A gentler "clunk"
So...gotta make an update!
Friday was rather uneventful. Saturday saw the continuance of the Sentra repair saga. It was an insanely nice day, over 70 degrees, clear, just gorgeous. I had to scratch my head in wonder...was it really NOVEMBER? Anyway, I got to work on the Sentra as James washed his truck. I managed to break a socket adapter, but still managed to get to a point where the next course of business was to get the axles out. Pretty far along for those who know. So, the trek began to find out what size socket I'd need for the axles, get the socket, and replace the broken socket adapter, and get a few more sockets and such that I'd surely need. First I hit up the other Wal-Mart, as I knew the closer one didn't have what I needed. That one didn't either. So I went to Home Depot next door. Still nothing. I headed to Strauss Auto, they had nothing. But I wanted to see if they could find out what size bolt I'd need for the axles. After about an hour of the store manager going through the computer, asking the mechanics, he couldn't tell me. So I went to Pep Boys, another half an hour, but they managed to get the info I needed (32mm). I got the bolt, and picked up a ratchet to accommodate it and went on my way. Not everything I needed, but enough to get me by (in theory).
So I get home and it's already dark (damn winter clock changing crap). After helping James finish waxing his truck, I get back to work on the Nissan. Now, the problem is no matter what I do, the wheels turn when trying to loosen the bolts. After discovering that the center caps on my wheels pop out, I can put the car on the ground and hopefully get the stability I need to crack loose the axle bolts. So, I get one tire on, and I'm lowering that side onto the ground, as I watch my car slowly veer away from me and down to the ground onto the opposite side that has no wheel on it. Apparently the jack stand decided to buckle. Luckily I wasn't under the car, that the car landed away from me, and that it slowly came down and didn't CRASH down. Grrr.
Ok, I go on the other side, jack up the car again and get the other wheel back on. Time to loosen the axle bolts. I know that the ratchet will not allow enough leverage to loosen them, so I use one of the speaker stands from my PA, as it's metal and about 5 ft long. Plenty of leverage in theory. I get everything in place, and try to loosen, and I get a nice healthy 'CRACK', and I figure I'm victorious. Nope. Broke the ratchet. That was the finale of the evening.
For those keeping score, that leaves the following:
One broken socket adapter (1/4"-3/8")
One buckled "2 ton" (my ass) jackstand
One broken 1/2" drive ratchet
They're SUPPOSED to look the same. Lovely, eh?
Of course Sunday, it's raining. I go out on the hunt again to scavenge for tools. First I get a replacement on the ratchet. Then I go to Home Depot in search of a breaker bar (to avoid another broken ratchet fiasco), and they have nothing. I go to Wal-Mart and pick up a better set of jackstands that are 3 ton and have feet on them, as well as a lifetime warranteed heavy duty 1/2" drive breaker bar. Then off to the "man's" tool store....SEARS! I manage to find a couple of tools on their clearance rack, and got the remainder of what I'd need to continue for about 20 bucks. Then home. Again, it's dark AND raining, but I DID manage to get the axle bolts loosened! HOORAY!!!
Today it also rained all day AND I had lessons. So, no further progress on the car. But things SHOULD be a little smoother sailing here on out. Don't worry I'll keep you posted.
On the music front, I have FINALLY developed something resembling fluency with a program called Reason. It's used to do the things a keyboard/drum machine/sequencer/etc can do, but with even more flexibility and top notch sounds. After getting it setup and going, as well as using my casio keyboard as a controller, it's rather addictive! In my experimentation, I recorded a little tune I call "Looking In". James and I have had this concept of "Skyborg 2012" (Sky = Skylyr Borg = Borgese) and various ideas of the upcoming events of 2012 (google it). We've had ideas for a while, but this is the first tune that actually seems to go with any of it, and actually sets the soundscape of it. This is something we'll probably tinker with off and on. You can listen to the song on my myspace music page Jake's MySpace music page or you can download it directly off my site here. I found this pic that seems to embody some of the vision of this, but the song is kind of more of a reflection of various things conceptually.
That's enough of a Jake novel for now I think. So, listen to "Looking In", sit back, reflect, and most importantly, enjoy :)
Friday was rather uneventful. Saturday saw the continuance of the Sentra repair saga. It was an insanely nice day, over 70 degrees, clear, just gorgeous. I had to scratch my head in wonder...was it really NOVEMBER? Anyway, I got to work on the Sentra as James washed his truck. I managed to break a socket adapter, but still managed to get to a point where the next course of business was to get the axles out. Pretty far along for those who know. So, the trek began to find out what size socket I'd need for the axles, get the socket, and replace the broken socket adapter, and get a few more sockets and such that I'd surely need. First I hit up the other Wal-Mart, as I knew the closer one didn't have what I needed. That one didn't either. So I went to Home Depot next door. Still nothing. I headed to Strauss Auto, they had nothing. But I wanted to see if they could find out what size bolt I'd need for the axles. After about an hour of the store manager going through the computer, asking the mechanics, he couldn't tell me. So I went to Pep Boys, another half an hour, but they managed to get the info I needed (32mm). I got the bolt, and picked up a ratchet to accommodate it and went on my way. Not everything I needed, but enough to get me by (in theory).
So I get home and it's already dark (damn winter clock changing crap). After helping James finish waxing his truck, I get back to work on the Nissan. Now, the problem is no matter what I do, the wheels turn when trying to loosen the bolts. After discovering that the center caps on my wheels pop out, I can put the car on the ground and hopefully get the stability I need to crack loose the axle bolts. So, I get one tire on, and I'm lowering that side onto the ground, as I watch my car slowly veer away from me and down to the ground onto the opposite side that has no wheel on it. Apparently the jack stand decided to buckle. Luckily I wasn't under the car, that the car landed away from me, and that it slowly came down and didn't CRASH down. Grrr.
Ok, I go on the other side, jack up the car again and get the other wheel back on. Time to loosen the axle bolts. I know that the ratchet will not allow enough leverage to loosen them, so I use one of the speaker stands from my PA, as it's metal and about 5 ft long. Plenty of leverage in theory. I get everything in place, and try to loosen, and I get a nice healthy 'CRACK', and I figure I'm victorious. Nope. Broke the ratchet. That was the finale of the evening.
For those keeping score, that leaves the following:
One broken socket adapter (1/4"-3/8")
One buckled "2 ton" (my ass) jackstand
One broken 1/2" drive ratchet
They're SUPPOSED to look the same. Lovely, eh?
Of course Sunday, it's raining. I go out on the hunt again to scavenge for tools. First I get a replacement on the ratchet. Then I go to Home Depot in search of a breaker bar (to avoid another broken ratchet fiasco), and they have nothing. I go to Wal-Mart and pick up a better set of jackstands that are 3 ton and have feet on them, as well as a lifetime warranteed heavy duty 1/2" drive breaker bar. Then off to the "man's" tool store....SEARS! I manage to find a couple of tools on their clearance rack, and got the remainder of what I'd need to continue for about 20 bucks. Then home. Again, it's dark AND raining, but I DID manage to get the axle bolts loosened! HOORAY!!!
Today it also rained all day AND I had lessons. So, no further progress on the car. But things SHOULD be a little smoother sailing here on out. Don't worry I'll keep you posted.
On the music front, I have FINALLY developed something resembling fluency with a program called Reason. It's used to do the things a keyboard/drum machine/sequencer/etc can do, but with even more flexibility and top notch sounds. After getting it setup and going, as well as using my casio keyboard as a controller, it's rather addictive! In my experimentation, I recorded a little tune I call "Looking In". James and I have had this concept of "Skyborg 2012" (Sky = Skylyr Borg = Borgese) and various ideas of the upcoming events of 2012 (google it). We've had ideas for a while, but this is the first tune that actually seems to go with any of it, and actually sets the soundscape of it. This is something we'll probably tinker with off and on. You can listen to the song on my myspace music page Jake's MySpace music page or you can download it directly off my site here. I found this pic that seems to embody some of the vision of this, but the song is kind of more of a reflection of various things conceptually.
That's enough of a Jake novel for now I think. So, listen to "Looking In", sit back, reflect, and most importantly, enjoy :)