(no subject)
Still no job. Still working on that.
Shit I've done since last update:
Gotten the suspension fixed on Bug. The struts had no oil left in front (at least it was keeping the shock towers rust-free...), the struts in the rear were hand-compressible and had ZERO rebound, and the springs were one-handedly compressible.
KYB struts, AE86 Megan Racing lowering springs. Progressive, and yes they do fit on the 82 spring perches. The look isn't that shockingly different given the wear on the stock parts, but it's not a bad drop. Braking has improved...cornering has improved...acceleration has improved.
Oh yeah, and despite the 5.2 hour labor rate that was quoted by the closest garage ($390 my ASS) I got them in for $75.
Also installed a "radio", by which I mean a cheap Chinese tripath T-class amp that was about a third the price of a receiver. Good: Sounds really, really good. Included AUX input. Only needs power, ground, and speakers. Bad: No tuner, not DIN-sized, only two speakers. (I only HAVE two speakers.) Also bad, I can't get the passenger kick panel back on. At least I demangled the mess the previous teenagers had made of the harness and got some new speaker cabling run.
But hey, sound, in stereo, at a respectable volume. The 'stereo' for this thing since December has been either an iPod cranked up as loud as it'll go and in my shirt pocket OR an iPod in one of those little battery-powered speaker cases flung on the dash and cranked up about three quarters as loud as it'll go to make it through the road noise.
Speakers are Kenwood KFC 1052-Ss, hardly the Polks I was eventually going to put in there but at least they both work and they're not stock. No bass (no shit) but a real clean midrange and non-obnoxious treble.
Had a nice contraband 4th, bought some cheap fireworks outside city limits and trespassed in a church backwoods lot on the other side of the city limits to set them off again. No drama, no 5-0, no fires, all my fingers, generally placid evening.
Still waiting to hear back from Aker. I've pretty much decided that if they--first and best hope--turn me down, I'm just going to start looking for jobs in the PNW again. I'm mobile enough, could save up and just drive back. I am not in Texas because I wish to be, and if Texas has nothing for me then I have no loyalty to it. I'm going absolutely bugfuck crazy after 7 months unemployed.
Things I have done in Kerbal Space Program:
Gone to the Mun, Minimus, Duna, Ike, Moho, and back with manned missions. My first successful launcher has a dV of almost 12,000 m/s with only one booster stage and about 7K of that in the transfer stage. If that means anything to any of y'all.
Well, there's still a Kerbal in orbit around Moho but I can get him a fuel tanker....eventually. First Duna mission visited both Duna and Ike with the same lander and still made it back to Kerbin, which is a nice bonus. I've landed rovers on the Mun and Minimus, designed and launched a space station's first module, docked a tanker with it from another launch entirely, designed the second module but my lifters keep toppling over so that's ongoing. I also built a satellite launcher that uses nothing but turbojet engines until about 23,000 feet which is about a third of the way out of the atmosphere. I also built a plane that's more or less controllable, reusable, AND stylish. Pictures to possibly follow, KSP lends itself to photogenic screenshots. I gotta kick the devs something for a change.
Other games I've been playing: Metro Last Light, I Am Alive, Xenonauts, Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed (which is BRILLIANT but the AI is straight out of Sonic Shuffle by which I mean bastardly unbeatable on A or S-class). I've also been slowly working through a discography of KMFDM, which (from early listening) is mostly crap until the mid-90s then reverts to type.
Shit I've done since last update:
Gotten the suspension fixed on Bug. The struts had no oil left in front (at least it was keeping the shock towers rust-free...), the struts in the rear were hand-compressible and had ZERO rebound, and the springs were one-handedly compressible.
KYB struts, AE86 Megan Racing lowering springs. Progressive, and yes they do fit on the 82 spring perches. The look isn't that shockingly different given the wear on the stock parts, but it's not a bad drop. Braking has improved...cornering has improved...acceleration has improved.
Oh yeah, and despite the 5.2 hour labor rate that was quoted by the closest garage ($390 my ASS) I got them in for $75.
Also installed a "radio", by which I mean a cheap Chinese tripath T-class amp that was about a third the price of a receiver. Good: Sounds really, really good. Included AUX input. Only needs power, ground, and speakers. Bad: No tuner, not DIN-sized, only two speakers. (I only HAVE two speakers.) Also bad, I can't get the passenger kick panel back on. At least I demangled the mess the previous teenagers had made of the harness and got some new speaker cabling run.
But hey, sound, in stereo, at a respectable volume. The 'stereo' for this thing since December has been either an iPod cranked up as loud as it'll go and in my shirt pocket OR an iPod in one of those little battery-powered speaker cases flung on the dash and cranked up about three quarters as loud as it'll go to make it through the road noise.
Speakers are Kenwood KFC 1052-Ss, hardly the Polks I was eventually going to put in there but at least they both work and they're not stock. No bass (no shit) but a real clean midrange and non-obnoxious treble.
Had a nice contraband 4th, bought some cheap fireworks outside city limits and trespassed in a church backwoods lot on the other side of the city limits to set them off again. No drama, no 5-0, no fires, all my fingers, generally placid evening.
Still waiting to hear back from Aker. I've pretty much decided that if they--first and best hope--turn me down, I'm just going to start looking for jobs in the PNW again. I'm mobile enough, could save up and just drive back. I am not in Texas because I wish to be, and if Texas has nothing for me then I have no loyalty to it. I'm going absolutely bugfuck crazy after 7 months unemployed.
Things I have done in Kerbal Space Program:
Gone to the Mun, Minimus, Duna, Ike, Moho, and back with manned missions. My first successful launcher has a dV of almost 12,000 m/s with only one booster stage and about 7K of that in the transfer stage. If that means anything to any of y'all.
Well, there's still a Kerbal in orbit around Moho but I can get him a fuel tanker....eventually. First Duna mission visited both Duna and Ike with the same lander and still made it back to Kerbin, which is a nice bonus. I've landed rovers on the Mun and Minimus, designed and launched a space station's first module, docked a tanker with it from another launch entirely, designed the second module but my lifters keep toppling over so that's ongoing. I also built a satellite launcher that uses nothing but turbojet engines until about 23,000 feet which is about a third of the way out of the atmosphere. I also built a plane that's more or less controllable, reusable, AND stylish. Pictures to possibly follow, KSP lends itself to photogenic screenshots. I gotta kick the devs something for a change.
Other games I've been playing: Metro Last Light, I Am Alive, Xenonauts, Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed (which is BRILLIANT but the AI is straight out of Sonic Shuffle by which I mean bastardly unbeatable on A or S-class). I've also been slowly working through a discography of KMFDM, which (from early listening) is mostly crap until the mid-90s then reverts to type.