Leaping Lizzards! (And Gus...)

Did I mention that Gus likes the snow?

And that Idgie still looks regal.

A Christmas Wish

May you always have someplace to curl up where you are safe, and warm, and loved.

(And having a few chewy toys around isn't bad, either...)

A Winter Wonderland, with Shoveling

Look at all the snow on top of my poor little car!

A White Christmas Perhaps?

Got the tree decorated today and the snow started falling tonight. A sign, perhaps?

And a word about the tree - it's nearly nine feet tall and Diane got it for $20 at Save Mart. (And thanks again to the bag boy who helped her hoist it onto her roof and tie it down - you did a nice thing, Sir.)

My car will get its first test in the snow tomorrow (or at least its first test with me behind the wheel.) I figure the Germans should ought to build a car that can handle snow, since they get a fair amount. I've got Z-chains to fit it and two bags of rocks to give the back some weight and bite. I should be fine. There's a story over at Everything's Shiny for those who like their car news served separately.

For the Christmas crew coming here - we'll ferry any and all who don't have four-wheel drive or chains from dry land in the SUV. It's too pretty to miss and we're comfortable with the driving.

Dogs like snow.

The King is Dead. Long Live the King!

Yesterday was Frankie's last halftime show at Memorial Stadium. (A Disney show, beginning with Lion King themes as you might have guessed from the picture...)

Good game, great show and a great season. He'll lead the band onto the field at AT&T Park for the Emerald Bowl as his last official act as the Drum Major of the University of California Marching Band. ("The Best Damn Band in the Land!") A new drum major will be elected this Tuesday, and he or she will then have responsibility for the 230-member company that is the Cal Band.

It was an amazing experience, watching this from our Proud Parent seats in Section X of the Gold Zone. I simply could not be more impressed by or more proud of Frankie. Go Bears!

What the UPS Guy Brought

Got the first galleys of The Portable Dad today.

Kinda cool. Kinda a lot of damn work.

I'll focus on the cool side tonight...

The Idgie Containment System

Well it is after today.

It was a beautiful day today - mid to upper-70s, leaves changing, etc. etc. I was outside fussing with the wiring on the '02, and let the dogs come out with me. AD was in a class at the gym, (so it's not all my fault...)

Anyway, the horn is on the bad circuit I was working on and I got it to work and tested it a few times and AD gets home and the dogs are gone. Gus visits his dog friends sometimes when he's out, but always comes home. Idgie doesn't wander. When I let her out like that she snuffles in the creekbed and suns herself on the steps.

But she doesn't like high-pitched noises and apparently the horn chased her away.

It's 11 a.m. when we start looking for her. (Found Gus in like two minutes.) Can't find Idgie, and she's so deaf that she's not going to hear us call and whistle even if she's two feet away. (I think the only noises she can hear are the ones she doesn't like.)

We look all day, walking and driving, and no Idgie. I hoped that I'd have luck after dark with a flashlight - she can see. It worked. She was two blocks away, belly was wet (how, we don't know) but not in any apparent duress after her 6-hour outing.

So quite a stressful day, all in all.

Let's Hear it for Australian Doctors!

For it was a doctor in Queensland who claimed the honor of buying the first item from the Some Say... superstore.

The latest design is this - the autobahn sign signifying no speed limit. Saw it in a catalog and replicated it on a nice selection of items. Check them out!

More Stuff. No Sales.

But who wouldn't like this to keep car-related notes?

Having Far Too Much Fun

My shop isn't setting any first-day sales records or anything, but I'm having far too much fun designing stuff.

It'd be easier, of course, if I had any actual design ability...

Just in Time for Holiday Shopping

Check out my growing selection of quality Top Gear at my new Cafe Press store, Some Say...

(And notice how deftly I sidestep copyright laws...)

We Like a Project...

This planting bed that dresses up the parking area fence is the latest. The ground was hardpan clay and came out slow. (Picks are evil tools. Effective, but evil.) Dug out about 18-20 inches, added rock and a 4" perforated drain pipe. Diane dug up nice soil from the creek area to refill the planter bed, and bulbs are going in it soon. The cedar border I made from the cut-off ends of split rail fence posts I'd saved from that project.

Notice anything different on the '02? Check out Everything's Shiny for the answer...

Like Water off a Duck's Back

Yep, we did go to the Cal-Oregon game yesterday, and yep, we got wet. VERY wet. Pruney-finger wet. Wore water repellent coats and pants and it didn't make a damn bit of difference wet. The saving factor was that it wasn't freezing. (That would have been really bad and somewhat dangerous.) Frankie did catch the baton - two hands - but a catch is a catch, especially given the weather. Cal won, which was a nice bonus for us.

Today I built this compost bin. All wood I had in the scrap pile. It's 3 x 3 x 2 feet tall - plenty to get us started. None of the fence-board pieces I had left over were 3 feet long, so all the slats are made from two 18-inch pieces. The 2x4s sticking up at the corners were on purpose. Diane thought she might want it one board higher, so I left the corner posts sticking up to make that easy should we choose to do it. I think this will work out, though, and if so I'll cut them off flush.

I also made some improvements to the '02, but you'll have to visit Everything's Shiny for the details...

A Scenic Sunday Spin

We needed a few things at the store this afternoon, and it was such a pretty day we took the scenic route. (The cool thing for us is the scenic route is just a backroad that parallels Highway 4 up to Arnold - no added miles.)

There hasn't been a nice picture of the 2002 in a while, and the ones I did post earlier didn't really have a good frame of reference to show the actual size of the car. So here's a couple with human frames of reference.

Now, Dangerous Dave in Davis will object to a car post on this blog, insisting that such matters are more appropriate for Everything's Shiny. To make DDiD happy, that blog will also be updated with automotive matters of a more technical nature...

Happy Autum!

More Masked Bandits

The bandits returned last night.

Gus started pitching a fit around 8 p.m., barking at the open field next door. Knowing creatures were astir, we shut off the dog door so he'd be stuck inside once we went to bed.

About 1 a.m. he's up barking again, and I see two raccoons scavenging for dog food on our back porch. I went outside and they both climbed this tree. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera right away because when I first saw them they were both behind the tree, one peeking out from the left, one peeking out from the right.

Anyway, they vandaled around for a while and finally took their show on the road.

Happy '02 News

Despite the title of my last blog over at Everything's Shiny ("A Better Autocross, Sept. 9) my 2002 has been giving me fits ever since getting towed home that day.

Would start but not run. Would run and then the distributor cap would pop off. Would run at high RPM but not idle. Those were the things I didn't know the cause for. On top of that, I knew I had bad threads in one of the spark plug holes and exhaust leak past the plug.

With some diagnostic help from the 2002faq.com forum and Larry B., I finally figured out there were two causes to the first list of problems - a bad motor mount that let the engine rock enough to whack the distributor against the firewall and an air leak somewhere between the carb and the cylinders throwing off the air/fuel mixture.

Installed new motor mounts a week or two ago and on Friday took the head in and had the spark plug threads drilled out and replaced with steel inserts. (All four of them - don't want to have to revisit the machine shop any time soon.)
Found the air leak during the disassembly process.

Put it all back together on Saturday and it fired right up. Dialed in the timing and carb adjustments this morning, and the '02 is back on the road. Now back to tracing the short in the No. 6 circuit...

A Herd of Trees

You've heard of trees, haven't you?

I originally heard that joke (if it can be called such...) told by a dog puppet on Channel 2 out of Oakland when I was a kid. (And it was a herd of bees as originally told.) Anyway, Anonymous Diane can attest that this joke is the foundation for my belief that all humor is based on repetition.

So about the trees....

We've been watching expenses. This is the first recession/depression/collapse of civilization as we know it that we've experienced as business owners, so we've started being very cash-conscious. In fact, we recently reviewed all our regular monthly bills and saved just about $100 a month by tweaking our cable, internet, cell phone and home phone plans. All minor changes that add up over time. So big plant purchases weren't necessarily part of the plan this month.

However, the local hardware store is having an end-of-the-season 40% off sale on everything - and most of the plants had been heavily discounted already.

So we came home with five trees (two birch, one tulip, one ginko and one maple) and seven or so one-gallon plants that will pretty much do the entire landscaping of the creekbed (augmenting the natural growth that's already there). And we got it all for $125.

And because we're geeks, we took pictures.

You've heard of pictures, haven't you?

Habitat Shedding

No Cal game this week, but the Bears did move into the AP top 25. (Not playing does have its rewards...)

As a UT grad, Back From Bolivia Ben is quite happy Texas has moved into the number one spot.

New construction plan in This Land is a second shed, this one in the Back .40. This picture is the inspiration, although I'm planning some major changes. First, there will be a large window on the near end (4+ feet wide by 3 high) and a narrow (10 inch x 40 inch) window on the far end, set high for a little light and ventilation. Second, it won't have a saltbox roof (the unequal roof faces) because that shortens the rear wall too much and we're tallish people around here. Also won't have cedar shingles because of the fire danger.

I do like the dutch doors, cedar siding and size - it's 8 x 12. Although it's a spring construction plan (provided the economy cooperates...), I did get the three windows I need at a Habitat for Humanity store in Modesto this week. Two brand new, one used, all priced at $40 each. I got them because I needed dimensions to start drawing my own plans. I'm hoping the Habitat store will also provide upper and lower kitchen cabinets for the rear wall inside the shed and, if I get real lucky, the cedar siding. Might be able to get the shingles and other stuff there as well.

It'll be Diane's project place/retreat/gardening shed and will have a potting bench built outside along the near end. (We currently share the shed attached to the garage. Once the new one is built, the garden stuff will get relocated and I will get all the space in the small shed for storage.)

Since my project car gets parked right next to this shed, it'll be handy.

Deck remains on the long-term wish-list, but since fencing the whole yard and getting rid of the old dog run, there's been less need for it. We're also going to keep expenses down as much as possible for a while, so the deck may just have to wait....

Another Leap, Toss & Catch

If you know anyone at Cal who can kick a football, have them contact Coach Jeff Tedford right away.

Coming Home

Gina's future is a little more clear.

Her Peace Corps service is over. She had the option of ending her service now with the equivalent of an honorable discharge, or could have taken an assignment to a new location to serve out her term. The problems with that are twofold: 1) 80% of people who accept that kind of transfer do not complete their 27 months of service, and 2) If you accept a transfer and leave early you don't get the honorable discharge. So this seems like the wise decision.

She'll be on a plane a week from Monday and landing in SFO that afternoon. A college roommate lives in San Francisco but is working in Portland on a project for her company, and has offered Gina and Ben her apartment in the city until January. This is a good offer.

We'll have her home for a little while, then a lot closer than Bolivia or Peru for a while. After that, who can say?

And one more big and public thank you to Dave for calling Lima on our behalf to figure out how to talk with Gina. Thanks!

Spirited Away, Part II

Gina's now in Lima, Peru. Next destination, unknown...

Ace Really Is the Place...

It was a whole-house scrubbing weekend in This Land, which is not news anyone can use, but we did rent the best carpet cleaner I've ever used, which might be good knowledge for someone else.

Rented it at the local Ace hardware, and it's a very compact square-looking machine. No hoses or attachments. It was $25 for 24 hours, and an $800 professional cleaning wouldn't have done a better job.

So if you have dirty carpets, Ace really is the place.

Spirited Away

If you've seen, heard or read the news out of Bolivia in the past day or two, you're already aware things are going to hell in a handcart.

Gina is safe. She and Ben took various modes of transport to various places, and is now in lockdown with other Peace Corps volunteers in an undisclosed location. (I don't think Dick Cheney is with them...)

Not sure what's going to happen next, but a Bolivian exit visa in her passport wouldn't surprise me a bit. More news when there is.

Aaa-ten HUT!

Leading the band to the first game.
One very proud mom!

A good toss and catch. And Cal won, so it was ALL good.

Full Moons Make Us Sleepy

It's true. The full moon - or even a good, bright almost-full moon, makes us walk around in a zombie-like stupor the next day. Today, for instance.

The problem with a full moon is that it brings the forest critters out in larger numbers than usual. And Gus takes his responsibility of protecting us from any and all forest critters very seriously.

Before the GCS, he'd just stand in the living room and bark at the lunar-inspired invaders. Now he starts in the living room, then bolts out the back door in order to better confront them.

This happened every hour last night from midnight until 6 a.m. But, I do have to say that the critters did not vandalize the house or steal our cars...

Dancing Dogs in New Jersey

The photo speaks for itself...

Romas and Radiators

New developments in This Land: The first harvested veggies. I know it's nothing compared to the bounty of the Kitchen or Eugene, but we have a shorter season up here and don't get as many hours of direct sun.

We have two other types of tomatoes growing as well - all in pots - but those haven't ripened yet.

In 2002 news, there's an upgraded cooling system. 02s are known for running hot, and a common upgrade is installing a bigger radiator. You can go the triple-core route for big bucks, or the Pick-N-Pull route with the rad from an early-80s 320i. That's what this is. It also has the electric fan from the same car.

To make it fit, you have to notch out the edge of the battery tray. So I have officially begun customizing this car - cutting out bits to make it better. The fan works but it's not on the circuit I want it on, so I'll fix that in the next day or so. I was pleased that other than miscounting the circuit, the wiring went perfect. It has a temp sensor and when the gauge got near the middle the fan kicked right on. It's installed in front of the radiator, behind the grill, and I was able to take off the factory fan, which runs off the water pump. It frees up a little engine power and removes a rotational load that shortens the life of the water pump.

Football Season Has Begun

It's football season in This Land.

The season doesn't begin when the Bears play their first game, or when NFL training camps open. It certainly doesn't begin when Diane begins reading Rivals.com (because then it would never end.)

Nope, football season begins when Diane gets to take the field at Memorial Stadium at the Women's Huddle.


Good ball protection!











Diane trying out for the O-line, under the watchful (albeit bemused) eyes of Alex Mack, described by Rivals.com as the "best player in the country not playing for USC...")


Putting the moves on after catching a pass...








And breaking into the clear for a TOUCHDOWN!

Everything's Shiny

Since everybody has been prettying up their blogs, I thought I'd get in on the act.

Then I discovered/remembered that I'd tweaked this template pretty hard with a lot of html coding I stole from Koji's Kitchen, and that doing much too it would take a whole lot more time than I have to devote to it this week.

So I prettyied up my other blog - unused until now - Everything's Shiny. I'll use that one as a car and motorcycle blog, geared toward folks who also drive and ride early '70s BMWs. I suspect I'll double post most stuff, but who can tell?

The GCS (and Bridge!) is Finally Finished

Here's proof.


The last two shots are from the street. The sloping section plays tricks on your eyes. It angles back as well as down, but you really can't see that from the street.