A Saturday of Mechanic Work

The stars spoke to me and the planets must have aligned yesterday, because I finally attacked the heater core replacement job that I have been dreading on my Neon. The thing is, I don't yet have a new heater core on hand to put in it--I wanted to get the old one out first so I could verify the physical dimensions and make sure I got the right one to replace it with.

I was mentally prepared for the undertaking and was in a very methodical and relaxed mood, which is necessary. Also, the weather was perfect: Lower 70's with a breeze every now and then. All day to do it with no time constraints. I started it at just before noon and had the whole thing apart (yes, only apart) by about 4pm.

I have done a lot of heater core replacements in vehicles over the years. I have done a lot of repairs of many kinds to many vehicles over the years. I have never encountered anything like this Neon. I truly had to take the interior almost all the way down to the naked firewall under the windshield to get the heater core out. Seats, console, steering wheel, steering column, complete dash--All had to come out. It was layer after layer of things... All interwoven together to fit into a tight little space. I was so amazed at it after the fact that I snapped a few pictures:

Click here to go to the Neon disassembled

I ordered a replacement online, so I won't be able to put it back together until at least next weekend. They were a lot cheaper than buying local. I guess I'll be riding the Harley all week for sure. Maybe I'd better get the truck working a little better for backup...

When it comes time for reassembly, I sure hope I can remember where all those pieces go!

Be Gone!

That's what I finally said the other day when I looked in the mirror at my moustache.

Yeah, some people change facial hair once a month or so, but for me it's more of a careful consideration. I guess I'm just a weenie for change. I figured, what the hell... I got new glasses so why not lose the 'stache?

I did, however, keep the little patch below my lip...

How's this for a short post?

The Writing Void

I must be in it. I haven't had any desire to write anything down in quite a few days.

All last week was rainy. Rain, rain, rain. Twice I got up and almost rode the Harley to work only to be very glad I didn't a couple hours later when it started raining and never stopped the whole day.

Teresa called right after I got home from work on Friday and asked me if I'd ride with Sarah when she takes her boyfriend back home. She has been sick all week and still wasn't up to going out of the house. Because Sarah only has a learner's permit, someone has to ride with her (in Teresa's car.) After that quick jaunt, she asked me if I would drive her to Southcenter in an hour or so. Evidently there was a big Harry Potter party at the Barnes & Noble store there and a bunch of her friends were already there. They were going to hang out and be teenagers until the book officially went on sale at midnight.

Friday was also one of the worst times I've seen the leaky heater core in my car dump water on the passenger floor on the way to work in the morning. It's obvious I need to address the issue right away. So when Sarah called later on for her ride to Southcenter, I told her we'd have to drive with a window or two open (it was getting moist in there) and she'd have to keep her feet out of the way of the drips. What a great car. I'm still toying with just getting rid of it and keeping the one I bought Sarah...

Saturday I had the big party to attend up in Lynnwood, so before I left I got under the hood of the Neon and disconnected the heater core. I looped one hose back to the engine so coolant still flowed--It just didn't go anywhere inside the car any more. That means no defroster or heater any more until it's fixed, but also no more leaking.

The party was good, but not great. The reason was totally my fault. I didn't eat hardly anything all day, and when I did start eating, it was too late. In other words, I got too drunk too fast. I ended up taking a nap on the couch in the living room at about 10pm. The party was out in the back yard for the most part, so it was okay. I was pissed at myself though. There was a great turnout of people, some of which showed up a bit late and didn't stay long, and I ended up missing a few of them. I ended up staying overnight just as I planned, but didn't have to use my sleeping bag as there was a crappy fold-out bed in the first bedroom. Overall, I had fun, but I'm still pissed at myself.

Yesterday was mostly a sit around recovery day. I got home at about 11am, but was never really worth a shit all day. I did manage to get a little work done on the Harley at least. I'm just making some adjustments to the saddlebags to let them nestle in closer to the sides of the bike. I chose to do it in the nude as usual. I almost didn't do it because it felt pretty muggy in the garage. I would have loved to be able to open the garage door while I was working, but I decided I would rather be nude and slightly uncomfortable. I guess in retrospect, I should have just opened the garage door for a while before I started working... Then closed it again. Oh well. I think summer is supposed to return this week, so I need to get it finished up as soon as possible. Maybe tonight. I need to buy a few bolts to finish it.

I uploaded all our vacation pictures from mine and Sarah's vacation yesterday to Glowfoto.com. I chose them because they keep the pictures in their original size. The trouble is that it seems to keep wanting to rearrange them. I fought and fought with them off and on and still never seemed to get anywhere. There are still some that need to be rotated and stuff like that, but here's the links to em:

Rick's pictures Sarah's pictures

Hump Day

You know, Monday was exactly what I expected at work: A mess. That's actually to be expected though. To go back to work to a clean desk after a week off would be very suspicious. I wasn't in the best mood because of the shock of going back to work, but I made the best of it and things went fairly smoothly. I got a lot done.

After work I stopped off and picked up my new glasses. They work great--I can see a lot better at the intermediate range now. The distance and close-up portions (they are progressive lenses of course) stayed the same, but the doc made changes to my reading/computer range. It helped a lot! They are also much more stylish than the old round ones I had before.

I changed the oil in Sarah's car and gave it a good vacuum job. It was totally filthy. I was going to take it back over to exchange it back for my car after dinner, but I didn't feel like getting dressed again. Dinner was a steak I had in the fridge. I decided it was BBQ time so I fired up the grill.

A weird thing happened during my cooking time though--For the first time that I can recall, I almost went outside naked without thinking about it. I caught myself as I was going through the sliding glass door. Weird. You know, a person should be able to do a simple thing like that if they want to. I guess that just goes to show you how comfortable I am in the nude. Actually, the only thing really limiting me (as far as I'm concerned anyway) is the open access to the building right next door. There is a walkway around the corner to my back yard and there is no door or gate on it. In addition, the fence is a little short in height. I should take the time to build a gate for my yard at least. The problem is that the gate needs to look like the fence it's hooked to (white siding like the apartment) and also has to be able to be opened from the outside so the landlord can mow the yards. I'll see what I can do this fall maybe.

Yesterday I wanted to ride the Harley to work, but was disappointed to find it raining in the morning. Work went worse yesterday. My shipping/receiving work (my main job) went well, but we had a no-show and the owner had me running a press for about 4 hours. My neck and back were killing me. The repetitive motions of going back and forth to the press and it's controls ruined my day. On the way home I stopped at Sarah's and exchanged cars. Now I have my old ugly Neon back. I called the insurance company and cancelled the insurance I had placed on it for our trip.

I hope I have a better day today. I woke up during the night with a helluva backache and had to reposition myself carefully to get back to sleep. I'm fine now, but I don't need that kind of aggravation.

I'm looking forward to a party in Lynnwood this Saturday. It is a bunch of chat room friends, most of which I had met at a meet/greet in Everett a month or two ago. It should be a lot better than the last one though. This time it's actually a housewarming party and most of the people are staying overnight. That means drinking and naughty behavior!

Sometimes it's great to be an adult...

Home!

Yes, I'm home. It's great to be back... Able to shun my clothing once again. How I get used to going back to work tomorrow remains to be seen though.

As I said we were about to, Sarah and I headed downtown to check out the night scene Wednesday night. We spent a few hours wandering around taking pictures of cool stuff and watched a water show in front of the Bellagio Hotel. We barely made it back to the drop off/pick up point to catch our shuttle, and beings it was the last one of the night, that was definitely a good thing.

The next morning we finally left Las Vegas.

The drive to Los Angeles went without a hitch. It was hot as we knew it would be, but we had ample water to keep is hydrated as we always did. Along the way we stopped at the little town of Seligman, Arizona and browsed through some cool shops there. We actually detoured off the freeway there because it's one of the historic towns on Route 66. I wanted to check out the t-shirts at the Road Kill Cafe, but didn't see one that I liked so we ambled on down the street and looked at a few others. We each bought a couple things. It's cool when you see that town--You can tell it was part of the inspiration for the Pixar movie, Cars. They even had the same tow truck parked out in the street in front of one place.

We also stopped at the little town of Baker, California. It's the home of the world's largest thermometer, but the reason we stopped is that I wanted to investigate the store called Alien Fresh Jerky. Their jerky was just okay, but their trinkets were way cool.

We drove to Mark's house in Thousand Oaks very easily. I had a little cheat sheet with my freeways on it, and that made it a no-brainer. We got there at about 2pm and called Mark. He was still at work but was going to leave right then. In the meantime Sarah and I went down to a local Mexican restaurant and had some excellent appetizers. A half hour later we went back to their house and met them all at the door. Emma is so big! She talks real well, and I never got tired of hearing "Grandpa Rick" over and over. She took a little longer to warm up to Sarah, but before long "Auntie Sarah" was a familiar sound. We ended up staying at their house, with Sarah on a pullout in the living room, and me on a couch in the family room. Dana's parents only live a couple minutes away (maybe a mile as the crow flies) and they came over to meet us and visit after dinner. What a great and warm family!

The next day (Friday), we left Emma with Dana's parents while Mark and Dana took us on a tour. We went downtown to Hollywood for a little while and took a few pictures. There's really very little in Hollywood, and most tourists are probably very disappointed. I wasn't because I really didn't go to see Hollywood. We walked around Grauman's Chinese Theater and looked at all the famous hand prints and footprints in the concrete. They had just unveiled a brand new one that was done a few days earlier for Harry Potter, and Sarah was pretty thrilled to get to see that with the red carpet and stuff around it. We also walked around looking at all the stars in the sidewalks there too, and took a few pictures of stuff. Hollywood really doesn't take long at all. From there we went to Olivera Street, which is a cool shopping area, and home to the oldest brick house in Los Angeles. We ate lunch at a great Mexican restaurant there, and then headed back out on the road. From there Mark drove us out to Malibu so we could get a good look at the beautiful beach and how busy the area is. It was a great little tour and he did it very quickly. I would have spent all day doing half that much.

We all went to Dana's parents' house for dinner that evening. We all got plenty of time to swim in their pool, enjoying the perfect temperature for it, then capped it off with a great dinner out there next to the pool. The "after dinner" is quite the ritual to them, and they ended up bringing out tons of things to nibble on, not the least of which were fresh-picked (I picked them myself) green seedless grapes from their back yard. It was a great meal and it was great company.

The next morning we said our goodbyes. It was sad, but Sarah and I both agreed that the visit there was the highlight of our trip. She really enjoyed everyone--Especially Emma. We both took a bunch of pictures to treasure the visit.

We left there at 8:30 in the morning, and we got home here at 1am at night. It was a long, exhausting trip, but we were both so glad to be able to sleep in our own familiar beds for a change. When it was all said and done, our final leg of the trip from Marks house to home was 1,142 miles, and the total we drove on the whole vacation was 3,483 miles.

Whew.

The Las Vegas Saga Continues...

This morning we were feeling better when we woke up.

We took our time and finally got ourselves moving and checked out at 9:30-ish. I still felt very, very bad at denying Sarah of the one thing of this vacation trip that she wanted to do: Experience Las Vegas. I decided to drive us around town so Sarah could take all the pictures she wanted. After about an hour, I noticed a smell coming from somewhere, and at the same time noticed that the temp gauge was rising quickly and I had a coolant level alarm light on. I took a few quick turns around the corners to get us off the main drag, and ended up on a small road behind the strip. I investigated it and found the coolant bottle was empty. A bicycle-riding security guard from the Hooters casino (we were parked behind their place) came by and gave me some water, then went for more. Then a Mexican guy that was working on a project nearby came over and gave me water. Between the two of them, the car got cooled down, but was still losing water. I decided I would head onto the freeway to see if it would cool down... Gambling on the chance that the leak would only let the water leak "so far down" before stopping. Wrong. I made it about a mile before the light came back on, and the gauge pegged out again. I barely made it off the exit and shut the engine off, coasting to a stop in a safe place within a pylon protected area of a new road lane that hadn't been opened yet.

I was beside myself. A feeling of total helplessness overwhelmed me. Here I was in a strange town with a car that was broken down. I had no idea what was wrong, no idea who to call, and no idea what to do next. It was close to 95 or so out, so Sarah and I walked two blocks or so to a Jack in the Box so I could gather my wits. My AARP card had some numbers on it, so a call to them gave me the number of a local repair company. The repair company gave me the number of a towing company. The tow truck driver recommended a different repair company--One that was closer, but yet had a good reputation. I went with it.

Still fearing the worst. I kept thinking, "What do you do when you are 1000 miles from home, and are hit with a major repair that is more than the car is worth?" Do you have it fixed regardless? Do you sell it for a good price on the spot? See, I feared something bad like a blown head gasket, or cracked head. Another issue: If they could fix it but it would take a week, what to do? Fly home and fly back next week? Sure, just add that to the cost of the whole thing. My mind was reeling.

It was a pretty good sized shop and the guys were pretty nice to deal with. They did a check on it and found that it appeared to be a simple fix but would have to delve into it a bit deeper. In the meantime, Sarah and I walked over to a local El Pollo Loco restaurant and ate lunch. After returning and waiting for a while, they informed us that it was simply a factory "quick-connect" plug that had come undone under the engine. They repaired it, refilled it, and checked it out well before handing it back to us $84 later. I felt so relieved.

We hit the road.

I hoped to hit a convenience store on the way to the freeway. I wanted to buy some more ice and drinking water, and Sarah wanted to get a Las Vegas postcard. We were on a road paralleling the freeway, about 10 minutes out of town, when Sarah turned to me and asked how far I was going to go before turning around and going back closer to town for a convenience store. I drove a bit longer before turning around. On the way back she said, "Couldn't we stay one more night? I don't want to get to Los Angeles at 10 o'clock tonight." The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like the right thing to do.

I had an epiphany and turned around. After all, had it not been for Sarah wanting me to drive us around to take pictures this morning, we would have been a good hour or so out of town before it burst... Way out in the desert. That would have been one hefty towing bill! I figured that it was a sign so here we are at the same motel that we had last night. The difference is, this time we arrived early enough to take advantage of the free motel shuttle to The Strip.

We're hitting the town in a few minutes!

What A Nightmare

I hate Las Vegas.

Yes, that's where I'm sitting right now. We got into town at a decent time--Around 8pm or so. We took the exit off the freeway and went right for The Strip. We enjoyed looking all the sights and sounds for a few miles, but then tried to focus on finding a motel. After getting totally frustrated by the gridlock and roads that didn't go through, I did endless circling around the town. I kept ending up in giant parking areas, or on-ramps or anything but the roads I wanted to be on. At about 9pm I finally found a motel. After we unloaded all our stuff I went out for some beer and supplies and came back only to find that our room had no refrigerator! I was pissed and went down to the desk and argued with the guy there. Every motel I had ever been in had a fridge until I came to this town, so I was sure he was trying to fuck me. In disgust, I told him to cancel everything, that I was going to get my stuff and I was leaving.

Boy was that a mistake.

They don't have many "motels" in this town. They are are huge hotels instead. After driving around for two hours and making a few inquiry's, I was literally crying out of frustration. I was totally frazzled. Sarah was crying too, and I felt so bad for her. I uprooted us for a stupid fridge. We were going to go downtown later and look at lights and sights. I even resignedly went back to the same motel with my tail between my legs, hoping to get my room back. No, it was gone. One of the motels I had inquired at earlier was a bit overpriced, but we went back and got in. We finally were settled at almost midnight. While Sarah was getting settled, I went back out to get us something to eat. I went to In & Out Burger, which she had expressed a desire to buy a t-shirt from (a lot of her friends had them). I bought us a couple of burgers and bought her a shirt like she wanted. I felt it was the least I could do. She seemed pretty pleased when I finally found my way back to the motel. I'm so sorry Sarah... I blew it big time and screwed you out of something you wanted to see on this trip.

I hate this town.

From where I left off in the last blog entry, we had headed back out onto the freeways through still-smoky air around Salt Lake City, and went to Antelope Island State Park, which is smack in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. We walked out to the lake so Sarah could go into it. Neither she or I felt like going swimming in it because we had just gotten dressed a short time earlier, but in retrospect, we probably should have. After all, they had showers and everything there. Although if we had, we would have gotten to our next destination even later than we did. There are very few things alive in and around that lake. It's full of brine shrimp, as well as packed with birds that feed on them. It is also completely lined with a thick carpet of brine flies. It's a weird phenomenon watching them rise up like a blurry dark wave when you walk through them. They also make a humming noise when they do because there are so many of them.

From there we drove south of the city and cut east through the mountains. Destination: Moab, Utah. The terrain got more and more beautiful as we went. The road cuts through canyons of red colored rock, and the surrounding terrain looking like it was fresh out of an old western movie. We were actually headed to the Arches State Park near Moab, and the closer we got, the hotter it got. By the time we reached The Arches, I'm sure it was a solid 100 or better. We explored The Arches for a couple hours in awe. I have never seen such natural wonder in my life. After we saw all that, we mentally scratched Bryce Canyon off our list. I mean, how could it compare? It was basically the same sort of formations, only not colored the beautiful deep red that The Arches area stuff was. When we finally got a motel in Moab, it was almost 7pm. It felt good to lie down. Especially to Sarah, who had been feeling sick the last few days.

She had been hot, tired, and not wanting to eat or drink enough. After watching her and trying everything I could do to make her more comfortable, I had pretty much decided that there wasn't much more I could do. I decided that she was feeling homesick and that it was really taking its toll on her. I even offered to take her to an airport and send her back home as soon as possible if she wanted, but she didn't want to do that. As our trip progressed, we kept getting farther and farther from home, and she kept feeling very badly. My suspicions were confirmed when she actually voiced the same conclusion that I had come up with about anxiety and homesickness. When we left Moab and headed south to The Grand Canyon, she was exactly the same--Listless, not hungry, feeling sick. But when we hit a point in the road where we were actually turning West, in other words, the furthest point in our vacation, she took a total 180 turn--Becoming her usual talkative and cheerful self.

We left Moab early in the morning. The day before I had wondered who in their right mind would live somewhere so far out like that, but when I saw the cliffs highlighted by the morning sun I was in awe. It was truly a beautiful sight. We left at that time because it was cool outside and we needed to take advantage of that. As we headed south toward Flagstaff, she was marginally better, but mostly because the air temp was comfortable and we had lots of sights to marvel at as we went, like Monument Valley for example. When I made a turn onto a highway that led o the south rim of The Grand Canyon, Sarah got teary eyed, asking when we were going to head to Las Vegas. I told her that as of that moment we were indeed headed toward Las Vegas. In her mind, when we turned at the Grand Canyon Park sign she thought that we were going to detour off the highway for miles and miles to see The Grand Canyon, then have to backtrack miles and miles to get back to where we turned. When I told her no, that this highway a "through" road and we were indeed heading to Las Vegas at that point, she turned suddenly cheerful, and enjoyed every minute of the rest of the trip.

The Grand Canyon was a sight to behold. Neither she or I were prepared for the scale of it. You can look at pictures all your life, but until you stand on the rim and look down at it, you will never know. The rim drive we took had several spots to pull off and take pictures, so we did at every one. It was very cool! Naturally we stopped at a store and bought a few things at the end like all good tourists do.

From there we headed back out on the road. Sarah suffered another slight relapse until we got to a point were we started seeing the mileage signs to Vegas, then she perked up again. The highway we took led us right over Hoover Dam, so we got lots of pictures of that as well. It's VERY hard to get pictures of that thing because it's so big, but we tried. We were lucky we got there when we did, because they actually close the highway over top of it every evening at 8pm for construction.

Then we got to Vegas...

Canyons and Wildfires

Today was a day of bad air. You have no idea how bad stagnant air can be until you are in an area that has been hit with massive wildfires in addition to high-90's temperatures. The bad air just sits there. Maybe the fact that the Wasatch Mountains are alongside it makes it worse too. At any rate, by the time we got here to our motel in Salt Lake City, I had a headache and my eyes were burning.

Earlier in the day we made a few stops around some really cool scenery in lower Idaho. I think they were all part of the same canyon actually, and from what we saw, the whole canyon probably looked a lot like a long scar in the flat ground if you viewed it from the air. The best part of the stops we made were of Shoshone Falls. We got some great pictures of that.

After we entered Utah, we drove right smack into a huge wildfire. We could see it looming in front of us as we neared it as it was sending a huge plume of smoke so high into the air that the top of it looked like a cumulus cloud. As we got right up to it, they stopped us (the traffic) saying that the fire had jumped the freeway just ahead. We sat there about a half hour, taking pictures of the fire right next to us. We could actually see the flames jumping out of the brush and the firemen chasing it down. It was pretty impressive and awesome to be in the middle of something so strange as that. Luckily, we were the second car from the front when they stopped traffic, so when we got a "green light" we got to hammer it pretty good. I have no idea how far back traffic ended up being backed up, but I'm sure it was a long ways. A few miles farther up the road, we ran smack into the residual effects of all the fires, in the form of a totally yellowish/brownish cloud that obliterated the sun. It was the most eerie thing I've ever driven through. It was at that point that the air got bad, and it never really recovered. It was so hazy all the way down through upper Utah that we could hardly see across the valleys. It's no wonder I got a headache.

We took a quick look at the Great Salt Lake before getting our motel, but it was horrible where we were--Looking all the world like a huge, nasty mud puddle. Tomorrow we'll go slightly back North and catch the little road that takes us over to Antelope Island in the middle of the Salt Lake. Supposedly, it's a lot nicer than just the nasty edge of the outskirts of the lake.

Tomorrow we'll also be heading to Moab to the Arches State Park, then on to Bryce Canyon.

Sitting Here in Boise Idaho...

Yep, it don't get no better'n this does it? Livin' the American Dream... Hanging out at the pool at a Best Western motel in Boise, Idaho, typing on my laptop. Nah, I don't think so... Even the name Boise, Idaho sounds cheesy to me.

I'm sitting out by the pool listening to kids running all around and being kids. Just now I was reminded of he fact that there are no helmets required in Idaho when two Harley's went roaring by with riders' hair flying. Oh well... Some day I may ride my bike out this way so that I can enjoy it. Sarah was out here too, but just went inside to watch TV.

Our trip today was good. I could have been great, but it was HOT. To tell you the truth, I enjoyed it, but Sarah was pretty miserable. We had lots of nice cold water to drink, but even with windows down and going down the freeway, it was hot. When we pulled into this place this evening, the thermometer across the street said 102 and it was about 6pm then.

The car ran superb! I couldn't have asked for a more comfortable ride either (well, other than maybe AC). I totally love the cruise control! It also gives you a feeling of security when you pass a speed trap, knowing you're totally in the right. When we finally stopped for gas in Idaho, we had logged 452 miles on the first tank. It got a hair over 34 miles to the gallon. Not bad!

Tomorrow we're going to be checking out the Great Salt Lake and the Bonneville Salt Flats. I'm not sure how far we'll get tomorrow either, but it really doesn't matter... It's all good.

Well, the only way this could be better is if I could do it nude I guess, but it'll do!

A Potential Car Crisis

I drove Sarah's car to work yesterday, and of course it ran and drove just fine and all was well.

That is, until the drive home when I decided to test the air conditioning.

I'm not saying it didn't work. It worked... If you can call cool air instead of cold air working. In others words, the system is totally functional, but is in BIG time need of a recharge. I'm sorry I didn't get to it sooner now. I can drop it off at a place today at 3 and wait for it, but it could take up to two hours to get finished. It's very obvious though, that a well-working AC will make or break this vacation. It's going to be in triple digits during much of our trip.

When I got home, I changed the oil, aired the tires (and spare of course), and spent some time vacuuming the interior out. It still had tenacious dog hair in the back seat. It's pretty common really, as not everyone has a shop vac, and a standard house vacuum just doesn't have enough power to suck individual hairs out of seat fabric.

Another thing on my list was the satellite radio. I went into the garage, turned on the computer and went to the Sirius site to get the info I needed to have to start the service. Her car came equipped with the whole system for satellite radio that the people didn't need because their new Lexus SUV had it built in. Anyway, I read the setup instructions online. It said to write the number on the back of the radio down, turn the system on, and tune it to channel something-or-other. I go out to the car, plug it all together and turn it on. It's on already! Could it be that the people didn't stop their service? Hmm... Could be. I played with it for quite a while and it seems to work just fine. That almost countered the fact that the AC didn't work.

Almost.

I was going to go to the biker bar with Steve and Maria, but decided that I had too much to do, not to mention I shouldn't be blowing any more money. It's not going to be a cheap trip after all...

I spent the rest of my evening getting a few little odds and ends done. I still haven't packed a single thing yet though, and one thing I've meant to do but still haven't, is iron a few of my summery, cotton, button down shirts. I'm a t-shirt man, but I own a lot of lightweight cotton shirts that Teresa had bought me over the years. They're very comfortable and look good, but require ironing. I should take a couple of them. I also would like to have a baseball cap that looks decent. I'll look into that as well.

Well, last day of work for a while... I hope it's a good one!

Humans Are Like Bacon...

...They keep cooking after you take them off the fire!

I wanted to eliminate my white ass for a change this season, so I decided to get some nude sunning done yesterday. Because of the walkways on both sides of my yard, there is only a certain little spot in my yard that is away from prying eyes in either of those two directions. It's still sort of a gamble though, because even that little spot isn't out of view from someone looking through the back fence or from the bedroom windows of my next door neighbor, Gayle (who was out of town--I checked). Anyway, at about high noon I went out with my sunning blanket. I got almost a full hour of sun, carefully rotating myself to different sides and direction every 15 minutes (I took my watch out with me.)

My intent was to to stay home and naked all day yesterday and relax, but after a while I started to get a little stir-crazy. I decided to take the Harley over to Steve's house and maybe get a dip in his pool. I grabbed a swimsuit (I hate those things now... haha) and put on my overalls. About this time I started to notice a little color showing up on my skin. Good, I thought--I got enough sun this time. I rode out to their house in Puyallup, enjoying the 90+ degree day weather dressed as I was. When I went to the bathroom and dropped my overalls off, it was apparent that I got a little too much sun. Yep, pretty nicely pink... And almost every square inch of myself too. The only spots that didn't get much are on my sides. I stayed a couple hours, drank, swam in the pool, and at their insistence, stayed for dinner.

The day before I had called my insurance people and had Sarah's car added to my policy, intending to remove it once again after our trip next week. After I left Steve's house I went home, swapped the Harley for the Neon, and went over to Teresa and Sarah's house and swapped cars. I'll drive Sarah's car to work today and tomorrow as kind of an evaluation before the trip, to see if it needs anything looked at. I should have done this maybe a week ago--There's not much time left.

Back to work today for two more days. I may take the Harley tonight and go to a biker bar out in Cumberland that I went to a couple weeks back. Steve and Maria said they were going tonight, so if I feel like it I may also. Actually, I'd much rather not even get dressed at this point...

I sure hope I don't peel...

The First "Friday"

Well, with July 4th being a holiday and being a Wednesday this year, it is like having two Fridays this week, and this is the first one.

Yesterday's work day flew by. I was totally swamped in work. It's the first time in a long time I've had what most people consider a "typical" Monday. The good part about that is that the day went by quickly, although at a few points it seems just the opposite...

I managed to grab another hour of sunning right after I got home. It's kinda creepy lying out there on a blanket in the nude sometimes. I think it's because when you're doing something naughty your senses are on full alert, and add that to the fact that when you're lying down and hear voices or noises it's hard to tell which direction they're coming from. I would have like to be able to take a nice nap out there, but it just wasn't happening. Oh well, an hour here and an hour there... Better safe than sorry.

After dinner I put a congratulations card for my niece, Emma's graduation in the mail with some money in it, along with paid a few bills. I then sped to Wally World and bought a little 3-piece luggage set, some motor oil & filter (my car is overdue) and a giant road atlas. On the way home I stopped at Sarah's and gave her the atlas... Calling it her homework. I just want her to have an idea of where we're going and for her to give me some input. While I was there I got the registration for her car. I'm going to try to get it added to my insurance, and if they'll let me (I'm not the owner) I'll need the VIN and license number. I'm also probably going to hook us up with the Sirius satellite radio that came with her car. That will be excellent to have out on the open road.

Well, I think I'll take the Harley to work today. It just seems proper.

A Pretty Durn Good Weekend

Friday nights are almost always good--Mainly because the work week just ended. Not much to report there.

Saturday morning was spent naked as usual, doing laundry and chatting with my online friends. An excellent way to start out the weekend. Unfortunately, there came a time when I had to finally get dressed, and at about noon I hopped on the Harley and boogied on down to Chehalis to visit Melinda and her husband. It was a beautiful sunny day with floating clouds, and the forecast was for the upper 70's.

When I got there they were both out at the site of the new barn they are building, standing on the second floor level, waving their arms at me. Their new barn is one of those standard "3-section" type barns where the two sides are one level and the center of it is taller, containing a 2nd floor for hay storage. The center (2nd level) floor, all the vertical posts, and the concrete floor were all that was done at this point, and they were in the process of putting the angled rafters (big boards!) across the tops of the posts. It involved hanging over edges, hefting heavy boards and holding them, and handling a big-ass nail gun. I took over from Melinda and Danny and I spent the next several hours doing them all and finishing that part of the job. He thanked me profusely, noting that the rest was easy after getting all those up. I know it certainly was a warm day, and it's a good thing I took other clothes to change into. I opted for my overalls only... Giving myself plenty of flow-through ventilation.

About the time we finished that, Mike and Margo came over from next door, and we had BBQ steaks, salad (made with all home grown ingredients), and key lime pie for dessert. Although Melinda wanted me to stay overnight, I didn't feel like it and hit the road right as the sun went down. Right as I was nearing Auburn I saw the very tail-end of the giant fireworks show that they have at the Emerald Downs horse track every year. I'm glad I saw that because it served as a reminder for me to go a different way home. The area all around Emerald Downs would have been packed with cars, cops, and traffic snarls. As I came into downtown Auburn near my home there was so much smoke from those big fireworks it looked like fog. My headlight was cutting a swath through it. When I got home I noticed I had a text message on my phone from Sarah that was send at about noon right after I left, asking me if I would help get her pool up and running.

Yesterday I planned to do some nude sunbathing. The weather was supposed to be conducive for just such a thing, and I was looking forward to it. At about 11am I put some clothes on and went over to their house with my portable air tank. After making several trips and refilling the air ring around the top of the pool, we finally found the two leaks that were causing the problem and got them patched. We straightened the bottom of the pool out and started filling it back up. While it was filling, I took a trip over to the store for beer, and bought Sarah's favorite flavored tea as well. We all stood around watching the pool fill up, and talking about the upcoming trip and stuff. After I finished my beer I headed home and was naked once again. Ahhh...

While the day became very overcast, it was still perfect for sunning. It was nice and warm with a cooling breeze. I spent the rest of my day and evening alternating between chatting online with friends and laying on a blanket in the back yard. I was pretty sure the next door neighbor lady (the only one with an upstairs view of my little back yard) was gone again so I wasn't worried about being spotted.

It was an excellent weekend!