A New Friend

What is it about meeting someone for the first time? Obviously there are many ways a first meeting can go, but I'm talking about when things just "click" and it's like you've on exactly the same wavelength.

Such is the way it was yesterday when Deb and I met each other. We "met" (that's the 21st century version of meeting--aka "online" meeting) on a biker website that we're both members of. You can go here to view my page on their site. If you look, you can see it looks almost exactly like MySpace. In fact, it's the same software that MySpace uses, only this one if for bikers. I may have mentioned it before, I dunno. Anyway, Deb is one of the people on my "friends" list there. She and her boyfriend each have their own bikes.

It was one of those times when the pieces just fell into place I guess. Deb lives just up the hill from me in Federal Way, and she mentioned before that she would have to drop in sometime and say hi. I usually don't make the first move in situations like that. Although I'm very outgoing and social, I still have butterflies when I'm actually "en route" to meet someone I've never met before, no matter what the reason of the meeting is. Friend, job interview, party at a stranger's house... Whatever. Anyway, we have talked a couple times in comments on there, but nothing more than that. Earlier on she mentioned something about the Anacortes Oyster Run and wondered if I was going this year, etc. Because of the recent events that took place with my Harley (aka breaking it) I dropped her a line and told her that I wouldn't be going this year. She said she wasn't going this year but her boyfriend was, and maybe later she would drop by and say hi if I was going to be home. Well I was and she did.

As a already mentioned, it was like we had known each other all our lives instantly. Her "drop in" visit ended up lasting 3 or 4 hours as we found ourselves talking in the garage, talking in the kitchen, and even sitting cross-legged on the living room floor. Yak, yak, yak... It was like we both knew each other in our childhoods and were playing catch-up with our last 45 years! It was an amazing thing. As she said afterwards, we have both made friends for life.

In other news: Let's see if I can recap the weekend. Friday my new webcam came in, and that's pretty cool. It works worlds better than my old one that almost needed bright sunlight to work right. I also had Sarah over for dinner Friday, serving my yummy pan-fried Tilapia. We both stuffed ourselves and I still had enough for leftovers the following day. She jetted out with one of her best friends, leaving her car in my driveway. They and a bunch of other friends were all going to watch the football game over at Auburn High School. It was their high school against Auburn High, and Sarah's boyfriend got to play in this game so everybody had someone to root for. She was all decorated up with school colors and stuff. It was pretty cool. Oh btw, they lost horribly... But they all had fun.

I'm trying to think of what I did Saturday, but all I can come up with is puttering in the garage. I purposely avoided working on the Harley out of spite (like it really cares), but I did do some modifications on the Harley floor jack so it may work a little easier when I get back into it. I finished the day with dinner and a movie (here at home of course).

Yesterday I started out the day by taking Sarah to the Puyallup Fair. Yesterday was the final day of the fair, and she wanted to see the art exhibits. We went early and got there right when the fair opened, so I was able to snag a good free parking spot. We spent a long time walking through the art galleries of all the works that the various schools in the areas had submitted, but for some reason her school still hasn't ever submitting anything. Too bad. Anyway, Sarah was really in her element looking at all those. We both really took our time and looked things over well, noting all sorts of interesting styles and designs. When we left there she said she felt inspired. We wandered aimlessly around to find something to eat before leaving. I bought us each a burger at a place, and it was truly the worst burger I have ever eaten. I took 2 bites and threw it away. She at a little over half of hers before doing the same. The meat wasn't quite done (even though it was your typical thin 1/4" patty), the bun was cold, the cheese never melted... It was just shit. She got a scone and I bought a beef Empanada. Both of those were good. After we left the fair we circled around back to our favorite place to eat during fair season. A kiosk on wheels sorta thing that makes and sells these German meat turnover things called Fleislekuchles or something like that. They are most excellent! It's not unusual for people to stop and buy over 20 of them--So they can freeze them and enjoy them all year I guess. Sarah remembered them and wanted one as bad as I did.

I wanted to get home as soon as I could and so did Sarah. She had lots of homework to do, and I had laundry and stuff I wanted to do. Also, I wanted to increase the chance of being home in case Deb made her appearance. In addition to laundry and stuff, I spent some time cutting up kindling for my wood stove. It's getting to be that time of year when the heat is going to have to be on every day, and I want to be able to have my wood all ready to stoke the stove whenever I need to.

Anyway, that's my weekend pretty much. I had a good one and hope you did too!

Anger EXTREME

I'm so FUCKING mad right now I could SPIT. I mean MAD.

I've already literally shed tears over it in the garage a little while ago. I've thrown tools. I've kicked stuff. I swore loud enough over and over that I'm sure someone probably heard me at one time or another. I am so mad that I refuse to interact with anyone tonight. I don't want to inflict my grief on anyone else, nor do I want anyone else giving me pity. I just want to be alone. I'm as mad as I can recall EVER being.

I fucked up my Harley. I cross-threaded a MAJOR bolt. It's a bolt that holds the rear of one of its two shocks on. Normally (like with a car) a shock is just a cushioning device that keeps your wheels from bouncing too much. However, on a Harley the shocks are also the springs. The whole rear of the bike will squat right down on the ground without them.

I have years of experience doing mechanic work, and I'm still in disbelief that I did it. How did it happen? Normally when you start a bolt or nut, you can "feel" the threads by running it partway in by hand until it starts to get too tight, at which time you switch to a wrench and finish the job. These bolts I was working on had a couple things working against me:

• They are bolts that you use Loctite on. Loctite is a liquid that you put on bolt threads before assembly, and in the absence of air it forms a bond that keeps fasteners from working loose on their own. Because they have had (and require) Loctite on them in the past, they have a residue in the threads that makes turning them by hand almost impossible.
• They are "shoulder" bolts. That means that they have a machined shoulder on the bolt of a certain length because they pass through something before the threads engage. In this case, they pass through the bushings on the shocks.
• The bolts on the shocks are down underneath the Harley, impossible to access "straight on" with a socket and ratchet. Instead you have to use a wrench, and that increases the chance of the bolt not being straight.

I was putting the usual amount of muscle into it (I've had it off and on too many times already) and when I got tight at a certain point, I knew. I put my face up under there close and saw the bolt protruding at a non-perpendicular angle from where it needed to be.

What makes it worse it that I fucked it up trying to fix the shocks that I spent $200 on that I haven't liked since I first put em on. They have caused me problems too many times since I first put em on. This is at least the third time I've had them both off. I wish I could go back in time and not bought the motherfuckers in the first place.

In case this is all Greek to all of you, cross-threading a bolt means a bolt was forced into a hole against its will and ruined the threads that were there because it wasn't straight. No amount of finesse will ever get that bolt in. The only way to fix ruined threads is to run a re-threader tap into the hole, hoping like hell you get it going exactly straight. If you don't it just gets worse. If a re-thread tap doesn't work, you have no choice but to have the hole repaired. That may mean welding it closed and re-drilling it and re-tapping it, or enlarging it. Since the hole in question has to do with the whole rear part of the motorcycle frame/suspension, I've got to completely disassemble the whole rear half of the bike to get the offending part out. And when I do get it out, it's possible it may be unrepairable. If that's the case, my $200 shocks will also have a $300+ new swing arm tacked onto the bill.

Need I make matters worse? This Sunday is the Anacortes Oyster Run, which is Washington State's "little Sturgis" and I am obviously not going this year.

The Weekend Report

It wasn't a bad weekend--I had one productive day and one non-productive day.

Saturday morning, I went over to Teresa's house to do a little work in the garage that I had been meaning to do. The steel racks that I had made (see them here, down at the fourth project) a few years back to hold all my long raw materials were hampering Sarah's usage of that garage stall. In effect it created a lot of potential problems by narrowing the width of the stall. Anyway, during my morning coffee I ended up chatting a bit with Steve, who said he was going to be out on the bike that morning. I told him my plans over at T's house. Before I left I also emailed my friend Greg to tell him my plans, knowing that he would want some of the steel I was removing from their garage.

When I got there at 10:15, Steve and Greg were both there already. Steve was there on his Harley, just to hang out and to have a riding destination. Greg was there to help and to take home all the steel I no longer wanted. He loves fabricating stuff and has the tools and knowledge to do so. We ended up emptying all the racks, putting the good steel in Greg's truck, and the scrap crap into my truck. Then we removed all the racks and cut them in half. I took the upper halves home with me, but we bolted the lower halves back up on the wall. The difference being that we bolted them up way higher than they were, so we opened the whole wall up so there is nothing in the way of a car any more. We put the "half-sized" racks back up there because there were some long pieces of wood and trim of Teresa's that needed to be stored. By the time we were done there were two levels of shelving instead of four, and they were much higher up.

During the course of our working there, Edie next door came over and discussed my helping her pick up a stainless steel BBQ that she had bought at Sam's Club. After I did all the project in the garage, I wanted to get to the recycler in the next town to unload all the scrap I had, but instead decided to get to Sam's Club to pick up Edie's purchase before her husband got home. It was sort of a surprise for him I guess, and she had been waiting for months for them to go on sale. I went home and unloaded all the crap into my garage and went over and picked up her new purchase. That thing was HUGE! It filled the whole back of my truck right to the tailgate. It's all nice stainless steel, and let me tell you--It's no BBQ, it's an outdoor kitchen! Although it was lifted into the truck by four employees, we managed to get it out without too much trouble with 3 of us at Edie's house.

After all that transpired, I reloaded the scrap back into my truck and took it to the recycler in the next town. I still wasn't finished though. I then came back to Teresa's house to fix a leaky faucet in one of the bathrooms. It was an easy fix fortunately. I took it apart and we both drove over to Lowe's to get the repair parts. It cost a whopping $1.51.

It was a very busy day, but a very productive day. Oh, I also forgot to mention that Edie gave me a 24-pack of Corona beer for helping her. Nice!

Sunday was almost the exact opposite of Saturday. I didn't do shit. I did manage to get out and get a haircut and do a little shopping and all before 10 o'clock. My timing was perfect because nobody in town was really out and about yet. I was back home and back to my usual nude self for the rest of the day. It was a good day for it too because the weather got steadily worse as the day progressed. I was nice and cozy while it rained outside.

Addendum: Teresa told me on the phone last night that Edie's husband came home and found that she had bought a natural gas outdoor kitchen instead of a propane one, so they had to go exchange it anyway. Oh well, at least I earned a case of beer out of the deal for my trouble!

Neighbors

Isn't it weird how neighbors can be? They can be your worst enemy, your babysitter, an enigma, almost family, or anything in between. You never know what kind of neighbors you're going to get. People usually don't rent or buy houses based on their neighbors--That is unless they are actual family members. They do, however, sometimes buy or rent based on the lack of neighbors (as in being away from everybody).

Me? I ended up with some pretty damn good neighbors.

Gayle lives next to me. Freshly retired this year, she has worked the recent years of her life in the retail environment--Specifically Home Depot. I don't know much about her, but we talk to each other any time we happen to run into each other in the driveway. What makes her a great neighbor? Two things:

• She's just an all around really nice lady
• She's never home

The fact that I'm on the outside of a triplex means that I don't have anyone on the other side of my North wall. There is another apartment building a few feet away though. Although there were at one time "neighbors from Hell" living there, they have fortunately moved on so I don't hear anything from that direction any more. On the other side of me is my absentee neighbor, Gayle. The reason she is absentee so often is because she is always at one of her kids' houses babysitting her grandchildren. She plays "live-in" when she babysits, so she only comes around every few days or so.

On the other end of my triplex is a young (30 or so) family of three. Chris, Angie, and Kailey. Kailey is 3 years old and quite a handful. Chris is a fellow motorcycle enthusiast and computer nut. Although they've lived here for a while (I believe they moved in right after I did), I never really "met" them until the warmer months when I would be out in the garage with my door open. Kailey loves to come over and pester me, and she is the cutest little blond-haired brown-eyed girl you have ever seen. Chris hangs out quite often when I'm out there, and we've become pretty good friends. What makes Chris a good neighbor?

• He is nice, his wife is nice, and his daughter is such a precocious cutie
• He gives me things

He will occasionally, without warning, leave a little green "bud" sitting in my garage when he departs. The first time it happened I didn't catch it until the next day. When it happened a second time, he was still there.
"Do you know anything about this?" I asked, pointing to the bud sitting on my drill press table.
"I might..." He replied, with a twinkle in his eye.

One other time he was watching me typing something into my garage computer, and said, "I'm going to have to get you a monitor for your garage." He works for a branch of Dell that provides computers to Boeing, so I knew he probably got good deals from time to time, but I didn't think much of it. That is, until this past Friday. I had just gotten home a few minutes earlier when he roared home on his Honda crotch rocket. He came ambling over with a drink in one hand and a bunch of cables in the other. He laid the cables down on a table in my garage.
"I don't know if you can use any of these or not." he said. "I'll go get the rest." and he went back over to his garage. When he returned he was carrying a 19" black Dell digital flat panel monitor! This is not one of the "cheapie" ones they make either. It's digital or analog, has a built-in USB hub, and it telescopes upward and even rotates 90° if you want to.
A couple years ago I replaced the video card in my computer with one that supported a digital input, expecting that I would be upgrading to a digital flat panel monitor in the near future. Although flat panel monitors look great with an analog input, they look even better with digital. Anyway, with the divorce and all, it just got swept under the rug and forgotten. I guess I was lucky my computer was ready though eh?

Neighbors: When they are bad, they can be a total nightmare, but when they are good, they can be really, really good!

Thoughts on Aging

It's funny how age sorta sneaks up on you little by little. It's another example incrementalism. Things will change a teeny bit here, a teeny bit there... At some point down the road the realization (at least I'm assuming...) hits you: "Holy shit, I'm old!"

Yeah, I know... I'm only 51 and that's not old. Having said that, I have noticed a lot of little things in the last year or so. I'm the kind of person that notices things, remember? Here are some of the things I've noticed:

• Wrinkles - Okay, everybody's skin gets wrinkled when they get older. Some show it and some don't. I'm a slim guy, so I don't have my skin pulled taut like some overweight people, so it's going to be more noticeable on me. I really notice the wrinkles most around my eyes after I get out of a particularly hot shower, which is obviously hell on skin quality to begin with. If it really bothered me I'd be using some sort of Oil of Olay or some shit. The way I look at it? Screw it... It adds character.
• Skin imperfections - This one is odd because it covers so many things that seem to pop up from time to time. I haven't gotten age spots on the backs of my hands yet, but I have gotten other little odd "flaws" that have cropped up that never used to be there. A couple teeny (less than 1/8") warts are a good example. An occasional little purple spot where it looks like a capillary did a supernova. An odd "dry spot" here or there. All I really ask for is for my nose and ears keep their shape until I'm near the end.
• Vision - My eyesight as always been shitty, but hasn't changed much, if at all. Who woulda thought that, based on everything else doing a slow slide, my eyesight would be one of my best assets?
• Aches and pains - I get a lot of mysterious pains that I never used to get. By mysterious I mean I did nothing to cause them. It's not like I pulled a muscle doing something. I'm talking about something that just starts hurting and stays that way for no apparent reason. One thing I have to do every day when I wake up is to stand in one place for a minute before I take a step. If I don't, the upper part of my feet will hurt me for a couple hours like I strained em somehow. I guess it's a blood flow thing. If I stand there for a minute before walking off, everything is fine.
• Hearing - I can't hear well at all. I really should get a hearing aid(s). That is a major thing though. They are very expensive (unless you just want the kind that amplifies everything--Noise and all) and I don't know if I want that expense. This is where the newest thing to mention fits in. I was watching a movie the other night and kept turning it up... Kept turning it up... Then it occurred to me to turn on subtitles. Viola! (pronounced wha-la) Why hadn't I don't this before now? It was truly a senior moment.

You know what I like most about getting old? All of my fellow "new oldster's" ribbing each other and calling each other "grandma" or "grandpa".

I think it's cool.

The Downside of Being a Parent

Confrontations: I hate them.

They can sometimes bother me so much that I get physically ill. I grew up having to endure being screamed at and beat with a leather belt whenever my dad determined that I had done something to deserve it (that was his twisted perspective on it at the time apparently). Those times have shaped me to be the way I am--To avoid potential gut-wrenching confrontations whenever possible.

It had been building for some time now. The new found freedoms associated with having a driver's license, a car, a boyfriend--All together are a lot to deal with. Add to that: Typical teen angst and a mother that has the overwhelming job of being a single head of household, and you have the recipe for problems.

Last night I had just rolled the Harley into the garage after working a couple hours of overtime when Teresa called me.
"She did it again," she said exasperated, "She had him over here again."
I listened while she went on and on about Sarah's apparent telling her one thing and doing another. I could tell by the way she was talking quickly and nonstop that she was frazzled and needed help. She explained that she had told Sarah not to bring her boyfriend home after school, and yet it had happened again.
"Okay, whoa... Slow down. Where is she now?" I asked her.
She explained that she had went to Katie's house, which is a childhood friend of hers.
I sighed, put my leathers back on and got on the bike. I rode over to Katie's and Sarah came out of the house.
"Go home," I said, "and put your car in the garage. You're losing it."
"Mom knows I'm here," she explained.
"It's not about you being here. Go home."

I rode the bike back and waited for her to show up with my stomach knotted up. Teresa was washing dishes and talking about everything all at once. I told her to just let me do the talking. When Sarah showed up I sat her down and started in on my talking points. Things like telling her mom one thing and doing another, not telling her mom at all, bringing her boyfriend home after school and feeding him every day, neglecting homework... I was fully prepared to take her car away from her until such time as it appeared that she was doing things to her mom and my satisfaction. However, it turns out that Teresa wasn't entirely forthcoming with me (she has a tendency to embellish and I'm aware of it). She hadn't told Sarah to not bring her boyfriend home any more until just yesterday. All the times Teresa had called me and talked about these things in the past she had alluded that she had.
Obviously during all this, Sarah is distraught and crying like crazy which doesn't help me any.

After we had all talked back and forth and I assimilated all the information, I back-pedaled a little bit. I decided that she would not lose her car, but would not be able to drive her boyfriend in it any more. It's illegal for a 16-year-old driver to have anyone other than a family member in their car for 6 months anyway, but her mom thought she'd be nice and let Sarah take her boyfriend to and from school, which is not too far. I didn't know that the consequences for violating such a thing were as steep as they are. Apparently you get a warning the first time, and lose your license for 6 months for a second violation.

The boyfriend was the whole problem in this particular scenario, and being Sarah's first love, she wanted to do everything she could do to please him. He seems like a nice kid, but he's using her. Using her for transportation, food, and who knows what else. To top it off, his parents don't even know he has a girlfriend! The story I got was that they won't allow him to have a girlfriend. My theory is, because he's Cambodian he doesn't want them to know he's dating a Caucasian. He has no car and no license, nor does he seem to care about getting one. And why would he? He has Sarah's person shuttle service. Correction: HAD.

At any rate, I was very methodical and explained myself in a civilized manner. I covered all the points, explained myself well, told her how much I loved her, etc. Her mom also was very good during this whole thing.

While Sarah was buried face down on the couch and crying, I got up and told Teresa I was going to go to the store and would be back in a few. When I did come back, she came out and said that Sarah had went on a door-slamming, stuff throwing rampage for a bit after I left. I went in and Sarah was just trying to get online to do homework. It wasn't working, and I told her to come over and she could do her homework at my house.

I sat in my living room and stared at the walls... Thinking about all that had transpired that day. At 9 o'clock when they both showed up. She seemed much better. She got her homework done, and we talked a bit about different things while she was working. When they left at about 10:15 I gave her a big hug and told her I loved her.

When I finally went to bed, it occurred to me that I hadn't eaten a thing since noon. Sigh.

Sunday Morning & Sunny...

...And when you're me, sunny is a very welcome thing!

The mandatory workweek never really happened like they said it was supposed to. I ended up not working any overtime on Thursday or Friday. On Friday the foreman came up to me and said something like, "I don't see your name on the list for working Saturday."
"No, you don't," I said.
"You can explain that to Phil then." He replied, trying his best to scare me into changing my mind. (I believe I already explained that Phil is the co-owner of the company.)
At any rate, there was no way I was going to work Saturday and I didn't feel that his statement even warranted a reply, so I just shrugged my shoulders and went about my business.

Right after I got home on Friday I got a call from Sarah. "Dad? My car won't start." Ha, here she's been driving to school for a whopping 4 days so far and has already managed to leave her lights on and drain her battery. I went up and gave her a jump start.

Teresa and I have been talking back and forth on the phone about her, and T is worried about her having too much freedom so to speak. I had to agree that we need to establish some limitations and such now that she has a car. We agreed that I would have Sarah over more often whether she wants to or not. If nothing else, it will get her out from under her boyfriend's watchful eye from time to time. She expressed concern about Sarah wanting to go to the Puyallup Fair. Legally, you're not supposed to have anyone else in your car for 6 months if you're a new driver. Well, except family anyway. Teresa lets her shuttle her boyfriend to and from school, but that's it. She felt that if she went to the Fair she would have a carload of kids and would get into trouble. I agreed that she was not going to drive to the fair. There were just too many things to go wrong there, not the least of which was even knowing how to get there and where to go. Anyway, when I went up and gave her the jump start her boyfriend was with her, and I used that opportunity to tell her (and of course him) that she was not going to be driving to the fair in her car. Surprisingly, she agreed. When I told Teresa about it a little later on the phone, I suggested that maybe Sarah was hoping for us to tell her she couldn't go... And that maybe her boyfriend would have pressured her and goaded her into driving them there and she didn't want to have to deal with it. After all, it's been proven that even though kids don't admit it, they sometimes want to be told no. They need guidelines and parameters.

Sarah spent the night with me on Friday, coming over at about 6:30. We barbecued burgers on the grill, and afterwards spent a couple hours watching slides from when I was in Italy. The following morning I had to sort of ease her out the door at about 11:00 because I was going down to Melinda's house for their "barn party." It was kind of different having Sarah drive over now that she has a license. Of course that also means she can just get into her car and drive home whenever she wants instead of me shuttling her there. I wonder if that will take some getting used to?

I rode the Harley down to Melinda's and stayed until about 10pm. It was an excellent gathering. Great food and great people, and the party actually took place in their new barn! She has the same giant horse she has had for years and years, but there is also a new horse, recently acquired for Melinda's granddaughter. She is 4 years old, and the cutest thing you ever saw. Melinda presented her with a brand new pink saddle and some other riding gear. You should have seen the smile on her face as she sat proudly atop the horse while Melinda led them around the grounds. Neither of them could get enough of it! I told Melinda and Danny that I've lived in houses that weren't as nice as that barn was. It even has a shower stall with hot and cold water in it!

I always go to Melinda's house with my toiletries and such with me in case I end up staying overnight, but usually happens, I went home. It was a pretty fast ride (70-80) most of the way, so it's good I never ran across any cops.

It felt good to wake up in my own bed though, and also good that I didn't have to dress like I did yesterday when I got up.

Engulfed by Gloom

I was in a foul mood today. Dark, angry, fed up, and wanting to chuck it all out the window. It was one of those days when people can see it because you wear it like a crown of thorns. I was all at once sick of my car, my Harley, my truck, my job, my hair... You name it, I was pissed at it.


So, here's the majority of the things that drove me into the mental mud today:

Mandatory overtime - Okay, everyone knows I hate overtime. Hate, hate, hate. Because I didn't feel like pushing the issue this time, I said I'd work their mandatory 10 hours days this week. Apparently, I'm one of only a few guys there that can do silver-soldering (a form of brazing/welding). There was a certain product that we were overdue shipping and they needed me to do them. I finished them all by 4 o'clock. I planned on staying until 4:30, but there just wasn't that much else to do. Imagine my surprise when the parts I "hurried up and finished" were still sitting there untouched. When it came 2:30 today, I bailed. Whether I feel like working overtime tomorrow or not I'll decide when the time comes.

The leaky car - Everyone that has been keeping up on the latest and greatest knows I have a leaky car. You also know I put a new heater core in it, which was no easy task. You also know that it didn't fix the whole problem and it leaked again when I drove it shortly after a rainstorm. You may not know, however, that I spent some time out working on it a couple weekends ago, and did some re-sealing work on it. It involved removing the front fender and lots of associated parts. Did it fix it? No. It rained a couple nights ago, and when I drove to work the next morning it dumped all over the floor once again.

The truck that only starts when it wants to - My truck pisses me off so bad I just sneer at it when I walk by. I think it's starting to resent me now because when it only appears to start when I was only testing it--When I wasn't really going to drive anywhere anyway. In addition, when it starts during these times, it starts instantly.

The missing website - I clicked my website button yesterday and was greeted by this nice message of doom:

The page you're accessing no longer exists or you mistyped the URL.

Now isn't that a nice surprise? I tried to access it through my web software and through their website, and still: Nothing. It doesn't even recognize me as a user. Now wouldn't that give you a warm feeling? It's not like I will lose my files because I have them all here. Actually, I really haven't lost my website totally either, because like any good geek, I have a backup website with all the files all ready to go. There is talk on their support forum that it is a hardware problem at a "node" in their system that my website resides on, and it will be back up eventually. Whatever... It wouldn't be the first time I had to pack up and move on...

Harley shocks - My new Harley shocks that made it ride like shit when I first put them on? I had nothing but trouble trying to adjust them. It's made even harder by how it's designed and how close to the ground they are. What I'm trying to say is, even under optimum conditions adjusting them is a bitch. Let alone having them not want to adjust and bind up when I tried turning them. I ended up taking them each in and out twice. I rode it today and it's a major improvement, but I still need to tweak it more.

Those are just some of the highlights of my Wednesday mental state. There were also lots of other little things like having the high speed press go down today too, and upon removing the die and dissecting it, finding part of it shattered. I tried to busy myself as much as I could to keep my mind off things, but I know I was plodding along all day with a whipped look on my face. When 2:30 came, I left. Screw it.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better one.

Schedules and Shocks

I will have to just stop making plans that include Sarah. I don't mean I won't stop doing things with Sarah, I'll just stop making advance plans to do things.

It's pretty much a regular thing--We agree on something, and by the time it rolls around she has forgotten about it and has made other plans. Last night was another example of it. I was going to take Teresa and Sarah out for dinner to celebrate her driver's license, remember? She was going to stay overnight as well. Well, yesterday morning T called me and said that Sarah has a game she's going to, etc. I said fine... Maybe tonight then. It may actually happen this time or may not, but the point is there is just too much going on in a 16 year-olds life, and probably very few of them have learned how to juggle appointments.

My day ended up being spent in the garage. I put the new shocks on my Harley that I've had sitting around for a couple of weeks. It was pretty labor-intensive, but went pretty much without a hitch. After I put them on, I sat my ass down on the bike and noticed an immediate difference in firmness.

I was feeling pretty good at that point, and for some reason instead of going for a test ride I instead decided to dissect the stack of pallets that had become furniture in my garage since last winter. I think it was because I was barely dressed and wanted to stay that way as long as possible (obviously nude would have been preferable). I spent almost 3 hours pounding them apart and pulling all the nails out of them. I didn't want to cut them up just yet--I wasn't in the sawdust mood--I just wanted to create more floor space. I ended up being pretty sweaty and dirty by the time I was finished, but felt good that I had done it. When I do decide to cut them up it will be easy. The hard work is done.

After taking a shower, I put on my riding gear and took the Harley out to test its new shocks. Holy shit, it rode like I had taken out the shocks and put a solid bar of steel in their place instead! It was positively fucking bone-jarring. I rode for about a half hour only because I just plain felt like riding, but at that point I had finally had enough and headed for home. It is apparent that they are set up to haul a good sized passenger full time. They are designed so you can adjust the spring preload by turning a portion of the shock, and I'm glad I took the time to make a spanner wrench a week or so ago to adjust them with. I will definitely be doing that today. Wow, I still can't believe how uncomfortable that was. I was afraid if I had went any longer either part of me or part of the bike would have probably broken from hitting bumps...

Sarah's Car Comes Out of Mothballs

Yes, it's true--It's finally happened. Teresa finally put insurance on Sarah's car Wednesday morning.

The poor car hasn't moved much since it was bought. It came home on March 10th, and sat not being moved once for a couple weeks, and then it was only into the garage. The poor thing remained there, untouched until we resurrected it to drive it on our trip on July 7th. After we came back from the trip, it sat until Wednesday.

Her permanent laminated license showed up on Tuesday, so now she has that, and in addition has a key ring with a car key and a house key on it. That one little key ring carries an awful lot of responsibility.

I must say, it's been a series of frustrations for me... Watching that car sit in neglect like it has. I'm just glad it's over and my spent money is finally being used.

Now the ball is in Sarah's court. I hope she maintains whatever criteria she needs to so she keeps her privileges. She is not exactly what you call a "go-getter" and she has never been one you could depend on to get things done. Some people have it and some people don't. Yesterday she was home all day. I don't know if she gave Teresa some sort of chickenshit excuse to be able to do so or not. I stopped by there after work and was there when Teresa came home. Apparently she had given Sarah a list of things to do while she was home and none of them got done. Simple things like watering the plants on the deck out back. They started arguing about all manner of things like that, and I was reminded about how much I hated that sort of thing while I lived there. Rhon told me later it was a mother/daughter thing--Arguing like that. Whatever it is, I didn't like it one bit.

Personally, I think she probably did what I would have attempted: Stay home so you can go driving in the car.

Don't blow it Sarah... All eyes are on you at this point.

Wow, it's Thursday Already!

I guess that means that things are going well and smoothly for time to go by that quickly eh?

So, today is Taco Thursday at thousands of biker bars around the country, and because the weather is so nice, I'd probably better partake myself. Although my Harley is kinda dirty and covered with bugs, at least I changed its oil last night.

A 3-day weekend coming up, and once again they announced mandatory 10-hour days next week at work. This time, however, they added a new twist: Mandatory Saturday next weekend also. I told them no way... Sorry... Uh uh. I'm committed to hit a party at Melinda's house that Saturday!

I haven't talked to Sarah for a day or so, but she's been working at Teresa's work during the day. She's getting genuine minimum wage, so it's her first real job! The bottom line here is that if she wants to drive her car (aka get it insured) her mom said she's going to have to see some work/job searching initiative. She may already be on the way, because Teresa texted me yesterday morning and wanted to know the date I bought Sarah's car. For all I know she's driving it already.

I'd better stop tonight and find out!

A Lunar Eclipse!

You know what? There aren't many advantages to getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning. As a matter of fact, if I were to start a side-by-side list, I'd probably find more disadvantages than advantages.

Being able to see a lunar eclipse would have never entered my mind before this morning.

I was talking about it last night in the chat room--The fact that although it would still be visible when I got up this morning, I'd probably never see it. I'd probably get up on "autopilot" and stumble down to the kitchen in my usual naked state to start my coffee pot and make my lunch sandwich. After all, that's why I always make my coffee pot at night before I go to bed--So I can stumble downstairs and just plug it in and turn it on without having to tax my brain too much.

Well, I surprised myself. The instant I got out of bed and stood up it occurred to me to check on the eclipse. I went to the spare bedroom and looked out, half expecting to not even see the moon at all (I can only see west and southwest), but there it was.

It's hard to describe, but it was dark and light at the same time. It was both reddish and yellowish. It reminded me of a strange full moon... The kind that is showing through clouds and projecting odd coloring because of it. Shortly thereafter, it started looking like your "usual" eclipse--A sliver of brightness showing on one side and becoming progressively larger. At this time it's about three quarters brightness and one quarter dark.

It's very cool.

I have no idea how many planetary events of one kind or another that I've witnessed in my lifetime. Most of them happen at night, and even if you know about them and try to see them you're still subject to cloud cover (at least here in Washington). This may be the first one I've ever gotten to see so much of. Although I missed the slow transition to eclipse mode, at least I got to see the whole "unfolding" of it from eclipse mode. While it's not like a solar eclipse (which I have seen) it's a lot easier to see!

It's just another of the many things we insignificant humans can stare in wonder at.

Nudestock!

Yesterday was awesome. Why? Two things happened yesterday: Sarah got her driver's license, and I went to Nudestock.

I was on pins and needles all morning waiting to hear the results of Sarah's driving test. As I said previously, Teresa took her to North Bend for her test, and it was slated to happen at 8:30, which is when they open. I was sitting around here all morning, nervous for her, hoping that she passed. I was also nervous because the weather at Nudestock was going to be substandard, and I had no idea what to take or do differently.

I was sitting at the computer chatting, making careful note of the time. 9 o'clock comes and goes. 9:30 comes and goes. Where was the phone call from Sarah or Teresa? I kept looking at my cell phone every time I nervously walked into the kitchen area, as if I was asking it, "Where's my fucking message, you lazy phone?" Finally, I just picked it up and took it with me upstairs to the computer. 10 o'clock comes and goes. I didn't dare call Sarah--What if she had the phone with her and was on her drive at that moment? Anyway, Nudestock starts the music at 11am, and I was running out of time. I showered quickly (with both phones nearby) and hurriedly got all my stuff together. By now 10:30 had come and gone. I took one trip out to the car and had come back for the last of the stuff, and as I picked up my cell phone, there onscreen was the "1 new text message" notification. I took a deep breath and nervously opened the phone, punched up the message, and there it was: I Passed! I gave a call and congratulated her and sped off in my car.

The weather in Auburn actually wasn't that bad. Sure, it was overcast, but it didn't look like rain or anything. The closer I got to the locale of the nudist park however, the worse it looked. I seriously wondered if I was out of my mind when I turned onto the wet dirt road that led to their haven. I paid, parked, and grabbed all my stuff. The first band was already playing. It hadn't rained yet, but it was only about 60 degrees, so for the first time in all the times I had been there I walked to the lawn area still wearing my shorts and t-shirt.

The crowd was very tiny compared to last year. I overheard one guy telling another later in the day that it was the smallest Nudestock turnout ever. Anyway, I sat down on my blanket and got into the music. There were plenty of nude people around, but I'd say way less than half the people were unclothed. Many of those that were dressed were only half dressed. Although you wouldn't normally think much about that statement, it was different at nudist park than anywhere else. There were many men and women wearing t-shirts and no bottoms, and many with bottoms and no tops. Yes, watching people dancing up there with bare asses under their t-shirts was truly unique!

At about noonish it was getting pretty warm so I dumped my clothes and headed for the hot tub. They were in high demand yesterday because of the crappy weather. There were many times I wanted to go in but couldn't. Anyway, I stayed nude from that time on, and little by little most folks finally shed their clothing as well.

I experienced a real light, misty rain at one point, so I rolled my blanket up a bit, covered my bags, and went for a swim in the pool. The pool felt really warm yesterday, obviously in comparison to the air temperature. By the time I got out it had stopped already, and it had hardly even gotten anything moist. The sun came out here and there, and when it did it was instantly 10 degrees hotter. Wow... It was literally like standing next to a hot oven and opening its door.

At about 4 o'clock or so our good luck came to an end. It came down pretty hard for about 10 or 15 minutes. I was into the whole experience at that point, and chose not to leave. I could have ran to my car and gotten an umbrella that I had in the trunk, but that would have still left my blanket and stuff to get soaked. No, I chose to stay sitting. After all, my blanket was nice and dry under my ass. Instead of running, I grabbed the front of my blanket and folded it over my lap and my bags, and draped one of my towels over my head. It was actually pretty cozy and comfortable. When that rain hit, all those dancing that had been wearing any clothing at all (a couple t-shirts I think were all) peeled em off and continued dancing in the rain. I would have done the same but for the fact that I don't really dance and had no dance partner anyway. The whole thing was really cool to experience though. Throughout it all, the pool and hot tubs remained unchanged of course.

After the rain stopped, I took my bag and cooler (they had remained dry under the blanket fortunately) to the car, then went back and gathered up the totally soaked blanket and towel. I had no intention of leaving at that point, but my "base camp" had been rendered pretty much useless. When I came back from my car, I wandered by the fire pit for the first time ever. They have an awesome fire pit dug that's carved into the ground, and it has benches lining it all the way around. I spent my last hour standing around the fire (which was huge), talking with people and enjoying the music. It was awesome! It was a totally cool way to spend my last hour of the day. At about 5 o'clock I could see an extremely ominous wall of gray coming our way. It was the kind of gray that meant 'rain squall' and because we were up on a hilltop, we could see it coming before it got there. At that time I decided that it was a good time to make my way out of there. I had just gotten to my car when it let loose. I'm sure there were still lots of folks dancing in it, but they were probably folks that had their RV's there, so how wet or cold they got really wouldn't have mattered much.

It was a fantastic experience, as Nudestock always is. All day long there were parasails lazily floating down, landing at a site that was just a short distance from us. They were all two-person rigs, operated by a school or service about a mile or two towards the town of Issaquah. Some of them spiraled down close enough that you could see them waving. There were a few vendors there too. The same guy that sells homemade soybean wax jar candles every year was there again, and I bought a lilac one. He has every scent you can imagine. I also bought a Nudestock 2007 t-shirt of course. They are only $10 and this years design is very cool! It has the look of the late 60's in it... I totally love it!

All in all, it was a very cool day of Nudestock, even if it was totally different weather than I would have liked.

Danger: Nerd Cutting Loose

Yep, livin' on the edge... That's what I'm doing... Here it is--Friday night, and I'm sitting here defragmenting my hard drive.

What's wrong with this picture?

It just seems so wrong doesn't it? To celebrate the end of the work week... By sitting here defragmenting my hard drive?! I never would've guessed in a million years that I'd be perfectly happy (that's the key isn't it) doing something so mundane on a Friday night.

Truth is, I've never done well with Fridays anyway. Friday is a normal workday, which means that you get up at the crack of dawn and work all day, right? Well, how the hell can a person expect to really party on Friday night if they've already been up for umpteen hours, and are probably worn out, both physically and mentally to boot? Well, as much as I'd like to say, "Yeah, I was out until the wee hours on Friday... I had a great time", it's just not accurate. I'm a person that admits that I'm better off taking it easy on Friday night. Saturday... Now THAT'S another story. No wait... Who am I fooling--I just don't have the "party stamina" anymore, simple as that.

Sarah passed her written license test a couple days ago, and she's going to take her driving test tomorrow morning. Teresa is taking her to test in the sleepy little town of North Bend at 8:30. I rode around town for an hour or so this evening to prep her and see how she's doing, and my honest opinion is that she's not quite ready. It's not anything to do with her actual handling of the car--She's doing very well at that. No, it's going to the the little shit that bites her in the ass. Everyone assumes that they're going to fail the parallel parking portion, and most people fail the backing around corners portion as well. That's 8 points off right there, and you need an 80 to pass. She has trouble remembering the turn signal 100% of the time is the main thing. Handling stop sign intersections wasn't sitting well with me either. Maybe I'm being too nitpicky, but I'm pretty sure the tester will do the same if not more.

I haven't gotten to drive with her and teach her and I feel bad about that. Once again here I am--A self-admitted bad parent. I guess I had a bad taste in my mouth about me buying her a car last March and she not being interested in driving any longer after attaining the title of "permit holder." She has been driving all the time since then, but just from point A to point B, and always in Teresa's car (hers is an automatic and mine isn't). Now I find out badly she wants to get her license before school starts next week, and feel that she's jumping the gun. I'm sure she wants it because her boyfriend is urging her to do so. Part of me wants her to pass so I can be proud of her and share her triumph, but part of me wants her to fail so she can become an even better driver. I'm also a little uneasy about her doing this just because her boyfriend doesn't want to get HIS license. I feel in agreement with Teresa if what she says is true about him using her that way. Trouble is, Teresa has been known to almost always blow things totally out of proportion.

Tomorrow is Nudestock, and even though the weather has been predicted to be iffy, I am still planning on going.

A Strange End to Summer

If that's indeed what it is. I sure feels like it's ended.

This has been the coolest, wettest, worst August I can ever recall in my lifetime. Come on--Mid 60's?! What is wrong with this picture? Don't the weather gods know how much I hate clothing? I have had to change plans umpteen times in the last few weeks. As a matter of fact, I have been having to throw a light robe on while I'm sitting here having my morning coffee. Sunday I almost turned my heat on (gasp!) Almost.

No, it's just not right for August.

What's really pissing me off is the fact that it's starting to look like it might ruin Nudestock. It's coming up this Saturday, and according to a couple of online weather reports, one says a high of 70 with showers, and the other says mostly sunny with a high of 68. Hey, it's either or... Same thing only they vary by two degrees. All I know is, that kind of weather is not a nudist's favorite. It will probably have an effect of crowd turnout for sure. Oh well, if I do go and that's the case, the pool and hot tubs won't be quite as crowded. Nudestock is the biggest event all year at their facility, and I have been looking forward to it since last year!

Sarah has had a renewed interest in getting her driver's license lately, and yesterday Teresa took her down and she passed the written part of her test. I have talked with Teresa over the phone about her a few times, and she expressed a certain doubt about how "one-sided" it will be between Sarah and her boyfriend as far as the car thing goes. Apparently he's even more lazy than Sarah is (like me she's not a real "ball of fire"), and Teresa feels that Sarah will be investing all this time and trouble and money without seeing any reciprocation from him. It's not like Sarah has a source of income either, although she has also expressed an interest in putting out some job applications. That's a bit of a "Catch-22" really, because you almost can't have one without the other. Teresa has fixed Sarah up with a debit card (Sarah's account) so we'll see how that goes. Generally she is pretty good with money. I was talking to Sarah last night, and asked her if she remembered how much it cost me on our vacation to fill her car up with gas each time. She was close... But the point was how big of a chunk of cash it costs to operate a vehicle these days. The good thing is, Sarah has gotten to be a pretty good driver (Teresa's words) so I feel better about that at least.

I spent a little time over there talking with Sarah after work yesterday, and she showed me an artwork that she had finally finished that had been started in the final months of art class at school. She's very good! I would love to have her do a picture for me that I could treasure for the rest of my life. She also showed me her new ASB card (registration for the school year was just recently) and she has a very good picture on it. She has gotten very photogenic recently. She had an awkward era there (like all teenagers do) where she was trying to keep up with everything her body was throwing at her, but she really looks confident and beautiful in her pictures these days.

Well, the migration of chatters from Yahoo to Paltalk has been amazing. The new chat client works so well and everybody is having a great time. It was good to see Rhon make her way on there for the first time last night as well, and it was surprising to me (and probably to her as well) how many folks she knew in the room from her past chatting experiences.

One thing that reared its ugly head recently was weather-based. At least the findings were weather-based. All that work I did on my car--Gutting the whole interior and putting a new heater core in was mostly for naught. Apparently only a small portion of the leakage that was coming out of my heater was actually antifreeze from the heater core (I know some of it was because you could smell it). I drove the car somewhere Sunday after it had been sitting in the rain all day Saturday and was pissed to find a gusher of water come down through the heater when I turned a corner! Argghh! See, all cars have a "dead space" around the area of wiper linkage where inside meets outside. In other words, water from outside my enter these spaces (it has to really) but is funneled back out--Usually down either side of the firewall. I guess there is a seam leak somewhere in my car, and although fixing those water leaks is usually a cheap and straightforward thing, finding it or accessing it isn't. I may have to dissect the whole interior again just to do water tests.

I feel like sending both my car and my truck to the crusher and starting over...

Well, it looks like I need to ride the Harley to work the next couple of days so I can take advantage of the weather. That always makes getting off work doubly special!

Online Chatting

I have been chatting online for years and I have enjoyed it immensely. I have met some of my best friends whom I love dearly online in chat rooms of one kind or another.

But I'm here to tell you about the end Yahoo chatting.

No, I'm not going to stop chatting online--I love it! I will, however, be pretty much giving up on Yahoo. Why? Simply put, it's broken and they don't seem to have any desire to fix it. Sure, the individual messenger windows (aka PM's or IM's) still seem to work pretty well for the most part, but not the public rooms. They are dead or dying.

Yahoo chat rooms have always been plagued by "bots" that keep popping in and soliciting your interest with sexy one-liners and promises to "get naughty" or whatever. They also have an annoying habit of parking their names in chat rooms (which only hold 50 people each by the way...) so only so many humans can come in. This has always been the way of Yahoo, to allow this sort of thing to happen. Whatever software features (or "holes" if you will) that Yahoo has built in to their system to allow people to put their "bots" in has also allowed hackers to exploit their system. There are many power-hungry hacker geeks that love nothing more than to take control of areas of the Yahoo chat system.

I believe we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Yahoo chat rooms. Lately, the bots have changed. It's like they have gotten "smarter" if you will. At the same time, the rooms have developed serious issues that basically make them completely unusable to us lowly humans:

• The biggest problem was getting into your favorite room to begin with.
• Text that you typed wasn't always visible to the others in the room. Sometimes others would have to relay what you typed because someone else could see it. A few minutes later it would be someone else that's text disappeared to a user or two. We called it "Yahoo stealing our crayons."
• A serious time lag between when you typed a line and when others actually saw it had developed. I'm talking about 50 or more lines (two full screens or so) or more of typed text before someone in the room saw what you had typed. That's a HUGE lag.

All of these things have a cumulative effect: Non-usability.

My theory (and of course it's just MY theory) is that Yahoo is planning this. Here's what I mean: They allow all this to take place little by little, and in fact encourage it to a certain extent. Human users can't use their system at all because it's basically so broken that it's non-functional to them so they stop using it. Because of that, usage by humans goes down. It gets to a certain point and Yahoo can publicly announce, "Due to declining use, we have decided to cease operation of public chat rooms on Yahoo servers." If they did that when all the systems were up and functioning perfectly, imagine what an outcry there would be. This way all they have to do is point to their statistics and say, "See?" Again, it's just a theory, but hey... If it happens remember where you saw it first!

Okay, here's the real message of my post today: If I'm not on Yahoo any more, where will I be? On PalTalk, that's where.

A bunch of people that like chatting in one of Yahoo's rooms called Washington:4 have gotten together and went this direction. Although I paid a little money for an upgrade to eliminate ads and such, it's a totally free thing and it works very well. It works just the same way as most any other chat thing: You don't have to be in a room to chat with somebody. You can see them online (if they're on your "pal list") and send em a private message. I do however, encourage any of you that consider it to make sure your antivirus software is current and functioning well. You just never know what's out there...

I am on this ALL the time if I'm chatting, so chances are you won't find me on Yahoo any longer. My chat name is still grayhaird and I would LOVE for you to pop in and say hi whenever you see me online.

I don't want to lose anybody!

A Brave Boy

So I stopped at the Fred Meyer store across the street from me on the way home yesterday to buy some groceries. I had just walked up to the self-check line and witnessed the tail end of a tirade.

A guy, maybe 35 or so, and his boy, who was maybe 10, had just completed a checkout purchase. Apparently, he didn't get some sort of discount for using your own shopping bag or something... The details of that I don't know. I only know what I witnessed.

He storms off, leaving his items there at the self-check stand, making some comment about not shopping there any more.
"Come on Dylan!" he hollers not even looking back.
"But sir, you paid for those items. They're yours," the cashier says after him.
His son Dylan is looking around at the other shoppers nervously, and starts to get their purchases. Dad hollers again, "Dylan... Leave it." Dylan doesn't quite know what to do. Again, the cashier tells him he has paid for the items, they're his. Dylan nervously picks up the things and has just exited the self-check area when Dad-from-Hell storms back, rips the items out of his son's hands and literally throws them on the floor.

The sales gal is nervous and scared and calls for a manager to come down there 'right now' and also asks if a few of us in the area would remain in case she needs witnesses.

A minute or so after dad and son have left the store, Dylan came back in. Looking brave, scared, and blank-faced all at the same time, he quietly picked up the items, occasionally looking around at all the people watching him. My heart went out to him. I'll never forget the look on his face.

Dylan has got a lot going for him... Except to have to put up with a father like he has.

My New Girlfriend

Okay, okay... She's not a real girlfriend... She's made of plastic.

No, no... Wait... That's not what I meant! She's not that kind of a plastic girlfriend! I bought a mannequin yesterday. Really. I know, I know... Why the fuck would anyone buy a mannequin? Well I'll tell you, I've been shopping for one for a long time now, and they are not easy to find under $100. I found her for $30 the next town over yesterday, listed on Craigslist.com.

Okay, back to the question: Why?

The idea sprang from the fact that I have an antique motorcycle helmet I wanted to display. For a while I thought about getting a Styrofoam head like they use to display wigs, but then I thought, "Hey, I've got all these Harley t-shirts, I've got a ladies leather jacket, I've got got goggles... I've got all kinds of stuff. Maybe a full-size mannequin would be more fun."

So here she is as she appeared in the ad:




She's a hottie isn't she? So far she is only wearing a pair of my jeans and a Harley t-shirt, so she isn't exactly projecting that "biker bitch" look I'm after. She needs lotsa work--Wig, goggles, etc. She's a bit tall too--I look eye to eye with her. I may just take the torso and place it on a barstool or plant stand somewhere. I don't need "Barbie legs" on a goofy biker bitch display do I? So far I just have her standing in my living room where I assembled her--Right near the TV, but I need to do something about putting her in a good spot soon...

She's scared the shit outta me a couple times already.

The Extremes of a Saturday

What's that mean? Well, my day started out by going to work at 6am like any other workday, but ended up with me sitting naked in a hot tub at Fraternity Snoqualmie!

Anyone that knows me already knows how I feel about working overtime. I hate it. Time is more important than money to me. Even if I have nothing planned, I still feel it's important time because it's my time. They asked a bunch of us on Thursday, and my answer was "Sorry, no way" as usual. Well, Friday came and things started to fall apart. My shipping/receiving workload grew exponentially because I was away from the desk doing maintenance on the high speed press, getting it ready for a product changeover. We run two different products on that press, so we try to do maintenance and such on one die while the other die is in the press. Believe me, those dies have LOT of parts in them and things to go wrong. Everything has a +/- tolerance of one thousandth of an inch. Anyway, after I installed the "next" die and fired it up late Friday, nothing went right. Part of it broke, so I took it back out and replaced that part and put it back in. Then the parts were coming out way out of tolerance. Then the parts were coming out with slug imprints in them. It was just one thing after another.

The bottom line: In an act of self-preservation, I opted to come in on Saturday.

I was surprised at the fact that about half the shop was there--Even the office personnel. Apparently, everybody was totally overwhelmed with work. At any rate, I got the die problems ironed out and reinstalled, and the press is now hammering out perfect parts again. That's a relief because we needed it to be running as soon as possible to make the next delivery of 200,000 parts. By the time we all left at noon, all was well except my inbox. That was due to the fact that the office personnel was in there also. They send the jobs to me before they go to the shop, and I have to attach copies of material certifications before the shop can actually make parts.

I rode the bike to work, which helped my attitude going in. I looked at the weather report online before I left, and it said it was supposed to get up to low 80's or so (we have been having a very cool August this year). It also said that Saturday would be the best day of the next few coming up. During work I decided that I would go up to the nudie park if the weather didn't take a total nosedive.

After leaving work at noon, I went home, ate lunch, and gathered all my supplies together. I drove the half hour there and went into the welcome center (that's where you have to stop and check in/pay, etc). I had been wrestling with membership for some time now, not exactly sure which direction to go with it, but knew I had to do something (after all, Nudestock was coming up!) Having exhausted my first 3 visits to the park, I was at a crossroads: Become a member or not. The last two times I was there were this May or June, and the during the last visit the gal in the welcome center gave me the form to fill out for my membership. Well yesterday I carried it in there, along with my checkbook. I was fully expecting to become a member yesterday. Because it was so late in the season I was opting for the "Limited B" membership, which is much cheaper, but you have to pay $11 grounds fees each time you visit. At any rate, it didn't work that way yesterday.

I wasn't in their system.

Try as she might, she could not find me anywhere in her computer. How could that be? I was at Nudestock the previous year for my first visit. When I paid the next two times (this year) the gal at the computer just did a couple clicks with the mouse, took my payment and that was it, so I know I was in it then.

Suddenly, here I was at ground zero once again. My past had been erased. She said, "Well it looks like you get to start over. This is your free visit!" While I was happy about that, I can't help but wonder how much revenue they lose from time to time by stupid things like that. Sitting in the hot tub later I found out from other members that they had experienced some computer database issues a while back. Evidently they had restored a "less than current" backup copy. Oh well, that means for $19 I can go to Nudestock in two weeks!

I took my laptop this time when I went, wanting to try out the fact that they have free wireless advertised. It certainly did work, but like all wireless, depends on where you sit and how far away. Still, it's pretty cool to be able to be in a place like that and send an email to your friends, saying "Guess where I am?" They also have a new popcorn machine in their clubhouse, so now there is free unlimited popcorn to enhance your visit. While the weather was definitely less than hot, it was no less great. I had a great time as usual. Where else can you sit naked in a hot tub and meet people?

Very cool. Very cool indeed.

Things Eventually Come to an End

A couple days ago I decided to drop by Costco on my way home from work.

Teresa gets a free Costco card from her boss, I'm piggybacked off of her card (spouses get one at no charge). A while back (maybe almost a year ago) I went in to do some shopping and was told at the cashier that her employer hadn't renewed their account yet. It's a pretty common occurrence at their store, and they go ahead and complete your purchase anyway, but it's kind of embarrassing. Because of that episode, I always start by going to the service counter before I shop and asking them to check my card.

All good things got to come to an end. (Stolen line from "Wildwood Weed" by Jim Stafford.)

The lady punches me into the computer and says, "It says here that you have been removed from the account."
"Hmm, that's odd," I said, "How about my wife?
I told her Teresa's name and she said, "No, hers is active."

Not wanting to pursue the matter, I just thanked my lucky stars that I was able to get into Costco on his dime for a year and a half up to this point. I didn't think anyone had anything to gain monetarily by limiting a card to only one person though. It's a Costco thing to offer an additional card free to a spouse, not the employer's. I suppose it's possible that Costco themselves actually did it as a result of the divorce paperwork that may take a long time to finally filter outward like a ripple in a pond, but it sounds more like something her boss would do. I like the guy and get along with him great, but he owns a collection agency, and he knows how to be tight with money. He doesn't even pay his own bills until the second or third notice. He knows exactly how far he can push all of them for his benefit.

Oh well... It was a good run while it lasted, but damn--I really had a hankering for a Costco-sized jar of marinated artichoke hearts...

In my last post I mentioned that I had placed an ad on Craigslist for a heater fan for my Neon. The next day I got a reply from a guy way up in Bellingham. He had one for $20. I wouldn't dream of driving to Bellingham for a heater fan motor--It would have cost me that much in gas. Well, it turns out that he comes all the way to Auburn every Thursday to pick up a car at the auto auction here in town, so my timing was perfect. I met him there yesterday, plugged the motor in (it's an excellent design--no tools needed for removal or installation) and paid him his twenty bucks.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? (Stolen line from George Peppard on the A-Team.)

Fish-Sitting?

If there is such a thing, I guess that's what I'm doing for the next week or so.

I went over to see what was going on at Sarah and Teresa's house yesterday. I hadn't been there since like Wednesday or so of last week! Wow... Time got away from me there apparently. Anyway, she and her boyfriend and Teresa were all there. She and Teresa are going over to visit her friend over near Chewelah on Wednesday, so I offered to watch their goldfish until their return on the following Wednesday or so. Yep, call me a fish-sitter.

I went to drive the truck to work yesterday morning, and it wouldn't start again. I drove it off and on all weekend, but now it craps out on me again. The Neon wasn't "quite" ready to drive, but I was already a tad bit late to start gathering up Harley riding apparel, so it was my choice. It just barely turned over--Apparently I left the dome light inside on all day and night. No matter... At least it started.

I noticed right away that it shifts a lot easier. One of the little things I fixed was a missing bushing on the shifter cable. Without the bushing, there was a big hole for a little linkage pin to slop around in. That meant the cable had to move farther than normal each direction to get the required movement out of the shift linkage.The missing bolt I had on the coolant bottle mount didn't give me a problem either.

After work I stopped by the two junkyards in Kent that are situated right next to each other. I did a thorough walk around in each of them, finding all the Neon's they had and checking them over. I got the missing retainer nut I needed easily, but not the blower motor. I just happen to have a Neon with NO air conditioning, and I must be the only one in the world. The blower motors on AC-equipped cars are different. Oh well, for my troubles, I pocketed a couple of lighted heater knobs from a slightly newer Neon. Mine is a first year model Neon, and although the panel behind the knobs is lit the heater control knobs are not, so at night I could never see which direction the knobs were pointing. Now I can.

I left the stereo out of it when I put it back together too. It had been acting up for a few years now, and sometimes I'd have to bang on it to get sound out of it. After I got home from the junkyard I put the new heater control knobs on, attached the coolant bottle, and reinstalled the OEM AM-FM cassette that came in it (lucky for me I kept it). It was super easy to install because I didn't modify any wiring when I put the CD unit in a number of years ago. Unplug one, plug in the other. It sounds great, but has no CD player. Oh well... I hardly ever listen to them anyway. My commutes aren't long enough.

All I have to do now is track down a source of a blower fan motor. I've already placed a wanted ad in Craigslist for one. Now I'll just keep looking.

Better Late Than Never, Right?

Yeah, I know it's been a while since I posted, but that's just the way it goes.

There was kind of an odd twist to the heater core part I ordered last weekend when I tore the Neon apart. I mentioned how it was "cheaper than buying local." Turns out, it was local. It shipped so fast I had it in my hands on Tuesday, and that's when I noticed that they shipped it right from a warehouse right here in Auburn! How 'bout that. Even though I had the core by Tuesday, I didn't get it put in until Saturday. It actually went together a lot faster than tearing it apart went. That's because I kept having to refer to different parts of my book for information when I took it apart. It probably only took about 2 hours to put it together, but I spent considerably longer than that because of cleaning and fixing other little related things. At the time of this writing, I still haven't finished it 100%. I'm missing a fairly important little nut that holds the coolant overflow bottle under the hood, and I don't dare drive it without it and chance breaking the one remained hold-down ear off the bottle. It's unique enough that I didn't have one in my stash of spare hardware in the garage either, so I'm going to stop by a junkyard on the way home from work today and grab one off another car. While I'm there I'm also going to buy a fan blower motor for the heater. All the time the heater had been leaking took its toll on the blower and seized it up.

I did a lot of domestic chores yesterday. How fun, right? Multiple loads of laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming, changing bedclothes... You name it.

One thing that I really wanted to do yesterday was to lie out in the backyard nude and get some sun, but it didn't work out. Working on the car all day Saturday wearing only loose shorts added more color to my back, making the contrast of my white ass even more striking. I wanted to get some color on my ass as well as take a nice relaxing nap. I hauled my blanket out there and stretched myself out, but was only there 10 minutes before I called it quits. Why? Well, yesterday was a big day in the Seattle area, the Seafair Unlimited Hydroplane races. Anywhere you went in town you noticed how dead it was because everyone was home watching the races on TV. It also gave a lot of people the excuse to have gatherings at their houses, which is apparently what was going on next door. After lying there only 10 minutes, there was just too much talking and laughing wafting through the open windows in their house, and I didn't feel comfortable at all. More people in the house means more chances of someone looking out one of the windows and spotting me. What made it even worse was how totally perfect the temperature and the sun both were.

Dammit. I'm having sun withdrawals...

Buncha Dang Copycats...

I doubt if a lot of my friends know I had a personals ad running on Craiglist.

It wasn't your usual personals ad like someone looking for their ideal mate--It was me advertising my wish to wash my car in the nude at someones house. Yes, you heard me. My landlord had written a "no car washing" rule into the contract because of something a prior tenant did, so I can't wash them here. It's such a simple little request isn't it? You would think so, but evidently not.

Well, I did get a few well-wishers, such as people that wished they could take me up on it but didn't have the space and things like that, but no takers. I ran basically the same thing last summer as well, again receiving the same sort of replies with no takers.

Here's the most recent version of it as it appeared in Craigslist:

Nudist will wash your cars! - m4w

Yes, this is on the level. I posted a similar ad last summer, but only received a few good luck wishes, so I thought I'd give it another shot.

I love to be out in the sun wearing nothing but a smile, and I also have a very dirty car and no place to wash it (it's a landlord thing to prevent water abuse). If you let me wash my car at your secluded location, I'll wash your vehicle(s) as well.

I don't have any other motives than to enjoy being outdoors au naturale and to get my disgustingly dirty car clean. I don't care if you watch or help. I'm not going to do anything bad, nor am I a strange/unusual/lecherous person. I'm a decent-looking genuinely nice guy with a penchant for breezes and sun. Maybe there's some other outside chores you need help with?

I would like to limit myself to the South King/North Pierce County area.

Give it a shot!

Now it seems like there are a whole lot of people jumping up with off-beat requests. Here are a couple of recent ones:

nude housecleaning - m4mw

I am offering nice nude housecleaning you get a very nice looking nude male cleaning up a bit while you touch and play???twenty per hour...email for pics and times???

Location: Anywhere

nude housecleaning and or light body work - m4mw

I need a hair cut and would love to be naked while you cut my hair???Let me know very nice looking male????

Location: South Seattle

working at home in the nude - m4mw

I am working from home in the nude any ladies and or couples want to stop by and lend a helping hand. email for pic and location

Location: Kent

I'm thinking the last 3 ads might have come from the same guy. What's pathetic is that in each one he has loosened his criteria just a little bit. Finally, at the end he didn't care what someone came over for... Just so they came over.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Okay, if that's the case, I'm flattered. In the meantime, I sighed deeply and deleted my ad for the remainder of the season. I didn't want to look like just another copycat.

Meanwhile, my car and my truck get dirtier, and dirtier, and dirtier...