Monday Bluez

If I were the absolute ruler of all space and time, I would immediately strike Mondays from the calendar. It would be one thing if Monday only came around once a year like President's Day, but no, it comes once a week, come hell or high-water. No only that, but it has to come right at the end of a weekend. Arrggghhhh. I'm in search of something that will cause me to actually look forward to Monday, but alas, no such luck.
Instead, maybe I'll just make something up to celebrate on Mondays. Perhaps the fact that Monday is actually one day closer to the next weekend will do, but that doesn't have the same feeling as, say, Friday, which IS the weekend in many circles, especially when you work for the Fed, State or Local Government.
I had a K.A. weekend and even a Monday can't take the shine outta that.

(K.A.---Use your imagination, you just might figure that one out.)

Sunshine Day!

Every so often, everyone needs a "Sunshine Day". Whatever it is that floats your boat, burns your cookies, or stokes your fire, you should take a day and just DO IT. The alternative is to spend your days in the doldrums of everyday routines, reiterating the same-ole same-ole and arrive at deaths door with regrets and "wish I's". Not I. Not now. Not ever.

Da Ying and da Yang

You know, sometimes it's easy to lose site of the good things that happen to us, when we are consumed with hashing out the bad. Just the same way that the day is only possible because of the night, the good only exists because the bad gives us something with which to compare it to.

For instance:
The bad- My son blew the motor in his car and has been using mine for the last 6 months or so. During this period, he has chunked two tires, bent one rim, shredded one CV joint boot, and crushed one exhaust header.
The Good- He has paid to replace both tires, getting the rim fixed, and just yesterday handed me 12 crisp c-notes.

The Bad-I am late for an All Employee meeting and making time on I-95. I Look in the rear-view mirror and see a State Trooper with his lights on. Pulled over. Bummer.
The Good- The trooper has the same car as mine and is in the process of upgrading his motor and suspension. We spend the next 40 minutes discussing the mods on my car and his desire to do the same to his. No Ticket! No Problem!

The Bad- As I walked to the car this morning to start my daily commute, I could not see the front of my car for the rather large tree-limb resting on the hood. Great! Perfect!
The Good- No damage...not even a scratch!

Advantages are taken and not handed out- so as I do the daily return trip to the house from work, I will be stopping to purchase a few Lotto Tickets. Thirty Million!

The Bad- I'm gambling
The Good- We'll see. :)

AutoCross Episode II:Revenge of the Cones

Well, I still suck, just not as bad as before.
Brother Des and I, along with Jodi and Jared, (my 18 yo son) rented a Pontiac G6 GT and proceeded to sling it around the Gainesville Raceway Autocross course. The results were predictable, with Des ranking first, Myself second, Jared third and Jodi bringing up the rear. Expanding the picture to include the entire roster of autox'rs, We ranked anywhere from 55th overall to 67th. I our defense, the car was NOT autox material and this was only my second event and Jodi and Jared's first. Jared and I had quite the competition going with each run within 1000th's of a second of each other. I still won and he still lost! I have a feeling that this will not be the case if Jared keeps going to these events as he is a natural. I just don't want him to know that.

No cones for me and no O/C's either. (off course). So I got in 6 clean runs whilst Jared O/C'd once. Jodi got one cone and Des got none. Des is a serious autox'r and does this just about every weekend up in Seattle. He did say that he was taking it easy and I believe him because I've looked at the event scores from his division and he consistently ranks up near the top.

All in all, it was a blast, with the only downer being the short amount of time spent with Des. Maybe next time eh?

Empty nest my ass!

You know, I've been looking forward to suffering from the "empty nest syndrome" from the birth of my first child. And initially, it looked as though this was a distinct possibility, but alas, it was not to be. The first child flew the coop about 3 years ago, but has now landed back on the door step with 2 children in tow. Anyone that has ever been to my domicile has to ask: "Where do you have the room for 3 additional people?" The answer is: "I don't" But, if you recall a previous post concerning the addition of the detached 3 car garage, you might also come to the same conclusion that I have: Move her into the old attached garage. This is what we did. Now, this attached garage is uninsulated, uncarpeted, and unairconditioned, which equates to uncomfortable. My first thought was:"tough! That what they get for throwing a rather large wrench into an otherwise fool-proof plan!" But, having a soft heart, a notion that some that know me, might vehemently reject, I did buy a window unit and am planning to insulate soon. If moving back in with Mom and Dad was not bad enough, she has also brought with her a mountain of emotional and attitudinal (not sure if that's a word or not, but it works for me) baggage. You know, if this were Saudi Arabia, and I was a muslim, I would be fully justified with stoning her in the town square for dishonoring her family. But we live in Florida, and I am agnostic, which leaves me with but one option...dealing with it. Arrrggghhhhh! I am now in search of a physician that will perscribe huge amounts of Zanex, hopefully with a bulk discount. I have also placed all weapons of mass destruction out of arms reach and 3 miles down the road. Either the 3 mile trek will calm me down, or provide me with a plan to get away with the ideas that pop into my brain whenever the chaos level at the house exceeds OSHA approved limits.

Independent? NOT!

Happy July 4th! This is a day set aside to celebrate this country's break from Britain, but to call it Independence Day is a mis-nomer. We have, and always will be dependent on foreign oil. Until this stops, we, as a nation, will never be independent.
Jodi and I are in the midst of researching new ways to save energy, and money. One technology we have been looking at is a geo-thermal heat exchange system to heat and cool our home. This technology promises to be 75% more energy efficient than our existing system. In addition, we have been researching a solar-assisted hot water system. This is rather expensive to start, but will save a huge amount of energy and money as compared to the old electric water heater we currently have. Another alternative is On-demand Hot water units. These units sit under a sink or some other out of the way place, and only heat water when it is required. This makes a lot of sense, as why would one want to heat 40 gallons of water constantly, when you may only need a gallon or two at a time to wash dishes, or take care of daily hygiene. These units come in a variety of sizes, including a unit capable of supplying enough hot water to take a VERY long shower.
Most of this technology is rather expensive when compared to their conventional counter-parts, but operating costs are much lower, with a ROI in the 5-7 year range. After that, it's all money in the bank.

It is NOT in the genes!

I've been skulking around on this earth for damn near 45 years and have yet to find myself incarcerated, unless you count an hour spent in the Stone County Jail waiting for my Mother and Father to pick me up after getting caught with a bottle of Jack in the then dry county. That being said, I am at a loss to explain why, after much counciling about the proper way to conduct oneself, two of my brood have managed to spend time behind the iron bars of the local county jail. One was for petit theft and I am quite sure that the lesson was learned in that case. The other for losing control of her emotions and smackin the @#&! out of her boyfriend in front of a cop. I regret to say that the lesson here will, in all likelyhood, not be learned, and indeed, blame transposed to the other individual.
I suffer from the same lack of control, although for the most part, the transgressions are very few and far between. And none of my episodes have landed me in the pokey. When they do erupt, it is usually after an extensive barrage of stress and unrealistic deadlines are heaped upon me. In these cases, I usually know quite well in advance that I am becoming un-glued and take the proper steps to ward off a meltdown.
My only hope is that the experience of sitting in a iron-latticed cell will lead to an epiphany and the offender will take steps to gain more control over her emotions..... BUT...I'm not gonna hold my breath.

Greeting from perhaps the most humid and unhospitable place on earth. Nothing much has happened here lately, probably because it's too damn hot to do much of anything, besides *werk*. It seems that no matter what else is going on, I can count on werk sucking up my time. How I long for the olden days, when you ate what you grew or killed, drank what you brewed, and the vast majority of time was spent just trying to survive. There was no time to stick your nose into your neighbor's business, much less worry about the petty things that seem to occupy our thoughts today. Maybe I should move to Montana, brew my own beer, and concentrate on being a zero-net-add human. That means that I would only consume what I produce and produce only that which I consume. Jeez what a concept. Only drawback there is that my wife would probably revolt and return to the truly American way-of-life; Mass consumption.

Three down and one to go!

Ahhh...summertime..aint it great?
The weather gets hot and the days get long and young men and women throughout the country are graduating from their various highschools. My son, Jared, graduates today, along with 242 other home-schooled childred. The two previous graduates from our clan graduated from Clay High in Green Cove Springs. Now, just a few short years and the last one, Margaret will be next, then FREEDOM! We are at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. This place is huge and I haven't seen but a tenth of it. Time for a little libations before the ceremony. More later.

Daytona has come and gone.............

All good things must come to an end, and so it goes with Bike Week 2006. The weather could not have been any better, although the traffic seems to get worse with each passing year. Eighteen bikers died during this years festivities, mostly Harley-types without enough sense to wear a helmet. I like the freedom of choice, to wear, or not, a helmet. Personally, I feel naked without my Shoei.
Jodi made the ride down late in the week, and I was most impressed with her improvement as a motorcyclist. Her first trip down was probably the slowest trip to Daytona that I have ever done, but this trip was considerably faster. It would have been even faster had I not forgot our turn and took us 20 or so miles off course.
Papa Ron was in rare form. I have never seen him imbibe hard liquor at the rate he did on Thursday night. Thank God that he passed out relatively early in the evening, as the females on hand were running out of ass to grab. Bad Ron!
I bought a couple of tank-bags at the measly expo, which was probably the worst I have seen in the 15 or so years I have been attending. This year's exihibitors numbered only 25% of the number seen at previous expos. The one venue that actually expanded was the H-D/Chopper expo, with more stretched, bobbed, and fattened v-twins than should be allowed by law.
I missed attending the Daytona 200 this year. After taking off from the campground Saturday morning, I stopped at an ATM to take a withdrawl. I was shocked to see that not only was I not going to be able to buy the $45 ticket into the infield, but was $500 in the hole. Arrrggghhh! Apparently the bonus I was expecting and spending did not hit my account, and more over, would never hit my account. It seems, that by telling my "Boss" at werk, that he was an ass, cost me dearly. Damn! After recoving from that shock, I climbed on the VFR and thumbed the starter. I pulled in the clutch and attempted to snick her into first gear. The bike leaped forward and stalled. I guess I should have paid attention to that slow leak in the clutch slave cylinder as it had now turned into a rather vigorous spurt with each squeezing of the clutch. I pushed the bike out of the parking space and pointed her away from any solid objects, started the engine, and rolled on the gas....and banged her into first gear. Now, going up through the gears sans clutch is something I do on a regular basis, but down shifting was another story. I must have looked like a newby, as I did my best to avoid stopping or even slowing down for that matter. I went to the house. At least I got to watch the 200 on the TV, which, after all is said and done, is the best way to catch all the action. The race was great, but not without controversy. More on that in an upcoming post.

I suck.

Jodi and I did the Autocross thing this weekend and I must say that I really suck. I came in 25th out of 26 entries in the SportsModified Division. Two of my 6 runs were DNF due to missing a gate. The good news is I did not take out a single cone. (two second penalty for that). In my own defense, I was running against cars that way out-classed my 92 Accord, even with the recent mods to it. (see previous post: Frankenstein Lives!)
We forgot the camera, so I will not be able to post any pics of this run, but will try on the next event to take a few for posting.
All in all, it was a learning experience for me. I learned that my car, as much as I love it, is NOT autocross material. She is too long and heavy. I learned that one must increase the tire pressure in the front tires, and lower the pressure in the rear tires in order to improve the pushing that is inherent in a front wheel drive car. I had this backwards, and subsequently ended up really pushing the front-end, especially through the 180 turn-around at the far end of the course. I also learned that I should NOT have said that Jodi could not drive my car on the course. I will be paying for that comment for years to come. Next event, Jodi will be a co-driver.
In addition, I have learned that a "Chicago Box" is an evil thing, designed to make even the most seasoned driver take out a cone or two. Some of the fast guys were just taking the cone and the associated 2 second penalty in leiu of trying to get cleanly through the box. I reckon this will work only with the fastest of drivers, as in my case, it would not have made sense to take a two second penalty with ZERO chance of making it up later on the course.
Most of my runs were in the 55 second range, whereas the fast guys were in the 43 second range. Fastest run of the day was set by a guy running an open-wheeled, Porsche powered roadster, with a 40 second run. Next fastest run was set by a Lotus Elise. What a Sweet car!
Well, enough about how bad I suck...stay tuned for the next chapter: Autocross-Session 2:Revenge of the Cones.

Going Racin'

After being bribed by an offer of paying the entry fee, I am entering my first Autocross, hosted by the Buccaneer Region SCCA Chapter. If you recall, I recently did a few modifications to my 1992 Honda Accord that should have helped in this endeavor, but alas, the mods I made took me into a class where I will be competing against the likes of WRX's and SRT's. This also happens to be the largest class that will be competing. Well, I hardly expect to win, but it would have been nice to have the illusion of being competitive. Even my assigned number is trying to tell me something...it's 13! The autocross is on the 26th of Feburary at an old airfield in Whitehouse, which is just west of Metro Jacksonville. I'll post pics and results when I get them.

Daytona is almost here.......

Bike week in Daytona is almost upon us. I, for one, am looking forward to a little R&R. (that's Riding and Racing for the un-initiated). Brother Zoff and his S.O. should be there as well as the usual suspects. More later

Frankenstein Lives!

She's back! My car that is. If you recall, I put her in the shop for a motor swap, from the F22A to the F22B V-Tec.Notice the 4-2-1 header and the warm (cold) air intake. What you can't see is a new HD clutch and timing belt as well as new CV joints and axles. The increase in power is very noticable, especially around 5000 rpms. I suppose this is the V-Tec making itself known. (I wonder what a chip would do for it?)I chose to go with a set of KYB struts and shocks with heavier spring rates both front and rear.The corning performance is on par with a much smaller car. I hit my "high-speed test facility" this afternoon and successfully threw the car at a set of bends that, before the mods, would have left me somewhere off the road,plowing furrows and such. This time, I hit them a good 20 mph faster...she corners flat and predictable. I can feel a little chassic flex, but nothing a strut tower brace wouldn't fix. The suspension mods also point out the shortcomings of the cheapass tires on it. Kumhos next time, me thinks as well as a full set of urethane bushings. The car sits just a tad lower, as I found out this morning navigating the speedbumps in the parking lot at werk. She scrubs a little, so I have to slow WAY down now. It's not near as bad as it would have been had I put the 40 series tires on it instead of the 45's.

Jus call me pawpaw..

Been living here so long, I am now referred to as pawpaw. Live from Redneck Central, Notyard's Backyard brings you "Grandkids...you gotta love em!" Staring Ayden and Zavian.

Recovery...

Jodi's operation was a success and she is back at home, propped up on the couch, and chewing lortabs like M&M's.

Under the knife....

Jodi is having surgery to repair a hernia today. It is an outpatient procedure but she does have to go out under general anesthesia. No worries though. My biggest concern who is going to cook my meals while she's off her feet. :)

Sunny and 75

Well, another weekend is just about here. The weather promises to be spring-like. I am going to spend the weekend working on one of the VP's bikes. This should be an opportune time to discuss my future with the "Company". His bike may or may not be fixed depending on his attitude. Hehe...NOT. I'll fix it anyways, because we all know that most of us Toups love to self-sacrifice for the betterment of others.

Us

Motor Transplant...

I brought my beloved Honda Accord into the local import "tuner" shop to have the motor swapped out today. They're excising the existing F22A motor rated @125 bhp and replacing it with the F22B VTec motor rated @145 bhp. Before the new heart is stitched in place, a new timing set, a new clutch, a 4-2-1 header, and a warm (cold) air intake are going in. This should get the power in the 165-170 bhp range.
I could get more, but that would mean amputating the cat and replacing it with a straight-tube, and that would result in that so annoying buzz given off by every other zit-faced, wing wearing tuner wannabe. No, not I. No wingage. No ground effects. No notice. The only visable mods to the car will be a full set of slotted and drilled brake rotors and a slightly lower stance due to a set of 17's wearing 45's and a set of coilovers. In addition to adding a significant handling bonus, the real winner is here is the overall look of the car. The wheels and tires as supplied by honda, while quality parts, never really completed the package.

This does.

These pics are before the transplant. She's a 1992 with 267K miles so she needs the heart replacement.

Ever wonder what a storm surge actually looks like?

Wonder no more.................

UPDATE! This is actually a photo of the levee break in New Orleans. Still an impressive amount of water.

Just another day being a corporate slave...

I've spent the majority of my life with the belief that good work speaks for itself and will be rewarded accordingly. How wrong could I have been? Very wrong. The corporate world only worships money and not deeds. One of these days, I'll conquer my phobia of working for myself and actually do it and give up the relative security of working for a regular paycheck and modest benefits.
I have genetics to blame for the situation thatI find myself in today. I have noticed that several members of my bloodline seem to revel in being under-appreciated and under-paid, and with that, love to bemoan their situation in life. We are not meant to just survive, but THRIVE. I am awakening to that fact slowly but surely. TODAY is a new day, and I am going to make a baby step in that direction even if it kills me. I am going to look at just TODAY, not yesterday, and not tomorrow. I am making a concerted effort to exist in the HERE and NOW. RIGHT NOW. Tomorrow, I will report my baby step.

Updated Backyard Project pictures

Scroll down to the "In the Beginning" post to see the updated pictures.

Dammit Jim

Don't know if it's karma or what,
and I reckon it doesn't really matter,
but ain't it funny how what goes around,
comes around.... just a little bit fatter.


Don't ask.

Addicted?...maybe

Huntsville, Alabama. Winter, a few years back. Weather-fargin COLD! Anyone that has ever been in the grips of an addiction knows that one will do anything for a fix.....

In an effort to collect the insurance money...

My family threw me out of a perfectly good airplane...

In the Beginning

The beginning of a very long project.......