First post of July. Randomness to follow
Aye carrumba. What a crazy few weeks it’s been. I haven’t posted, and really I haven’t been online much at all. The biggest factor has been the promotion I got at work. Our Operations Manager took a new job so I had the opportunity to move up to that position. It’s going to be a new challenge, and one I think I’m definitely ready for. But right now, I’m still carrying a lot of my old duties while we get people trained and it’s a lot of extra hours for now. Eventually though it won’t be too bad.
A family friend, Dave Boyce died this past week and I was hoping we could make it up for the funeral in Woodlawn. I was hoping we could make it up, but our Camaro giveaway and the extra workload would have made it real crazy. I wasn’t that close to him personally, but he’s one of those guys that I just remember always being around when I was a kid and always there whenever I went back to Sabetha. It just goes to show ya that we could all take our last ride any day.
I’ve been walking to work alot lately. It’s only about 5 blocks from the house so 10 minutes is about my daily commute by foot. I don’t know if it’s really contributed, but I’ve lost about 5 pounds in the last month. The last few days have been so damn hot though, 100+ and if I walk home for lunch, I’m just a stinky sweaty mess by the time I get back to work. And nobody wants that.
I finally broke down and got a smart phone. The HTC Hero. Andrea has been dead-set on an Android phone since Nextech Wireless got them in. And I’ll admit, I’ve been sorta itching to jump on the smartphone bandwagon. Having my gmail and calendar with me all the time is REALLY attractive. So I’ve been messing with it for a while so far and really been liking it. The typing on the touchscreen is going to take some getting used to though.
So I think I’m just laying low this weekend. Kinda re-grouping. I have tons around here that needs done, but none of it right away. So for now, back to piddling with this damn phone!
Freshened up the place.
B.G. Willers 3.0 I guess you could call it. Stuck with the old theme for a couple years which was a nice slick theme. But this theme was released recently and it seemed kinda fancy, but not over the top. Give it a shot I guess. Maybe it will inspire me to post more! haha
06.17.10Finally think we’re there.
Well I know this has been the Blazer blog as of late, and updates have been sparse at that. But I think we’ve finally got the Blazer pretty much where we want it.
Just this morning I got the dash all put back together. I think I’ve got all the electrical stuff (I can) fixed under the dash. Still no reverse lights, but that’s because the previous owner removed the reverse light switch. This switch also tells the computer which gear you’ve selected, so since the computer know what gear you’re in… but doesn’t know what gear you’ve selected… it kicks on the check engine light. To be honest, I can live with it. I could get a new switch, it’s not expensive, but I have no idea where the wires went that used to hook up to said switch.
Other than that it runs pretty darn good. Defiantly has more power than either of our other cars. Gas mileage so far seems comparable to the Toronado. I think we’re finally to the stage where we can just drive it.
No project is ever finished by any means, there’s always little toys we’d like to add to it, but that can be down the road… whenever. For now, it’s a good old truck that I won’t mind if it takes some abuse.
Things I’ve Learned:
These newer computer controlled things are definitely more complicated than what I’m used to working with. When all the sensors and switches are intact, that’s actually a good thing because it will really point you towards the problem a lot quicker. BUT when the computer system is as hacked up as this thing is, it makes it an absolute nightmare trying to figure out what is actually wrong.
IF I buy another 1990+ automobile, it will have to be in real nice shape so that I’ll be confident that all the sensors and switches are likely still intact. If I ever decide to take on another basket-case, it will be something older. With a setup that’s a little more rudimentary.
So all in all, the $400 Blazer turned out to be about a $1,000 Blazer if you figure in all the parts. It runs strong and the 4×4 works, so the real value probably falls somewhere in between those numbers. Not the best investment I’ve ever made, but if we drive it for a few years and sell it while it’s still got some life left in it, I think it could still be worth it. Andrea is taking it on it’s first out of town trip this evening to Hutch. Assuming all goes well (which by all indications it should) we’ll be taking it to Kanopolis this weekend for some camping, it’s true purpose all along! That is if our tent shows up in time…
06.10.10Teaser
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re48REw5Rr4]
No, I didn’t crash at the end. I think the camera hit the window or something. REALLY!
06.8.10Victory over redneck!
You may have heard, but the Blazer is fully operational! Got the new fuel pump installed on Saturday and lo and behold she fired right up and didn’t miss a beat!
Dropping the fuel tank was not a fun job. Not hard, but awkward angles and tight spaces when it comes to disconnecting all the lines and hoses off the fuel tank. But with a good bit of patience it is all pretty easy. With the tank out everything looked good, but apparently the old fuel pump just couldn’t put out the pressure needed to fire off the fuel injector. Swapping out the old fuel pump for the new one was pretty straight forward too.
I admit I was nervous to fire it up. I really didn’t know what to expect, after all the work we’d been doing and nothing really got better, I was almost convinced that it was just never going to run right. So it’s a huge relief to be able to just hop in and drive it whenever.
The next hurdle will take some time. I still don’t trust it. I still sit at a stoplight and hope it doesn’t die when I hit the gas, or cringe just a little bit when I turn the wipers hoping I don’t blow a fuse. But should time prove it to be a somewhat dependable old truck, I think it will be a worth while investment even though we probably ended up paying quite a bit more than it’s worth considering all the parts we bought.
Go, Blazer Go!
12.31.09Only one word to describe the following…AWESOME!
PS3 and Madden 10
11.27.09
Black Friday Experience
Well today was my first ever participation in Black Friday. I’ve always heard the news stories, and talk to people that have gone shopping at that insane hour in the morning. But I’d always just shrugged it off as a sort of niche thing that “normal” people didn’t really have much to do with. But apparently (once again) I’M the one who’s far from normal.
I had a live broadcast today from Orschlen’s. It’s a new personal record for earliest remote I’ve ever done (6AM – 9AM). And as I was driving across town, I first noticed the cars lined up and parked around the block from Sears. “Wow,” I thought. Must be some deals there or something. THEN I drive past Wal-Mart. HO-LEE-CRAP. There wasn’t an empty space in the entire parking lot. Infact people were parking at the stores and fast food joints next to Wal-Mart just to get in that place. I can’t even imagine what it was like on the inside. And this is just Great Bend, Kansas! I mean good greif!
So I pull up to Orschlen’s about 30 minutes before they opened to start setting up equipment. Sure enough, there were already people lined up outside the store. I’ll be honest. I assumed that Orschlen’s would be 2nd or 3rd on people’s priority list. But that place was jam packed for a good 2 hours and then pretty steady after that.
I mean they had some good deals. Pretty much everything I didn’t really need. But they had a really nice mounted work light set that I snatched up for $20. I figure for $20 that will help working on stuff after dark. With the shorter days, it’s a shame to let all that time go to waste.
So that’s my Black Friday introduction. After seeing that Wal-Mart parking lot though I can’t imagine I’ll ever be bold enough to run in THAT crowd.
07.23.09…Like a hole in the head.
Well after two months of assisting with the Trading Post on a daily basis. I brought home a stray. A guy had advertised this for a couple of days, and I decided to give him a call because it sounded like a good deal. So for $400 we’re the new owners of a 1994 Chevy Blazer 4×4.
It’s certainly not without its flaws. The reason we got it so cheap was because there’s an issue with the fuel mixture causing it to run super rich. So if you try to give it too much gas it dies. You have to feather the gas pedal to get it going. When it is running though, it runs pretty smooth and the transmission shifts firm. It’s rusty in some spots, like I think every one of these old Blazers are. But there’s only one spot where it’s rusted all the way though. So the body is in better shape than I expected for $400. It needs a whole host of things replaced, too numerous to mention. But like everything we seem to have, it’s a work in progress.
It’s not going to be daily transportation by any stretch of the imagination. It’ll be for hauling stuff around, and fishing and camping. That sort of thing. But first I need to get it to the point where I know I won’t get stranded at the lake! Ha ha. I have a few ideas so far, but I need to do some more research on these V6 motors.
I called Andrea this morning and asked what she thought about it. To be honest I was hoping she’d talk me out of it. But she was all gung-ho on the idea. So over lunch we both went and looked at it, and the old fella had a tough time getting it started. I was actually thinking, “Ahh good, a reason NOT to buy it!” Ha ha. But it started, died a couple times, and I’m looking at Andrea to give me the thumbs down. But nope, she just says, “It needs a little work, we can handle it.” Welp that was about it. We went for a short test drive and I was confident it could make the trip home. So the deal was done.
Almost home anyway. After taking the side streets all the way across town (Ya know, no tags or insurance *wink* ) it finally died two blocks from home. We waited to see if it would settle down, but we had to get back to work, and it wasn’t starting. So we pushed it the final two blocks home. Ha ha! After work today though it fired right up. So wish us luck. Hopefully in a couple weeks we’re cruising around in this dirty old thing.
06.14.09One year!
So we made it one year. Today’s been a great day. I told Andrea last night that if she made it to midnite, I’d let her have her present since it’s technically our anniversary then. Hehe. We are so terrible at delayed gratification. I got her a little 24k while gold necklace. It’s a cross pendant with a little dove engraved on it. I thought it was cute and she says she likes it. I know the girl needs some more diamonds, but I just couldn’t spring for that yet. So I made her the promise that every year, she’ll get something better than the year before. (This could be my undo-ing!)
I guess tradition states that you keep the top of your cake in the freezer and chow down on your first anniversary. Besides that sounding really gross… We figured since we got married at a vinyard we’d save a bottle of wine and open that instead. They say wine is supposed to get better with age… well I dunno about this one. I mean, it doesn’t taste awful, but I’d swear it tasted better a year ago. Kinda has a funny whang and a good bite to it now. Now in Windswept’s defense I’m certian we didn’t store our wine appropriately, you know cool and dark. Ours was just on a shelf in the kitchen for a year. But still it was nice to open the bottle just because of what it represents.
So here’s looking forward to the next year!
The Finished Product…
Need I say more? Just check out the pictures!
*sexy meow*
The HOT new lights!
Rear View 😉
The sexy new fender Stangs
They're really shiny close up!