Memorial Day weekend round-up

1. I've decided to sell my car, shooting for September. I can't stand it anymore. I never wanted to have to take into account ambient temperature, relative humidity, and elevation just to get her to drive properly. Nor do I want to work on any car every weekend, have her plugged into a laptop nearly all the time, and constantly researching the smallest little hiccup. I love this car and I'll be sad to let her go. I have a laundry list to items to work through to get her in tip-top shape for her sale...to make sure I get as much as I can for her. This is the list:
- New mats
- New driver's side door handle
- Fix Momo shift knob to fit properly (Done this past weekend)
- Dismantle Xenon's and align headlight beam (Done 2 weekend's ago)
- Replace license plate bulb (Done last week)
- Spruced up intake piping (Done 3 weeks ago)
- Sand, putty, paint, clear-coat, polish rear curb-rashed wheels (Finished driver's side last weekend)
- Replace side markers with Stealth clear bulbs
- AWE vent gauge (on back-order)
- GIAC boost-controller ECU update and computer software
- Replace fuel pump, mine groans
- Replace Diff fluid
- Detail her
- Take some pics and post it on Audiworld

2. GOG at local convention. See theDiscourser.blogspot.com for details. Loads of fun. The wife allowed me to stay overnight!! Hours upon hours of gaming and I had energy to go another whole day and night. Re-visited Star-Hero...WOOWOO! I paid out 159 Brownie points, YES ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY NINE BROWNIE, for one thing: for my character, an Intel Officer, to work outside the chain of command, beholding to NO-ONE but the mission and the Confederation Commander. I still don't know what trouble this might get me but it sounds like fun.

3. Returned Tuesday to the daily grind. It is safe to say that all my clients are insane; literally and not figuratively. Some if not most are functionally disabled given their psychiatric symptoms. ALL, however, have concomitant personality issues that make it very difficult if not impossible to create and maintain meaningful emotional relationships or maintain employment. Most are segregated, given their fixed income, to our most violent neighborhoods, ostracized given their bizarre behavior, disowned by their families, and isolated emotionally. They have no jobs, no family, no friends, no income, poor health, very little in the way of community, and many turn to drugs to self-medicate, and some forced into the sex industry. Many have poor decision-making skills and impulse control which invariably leads them into the forensic arena. Most have difficulty managing their psychotropic med-regimen and at times decompensate into episodes of suicidality or homicidality.

And here's the kicker: they were at one time children. It all makes sense when you read and hear their stories of abuse and/or neglect. Children in foster care or of unavailable parents, or of parents overwhelmed with their own mental illness or substance abuse. Their histories read like a primer; "How to raise a child to become and insane adult". I, like many clinicians who work in Public Health, ask ourselves everyday, "What in gods name were the parents thinking?!?" And it never ends. I speak to my wife and to theDiscourser...both can name kids that will grow up to become adults that my office will eventually have to deal with. And the disheartening aspect is that at times they already feel that it's too late for some of them. One of my wife's most important task and most basic goal is to, at the least, prevent children from having children...all the research not to mention common sense dictates that you give that unborn child a better shot at life if the parent can hold out just a couple of years.

Anywayz, I'm off to do a presentation. Gotta go.

5/18 Weekend update:

1. Attended theGM's mother's memorial service Friday. Wow, incredible woman. Working geriatrics for seven years gave me a perspective on our aged that only continues to strengthen over the years. Bottom line is our elderly are the most interesting people in the world...the young are boring by comparison. She was a hell of a woman and lived a good life, and a fascinating one to boot. There must have been over a hundred of her peers in attendance...a testament to say the least. Saw the GM's younger brother for the first time in years. Makes me wonder how fun it would be if he were still in the States rather then visiting from the Middle East. The rest of our motley gang were there as well...the group looked like a cross between the mafia and the secret service.

2. Had lunch afterwards with a few of the guys...Paella and Jubalaya are close to my most favorite foods ever.

3. Played a bit of Tekken Tag. My choices are Ogre and True-Ogre. I simply cannot be beaten!! Playing against pro's like theProfessor and Rave-Boy provided little competition...such is my utter domination.

4. Ran with the wife...boy was it hot this past couple of days. We're settling into a 3/2 for 30 minutes; 3 run/2 walk, about 2 miles. We were surprised that we could have gone a bit further but decided to follow the Galloway method and not expose ourselves to possible injury. My goal is to do 5/1 comfortably for 40 minutes, about 4 miles. Maybe by next year do 10/1 for an hour...that should be good for 7 miles.

5. Yard Work Saturday...man was it hot. Tweaked the in-line drip system, fertilized everything, laid down some anti-varmint product over the new mulch. Varmints have been using the pristine mulch as a toilet. If they want to wage war, then they will have it! I will not yield! Will not succumb! Will not stand for their little poop!

6. Gamed Saturday night at theDiscourser's...had a great turn-out. If Cajun is reading this, DUDE, when can you visit? Played some L5R. With the GM and I playing Yojimbo, we have a pretty good strategy going. Keeping our flanks protected while the heavy hitters do their work. Ate alot of the Moose's London Broil...mmmm.

7. Sunday, car work and refurbished the grill. Two of my wheels have alot of curb rash. Fixing them is a day long process of sanding with 400, then 1000-wet, then putty, then sanding again with 400, then 1000-wet, then prime, then sand with 1000-wet, then 3 coats of Wurth German Silver. That's as far as I got. I'll be 1000-wet sanding the paint tonight and spraying on some lacquer.

The Grill looked terrible. Rust has eaten away at nearly every flat surface of the rolling stand. I scraped it down with a wire brush, devastated it with a random orbiter with 80 grit, cleaned it with mineral spirits, hit it with a thick coat of primer, put two coats of high-gloss duplicolor-black thePerfectLine had lying around, and finished it off with 2 coats of hi-temp engine enamel. Looks SOO much better, and the finish should protect if from the elements. Also picked up a new bottle of propane...will be busting out some burgers tonight with the wife.

Thats it for now....

Quick 5/12 Weekend update:

1. Took my Mother out for dinner Friday. Good eats. Typical for my Mother; she barely ate her dinner and insisted I take the left-overs with me...and when I say insist, I mean INSIST. She wouldn't have it any other way. I relented to avoid an argument. Made her feel good that I did that.

2. A buddy of mine, Dorfless, has become quite a running machine. Never thought he had it in him. He's been supporting my running and encouraged me to keep trying despite my body's utter revulsion to it. He let me borrow Gallaway's Book on Running; pretty much the bible for runners. It examines and breaks down training regimens for beginners to world class runners. In a nutshell, I've been training completely wrong. I've been exposing myself to injury, and that revulsion I'm feeling is expected when training in the manner I've been for the past 2 years off and on. What it boils down to is: I give up and can't go further because I don't stop. Strange concept, huh. Even the world's greatest runners take walk or jog breaks. I haven't been. Gallaway recommends that I run at a comfortable pace, never overtaxing my aerobic capacity, until I feel a bit winded. At THAT point, I should STOP running, and walk until I get my wind back. I then keep a log detailing how long I run and walk in minutes. Even marathon runners will do what's called a 9-1 (nine minute run, one minute walk or jog). You do this for 30 minutes max, NO MORE.

Saturday, my wife and I gave it a try. Here's our log: 5/walk-stretch-6/run-4/walk-4/run-2/walk-3/run-4/walk-2/run-20/walk home. And the next day, I wasn't sore or stiff or in any pain...wow. I have a goal of 5-1 for 40 minutes by the end of summer.

3. Gamed Saturday night. Fun as hell, had most of the GoG in attendance, save thePerfectline (broken foot), theDuff (Oregon), Cajun (in the Midwest), Kawanga Kid (over seas), Mook (work), and theDiscourser (busy), and theCraftsman (caring for wife). Played Altandara with the Acupunturist as the GM. Started a new game game and looking forward to our next session. My character is theWarden, yes our friend theWarden, the man. Weird playing a character that happens to be both real and your friend.

4. Installed 60 ft. of drip line in our side yard. Connected it to the sprinkler main line. Had 19 separate 1/4 inch secondary drip lines and installed 20 1GP flood bubblers and 10 2GP mini-adjustable sprinkler heads. And the entire system is practically invisible. I buried the lines 3 inches down and all you see are the spray heads, if that!...particularly when I had them poke up from under the plant/flower leaves/petals. Took me pretty much all day and blew out my back in the process.

Thats it for now.

Re. Car Work: IT IS DONE!

at least as the motor is concerned. The last and final piece to the puzzle was a massive boost pressure leak located at the driver's side up-pipe. Here's the damage:



Apparently, the uprated silicone throttle body boot is a bit too big and doesn't allow enough clearance for the cooling fan. Over time the blades ground a hole right into it. I've pulled the boot and shaved 5 mm on intake and 5 mm on exit. That did it. As for obtaining a new up-pipe, one could buy one new for $185 but I tapped into the Audiworld brotherhood, posted a thread about my situation and several people stepped up to offer me some spares...awesome fellows. One enthusiast contacted me and said he'll go ahead and mail me a new one for free! WOOHOO! Here's a comparo.



Big difference indeed. With this done, the motor is quite possibly running better than it did when it rolled off the assembly line! Absolutely perfect...after 13 weekends and hundreds of hours under the hood, on-line research, parts purchases, I'm completely relieved.

Also tackling sprucing up the Y-Pipe. It's new but has become grimy with all the car work. I'm giving it a complete makeover and have all the tools on hand so it'll be another cost-free upgrade. Here's the process:
1. Remove and clean



2. Sand with 320 then 400 and a final 1000 wet-sand.
3. Wipe with mineral spirits and air dry.
4. Spray a coat of Duplicolor Automotive sandable primer. With the amount of heat in the engine bay the paint will need it or it'll turn a golden hue over time.



5. Spray 4 coats of Duplicolor Ultra Silver T191 allowing the requisite 15 minutes of cure in between.



6. Spray 4 coats of Duplicolor Engine Enamel DE1636 again allowing for the requisite 15 minutes of cure.
7. A light wet sand with 2000 grit and BAM, it's done.




Also have a couple of NON engine projects on the near horizon. I'll keep you posted cause I know you'll be soo interested.

Later