenance officer position that I started my application about a year ago. Fortunately we did a practice interview yesterday and i had the real interview today. I think that i worked out a few of the problems i had and that i did fairly well. I won't know if i will get the position for a while now, but at least the anxiety of the interview is over with. There is another postion i am applying for as a Communications Officer. We'll see how that one goes too. I think the practice i'm getting can't hurt and i should be able to get an officer position at some point. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Thank you all for your support!

Oh and there's another squirrel in the garage, that seems to be really good at getting food without setting off the trap....grrr.

Computer

Well it looks like i'm finding out either what was wrong with my computer or at least one other thing to look at. I emailed the motherboard manufacturer and while I was following their instructions it stopped working completely. I am using a different computer now, but i think i'll send the motherboard in as it is still under warranty. Hopefully that will fix the problems!!!

Oh and the squirrel still hasn't been back in the house!! I caught another from the garage though. Eventually my squirrel stories should come to an end, but i can see how they would be entertaining if I wasn't the one dealing with the darn things.

a few things

I think the squirrel is finally gone as I still haven't heard it since the last time I scared it out and locked it out. I also finally got the head for the eclipse taken to get checked out. Should have it back in about a week, but i'm not sure if i'll have the rest of the car ready by then.

Also I decided to give up my excessive speeding for lent as it was the only thing i could think of that would actually be a real challenge. Well driving down to Maryland to get the head dropped off (as well as pick up some used rims and tires) was tough to stay slow. The truck speedometer registers higher than it is actually going though so that helped it feel a little faster. I'm trying to stay within 5mph of the speed limit, but i'm not going to make that a hard and fast rule as sometimes going slow is more dangerous. For example when i was on 695 i was doing around 5 over or so and was being passed on both sides on a 4 lane road so that is being an obstacle. A few times i sped up without thinking, but then came back down after i realized. It definitely is keeping me focused on why I am doing it too which is good. Much better to be thinking about what God wants than to be cursing people for going to slowly.

Hmm guess...

Yup thats right, the squirrel came back again and i locked it out again and it got around it and came back. I keep upping the difficulty and it keeps coming back, I think i'll be able to outsmart it though so we'll see if it gets back this time. I guess it would be pretty funny for the readers if i ended up locking it in the wall when i closed off its entrance. Don't worry, i'll let ya know.

On another note, a musical one actually. I picked up the guitar again tonight after a long break. Haven't touched it since around the time of the poem i wrote actually. I'm trying to keep from the songs i was playing, but so far i've been ok.

Squirrels AGAIN!! Oh and the garage

So i heard another squirrel in the garage and i managed to trap it and take it far away. Hopefully no more will get in there, but it is easy to put a trap up there to only get the ones that are already in there so that's ok. Unfortunately last night i was trying to sleep and i heard the squirrel in my wall again!! I opened up the wall and looked in and saw the thing, but it didn't leave. I tried to make more noise and get it to leave and it might have moved, but i need to get it out and redo the chimney cover again i guess.

As for the garage i think i finally got the ranger working!! The clutch system doesn't have air in it after the tricky bleeding procedure. The thermostat has been replaced so it will actually get up to temperature. Last but not least, I got 4WD to work!!! I bought WARN manual hubs and swapped them in so i should never have that same probelm again. Now if i can just find a good place to take it for some off roading!

bye bye squirrel

This morning i checked the trap i set in the garage and found a squirrel in it! I took it miles away and set it free. Through reading i have learned that this may not be as humane as it seems though since squirrels are territorial. However it did need to be removed from my property as it could cause a fire potentially since it already ate through a few of the wires out there. As for the one that was in my wall i think i might have gotten rid of that one too, but only time will tell if it was effective. I ended up pulling the trim off the wall with a crowbar and that scared the squirrel a bit. Eventually i ended up prying part of the wall away until i could see into it's home and it had left. It turns out this was some sort of fireplace at one time so i then went and bought some "hardware cloth" to set up a squirrel guard for the chimney. Hopefully i sealed it off well enough and nothing else remains. If so then i'll try to figure out what i want to do with the area that it was living in. I'll at least double check the wiring as an outlet is close by. If anyone else has this problem i'd recommend checking the internet for yourself, but it looks like traps and exclusions are the only way to deal with them properly. Deterrents don't' seem to be recommended by anyone but the sellers.

Using the garage

I worked on the Eclipse today. Had a friend help me take the head off. That's digging further than either of us have actually done before so it was interesting. Not to mention the peculiarities of my particular car as well. All things considered i think it went fairly well though. Now i have more work to do including finding a machine shop to deck the head for me. I'll also be taking the opportunity to do some other maintenance and perhaps even cleaning in the engine bay. In addition to having a friend help, this day was also made possible by borrowing a kerosene heater from my old neighbors.

I also found out that the squirrel in the garage has more than one way in so i'll have to work harder to get rid of him. For starters a live trap has been set, i'll have to think what to do with it though after i catch it. Still got something in the wall in the house too. That one really bugs me some mornings.

I feel like today was quite productive i got to use some different tools and buy new ones even. My back will probably remind me of the work i did by tomorrow though.

Squirrel?

I'm really sick of squirrels! I found one above my cars in the garage and I think i sufficiently kicked him out the other day. I woke up today to some scratching in the wall of my bedroom though. It was just a few minutes before my alarm so that wasn't horrible, but i definitely want to get rid of it. That isn't really an easy task though when something is in the wall! If i ever figure out how to deal with this i'll try to remember to share though incase anyone else is unfortunate enough to suffer from the same problem. The one in the garage ate a lot of wires so the radio doesn't play through the garage anymore and the garage door openers aren't working either.

Ok just had to share some of the frustrations. Tomorrow I am gonna try to tear the head off the eclipse and see how everything looks (needs a headgasket).

Rambling and Snow

Not sure how many people continue to read this, but I suppose I will keep updating it anyway. I noticed that now that i don't have cable anymore i seem to want to watch tv more often. Go figure. Although i think it has something to do with wanting distractions lately too.

There was a bit of snow last night and it made the ride to guard this morning a little rough, but i suppose that's what i get for driving a miata. I did find the problem with the Ford though. It had auto hubs which always work....until you need them to! It's ok though because my Eclipse actually works well at pulling my miata through the snow anyway. Yes i actually pulled a sports car out of the snow with another sports car while the 4x4 truck sat on jackstands.

Leap of Faith

The past week has been quite tough for me, but I feel that I have grown in my faith considerably. Bringing up religious topics has always been difficult for me, but it has been unavoidable and comforting lately. I now have a story that there is no possible way to explain without sharing my faith and the new found depths and trials of it. My friendships have been strengthened by these conversations as well. At church I am even choked up through the songs most of the time. Although I am grateful for these things and the push that God has given me, this has still been one of the most difficult times I can remember. Fortunately I know God is close and I am no longer afraid to mention that.

Growing Apart

Though I have seen magnificent beauty in you,
You are but a budding rose on the vine of life.
If I were to snatch you for my own
I could never provide for you all that you need
and you would surely wither and die
before reaching your full majestic beauty

We were once growing close on the vine,
but now we must grow apart.
Know that I will always gaze admiringly
at you from my place on this vine of life.

I will rejoice whenever God's winds blow us close,
and will always hope that He will one day grow us back together.

FIOS

I just signed up for Verizon's Fiber optic broadband service today. I should have it installed on Feb 6th. They were lame with the timing though 8am-5pm Oh well i cancelled my cable so that as soon as this period is up i'll have no cable for tv since i dont watch it, but i'll also have an extra 50 bucks a month or so. I might get satellite or wait for FIOS TV. We'll see, if i don't like it i have 30 days to cancel.

Insulation

I worked with my brother and put in lots more insulation in the house today. That should be really nice if it gets colder again. It seems that the rolls are easier to work with than the rectangle pieces if anyone cares. Oh and it's R30 which is heavy duty stuff. I figured the 50 yr old house was a bit lacking in this area along with some others, but they will be different days.

Air compressor

There was an air compressor for sale at home depot that looked to be a good deal and hopefully about the right size for what i need. It isn't the biggest, but hopefully i'll be able to use it for working on the cars. I don't mind having excuses to buy tools like that anyway. Now i'll just need more free time to do some catch up maintenance on the cars from while i was away.

Didn't work

Well the computer still locked up. I can't really think of other things that could be causing it since i replaced so many things and there is now warning or error message recorded. This time it was while i was using internet explorer, but that isn't the only time it happens. Oh well, maybe i'll just try to find other things to do. I still wish this worked though!

computer lockups

I have bought so many new things for this computer that it isnt really the same computer anymore. However it has still been locking up and rebooting etc. I just changed out the one hard drive that was pretty much the last piece of the original computer so hopefully it will work now. This has been extremely aggrivating for me since computers are my thing and it was bothering me for so long. It hasn't been long enough to prove it fixed the problem, but it hasn't locked up yet!!

Dyno chart

This shows how much power my car has if anyone is interested. Feel free to ask questions if you like