(no subject)
Fixed the fucking starter heat soak, after it stranded the roomie at her job. (8 hours after running last, and it still wouldn't go.) We got a ride to work from her manager, me with toolkit and improvised cardboard creeper, and raided the Walmart directly across the parking lot for supplies. No wire smaller than 12-gauge, but they had a 5-foot dryer cord which was not only 10 gauge but also had pre-crimped ring terminals. I cajoled the tire & lube guys into letting me borrow their jack and stands and spent three hours in sun, 95 degree weather and 90% humidity working under the damn car to rebuild the relay with bigger wire than the garage had previously attempted when it was briefly installed.
I also wound up rebuilding the positive terminal, because a couple wire ends crumbled to dust and fell apart.
Point being, it works like it ought to. There's still maybe 6 inches of stock wire (12 gauge, maybe 14) that go up TO the starter terminal, because I couldn't get to the terminal without pulling off the exhaust manifold...which was slightly impractical with basic electrical hand tools and with sweat dripping off my face every seven seconds. That said, the rest of the run is via 10-gauge wire from the battery to a 30-amp relay to a spliced connector pair. It's beefier than the rest of the positive cabling...
Springs are incoming. Megan lowering, to reduce some of the AMC Eagle look, and progressive to preserve the ride. I'll pick up cheap shocks (or Tokico Blues) this week, and next week start saving for a working suspension that actually has rebound. Gotta do the idler & pitman arms as well since the wander is getting to about 10-15 degrees and frankly terrifying in non-podunk-town traffic.
Still looking for jobs.
The local roaches are German...about .5 inches long instead of 3+, which is an improvement, but there's a lot more of them. The landlord didn't clean the apartment at ALL and offered us $30 to do it. We wound up cleaning everything, including swarms of dead flies, but balking at the fridge and freezer, which had housed rotting crawfish tails without power for several weeks. That's a landlord job...and he did about 80% of it finally. We're still dealing with the fruit fly infestation but at least the roach population is coming under control.
Roomie has her cat down here, and her interaction with our cat has been marked by aggressive friend-making attempts on Marshie's behalf and standoffish wariness on Sophie's part. He's learning patience, she's learning tolerance, they're adapting, work in progress.
Chris, the kid brother I as a teenager figured I'd never have anything in common with due to the age difference, graduated high school a couple weeks back. I called him and we shot the shit for a while. Jesus, when did I get old?
Job front...the most promising candidate(s) are still hanging fire. News as it develops. I continue to desultorily apply to other real jobs as well, generally a couple GOOD ones (instead of odd Craigslist positions) every couple weeks. That way I can space out the quality applications to give myself something to do in future weeks.
Broadband means a return to the usual 'free' gaming....updated Xenonauts, been playing some Kerbal Space Program--uproariously fun for a space geek like me, still working on a deorbitable space station that is light enough to lift in one assembly but I've designed a booster that will usually get a Kerbal into stable orbit (and the one that's up there now still has fuel in the second stage to do a deorbit burn!)--been greatly disappointed by Grid 2's beauty and lack of substance. Codemasters, you can do better. *coughTOCA3cough*
I also wound up rebuilding the positive terminal, because a couple wire ends crumbled to dust and fell apart.
Point being, it works like it ought to. There's still maybe 6 inches of stock wire (12 gauge, maybe 14) that go up TO the starter terminal, because I couldn't get to the terminal without pulling off the exhaust manifold...which was slightly impractical with basic electrical hand tools and with sweat dripping off my face every seven seconds. That said, the rest of the run is via 10-gauge wire from the battery to a 30-amp relay to a spliced connector pair. It's beefier than the rest of the positive cabling...
Springs are incoming. Megan lowering, to reduce some of the AMC Eagle look, and progressive to preserve the ride. I'll pick up cheap shocks (or Tokico Blues) this week, and next week start saving for a working suspension that actually has rebound. Gotta do the idler & pitman arms as well since the wander is getting to about 10-15 degrees and frankly terrifying in non-podunk-town traffic.
Still looking for jobs.
The local roaches are German...about .5 inches long instead of 3+, which is an improvement, but there's a lot more of them. The landlord didn't clean the apartment at ALL and offered us $30 to do it. We wound up cleaning everything, including swarms of dead flies, but balking at the fridge and freezer, which had housed rotting crawfish tails without power for several weeks. That's a landlord job...and he did about 80% of it finally. We're still dealing with the fruit fly infestation but at least the roach population is coming under control.
Roomie has her cat down here, and her interaction with our cat has been marked by aggressive friend-making attempts on Marshie's behalf and standoffish wariness on Sophie's part. He's learning patience, she's learning tolerance, they're adapting, work in progress.
Chris, the kid brother I as a teenager figured I'd never have anything in common with due to the age difference, graduated high school a couple weeks back. I called him and we shot the shit for a while. Jesus, when did I get old?
Job front...the most promising candidate(s) are still hanging fire. News as it develops. I continue to desultorily apply to other real jobs as well, generally a couple GOOD ones (instead of odd Craigslist positions) every couple weeks. That way I can space out the quality applications to give myself something to do in future weeks.
Broadband means a return to the usual 'free' gaming....updated Xenonauts, been playing some Kerbal Space Program--uproariously fun for a space geek like me, still working on a deorbitable space station that is light enough to lift in one assembly but I've designed a booster that will usually get a Kerbal into stable orbit (and the one that's up there now still has fuel in the second stage to do a deorbit burn!)--been greatly disappointed by Grid 2's beauty and lack of substance. Codemasters, you can do better. *coughTOCA3cough*