Cool Protest Video

To a certain extent I'm not a huge fan of protests & I'm not even sure I've ever taken place in one, but I have been tempted.

You see, the thing is I've been around far too many protests, starting back when I first went to college. If you've ever seen PCU, that movie hit kind of close to home for me. I've seen too many stupid protesters, psuedo-intellectuals, and just plain old (putting on my Red Forman pants here) dumbasses.

Frustrating

Ever since I had to utilize the Ride of Shame a couple weeks ago with Maggie, it's been a "fun" experience.

By "fun" I mean that a lot of swearing and some bloodshed is involved.

I finally got the money for parts and headed over to NAPA to get what I needed.  You cannot just ask for a part.  instead you have to let them know the make, model, and year of your vehicle so they can get you the right part.....

.....or so they would have you believe.

Maggie is a Little Under the Weather...so to Speak.

Yesterday I had to take the ride of shame home.  If any of you have an older car that requires periodic maintenance of an "interesting" sort, you know what I mean.....

.....I had to have Maggie towed home.  Nothing is more embarrassing than having to have the tow truck take you and your ride home.

Yesterday I had a speech to give and a Speech Contest to run, so I was a bit occupied.  Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, my car problems weren't a matter of me overlooking some basic maintenance because I was "busy".  Nope....this time it was just having a 34 year old car.  I think some of the rubber seals and/or caps of the clutch's master cylinder just gave out.  As I drove to the meeting last night I noticed that the clutch had way too much play and as I drove it got worse.  About a block before my destination I had next to no clutch at all and there was some hydraulic fluid dripping onto my shoe.

That is never a good sign.

Luckily it is a relatively easy fix.  I just have to get a new master cylinder and while I'm at it I might as well replace the slave cylinder.  I'll probably need some help bleeding the system, but even that is a relatively easy task.

I just cannot go anywhere right now.....bummer.  At least I do have the city bus which runs right by the house.  If I don't borrow my wife's car I might just take the bus downtown to the auto parts store.  Today I don't need to go anywhere and I can catch up on some school work.  

Vocal Car Repairs

Those who used to know me years ago might be able to attest that I used to swear a lot.  Industrial-strength Blue (#3727) streak, should have been a sailor kind of "a lot".

I'm certain I still swear way too much around the house, but I've largely cleaned my act up.  You cannot swear at work and I doubt I swear in my sleep, so most of my day is spoken for (pardon the pun).  Believe it or not, I picked up swearing in 6th grade of all places.  I didn't go to a good middle school back in Boston and the kinds of things we said to our teachers.....let's just say I'd kick my own ass if I could come across my 6th grade me some day.

My First Date

Today I was reminded about my very first date.  I think it was the overcast weather or a sighting of very old Ford Escort.  This is the story of that day.  TLDR version: stuff happened, I rolled with it, and I was lucky (but not that kind of lucky!)

The year is 1987 and I'm about to go on my very first date.  I'm 16 and I've had girlfriends before and been able to "go out" before, but those were family/group outings.  My parents steadfastly refused to let me "officially" date until I turned 16, which should be fine because I didn't get my driver's license until my 16th birthday anyway.

Getting my license is a story unto itself.  I wasn't going to be allowed to get my learner's permit and my license like normal kids.  The reasons as to why will always be shrouded in mystery.  Maybe my dad was just being a dick, maybe they were concerned for my safety.  If I had to venture a guess it would be because they didn't want to pay for higher insurance premiums having a teenage driver in the house.  I managed to get my learner's permit and my driver's license essentially because I got into trouble.  Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn't it?  My father was the mayor of our small town of 200ish and he received/passed-on complaints regarding those troublesome kids riding mopeds all around town.  My best friend had a moped and once he asked to try my bike so we switched rides.  I rode that moped for all of one block.  There was no showboating or stupidity, I just followed my friend down the street as he tried out my bike.  In small town America you can't get away with anything.  Someone complained to my father and he went through the roof.  Even though we weren't allowed to ride mopeds we had to get moped licenses just in case so we wouldn't be hooligans and breaking the law.  My father drove us to the next county over to get our licenses, but the kicker was that we had to have our learner's permits to get the license.

So now it is the fall semester of my Junior year of high school and I have a date with Paula.  I don't remember her last name anymore, but I'll never forget that night.  My folks decided I could borrow the old Ford Wagon Friday night, so Paula and I were going to do what everyone does on a Fall Friday night in small-town America: go to the high school football game.  We all go to school in Bloomfield, population 6,000, which is the seat of Davis County, population 9,000.  I lived in Pulaski, which was the second largest community (of nine) in Davis County.  It is a rural county and sure enough, Paula lives out in the middle of nowhere.  To save time, I decide to skip the long route which takes me almost to the opposite side of the county and then halfway back again.  Instead, I make a bee-line on old county roads, some of which are still dirt roads.  It starts raining and in the course of driving along one of these muddy tracks I blow a tire.

This is the first time I've ever been granted the use of the car for more than a quick trip into town and here I blow a tire?  While I've never changed a tire in my life, I know how to do it...or at least I thought I did.  Like far too many cars nowadays, the Ford Escort doesn't carry a full-sized spare, nor does it carry a decent jack or tire iron.  Trying to jack up the car on a muddy road, in the rain, using a wimpy scissors jack is not particularly fun...or safe.  The tire iron is rusty and sharp on one end.  Of course I know this because in the course of using it I cut my hand badly.  Not bad enough for stitches, but bad enough that it took a while to get the bleeding stopped.

I manage to get the spare on and get myself to Paula's house.  I'm somewhere between an hour and and ninety minutes late, wet, muddy and a bit bloody.  She's a bit upset about my tardiness, but she takes one look at my condition and cuts me some slack.  A quick trip to the bathroom and I'm decently respectable.....just wet.  We end up blowing off the game since we are late and who wants to sit and watch the game in the rain anyway.  I take her out for pizza and we have a good time despite the my initial problems.

Afterwards my parents are pissed that I "ruined" the car.  When my dad goes to get the tire repaired he discovers that the entire inside sidewall of the tire is blown out.  The tire is literally ripped in a giant circle on the inside surface.  There is no way that this was my fault and if it had happened at highway speeds....in the rain, with a new driver, the results could have been disastrous.  I'm cut a little slack.

To this day however whenever I get a "new" car I buy two things: a decent jack and a good tire iron.  If they don't fit in the car then they get a special box in the trunk.

Maggie

Ever since I first got my driver's license, I've wanted a Toyota FJ40.  I'm not sure why I wanted one, aside from the fact they are pretty cool rides.  I didn't have an Uncle who drove one, nobody from school had one....heck, the only one I remember from my youth belonged to a guy at Boy Scout Camp.

When I was much younger my father had a little International Scout.  That was fun, but it doesn't compare to my Maggie.

There was a pretty FJ40 for sale I was interested in and I went to check it out.  The body was sound, but the vehicle was jacked up a bit, which I wasn't really thrilled about.  I would probably been driving my postal jeep around if it hadn't been jacked up.  I went and got pre-approved for a car loan from USAA while I had the vehicle inspected by my Father-in-law's mechanic.  The inspection cost me something like $40 and it was well worth it.  Evidently the owner of that FJ40 really did a number on it with all of his tinkering around.  The mechanic had a laundry-list of issues, with the foremost being that the body wasn't properly bolted onto the frame.  When they got it on the lift, the front end about fell off.  It was his recommendation that it be towed home as it wasn't safe to drive.  There were a lot of other issues too, enough that basically if the car was free then it might have been worth putting the money into it.

So close.....but thankfully so far away.

For some reason I started hitting Craigslist looking for FJ40's.  I shouldn't have been doing that, but I was remorseful for "the one that got away".  There I found one for sale pretty close to the amount I was already pre-approved for.  It wouldn't hurt to take a peek.  This FJ40 had the roof and door stripped, but it was all complete.  He still had the owner's manual, tool set, and even the little inspection light!  Unfortunately he had started working on the car and had cut out some of the metal parts and gave it an awful orange paint job.  Even with all it's flaws, this FJ40 was in better condition than ones going for thousands more.

I jumped on this sale as fast as I could....and now I have Maggie.  I believe all good cars should have a name.  If you've read "My Story in Vehicles" you may have noticed that none of those cars have names attached.  Carolyn likes Maggie.  She refers to her as our ZEV, or Zombie Escape Vehicle.

My Story In Vehicles

My first car was a gift from my dad. He graduated in 1966 and shortly before his 21st High School reunion (they forgot to have the 20th) he found some guy selling a 1966 Pontiac Tempest for $300. My dad bought it for one night and gave it to me, but not before rubbing off most of the hood's paint by trying to hand wax it. That car died when I accidentally crossed over a road set about 3 feet lower than the road I was on. I broke two motor mounts and bent the other two, slamming the engine into the radiator. Would cost more to fix than it was worth.
My next POS was a 1980ish Dodge Omni in less-than-heterosexual Green. It was the only car I could afford without getting my parents to co-sign on a loan. I was relatively rebelious at the time, so when they tried to ground me from it I laughed and asked how they intended to keep me from it since I was paying for all of it myself.....those were the days. This car died on the day I went to college. It ended up being the first model year they tried to put in a "computer". I was able to nurse it along with way too much money in parts until I just gave up. It rested ion the family's junkyard for a couple of years until my Grandmother sold it. She tried to give me my cut, but I literally wrote it off.
My next car was government issued since I had enlisted. A good, old fashion HMMWV with a GRC206 mounted inside.
I did buy a buddy's lowered 1974 VW Beetle. He didn't know what was wrong with it and the repairs would cost anywhere from $20 to $1500 (based on some basic troubleshooting). $700 later and I had a working bug, but the drop job was somewhat crappy so I offloaded it and moved up.
A co-worker bought two mid-80's Chevy Malibus from his future father-in-law. He kept the 350 and let me have the 305 for $800. It was a boat, but a smooth ride that would just fly if you opened up the 4 barrels. I had this car for 8 months or so until I PCSed to Germany. I took it on one sweet ride cross-country (getting paid for the travel) and sold it to my mother for $800 so she could give it to my little brother.
In Germany I had a HMMWV and a M113. I needed the track since I was now assigned to an armor unit.
I did eventually get what we affectionately called a "hooptie". Just a cheap car you could toss when done. My Audi lasted for about a year before I put her in the junkyard. When she died the car had the nasty habit of jerking hard to the right when driving below 100 KPH.
I needed a new ride and I wanted one with a little bit of style. I found myself a Mini Red Hot Special Edition. This is the first car I truely loved. Unfortunately I was an idiot and decided that after Bosnia and making SSGt I had the money for a "real car". I sold it just before I came back to the US for about $300. I actually sold it for $3000, but got totally stiffed on the deal. Since I sold it on the economy and was in the US, not much I could do...except have the idiot beat up by my comrades still in Schweinfurt.

My "real car" was a 1997 Chevy Cavalier Z24. That car was nice and fast on the autobahn. Unfortuneatly the limiting chip would cut in at 107 MPH. I had this car for several years and only lost it when I took it in for maintenance and an unscrupulous Goodyear mechanic didn't do what I paid $1K for. After a major engine tuneup I complained immediately that the engine sounded funny and before I could take it back it through a rod. They tried to tell me that the manager test-drove it 10 miles before I picked it up, but after a review of the paperwork (a month later) I noticed that they had the same inbound and outbound mileage. I totally should have taken them to court. In the end I donated the car to the friend of my neighbor who had a good engine and needed a cavalier body.

When I was stationed in Texas I fell in love with the Toyota FJ40. Problem was that they were hard to find and gawd-aweful expensive, so I set my sights on a Postal Jeep (DJ5). I bought one "clipped" DJ5 from Houston and another sight-unseen in Fort Sill, OK. A buddy helped me pick them up. Unfortunately for me they were different models (the Ft Sill one was supossed to be the same model). I dismantled what I could and had the good body stripped and the bad one tossed. Most of the assembly got done, but then I got out of the service. The jeep made the trip up with me and has been languishing in the garage ever since. Someday.....

I found an August 1966 VW Beetle for sale and picked it up for $1500. It's the first month they made the Beetle in 12V. I've worked on it some, but I don't have the time anymore, so it'll be sold soon.
I think there is some karma going on with me giving the Z24 away because I won a scooter in an Octoberfest raffle. I drove it for a year and it needs to be cleaned up and sold because fo my current ride.

My boss got a Honda Accord for a friend and ended up getting the car back, so we now have an office car which I get to drive.

On Vaction!

Carolyn and I are on vacation until after Origins. I have some pics from my new digital camera (birthday present from the Mrs.) that I'll have to share.

It's been interesting taking my wife to some of my old stomping grounds and seeing just how much things have changed in the last 10-15 years. Ames, IA is much bigger than it was and what I remember as back roads and farmland is paved and inhabited.

It's been hot and humid so far. I was used to hot and dry in Boise (10% humidity when we left) and here it's been around 80% humidity......needless to say I prefer staying inside a bit.

We did manage to find an awesome comic book store in Ames......probably the best store I've ever been in. Nice large selection of comics and games and probably the best HackMaster selection I've ever seen. I had to buy some product I'd probably never get to use.....just had to.

We also toured one fo the Boy Scout Camps I worked at in my youth. The place has changed tons (for the better) and the Ranger I knew still works there......been there 19 years now.

Heading down to Southern Iowa to visit my family there, then off to Columbus!

Brief Update

I know it’s been a while since I did a real post. I’d like to blame that on work, or ‘cause I’ve been so busy. I have been, but I probably have time-management issues or something a bit more lame.

One thing I did do a while back is split my blog up. I now have three blogs: the one you’re reading, the one for my HackMaster game, and one for my D&D game. Both games are currently in the toilet and circling the bowl.

My D&D GM decided to drop off the face of the earth. He just sent out an email saying he had something going on and that he was thinking of getting rid of his cell phone. He pretty much said he was cutting off ties with the outside world. I think he’s joining a cult. Pretty much nobody has heard from him in a month or so. I really think he has some family issues, so I’m giving him some space even though my gut says to drive right over to his house and see what’s going on first-hand.

We had another player step up as GM for about two sessions before deciding that she needed to go to college classes on Friday night. Sheesh, who would rather get and education than hang out in some guy’s basement playing D&D?! At least she has a real excuse…..my wife might become our next GM, but I’m thinking of picking up the reigns. I just want to make sure I don’t get rulesets confused.

Now HackMaster, my preferred game…..well we did manage to play/GM at a couple of tournaments at Ghengis Con in Denver last month. Our home game has all but dried up. A couple of players we shared with the D&D group and they were sporadic. One of our most consistent players had school issues also and another has family issues. We’ve put out feelers fro new players and have a nibble or two. I am also getting ready to join an online group and GM the same group on a rotating basis. We will essentially be two groups of the same people, just Joe (Tolman) will GM one set of PCs and I will GM another.

Work has been busier than I’d like. I’m putting in 50+ hours a week now since we are down an office assistant. It is important that we have someone here to take intervention calls from 7 am to 6 pm. My normal shift is 9-6. Lately I’ve been taking some calls from the boss and a few interventionists on the weekends. Nothing much, but a few calls and such. I did get a nice little trip to Colorado and California with my wife last month. There were a couple of treatment centers I needed to visit and I was able to work in the Ghengis Con convention before going to a conference in Santa Monica.

Other stuff going on….I have my bug drivable again (actually running really well) and I picked up that scooter I won last fall. I still need to get a helmet and register the thing, but this summer I’ll be zipping about town rather cheaply. Sure I’ll look like a dork, but with the gas money I’ll be saving, I gives a damn!

Car Issues....

I'm the "proud" owner of a 1966 VW Beetle. Actually I like my car and am glad to finally own something I can actually fix by myself. Of course there is always something that needs to be fixed.

Currently my car in up on blocks in the garage. About a week and a half ago my car wasn't feeling right. I was having problems shifting and I knew something was up. As big of a pessimist I am in real life, I can sure be an optimist when it comes to my car. I figured I had until my free weekend, but I was proven wrong when the car make a loud sound, lurched forward and died. My clutch pedal had dropped to the floor and wasn't going anywhere.

I had dinner in the car and company coming over soon. I called my guests and told them to come help me push the car into a vacant lot. A couple of stangers helped me just before my friends showed up. The came and went before I could even thank them properly. After our game night, they (my friends) took me back to the car and I was able to start it with it already in first gear. That is hard on the battery...anyway we limped it home and I looked into it the next morning. It seemed like maybe the clutch cable snapped. Normally a relatively quick procedure costing about $10 in parts, of course my model car is a little bit more involved. Instead of just having to undo an eye hook and bolt, I have to remove the whole pedal cluster. Oh well....

Problem is that the cable didn't snap. Ok....well it could be a couple of things, all of which involve removing the engine. It's not a hard procedure, but getting the car jacked up enough in a home garage is a bit of a challenge. Right now I have it almost two feet up...still have at least another foot to go. Unfortunately I've been procrastinating as is my way.....

I was worried that the parts would be too much, but an entire new clutch set me back less than $90.

Carolyn's New Saturn Ion

Carolyn's new car

Here is a brief snapshot of my wife's new car. She's been bothering me for well over a year to get her a new car, which I find rather amusing since she's always been able to afford a new car. We had finally decided we'd try to get a car in February '05 and just get by with her Hoopti until then. Unfortunately the POS car, a 1990 Dodge Shadow, didn't want to keep with the game plan. In November one of the freeze plugs went and that set back the down-payment account a good $450. Ever since then we've had a slow anti-freeze leak and its has also been leaking about a quart of oil every two-three weeks. The oil wasn't a suprise since the rat bastards at Dodge engineered a crappy car. The vavle cover on top of the engine is a wierd shape and if you ever work on a real car, you have to replace the gasket suurounding the cover. Seems like normal stuff. With the Shadow, however, they expect you to buy a whole new cover AND some gaskets. Instead of making a gasket that surround the whole thing, or even a couple of gaskets to do the job, they expect you to shell out over $200 for a new cover. The authorized "fix" that the dealerships do is to simply use the old cover and wall up a bunch of liquid gasket to plug up the missing gasket part. Problem is that they know damn well that the "fix" might last 3 to 6 months.

I started going off there again, as I am want to do when discusiing car issues. Don't even get me started on my Cavalier. The issues with that are bordering (if not clearly) fraud and I'm going to have to sue (which is against my upbringing) to get that resolved.

Anyway the Shadow belw a head gasket. We could probably fix it over the weekend, but I'm willing to bet that the head would have to be milled and custom gaskets used. Too much of a headache for a car we were to get rid of in a month anyway.

With the drive to get a new car (pardon the pun) firmly established, we set off to find our new ride. Actually Carolyn's new ride as I've resolved to never buy a new car again. Lucky for us we had already done some sluething on paper so we had a short list of 3 cars to check out: Saturn Ion, Ford Focus, and the Mazda 3. In the end we only looked at the Focus and the Ion. The base price for the Mazda was more than we wanted and it was the first year for the car and I'm set against buying the first model year of a car (been there, done that). I thought we were going to be sold on the Focus by what we've read in Consumer Reports. The Saturn dealer was closer to home so we stopped in there. Jim helped us out and the whole test drive was extremely no-pressure. It was more like a family friend showing off his new car. We had to deal with two salespeople at the Ford dealer and they called us too many times, once after I had informed one that we went with the Saturn and they still called me at the dealership when we were picking up the car!

I don't want to trash the Ford dealership or their cars, but when we did a side by side comparison of a similiarly equipped Ion and Focus, the Ion was roomier, quiter, better designed, and cheaper. There was no haggling with the dealership on the price (WYSIWYG) while the Ford salespeople made it clear we were going to have to negotiate.

We ended up getting a great price on the car and unless our time with Carolyn's car proves otherwise, I'm sold on Saturn. When the time comes, I may actually consider a new car from them.